At the Sign of Trouble

Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE: The First Flight

For as long as she could remember, Kyla always thought that she was different from her family. Every one of her cousins was a physician, psychologist, or surgeon. Most of her aunts and uncles reside in different parts of the country are probably doingthe same thing. In the small town of Lipa, Batangas where she grew-up, their family was trusted in the field of medicine. But Kyla didn’t want any part of that. It was dull enough having to grow up in a family that has no appreciation for good food or anything other than the latest innovation in the field of medicine or how many patients they had cut open that week. Her parents and relatives were saving lives, she understood that. But her interests were different--she was the odd ball.

Since she was young and her parents bought her first set of baking materials for a class in elementary she knew what she wanted to do. So did her parents but they always had it in their minds that their daughter was going through a phase and that she’s eventually turn out to be like the rest of them.

Interestingly enough, that didn’t happen. What started as a curious hobby of mixing flours, baking cookies and cakes eventually consumed most of Kyla’s free time as she was growing up. And when her parents found out that she was intent on becoming a pastry chef when she enrolled in culinary arts during her third year in college, they went berserk, cutting off all her funding and began the long and agonizing tirade of all the bad decisions that she made when she decided not to become a doctor.

At nineteen then, she did what only an illogical and overly emotional young adult would do. She borrowed money from her older sister, boarded the next plane and headed for London where she decided to stay with her grandmother.

And learned some more about becoming a pastry chef.

Five years later, Kyla decided to move back to the Philippines. She had the opportunity to do what she dreamed of doing by running away from home, coming back after that, not as easy as she thought. And so, she showed up in front of her older sister’s home in Tagaytay unannounced where her sister moved in after marrying her childhood sweetheart, who, of course was another medical practitioner named Peter Valle, an orthopedic surgeon. She was back to her home country—but she had no intention of running back home at the time being. She wanted to make it on her own and prove to her parents that she can survive doing what she has always loved to do.

When her older sister Lauren opened the door, her face immediately lit up when she saw Kyla on her doorstep. Without saying a word, she pulled Kyla for a tight hug that left her breathless for a full minute before getting hit in the head.

“Aw!” Kyla cried out while rubbing the back of her head.

“Well you deserve that, you brat. Get your own stuff and get in here now.” Her sister said in a stern voice. She opened the door of the house wider to let her sister in.

Kyla hauled her bags and dragged them through the door and landed them in a heap in front of the sofa before sitting down. “I am so tired. I forgot how horrible traffic is back here. “Kyla complained as she rested her head on the sofa.

Lauren studied her for a while. She didn’t say a word, just watched her little sister. She changed a lot over the past five years since. She became taller, standing at least five-six, not much, she noted. Still the same hair color though, chestnut brown that almost reached her waist, her complexion lightened, turning somewhat pale that contrasted with her brown eyes and full lips. Kyla became more beautiful the last time Lauren saw her. But she spoke Tagalog like she never left the country.

After Kyla left suddenly, she had gotten in to trouble when their parents figured out how Kyla was able to finance her rendezvous to London with their grandparents without their assistance. However, being the eldest daughter and the only one, in her opinion, in the family who knew how to handle problems with more finesse, Lauren talked her parents into letting Kyla do what was best for her, that it was her life and she had to figure things out on her own. As a result, she officially became responsible for her sister’s well-being. Not that their parents didn’t care, they reasoned. It was just the consequence that Kyla had to face. But in Lauren's eyes, both their parents didn’t really have the paternal genes. They were excellent medical practitioners, but not exactly mom-and-dad-of-the-year material.