yuanfen (completed)

caller

"Dei?"

"Yes, she was a pretty girl...small framed but very strong...."

"Ah...wait....Ms. Dei.....Deiondrea...." Grace thought for a while before responding.

"Yes...that was her name....is she here?"

"She's not a nurse anymore....." Grace shared.

"...did she quit?"

"Oh no...no, sir....she's on leave.....she's a top adjunct therapy specialist and consultant and works for the Faulkner Medical group...."

"Ah I see...when....when will she be back?"

"I really don't know, sir....Ms. Christina, our Directress, should know..."

"Christina...." Memories of Christina flooded Chuck's memory. She was a nice lady, very motherly.

"Yes....but she's out of the country now for a conference...."

Chuck continued to gaze at the sprawling garden and buildings in the distance.

"I see....thank you so much for your time, Grace.....may I visit again?" Chuck said, turning to Grace and shaking her hand.

"Anytime, sir....."

"One more thing....may I have Dei's number? I'd like to catch up with her...."

"Sure, sir....let's go back inside...."

Grace and Chuck went back into the building and Grace gives him Dei's number before he leaves.

"....don't tell her I dropped by.....please...."

"Okay..." Grace smiled and waved at him as he exited the door.

=   =   =   =   =   =   =   =

Dei's phone rang but the call was dropped as soon as she picked it up to answer the call. It rang 3 more times but either the call was dropped or she could not hear the voice on the other end.

"Sino yan?" Meng asked when the phone rang a fourth time.

"Di ko rin alam....number lang..." Dei replied, staring at the phone.

"Alam naman sa work mo na on leave ka diba?"

"Oo...."

"Mama mo kaya?"

"Hindi rin....alam ko number ni Mama....and kaka-usap lang namin kanina....di pa rin naman nag-text o tumatawag sina Ate o Kuya kung may emergency...." Dei told her friends.

"Eh sino yan?"

"Ma....." Dei stared at her phone for a while and decided to put it inside her bag and join her friends for a swim in the beach. "Kayo na bahala sa pictures ha? Meng!" She ran after her friends who were walking to the beach from the beach house.

Several hours later, Dei and her friends returned to the beach house, she dug out her phone and found 4 missed calls and 3 messages from the unidentified number.

The first two messages were blank. The third had the letter "C" on the screen.

The rest of the evening had Dei and her friends discussing about the "mysterious" text from the anonymous number.

"Local number naman...." Meng said after looking at the number several times.

"Baka humihingi ng load..." Patrick, Meng's boyfriend, chuckled.

"Ano ba! Baka naman may secret admirer si Dei...." Jem, another friend, offered.

"Uuuuyyy...." a chorus of teasing from the friends.

"Sino naman, aber?" Dei said.

"Hmm....ang dami kaya...." Joey, Jem's boyfriend, spoke.

"Na 'C' ang pangalan?" Meng asked.

"Hmm....Caloy, Cardo, Carding, Christopher, Charlie..." Joey rambled random names.

"......Chuck?" Meng said.

Dei, who was staring at her phone on the table, looked at Meng.

"Chuck....baka si Chuck yan...." Meng said again.

"Nasa States na yun.....baka nga nag-asawa na e....."

"....sabagay....pero diba dun ka sa company nila nagttrabaho? Wala kang balita about him?" Patrick asked.

"Oo...sa Faulkner....personal na yun....di ko tinatanong....sino naman ang tatanungin ko?"

"Sabagay....baka ligaw na soul yan...pag-pray nalang kaya natin...." Joey said.

"Ikaw talaga Jose Enrico, puro ka kalokohan!" Jem elbowed Joey's ribs.

"Malay mo...."

Just then, the phone rang again from the same anonymous number. It was just past midnight.