A Broken Vow

1

9:45 PM

Jade peeked through the small opening of her window blinds only to see an empty street. Much to her dismay, her driveway was already filled with a foot tall of unshoveled snow. According to that weather guy in the radio, the man whose voice she hates but grew accustomed to, this downpour will hit a record high and will give them a chilling -30°F. Not a very good month to be in Surrey, BC.

She walks toward the kitchen counter to add something to that ref door filled with stick-it notes. 'Call Jose to have driveway cleared'

She hates having to pay her undocumented neighbor to clear all this snow. She hates winter. She hates having to go out with five layers of thick warmers and she hates doing the piled-up laundry. But so is summer, where her cotton thin shirt sticks to her back with all that sweat. She hates the chill and she hates the heat. Jade Tanchingco seems to be hating a lot of things, lately. But no, she's happy, she's OK. Or atleast that's what she needs everyone to see.

Five minutes before the clock hit 10, a luxurious car stopped by her sidewalk. It's the biggest, blackest mercedes one could possibly see. Fully-paid and owned by one of the most hot shot lawyers in Canada. This car alone can pay off all her debts. Including this heavily-mortgaged, shabby house in a run of the mill suburb in Surrey.

Jade lives in a two-bedroom unit along Arce avenue. A Filipina, she moved here a year ago after leaving the upscale, fancy life that she had in Edmonton, a neighbor state or province as they call it in Canada. A two-hour drive away from all that was and all that has been.

In a quadruplex apartment, she occupies one of the two bottom units. The unit right above hers is rented out to a Mexican family. They were about 10 of them in that unit, she doesn't know for sure. Some with papers, some undocumented. Jose, the cousin of Mr. Cuervas who rents the unit, works as a gardener to almost all of the family along Arce avenue.

The unit adjacent to her is owned by a gay couple, James and Shaun. They were the closest to a friend that she has here in Surrey. Sometimes she drinks coffee with them, especially when she's alone in her unit. James is a white Canadian while Shaun is a Pakistani.

The one right above them is also rented out to a handsome but weird guy, David. She doesn't know much about him. A couple of times, she caught him staring for too long. Both times, he tried to look away as fast as he could.

Jade does not have a lot of people in her life now. A few friends here and there, she has been estranged to her family for years now except for her mom who's in the Philippines. They talk to each other once every few weeks but aside from her, she doesn't really have any link from home. Sometimes, in her head, Jade can hear her father's voice saying, 'I told you so'. This makes her more determined to forever be a distant memory to him. But for the past year, she wonders, maybe he was right all along.

She quickly checked herself in the mirror and tuck some loose hair behind her ears. At 35, Jade still looks naturally beautiful with that perfect jawline and captivating hazel eyes but nothing compared to the stunning goddess she once was. She was not only a head turner but the whole room freezes every time she walks in. Everyone who knew Jade wouldn't recognize her now with the heavy circles around her eyes. Clear indication that she has been working double shifts for the past week at a nearby Costco.

Jade was born a princess. Her parents are well-off. She never had to work for a day in her life. Not until, she had to. Now, she works as a credit and retail assistant at the warehouse superstore, where she helps with people who can't even afford to pay for their groceries upfront. This is a totally different world now. A world that the rich and elegant Jade Tanchingco never knew existed.

She reached for her $800-moncler quilted down coat and put it on. She remembers buying this in London during one of the trips they took as a married couple. It was supposed to be a 7-day European vacation but was cut short because of a very urgent client matter back home. It was a lousy attempt of saving the romance. She stayed until the end of the trip. Spent money like there's no tomorrow. Tried to shop her pain away.

Like a seasoned actress, she smiles before turning the knob and opened the door.

Into her arms, ran her 7-year old son, Gabriel. The only one who keeps her going.

"Be careful, sweetheart. You might slip." she worriedly warns her cute little one as the child runs through the snow filled pathway before giving him a quick kiss on both cheeks.

"I miss you, mama!" the child beamed. His toothless smile made Jade laugh.

"I miss you more, darling." she answered as she caresses the kid's jet black, bob cut hair.

"it's freezing out here, sweetheart. come on, let's get inside." she added.

Jade, whose old toyota's odometer is reaching half a million kilometers, by natural instinct, glared at the Benzie in front of her before shutting the door. Clearly, Althea has screwed her during the divorce.

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Inside the heavily-tinted, bullet-proof Mercedes-Maybach S 600, the great lawyer, Althea Guevarra stares at her son and ex-wife. She has a penthouse unit, a mansion with a swimming pool and a modern loft in a skyscraper in downtown Edmonton, along with several properties hidden across the Caribbean. She can come home to any of these properties now if she wanted but at this very moment, as she looks at them, she aches to be inside this shabby home with them and eat pancakes or hot pinoy meals that Jade used to cook for them. God she will give anything to have them back. 

TBC