Tú Eres Mi Sol

XXI

About 3 years ago.

"Oma, how are you? It's great to hear from you!"

"Richard," the woman's voice on the other side sounded dejected

"Oma, what is wrong?"

"It's Dei, Richard"

The mere mention of Dei's name perturbed Richard, "Oma, what happened to Dei? Is she alright? Is something wrong with Dei?"

"It's been 2 days that she has not been out of her room. Ralph and I are very worried. When we checked her room, she was under the covers and we could hear sniffing sounds. The maid said that she's still wearing the same clothes from the other day. We are very worried. We have tried talking to her but she isn't responding, all we hear are sobs. We know it's still a school year but please could you come over? We would really appreciate it, we'll pay for your flights."

The voice of the woman on the other side is a far cry from the woman he knew, she's jolly and very calm but she now sounded desperate. 

"Oma, don't worry about the tickets. I'll make a few arrangements and call you in 10 minutes?"

"Thank you, Richard."

Richard makes several phone calls, then thinks and makes a phone call.

"Oma, it's Richard. I will fly out tonight. Unfortunately, I need to be back in 5 days as I have to take my final exams and I have called my professors who have tried to help me out but it seems that there is no school policy that I can use to get excused from the exams. Maybe I'll fly out again once I've taken my exams."

"Oh, Richard, you're heaven sent! Thank you. Thank you. We'll make arrangements for the car to pick you up from the airport. Nicolas is going to be on a flight out here in 2 days, it's unfortunate that he is in a middle of a business trip and that's the earliest flight that's available, he has sent Pinky, Dei's Nanny instead. She is now on a flight and will be arriving in 5 hours. We are very desperate, we do not know what to do anymore" Richard could now hear the woman crying.

"Oma, I know that you and Opa are worried about Dei at the moment, we do not know what happened, please be strong for her. I have to go, Oma, I will pack my stuff and head to the airport now."

"Thank you. See you soon."

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The chauffeur has just picked Richard up from the Geneva Airport in Switzerland. His hair was longer now, unshaven and had bags around the eyes from lack of sleeping. He had been studying for his finals, writing his thesis and coding those programming assignments when Dei's grandmother called. 

He didn't sleep on the plane, instead he worked on the thesis and the coding assignments, trying to complete things as fast as he could, to ensure that when he reaches Dei, she would have his full attention. 

As he alights from the car, he sees Ralph and Ann, whose eyes were swollen, clearly from crying. 

They exchange pleasantries and Richard asks where Dei is. The butler accompanies Richard to Dei's room. Before he comes in, he changes he showers and changes his clothes.

He knocks a few times. Yaya Pinky opens the door and points to Dei. The room was quiet but every now and then, you could hear someone sniffling.

"Dei." Richard calls her

"Dei, it's RJ."

No movement but the sniffling sound continues.