Rustin's Point of View
Tuesday 4:00 am
Reeking alcohol woke up my senses. In front of me is Aevy, curled up and sleeping heavily. Her lips are apart, making small snores. I removed my hand from her back and placed it softly on her cheek. As I traced my thumb across the tint of her cheek her eyes flew open, grey irises suddenly aware and studying the sight.
"Rustin?". an Italian accent suddenly made me hit back to reality
She removed my hand from her cheek and sat up, her back facing me. My head is pounding and I am now back from my hallucinations. The woman had long brunette locks and her spine is almost visible from her flesh. Her head tilts, facing me. I now see her eyes which are muddy brown. Beautiful, but not Aevy. Intoxication gives me nightmares.
I now remember the woman in front of me, I stumbled upon her drunk last night in my art gallery . We ended up here in my penthouse.
She stood up and started picking up her clothes. I helped her zip up her dress and led her out my door. I took a glass of water ,walked past the kitchen and some art hung up on the wall. I stopped at the last painting. I painted it the other day when I had a peculiar dream about a toddler running in the woods, I could not identify if the child was a boy or a girl, all I could clearly see was his/her eyes that looked exactly like mine.
End of Flashback
Saturday 2:20pm
"Just cancel my art presentation in Makati and also the interview for France Galleria. I'm thinking about going back to New York on Monday but that's not yet certain so just wait for my call". I said then ended the call
The last thing that I want is a panic attack. I would rather lose a project than lose my mind. Three weeks of preparation was not enough time anyway. I run my fingers through some paint brushes, finding a good one that I could use. A noise near me caught my attention, I looked at my right and saw a mess of glitter pens scattered on the floor. A child is picking up the pens that she must have knocked off from the shelf. Some of it started rolling over to my side of the aisle, it stopped at the tip of my shoe. I picked it up and walked towards her. "Here you go"
Without looking at me, her little pudgy hands took the pens and placed it back on the lower part of the shelves. The child has long dirty sand colored hair and she is wearing some boots that has a ridiculous amount of pink on it. She tilts her head and looks up to me, her mouth fell open as her eyebrows knit together. My heart starts to beat in a faster pace for no reason when I look into her eyes that has the same color of the sea.
"Is there something wrong? Are you lost?" I asked and she points her index finger up to my face. "Your eyes are the same color as mine."
I nod. "Yes it is the same as yours"
"But my hair is different". she held a lock of her hair
"Are you lost? Do you know your name so that I could take you to the mall's customer service and they'll look for your mom and dad?" I asked
She shakes her head. "My mommy said not to say any information about myself to strangers. Besides, I am already five years old so I can manage myself sir--
"Alice!"
Omniscient Point of View
Rustin stood frozen as Aevy scooped Alice in her arms. All thoughts have been blocked from his mind, he did nothing but stare.
"Anak ikaw talaga huwag kang lumalayo. Biruin mo sa loob palang ng tindahan nahirapan na akong hanapin ka ha". Aevy hissed as she pulled her daughter closer
"Sorry mommy, tinulungan lang po ako ng stranger na mabait". Alice explained with a pout
"Nako, hindi ba sinabi ko sa'yo na huwag kang nakikipag-usap sa strangers--"
Aevy fell dead silent when she finally bothered to look at the person in front of her.Rustin felt as if the ice he is standing on cracked and he fell into the cold water. He grimaces. "May anak ka na pala"
It is now Aevy's turn to freeze but instead her reflexes took a step back thinking of a way to escape the situation she's been planning to avoid for the rest of her life. As if Alice had not said enough, she giggled and pointed at her "unknown" father. "Mommy, parehas kami ng kulay ng mata oh"
Those words are the cue for Aevy to sprint out because she is going to be in the worst confrontation if she does not. It took Rustin a second to put all the pieces together, to compute everything. From the child's eyes, he shifted his gaze to her hair, then to Aevy's hair. His vision starts to blur as he remembers his odd dream, the years that passed, the night that Aevy left, and everything else that was from five years ago. Aevy gasps as Rustin grabs her arm.
"Is the child mine?"
