Second Chance

Chapter 4

Ty opened his eyes. Dia tutup balik mata dia. Terang pula ni matahari. He opened them again. This time, mata dia adjust suda sikit sama tu cahaya. He looked at the high ceiling of his room. Bilik dia ni masi macam dulu. In fact the whole house masi macam dulu.

  Apapun, dia ada tu perasaan kosong tinggal di ruma ni sendiri. Ever since parents dia died in a car crash seven years ago, dia mengelak untuk balik sana. The house felt different masa dorang masi ada.

  But he had nowhere else to go. Kemarin dia ada call Jane and ceramah dia panjang lebar pasal Sugar Belle. Like how mad he was because his own little sister kasi tapuk pasal anak dia. Hell everybody didn't tell him a thing about her existence. Had he not been home, mungkin sampai bila-bila la dia tida tau pasal si Sugar Belle. Somehow the thought of never finding out about Sugar Belle made him very uncomfortable. Imagine living your life and not even knowing you had a child until it was too late. He shrugged the feeling off. Makin dia fikir, makin dia rasa marah sama si Eva.

  Tapi he didn't blame Jane entirely. Dia bestfriend sama si Eva tu. Mesti la dia back up kawan dia over her estranged brother. Dari keci dia memang jarang meluangkan masa with Jane. Which made him think if it was too late to start doing so now.

  Things were different then. Dia sekarang bukan macam dulu lagi but she was the only family he got. Well...was. He now had a daughter.

  Dia duduk di tepi katil dia and rubbed his face then looked outside. The view looked great. Sugar Belle's birthday party tu hari ni. Berfikir dia mau pakai apa. He had been to his mates kids' birthday party tapi itu lain. Ini birthday party anak dia. Surely he had to at least try to show some effort kan.

  Dia bangun and buka dia punya duffel bag. The only bag yang dia bawa balik. He had to be honest, nothing in there screams birthday party. Whatever. Pakai saja la apa yang ada.

  Lepas bersiap dia turun ke tingkat bawah and sempat lagi appreciate how big his late parents' house was. With their lifestyle, nothing in the house was cheap. From the arts on the wall to the very bikin lap kaki. Semua pun mahal. He was surprised how clean and organized the house was. It was exactly how it was before. Jane did a good job maintaining the house to its original condition.

  After a light breakfast, dia pigi di garage. Lepas dia sampai semalam dia ada cek tu garage and his old bike was still there. Even the old Vulcan 750 was still in pristine condition. Dia sempat lagi bawa pusing tu motor dia around the property semalam. Since that was the only ride he had, he decided it couldn't be bad showing up at his daughter's birthday party pakai tu motor.

  He was nervous alright. He didn't know what to expect masa di party tu nanti. He imagined it would be awkward tapi he had to go. He just hoped he picked the right present for her.
                             ~
  He arrived right on time. So, Eva lived in a nice neighbourhood of Rose Garden. Besar ruma dia. Corner lot lagi. She must be making quite a money to be able to afford a house like that for he knew pasaran ruma di Sabah ni boleh tahan harga dia.

  Ramainya budak budak bertempiaran. He couldn't see Eva anywhere. Tapi dia ada nampak kelibat si Kevin. Ee tu anak. Ada juga dia di sana. Belum lagi reda marah dia sama si Kevin tu. Bengong punya kawan.

  Then he spotted Jane juggling between two crying kids. Luke, Jane's husband was nowhere in sight. Muka Jane macam mau ikut menangis sama anak kembar dia, Leo sama Leah.

  He got off his bike, took the bouquet of roses and present for Sugar Belle in his hands. All the moms were ogling at him. Couldn't blame them. He was good looking. He secretly liked the attention.

  Jane saw him approaching and quickly stood up. She had this apologetic look in her face. Almost seemed as if she was asking for his forgiveness. He put down the bouquet and present and gave her a hug. She was sobbing now. He patted her back, trying to calm her down. Lepas Jane ok suda baru dia turned his attention to his nephew and niece.