Last Hope (Completed)

Chapter 16

Day 10 February 14, 2019 9:00 am Philippine time.

Flowers, gifts, cards and well wishes from family, friends, and co-artists were sent out to Sarah's family as well as Matteo and his family. Matteo hasn't slept well ever since Sarah has gone missing. That day was especially hard for him. It was supposed to be a romantic day filled with surprises. He thought he owed Sarah everything that he had planned out for the day. She had been extra supportive with everything he had been wanting to do, and he thought it would be nice to do something extra special for her on Valentine's day. He had been dreading to make the call to cancel everything he had booked for the day. He thought it should be common sense especially if the whole Philippines already knew that Sarah was missing. When he was about to make his first phone call, his phone rang. He immediately checked to see who it was. "Tito Delfin" was calling. Sarah's dad, he thought. "T-tito?" He managed to say. His heart was racing. "Matt," Sarah's dad said on the other line. "Tito, kamusta ho kayo? May balita ho ba?" Matteo asked. Every time he spoke to Sarah's parents, he almost instantly always wanted to cry. Sarah's dad sighed on the phone. The heaviness in his breathing made Matteo's chest tighten in fear. "What is it po, tito?" He asked nervously. He made a fist with his hand. "Hindi mo pa ba nababalitaan?" Sarah's dad asked. Matteo closed his eyes. He tried to brace himself for the worst. "Hindi pa po. Ang alin po?" He asked. "Nakita na nila yung buntot na parte ng eroplano na sinasakyan ni Sarah," Sarah's dad informed him, trying not to sound all choked up. "No," Matteo said. Then he broke down when he heard Sarah's dad crying over the phone. "Tito," was all he could say. He sat at the edge of the bed and bent down. He held the phone on one hand while he hid his face on the palm of his hands and continued to weep. He wiped his face then he held his jaw. He cleared his throat and put the phone back on his ear. "So is that it, tito? Are we going to stop searching? Are we going to assume she's dead?" He asked. His voice immediately sounded like he had a cold. "Hindi ko alam," daddy Delfin replied. Matteo heard him sobbing again. He could hear the sorrow in his voice. He could not imagine what Sarah's father might be feeling. "We can't just stop right? Kung ihihinto nila yung search and rescue operations, I don't care if I have to hire people or if I have to go down there by myself, I'll continue looking for her. We can't just give up the fight, tito. Hangga't walang katawan na nahahanap sa kanya, I'm not gonna deem her dead. This is Sarah we're talking about," Matteo said, he was almost begging. "Matt, napaginipan ko yung anak ko kagabi." The moment daddy Delfin said this, Matteo felt the chills all over his body. "What happened po?" He almost hesitated to ask. "Naka-puti sya na dress, nag-lalakad nakatalikod sa akin sa may tabing dagat. Hindi pako nakakita ng ganun kagandang beach. Napaka-puti ng buhangin. Ang sariwa daw ng hangin. Ang linaw ng dagat. Nag-lalakad sya naka-paa. Tinawag ko sya ng tinawag. Sabi ko 'Sarah, anak, hintayin mo si daddy'. Tinawag ko sya ng paulit ulit. Nag-lakad sya na parang namamasyal lang, na parang hindi nyako naririnig. Tumitingin tingin sya sa ulap, tumitingin tingin sya sa dagat. Hinahayaan nyang mabasa ang mga paa nya ng dagat. Hindi ko makita ang mukha nya pero parang masaya sya. Hanggang sa bigla na lang syang nawala," daddy Delfin said. Matteo started crying again. "Ano po sa tingin nyo ang ibig sabihin nun?" Matteo asked. Daddy Delfin didn't respond right away. Matteo heard him sigh. "Hindi ko alam," Sarah's dad answered truthfully. Matteo sighed this time. "Hindi ko po alam ano gagawin," he said honestly. Daddy Delfin was quiet on the other line. None of them knew what to do next, but Matteo promised him he won't give up until he finds Sarah or her body. The two of them hung up after none of them knew what to say next.

"Sir Louie," Matteo answered the phone a few hours after his conversation with Sarah's father on the phone. "Hey, Matt, just letting you know ABS and Viva were talking about doing a tribute concert for Sarah as well as the victims of the plane crash. I spoke to Sarah's parents. Okay lang daw sa kanila." Sir Louie Ocampo informed him. "A concert? At this time? Shouldn't we be focusing on finding my girlfriend?" Matteo asked with concern. "Yes, it'll fund for the search and rescue operations as well as help the families of the victims with any expenses they need," sir Louie explained. Matteo sighed. "I don't know," he said. "It's okay. You don't have to be a part of it if you don't want to--," sir Louie replied after he heard the hesitation on Matteo's voice. "No, it's not that I don't want to be part of it. I just don't know what to do anymore, sir Louie," Matteo explained. "I know. How about you take care of everything on your end, and we'll take care of everything on our end?" Sir Louie suggested, trying to sound supportive. Matteo nodded as if he could see him. "Yeah, I guess a tribute concert would be good," he said quietly. "Who's in on it so far?" He asked. "Marami actually nag-volunteer. They're all using their talent fees to raise money for the victims and their families. Actually ang nag-suggest nito si Gary, Gary Valenciano, tsaka si Regine. They wanted to do this for Sarah. So far most of the ASAP people are in on it. There's Gary, Regine, Martin, Zsa Zsa, Jaya, of course, Lea, because she's worked with Sarah sa The Voice, Kyla, mga alaga ni Sarah sa The Voice din sila Jason, Klarisse, Darren, and Kyle. They all have pitched in kung ano yung kantang they want to sing. Some of them, we'll assign a song. Do you want to join in?" Sir Louie asked, a bit hesitant. Matteo was silent for a while. Then he started sobbing quietly. The support of Sarah's co-artists overwhelmed him. "Of course. I'd like to pitch in. Is it okay if I choose my own songs to sing?" He asked quietly. "Yes, of course, Matt, you can. We'll coordinate, we'll plan this out. It doesn't have to be perfect, basta we'll all be there, parang jamming lang all for Sarah and the victims. The production doesn't have to be extreme. We'll be there for the sole purpose of singing our hearts out for Sarah, not to entertain the public, and we'll make sure everyone knows that," sir Louie said. Matteo took a deep breath. "Thank you for doing this. If you could extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who is in on this, I'll appreciate it," Matteo said. "Of course," sir Louie replied. Then they said their goodbyes and hung up.