[Book 2] What If

Chapter 29

As she approaches near her house, Ellie texted kuya Jonny to open up the gates for her. 

It took her about eighteen minutes of walking before she arrived home. Fortunately, the night has a cool breeze making her not sweat despite of the exercise she just got. 

The big wooden gates were opened up for her as Martha welcomes her at the drive way. She greeted the woman who responded nervously. 

El finds it weird for Martha to have a worried look on her face, especially now that she's home safe and sound. She then asked her helper on what's going on. 

"Ma'am.. There are guests waiting for you upstairs.."

Now that Martha mentioned it, Ellie indeed have noticed an unfamiliar car parked on the garage. She was not really expecting anyone for today nor any of her friends had told her they'll be coming by, so it made the young woman confused on who might that be.

"Who are they?"

"Ma'am Ellie.. It's better if you just see them yourself po.."

With that, Ellie went to enter the main door immediately to see who those unexpected guests are, making Martha nervous that way. 

As she enters the foyer, El could see a pile of luggage laid down on the path as she goes to the living room.

There she saw who the guests Martha were telling her about, and immediately understood on why the middle aged woman was acting nervously.

Ellie took a big gulp as she looks at the faces of those who are seated on the couches. She could feel herself sweating at the back of her neck despite the whole house being fully air conditioned. She took few more steps forward as she greets those familiar faces.

"M-Mom. Dad. N-Nanay. You're all here.." Ellie nervously says.

Her aunt just gave her the bad news earlier, informing her that her mother would be flying back here in the Philippines in a few days time to meet her. But Ellie hasn't expected that she would actually arrive today.

Moreover, it was not just her mom who came but all of them together with her dad and her grandma.

This was actually not a good thing for El, as having them leave NZ means they came here for something very important.

"You came home late. Where have you been?" Her mother asked her with a strict voice as she looks at Ellie with a serious stern look.

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It is already Sunday afternoon and Nicole had been pouting her lips all throughout morning.

Rob had noticed his daughter was not on her best mood for the past two days. They were all in the dining table as he asks his daughter what seems to be the problem.

"I miss ate El. I haven't seen her for more than a week now."

"Now that I think about it, you haven't gone to her place yesterday. What happened?"

"Ate El said something important came up at her place and she's unavailable this weekend."

Lea could only listen to the conversation between her daughter and her husband. She knew that Ellie would not talk to her this weekend at all, especially with how they ended the night last Friday. But the Broadway star hasn't thought that El would avoid even Nicole for that matter.

"Hmm.. Maybe she's really busy Nix. You know how hardworking your ate El is right? Aside from her usual job, she has to attend rehearsals with your mom almost everyday."

The teenager understood what his father meant. After all, the young woman has her own priorities to take care of. Nicole has already taken so much of Ellie's time by asking her to spend Saturdays with her.

"I just really miss spending time with ate El." the kid sadly says.

"We know. I bet El feels the same." Rob assures his daughter promising her to invite Ellie out for a meal one of these days. "Hon, haven't you heard anything from El?"

Lea's eyes showed a hint of disappointment with Rob's question. Ever since the heated conversation she had with the young woman on the car last time, she hasn't got any communication with her protege.

"Not really. I knew she was so tired from last time so I didn't want to bother her with anything."

These words came truthfully from Lea's mouth. She doesn't have any intention to call or text her mentee for the time being. She knew that El got really irritated with her and the Broadway star just couldn't think of how to approach the young woman. She just decided to let it go for the meantime and wait until Monday so they can make up during the rehearsals.

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The next day, ATG people welcome yet another week to start their rehearsals. The weekend just quickly pass by as they resume practice at the same studio.

This day will commence their grand rehearsals as they'll be performing what they have practiced for the play as a whole.

Everyone's so nervous yet excited. They can't wait to see how their musical play would look like so far.

As they prepare their sequences, the Broadway star noticed there seem to be someone missing.

"Is El not coming today?" she asked Bobbi as she approaches the man.

"Oh. Did she forget to tell you? She called in last night asking permission to miss today's practice. She said something very important came up."

"I see. We haven't really had the chance to talk with each other yesterday. She seems really busy." Lea made up an excuse as she's disappointed at her protege not informing her about this.

But what can the Broadway star expect, she has not been in good terms with her protege for the past few days. They're not even in speaking terms right now so how can Ellie tell her that she'd be absent today.

Still, even if they are not actually okay, Lea felt that El should have come to work for today. The world class singer values professionalism more than anything else. So being absent just because they had a fight is not a good excuse for the young woman to miss today's rehearsal.

Lea just feels more irritated as she's against with Ellie's actions. As her guardian and as her coach, she's ought to give her protege a scolding to relearn how one should be responsible when it comes to work.

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Later that day, during their lunch break, the Broadway star tried calling her mentee's number to try and give sense to her. However, she could not reach the young woman through her number nor at her messenger. This made Lea more pissed off.

"The number you have dialed is unavailable right now. Please try your call later."

"The number you have dialed is unavailable right now. Please try your call later."

Lea tried calling Ellie's number twice but to no avail. She figured the young woman might have turned off her mobile phone. She checked her messenger and Instagram to see if El is online on those platforms but was not. There were also no recent updates or status on her Twitter and Facebook account.

It is very unlikely for Ellie to go off the radar just because of a petty fight they had. The only time that El disconnected herself from everyone around her was when she secretly left the country to have her operation.

And remembering this, Lea became worried as to what's currently happening and what's going on in Ellie's mind.