Rewind

Chapter Two: An Unexpected Arrival

I stood outside the gate of Melissa's house and rang the doorbell. The rain hasn't stopped, much to my disappointment. It was very fortunate that I brought along a scarf and jacket with me because honestly, the cold was too much for me to handle.

Some moments later, Melissa opened the gate with a smile painted on her face. Melissa was as tall as I am; in fact, we sort of looked alike, except that she was wearing braces. And unlike me, she didn't seem bothered by the rain.

She greeted me and let me inside their house.

I was led to the living room where her mom, a curly-haired, rotund woman who looked like she was in her late forties, was seated comfortably in the couch. After the introductions were made, Melissa showed me around the house.

The interior of the house was much simpler compared to ours. Everything from the furniture to the decorations seemed very minimalist. On the walls were paintings by Andy Warhol, which gave me the impression that maybe one of Melissa's family members was strongly into pop culture. A sliding door near the kitchen area led to the garden and pool area.

We went upstairs to her room after. Its walls were painted a vibrant shade of yellow and on them were posters of Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison. There were glow-in-the-dark stars all over the ceiling. Melissa's bed was located in one corner of the room and was neatly made. On it was her laptop, some textbooks, and medium-sized stuffed toys. Her study table, which was in front of her bed, was filled with stacks of papers and books.

No wonder she's an honor student, I said to myself.

"You ready to start the project now, Brie?" she asked.

I nodded my head and began to scavenge my backpack for the materials needed for the project. We were going to create some sort of pamphlet filled with facts about cell division.

"Scissors, check; pens, check; markers, check; typewriting paper, check; glue, check...I think that's all we need for the pamphlet," I said as I brought out the materials one by one from my bag.

"Good! I'll just search the Internet for the photos we need and print them out. In the meantime, you could start working on the pamphlet already," Melissa replied as she got her laptop from the bed.

Just as I was about to grab my scissors, I heard my phone ring. It was my best friend Allie calling.

"Hey, Mel, I have to take this call. I'll be back shortly," I said to Melissa.

"Sure, Brie. Just take your time," she answered.

I got out of the room and answered the call:

"Hi, Allie! Is something wrong?"

"Girl, you have to check your mom's Twitter account-"

"Wait, Mommy has a Twitter account?!"

"Goodness, Brie! Have you been living under a rock? She already has, like, 2.6 followers as of now, including me."

"Okay, three things, Allie: One, I only created my Twitter account about a week ago. Two, her account never showed up on my "People You Should Follow" suggestions list. And, three, you never even told me she had one. How'd you expect me to know?"

"Oh, right. I forgot. Sorry about that. But, honestly, you have to check her account ASAP. It's something really important."

"Right. What's my mom's Twitter handle?"

"It's @MsLeaSalonga."

"Thanks, Allie!"

"Anytime, friend!"

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After ending the call, I immediately opened the Twitter application on my phone and searched for Mommy's account, which popped up on the "Search" box after only a few seconds. I then pressed the "Follow" button and began to scroll down her account.

The first tweet of hers that I saw was so hard to believe, I had to slap and pinch myself numerous times to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. It read:

"@MsLeaSalonga: Touchdown, Manila! It feels so good to be back after so long!!!"

I was shaking and I wasn't able to speak for a good five minutes until Melissa went out of the room to check on me.

"Brie, are you alright?" she asked, puzzled.

"Um...uh...y-yeah, I'm alr-right," I stammered.

"Are you sure? Because I think you aren't fine at all. Did anything bad happen? Is something wrong?"

"Uh...er...let's talk about that later. Let's just continue working on the project, shall we?"

"If you say so, Brie."

When we entered the room, I heard my phone go "Ding!" which signified that I have a new notification. I checked my phone once more,

"Twitter: @MsLeaSalonga is now following you!"

I could feel myself breathing heavily and slowly, I fell to the floor. Melissa had to drag me all the way to the other side of the room and then ran downstairs to get me a glass of cold water. I drank it all in one gulp.

"Brie, could you please tell me what's going on? I'm starting to worry about you already."

I took a deep breath and told Melissa about everything that went on a few moments ago. She put a hand on my shoulder and told me that she understood it all now. She was more than willing to work on the project next weekend instead of today (it was due in two weeks, anyway). I hesitated, but she told me it was very much alright with her.

I fixed my things and bade goodbye to Melissa, but she stopped me from exiting the room first and called their driver, Kuya Ferdie, to drive me home.

Gee, I've got really good friends.

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On the way back, I texted Daddy:

"Finished the project earlier than expected. Melissa's driver Kuya Ferdie is driving me home now. Hope your meeting's going well. Love you, Daddy!"

I received a reply from him a few minutes later:

"Glad to know that. We still have a couple more things to talk about here. I'll be home for dinner by 8 pm. Love you, too, sweetheart!"

I started to wonder if Daddy was aware that Mommy was already back here in Manila. How would he feel when he sees her again?

I turned my attention to the window. It finally stopped raining, thank goodness.

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"Thanks for the ride, Kuya Ferdie!" I said as I stepped out of the car. He just smiled and nodded at me.

"Please tell Melissa I said thanks, too!"

He smiled again and waved at me as he drove back to Melissa's house.

As I got inside the house, my eyes widened. Someone was seated on the couch, tinkering with her phone.

It was the person I had been waiting for for five years.