'Til I Found You (COMPLETED)

29

Days go by without either of them realizing that, inch by inch, the distance between them is abridging. Aga stays in a hotel nestled near the vicinity of the tutorial center and the school. Each morning, he follows his routine, exercising around the area with a mind that still refuses to settle. The election is fast approaching, and the deadline to file his COC looms over him. His wife, Luisa, constantly presses him for a decision, but he can’t savvy which path to take. Politics is out of his league, yet both families—excluding his father—are relentless. Don Arnaldo remains his only sanctuary, once telling Aga to follow his heart’s desire and ignore the pressure. But resisting his mother, Doña Carol, is a battle he rarely wins.

Taking a break from his morning run, Aga stands in a long queue, clutching a bottle of water. His eyes dart toward a nearby food stand as his stomach growls in protest; he hasn’t eaten breakfast yet. Seeing the line move too slowly, he steps out to find a quicker option.

"Miss, may chocolate ba nito?" Lea asks, holding up a specific snack bar. When the cashier shakes her head, Lea sighs and puts it aside. She pays for her items and steps out into the morning air just as Aga falls back into the line behind her. A few minutes pass before it’s his turn. As he places his water on the counter, his eyes snag on the very same snack bar Lea had been holding. It dredges up a ghost of a memory. It was her favorite—the one snack she could never resist.

A small, wistful smile plasters itself on his face as he picks it up. "May chocolate ba nito, Miss?"

"Wala po, Sir. May naghanap nga din po kanina eh. Pasensiya na po," the cashier replies.

He nods, paying for his things. As he steps out of the store, the memory of her clings to him. Twelve long years without her presence. There are moments when he chooses to dwell in the past, back when his days were still hers to share. He hasn't felt that kind of joy since their world was ruined and shattered into smithereens. Though he longs for a glimpse of her, a part of him warns that his presence might only dig up the memories she worked so hard to bury. Lea has likely forgotten him, and he completely understands; they broke up with too many words left unsaid and hearts left wrecked. They have separate lives now.

But destiny isn't finished playing its games.

Late that afternoon, Aga returns to the campus to check on the construction progress. Students are streaming out of the gates as the dismissal bell rings. He pulls over and messages his daughter, Alli. While he’s occupied with her rants about Luisa, his eyes rivet to a young lady in the crowd. It’s the same girl who drenched his suit in orange juice. He follows her trail until she climbs into a car waiting directly in front of his. The windows are tinted dark, preventing him from perceiving the driver.

"Daddy? Are you still there?" Alli asks.

"Yes, Alli. I'm listening. Anak, don't outsmart your mom. I keep telling you that, but you aren't listening. That’s why you’re always in trouble."

"Dad, please come home now," Alli begs.

The plea clenches his heart. Being away from her for just a few days makes him miss home even more. Only Alli makes him feel truly at home; Luisa is always bustling with her shipping line, and they rarely share the same roof.

"Alli, Daddy’s coming home next week, okay? Stop being so mulish with your mom or I won’t buy you that puppy," he chuckles as Alli squeals in delight. "I want to hear good news about your exams, too. Deal?"

"Deal!" she chirps.

○ ○ ○

Silence fills the car for several minutes. Lea notices that Eli is unusually mum; normally, her daughter has a thousand things to say about her day, but now she just stares blankly out the window. Lea can easily discern the shift in her behavior.

"You have a new school building pala?" Lea asks, trying to break the ice.

"Yes, Mommy. A friend of the school owner donated the materials, according to Ms. Alba," Eli replies. She carefully omits the incident where she poured juice on that very same friend. Lea would surely blow her top.

"I see," Lea says casually.

Eli mentally counts the days until the school event next week. She saw the participant list today; every one of her classmates is on it. Seeing their excitement makes her feel painfully out of place. Growing up without her dad is a challenge that becomes a heavy weight during these events. She feels a sharp envy toward her peers, but she knows her mother’s silence is a fortress.

"You seem so quiet, Eli. Is there a problem?" Lea asks, noticing her daughter's downcast eyes.

Eli hesitates, then gathers her courage. "Can... can you tell me about Dad, Mom? What does he look like? I'm just wondering if I..."

She pursues her lips as Lea heaves a long, weary sigh—the universal cue that the topic is closed. "I'm sorry, Mommy."

"We talked about this, Eli," Lea says, her eyes fixed strictly on the road. "Your dad has his own family. You don't need to know anything about him. Besides, he’s probably living outside the country now. Wala na yun dito sa Pilipinas, so don't bother asking. He doesn't even know you exist. Nothing is going to change. Just forget about him. Hindi na yun babalik pa dito."

It is a lie. She hasn't heard a word about him in years, but she would rather be the most dishonest mother in the world than tell Eli the truth about their past.

Eli nods, the last spark of hope dying out. But the urge to know even a tiny detail is too strong to suppress. "Did I get his eyes, Mom? His nose? Does he sing, too? Does my name rhyme with—"

The car jerks as Lea pulls over abruptly upon reaching their yard. She loses her sh-t. "Eli, pwede ba?! I told you to stop! Paulit-ulit tayo eh! Just forget about your dad! Do I have to repeat myself? Hindi ka nga niya kilala at wala siyang pakialam kahit makilala ka pa niya! Why do you keep bringing this up?! Hindi ka non gugustuhin na makilala!"

The silence that follows is deafening. Lea comes back to her senses only when she sees Eli’s eyes brimming with tears. She rarely raises her voice, but the mention of Aga brings all the old pain rushing to the surface. "S... sorry. Baby, I'm so..."

Without a word, Eli steps out of the car and rushes into the house. Lea pounds her fist against the steering wheel, watching her daughter disappear. Her heart clenches. If she could only change the past to give Eli a complete family, she would. Tears flow down her cheeks. It is agonizing to see Eli hurting, but she is convinced Eli would hurt even more if she found out the truth—that Aga had moved on, and that to him, Lea was just a part of a past he likely despised.