Apart but Chained

chapter forty-six

"Risse, calm down."

Camron took my left hand and held it strongly. He was looking with concern while I got drowned in my thoughts.

We were all dragged in the article. His name, Brielle's, mine... and TMP's.

I looked at my phone again and continued reading the article, swallowing hard when I read specific paragraphs.

Architect Vista and Architect Hernaez had been in a relationship for almost two years and yesterday, reportedly, the two broke up because of a third-party. Meanwhile, The Manila Press' Journalist Zacarias, if still remembered, had done a news story last year with Architect Vista and this is presumptively the reason why Zacarias and Vista became close.

Moreover, Vista was purportedly the one who broke up with Hernaez and Zacarias is believably the third-party. This news aroused more when Vista's car was seen oftentimes near Zacarias' house where seemingly the two see each other secretly.

"Oh, my God," I whispered under my breath when I saw different photographs of Camron's car near my house. "Drive," I said in haste.

"What?" he asked, appearing puzzled.

"Just drive. We need to get away. Now."

I wasn't wrong when one person from the media familiarized his car. She then pointed at the car, making the rest of the media look in our direction. Some took photos while some ran toward us.

Luckily, Camron made a turn quickly and drove away fast. I sighed in relief because of that.

"What was that?" he asked, his eyes were on the road but occasionally glancing at me. "What's happening?"

"We're all over the news," I answered.

"What news?"

"Have you checked your phone?"

His forehead creased. "I haven't since last night."

Surely, his phone would be flooded with texts and calls, too. This article would surely create a bigger mess in our situation. I told him about the news we were in and I couldn't read his expression afterward. He was just driving without a direction.

The bottom question now was where did that article come from? And the photographs... Who was following Camron?

"Where will we go now, Risse?" Camron asked after a moment of silence.

"Hindi ko alam," mahinang sagot ko bago buksan ang screen ng cellphone ko. "Tatawagan ko si Mama."

Matagal bago sumagot si Mama at nang sumagot siya ay pabulong na sumagot, "Tate anak?"

"Mama, nasa Manila na po kami. Galing kami sa bahay pero—"