CALIFORNIA, two o'clock in the morning.
Jessica was startled by the phone ring in the living room. She was still drowsy and did not want to get up. But the phone did not stop ringing.
"Who could be calling at this hour?" she asked himself as he struggled to get up, and glanced at the alarm clock on the night table.
She left the room. Her aunt Luisa opened the door almost at the same time. "You also woke up ..." said the old maiden aunt. "Who is she calling that?" her continuation.
Jessica just shrugged. Tighten the robe strap and pick up the phone. "Hello ...." she said in a slightly hoarse voice. "Overseas call from the Philippines, Ma'am ... for Jessica Arenas .." the operator. "I'll take the call".
This is Jessica Arenas .. "she said when he heard the Philippines suddenly lost sleep. She glanced at his aunt who was leaning against the back of her room.
"Philippines ..." he signaled to his aunt. "Hello ... yes ... T-tita Claire ...?" Luisa looked at her
nephew when she heard what she said.
Claire is on the other line. Jessica's father's second wife. "N-no! What you are saying is not true ..." Jessica exclaimed in a trembling voice.
Luisa approached her niece nervously. It keeps crying. She quickly reached for the phone from it when she noticed it seemed to be softening to lean against the wall. Jessica, on the other hand, was like a fading candle sitting near the sofa and crying.
From the other line Luisa heard the shocking news. Philip Arenas, Jessica's father died in a accident while at the sea. A strong storm hit the basin that accompanied it. Luisa knew Philip had fishing boats. It sails along if he want to fish and enjoy. "My dad, Aunt Luisa .... my dad! ... Jessica who cried loudly."Hold on tight, Jess ..."
Luisa said not knowing how to console her niece. Jessica's mother is her youngest sister. This, in turn, passed away when Jessica was fifteen. Philip remarried two years ago. "I-I need to go home, Aunt Luisa! I want to see even ... the remains of my Dad!" And after saying that, Jessica started crying again.
Jessica is on her way home to the Philippines on an international airline. She was next to the plane window and looking outside.
She sees only clouds. She did not remove the goggles from his face. Her eyes filled with tears. When was the last time they saw her dad? It's been more than six months since he visited her in California. Philip is strong and healthy so it is hard to believe it is gone.
Dad wanted her to return to the Philippines. That is why it visited her, to urge her to go home. She gave many reasons, such as not being able to ask for a vacation at the bank where she work."Because it is very superficial because she knows that even if she does not work, she can live comfortably.
She could not tell her father the real reason why she did not want to return to the Philippines. Jessica sighed. It has been two years since she left their town. And no one knows the real reason why she suddenly left going to America. Anyone .... even Philip .... and even Nick! Nick. There was a pain in his chest.
And between the clouds she sees outside the plane window her mind travels back to the past. Two years ago .. She was only nineteen years old then ...
THE FAMILY of the Arenas comes from a prosperous town in Mindanao. Jessica was the only child of Philip Arenas that had hacienda. When Jessica went to college, she lived in Manila. In an exclusive women's dormitory. She regularly returns to Mindanao during semester breaks and Christmas vocations.
That afternoon, Jessica felt a mixture of joy and surprise when she arrived at her father Philip's reception hall. "Dad!" she exclaimed once hugging it.
Phil laughed as he pulled the child to sit on the leatherette sofa. "How's my girl? Hmm .. You are already nineteen, but if you are wearing uniform you look like thirteen years old", smiling with her daughter with long hair braided. Only a light-frosted pink lipstick adorned the girl's beautiful face.
Jessica stepped forward playing with the finger button on her father's polo shirt. "Hmmp ... you are always like that, you thought I would never grow up even though you are almost equal in height," she said, always annoyed by his frequent jokes for his child. "One of these days, you will only be surprised when I get married," he continued. Philip laughed out loud "Poor man, hija! He doesn't know what he's going to get into!"
"Papa!" Jessica exclaimed irritably. Phillip couldn't stop laughing. Jessica was about to speak when she noticed the man behind her father. Its smile was very frugal. And if he thinks it is more sarcastic than smiling. Philip stopped laughing and followed with a look at what Jessica was looking at.
To be continued....
