"Why don't you call Mia so she'll have an idea about our arrival," Fidel, Erik's father, suggested.
They were already on their way to the province. The journey would take eight to ten hours, and it was only four o'clock in the morning when they hit the road.
"I don't have her number, Pa. Honestly, I'm not sure if she changed her number or if her phone is always turned off. I've tried calling her several times, but still no response," Erik replied.
"Well, maybe it's better this way, without her knowing that you're coming. She'll be more surprised," his mother chimed in from the backseat of the car.
*****
"We have a problem, Mia," Nathaniel said, peering through the door of her room.
"A problem?" Mia asked her brother, her attention focused on packing her belongings. She was about to return to Manila, and Nathaniel, along with Aunt Ising and even Elena, would be accompanying her.
"I wasn't allowed to skip today. I'm sorry, but maybe we can leave after my last class, which should be after lunch," Nathaniel explained.
Mia smiled at her brother's words, as well as the sight of him scratching his head.
"It's okay, no problem, Nate," she replied.
Nathaniel nodded. "I only have online classes on Saturdays, so after my class, we won't have to wait for long. Is that okay?" he asked again, his tone betraying his embarrassment.
Once again, Mia smiled at her brother. "It's okay. Don't worry about me, okay? I'm sure there's a good reason why this happened," she reassured him.
Finally, she heard Nathaniel thank her before leaving to prepare for his first online class. She was already familiar with his online class schedule. It started at seven-thirty in the morning every Saturday and the last one ended at five in the afternoon.
Truth be told, Mia could say that any girl who caught her brother's attention would be considered lucky. After all, he was undeniably handsome. He was kind, responsible, and above all, loving.
If they were to talk about livelihood, he had a good job. In other words, he would provide a good life for the woman he chose to marry one day.
"Oh, are you done packing, dear?" Aunt Ising asked Mia as she emerged from her aunt's backyard, where Aunt Ising had been busy with her plants.
Meanwhile, Mia's mother, Elena, was in the kitchen, preparing their lunch. She was also getting the food ready for their trip later.
In the end, Mia could only smile. Nathaniel had told their mother earlier not to bother cooking their packed meals for their afternoon trip since they could eat at a stopover. But Elena insisted, so Nathaniel couldn't do anything about it.
"Are you okay?" Aunt Ising asked as she joined Mia at the garden set.
Mia nodded and stared at the elderly woman. "I can't believe that back when we were still under Bernie's care, we had no idea that we were actually related as aunt and niece," she said, amused, while keeping her gaze fixed on Aunt Ising.
Aunt Ising reached for Mia's hand on the round table and gently squeezed it. "The truth is, I can hardly believe it myself. Perhaps my deep concern and love for you is because you are my niece," she said to Mia.
"I-I'm scared," Mia finally decided to confide in Aunt Ising, revealing what had been troubling her since last night.
"About Bernie?" Aunt Ising looked straight into her eyes.
At that moment, a few tears escaped Mia's eyes. She quickly wiped them away and then spoke again, with a steady voice.
"Yes," she said, looking directly at Aunt Ising.
"B-But he might actually carry out his threat to me that if he sees me with Erik, he won't hesitate to kill my boyfriend," she said, taking a deep breath, desperately holding back her tears due to fear.
"Don't be afraid. You know, even though I haven't personally met Erik yet, I believe he is brave and capable of protecting you," Aunt Ising reassured her.
She could feel the sincerity in her aunt's words, causing the fear in her heart to quickly dissolve.
"You won't be truly happy if you constantly let your fear hinder you from doing what's right," the older woman continued.
Mia remained silent after Aunt Ising spoke. Instead, she filled her heart with the anticipation she felt for Erik. Because she knew that if she didn't succumb to fear, in just a few hours, she would finally be able to embrace her beloved.
*****
It was exactly lunchtime when Erik and his parents arrived in the town of the province where Bernie had mentioned he saw Mia. According to Bernie, this was the place where their former house helper came from.
"Did that man tell you how he found out that Mia is here?" Aurora asked him.
They were having lunch at a small eatery.
"He told me that he was just hoping to see Mia here. He knew that she had nowhere else to go since she didn't have any other relatives. And he mentioned that Nanny Ising helped Mia and was with her when she escaped from his clutches," Erik explained.
"But the exact address. Where is it? Did he give it to you?" Fidel asked, finishing the food on his plate.
"He said it's a store. He told me that Nanny Ising has a store, so it shouldn't be difficult to find," Erik replied, excusing himself briefly from his parents to settle their bill.
"Ma'am, do you happen to know where Ising's Store is located?" Erik asked the woman as he handed her the payment.
"Is it the Ising who is the aunt of the college professor, Nathaniel?" the woman asked in return.
Upon hearing that question, Erik immediately stumbled to find an answer. He couldn't recall Bernie mentioning a man in the house of the old woman he was talking about. So, that assumption quickly brought a pang of jealousy to his heart, as he couldn't understand it either.
"I don't know the name of the man you're referring to. But, does this woman look familiar to you?" he asked, showing the woman a picture of Mia as his cellphone's screensaver.
The woman stared at Mia's picture for a moment before responding. "Oh, yes. That's Mia. Nathaniel introduced her to me once when I happened to see them together at the hospital. I think he accompanied her for a check-up," she said, handing the change back to another customer who paid for their meal. "Wait, is that the woman you're looking for? I thought she was Nathaniel's wife. Oh my, she's very beautiful and kind. But it seems like she got pregnant by someone else. Oh well, I don't know about that man. He's handsome and a great professor, but why would he get involved with a ---"
Erik didn't wait for the woman to finish any negative remarks she wanted to say about Mia. He simply thanked her and left. Despite feeling a twinge of jealousy towards this man called Nathaniel, he didn't want to hear any judgments or derogatory comments about Mia.
He had great trust in Mia. But the thought of her being with another man in the house was something he didn't like. He realized for the first time that he had a tendency to be jealous, a feeling that seemed to be reserved only for Mia.
"Did she tell you where we're looking for?" Aurora asked when they were inside the car.
He shook his head. "I just got annoyed with that woman. She kept talking and saying unpleasant things about Mia. As if she knew my girlfriend," he replied, furrowing his brow and sounding irritable. "I'll ask someone else. She's not the only person here," he added.
"Does that mean she saw Mia here?" Fidel asked him.
"That's exactly it," he answered, the annoyance fading as his longing to see Mia again took over his heart.
His father chuckled softly. "Alright, I'll be the one to ask. Wait," he paused as if realizing something else he wanted to say.
"Why--?" he stopped abruptly when he recognized a familiar figure of a woman in front of a store.
He saw that she was accompanied by a tall man, possibly his height. He had a handsome physique and fair complexion.
Erik quickly felt a surge of jealousy, especially when he saw Mia laugh as she spoke and playfully tousled his girlfriend's hair. Upon witnessing this, Erik stepped on the gas, causing them to quickly approach the couple. He noticed that both of them were startled by the sight and sound of his car's tires on the road.
"What are you doing, Erik?! My goodness!" Aurora's voice rang out, surprised by his actions.
But he ignored her. Instead, he hastily unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car.
*****
"E-Erik!"
Mia's voice was filled with surprise as she recognized the man stepping out of the familiar car that was angrily parked in front of her Aunt Ising's store. She saw him open his mouth, seemingly on the verge of anger. But whatever he wanted to say didn't matter to her anymore. With big strides, she managed to approach and tightly embrace him.
"I missed you so much," she said, unable to contain her emotions as she held him close.
Erik also embraced her, but Mia felt something different about him. So she quickly looked up at him. This wasn't the kind of greeting she expected from her boyfriend, whom she knew loved her deeply.
But when she saw him staring intently at Nathaniel, she finally understood what was really happening. However, because it was the first time she had seen that expression and aura on Erik's face, she couldn't help but let out a giggle, a mixture of amusement and joy that she felt in those moments.