Red String of Fate

Chapter 1: Instant

"Hello?" She answered her phone as she covered her other ear with her free hand. 

"Hello?" A hesitant voice answered and Alexa frowned. 

"Who's this? The number says unknown." She said over the phone. She looked at the phone's screen again and her brows furrowed. "Sino to?" She asked and a relieved sigh could be heard from the other end. 

"Miss Lianna." The voice said and Alexa grimaced. She hates that name with a passion. 

"Yes, this is Alexa. Sino po sila?" 

"Miss Lianna, si Edgardo po." 

"Manong Edgardo, bakit po kayo napatawag?" Alexa asked remembering her father's faithful assistant.  

"Yung Daddy po ninyo, Mam. Kailangan nyo na po talagang umuwi." 

"Dadalawin ko talaga sya. My flight's in three days." Alexa answered, the word 'Daddy' felt like a knife brutally driven to her chest. 

"Hindi po pwedeng 3 days, Mam. Kailangan nyo na pong umuwi ngayon at hinahanap po kayo ng Daddy ninyo. Emergency po ito, Mam kailangan nyo na po talagang bumalik dito." 

"What do you mean my father's looking for me?" Alexa asked in a surprised voice. My father is looking for me? He left mama and me when I was six and fifteen years later, he's looking for me? Alexa's thoughts raced as a picture of a very handsome man with laughing chocolate brown eyes flashed in her mind. In the fifteen years that he left them, she only saw him thrice -- twice on the television and once when she graduated from secondary school and he didn't even approach her then. 

"Malubha po yung kalagayan nya, Mam." The voice on the other end sounded strained and sad and Alexa could not help but feel sorry for the old man who used to fetch her from school and personally delivered hers and her mother's monthly allowance. 

"But he'll be okay." Alexa said in a cheerful voice trying to soothe the old man's obvious distress. "Wag kayong mag-alala, si Atty. Carbonel pa, walang makakatalo dun." 

"Umuwi na lang po kayo, Miss Lianna. Kailangang-kailangan nya po kayo dito." Manong Eduardo's voice quivered and Alexa looked at her cell phone in puzzlement. He needs me? Since when did Atty. Leandro Carbonel start needing someone? Alexa thought as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Thinking of her father brought back many memories, mainly about her mother who died with a broken heart waiting for the one she loves to return to them. "Miss Lianna...?" 

"Okay..." Alexa finally replied tucking the sadness away.  Dadalaw naman talaga ako sa kanya, it's not going to hurt if my visit is three days earlier than planned. Besides, huling kita na namin bago ako lumayo sa anino nya ng tuluyan.

"Nakapagpa-book na po kami ng flight para sa inyo, bukas po ang lipad nyo pabalik dito ng ala una, check-in nyo po, mam alas diyes. Na send ko na po sa email nyo yung flight confirmation, ipi-print nyo na lang po yun, Mam. Pagdating nyo po dito, may sasakyan na pong maghihintay sa inyo sa airport." Manong Edgardo said in a relieved voice and Alexa could not help the smile that tugged at her lips. Manong Edgardo - always organized and prepared. Some things never change. She thought. 

"Thank you po, Manong. I'll see you tomorrow then." Alexa said. 

"Miss Lianna, hinihintay po kayo ng Daddy nyo. Inaasahan po namin ang pagdating ninyo, Mam." 

"Alam ko po. I'll fly to Manila tomorrow." Alexa replied before the call ended. She stayed inside the restroom to brood over the news. Her father - the one who left his wife and daughter for another woman is sick; the one who made her mother into a broken woman is looking for her; the one she does not care seeing needs her.