Cold Feet (COMPLETED)

Basil

"Uhmmm......Richard, how well exactly do you know Dei? And no, I don't think she will want to catch up with me and my cousins."

There was an awkward silence after that, which was thankfully just a few minutes. Richard gave instructions to the driver to make a turn towards Magallanes. In a few minutes, Richard was assisting Coleen to get down from the van. She was all smiles at Richard, thanking him for picking her up from the airport.

"L-lanie........." Dei called Coleen, hesitantly.

Coleen turned to her, losing the smile instantly.

"Stop calling me that. We're no longer kids, get used to Coleen."

With a final nod at Richard, she pulled her luggage and entered Starbucks. Richard looked form one sister to another, and wordlessly entered the van.

"Charlie, Arcadia."

He looked at Dei, trying to gauge what she was feeling right now. He saw the play of emotions on her face, the anxiety and shame. But not knowing what was wrong made him helpless, he didn't know how to undo the harm his innocent surprise gave.

"Dei.......I'm so sorry. I just wanted to surprise you by inviting her, but it seems to have done more harm than good."

"Jay...... I don't want to go home yet. Can we go somewhere?"

He took her to Antiteasis, a tea house along Maginhawa strip, to calm her. It was so hot outside, he got them some iced tea drinks and sat her on the floor in a cozy corner of the shop. Dei wrapped her arms around her legs, quietly figuring out how to tell him her secret.

"Dei......forgive me? I'm so sorry."

"There's nothing to forgive, Jay. If ever, I should be the one asking for an apology, for not being honest with you about my background. But I had my reasons for not telling you."

"You don't need to tell me anything if you're not ready."

"No.........maybe it's time I did. We're getting married, I should be open to you about everything."

She paused, gathering the courage to speak.

"Lanie.....Coleen and I are half sisters. I call her Lanie because when I was small, I couldn't pronounce Coleen and the nickname Lanie stuck......"

-----

Dei's mom, Marian, was from a rich family in Cebu. She was a student when she met Dei's father, Teddy, who was already married with a two year old daughter then. Teddy was Marian's Philosophy Professor, and the two had an affair that they kept from their families. When Marian got pregnant, her parents came to Manila and forcibly took her back to Cebu, to hide her from the public eye till she gave birth to Dei, but died due to complications of her pregnancy.

Her parents were heartbroken, they contacted Teddy and gave him the baby. They did not want anything to do with the baby, blaming it for causing their daughter's death, and were fearful of the scandal the baby would cause in their conservative social circle.

Teddy took the baby with him, and confessed to his wife Annie about his affair. After a few arguments, Annie agreed to take the baby into their home, and fell in love with Dei when she snuggled against Annie's bosom, refusing to let go of her index finger.

It was the start of a beautiful relationship between surrogate mother and daughter, a relationship that made Coleen feel left out. It made Coleen constantly compete with Dei. Family reunions were a pain for Dei, as she was always left out and made to feel like an outsider, especially in her mom's side of the family. But it was ok with Dei, so long as her parents were there for her. Both her dad and mom more than made up for any awkwardness she felt during family gatherings.

But trouble between her and Coleen escalated when their father died. She was angered by the equal split of the properties between her and Dei. She wanted to contest the will, claiming that Dei should be entitled to only 50% of what she would inherit, because she was an illegitimate child. In the end, Dei, gave up the rest of her shares in the properties and just asked that they split the proceeds of the ancestral home equally.

Coleen used the funds she acquired to study abroad and left Dei by herself, uncaring of how her sister would live alone.

-----

Dei didn't realize her tears were falling by the time she ended her story. She never told anyone about her background, this was her first time to open up totally to someone. Richard pulled her to his lap and hugged her, thankful that they were the only customers in the shop.

"I understand you better now," He whispered, kissing her temple.

"I'm sorry if I kept this from you. I wanted to protect my mother.....my real mother. She was so young when she died. I refuse to see her as a mistress, a naïve and unwise girl in love, maybe. It must have been hard for her to be forcibly removed from school and hidden for months inside their house."

"Dei.......I want you to know that this doesn't change anything between us. I love you still as much."

She hugged him tightly, thankful that finally, someone loves her for who she really is.