Loving a Believer

Chapter 6: Strange Atmosphere

It was Christmas day. Everybody was celebrating, exchanging gifts, greeting each other, and eating together with their family. Our helps had already gone home to their families before Christmas eve came. Dad and Tyler were still in Las Vegas, leaving me alone with my bodyguard. They said they had to fix some things there - things that I had no idea about.

I opened the text message I received earlier.

Kirbs Dude
+6326****3242

7:32 AM

Merry Christmas, dude! I'll
send my present to you later!

My lips quirk into a faint smile as I read that single text message of him. Kirby was my Santa Claus every Christmas, though he knew that I wasn't celebrating it. I knew that Christmas is the celebration for the birth of Jesus Christ, but we didn't believe in Him. We were not Satanic or what. We just didn't believe in God.

A deafening silence welcomed me when I went out of my room. I went straight to the refrigerator to get something to eat. I took fresh milk and drank it, then I toasted a bread before I sat on a chair and leaned against its backrest. I was currently taking a nibble of my bread when I felt a hot liquid welling on my cheeks, unaware that I was actually shedding tears. I stopped chewing and touched my cheek, blankly staring at my wet fingers.

I heard the door bell ring. I immediately sat up straight and wiped my tears through my shirt.

"Ma'am, may nagpadala po sa inyo." The guard approached me and placed a small box on the table. "Pakipirma na lang po."

After I had signed the receipt, he left.

This was probably the present Kirby was talking about. I checked if there was a name written on it, but I saw nothing. So, I decided to open it and came face-to-face with a book tied with a red ribbon.

A book? I thought. Well, I loved books. But Kirby had never given me a book as a present before.

The book's title was More than a Carpenter by Josh Mcdowell and Sean McDowell. I wasn't familiar with it. I took the letter clamped over its pages.

Merry Christmas!

Kirby told me that you love books. Try to read that one. That's one of my favorites. God bless you!

―Storm Dylan Hunt

At first, I didn't know what to react but then I settled with dumbfounded. The present wasn't from Kirby.

I decided to open the book and scanned its pages before furrowing my eyebrows when my eyes stopped on its Table of Contents. Chapter Two of the book says, "What Makes Jesus So Different?"

"Seriously?" I hissed in disbelief.

Napailing na lamang ako at nilagay iyon sa book shelf ng living room.

***

There were a few more hours to go before the New Year. I just watched the night sky, staring at those occasional bright lights caused by the colorful fireworks display in the distance.

When Mom was still alive, we would celebrate New Year together and would always cook a lot of dishes. But this time, I was just all by myself.

I was holding my cell phone when I felt the vibration in my palm. My eyes looked down to the LED screen of my phone to check who called, only to find a number as its Caller ID.