Chances

I. Tragedy in Seconds

A tall and handsome man was weaving through the throngs of people who are impatiently waiting for their luggage in the airport.  He is excited to go home. He went to Australia for two weeks to visit his sister and brothers and they were as excited as him when he decided to go back to the Philippines. 

He thought that his one and a half weeks of stay in Australia was the longest vacation, ever.  His sister, Laura, will always shake her head whenever she would notice him fidgeting with his phone even if he just finished making an overseas call to her. 

“If you really miss her that much,” Lauren said exasperatedly.  “Why don’t you just go home?”

He looked at his sister tentatively.  He doesn’t want to hurt her feelings. The last thing that he wanted was to make his sister think that he does not love or like being around with her.  Laura laughed when she saw his expression.

“It’s not as if I’m driving you away.  I know you wanted to see her. So why don’t you just go back to the Philippines.  We’ll be there in a few months, anyway.”

He hugged her tightly and immediately made two phone calls.  One, to the airline customer rep to have his ticket changed into an earlier flight and second, to the girl he wants to see so much. 

He smiled silently when he remembered how his sister was laughing so hard when he was packing his things.  You’re like a kid who’s going to meet Santa, she joked.  He threw a pillow at her.  But what she said was true.  He was so excited to go back to the Philippines.

Once he spotted his bags, he grabbed it and walked towards the door.  He immediately grabbed his phone from his back pocket and started to dial a familiar number.  It rang twice before a sweet voice answered the phone.

“Hey, I’m in the airport now,” he said excitedly. “I’ll be at your apartment in a few minutes.”

He heard a squeal of laughter and then a touch of panic in her voice, “I haven’t cooked anything yet. I just finished cleaning the apartment.  I have to take a bath first. I stink.”

He could not stop laughing with what she said.  She always make him smile. “You always smell nice,” he assured her.

He heard her laughing and she answered back. “You’re saying that cause you want me to give you a  massage you later. Why don’t you go home first.  I’m sure your father is waiting.”

He was walking in the parking lot, trying to figure out where he left his car.  He would always leave his car in the airport parking services especially if he was just staying abroad for a couple of weeks.  He does not want to bother his father, who is too busy with his business. 

“I already called him and told him that I’ll be meeting you first,” he said as he spotted his parked vehicle.  He stopped in his tracks and asked her, “Why is it that you don’t want me to go there? Are you hiding something from me.”

Instead of feeling insulted or angry, she burst into fits of laughter. “There’s nobody here, you jerk.  I’ll be waiting for you.  I miss you.”