Loving a Believer

Chapter 14: The Caller

"Thank you," Demi and I thanked him.

"You're welcome. What a beautiful family you have," he said with a smile before he left.

An awkward silence arose between us. I stared at Demi who just looked away and lowered her gaze.

After we had enjoyed the place, we decided to go back to the house. I was now carrying Shekinah while we were walking on the sidewalk . She felt weak so she couldn't walk.

"Daddy, I feel dizzy," I heard her say. Hinigpitan niya ang yakap niya sa leeg ko at pinatong ang ulo niya sa balikat ko.

Panic started to attack my system. I looked at Demi with brows furrow. "Do we need to take her to the hospital?" I worriedly asked her.

"I-it's better to take her to the hospital."

We hurriedly called a taxi.

ＦＡＲＡ

So boring. I was used to be alone when I was a kid, but since I got married, being alone became unusual to me.

This was the third day that Storm wasn't home. Ang sabi niya two days lang daw siya mawawala pero hanggang ngayon wala pa siya. I missed him so bad. Ever since he had left, he didn't call me. Maybe he was busy.

Now, I was having a light meal here in the living room. I didn't open the television because I was already fed up with that. With lips pouted I ate the bread through pinching the pieces. As I took a sip of my coffee, my eyes landed on my phone placed on the table in front of me. I released my cup on the table and grabbed the phone. I was about to call Storm's number but I suddenly realized that it was late afternoon here and he was in San Francisco, so probably he was sleeping at the moment. I pouted my lips again as I released my phone on the table. I wanted to call Tita Marie because I wanted to see Eli, but I was shy. Geez! I hated myself for being an introvert! Until now I wasn't still close to Storm's relatives because of this.

I heaved a sigh and mumbled, "I feel so lonely."

After I had eaten my meal, I went upstairs and took a shower for a while before I finally threw myself on the soft bed, lying facedown. I appreciated the soft texture of the bedsheet through brushing my fingers there.

I hummed the song "I Give You My Heart by Hillsong". That song was my favorite because that was the song that Storm sang after he had preached at the first ever camp that I attended, and that was the day that I realized that God exists and I needed His forgiveness.

". . . Every breath that I take
Every moment I'm awake
Lord, have Your ways in me . . ."

I sang the song. I felt something clench in my chest as I heard my voice. My voice that I kept for a very long time. I could still remember when I had joined Senior High Musical secretly before because Mom and Dad wanted me to stop. And when I decided to quit, that was also the moment that I started to forget about my voice.

I decided to go downstairs and enter the study room because my guitar was there. Storm borrowed it sometimes because he said it had a good sound. This guitar was the remembrance of Sam, and I was glad that it wasn't a big deal to Storm. I took it with me when I went back to the bedroom. I leaned against the headboard of the bed and started to position my fingers on the frets of the guitar.

"Hindi na ata ako marunong," bulong ko. Matagal na ko na rin kasi itong hindi nahahawakan. I started to play the basic chords. "Aww!" daing ko nang tumagal ako sa pagtugtog at naramdaman ko ang pananakit ng mga daliri ko. Napasimangot lang ako at napabuga sa hangin. "Music doesn't really love me," I said.