She woke up crying, her hair and pillow wet with tears, and her heart in an unexplainable pain. It is still crystal clear in her memories. The day that is supposed to be a normal one, but it turns out, destiny has other plans, and it becomes the day that changed her whole life.
It is a usual sunny Saturday morning. Sophie just finished doing the laundry with her father and she is helpin g her mother cook for their lunch. Typical Saturday morning for their family. After this, all of her school works are already in line waiting for her. It was at that time that a BMW M3 parked in front of their house. Then, a woman, about 5’7 tall, maybe in her mid-30s, with a fair complexion, wearing a blue casual dress, wearing sunglasses and a black pumps came out of the car. Sophie thought she really looked familiar, it seems like she have seen this woman already, but she doesn’t know when and where and how. She just shrugged the thought away, since there is no way she can know this woman.
The next events happened so fast, most of the details she cannot remember anymore because of the sudden rush of emotions that flooded through her.
With all those informations that was given to her, she was able to grasp just a few of them. She was able to process that she was an adopted child. This woman, whose name is Terry, left her month old baby with her friend, who turns out to be her mother, because her parents doesn’t know that she was pregnant and that if they learn about it, they might do something to the baby. She has to prove herself first to her parents first before she can introduce the baby’s father and the baby. She then promised this friend that she will come back for the baby. It took her and the baby’s father several years before they were able to prove themselves to her parents, that’s why, they are only coming back now. She then promised to give Sophie a better life than the life that she is living right now. She promised to give all of her wants, and she will never experience shortage. She then told her, that now, she will live the life of her dreams, the life that has always been for her.
Well, for her, that doesn’t change the fact that they abandoned her, left her to some stranger without even knowing what kind of life she is going to live. It is such a good thing that the parents that adopted her loved her and treated her like their own, because she doesn’t know how she is going to face this woman right now if they didn’t.
Everything is sinking in her brain slowly, but still, it is too much to take in. So, she excused herself and went to her room. The moment that she was sure that she is alone, she got her phone and immediately looked for his number. She needs someone to talk to right now, someone who would understand, and someone who would listen without judging. She checked the clock first, its 12 noon here, so it means it’s 12am in Washington. She knows he is sleeping right now, but she didn’t ming, she knows he will understand.
It took her a couple of rings before he answered the phone. And, what happened next crushed her heart.
The memory was still very painful to her. To learn that you are adopted, and that the parents that raised you and have loved you all your life are not your real family, to learn that your real family abandoned you for such petty reasons of proving themselves. It hurts a lot.
But since, her birth parents promised her that they will let her adoptive family live in comfort if ever she will come with them, then she did went with them. All of the things that she is doing and she will do in the future will always be for the welfare of her family.
It could have been a win-win scenario. She would have tolerated all of it, if not for the fact that her birth parents decided to publicize the fact that they have found their lost daughter. Of course, when the media learned about it, several articles about her came out on different magazines and newspapers, making her feel like she is being watched all the time. Articles written by people who barely know her but talks about her as if they were the best of friends. She hated it. She hated being the center of attention. During these difficult times were the times that she is still with him. He is that one and only person who can make her pain less painful. He is one of those few people who can really comfort her. But yeah, he already left her. What is the point of thinking about it? It’s not going to make any difference anyway.
Her thoughts were once again disturbed by the ringing of her phone.
“Sophieeeeeee!!!!!!!!”
“Hello to you too Monicka. Why the hell are you shouting?” she said with a hint of annoyance on her voice.
“you didn’t tell me that your birthday is gonna be so grand pala. It could be labeled as the event of the year!” Monicka squealed with excitement.
“Oh God, you called me just because of that? The heck Monicka, it’s not that grand naman” she said.
“Whatever, your mom just called me asking me to help her find you an escort for the party. It seems like you got depressed again upon metioning the word ‘escort’, so she asked my help with it” Monicka said enthusiastically.
“uh. Okay, so why exactly did you call me?” she asked
“Well, if you can’t still get the hint, I am doing what your parents cannot do, because I am asking you, who you want to be your escort for that night. You’ve got a whole lot of choices, since your parents own a modelling agency, you can easily choose among them”
“fine, you choose for me then” she said lazily.
“What? Are you even serious?” she asked, surprised evident in her voice.
“Yeah, do I sound like I’m joking?”
“Okay, fine. Then I’ll just choose a random basketball player. Would that be alright?”
“Yeah, sure. It’s just for one night”
“Okay. And Soph?”
“Yeah?”
“Try to enjoy that night. It’s supposed to be your birthday party anyway. Don’t let the loneliness and pain because of some stupid guy take away your happiness” Monicka said sadly.
“Yeah” was the only response she was able to say.
“Okay then, Bye!”
“Bye”
She ended the call and thought about the conversation. Did she really let him take away her happiness? No. Of course not. Her issue with her parents is the real reason that’s why she’s not happy right now. “Right. That’s it. My parents are the reason.” She silently told herself, but inside her, she knows that that is a total lie.
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Jeric was so busy eating his breakfast when he heard his sister talking.
"Look o, the De La Paz couple is throwing their daughter a party for her 20th birthday" Almira said while holding a magazine.
That's probably how she learned about the article. He already knows about this story, he had been working under the modeling agency of the De la Paz couple for some time now, so it's impossible for him not to hear some talks about this event before. Well, he just heard mainly the basics. That they have found their lost daughter, and to make up for the years that they lost, they will give her the life of a princess in every minute of everyday. He can bet that girl is enjoying that every minute of her life, moving from being the pauper to being the princess. Whatever. He doesn't really care.
"Ahia, diba you and Jeron are part of the modeling agency of the De la Paz's?" Almira asked him, out of the blue, cutting his train of thoughts.
"Yeah, why?" He answered, uninterested with the topic, and continuing to eat his breakfast.
"It says in this article that they'll be getting her escort from the models e. But they still cannot decide who it’s going to be. Baka you will be picked"
"Yeah yeah. Whatever." He's not really interested with this. "Just so you know, there are a lot of handsome models in that agency, since that is the top modeling agency in the country, so I don't think they will pick me"
"Yeah, that could be. But it says in this article that the De la Paz daughter loves basketball, she was even a player before she got the injury that stopped her from playing the game, they are going for the theme that interests her, so I think choosing a baller escort would be one of it.”
He didn’t respond. He is still uninterested with this topic but, if what Almira or the article said about her being a baller and would have to stop because of an injury is true, he then felt sorry for her. He has been in that position before. Having an injury that will have to stop you from playing for some time, and you aren't even sure if you can recover from it. Good thing he did recover from his injury, of course with the support of his family and... her. He shrugged the thought away, he’s not letting an negativity from the past affect his day, he still have a long day to go. That’s when his sister started talking again.
“ Well, ahia, just so you know, she is beautiful." Almira said giving him a knowing smile while walking away.
He just laughed at the childishness of his sister. He knows that she is just concerned about him. They have all been worried that he will never date again, after what happened. Even him, doesn’t think otherwise, but he is not that worried about it. He just lets time fly to heal all his wounds, and maybe, just maybe, by that time, he will be ready to love again.
As he is finishing his breakfast, his phone suddenly rang. It is a call from the De la Paz Stars, the modeling agency that is currently handling him. Why is he calling? He thought too himself.
“Hello.” He said as he answered the phone.
“Hey Jeric, are you doing something right now?” His handler/manager said.
“No naman po sir, why?”
“Yeah, I just wanna ask you if you are free this Saturday night?”
“hmm. Saturday night? That is the birthday of the daughter of ma’am Terry and sir Mark right? Aren’t all of us invited?”
“Exactly. Well, since you already know that you are coming, let me just add one more task for you for that night” his manager said. Task? What could it be? Why am I having a feeling that I am not gonna like it.
“And what is that sir?” he inquired, quite confused and quite nervous.
“You will be Ms. Sophie’s escort for that night”
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Author's note:
Hi guys, to those who are reading this story, thank you so much. I am a beginner in here, but I have been writing stories for quite a while now, but yeah, a friend convinced me to publish a story here. So, since this is my first timw publishing my story, I am very open to comments and suggestions, I can take criticisms well, so if you have anything to suggest, you can just comment here or tweet me @jenietobias15 . Thanks so much agaon for reading!!!