"I have so many questions in my head right now that prevent me from getting any sleep at night." I murmured.
Me and Kevin were currently sitting in a coffee shop after ending our meeting one hour ago. He looked at me with a worried face.
"I have never seen you like this, Leon. Not even when Liza died."
"Maybe it is because it is the second time my life shattered!" I ran a hand through my hair frustrated then my eyes caught something.
She was sitting at a few tables ahead of us with her son, the other woman who brought her son and a little girl. They looked happy as they averted their eyes on a servant who was carrying a cake. Shortly they all started to sing for the boy 'happy birthday'. Some random people even helped them sing.
I couldn't take my eyes from them no matter how I wanted to. I fixed my gaze towards them feeling a dull ache in my heart. I have been wondering if she had ever loved me even when she took her sister's place. But from the looks of it, she didn't. Because as soon as things between us ended, she went running towards another man who even gave her a son.
"You know, you can always go and ask whatever is swimming around your thoughts in that head of yours." Kevin proposed and that same moment she looked out of place meeting my gaze. Her smile fell and she became uncomfortable.
She only looked away when her son came hugging her as she took him in her arms and kissed him. Moments later, she glanced towards our table again but this time, her eyes looked like they were telling me some kind of message I couldn't decipher.
"What could I possibly ask her? I don't even know where to start from. Besides what do I gain from that when I see her that she has made her life."
"Do you realize that that child could be yours?" I shot a look at Kevin as what he said registered in my head. "Don't look at me like that, because that child is three years old, which is exactly the time passed after the last time you saw each other."
Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. Is it possible that I may be seeing my son in front of me?
When I saw them standing up ready to leave, something clicked in my head and I found myself walking towards them.
"Emma, " she froze on the door when I called her. She slowly turned around and I saw sadness and worry in her eyes.
"Can we talk?" She glanced over where her son was and I knew what she was going to say.
"Right now, I can't. It's my son's birthday and I have to be with him."
"I know but I also need some answers. I can always go with you where you are going, " I almost slapped myself for what I just said.
With a defeated sigh, she nodded.
"Mommy, who is this?" Her son asked her and I took my time staring at him to see if we had any resemblances.
"This... this is someone I knew a long time ago, " she looked at me and said, "We are going to the amusement park. I guess we will meet you there."
"Let me take you there," She was about to decline, when I added, "it will take less time to wait for a cab."
"Alright, let me tell them." She went and told them the changes of plan. Then they all headed to where my car was.
She sat at the front avoiding my eyes whenever I glanced at her.
Soon after, we arrived at the amusement park and we all got out.
"I will watch over the children as you discuss." The woman suggested taking them away but the boy came back.
"Don't take long, mommy. I need to see my presents." She crouched down so that she was at the same height as him and said, "Be patient Alvin. They are not going anywhere." And they boy smiled at the same time my heart constricted. At that moment I saw myself, just a few years younger.
When the boy had joined the woman she looked at me and went to sit on a nearby bench as I did the same. We sat in silence as I was thinking of what to ask her first.
"I'm waiting for your questions," She murmured.
"I don't know where to start. Why don't you tell me everything from the start?" I asked her. She considered it for a moment before she opened her mouth and began to speak.
"I first came into your house the day Emily had gone to visit our mother, that's when we switched."
"That explains everything. The change of mood and character. But why?"
"The one who can answer that is Emily. I also don't know the reason behind it."
"By that I guess you don't know that she got married." The look of shock on her face confirmed it.
"What? How?..."
"Two months later after you left, she got married to this man, leaving me to be the biggest fool in San Francisco." She frowned looking like she is putting two and two together
"So that is why she manipulated me to replace her?" She shook her head in disbelief.
"Manipulating you how?"
"That she will tell her mother that I was the one she caught rather than her..." She covered her mouth after realizing what she just let out. I smirked when I learned the truth.
"So it was you whom I was supposed to marry after all!" She looked away defeated. Then I asked her the question that has been burning me.
"Is that kid mine?" She looked horrified and caught herself immediately.
"No... He is not yours." She said looking down at her hands. I found it hard to believe her.
"Is what we had real or was it a lie?" That made her look up.
"My feelings for you were real. While I was absolutely pretending to be my sister, I really felt like what we had was real."
"It is hard to believe that as soon as we separated, you ran towards another man."
"I didn't...." She paused.
"So the child came by himself? Either it is mine or you are the next Virgin Mary." Instantly, she became furious.
"He is not your son! Stop pressing the issue." So you were conceived by the Holy Spirit!
Before I could press it, the woman who took the children came running towards us breathless and crying.
"I'm.... I'm sorry... I was.... He was...."
"What are you trying to say, Veronica? Where is Alvin?"
"I'm so sorry. But I lost him."
"What?!" She stood up in a flash and started running but I caught her before she could go. "I need to get my son." She was already crying and it killed me just by seeing her like this.
"I know we will search together, " I looked at Veronica, "Where did you last see him?"
"He was going to get some ice cream and when I looked where he was, he was no longer there."
"Okay let's go there first, " I said as I took a lost Emma in my arms. She was trembling and crying, mumbling incoherent words.
"Don't worry, we will find him in no time." I soothed her and she rested her head on my chest and that heavenly smell from her hair reached my nose and I hugged her even more.
How I missed her, this!