Edna noticed the darkening sky from the window of their fourth-floor room in the five-story hotel building. Her mind was filled with worry about her daughter, whose whereabouts they still had no idea about. Roland and Julius had already searched the hotel area, but they hadn't seen Rose. She walked closer to the window and gazed outside. Below, she saw a large swimming pool where many people were enjoying the artificial waves generated by the machine beneath it. Looking towards the horizon, she noticed the cumulonimbus clouds forming a thunderstorm on the western part of the sea. Flashes of reddish lightning and low rumbling thunder from the massive clouds indicated that a strong storm was approaching.
She returned to the bed and continued packing their clothes into their suitcases. Despite being thirty-six years old, she looked two years younger. She had a slim, elegant figure, standing at five feet and six inches tall, with smooth white complexion that added to her youthful appearance. She dressed stylishly and carried herself with refinement. She was an educated woman, having completed her MBA degree at one of Manila's prestigious schools.
When she married Roland, she took over the management of her father's furniture business, which had been closed for over three years due to bankruptcy. With integrity and hard work, she turned the business around, and within two years, they became one of the top furniture exporters in the country.
With the birth of Rose, their love for each other grew stronger. Despite Roland spending most of his time in Connecticut for his engineering work in his own construction company, Edna never suspected he had a family in the United States. She was content with the love, care, and attention Roland showed her and their children. He made regular visits to the country, and they often vacationed together in his ancestral home in New England. Besides, she had already forgiven him, and what mattered most was that Roland had filed for an annulment with his wife, Margarette. However, on what grounds? Filing for an annulment was not a simple matter. There needed to be acceptable reasons and grounds to establish the fate of the annulment case against Roland's legal wife.
Glancing at the wall clock, Edna noticed it was already 3:30 in the afternoon, and her husband was still outside searching for their daughter. She stood and stared through the window, noticing a small island in the western portion of the sea that she hadn't seen before. Her motherly instincts told her that Rose might be on that island, exploring. She walked slowly back to the window and fixed her eyes on the white shore of the small island, where some people were present. If Rose wasn't in the vicinity of the hotel, the only place she could be exploring was the island, which was a popular destination for adventurous teenagers. Would Rose venture there alone? Edna and Roland had tried numerous times to call her on her cellphone, but she might have turned it off. They were genuinely worried about her whereabouts. Rose had never turned her cellphone off, especially in situations like this, and she had never broken promises before. Edna thought there was something her daughter wasn't telling her, keeping it a secret. A few days ago, she had accidentally read a text message from a guy named Karl on Rose's cellphone. When Edna asked about it, Rose became defensive about her privacy regarding personal messages. Now, unable to contact her daughter, Edna knew she had to do something. She needed to inform her husband to search for Rose on the island. Her intuition told her that's where she needed to look, and she had to trust it. She walked towards the door and left the room. She hurried down the hallway and headed for the elevator. She constantly reassured herself that nothing bad would happen to her daughter. Rose would return safely.
Standing in front of the elevator, she pressed the button, eager to see her husband and share her intuition with him. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her right foot tapped nervously on the floor. Then, she heard a metallic hum from the elevator, and the door clicked open. She entered and found herself alone. Pressing the button for the ground floor, she expected the door to close, but instead, it started to open again.
Edna stared at the door, but no one was there to enter. The light above her flickered. She pressed the same button again, and this time the door slid closed. As the elevator began its descent, she felt a wave of nausea and discomfort. She fixated her eyes on the numbered buttons on the wall, watching as the light moved from four to three. The elevator stopped on the third floor, and the door hissed open. Edna raised her eyebrow and sighed. No one entered, and the door closed once more. She felt increasingly uneasy, sensing that she wasn't alone inside the elevator. The intermittent opening of the door and the flickering light added to her discomfort. Her eyes remained fixed on the light. What if a power failure occurred while she was stuck inside the elevator alone? Even as a child, Edna had always disliked riding elevators, particularly when her late father took her to his business meetings in Makati. She decided it was best to get off the elevator just in case a power failure happened. Despite the chill in the air, she found herself sweating, anxious to exit the elevator.
She unzipped her shoulder bag and took out her cellphone to call her husband. She pressed the power button, but the screen stayed dark. She tried again, but nothing happened.
"What the..." she whispered to herself. She checked her phone and opened the back cover. She removed the battery and inspected it. She was certain that she had fully charged her phone that morning. She put the battery back in, closed the cover, and pressed the power button once more. Her eyes widened and she nearly dropped her cellphone when she saw a man's face with hollow eyes on the dark screen. She spun around, but there was no one behind her. She had seen a man's image on her phone's screen. Was it her imagination or just a reflection from the flickering light above? She looked at her cellphone on the elevator floor and decided to pick it up. She bent down, her hand trembling as she retrieved it from the carpeted floor. She checked the phone again for any damage from the fall. She almost dropped it again when it vibrated and rang loudly. Her husband's name appeared on the screen. How could that be? Her mind questioned. The phone had been off, yet her husband was calling her. Or perhaps her phone wasn't off at all, and she hadn't pressed the power button properly, which is why the screen hadn't turned on. Hastily, she answered the call and held the phone between her shoulder and ear.
"Hello," she said. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a boy beside her who forcefully pushed her and ran towards the elevator door, which promptly opened. The boy stopped a few meters outside, smiling at her and waving his hand. Edna's face turned pale as she saw the boy bidding her farewell.
"Julius?!" she shouted. The boy ran towards the lobby.
"Julius!" Edna shouted once more and quickly stepped out of the elevator. She had completely forgotten that she was on the phone with her husband. How could this be? She wondered. Julius was with his father, so how could he have been in the elevator with her without her noticing? Then she heard her husband's voice on the cellphone and realized she had been talking to him.
'Hey, what happened?' he asked, his tone filled with concern. 'Why were you shouting our son's name?'
"Is Julius with you?" she asked, her voice trembling.
'Yeah, he's right here, eating his favorite ice cream,' Roland reassured her.
"How can that be? I just saw Julius in the elevator with me, and then he ran outside towards the lobby," she struggled to catch her breath. "Are you sure he's with you?" she added, now walking briskly towards the lobby.
'That's impossible. He's sitting right beside me,' he paused. She heard her husband talking to their son. 'Hey, Julius wants to talk to you. Here you go, buddy.' Then the phone was handed to Julius.
'Mom! We didn't see Ate Rose. I got hungry, and Dad bought me ice cream,' Julius said cheerfully.
"That's good, honey," Edna replied, disbelief evident in her voice. "Are you sure you didn't play a prank on me with Dad in the hotel elevator?"
'No, Mom. I swear. Dad and I are still looking for Ate Rose. He talked to the manager a while ago before buying me some ice cream,' Julius sincerely assured her.
"That's good, honey," she said. Julius had never lied to her, and she was certain she had seen her son wave goodbye to her as he left the elevator. The thought gave her goosebumps. "Okay, sweetie, can you pass the phone back to your dad?"
'Yes, Mom,' Julius replied. She heard her son calling for his dad.
'Hey, hon! So, why were you in the elevator in the first place?' Roland asked.
"I just wanted to tell you that my intuition is suggesting we search for our daughter on the small island called Potipot, which is less than three hundred meters away from here. I think it's the only place she could be exploring," she explained.
"That's what we're going to do now, hon," Roland said. "Hey, maybe you're tired and stressed from worrying. Go back to our room and rest."
"I'm not tired. Do you think I can rest in this situation, worrying about our daughter's whereabouts?" She was in the hotel lobby, looking at every face of the people inside. She took a seat on the sofa. "I'll come with you to look for our daughter."
"Hon, you need to stay. I'll bring Julius to you. Where are you now?" he asked.
"But—"
 "No more 'buts' hon, Julius needs you here. I was informed that a group of teenagers rented a boat this morning and went to the nearby island to camp overnight. I've asked some of the barangay officials to come with me to search for our daughter. Luckily, they are about to go to the island in a few minutes to evacuate the tourists due to the approaching storm." he explained.
"I'm afraid for you to go there, with the storm approaching," Edna said, taking a glass of champagne from the hotel staff.
"Don't worry, hon. We'll be as quick as we can. I'll send Julius to you. See you in the lobby."
"I'm already here, hon. I'll wait for you and Julius," she said, her face filled with concern. She looked up at the hotel's domed ceiling and saw the darkening sky and flashes of lightning.
Edna hung up and placed her cellphone in her bag. She tried to focus on herself and stay calm, assuring herself that everything would be okay. Her intuition told her that something might go wrong. She picked up some magazines from the table in front of her and started scanning the pages, looking for distractions to shift her mind away from worrying. She turned her head and saw four musicians playing Pachelbel's Canon in D. A smile spread across her face as she remembered the same music played during their wedding. She walked down the aisle with her mother by her side, wearing the elegant wedding dress that had been passed down from her mother. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of her father, who had passed away and couldn't attend her wedding. Near the altar, Roland awaited her with his charming smile and excitement in his eyes. It was the happiest moment of her life, especially when they kissed as husband and wife. Roland was an incredible kisser, and his passion made her feel like she was in heaven.
Her reminiscing ended when Julius ran towards her and embraced her. Beside him was her husband, smiling as he gave her a peck on the lips.
"I told you, Dad, we should have brought her ice cream," Julius said, looking at his father.
"You smelled coffee crumble, sweetie," Edna said, kissing Julius on the cheek. Julius chuckled.
"That's my favorite ice cream flavor now, Mom," Julius happily declared.
"Really? That's my favorite too." She hugged him and glanced at her husband, hoping to alleviate her worries.
"I asked some security guards outside about our daughter. I showed them her picture, and they told me they saw her this morning. She was riding on the back of a motorcycle with a teenager guy," he casualy shared.
"Oh..." She was speechless upon hearing the news.
"They thought that guy was her boyfriend," Roland continued, his voice filled with controlled anger.
"Her what?!" Her eyes widened. "Oh my, I didn't know."
"Me neither. I never thought she would hide this from us," he said, his voice tinged with disappointment about what they had discovered about their daughter.
"Are these security guards sure it was our daughter they saw?" she asked, still skeptical.
"Yes, they are. They observed them kissing before they left the hotel grounds," Roland ground his teeth. Edna covered her mouth with her hand, tears welling up in her eyes. Roland comfortingly touched her shoulder and rubbed it.
"I have to leave now. I'll join the barangay officials in evacuating the tourists from the island, hoping to find our daughter there. Stay here with our son, pack our things, and we'll head home as soon as we find her," Roland assured her. He turned away and walked towards the hotel's exit door.
"Ate Rose will be fine, Mom," Julius said, smiling at her.
"Yes, she'll be alright. She'll be with us once your father returns," she replied, trying to remain optimistic for her son.