This was the first time she ever felt these strange feelings again. She felt like this was the first time she got attracted to a man this way. Maybe this was just a simple crush. But she was thankful because his presence was one of the reasons that could make her smile.
When they arrived at home, they were immediately greeted by their landlady Aling Meding. “Good that you’ve arrived, Love. Your father was here earlier and he was looking for you.”
“My father? Where is he?”
She had not seen her father for several months now and she had no news about his whereabouts. So, he already found her.
Aling Meding was a friend of her mother, so the landlady was kind enough to let them stay. Aling Meding knew about their miserable situation.
“Yes. He said he was going to Guimaras. He said he had a friend over there who has a mango plantation and he will try to work there to help you pay off your debt. He said he wanted to say goodbye but he was in a hurry to leave. He was just making sure he won’t get caught here by the people who were looking for him.”
Her father would be in so much danger if the members of the syndicate saw him here. That's why his father was very careful when meeting her. They would surely force him to pay his debt. They might even hurt him.
"At last, Uncle Baste finally managed to be responsible in life,” Kulas said, fanning himself with his hands.
Lovellia slightly elbowed her cousin. His father was a responsible and hardworking person. He just got depressed because of her mother’s death. He never really thought that his simple past time would turn out to be a terrible vice. And her father was planning to work again so he could help her with paying off his debts.
"Thank you, Aling Meding," she thanked the landlady. "You really waited for me just to tell me about my father.”
“Oh! I'm really waiting for you. Your father borrowed one thousand from me so he could go to Guimaras. He said to just charge it to you.”
"What?" She wanted to collapse. Her father borrowed money again. Her problems don't seem to end.
“Aling Meding, it's still dark. The moon and the stars are still up in the sky. It’s bad luck to ask to ask someone to pay you at this hour,” Kulas complained.
“But my electricity could get cut off if I don’t pay tomorrow.” Aling Meding opened up her hand to them.
"Hurry up so we can all get to sleep.”
Lovellia had no choice but to give the one thousand pesos tip she got from her handsome client earlier.
"Here. Thank you for helping my father.”
Aling Meding smiled. "You're welcome. All right, go and take a rest now. I know you will be busy tomorrow. Goodnight!”
Lovellia entered their unit and slumped her body on the rattan sofa that was owned by the previous tenant.
She really thought she could add that one thousand to pay the five thousand that the syndicate was charging her monthly.
“I'm pissed off with Uncle Baste. He actually borrowed money so he could go to the province. I really hope he will work there and he won't gamble the money he got from Aling Meding,” Kulas said and went to wash his face.
“I'm sure Dad has learned his lessons. He will gain nothing from his vices. We already got separated because of it.”
“And because of his vice, you went blind! It’s really tough raising a parent. Getting themselves in trouble when they were supposed to be relaxing on their rocking chairs already.”
She leaned back and closed her eyes. “I just hope our problems will be over soon. I really want to be with Dad again so I could fulfill mom’s dream of becoming a teacher.”
Kulas stood in front of her as he applied make-up remover on his face. “Ate, there is a simple solution for that. Marry a rich man. Or just take on a rich boyfriend. He will take care of your debt. I can make you beautiful and sophisticated so you could get that rich man.”
The image of that handsome man earlier flashed in her mind. She imagined him sitting on the massage table and wearing nothing.
“Oh, my! Let's just go to sleep. I still have to work tomorrow so I can get back that one thousand I just lost.”
CAMERON STRETCHED OUT his body as he woke up. He looked around and realized he was still in his car that was parked in his condo building’s car park.
“Why are we here? What happened to Love? ” he immediately asked Marvin. They were the only ones there. It looked like Marvin had already sent their driver home.
Cameron’s instruction was to follow Love until she got home. He must have fallen asleep while waiting for her to get out of the massage parlor.
“She already got home, Sir. I watched her until she was inside their place. She was with her cousin who guided her,” Marvin reported. "She is safe."
Cameron looked at his watch. It was already three in the morning. “She comes home late at night with her young cousin? How would he be able to defend her if someone tried to come to her with a bad intention? She should not be allowed to walk home at this hour. You should have woken me up so we could take her home.”
It was already dangerous for a non-disabled woman to go home late at night. How much more for someone like Love who can’t see? She would not be able to protect herself if someone actually took advantage of her.
“You said we would just follow her, Sir. And you looked like you were having a good sleep so I didn’t disturb you.”
"Love is a great masseuse." Since the accident, he has not slept that well. He was worried about a lot of things. Even Marvin was teasing him that maybe he needed a new girlfriend. But his near-death experience really bothered him. And so he could not explain the calm and serenity that Love had brought him earlier.
"She said I am handsome."
“How could she say that, Sir? She’s blind. She was just probably pulling your leg.”
Cameron turned to Marvin with a knotted forehead. “Did you just say that I’m not handsome? She was putting pressure on some parts of my body which allowed her to know my facial features. She was able to see once, so it was easy for her to construct my features in her imagination. And she was right. I am handsome. ”
Marvin just shook his head. “You are really something, Boss. Even the blind could not resist your charm. I wonder if there’s anyone out there who would be blind to my handsomeness.”
He tapped Marvin’s shoulder. “You’re a nice person. You’ll be fine.”
And he could feel that Love was also a good person. She was struggling in life but she remained steadfast, taking in two jobs at a time. While there were people out there who were already jobless and still have the audacity to have vices.
"Are you going to tell her what Mitos had said, Sir?" Marvin asked as they boarded the elevator.
“Mitos should tell her himself. I just hope his health is improving and finally wakes up. If it weren’t for the distance, I would have taken Love to Mitos myself.”
“Why don't you tell Mitos what's happening to Love, Sir? Maybe he'll wake up right away when he finds out that Love needs her. ”
"Good idea." Cameron called his cousin Shei. It was just afternoon in the States. “Shei, how’s Mitos?”
"He is still not responding but the doctors are positive that he will recover."
“Tell him to get well soon. Love needs him here,” he said.
"Who's Love?"
“Mitos’ first love. The woman he would have come back to if only didn’t get into that accident. Love still doesn't know what happened to him.”
"Mitos didn’t tell me anything about this,” his cousin whispered softly.
"He must wake up,” he said.
Cameron didn’t want Mitos to still be in a coma with all those tubes and apparatus when he and Mitos got back together. That would be depressing for Love. She didn’t need any more problems in life because he was already aware of what she was going through right now.
And that’s why while waiting for Mitos to wake up, he would watch over her in the meantime.