CHAPTER 2 DISAPPOINTMENT AND ESCAPE

The morning after the party was one of gloomy and unhappy events. Ami went to the manor wearing a second dress that week thinking she was Rain’s bride-to-be. Rain’s kiss is still fresh on her mind and lips. It felt like he branded her with his lips. Her hand was on the doorknob when she heard a car turning up the massive U-shaped driveway. As she turned around, she saw Rain helping down a beautiful merchant’s daughter known in the neighborhood as the local flirt. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She was even more dismayed when Mrs. Gonzales hailed them from the terrace overhead. Obviously none of them saw her. Ami was so crestfallen that she ran towards the back of the manor in the direction of  the gardener’s house given to them by the Gonzales’. In her distress, she did not stop to think and rationalize what happened. She passed by her uncle happily nursing his favorite cup of Benguet coffee. As soon as she got inside, she locked herself in her room and dialled her cousin’s number who was about to travel to the airport for her flight to the UAE. “Please pick up, please”, she cried. She was not aware she was sobbing hysterically until her cousin answered and she was mumbling. “Hey gurl,” answered Mabel happily and then her tone changed when she heard Ami crying. “What is wrong, cuz, Didn’t Rain introduce you as her bride-to-be?” she questioned. “I heard him wrong”, answered Ami. I was so stunned yesterday that I only realized today what he actually said. He actually said he will introduce her to me today. How can I be so stupid Mabel?” 

“Oh I am so sorry cuz. Where are you now and what do you want to do?” asked Mabel with concern in her voice “ 

“I am at home but I wanted to ask if that post in your employers’ house is still open? I would very much like to go with you if it is possible.” Ami pleaded.

 “Shouldn’t you go and find out what really happened first? This isn’t you at all cuz but sure, let me call them and ask if it is possible to bring you with me today or tomorrow. I will hang up now and call you in a short while. Will you be okay? “

”Yes I will be okay,” answered Ami. I will pack whatever clothes I need and will wait for you at the back gate. I do not want to see Rain or any of their guests so please hurry!”After hanging up, she gathered what she thought as decent pants and shirts and stuffed them in her only suitcase. A soft knock and “My dearest niece, are you okay in there?” 

“Yes, no, uncle”

“Yes or no? What is going on young lady, can you open your door so we can talk sensibly instead of talking through walls or doors for that matter?” Ronnie sweetly scolded his niece through the door. She carefully opened the door and led her uncle inside her room. 

“My word Ami, what is going on? This will not do, will not do at all. Whatever will your deceased parents say?” her uncle asked in surprise, crossing himself at the same time.”Ay, ay inayan, anak. Apayen?”

 Ami looked at him and at her suitcase. She bought the suitcase thinking she can go on vacation but never did she imagine that she will be packing her stuff for good. 

“Uncle, I know how you treated me well like your daughter and Ridger was like a brother but after what happened today, I think it is about time I go and find my luck elsewhere. Can you manage on your own?I will send money as soon as I can, Uncle, I promise.” Ami said in an imploring voice. Ronnie gathered her in his arms and patted her affectionately on her back. 

“Tsk, tsk anak, do not worry about your old uncle Ronnie. Ridger is still here, we will take care of your moms’ roses, and your dad’s herbal plants and the whole garden, you can be sure of that. And this sending money stuff? No, my dear girl, you do not have to send us anything. Ridger has a job and I am a physician, we can manage. I know it is your dream even as a little girl to have the financial security and stability your parents didn’t have. Whatever happened today, I will not pry. You know your own heart and you are a grown young woman now, you are that woman, aren’t you, my beautiful niece?” 

“Shucks Uncle, I do not think so, that young woman grew up into a man this morning, “Ami replied cheekilly. 

“Sika nga talaga nga ubing ka,” her uncle gave her a playful pat on the head as if she were still that little girl he took under his wing when her parents died. 

“Okay niece, since I think you have some place to go, I bid you a sad farewell for now. Just do not go around the herbal garden, okay? I do not like teary bye-byes as you know. Farewell my niece and good luck in your next endeavor.” 

Her uncle gave her a tight and a bit teary hug before he quietly closed the door and moved outside. As soon as her uncle closed her door, she carelessly took off her flowery summer dress, rolled it into a ball, opened her door and threw it on the only sofa in the house shouting “Score!” She didn’t care if it would rot along with all the things she would be leaving behind. She grabbed her backpack and stashed her phone charger along with a photo of her mom and dad. She also broke the piggy bank given to her by Rain last Christmas. “Some gift you are, she muttered.” After making sure that everything is as tidy as can be,even her glass display cabinet of die cast cars built lovingly by her dad. She locked her room and quietly walked towards the back gate, as quiet as she can considering how big her suitcase is. 

While Ami was busy with her packing, Rain was fidgety. He was waiting for Ami to arrive ahead of his expected guests this morning but as plans go, that didn’t happen. He told his mom yesterday that whoever arrived first today will be his bride-to-be. It just so happened that Fiona the Flirt arrived very early and he was not raised badly so he did the gentlemanly thing to do, honor the word he told his mom the day prior but with a leaden heart which he did not understand because who wouldn’t want a beautiful and rich woman such as Fiona? They might not be as rich and well-connected like the Gonzales clan but rich just the same. Isn’t that what his mom wanted?  He was only half-listening to the conversations unaware that his mom also felt unhappy with the events of the day. She was scolding herself quietly for interrupting what might have been a very satisfactory outcome last night. A consequence of her somewhat very impatient nature. Too late, it seems they are stuck with Fiona the Flirt and her dad who everyone calls Barry the Bore. Of course both father and daughter were ecstatic, imagine, the neighborhood bachelor billionaire offering for Fiona. Fiona can’t wait to tell her tale to her gossipmonger friends. Too bored with the goings-on inside the manor, Rain excused himself saying, 

“Nature calls”

“By all means my boy’, said Barry not noticing Mrs. Gonzales’s cringe upon his use of the term my boy. Hurriedly Rain went towards the gardener’s house and it was that same time he heard a car speeding away. He stopped and listened. There, a car was obviously moving away from the house but it was not coming from the front entrance. It sounded like it came from the back gate. He thought that odd until he ran to Ami’s house and  came upon her closed window. “Ami, Ami!,” he shouted her name. When he did not hear any response, he went to the side of the house and bumped into Ami’s uncle tending to one of the potted rose plants. After an awkward apology, he kept shouting her name. “Ami, where the hell are you?” He hesitated before her locked room. Ronnie who followed him inside gave him an apologetic smile and said “ I am sorry Rain, but she already left. I do not know where she is going and I do not want to pry. It is probably best to let her go.”

“No, Ami! Dear Ami, why did you leave?” he cried. He called his mom and told her to give his apologies to their guests. “What happened, my son?” Mrs. Gonzales asked. “I will tell you later”, he said. “Just give me a few hours, I am in Ami’s house but she isn’t here. She left us, mom.” Rain sadly told his mom before he hung up. Rain couldn’t believe how foolish he was. He regretted not opening his heart to Ami the day before. That is when he saw her summer dress slung carelessly on the only sofa in the house. He could picture her in it. He grabbed it and sniffed her special scent and suddenly, it dawned on him what happened. 

“Noooo!”he said over and over before he went home straight to his room, not even acknowledging his mother who was waiting for him in the living room. It was nearly 4 in the afternoon and his mood was as gloomy as the heavy fog that started to descend outside. He opened his bedside fridge and took a bottle of brandy he usually reserves for special occasions. “This is a special occasion”, he told his mom when she looked in on him. “Son, not everything is lost”, she tried to comfort him but he was lost for all logical reasons save his empty heart. 

“This is BS”, scolded his mom. Stop your self-pity for goodness’ sake. It is not as if she is dead.” She whacked him on the head like a little boy making him drop the brandy bottle on the floor. “Owww! Mom that hurts!” he exploded. 

“Serves you right for being such a fool”, his mom yelled. Rain knows his mom is as distraught as he is because she rarely loses her cool let alone shout or scream. He apologized at once and slumped on the bed, hands on the back of his head. 

“You are right Mom, not everything is lost. I will call her or her cousin, and find out what happened. Besides, why did she leave without even saying bye. That’s just not her at all. No matter how many times we quarreled in the past, we always make sure we hear each other’s side, that’s what friends are supposed to be, isn’t it? “ 

“I don’t know!” exclaimed Mrs. Gonzales, exhaling as she did so.  

“I love her as much as I love you and I am worried about her. If you think marrying Fiona is your destiny, fine by me as long as we figure out what happened to Ami. She was so radiant last night, would you believe how many young businessmen friends of yours asked her uncle if they could pursue her? I thought you sorted out your feelings for her but it seems I am mistaken.”

Rain shook his head and after inhaling and exhaling to calm himself down, Rain dialled Ami’s number but it was switched off. He tried Mabel’s but it seems it was switched off too. Never did he suspect that the cousins were no longer in the city but travelling down to the airport. 

Ami’s cousin, if she can call him that, meanwhile was having the time of his life in the city proper. The extra money he earned today was spent in a folk house. A very happy day indeed, he summoned a waitress and whispered something in her ear. She looked at him and scowled saying “Sir, for your information, this is not a beer house. We do not cater to your so-called “needs”. Bastos!’ she yelled and walked away as hastily as she could. Hearing that Ridger got angry but he was pacified by the door man whom he knew because he was a patron in that place. After a few bottles of beer, he left whistling a happy tune. “This is life!'' he shouted to the heavens earning him a few angry glares from some of the waitresses. Despite his good looks, he does not have a good reputation with some of the people in the city and in the nearby municipalities. Unknown to his dad and cousin, he was a heavy drinker and a cock fight gambler. Gambling is illegal in the city but he still manages to go to some place where cockfighting is legal or illegally allowed. He did not want to squander the rest of the money he earned today though, in that respect he is very wise. He might be a gambler but he knows when he needs to stop. His dad never questions his whereabouts because according to him, he is old enough to look after himself. He hates going home to that poor excuse of a house that his dad and his so-called cousin are occupying because it reminds him of their old life. His dad is a foolish physician, more like a quack he sometimes jokes to his gambling friends. Today though, he needs a decent bed to sleep in and his dad will always welcome him. If not, he can always go to the big mansion and tell a tale so the Gonzales’ will let him sleep in one of their grand guest rooms. A good plan indeed.