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“Isa,” my father says more soft-spokenly, probably already seeing my displeased expression. He was always better at reading my emotions.
I take a breath then sit down right in front of them, in a plastic chair that’s faded out from the years. They both sit back down on the couch as well. “Ma… Pa…” I start, feeling my heart right at my throat. It almost feels like it’s choking me, and I just have to get it out as soon as I can. “I’m just… a little confused,” I confess, immediately starting to play with the sleeve of my shirt, feeling more and more nervous as each word comes out of my mouth.
“Confused about what, dear?” my mother quickly responds, her bright and cheery face replaced with a look of concern. A lot of people say we look a lot alike, so she must be looking into a mirror right now while looking at the disdain in my expression. My father, however, simply has his lips pursed, like he already knows what I’m about to say.
Another sigh escapes my lips as my hands gesture at the entire house and how it hasn’t changed at all. “I don’t get what happened here,” I finally let out. Following suit, my mother’s expression quickly drops as well.
“I’ve worked and worked for years in a different country, and we talked multiple times about how we were gonna have our dream house, but…” I find myself stopping as I feel a tear welling up behind my eyes, and I muster all my energy to prevent it from falling. “But I just came home to the same thing. Like I didn’t leave at all,” I finish, letting out the deepest breath of my life. I can’t bring myself to look at my parents at all, unless I want to break down right then and there.
My father sits up on the couch, clearing his throat but not making eye contact with me. It’s funny because people keep saying we have the same eyes, but now, they refuse to meet each other.
“We knew you’d ask these questions, eventually. A part of us was just hoping that we could enjoy each other’s company before getting to this.”
“You see, dear, when you left for the U.S., a lot of our relatives had come to us for help. Life didn’t necessarily improve for the rest of our family members when ours did,” my mother begins to explain, and I am more than completely perplexed. “We were already comfortable with what we had, and I knew we should have consulted you first before choosing to use the money to help our relatives, but –”
“It just happened. We saw some of your cousins barely having enough food or school supplies. Some of them don’t even have money for uniforms, and we just couldn’t look away,” my father fills in, and I seriously have to cover and massage to stop the throbbing from all the tension my body is feeling. “We understand that it’s your money, Isa, and you have every right to be mad at us, but we couldn’t just let family suffer like that.”
“But what about us? What about us just for once?” I find myself asking aggressively. I can’t hold in that I’m frustrated by all of this. “I wouldn’t have minded helping them. But if they wanted my help, then why didn’t they just come to me? Why do these secret transactions have to happen behind my back?” I feel my heartbeat quicken but not from nervousness, instead it’s bubbling rage. “Haven’t you seen that our house is falling apart? What about givingmysiblings a proper house with their own rooms and their own space? What about Lia and Benji?”
My parents remain quiet as my chest heaves with exasperation, but their defeated expressions force me to calm down.
"We’ve been prepared for this day, Isa,” my father starts, taking my mother’s hand into his, making my anger fade away. “We have no excuses. We just did what we felt was right, and we apologize that it got so ugly, to the point where we had to deceive you.”
I look up at the ceiling, seeing how the roof has small holes where the sunlight shines perfectly through. A tube of light strikes my eye directly as I try to reel myself in. This house isn’t how I imagined it would be after coming back here. I had visions and fantasies of being brought to my knees upon seeing my childhood home improved to the point where I could only dream of as a child. But the money meant for it is gone, and complaining about it won’t bring it back. My parents seem to know that I’m not happy about it, but I also understand that they did what they did with good intentions. I just wish they didn’t do it behind my back. I just wish all my money could have gone to my brother and sister.
“I’m gonna go,” I say quietly, slowly walking toward the door. I stop in my tracks as I touch the rusting handle of the front door, remembering who’s waiting for me on the other side. “I guess we both haven’t been entirely truthful with each other this whole time,” I tell them, looking back at both of their still defeated faces. “Leo is… my fiancé,” I say, and honestly, it comes out much faster than I thought it would, though I do sound a little hushed while saying it. My mother’s eyes widen, but my father seems unbothered and unsurprised.
“He’s your…” My mother can’t seem to finish her words, and I can’t really blame her. “I don’t know what to say.”
I simply smile and nod, not really knowing what to say, either. With that, I walk out the door. I look down at the ground, and it’s the same beaten dirt path as it has been through the years. But it’s a little brighter today since the summer sun is blazing down hard against the earth. I look up, seeing Leo’s green eyes shining brighter than the sunlight. His face is sweating; his hair already drenched from the afternoon heat. His shirt is damp, outlining his muscles teasingly, but I’m more concerned for his well-being at the moment.
“Why didn’t you just wait inside the car?” I ask, pointing to the driver, who’s happily enjoying the air conditioning.
Leo looks back before looking at me again.
“It’s fine, I’m fine,” he lies, making me laugh at how goofy he’s being. He’s definitely far from the suave and refined film studio CEO that I’m used to, but I like this version of him as well. “So, are you alright?” he asks, tone quickly changing to concern.
I give him a small smile, but I shake my head.
“Not at all, but I’ll get there. They didn’t do anything bad, but I’m just not happy about how it all happened. I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about it just yet.” I could see the concern in his eyes. Talking to Leo felt comforting and just… nice. It feels more like home than the house behind me right now.
“I really am sorry for what happened, Isa,” Leo says to me softly, and I can see him having an urge to hold me or something, a gesture I can only grin at. We still haven’t discussed anything about what happened last night. And we have bigger problems than that, believe it or not. Leo still has to get to know me and my culture better, but there’s nothing more I want to do right now than get away from –
Wait. I think I may have a slightly crazy idea. And judging from the look on Leo’s sweaty and handsome face, he’s picked up on it.
Oh, this is going to begood.
Chapter 16
Leo
Iactuallyhavenoidea where we’re going right now. I don’t know what I’m doing at the airport, boarding a plane that’s going to a place I have zero clue about. Isa booked the trip this morning, and now it’s five hours later and we’re looking for our seats on a jam-packed airplane. I should be more terrified, and Isa’s smug expression should contribute even more to that, but there’s also a hint of adventure exuding from her that kind of calms me down a bit. Still, it would have helped me feel extremely better if I just saw a glance at our boarding passes. She wouldn’t tell me anything either and simply asked for me to trust her. And while I do, no one can dispute that this is just very unnerving. I’m not used to having no control over a situation.
“Oh, relax, I’m not gonna sell you off to a cult or something,” Isa says, but there’s a hint of mischievousness in her voice that makes it unconvincing. Or I’m overthinking it. I’ll be honest, I’m a bit overstimulated right now. This plane is a little more…
“Not used to budget airlines, huh? Well, welcome to my life in the Philippines where only the best deal gets taken,” Isa cuts off my train of thought, and I look at her with what I’m sure looks like frightened eyes. I can’t even count how long it’s been, but there’s still people piling onto the plane, and it doesn’t help that I’m on the aisle seat and I get whacked every time someone walks by.
“Upgrading flights using my money wouldn’t have been an issue, you know,” I tell her, not trying to be disrespectful or anything, but just stating the truth.
