Broken Strings
Chapter 17

MELISSA QUIZON

Thursday came quickly. This is my first day at my new responsibility. Reid still doesn’t know about my new job. I don’t want to lie but it’s better to keep it a secret from my son. He might think of asking about Wright and I have nothing to answer. Eugene knew about my new job. If I needed him, he would come right away.

“I’ll pick you up later. Wait for Mommy.” I said softly to Reid as I send him to school.

“Yes.” He nodded and kissed me on the cheek before entering the gate of his school.

He stopped walking and faced me again. He waved and I waved too before he disappeared from my eyes sight. I hailed a taxi to go to Wright’s address. I had prepared myself for our confrontation. I shouldn’t get over how I feel, the feeling of hatred.

Yes, I still love him. But I can’t be with him anymore. I love my son more now. My world revolves around him.

My mind was interrupted when the taxi stopped in front of the big house blocked by huge gates. I handed my fee to the driver before getting off the taxi. I swallowed several times before ringing the doorbell.

My grip tightened on the strap of the bag that hung over my shoulder when an assistant came out.

“Who are you?” She asked politely.

I was about to speak when the door of the house opened, and Wright came out. He is wearing a white V-neck shirt and just khaki shorts.

“Flora… I’ll take it from here.” He glanced at me and immediately returned his gaze to the maid. “Thank you.”

Flora turned around and went inside. I was devastated as Wright approached the gate.

Those eyes held me in such a trance I felt dizzy. My body became alert like it had been called by its owner. My senses were heightened, and my entire body prickled. Even from a distance, I knew his eyes were unique. He was tall, broad, but even with his grey cashmere sweater, his muscles were evident.

He came to the gate and opened it for me. “Come in.”

“Thank you,” I said in a cold voice and stepped into the gate. I walked to the door of his house but was stopped by the feeling of his hand sliding around my waist.

I looked at him sharply and removed his arm that was supporting me. “I don’t need your assistance, Mister Agoncillo. I can perfectly walk without your hand supporting my back.”

He bit his lower l*p. He stared at me. With the extreme intensity of his stare, I was the first to averted. I went ahead of him to walk.

I don’t want to be rude. Especially to my employers. But he’s different. He’s pushing all my buttons. I want to show that I am no longer affected by him.

“Uncle! What took you so long?” I turned to Bobbie. She runs closer to us. When she saw me she immediately stopped! Her hug tightened on the teddy bear she was carrying.

I gave her a sweet smile. “Hi, Bobbie. Remember me?”

I saw the hesitation on his face. She nodded softly and hid behind Wright’s thigh. Wright turned to Bobbie and bent his upper body. He picked up the child and she encircled her arms on his neck.

“Let’s go inside.” Wright went through the beautiful door first.

As soon as I went inside, the white and blue colours of the walls appeared to me. My shoes create sounds because of the wooden flooring tiles. I looked up and marvelled at the glowing chandelier.

What else can I expect in an Agoncillo’s house? I didn’t know that he had a house built here. I heard then that they had sold all their land here in the Philippines. I saw Wright lower Bobbie to the seat of the White Grand Piano.

He was whispering something to the child, but I couldn’t hear that. Wright said goodbye to us because one of his investors was still on Skype, so Bobbie and I were left in the nice living room.

I started teaching Bobbie basic Piano songs like Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle and Row, Row your boat. I’m starting to wonder because it seems like Bobbie is learning so fast, but I just thought that maybe being a musician is inherent in her b***d.

“Can I play a song?” She said timidly.

I nodded. “Yes, s-sure.”

She lowered the Teddy Bear and positioned her fingers to the piano keys. All my hair stood on end when he played one of Beethoven’s songs.

“Bobbie…” Bobbie stopped when he heard that hard voice.

We both turned to Wright. He holds a tray containing cookies and juice. From my peripheral vision, Boobie hugged her Teddy Bear.

“I’m sorry, Uncle.” I looked at Bobbie. She crouched down as she hugged the Teddy Bear tightly.

I swallowed. From the looks of the two of them, it looks like something happened that they didn’t like. I no longer restrained myself from questioning. “You can play the piano, Bobbie?”

She nodded. “I can play instruments like guitar, violin, and drums.”

“Is that why you don’t want to go to school? Because you already know everything we taught to you?” I hope my suspicion that Wright manipulated me is incorrect.

She shook her head. “I want to help my uncle.”

“What kind of help?” From my peripheral vision, Wright set the tray down on the table.

“I won’t tell. We pinky-promised.”

I knelt in front and smiled. “You know, I can also help you with your problem. Tell me.”

“I’m sorry. I won’t.”

“Bobbie…” Wright approached us. I moved away a bit because our shoulders hit when it knelt. He caressed Bobbie’s cheek. “Go to your room. Teacher Melissa and I will just talk, Ok?”

Bobbie nodded and got off the chair. My gaze followed as she ran up the grand stairs. I also stood up and faced the manipulative jerk.

Wright cleared his throat. His eyes are troubled and cannot look at me directly. I’m starting to get bored. “Let’s… Let’s go to the patio.”

I followed him. My hands were clasped until we reached the patio. I sat in front of the mahogany table on the edge of the man-made falls. As relaxing as that scenario was, I still didn’t enjoy it because Wright was in front of me.

I folded my arms and looked at him sharply. “This is your plan, no?”

“Y-Yes.”

“This is not looking well for you, Wright.” I cannot control myself. I’m living in a rage right now.

He gasped. “This is the only way I know to…”

“How many times do I have to say, ‘I don’t want to’!”

“I’m still entitled to see my child, Melissa.”

Damn you! “You lost your right when you said, I have to abort him!”

“I-I have a reason…” His voice trembled and his eyes started to redden.

“Whatever your reason, child abortion is not the solution!” I raised my voice.

Why does he insist on claiming my son, even if he’s the one to throw us away?! I know garbage can be recycled or reused, but we are not like that. He has thrown us away, he can no longer pick us up and take us back.

“I don’t care about your reasons. Keep it to yourself, I don’t need to hear it.”

He approached me but I backed away immediately. “No… Y-You need to hear it.”

“I do not want it,” I said firmly and turned away.

“Wait a minute… Mel…” I felt like I was burned when he touched my arm. I struggled from his grasp. He went in front of me to block my path. The next thing I didn’t expect to happen…

He knelt in front of me and hugged his arms around my waist.

“Shit. What are you doing?!” I shouted. I tried to remove his arms from my waist.

“Please, Melissa. I’ve changed. I’ll make it right.” Tears run down from his eye.

If I was just Melissa back then, I probably would have forgiven Wright. But now, it’s too late for that. I became more stable, and I covered my heart with ice.

“I’m sorry for everything. Forgive me. Have mercy—”

“Mercy?” I laughed heartily even though there was a blockage in my throat. “There’s no mercy left in my heart for you, Wright. Honestly speaking, you have no room in my heart. I despise you! Let me go!”

“Melissa, my family— We’re struggling… I can’t do anything…” His shoulder shook but I still tried to remove his arms on me. “I’m begging you, listen to me… I have my reasons…”

I pushed him away, but his grip tightened even more. “Let me go! Wright!”

“I don’t… I don’t want to lose you again. I cannot take it anymore.”

“Urgh! What the heck?! Let me go!” I was about to strike him, but cold water poured on my body.

“You’re hurting my uncle! You’re a bad person!”

I lowered my hand and looked into Bobbie’s glowing eyes. She holds the glass that previously held the juice.

“Bobbie!”

Wright stood up and immediately approached Bobbie He took the glass from the child’s hands. He wiped the tear from his cheek before facing Bobbie.

“Why did you do that?”

“Why are you like that? You are no different from my father! You are all hurting and making my loved one cry.” She said earnestly to me before running into the house. I was stunned to see the pain in his eyes.

“Bobbie!” Wright shouted but Bobbie didn’t seem to hear him. Wright’s gaze shifted to me. He slowly approached me so my gaze went to him. “I-I’m sorry— Geez! Your blouse!”

I sighed when I saw the look of my blouse. It got wet, and my black bra shows on the white fabric. My arms covered my chest.

“I-I’ll get you a t-shirt.” He got panicked.

“No, there’s no need. I’m just going home.” I said coldly. I passed him but he grabbed my arm.

“No. I won’t let your travel looking like that. Come with me, I’ll find you a change of clothes.” He says firmly as if he hadn’t begged me minutes ago.

I didn’t say anything. I let him pull me inside the house. I gasped as I remembered the obvious pain in Bobbie’s eyes. Is that how I would see Reid’s expression when he found out I lied to him? Will I be able to explain to him if that opportunity comes?

I was left in the middle of the living room and waited for Wright to come down. I didn’t want to go inside his room, so I just waited for him here.

I saw Wright coming down the stairs, and handed the white dress. “Just get dressed in the bathroom upstairs. Just turn left and you’ll see a door.”

I took a deep breath and took the dress in his hand. I didn’t bother to say thank you because it was his fault why this happened to me. If he hadn’t manipulated me, I wouldn’t have been spilt juice and Bobbie wouldn’t have made an impression on me.

I climbed to the stairs and turned left. I first opened the blue door. My eyes almost popped out when I saw what was written there. My feet moved spontaneously and went inside it.

Crib.

Unisex wall decor.

Toddler bedding.

High Chair. Robots. Dolls. Milk Bottles. Blue and Pink Stroller. Clothes and Bedsheets. And lots of babies stuff.

“W-What—”

“You’ve opened the wrong door.”

I turned to the person who owned that voice. Wright was standing in the hallway and his gaze penetrated my body. My heart pounded as he began to walk closer to me.

He passed me and went inside the room; his hand touched the crib. He rotates the toy attached to it and it started creating a lullaby song.

“This room is my stress reliever.” He sighed before looking around the room until his eyes landed on me. He smiled sadly. “I designed this room myself. Even the toys, bedsheets, this crib, everything… I chose it myself. I don’t know if our child is a girl or a boy, so I divided the room.” He caressed the crib. “It’s his room. It’s our son’s room.”

“Why did you do this? All of this?” I’m thankful that I didn’t stutter. “You don’t like my son, do you? You turned your back on us.”

He swallowed a few times and sighed then faced me.

“Melissa… I used you. I used you to bring my first love back. To make her jealous. To make her crawl back to me.” My jaw hardened because of what he said. And especially when he mentioned the name of the person who ruined my son’s future. “Claire.”

I looked at him coldly. I can’t even listen to what he has to say. “I’m leaving.”

I was about to go out of the room when he walked fast and closed to the door in front of me. Wright turned and raised his arms on either side of me. I didn’t flinch at the intensity of his stare, I resisted him.

“At least, hear the whole story before you drop to a conclusion.”

Okay.

I’m giving him a chance to explain. It’s up to me if I consider it or not.

I didn’t say I was giving him a chance for him to have a place in my son’s life.

I’m tired of being hurt over and over again because of him.

“I went to Cebu, not for a business meeting but because of Claire. I heard that she no longer together with her boyfriend. Maybe she already realized that I’m the one for her. We talked about you. How… How could I get rid of you? She came home with me to Manila because that was part of the plan, that we had to hurt you so that you wouldn’t chase me anymore.” He cleared the blockage in his throat. “The day you left, I heard that our company was losing money. Daddy was addicted to gambling. He lost all our property. The bank comes to us every day to say that they will take our houses and land.”

My l*p almost bled from the pressure of my bite to stop the tears from coming out of my eyes. My hand clenched, the clothes I was holding were almost crumpled due to the pressure of it. Now that the revelations are coming out of his very lips, every pain I felt then is coming back.

My nights when I cried, the insults of my schoolmates, the coldness of Grandma’s treatment of me. And the more painful part was I remember the day I begged him for our child, but he dismissed me, his refusal to take care of my son.

It’s all coming back again.

“But you come back even we’re over, and you said, you’re pregnant and I’m the father. I don’t know how I will feel. I’m confused. Our company is losing money, we have nothing left. Even I have no certainty about the future.”

“You wanted to kill us because of that? Is that it? That will solve all your problems?” I boldly said. “Wright, there are a lot of ways. We will not pursue a luxurious life. We don’t need that. All I wanted was you— to be there for our baby. That’s all but you didn’t, you got scared. You only think of yourself.”

His eyes ached. Abundant tears dripped from his eyes. I pressed my lips tightly together and avoided looking at him. His shoulders shook and small sobs were coming out of his mouth. He looked like that for a few minutes. His hands were also bent, blocking my side.

“I tried… I tried to think that I could give our son a good life. I tried. But, Melissa, how can I do that? I grew up in a wealthy family. I’m not the one stretching the body just to have something to eat. One word and the things I need will be in front of me. How can I support you if I do not know how to support myself.” His hand wiped his face. But as soon as he removed his hand, tears immediately dripped from his left eye. “What if I don’t succeed? I-I don’t want to… I don’t want the time to come, that our son will blame me because I can’t give him his needs. He does not eat three times a day. Salt is all I can buy for you. We have no shelter but the road and under the bridge. I can’t see our lives like that.”

I couldn’t stop the tears, it’s like a dam the kept on pouring. “You’re coward, Wright. Do you think, only money matters in the world? You are mistaken. You fool.”

Pain covered his eyes when I said those words. I pushed his chest and stepped back from him.

“You left us just for that useless reason? You are a fool!” I added. “You want to abort Reid for that lame reason?! What if I did that, I aborted Reid, you would still leave me, wouldn’t you? There is nothing left for me. I’m going crazy.”

“Melissa…” He sniffed. “When I was in America, I tried several times to find you and go. But, Dad got sick. He has cancer. And Mama doesn’t want to let me go because Papa will die at any moment. He wanted me by his side if that time comes. I can’t leave. This house, I have it built at that time because I want us to live here when I find you.”

“And you think it’s that easy? That is an instant we will come with you just because of what you said and you are bribing us with those fancy things?! ”

“All I want is for us to be together.” He said softly.

“The day you kicked me out and said you didn’t love me, I was devastated. Because of you, Wright. You destroyed me. T-The pain was overwhelming. I laid myself in front of you, and you did nothing but step on me.” My voice broke and my shoulder shook. I got on my knees in exhaustion. “And here we are again. You want me to give you a chance just because you said that you’ve changed.”

Wright immediately knelt in front of me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I didn’t struggle anymore because I could feel his weakness and nor I. I pressed my head against his chest. We both sobbed and hugged each other. We were in that position for a few minutes.

“I love you, Melissa.” He whispered in my ear.

I stopped sobbing when I heard that. He turned me to him, and I saw the sincerity in his eyes. He removed a few strands of my hair out of my face.

“I realized that when I was in America. When you’re not with me anymore, I kept on looking for your warmth. I always wonder if you are okay if you cry every day because of me if the wound I made has healed. I think about you all the time. I think of you. Because that’s all I can do so that I can be with you even in my mind, even in my dreams.”

He smiled sadly. I can’t speak or more correctly I don’t know what to say because I don’t know if I still believe in him.

He glued our foreheads together and closed his eyes. His hands caressed my chin. “Believe me, please. Claire is not the one I love, you are. I can’t blame you if you don’t accept me now. I will prove to you that I love you. I love you and Reid.”

That’s enough. I’ve heard enough.

I pushed him and quickly stood up. He sat on the floor and looked at the space. I wiped the tears that had dried on my cheeks. “The tables have turned, I used to cry in front of you and beg you to accept, now, you are on your knees, Wright, and like your reaction then, I don’t know anything about you. Reid and I have a good life. Don’t bother us anymore. We don’t need you.”

I opened the door and quickly went down the stairs. From there I heard Wright shout. His voice was tinged with pain and suffering.

I fumbled with my bag that was at the top of the grand piano. I just put the t-shirt he gave me on top of my blouse. Just as I was coming out of the gate, a taxi passed by, so I quickly waved at it. I said our home address and then tears welled up in my eyes.

‘I love you, Melissa’.

‘I will prove that I love you.’

‘I always think of you.’