“Will you be visiting Mom and Dad tonight?” Vicki asked, as she put some carrots into the tall and large fridge in James’ kitchen.
I sighed. “Yeah, yeah. Seriously, no matter how I try not to feel bad for not always visiting them, it just doesn’t work.”
“You shouldn’t feel bad.” She closed the door of the fridge, picked up a napkin, and began cleaning the counters. “At least, all we’re doing is to work. If Mom and Dad were conscious, they’d completely understand this.”
“Uh. Guess so.” I nodded.
I took a napkin as well, assisting her to clean the counters. For some reason, she was staring at me so much. It felt like she was being hesitant to say something.
“What?” I raised an eyebrow at her.
She shrugged. “Donno. I just feel like something’s up with you. Is there something you need to tell me?”
I blinked as if I was confused. Well, she was right. First, I needed to tell her about James who had said something about me becoming his crazy wife. Second, I was worried to know that Ryan thought something was wrong with our relationship. And, third, mom and Dad’s state was still very traumatizing. Their health wasn’t getting any better.
“I’m fine.” I looked away, paying attention to the counter I was cleaning.
“Hm…” She cleared her throat. “I don’t believe you. I really feel like something’s wrong with you. Aside from how exhausted you seem, you’ve also been acting really weird. Wait, are you pregnant or something?”
Pregnant? Was she crazy?
I rolled my eyes, slamming the napkin against the counter. About complaining about how adamant she was on knowing what was going on in my mind, someone walked into the kitchen. It was one of the maids, short, pretty, and dark skinned.
She walked to us, and stood beside me as she put her hands behind her. She smiled. “Hi, guys. Sorry to interrupt you.”
“Oh. It’s… not a problem.” I returned her smile.
“Um, Mr. Robert, James’ father, needs to see you. He’s in the mini living room,” she announced.
“Me?” I raised my eyebrows, feeling quite surprised.
“Hm-hm.” She nodded. “Aren’t you Serene?”
“Oh.” I laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of my head. “Okay. Will be there soon.”
“Kk,” she added before stepping out.
Vicki hurried over to me, fear running through her facial expression as she stared at me. “What’s going on?” She asked.
I sighed. “Don’t have an idea. He probably needs someone to help him out with something, I guess. Nothing else.”
She took my hands, squeezing them in hers. “Please, tell me what’s going on. Why in the world would he wanna see you particularly?”
“It’s fine, hun.” I soothed her arm. Walking past her, I headed out of the kitchen immediately.
As I walked in the hallway, I took a deep breath. I felt very uncomfortable, and felt very confused. Why did Mr. Robert need to see me?
A few feets away from the room, I took another breath. And another. And another. Hopefully, I wouldn’t faint before speaking to him. Wait, he wasn’t even God.
Reaching the door, he asked me to come in, though his eyes were glued to the newspaper in his hands. I swallowed hard, and walked in.
“Good afternoon, sir,” I greeted.
He dropped the newspaper on the space beside him, on the red, three seater, leather couch he was seated on. He glanced at me, cleared his throat, and twitched his neck in the direction of the couch opposite him, signifying I should sit over there.
I nodded gently, and sauntered to the seat.
Again, he cleared his throat. His legs folded across each other, his eyes intently gazing at me. “Hi, dear. Nice to see you. Indeed, you’re a specimen of beauty.”
“Thank you,” I said. Nervous, I really was. But no, I had to act like I was confident.
“First…” He grabbed the mug of hot tea which stood on the small stool in front of him, and sipped from it. “I wanna apologize for my attitude yesterday. I was in a really bad mood.”
“Oh. It’s fine,” I assured him.
“Good,” he said. Dropping the mug back on the stool, he heaved. “You see, last night, my son came to me. I’m speaking of James.”
My heart skipped a beat, but I only stared blankly at him. First, I had to know what he was about to say. Wait, was James going to fire me for not accepting his proposal, just like Raymond had done? Oh, goodness. No!
“He said certain things to me…” He continued. “He said he likes you very much. I asked him if he knew you before you began working here, and he made me understand that you both have seen each other a couple of times.”
“Pardon?” I squeezed my face in disgust.
He smiled. “I was really happy when he told me that. He said he really wants you guys to get married. I asked him why he hasn’t told you about it, and he said that you have financial issues.”
“That’s a lie,” I rebuked his words.
He flapped his hand, and chuckled at me. “I know, I know. He said you’re shy, so I understand this. Anyway, I’m here to make a proposal on my son’s behalf. My dear, if you get married to him, I promise to balance your financial capability. First…” He pulled something from his pocket. It was a checkbook. “I’ll be signing a check of seventy million dollars. Once you agree to do it, all that amount of money will be given to you.”
“Wh-What?” I stuttered. My jaw dropped to the floor, my eyebrows dashing towards the ceiling. I was extremely shocked to hear him say that.
Again, he chuckled. “That’d only be an introduction. Other great things would come your way.”
For a while, we just stared at each other. He wore a neutral expression, shock running through me. This felt like a dream; a fantasy; something extremely unreal.
Was James really going this far? Was he really going to betray his friend? Was he really manipulating me to ditch my lover, and become a traitor to him? All in the name of money?
Dug in a great thrust of wrath, fear and sadness, my hands balled in a fist, and I hopped from the couch. My teeth clenched, and uncontrollably, tears built in my eyes.
“You disgust me,” I spat out. I raised my shaky hand, pointing my index finger at him. “Robert, never. I repeat, never, ask me to do something this crazy. You all are a bunch of wicked people, who think you can purchase people with your enticing money.”
He furrowed his eyebrows at me, seeming confused. “Please, why are you—”
“Enough.” I cut him off. Due to how furious I was, a tear escaped my eye. “I feel ashamed to encounter a person like you. Dicks.”
With that, I stormed towards the door, stormed into the hallway, and stormed out of his proximity.
As the day went by, I kept regretting the fact that I was working here. To worsen this craziness, I still hadn’t told Ryan about it.
Mr. Robert had had the guts to ask me to marry his son? That hurt my pride, dignity, and self-respect. What was I? A cheap thing? So disgusting.
***
“When you get home, tell me what the doctor says to you,” Vicki texted.
Letting out a deep breath, I locked my phone’s screen, and just put the phone in the pocket of my jacket. After James’ dad’s proposal, I really hadn’t been myself. I just couldn’t understand myself.
Staring at mom and dad’s doctor who was seated by the other side of this wooden desk, I felt completely lost. A lot of things were running in my head. I was yet to find a way of balancing the commotion in my life. This was getting too hard for me.
“Is there a problem?” Observing how tense and uneasy the doctor seemed, I was starting to get nervous. It seemed like she was hiding something from me.
She pulled off her glasses, and sighed. “Miss Alan, I don’t know how to say this to you.”
Those words stopped my heartbeat, for a while. I wasn’t sure of what she would say next. Since I had come to her office, she had been acting really weird, but I just couldn’t decipher what was up with her.
She exhaled really hard. Placing her elbow on the desk, she locked her fingers in each other. What was going on?
“I-Is there a problem?” I managed to speak. Even without hearing what she had to say, I already felt hot and scared. Sweat seeped on my forehead, my hands and feet shivering.
She swallowed. “At this point…” She shook her head as well. “The only solution is for your mom to undergo a heart transplant.”
My heart stopped. Completely.
I was numb.
I gulped. “What?” That word left my lips in a whisper.
“Else…” She continued. “You might lose her.”
Hopeless, I stared at her in despair. In the end, this had to happen.
What had she just said?