Chapter 4: Way Back Home

Pablo was silent. He remained dumbfounded after receiving the shocking news from his mother.

“Estás loco Pablo. Por qué te casarías con una sirvienta?” Pablo’s mother was furious. She had been scolding her only son, calling him crazy for wanting to marry a servant. She also told him that Laura would be deported to the Philippines.

“Tonto! Como puedes hacernos esto?” The woman was full of anger. She could not believe that Pablo would do such a foolish thing as proposing marriage to a mere house cleaner.

Out of her exasperation, she was shaking her son’s shoulders as if she was trying to get the sense of out him.

“Mamá, por qué hiciste eso? That was the woman I love.” Pablo got the courage to speak his mind and asked his mother why she had to report Laura to the Spanish authorities for deportation.

“Lunatico!” his mother replied. “You will never see that woman again!” The words were final and Pablo could not do anything about it.

It turned out that Pablo’s parents had been prying on their son’s love affair for quite a while. They even hired a private investigator to probe Laura and her background. They found out that Laura’s stay in Spain could be considered unlawful as she had lacking documents to work legally in their country.

And that day, Laura was to be deported to the Philippines.

Two days after Laura and Pablo arrived from Playa de Bolonia, the former was preparing to go to work that morning. She was feeling refreshed after spending a week on a tranquil beach with the man he loved so dearly.

She just took a shower and was putting on her uniform. She went in front of a little mirror that she mounted on her dusty wall. She combed her hair and put a little tint on her lips.

“I don’t need make-up. I am beautiful the way I am,” she uttered to herself while staring at the mirror.

“You are a beauty queen you know!” Indeed, Laura was a queen in their small town. Before she entered college, she was hailed the most beautiful woman in the municipality of Pakil in Laguna, Philippines.

She remembered those lovely memories. “And the crown goes to candidate number 2, Laura Medina.”

She recalled the time when she bagged the title as Miss Pakil 1990. She cried. She was overwhelmed when she was announced as the winner and the glittering crown was placed on her head.

“I could still recall that precious moment.” She was happily reminiscing the first and only pageant she had joined.

She wore a decent one-piece swimwear as she was still shy to showcase her figure. And her splendid gown - she was a spectacle in a red number which made everyone gaze in awe.

The memories were sweet. It was as sweet as the orange juice she was drinking. She decided to sit on the only seat in her room, a black stool. She also had a little plastic table she had bought in a store near her apartment.

Laura took a piece of bread from a plastic wrap. “This will be the best breakfast that I will ever eat in my whole life.”

It was a simple breakfast – merely a piece of wheat bread she had bought from a bakery shop across the street from her apartment building, and a glass of orange juice.

She took her first bite. Then, a sparkling little thing adorning one of her fingers took her attention. It was a one-of-a-kind diamond ring she received from Pablo.

Laura recalled what took place on their last night at Playa de Bolonia. While they were strolling on the beach holding hands, Pablo suddenly grabbed her shoulders and turned her towards him.

“I love you Laura. You are the world to me.” Pablo could not contain his emotions. He knelt in front of his lady love and took something from his pocket.

It was a small little golden box. He opened and revealed a diamond ring.

Laura was speechless. She raised her palms and covered her face. She was so surprised that she couldn’t say a thing. She was overwhelmed with emotions that very moment.

“Laura, two years may already seem too long for us to know each other. But I know you are my one and I believe the two of us should be together forever. Will you say yes if I ask you to be together with me for the rest of our lives?” Pablo did not falter to say each word clearly. The man just proposed marriage to the woman. It was Laura’s turn to respond.

“Pablo, my love. I…” Laura was stuttering. “I am so… so surprised. I… I… did not expect you to do this tonight.” The woman may have held her breath too long. She was grasping for words.

“You will make this hombre truly happy if you say yes,” Pablo responded.

“All right! Yes. Yes, I will be with you forever.” That moment was magical. Pablo placed the diamond ring into Laura’s finger.

“This is so lovely,” Laura uttered while caressing Pablo’s face. Then, she was shocked as Pablo stood up to grab her waist and raised her in the air.

Pablo was turning her around while declaring her love. “I love you so much, Laura. Te amo darling.”

“Pablo I am so happy. I love you, too.” Laura was just too happy that she shouted those words as well.

The man put Laura down. Then, he cupped her face and claimed her lips. He kissed him so passionately. It was as if it was the last time they would see each other. He stopped, looked into her eyes. Then, he kissed those lips again - this time in a long, gentle way.

Laura opened her eyes. She touched her own lips. She could still feel the softness of Pablo’s lips. Her body shivered as if she was still in that moment. Then, she looked at her ring. She was praising that thing on her finger. “You are now mine, beautiful thing.” She was smiling while saying those words.

She was finishing the last piece of her bread when she heard knocks on her door. She wondered as to who might want to see her that early. It couldn’t be her landlord as it was not yet the end of the month for the payment of her monthly due.

The knocking on her door continued. She stood up and opened it. “Buenos dias! How may I help you?”

“Buenos dias senorita,” the man in uniform greeted her in his thick Castillian accent. “Are you Laura Medina?”

“Si! Por qué preguntas?” Laura became alarmed by the situation. She didn’t have a single idea why this man was looking for her.

“Well, I am from the Centros de Internamiento de Extranjeros, and we need to invite you to our office. Somebody has reported that you are an illegal alien and you have been overstaying in this country,” the man explained.

Laura was puzzled. Her mind was filled with confusion. She could not express herself. “But I have a visa and a passport.” Finally, those words came out of her mouth.

“May I see them?” The man asked.

Laura hurriedly looked for her bag and grabbed her purse. She took her passport and gave it to the man. “Here’s my passport and visa.”

“All right. Senorita, your visa has expired. You need to come with me to the office to settle this problem,” the man said.

“But por favor, I have a paper that said it has been extended.” She was about to burst into tears while explaining to the deportation officer.

“Where did you get this?” the man asked.

“My employment agency gave it to me. They said it was fine.” She was panicky while saying her side.

“Senorita, this is a fabricated document. See this, no seal of the government. If you want to settle this, you have come with me to the office.” The officer was insistent.

“But will you deport me?” Laura couldn’t stop crying. “Please officer, I cannot leave this country. Let me stay.”

“Senorita, we will know about that in the office. So, please cooperate.” The man’s voice was still firm but a sense of compassion could be noticed.

Laura went with the officer to a detention center where illegal aliens and immigrants were placed.

The document that Laura possessed containing her visa extension was indeed a fraud. Her employment agency had duped her into paying a huge amount for that fake piece of paper. She couldn’t stop crying.

She begged the officials to let her stay but to no avail, they couldn’t grant her request. She had to pay a huge sum just to have her visa extended. And if she opted to stay, she would have to be detained in jail.

Things happened so fast that day. In the evening, Laura was already inside an aircraft on the way to Manila, in the Philippines. She had to return to her own country.

While looking at the window of the plane, she was anticipating for a man to suddenly show up and save her from that miserable situation – Pablo.

Since that morning, she had been calling Pablo on his phone. But, he never took those calls.

Unfortunately, Pablo’s mother took his phone away. The man didn’t have a choice but to follow his parents or he would lose his inheritance. He couldn’t do anything to save Laura.

“Goodbye Espana! I will miss you forever,” she uttered while wiping the tears rolling down her cheeks.

She raised her hand and look at her finger. She was still wearing that diamond ring. But the sparkle seemed to fade.

“Goodbye Pablo!” Despite what he did, Laura knew in her heart that she would love the man forever.