Chapter 4 - The Past

Amelia immediately answers her cellphone, not just because the vibrating sound annoys her but she already knows why Dave called.

"Yes, Dave?" Amelia answers in an emotionless tone while reaching for Phoebe's unfinished plate.

"Yes, Dave?" He said in an irritating voice, " You sound like you are in a bad mood." he followed it sarcastically.

Feeling worn out,  she runs her right hand through her head and leans her back to the chair. "Ugh! My head feels heavy, why did you call?" 

"It's about..." Dave paused for a second, he felt like this is not the proper time to talk about Phoebe but he wants to take his chance anyway.

Amelia interrupted, "Phoebe?" her vertical wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows.

Dave hesitantly said, "Yyy...yeah, kind of...", he shrugged. 

Amelia clicked the loudspeaker command on her cellphone and walked through the fridge to get some cold orange juice. She is silently listening to Dave's eagerness to be with Phoebe while pouring the one-liter carton of orange juice in a clear glass and gulped it.

"Look, after all these years I realized that I should be getting into my senses and be liable for you and Phoebe. I made mistakes and my conscience is killing me every night. I hope this is not too late and not too much to ask but... I want to spend time with both of of you, with her, give me at least a day or two in a week to be with our daughter..."

Amelia scowled and banged the fridge door, " Our daughter? Where were you when I gave birth Dave? Where were you when I was throwing up hard and I cannot even eat well?"

"Ugh! Oh...Here we go again, blaming me for all your morning sickness."

"You were not man enough to show your face when I broke the news that I'm pregnant, Oh I forgot (Amelia covers her mouth) You are not a man anyway, haha!", she laughs hard with an undertone insult.

Dave raises his voice, "Stop insulting me, Amelia!"

"Don't you dare raise your voice at me! I did not owe you any!" Amelia answered in a high-pitched tone while piling all the plates in the sink.

 Dave lowered his voice, "I know I am an absentee father for years but I want to make up for her. The last time I saw her was when she celebrated her 4th birthday since then I cannot stop thinking about her, about you."

Amelia butted in, "And you should thank me for that. I shouldn't have invited you but for Phoebe's sake, I did."

Dave maintains his submitting voice, "Give me a chance to be a father to Phoebe, if I cannot force you to marry me and have our own family, then at least share Phoebe's time with me."

She is still waiting for Dave's next words...

"Hello? Are you still there Amelia?"

"Yes, meet me in the coffee shop near my place, and let's talk about Phoebe's schedule."

"Can't we just talk this over the phone?"  Dave frowned.

"Are you afraid to meet me?" Amelia teases him with a little laugh while putting on her trousers and cardigan.

Dave denied, "No, but..."

"Tooot...toooot....toooot..."

Amelia hanged up already. She grabbed her black purse, put her cellphone into her pocket and goes straight to the door, and slammed it with a heavy heart.

She waited this for so long. She is dying to face him and tell him straight to his face about her pain of being neglected.

Her solid and weighty steps rushed through the elevator. She is rehearsing the words in her mind. She wants to tell Dave everything, from her pregnancy suffering until the time that Phoebe was almost on the brink of her death and Dave was not even answering her calls. Her heavy heart wants to burst with cold tears but she is holding it back while she clenched her left hand into her black purse.

Dave nervously drives his yellow hunchbacked car. He knows that he should be liable for Amelia, but his previous relationship with a man discouraged him to be with Amelia during her challenging times. He has been persuading her for months to live with him so that he can be with Phoebe, but he did not receive any answer from her. He also wants to divulge everything to her what he went through hoping that she could understand him.

The fast pacing in and out of people from the elevator gives Amelia a slow-motion of time when she remembers how she carried Phoebe inside her tummy for 9 months. Those 9 struggling months were the hardest because she has to stop from her night shift job and look for ways how to save up for her birth. She sold all kinds of products while working from home as a content writer on different entertainment websites.

Amelia is on the 9th floor and while the elevator door is slowly closing, a tall man quickly stops the door and enters.

"You seem to be not okay Miss."

There were three girls inside the elevator and Amelia thought that the tall man is not talking to her. She did not mind what he said.

The two other girls giggle with delight and flash a smile at the man "We are fine actually."

The man answered back, "Oh good for you girls, but I am talking to her." He points his eyes to Amelia.

Amelia raises her head and looks at the man, "Me?" And with confusion, she points her finger between her chest.

"Yeah, you always seem to be not okay whenever I see you." He talks to Amelia but does not set his eyes on her. He speaks and looks blankly at the elevator door.

"Ding!" The elevator signal buzzed and they are already on the ground floor.

Amelia mumbled, "Ss...sorry but I do not remember meeting you and I'm in a hurry."

She hurriedly walked out of the building and reached the nearest coffee shop with her quick heavy steps.

The full-glass coffee shop near her building is their dating place before. The heat of the sun from the outside clashes with the coldness of the AC temperature from inside the coffee shop bringing the customers warmth and cozy feeling from the place. 

Dave is not there yet, but she spots a chair near the counter and decides to take it. 

She lifts the menu card on her table and while looking at it, she can see Dave is opening the glass door of the coffee shop approaching her in a slow-motion effect in her mind. He was wearing the blue collared shirt and beige cargo shorts with white sneakers on that she gave from their last anniversary celebration before she got pregnant.

"Sorry, I'm late, blame the traffic jam," Dave explains while showing-off that he is wearing the things that she gave him.

Amelia purposely ignores Dave's show-offs and calls the coffee shop staff to order a strawberry frappuccino and a kiwi iced tea.

With his sparkling eyes, Dave  agreed, "I'm impressed, you still remember my favorite drink."

"Whatever, lay your cards on the table, why do you want to spend time with Phoebe?" Amelia's eyebrows pulled together looking suspiciously at Dave.

"As I said, I decided to be a father figure to Phoebe." he held out his arms displaying a welcoming gesture to Amelia.

"After all these years?" Her head tilted back slightly and pulls her right eyebrow upwards.

"Yes I admit my mistakes but please give me a chance, I am changing, and I'm seriously desperate to have you back."

The coffee shop staff is all smiles while bringing their orders on the table.

Amelia is holding back her tears as she gets her cold strawberry frappuccino. She doesn't want to show him her pain. She just wants to pursue her dream house and restaurant in the province without Dave by her side, by their side which she is not planning to tell Dave anytime soon. She can raise her daughter alone because she has been raising her alone for 4 years without any financial support from Dave.

"So what made you decide to change and be a man?", she took a sip of her drink while staring blankly at him.

"Andy and I broke up." He purposely bowed his head to avoid Amelia's facial reaction.

"Haha!" She laughs sardonically. "So... spending time with Phoebe is not only because you miss her but your sudden change of mind is because of your failed relationship with Andy. Hahahaha!" 

"No! Think of it as a sign that I should be responsible for you and Phoebe, I am not getting any younger, and I want to straighten my life before it's too late."

"And?" she crossed her arms over her chest.

"And I realized that I should be man enough, I want to court you again, and marry you and have our own house and live together like a family." Dave rushed his words through his mouth and his lips trembles while assuring Amelia of his change.

"Wait, stop!" Amelia held her left palm facing Dave. "I can agree for Phoebe's time with you on weekends, but marrying you would be too much."

Her cold-hearted tears fall from Amelia's cheeks as she wipes them with her frozen shaking hands. Dave is preparing to comfort her but Amelia rejects his actions.

She busts her knuckles on the side of her seat.

"I endured all the pain Dave, I suffered a lot. We were happy then, we were the best couple even if I knew you were still having relationships with some other guys but I trusted you. You changed when I told you that we are having a baby. Our arguments turned to verbal abuse. You begin to hurt me physically which I do not understand. You ignored my calls and stayed away from me. It was so hard because we are working in the same company. I tried to please and beg you. I tried so hard to make you realize that you will be a father. BUT YOU ARE SO SELFISH that you choose your wasteful life with guys over us and now you want me back because you and Andy are no longer together? STOP FOOLING ME DAVE!" 

Amelia grabbed the red clear glass of strawberry frapuccino and gulped it hard.

A short old man glanced at them from behind lifted his chin and wrapped his arms around himself. He seems eavesdropping from their conversation.

With a low tone, he answers, "Amelia, a second chance is what I am asking, please, I am willing to give our daughter the comfortable life that she wants and educational assistance that she needs until college, but in one condition..."

"What condition?" her blood rushed in her head and prepares for Dave's annoying words while drying her face from the last drops of her tears.

Dave takes his final sip of kiwi iced tea and leaned closer to Amelia, "We will live together under one roof."

Amelia's chest rose and fell with rapid breaths, her head is shaking and refuses Dave's condition, "NO! Phoebe can live with me alone."

She rose from her seat, lowered her eyelids and stabs the table with her hand, "You can be with Phoebe this weekend, fetch her and bring her back to me."

With tense steps, Amelia heads to the counter and pays for the bill. She handed out a 1000 peso bill to the cashier and while waiting for her change, her head jerked into the left and notice a a familiar short old man sitting behind their table and staring at her with his eyes squeezed in shut.