Chapter 5: Unresolved Dilemma

            It’s already evening when Miana came home. She is tired of all the stuff she needs to do before flying to America. She’s tired of the endless dramas from her work and family. She’s bothered on how to steam out the heavy feeling that she keeps on burying in herself. She lay down in her bed, looking at the ceiling. Looking at her phone got a message from an unknown number. She opens the message thinking who might that was, texting her in the middle of the night.

Message from Unknown Number:

            Hey! How have you been? I’ve been contacting you for quite a while now but, you didn’t message me back. Are we good? I want to ask you, how are you there in Manila. Our neighbors can’t believe that you step your foot in that city. I’m so proud of you. Should I accompany you and Gracel there? When? Hmmm. It’s a surprise. You will see me the day I’m there. Wait for me Miana. I miss you.

                She gets up on her bed nervously. She walks to and fro without thinking. She feels something might happen again-this time, even worse. Even though that’s from an unknown number, she felt the terror and horror of the message. It’s a long hour past before Miana came to her sense and think straight. She’s sweating like a nervous lad. Thinking about whom to call from that time, and decided to dial a number.

“Hello?”

“Graceeeey” (Miana’s sobbing now)

“Hey? What happened?”

“I’m sorry for disturbing you. I need someone to talk right now and you’re the only one who knows the whole story”

“What now? Is that your family?”

“No, not them. I think Leo came back to being my stalker”

“What?! As in Leo, our childhood friend who is so obsessed with you?! For real?!!”

“Gracey, calm down it’s 1 am”

“Oh? What?!”

“Yeah, can you please lower your voice down?”

“Sorry, Miana. I thought it’s morning already”

“Yeah, mornight”

“So, what’s the tea?”

“Gracey, someone messaged me. I’m nervous. The contents of the messages are familiar. Like all the letters that I received from Leo. The obsession of that guy. The heights and everything that he can do just to follow me. I’m afraid”

“Shhh. Shhh. There, there. Do you want me to hire a personal bodyguard for you? Just to be safe”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Or should I call help from the police? Tell me something Gracey, I’m afraid”

“Tell me it’s not a death threat”

“It’s not”

“Okay, rest for now. We will figure it out tomorrow”

“Okay. I will try”

“Hai, hai. Oyasumi”

                               All that is left to bring you pain, are the memories.

                                             If you face those, you’ll be free.

                         You can’t spend the rest of your life hiding from yourself;

                          always afraid that your memories will incapacitate you,

                                  and they will if you continue to bury them

                                       ― J.D. Stroube, Caged in Darkness

            Miana gets out of the office earlier than her usual schedule. She tries to distract herself from thinking too much about the message she got the other night. Her chest felt heavy and her body is too tired to move. She’s like drowning from water that isn’t there. She stops walking for a while to catch her breath when Ethan saw her. Confused Ethan supports her body while walking. He can sense that something is off with her just by looking at her.

“Hey, sit here first. I will get you some water”

“O-Okay”

            Ethan runs towards a nearby food stall to buy a bottle of water and a burger. He is observing Miana from afar, thinking about what happened to her. He out a loud sigh because he didn’t know what’s happening to her. The confusion might go away if he asks Miana about it.

                                      All the things will fall apart now?

“Miana, are you okay?”

“Yes, of course”

“You don’t look good. What happened to you?”

“My province’s problem coming back at me”

“What kind of problem is that?”

“Obsessed person? I think”

“Obsessed at you? Like how?”

“Uhhh, he can do everything to follow me? He is one-of-a-kind stalker if you will ask me”

“Like what?!”

BACKSTORY:

            Our province, Albay is a nice place. You will feel the peace and fresh air there. You can’t compare Manila and Albay because they are too different to compare with. I admit that I didn’t have a nice life when I’m there. I dream so high and take all the things so I can achieve everything. Everything that I wanted to. Family and friends are the only reason that I am standing strong. I am tired to be poor having two to three jobs to sustain my studies and my family. I got acquaintances but I only have two real friends. We’re a group of three—one boy and two girls.

WAY BACK WHEN I AM STILL 5 YEARS OLD…

“Graceeeeey, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

“I want to be a famous model. Like those models in Victoria’s Secret. I adore them so much. I want to do pageants also. Walking on the stage, people are clapping because they saw me as beautiful and sexy”

“Wow, don’t forget us when you become one!”

“Of course not!”

“How about you, Miana?”

“Uh, I want to be rich. So, I can buy a biiiiig house with cars and a motorcycle. I can sustain my family here, and leave the province for good”

“That’s quite a dream, my daughter”

“Papa!”

“Hey, that’s huge. But I know you can do that. You’re smart and easy to cope up. You can have every dream you wanted”

“How about you, Leo?”

“I want to be part of your life so we can achieve your dream together”

            I’m shocked at what I heard. I’m just 5 that time but those words deeply sawed unto me. Like a curse, deepening inside my flesh whenever I remember him. Time flies so fast, Leo became more and more clingy to me. He accompanies me to school whenever he has a chance. And getting mad when I’m with other guys. I thought he is just overprotective to me. I recognize the sign but never bother to confront him about the meaning of it.

“I already told you, you shouldn’t be with them!”

“Leo! Stop, you’re not my boyfriend stop acting like you are!”

“Oh, really?! I’m not? Give back everything I gave to you”

            Right there, he slaps me. So hard that I even stumbled down. I look up at him and saw his eyes burning in anger. My body can’t move in fear. My cheeks feel so hot. I don’t know what to do that time.

“Will you listen to me now?!”

“Ye-eees”

“I will be going back to school now. Get up. See me there”

            He walks straight past me. Never bother to look back. He leaves me there like it was nothing. That’s the time my fear started to eat me. Whenever he’s around, I try to avoid him as soon as I felt his presence. That’s not the first time he lay a hand on me. He even humiliates me and I don’t even bother to call for help. I tried to but no one believes in me. Most people knew him for being the nicest guy on the Earth.

“Miana, going somewhere?”

“Yes, none of your business”

“What? You’re talking back at me?!”

“And what if I say YES?!”

“Why do you have many bags?! Where are you going?!”

“I said it’s none of your business!”

            He grabs my things and throws them on the ground. I already expect that. He is psycho, that’s natural. I get my purse and cellphone and one bag. I run. I run to save my life from a psycho. I didn’t love him. I thought he’s protecting me but all the reason I think of? It’s all my imaginative self. Leo is obsessed and can’t think straight anymore. I run and never look back.

And now he is back…