I wake up at almost 8 in the morning which is later than the usual time I wake when I was in the Philippines. I had to help Lucy and Candace in taking care of mom last night as she was having a hard time sleeping even after taking her meds. I couldn't sleep knowing mom wasn’t alright so I had to stay in her room.
First thing in the morning, I check on my phone. Excited to see if there’s any message from my friends especially Maddox. They are the only source of moral support except for Angelo of course. There were missed calls from Lea and Maddox half an hour ago, they probably called me before going to school. In my inbox, I see Samantha’s message first so I check on it.
Angel, we found out about the photo just last night when Cassy posted it on her social media accounts. Have you seen it already? Don’t believe in anything she says to you. Cassy is confident in interfering with your relationship with Maddox because you are far from him. Rest assured, Luke and I are on your side and will try our best to shut these bitches.
Yeah, Cassandra loves to brag that she has photos of Maddox that’s why she posted them on social media after sending them to me. When she didn’t get a satisfying reply from me she sought the student’s attention. Pretty smart, attention seeker bitch. Cassy’s lack of self-respect amazes me. She continues clinging to Maddox even if Maddox keeps pushing her away. She’s hopeless.
I refuse to reply to any of them to spare me from more dramatic conversations. I’m so over Cassy and her minions. It feels like they drained my energy more than worrying about mom's chemotherapy. I am in Singapore for a reason and that is for mom’s full recovery.
I walk over to the living room looking for Lucy. “Hi, Ms. Lucy, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure, Angel, come sit here.” Lucy taps the cushion beside her. “Does it concern your mom?”
“Ahm…no. This is quite personal. Something I should talk about with mom but in her condition, I don't want to give her more burden. You know.”
“I understand, Angel, feel free to talk to me. Your mom and I are almost the same age, you can treat me like your second mom.”
“Thank you, Ms. Lucy. I was thinking if I get to talk to you about your daughter at my age. How do you talk to her regarding her personal or love life if she has any.”
Ms. Lucy Heaves a sigh and composes herself. “The good thing about my daughter is that she is very open. We have good communication as me and my husband have practiced this ever since she was a child. My girl told me that someone tried to win her heart but the guy wasn’t her type so she rejected it.”
“Good morning Angel, Lucy. I’ll prepare breakfast for us.” Candace walks out of their room wearing her pajama.
“Oh, Candace, good morning. Can you do it alone?"
“Yeah, that’s not a problem. Roland is helping.”
“Thank you, Candace.” Candace nods as she heads to the kitchen, Roland following her.
“Back on it, Ms. Lucy. Do you mean your daughter is still not having a boyfriend at 15? That’s quite unusual because most teenagers nowadays are into relationships. It’s actually quite late for me to have my first boyfriend at 17.”
“Yeah, I think so and I'm thankful at the same time. As a mother, I don’t want her to have a boyfriend even at 15 but if she decides to have one I won’t stop her. As long as she's open, it would be fine.”
“That’s good to know. Mom and I have good communication, only now I refrain from giving her things to add up her burden. She is suffering from a disease already.”
“You are such a good daughter, Angel. You always think about your mom's well-being."
"She's the only one I got, Ms. Lucy. I grew up with my mom alone."
"Oh, sorry to hear that. Was your dad away for business most of the time since you were a child?"
"No, it's quite complicated. Mom and Angelo weren't married. They had to break up with mom since Angelo's family is against their relationship. Our family is not the typical one like you have Ms. Lucy. You are lucky to have a husband along with your kids."
"Your family may be different but I see your mom and dad happy with each other and having you as their daughter is a perfect family."
"Thank you, Ms. Lucy."
“Angel, Lucy, come on guys, breakfast is ready. Let’s eat.” Candace just finished preparing the food on the table and Roland helped her too.
“Ms. Lucy, you go first. I’ll just take a short walk outside. I need some air. Please, let me know when mom wakes up.”
“Sure. I’ll call you.”
“Guys, I’ll just head outside to take a walk. Enjoy your breakfast.”
Singapore is so nice to look at, with very clean streets, showing how disciplined the people are. How I wish I get more time to tour around and experience the culture, spend time and get to know the locals. It would be interesting.
The sun is out and it feels good on my skin. I haven’t been exposed to the sun for weeks because most of my time is spent in mom's room, doing my online class, going to the hospital, back and forth. It’s exhausting, to be honest, but I have no choice.
I guess I should be thankful for having Angelo at this time. If not for his help I don’t even know how we would support mom’s medication. I don’t hate imagining Angelo’s face anymore unlike before when we didn’t have much time to talk. Slowly, I’m trying to understand and weigh his situation when he had to leave mom.
I continue walking from one street to another while I let my thoughts run wild. Most of them are in the Philippines. Angelo, Harper International School, my friends especially Maddox.
Poor Maddox, he had to middle every time Cassandra makes a scene on social media. Even when I was in school, Maddox was doing it for me. I wonder if he ever gets tired of it. Does he come to think of giving up, throwing in the towel, and ending our relationship?
I hope not but I have to admit this thing is taking too much of my energy that I should be spending on mom.
At noon, I called Samantha apologizing for not answering her messages this morning. I also send my regards to Luke who is having lunch with her. Next, I called Lea to check on her, I apologized for not answering her call early in the morning. The typical Lea is just so noisy on the other line and whines for missing me so much. I’m lucky to have them.
The last call is for Maddox and he told me he has a surprise for me tomorrow. I wonder what would it be. I begged him to say it already but he refused. Maddox promised that it would be something I will surely love. The anticipation is killing me.