Chapter Twenty

ROEDEN knew very well that when Avon was mad, no one could make her stop. So, he decided to leave his condo to give her space. She needed that to calm down. In the middle of the night, he drove to his father’s home in the province of Bulacan.

“Oh, Roeden!” his father exclaimed out of surprise when he saw him upon opening the door. “You should’ve told me that you’re coming. I’m not prepared for this visit.”

He did not tell his father that he was coming over because it was unplanned.

Roeden raised the bottle of whisky. “No need to worry, `Pa. I came prepared, though.”

His father smiled and opened the door widely. “Come in.”

He went inside the house and plopped down on the sofa as he waited for his father, who headed to the kitchen.

Roeden’s father appeared in the living room with two glasses in one hand and a bucket of ice in the other. He rose from his seat and snatched the bucket from him.

“Let’s drink outside. It’s kinda refreshing there,” he said and went out ahead of his father.

“Okay,” he said and followed him.

Roeden sat on the ledge and opened the bottle of whisky while his father put some ice on the glasses. He then poured them one by one afterwards.

“The last time I messaged you, you said you were in Singapore.” Looking at him, his father picked a glass and brought it to his mouth for a sip.

“It’s just a week-long business trip.”

“Ah… I said I’ll quit drinking. But here I am, couldn’t say no to my beloved son.”

He suddenly halted from taking a sip of his whisky after hearing what his father said. “By any chance… are you sick, `Pa?”

“No… I’m not.” His father wagged his hand and smiled. “You know, I’m not getting any younger, so I’m trying to live a healthy life.”

Roeden let out a sigh of relief.

“That’s good to hear.” He stared at his father. “Now I feel bad for not visiting you often.”

“Come on, son!” His father lightly patted his back. “I know you’re busy with work.”

“But still, I should make time.”

“You still can, though. I’m not sick, and I still have years to live.”

“I’ll make it up to you, `Pa.” Roeden took a sip of whisky and stared blankly at a distance.

“What’s the matter, son?” He gave him a sideways glance. “You won’t drive in the middle of the night just to share this whisky with me.”

He drew a breath. “Avon broke up with me.”

“Avon?” His father’s brows creased. “That Avon from your high school days?”

Roeden’s father knew her since then. Even the teachers teased their parents as in-laws whenever they were in school.

“Hm…”

“I wasn’t aware you were together now. Since when?”

“Two months ago.”

“Oh…” His father cleared his throat. “Why did you two broke up? It doesn’t work?”

“She wanted marriage.” Roeden sighed.

“At you said no.” It was a statement.

“I think it’s not the right time yet. We’ve only been together for two months. I want to take it slow, but she thinks that we should go on with it in an instant because we’ve known each other for a long time. Marriage is not about flowers and chocolates. It’s a lifetime commitment.”

“You know what, son… It’s not about how long or how short you’ve been together. Some couples had been in a relationship for seven years, and even more, but they still parted ways instead of marriage,” his father said matter-of-factly.

“Marriage scares me…” He gulped the remaining whisky on his glass and refilled it with more.

His father looked at him sternly and sighed afterwards.

“If you don’t have any intention to marry, then why did you get yourself involved in a romantic relationship?”

“`Pa… it’s not what you think—”

“I know, son. I know you’re afraid that our fate might happen to you too in the future.” His father put his hand on his shoulder. “Roeden, not because you’re my son the same thing will happen to you. Instead of being scared, why don’t you work not so that your relationship would be a better version of what we had? Don’t make the same mistakes that I did. If you really love Avon, then go ahead and marry her.”

“That’s the same reason why you married Mama, right? But in the end, you fell out of love,” Roeden said somberly.

“If you’d ask me if I still love your mother, I’d say yes. And I guess she’d say yes too. It just that it looks like we fell out of love when we parted ways, but the truth is… our egos got in our way. No one wants to be humble. No one wants to listen…” His father took a deep breath. “Now, seeing that it greatly affected your life, I couldn’t help but blame myself.”

When his parents got separated back then, he did not dare to ask what their reason was. He just let them do what they want to lessen the burden, with the thought that maybe everything would be better that way. He assumed his parents fell out of love. But now that he heard his father’s words, his faith in love has been restored.

“Try to understand, Avon,” his father added. “Time will come, she would do the same to you. And I kinda understand why she wanted to marry you already. She dreamt and waited for that love to finally happen. I guess girls are and will always be hopelessly in love than we do.”

Roeden abandoned his glass and got down from the ledge. He then hugged his father tightly.

“Thanks for your words of enlightenment, `Pa…”

He hugged him back.

“Goodluck, son. I’m looking forward to seeing you two at the altar one of these days,” his father said when they moved away from each other.

Roeden smiled and gave his father a thumbs up. Then, he ran out of the porch and got into his car.

He tried to contact Avon on his way home. At first, the other line was ringing, but she would not answer his call. He kept trying and trying, but it seemed that her emotions had not ceased. She blocked his calls.

ROEDEN got home to his condo as early as four in the morning, but Avon was not there anymore. Perhaps she asked someone from her family to fetch her there. He decided to go to her house to talk to her, but she would not face him and sent one of her cousins to tell him to leave. He thought she needed a little more time and space. And now, one week had passed. He went to her house again only to find out that she left. She left without a word, and no one knows where she went. Her mom said Avon just left a note saying she will go somewhere far to mend her broken heart.

“Avon’s like an earthquake out of control, isn’t she?” Daevid poured his glass with brandy. “I remember quite well how she would throw a fit in the past whenever you two have a quarrel.”

Roeden went to Daevid’s house. When his friend learned about what happened to him and Avon, he immediately offered company. And when he got there, it was not just Daevid, but the whole gang.

“But if I were you, I will follow her. It’s been a week, right? What if her resentment grew more and more and she can no longer forgive you—”

“No one knows where she is. Even her family didn’t know.” Roeden shook his head and brought the glass to his mouth.

“Why did you turn her down?” Janina sat beside Daevid. “Don’t you love her?”

“Don’t get me wrong. I have personal issues I want to resolve before settling down with her. And she failed to understand that and insisted that we should get married,” Roeden explained, hoping that their friends would understand his side.

“Well, I can’t blame you. She asked for marriage out of the blue, though,” said Angelito.

“She has a valid reason to do that.” He turned in John Paul’s direction. “Didn’t she tell you?”

Roeden’s brows furrowed. “Tell me what?”

Something kicked in his chest. There was something that Avon hid from him while her best friend knew about it. Why was she always like that? She should have told him first if that has something to do with them.

“Is she dying?” their friends asked in unison.

John Paul shook his head in response to the question.

“Then what?” he snapped.

“I don’t think I should interfere,” said John Paul as he crossed his legs. “It’s better to hear it from her.”

“But how? I didn’t know where to find her.” Roeden was starting to feel hopeless and desperate. Now he finally understood what Daevid felt back then when he almost lost Janina. Then, the realization hit him. “Did she go to Cinderella island?”

“It’s… somewhere farther than Cinderella island,” Linea butt in.

“Linea,” Janina scolded her.

“What? We keep secrets, but we spill the tea later on when we know they deserve it,” Linea countered.

“And it’s Roeden’s right to know,” Angelito added.

Roeden and John Paul had a staring game for minutes before the latter finally decided to him.

“She’s pregnant.”

His eyes widened. “If only she told me about it—”

“Avon doesn’t want to use her pregnancy as bait to make you say yes to marriage. What she wanted is something genuine and not just a sense of responsibility.” John Paul patted his back. “You failed her. But you can still make it right. She loves you more than you imagine.”

“Go to Avon, Roeden. Win her heart again, and don’t ever let her go, or you’ll regret it,” Cid advised him.

“Do you think she will forgive me?” Roeden asked somberly.

“Of course!” his friends said in unison.

“But I don’t know where to find—”

“Jeju Island, South Korea,” Janina said with a smile.