"Mom, wake up, mom. How can you leave me at a time like this? Please, get up, mom." Although Gabe shook Karla's body a thousand times, she couldn't have brought that curd-haired woman back to life, not a human being could raise a dead body. But would it be okay if Gabe wanted something like that, just once so she could say happy news to Karla so that she would know that her daughter who went to Paris for four years has succeeded in realizing the dream she has always wanted?
Many people occupied the corner of the Delange mansion's main hall, important guests came to offer their condolences to the family, and Gabe, of course. She's Karla Delange's only daughter, and Edward Alcantara, despite her parents' long separation, could have been brought Karla to Paris and lived with his daughter to death there.
The Edward who never showed his face after separating from Karla came this morning, putting on a sad face among many, yet the atmosphere was quite dark, like the gray of space.
The 170cm tall man in a black robe and hat stood behind Gabe, touching his trembling back crying nonstop, was too sudden and shocking for Gabriela. She has not even had a chance to say 'hi' to Karla directly, but she has not embraced the woman and kissed her on the forehead. She hasn't shown us a picture of Gabe dressed as a chef in a pastry restaurant, smiling happily with another sous-chef at their workplace.
"Mom, please wake up now. Look at your daughter come home, look at me, mom. Just once, wake up and stop my tears like you used to do when I was a kid. Mom, please." Gabe's heart was squeezed so hard that he could hardly breathe, the air as if she was slipping away from her from excruciating pain.
"Gabe, I know this is sad. But let your mom go, she's not with us anymore. let go, Baby. Daddy is with you, Gabe," said Edward, trying to comfort his daughter. The man's hand was still touching Gabe's shoulder, channeling his true passion into the ground. After all, he had loved Karla, and it wasn't because they didn't love each other, but it was a great thing that kept Edward from leaving the Philippines despite his business growing rapidly in other countries.
Gabriela rubbed her face on Karla, a woman of French descent who had relegated her cooking skills on Gabe—no longer alive, God had taken her to heaven, quiet and peaceful.
Gabe kissed Karla's forehead for the last time, stood up straight, and stepped back away from the crate, tears streaming down her face. She got a big hug from Edward, even after her divorce she separated from her parents, but there was no hatred in her heart. She loved all of them even though they were not together.
"Last week I have a chance to talk to mom, a video call, and she looked cheerful, Dad. She said she missed me so much, she wanted to taste my cooking, she didn't know that I was going back to Manila after that." Gabe's tears soaked the cloak of Edward, and for a long time she wasn't hugged by his father, and when it happened—the day Karla died. The world is so unfair.
"I know, Gabe. You know she loves you, so, do I? We just don't know how god defined all this, if you cry now, stop for tomorrow, let's just say the world is sad for today."
"I brought you maple syrup and rosemary, and I brought you the rose perfume that made her miss France, but why didn't you get up just to look at her, Dad? For what do I buy all of it if sadness is all I accept."
"Take it easy, Gabe. I promise to stay with you, you'll be fine, we can leave Manila and start a new life." The interaction of the child and the father has not escaped the attention of many, one of them a thinly bearded man standing close to some of the visitors, talking to all of them, but his attention is more interested in Edward and Gabriela.
Jose, the man in the gray shirt approached them, clearing his throat and touching Edward's back, and finally making Gabe take off his arms from his father. Tissue or cloth wouldn't make Gabe's tears come to an end, so don't let the sky gloat after it rains if Gabe's tears came more than the rain.
"Take it easy, Gabe. I know how sad you are, everyone in this house too, like your mother's sister, I'm prepared to accept everything you need," says Jose, although Gabe gets the point, he doesn't like the man's statement. "After this, I'd like to discuss something with you, it's very important. I'm sure your mother never said it.
"What's the point, uncle?" asked Gabriela, she was busy wiping away her tears with her left arm, the suitcase she has brought back from Philippine Airlines still lying near the crate table, where she has just arrived at the big house and found out her mother has died, a welcome she has never seen before, like a tornado appearing in such a quiet day, startled a lot of people.
Gabe's fatigue after a long trip from Paris to Manila has been paid for her sorrow and tears, her many regrets that she has not yet been able to make her mother happy, even leaving her to reach a goal in another country. Is Gabe worthy of being called an insubordinate daughter?
"I don't like to hear your tone," Edward says, his eyes fell suspicious, and for a long time, they were not as friendly as Jose was to his ex-wife. I don't know, Jose doesn't exactly warm up to him.
"You can hear it later too, especially Gabriela's real dad. It's just, I hope you accept the situation, too, because something I'm about to show you might make you even more unhappy, Edward. If Karla were alive, I'd agree with him to explain it." Jose raised his eyebrows, he looked at Gabe and Edward in turns, they looked so much alike though Gabriela's beauty she got from her.
"Please don't give me a riddle, what I want to say. Speak up, I don't want to be angry in a public place, let alone your last days in this house. I hope you understand."
"Of course, nephew, after the funeral, let's start a family meeting so that everyone will know." Jose was quite confident, he held a secret in his hands, and whatever it was, too mysterious. "You've seen your mother enough, haven't you? Let's close the lid, and let my sister her be at peace."
***