Mattias left the building after he was done packing. He didn't forget to return his access card.
The employees shot him a sympathetic look whenever they saw him. Mattias only realized he was crying when his mother's belongings became wet.
Mattias didn't want to let the man who insulted his mother see him cry, but he couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Thus, when he entered the elevator, people saw his red eyes and his box. They thought he was fired.
It was not far from the truth, when Mattias was fired for the first time, he felt that he was a worthless person. But, he never shed tears. And yet, when his mother was fired due to false accusations, he cried so hard that his eyes turned red.
Mattias knew that his anchor was his family. Thus, when he knew that his mother was suffering from working for the wrong person, he couldn't help but cry because of so many emotions of blame, regret, anger, hate, sadness, and pain.
Mattias promised that he'd make them pay, but he knew that it was impossible. It was the only consolation he could think so his heart could be at ease. If he ever had the chance, he would really make sure that they'll pay for their crimes.
When Mattias arrived at home, he cleaned the house while also arranging his mom's room, throwing anything that could remind them of his father. The root cause of their problem was his father. Mattias decided that he shouldn't pity the man who left his family. Not only that, but his father seemed to not care about everyone else except him.
He wanted to curse at him but giving him the time of the day would only reward his father. Thus, he made sure that everything that could remind of his father would be thrown out.
So, when afternoon arrived and Carmen and Marco came home, they saw a lot of their belongings outside the house. The picture frames, their father's gift, and even the little things that reminded them of their father were thrown outside their house.
Carmen wanted to ask his older brother but when she saw his expression, she kept quiet. She never saw her brother so angry. When their father left them, he never showed any emotions beside reassurance. The brother she thought was unmovable was showing his anger and hate by throwing everything that had the memory of their father.
Unlike Mattias, no one even his youngest brother threw away the things their father bought them. But, seeing the things outside didn't anger them. Instead, they felt free.
Carmen helped her older brother clean the house. When there were things that he missed, she would remind him. Thus, two people were busily throwing things out while the youngest watched them. He watched them not because he didn't want to help, it was simply because he felt ashamed.
When they were done, Mattias cooked them a simple meal. He had to go back to the hospital. Mattias knew how stubborn Carline would get. He packed his cooked dinner for his mother and younger sister. He wasn't in the mood for shopping earlier.
When he went out and saw the things he had thrown out, he felt satisfied. He didn't want his mother to see it and be stressed so he arranged for someone to pick things up. He had to pay a large amount of money but he didn't care.
Mattias believed in the saying, 'Out of sight, out of mind.' Thus he didn't think too much about the payment for moving things and throwing it out somewhere.
When Mattias arrived at the private room, he saw his mother was awake. She was also staring at the television but Mattias felt that his mother wasn't really watching. Instead, she looked like she was staring blankly at the television. She didn't even react when he entered the room.
Fortunately, when Carline greeted him, his mother also looked at him, and a gentle expression showed on her face. It was the expression he would often see, thus he was so scared to cross the line, asking if his mother was fine.
Unknowingly, a gate has been opened and Mattias shed tears. Both Carline and Marissa became shocked when they saw him crying. Mattias walked towards his mom and hugged her crying softly.
Marissa never saw her son so weak and fragile. She was hurt and confused, but she threw it away and comforted her son. Carline also joined the hug and cried. She also felt crying after seeing her older brother crying. Soon enough, even Marissa cried.
The three people cried for a few minutes before they soon calmed down, and yet nobody talked.
No one wanted to break the comfortable silence that descended upon them after crying, letting go of their bottled up emotions.
Marissa felt her worries lightened. Yes, she has great children. She was not alone. She had forgotten that she was not alone. So, she told them what happened.
She told them the real reason why she was fired. She told them not to tell Carmen and Marco. She also promised that she'll take care of herself and not worry. She would trust his son and daughter to help her. They weren't young anymore, they could help her lessen the burden she was carrying.
Mattias told his mother to not worry about things because he had it all controlled. He also promised that he'll stay with her in the mornings and do the household chores and all she had to do was rest.
Marissa didn't want to agree but with both his oldest son and oldest daughter, she could only give up and agree to their conditions.
Carline then told Mattias about what the doctor said to her. The doctor said that their mother was free to go. They didn't find anything wrong with her. She was just tired physically and mentally, and with ample rest, she should be back to her old self.
And yet Mattias didn't get it, so Carline told Mattias the underlying meaning of the doctor.
"The doctor wants us to discharge mom so they could use the room. It seems that they needed a room that badly."
"...We are also paying customers?"
"Brother, the customer they might have was a VIP. And because we are occupying the room..."
"I get it, I get it. I'll take care of the discharge papers. But, stay until tomorrow. I'll clean up first."
"Why? Is our house dirty?"
"No! Mom, don't worry. Carmen and Marco are doing a good job. I just wanted to make sure that you'll feel comfortable when you get home."
"Hospital makes me more uncomfortable. It makes me look like I'm sick."
"...Mom, just stay here until tomorrow, alright? If you're concerned about money, it's fine I had a lot of savings left."
"Fine... but only until tomorrow morning."
"Sure. I'll get things done."
After calming down, Mattias went out and took care of the discharge paper. Due to his mother not having any complications or illness, the process was done quickly. Before Mattias came back he texted his boss that he'll be late. He almost forgot his job.
[If you feel guilty just man the special seat.]
Mattias replied with a simple thanks. If his boss was changed, after consecutive tardiness, he might have been fired or received a warning letter. Fortunately, his boss was a really kind person.
When Mattias came back inside the small private room, he saw his mother and sister talking about the drama they were currently watching. It was a rare moment for him to see. Mattias couldn't help but smile from these rare moments.
From time to time he would also join in the conversation but most of the time he kept quiet and only listened. It was a harmonious night, at least that's what it looked like. Everybody knew that it was simply a temporary moment. After all when they got home, they'd have to face the truth.
Mattias left for work after staying for an hour. When he got to the bar, he went to his boss' office and announced his arrival. After that he quickly got changed and went towards his spot.
Before he could warm up, he saw someone sitting at the special seat. When he looked up at the person who he was first serving, he was taken aback. Mattias had to make sure over and over again that he was not hallucinating.
When the person had enough of Mattias staring the person couldn't help but giggled.
"Surprised? Hehe! Told you, you can't get rid of me."
"What are you doing here?"
"Hm, let's just say that I pulled some strings."
"...and my boss let you do that?"
"Of course! I also know her actually. She is my cousin. And I told her I wanted to pursue you, so she made an exception for me."
"..."
"Now you know that you can't escape from me."
"...I had work to do."
"Doesn't matter. I already paid for all your time today."
"...What else did you do?"
"Nothing~ Oh, Justin can't come tonight. I told him that he should be punished for making me fetch him yesterday that I missed the field boss. Of course, he knew how wrong he was so he accepted. So, for tonight, I'm all yours!"
"...Was this the reason she asked me to serve twice in a row?"
"Might be. Anyways, since I already paid, please serve me a drink with a little alcohol."
"Coming right up, miss."
"Is this the way you serve your customers? Such a flirt."
"..."
"I'm kidding, bro. Loosen up."
"..."
Mattias didn't want to talk to her but it seemed that she was really trying her best. First, to make Mattias interested and listen to her, she told her experience in the beta testing phase. She told him that she knew the reason why the PC version of Tadhana was closed.
Celine played a lot of games but she was one of those people who loved the things that were made by her countrymen. Thus, instead of playing VR games like most people of their age, she stayed playing PC games that were made in the Philippines.
Fortunately, her perseverance paid off, she heard from someone that the real reason why the game she was playing, which was Tadhana, was closing was because it was to give way through the VR game.
Celine also told him that the reason she went to the offline meet up was to scout good seedlings so she could make her own team. In the PC version, the pvp contents were enormous. It was to the point that it was the only good point it had. But, in the VR version, not only the PVP content was upgraded, but the PVE contents became the foundation of the players.
Celine's main focus was to hire good players at first. But, now it has changed. Now, what she needed the most was loyalty. Not only that, but she also needed someone that would persevere until the end. And this was when Mattias was needed, not only was he a great player in the PC version, but she heard good stories about him being a helpful and loyal player.
She heard that Mattias didn't harbor any bad intentions even if people tried to bring him down before. She heard that Mattias was once ambushed by the rival guild and wanted to kill him with his ex. Since Mattias was a great player, he made his girlfriend escape, but he died. And when he died, he lost an important quest.
Instead of retaliating, he released the content of the important quest so others could take it, since he already failed it. But for his guild, it was a bad move. He was not only reprimanded, but he was also chewed up badly by his girlfriend in the world and guild chats.
After that, Celine heard that Mattias was kicked out of the guild and broke up with his girlfriend, that's when Mattias joined their old guild. He would sometimes come online to help people, but he never once again showed up in the world chat. Slowly, people lost interest and he became history.
It was a story told by a friend of Mattias from the game and also their old guild master. Since Celine was also a woman, they grew closer in the offline meetup especially when they won against them in the arena.
Because of these stories, Celine didn't lose hope and tried her best to update Mattias from time to time. She knew what concerns Mattias had. She already investigated. What she needed the most was to make Mattias interested. After that, she could slowly build up trust through meeting, even if she had to pester him.
She now knew why Mattias stopped replying to her when he was in the mood. She already stepped into the boundary that he had set. Fortunately, it was favorable to her. She could help Mattias with his problem while solving her own.
She didn't want to bring back bad memories for Mattias so she stopped reminiscing.
"Ah, the memories."
"..."
"So, do you want to join my guild?"