"Stop! Stop the car!!" Caily suddenly let out a gut-wrenching yell with panic etched on her face, and her slightly trembling hand clutching her chest in shock at the news,
Emily and Charlie jerked in their positions at Caily's unexpected yell,
"Huh?" Charlie stared at her confusedly through the mirror as he kept driving on,
"What?" Emily questioned, blurredly, her eyes fixed on Caily who suddenly seemed so restless,
Caily dipped her phone back into her little black handbag and immediately swung it on her shoulder. Her hands abruptly began tapping on the door window and repeatedly trying to unlock the door,
"Emily, I need to go back home right now!" She breathed as she kept on struggling with the handle of the door,
"Relax, Caily. And tell me what happened?" Emily urged, even though she was already becoming restless with everything going on.
The look of abject panic on Caily's face was quite terrifying.
"I just… I just need to go," She uttered breathlessly, Immediately veering her attention to Charlie, "Charlie, please stop the car!"
The car instantly screeched to a stop, Caily rushed out barely a few seconds later and had Emily chasing after her with a yelling plea.
"Can you please just relax a little, and tell me what the fucking problem is!" Emily stopped running when Caily did too.
"It's..Um…" Caily gulped,
"You are scaring me, spill it," Emily nudged,
Caily sighed sobbingly, her hands tiredly placed on her waist,
Why did it have to be now?
What did she do wrong?
Did the universe hate her that much?
Or was there another force behind all of her bad luck in life?!
"I have to go back home, Emily,"
"Why?" Emily questioned,
Knowing her friend was someone who always made rash and reckless decisions without thinking it through, she had to know what the issue really was before she let her leave a country they just arrived in barely 20 minutes ago.
"My mom called and said that my Dad collapsed and he was rushed to the hospital. I just… I need to be there with him, Emily," Caily's voice was in a low sob.
Emily was shocked and heartbroken by the news and just as she was about to wrap her arms around Caily for a hug, Charlie's voice vibrated behind them,
"Um… sorry to interrupt. The next available flight headed back to the U.S. leaves in 20 minutes. That's probably enough time to…"
He didn't even get to finish his words before Emily grasped Caily's hand and they headed back into the airport at the speed of light.
"Call me when you get there. Stay strong" Those were the last words Emily uttered to her before she successfully boarded the plane.
***
"Oh, you are here. Took you long enough," Caily's Mother, Agatha, called out nonchalantly,
Caily's lashes fluttered, quite taken aback by the way her mother addressed her like she was not the one sobbing on the phone a few hours ago.
"Wher… where is Dad? Is he okay? I didn't know the name of the hospital I was supposed to go to so I came straight home instead," She said,
When Agatha gave no response and just continued with the vegetable leaves she was sitting on the floor sorting out, Caily bent to her level,
"Is Dad okay?" She asked softly,
"Do you have the money with you?" Agatha questioned hoarsely,
"What money?" Caily's brows knitted,
"Don't tell me you rushed here without any money for your Father's surgery?" Agatha went on,
Caily's eyes widened when she recalled the amount of money her Mother had mentioned during the call,
"Where am I supposed to get a huge amount of money like that from in barely a day?"
Agatha scoffed mockingly,
"What about that your rich best friend, weren't you traveling out of the country with her?"
"What?" Caily's mouth dropped open, trying hard to admonish the thoughts that her mother was actually suggesting that she should have asked Emily for money,
Well, If she and her father were capable enough to kneel in front of Alex and ask for her to be exchanged for the investment money for their business, then what's more.
Caily let out a gasp of doubt, not willing to grab the thoughts that were lingering in her head,
"You were so ready to abandon us and relocate to a new country all by yourself after ruining the chance of a good life we were hoping for when you got married to Alex," Agatha continued to blurt out in an aloof tone,
"Mom!" Caily felt hurt,
"What!" Agatha widened her eyes at Caily, and if looks could kill, Caily would have dropped dead,
"If you came here penniless. Go back to where you came from, we don't need you!" She spat, indifferently,
Caily rose, she exhaled and inhaled loudly as if trying to keep her calm,
"Where is Dad? What hospital is he in? I want to see him?"
Once again, Agatha bluntly ignored her,
"Dad is not sick. He is in his room, hiding from you... It was just their plan to get some money from you," Caily's younger sister, Evelyn, let out as she walked into the room,
Agatha raked her dreadful eyes all over Evelyn who didn't even glance her way,
"What!" Caily bawled, not being able to keep her calm anymore,
"I thought you would have been used to their tactics by now, why are you still so gullible?" Evelyn added, mockingly.
"That's why she can never keep a good man in her life. She just had to go cheat and ruin our golden chance at a better life," Agatha complained,
Caily squeezed her eyes shut to control her emotions from exploding at her mother's words, but she just couldn't anymore.
"Enough! Enough!" She defiantly bawled out, her hands flying in all directions.
"Do you know what I had to do to be here today? Is my life a joke to all of you? Just how much of my life's worth do I have to give up for you all to accept that I'm a freaking human with feelings too!" She whimpered dejectedly,
The moment her eyes rested on her father entering the room with a tinted look of what seemed to be remorses etched on his face, she abruptly turned and exited the room.
"Caily?" He called after her,
"Let her go, she is the one who ruined everything! Why is she suddenly blaming us for her failed and miserable life? She deserves every bad thing that has happened to her, nonsense!" Agatha concluded with a dismissive hiss.
***
Caily felt devastated and ashamed. She couldn't even bring herself to grab her phone and call Emily with her shaking hand, so she just kept on waddling on to nowhere at the side of the road.
The headlights of a car suddenly shone brightly on her.
Caily put her steps to a halt and turned to face the car but immediately closed her eyes when the bright headlights burned them,
As she struggled to shed her eyes from the blurry after-effects of the bright headlights, a silhouette view appeared in front of her,
"Hey, are you okay? You are Emily's friend, aren't you? What are you doing out here so late?"
She could make out from the voice that it was a man but she couldn't tell who it was.