It has been close to four years since graduated. And for short time, a lot has changed in her life: she had been a traveling writer and a well-read romance novelist, but her own romance story has yet been rekindled since her affair with Harry ended.
Four years of working abroad also needed a break, thus, she decided to take time out to return to the Philippines and visit her Uncle Ralph in San Isidro.
“A month or two in with Uncle Ralph could rejuvenate me,” she said to herself, as the car passed along green rice fields and mountains. Indeed, a month or two may inspire her imagine to yield another story that she could write or even open her heart for someone. Yes, two months is a short time but it is fast enough to cause a twist of fate.
The old acacia still stood - proudly and mighty – right after the old, rusty, wrought iron gate, faithfully keeping the old, white house along del Moro street guarded from outsiders.
The locals used to call the mansion puti nga balay. It was built by Anna’s great-grandfather during the Commonwealth era out of the money he got from sugar and rice trading to Negros; money that he then used to buy hectares upon hectares of land that, thereafter, have made her family one of the richest in San Isidro.
Returning to the old, white house meant getting back to her childhood memories. The sooner the white CR-V entered the vast grounds of the mansion, a path of old moments shrouded her mind and to inhale the fresh, country air made her remember how she and her cousins chase each other around the garden with their bare feet and dust-filled clothes out from playing hide-and-seek. She smiled as she remembered how really mischievous she was when she was a child.
“Anna! Oh my niece. How are you?” exclaimed her Uncle Ralph as he welcomed her. “It’s so nice to have you. Oh my, you really look like a foreigner. It’s been six, long years since I last saw you!”
Yes. It has been six long years. Though Anna’s father often invited her uncle to their home in the city, the past sixty bachelor refused the offer a lot of times.
The two hugged each other very tightly the instance his niece came out from the car. He missed him dearly, his eyes glittering yet teary.
“Oh, uncle. I really, really missed. I tried to look for someone like you in abroad but I think I’ll never see someone as cheerful as you are, uncle,” Anna joked.
Raphael Montenegro is one of the richest men in San Isidro. But he never bragged her wealth to anyone, not even how many hectares he inherited from his parents. During his heydays, he was the most sought-after bachelor in town and all the girls from high society flirted with him but none walked with him out from the church; he never made.
And for whatever reasons, Anna does not know. Sometimes, he would hear that his uncle had fallen in love with a farmer’s daughter named Paola and that he never loved again when she left decades ago.
“I but you’ll want to stay in your grandma’s bedroom, Anna. I asked Manang Juaning to arrange it for you,” offered her uncle. Manang Juaning is the old maid that has been serving the family since Raphael was just a boy.
“Oh, I would love to, uncle. It’s alright for me. I missed grandma uncle. I remember the last time I slept with her. That was a year before she died. She managed to keep her fairness until the end,” reminisced Anna.
Doña Virginia’s room was always kept clean though the matriarch had passed away seven years ago. Credit, of course, was due to Manang Juaning who vowed to maintain if as if the old doña was still alive.
“You don’t have to do it everyday Manang Juaning,” Raphael often told her. “Oh, dear, you know its my job keeping this room pretty and neat everyday since I was eight and would keep this clean for the sake of Doña Virginia. It’s the best I could do to thank her even if she’s in the other world,” Manang Juaning would often reason out.
Anna settled in the old bedroom. The wall was still as white as it used to be; it seemed that time dared not touch it. The old canopy bed reminded her of the cool nights when she sneaked inside her bedroom to sleep with her grandma.
“She was very tough with others yet she was so gentle to me and my cousins. It’s as if her hearts melted when she saw us,” Anna said to Manang Juaning who was listening to her as the old lady arranged her clothes inside the old cabinet.
As Anna lied on the bed, her eyes roamed around the room, looking at everywhere. But what caught her attention was the antique drawer that stood beside the bed. She tried to open it but it was locked.
“We never bothered open that one. It’s been seven years close and we haven’t found the keys,” Manang Juaning explained. “Anyways, I believe that drawer is only filled with some dusty, old prayer books your grandma used to collect when she was alive.”
Before Anna slept, she went to the window, stood there, and looked at the clear, still evening. Yes, the sky was clear and the stars sparkled like diamonds from afar. From her window, she could see the old gate and the lighted street. It was indeed a peaceful evening and only a few people were passing by.
As she returned to the bed, she again caught sight of the drawer. “What is with this drawer?” she asked herself. It seemed that it was saying something to her. She tried to open it again with her right hand, but obviously, it didn’t.
“There must be something important inside this drawer other than what Manang Juaning had said.” Is it jewelry? Some land titles? No, it’s not prized possession, she’s sure about it. Who knows what’s inside until that drawer will be opened?
It was quarter to five in the morning when Raphael was awakened by sudden, strong knock in his bedroom. The old bachelor immediately got up from his bed, trusted the slippers to his feet and hurriedly opens the door. It was Anna. But what on earth brought her to his bedroom in the wee hours of the dawn?
“What’s wrong Anna?” he asked; his eyes still showing vestiges of his sleepiness.
“Uncle, you won’t believe me. But I saw lola in my dream,” Anna, trying run after her breath as she continued. “She told me she was sorry so sorry for what she did but she did not tell me what was that sorry all about. I kept on asking her she said something different. She told me that you don’t have to worry anymore; that the sealed drawer will reveal the truth.”
“What was Mama trying to say? But we don’t have the key to that drawer,” Raphael said.
“She told me where the key was. She hid it inside that Ming vase.”
The Ming jar, already yellowish, sign of old age, had been in the family for generations. The soonest Raphael got the key, they went to Anna’s room and slowly opened the drawer. At last, what Doña Virginia meant in her dream was revealed; five envelopes with love letters inside, addressed to Raphael stood before their sight. The old man was surprised yet remained composed with what he saw.
“Paola’s letters for me. Mama kept these all this time,” he said in a low voice.
Paola was Raphael’s long lost love. And know, it was clear in his mind that Doña Virginia had plotted against them. Silence followed as Raphael began to read the letters until Manang Juaning, in tears, interrupted the stillness of the moment.
“I know everything about those letters, Raphael,” said the old maid as her eyes was flooded by tears.
“You knew everything about these letters, yet you did not tell me? How could you, Manang?”
“You know your mother Raphael. If she wanted something, she’d get it no matter how,” she said. “You know she doesn’t approve of your affair with her. The reason why she sent you to Europe that time was not to visit your grandma; she used that opportunity to evict Paola’s family from the hacienda. Paola tried to write to you, but everytime a letter arrived, she would get it from me. Then, one day, the letters just stopped from coming. Paola might have got tired. Only heaven knows. Forgive me Raphael. I was just to scared. And when she died, I didn’t bother tell you. I thought you have moved on,” explained Manang Juaning.
“I understand MAnang Juaning,” assured Raphael. “But I will never forget Paola. She’s the only woman that I love and I will always love her until I die.”
“Uncle,” Anna butt in, “don’t the letter gave a clue where Paola is right now?”
Thinking her niece was right; Raphael read the letters page per page. While he did it, memories of the past slowly came back to his mind. He’ll never forget how fair Paola was. He’ll never forget the first kiss that they both shared under the old acacia tree, while the moon was at its fullness. After reading the second letter, Raphael got up from his seat, and in an exciting, hopeful voice, he said to Anna, “We’ll go to Ildefonso.”
And yes, they did go to Ildefonso. Love, really knows how to tread even in long distance for Ildefonso was five towns away with rough roads to pass just to reach it. But Raphael didn’t mind. Just to see Paola was all she wanted.
By noon time, they reached the address that they have read in Paola’s letter. Paola must have worked, or was maybe even working in that big house that they got in to. They were warmly welcomed by a servant who led them to the living room. A while later, a middle-aged woman greeted them.
“I presume that you’re the owner of this house. Is Paola Lucas still working here?” Raphael inquired.
“Paola Lucas is the owner of this house, Sir. I am Jane, her niece,” said the lady.
“I see. By the way, I am Raphael Montenegro. And I..” there seemed to have a lump on his throat; it may be out of excitement of seeing her loved one, or maybe it was surprise to see that Paola is now as prosperous, even more prosperous, than him. “I am his lover. I came to see her.”
Jane was surprised out of delight. “You are Raphael? Oh my God. You just don’t know how long my aunt has been waiting for you all her life,” said Jane.
“Where is she? Is she around? May I see her?”
The niece turned weak. Then, she explained, “She’s in Iloilo. She has been diagnosed with senile dementia. She’s steadily losing her memory. She’s in a nursing facility there. But you know what, up to this day, she has never forgotten you.”
The nursing home looked so cold for Raphael. The white floor, white wall, and white ceiling, plus the smell of Zonrox all made her feel guilty for the fate of Paola. Yet, he was full of hope, as Jane assured him that she still remembered him.
It was nine in the evening, and thank God, family members were allowed to come and go to the nursing anytime they please.
“Is she asleep?” Jane asked the attending nurse.
“Not yet, ma’am. She’s there in her room, sitting alone. She might be again thinking of long-long prince charming.” The nurse knew about Paola’s love story for it was her word-of-mouth to anyone who entered her room.
“She’s waiting for you uncle,” Jane nodded. “I bet we have to get inside now.”
Uncle. Raphael was touched when Jane called him uncle. But he was more than touched knowing he would see the love of his life. Anna quietly stood behind, watching for the scenes take place.
Sure it was, the moment she saw Paola sitting on the chair, reading – actually, just staring – at the newspaper made his heart leap. For forty-five years, he did not see her; he was not able to fight for her. But by that moment, Raphael will do anything just to stay with her loved one, even if it meant taking care of him.
“Paola,” he said in a gentle, loving voice.
Just the sound of his voice seemed to let the past memories go back into Paola’s mind. She dropped the newspaper and stared at the man standing next to her.
Yes. It’s him. He was the man I used to love. Yes. He is Raphael. No, I didn’t use to love him. I still love him.
“Raphael,” she stood up and hugged him tightly. Just the way she did it four decades ago.
“I have waited for you. I thought Doña Virginia will not allow you to see me. Raphael, I miss you and I love you,” Paola said with a childlike enthusiasm.
They hugged each other so tight and so long. Of course, for two lovers who haven’t met for decades, what would be a better way of saying ‘I love you’ that giving the warmest, heartfelt hug?
As Anna stared at both of them, she can’t help but cry.
“Why are you crying?” Jane asked.
“You know,” she replied, trying to wipe her tears.
“I always like to see two people have a happy ending. It’s just to perfect to be missed. And I hope I would have a love story like that for myself. But I think I’ll never find someone to love me”
“Listen, Anna. Sometimes, what we are looking for is not around us. Who knows? You’re Prince Charming is on his way? Just don’t lose hope. You’ll find love – true love. And once you have true love, it will never leave you,” assured Jane.
Raphael kept his promise. He took care of Paola, even if it meant living in the nursing home. Though it caused a dry spell to see his loved one suffer and bit by lost her memory, he never wavered nor left her; they never let each other’s side. Raphael and Anna died while sleeping; both holding each other’s hand.
“Indeed, a happy ending. Right, Celeste?” Anna asked Celeste, her best pal, while visiting her uncle and aunt’s graves.
“Wow. They really had a great love story,” Celeste agreed. “Are you alright? It seems your thinking too deep.”
“Yes, I’m fine. Let’s go.” And Anna laid the bouquet of roses to the graves before she left to start another chapter of her life.
