Tala Read online

  “You are living well!” Tala exclaimed, happy for her family, but also happy for what this meant for her.

  “Not that well,” Dalisay was quick to add.

  Cristano waved away his wife’s words. “We are fine, anak,” he said. “Everyone works and we live comfortably.”

  Dalisay shot her husband a look.

  “Come,” she said, taking Tala’s hand and leading her into the house. “You will stay in Ligaya’s room.” She turned to her youngest daughter. “Ligaya, you will stay with Mia.”

  “But she snores!” Ligaya complained of her older sister.

  “Then you can sleep here on the floor,” Dalisay said, pointing at the dirty kitchen floor.

  Doneng snickered and Ligaya glared at her brother. “Why does Doneng not have to give up his room? It is not fair!”

  Tala watched the scene unfolding before her in quiet fascination. There was no such thing as “not fair” when she was growing up. There was no complaining about anything. You were grateful just to have a roof over your head, rice on your dish, and a small piece of protein for your ulam.

  “You see how they behave now?” Dalisay told Tala, as if Tala were to blame for her siblings’ entitled ways. “They act like spoiled Americans.”

  “We cannot all be perfect like Tala,” Mia said, coming to Ligaya’s defense.

  “Do not speak of your ate this way,” Dalisay commanded. Ate was a term used to show respect for an older sister, much like the term Kuya was used as a sign of respect for an older brother.

  “I am sorry, ate,” Mia said, instantly backing down. The last thing she wanted was to rouse Dalisay’s anger. Dalisay could be a vengeful woman, even toward her own children if the opportunity appeared. “You should take my room,” she added, scoring points with their mother. “It is better than Ligaya’s.”

  “I do not wish to be any trouble,” Tala offered, rolling her suitcase to a corner of the kitchen.

  “Too late,” Ligaya muttered.

  Dalisay glared at her youngest daughter. “What did you say?”

  “Nothing.”

  “That is what I thought.”

  Mia led Tala to her room, closed the door behind them, and threw her short, plump body on the bed. She hadn’t seen her eldest sister in almost three years and it was good to have her home.

  “So, are you leaving Stephen?” she asked, getting right to the point.

  Tala dropped on the bed beside Mia with a small sigh. “What has mama told everyone?”

  “That Stephen has been with another woman. But she said all men do these things and you will forgive him. That you must.”

  “Why must I?”

  Mia shrugged. “Because we need you.”

  Tala looked around Mia’s beautifully decorated bedroom and laughed. “That does not seem to be true.”

  “It isn’t,” Mia confided. “We are fine. The money you send only goes to serve mama’s gambling habit.”

  Tala gasped. “Mama gambles?” They’d had so little when Tala was growing up, and it was Dalisay who’d taught her to save every peso because you never knew when it would help provide a meal.

  “She loves slot machines and Bingo,” Mia admitted. “Sometimes she wins big.” Mia shook her head. “But sometimes she loses big too.”

  “And this is what my money is going to?” Tala was hurt and offended. All this time she’d been living with a man she didn’t love and giving up her own chance at a future just so her mother could gamble!

  Her thoughts drifted to Kelsey and an ache turned up in her heart. Kelsey was who she wanted to be with, and yet, here she was on the other side of the world learning that Kelsey and Stephen had both been right all along--her own mother had been using her.

  “It is okay,” Mia said, seeing the pain and confusion in her older sister’s eyes. She patted her hand affectionately. “You must do what is best for you now, ate. Do not worry for us any longer.”

  **********

  Kelsey downed the last sip of her martini and waved at the bartender. “Two more, please.”

  “Whoa, easy there Kelsey,” Alison said, indicating her still full glass on the bar.

  “She’s not coming back, is she Al?”

  “It’s only been two weeks.”

  Kelsey shook her head. “Something doesn’t feel right. The first week she emailed me every night. Now I haven’t heard from her in five days.”

  “She’s probably just spending time with family, Kels. I’m sure she’ll write soon.” Alison wasn’t sure, but she’d never seen her friend so distraught. It was clear now that Kelsey was in love with Tala. She just wasn’t saying the words.

  Another week went by without word from Tala. Kelsey had written a few times but had not received a reply. Her worry grew stronger every day. She worked on her properties, and maintained the bills on her own, but there was nothing she could do to distract herself from her thoughts of Tala.

  **********

  “We will leave Palawan tomorrow,” Dalisay announced over lunch in her sister’s cramped home.

  Tala sighed with relief. Auntie did not have internet access in her small island home and Tala had not been able to email Kelsey in the entire two weeks they’d been there. Even her phone did not work in this remote location.

  “You look more relieved than me, anak,” Cristano joked. He knew the last two weeks had been hard on his daughter as he listened to his wife and his wife’s sisters repeatedly tell Tala how important it was to save her marriage.

  Cristano did not think it was that important. Stephen had done something to hurt his daughter and if she wanted to leave a man she had never loved anyway, he was perfectly fine with that.

  Tala smiled at her father. “I will just be happy when we get back to Manila and I can make my calls.”

  She had already decided to end things with Stephen. After much argument from her mother, Tala continued to stand firm. Finally, Dalisay had concluded that if Tala insisted on leaving her marriage, she must make Stephen sell the house and use her half of the money from it to start life over in Manila.

  Tala had no intention of staying in Manila, but she hadn’t yet shared that news with Dalisay. Dalisay, she knew, was only interested in the money from the sale of the house. What did she care where Tala decided to live?

  Chapter 13

  Stephen Wright was outside with the realtor when he saw Kelsey on her evening run. He had seen her a few times in the weeks since Tala had left for Manila but hadn’t had the nerve to talk to her. Had Tala told her what he’d done? Did she know he’d fucked up the only thing he’d ever truly loved?

  The realtor was pounding a For Sale sign into the ground when Kelsey came up the street. She stopped dead in her tracks.

  “Hello Kelsey,” Stephen said, sadly.

  Kelsey glanced from Stephen’s face to the sign, then back to his face. “You guys are moving?”

  “Tala has already moved,” he said, stepping away from the realtor and crossing the lawn to meet Kelsey on the sidewalk. “She’s staying in Manila.”

  Kelsey fought the nausea that erupted in her throat. She still hadn’t heard from Tala, and Stephen’s words drew a coldness around her heart.

  “You mean she’s staying there for good?”

  Stephen nodded. “As far as I know, yes.” His eyes grew wet as they met hers. “I’ve been asked to start divorce proceedings immediately.”

  “I’m so sorry, Stephen” Kelsey said. “I had no idea.” And she was sorry. She didn’t know why or how she could feel that way when she wanted Tala for herself, but to see Stephen now, so broken before her, she did indeed feel sorry for him. He had done the unthinkable and now he was paying the heaviest price.

  It occurred to her that she too was paying a price by association. Tala was lost to both of them now and Kelsey didn’t know how she would handle that.

  “Go get her,” Alison said, when Kelsey relayed the news of her conversation with Stephen over dinner later that evening. She was glad she’d agreed
to this dinner and now stared at her best friend with a mixture of anxiety and hope in her eyes.

  “I don’t think I can just go get her, Al.”

  Alison stabbed at the salad on her plate. “Why not? You’re obviously in love with her.” She piled a forkful of lettuce into her mouth. “And from the way she was looking at you that night in the bar, I’d say she’s in love with you too.”

  Kelsey picked at a loose thread on the sleeve of her shirt. “She hasn’t contacted me at all.”

  “You don’t know the circumstances behind that.”

  “What circumstances could there be?”

  Alison shrugged. “Dunno. But it must be something.”

  “So, I should just jump on a plane to Manila?” Kelsey scoffed.

  Alison smiled at her love struck friend. “What have you got to lose?”

  **********

  Tala sat at her mother’s kitchen table, staring at the blank screen before her. The house was quiet, the rest of the family still sleeping, as Tala made several attempts at writing her email to Kelsey.

  She started with Hello, and then backspaced over it. She tried Dearest Kelsey, but that sounded too formal. The blinking cursor mocked her from the screen as she wrote ten different greetings, each one no better than the last.

  Eventually, she found her voice and dove in. Soon Kelsey would know about her divorce request, why she hadn’t written in weeks, and how she would be coming home to her soon. She only hoped it would still matter.

  Before she could hit the send button, an email from Kelsey appeared.

  Tala,

  There will be something waiting for you at the Sofitel resort in Manila. Please give it 24 hours to arrive.

  Kelsey

  Tala read the short email eight times before hitting send on her own. What could Kelsey have mailed her?

  **********

  Kelsey sat at Gate 22 at Incheon International Airport. She had sent the email to Tala just after arriving in South Korea for her two hour layover, then turned off her phone to conserve energy until she could get to the charger she’d packed away.

  As she leaned back against the hard seats in the brightly lit terminal she wondered, not for the first time, if she was doing the right thing. In exactly three hours her plane would touch down in Manila. Would Tala be upset that she was there? Would she be happy to see her?

  Kelsey’s mind played out a constant loop of different scenarios. In one scenario Tala was glad to see her and threw herself in her arms. In another, Tala was horrified and yelled at her for showing up without warning. In a third scenario, Tala thought the gesture romantic and expressed her love for Kelsey.

  Back and forth, and back and forth again it went, until Kelsey yelled at her brain to shut up and just let whatever was about to happen, happen.

  Her plane landed just after midnight and she made her way through the airport in search of the driver the resort had assured her would be waiting.

  A thin man in a black suit approached, asked her name, and provided his credentials. Kelsey followed the man to a large black car with dark tinted windows, gave him her bags and slid into the back seat. She hadn’t slept in over thirty-six hours.

  The man steered the car away from the airport and through a series of small, dark streets where people milled about with open containers of alcohol and despair-filled eyes. This was the Manila Tala knew, Kelsey thought, as they made their way through one frightening street after another.

  When the car finally reached the Sofitel resort, it was like pulling into another world. Well-dressed attendants appeared to open doors and offer greetings. They carried her bags, and made small talk as they led her to the front desk to check in.

  “Mabuhay,” the woman at the counter said.

  Kelsey thought “Mabuhay” was used in the Philippines much like “Aloha” was used in Hawaii and returned the greeting. “I have a reservation under the name Kelsey Daniels.”

  The woman checked her computer. “I see you have a front-facing room, but if you would like, I can offer you a free upgrade to a room with a bay view.”

  “That would be wonderful. Thank you!”

  Kelsey wasn’t sure about the dollar to peso conversions yet and tipped the desk clerk the equivalent of twenty dollars. When she got to her room, she tipped the man who carried her bags the same. His face lit up as he wished her a pleasant stay and disappeared back into the fifth floor hallway.

  Kelsey threw her bags in the closet and headed for the shower. After traveling for nearly twenty-eight hours, she felt dirty and ill at ease.

  The shower refreshed her and soon she was crawling into the king size bed, feeling relaxed and readier to face tomorrow than she had been the entire journey. She still didn’t know how Tala would feel about her being in Manila, and the thought both terrified her and thrilled her.

  **********

  Tala got up early the next morning, showered, and snuck across the hall to Ligaya’s bedroom.

  “Mia,” she whispered, not wanting to wake Ligaya, or anyone else in the house for that matter. She shook her sister gently. “Mia.”

  Mia peered up at her older sister through half-closed lids. “What is it?” She groaned.

  “I need a favor.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes. You must drive me to the Sofitel resort. I will find my own way back.”

  “It is so early,” Mia whined.

  “Please Mia,” Tala begged. “I will give you one hundred American dollars.”

  Mia jumped from the bed with a burst of newfound energy. “Let’s go!”

  “Shh.”

  When they stepped out the front door they were instantly greeted by Doneng, who was standing under a tree smoking a cigarette. His slouched form cast a dark shadow across the front yard.

  “And where are you two going so early?” he questioned.

  “We will be back soon kuya,” Mia said.

  Tala said nothing as they got in the car and quickly darted away from the house.

  When they reached the Sofitel resort two hours later, Tala turned to her sister and said. “Leave me here. I will get a ride home later.”

  “Mama will not like this,” Mia warned.

  “Mama does not control me. I am a twenty-eight year old woman.”

  Mia shrugged. “Call me if you need me,” she offered, watching her older sister exit the car and make her way into the fancy hotel.

  Tala stepped through the entrance and was immediately greeted by two women in long, beautiful gowns.

  “Bonjour. Mabuhay.”

  “Hello,” Tala said, in English. “I am told there is a package waiting here for me?”

  One of the women pointed at the concierge. Tala walked over to the desk, told the man her name and repeated that she was collecting a package.

  “From Kelsey Daniels,” she said.

  “Ah, yes the package.” The man smiled and called over a bellhop. “This is Tala Mercado. Please show her to the package that has been waiting for her.”

  Tala followed the man across the lobby and into a large elevator. She didn’t understand why she had to follow him to the package, rather than have the package brought to her, but said nothing.

  The elevator doors slid open to the fifth floor lobby and the man handed her a room key. “Room 523.”

  “I don’t understand,” Tala finally managed, when she stepped out of the elevator and the man stayed inside. The man only smiled as the elevator doors between them glided shut.

  Tala rounded the corner to the fifth floor hallway and moved quietly along the carpeted floor. At 8:30am, it was still very early by vacationer standards, and she didn’t want to wake anyone in the rooms she passed.

  Within minutes she was standing in front of room 523 with the key card in her hand, hesitant to use it. She pressed her ear to the door but heard nothing. Quietly, she slipped the card into the slot, waited for the green light to appear, and slowly pushed open the door. She stepped inside.

  The first thing she
saw was the giant sliding doors at the other side of the room that led to a balcony that overlooked the pool area and Manila Bay.

  A soft murmur came from the bed and Tala’s stomach dropped. The bellboy had obviously given her the wrong key. Now she was standing in the middle of a sleeping person’s room!

  Tala turned to dart away just as a long, thin arm stretched across the pillow and a crop of red hair fell forward into the woman’s face, as she rolled to her side. The face was covered, but the arm was white, with a smattering of light freckles from wrist to elbow and Tala’s heart beat faster.

  “Kelsey?”

  Tala moved closer to the bed. Trembling with fear, she softly brushed away the woman’s auburn locks, and gasped at the sight before her.

  “Kelsey, it is you!”

  Kelsey’s eyes fluttered open and a shy smile spread across her soft, full lips.

  “Hello, Tala.”

  “Kelsey, what are you doing here?”

  Kelsey sat up, and the covers fell away, exposing two perfect breasts. She didn’t seem to notice. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

  “You came here for me? Did you not receive my email?”

  Kelsey shook her head.

  “You must restart your phone,” Tala said, indicating the device on the nightstand. “You will receive your emails then.”

  “I’d rather receive you.” Kelsey took a chance and pulled Tala onto the bed beside her.

  “You will get no argument from me,” Tala said, laughing. Straddling Kelsey, she leaned in to kiss her. “I have waited so long to touch you, Kelsey. To feel the softness of your skin and your body pressed to mine. It has haunted me.”