Chapter 2

Chapter 2

FOUR years later,

“Where’s mom?” Lyzza asked her younger brother when she descended from upstairs. She was at their home.

“She went to the store. She told me she had to take care of some lists,” he answered her and quickly stood up from the couch. “Are we going to leave now, Lyzza?” he asked her.

She nodded as she looked at her cheap wristwatch. She saw that it was almost 7 in the morning. “Yes, Cai,” she answered her 13-year-old brother. She gathered her hair and tied it neatly at the back. After that, she turned to the staircase and noticed that Summer wasn’t around.

“Where’s that little twerp?” Caius asked, who was also busy looking in the direction Lyzza was looking at.

“I’ll go fetch her,” she said, and climbed back upstairs. She just let her tie her shoelaces as Summer told her that she was already a big girl to do it herself, but up until now, she hadn’t managed to climb down.

Lyzza opened the room where she left her earlier. She found her still sitting on the floor while her shoes were already on her feet.

“Summer, why aren’t you standing up yet? You’re going to be late for school!” she reminded her as she walked toward her.

Summer raised her head and looked at her, her three-year-old daughter. She gazed down at her little hands that were holding a photo.

Lyzza was startled, and quickly picked up the photo from her. Her daughter was surprised by her sudden reaction and lowered her gaze with watery eyes. Lyzza knelt in front of her when she realized what she had done. She held her cheeks and made Summer look her in the eyes.

“Are you mad at me, M-Mommy?” Summer asked in a trembling voice. Lyzza eventually heard her sobs as soon as she held her in her arms.

“No.” She shook her head. “Mommy is not angry. I was just startled.”

“I-I’m sorry,” she cried. She was speaking a bit more eloquently now. Lyzza was stunned. She never heard her daughter ask her those things. In fact, she could count on her hands the moments when they had this kind of conversation, especially at home.

But she thought maybe it was because of the genes Summer had that she was having this kind of dilemma. Summer’s father was also like this, too, if she remembered it clearly.

“I’m not mad. I was just surprised, okay?” she said while consoling her daughter. She even caressed her back to ease her crying.

Summer hugged her mommy back and buried her face in Lyzza’s neck.

“Mommy, is he my daddy? We have the same eyes,” she, later on, spoke while still burying her face.

Lyzza gulped and bit her lower lip. She was just 3 years old, but her mind was already sharp. She knew that this day would come. Her daughter would soon ask her about her father. But she didn’t expect that it would be this soon. What else did she know about Summer’s father, anyway? Nothing more except for his name, his jaw-dropping physique and face, and his moves and touches on that sinful night.

“He is so handsome,” Summer added, looking up at Lyzza’s face. “Where is he now?”

Lyzza gently touched Summer’s hair. “I don’t know either, baby.”

There was no point in lying to her daughter. Because Summer was smart, she knew that she would understand her even if she was young.

“Why? Should you be together like how my classmates’ moms and dads do?”

“It’s a bit complicated to explain, baby. Besides, he lives far away from us.”

Summer didn’t respond to her, but she looked at her while firmly pursing her lips. Her daughter’s eyes were pretty much like those of the man who bought her at the auction four years ago. It was his deep brown eyes that gave her an intense stare, as if trying to dig deeper inside her.

Summer gently caressed Lyzza’s cheeks and kissed the tip of her nose. It was her cue. It meant her daughter was done asking her questions for the day.

After that, Lyzza invited her to go out. She put the photo in her right side pocket. It was the same photo she had been looking at earlier. It was taken from her wallet. She just misplaced it somewhere, and somehow it fell into Summer’s hands. Lyzza put the pink furry backpack on top of the bed. Summer’s favorite color was pink. It was obvious since Summer was wearing them all over her clothes and even her shoes.

In spite of her young age, Summer had taken part in pre-school as a sit-in student. She had not officially enrolled her daughter in that school, though. Summer often got bored and didn’t have anyone to talk to at home, so Lyzza decided to put her at school to enjoy.

Besides, Summer liked it too. As one of the teachers she befriended told her, Summer was a very active kid. She heartily joins recreational activities with her classmates.

Summer gave her a loud smooch on her cheek when they got to the classroom.

“Be good to them, okay?” Caius reminded Summer and kissed the top of her head.

“Yes, Uncle Cai. But don’t ruin my hair,” she said to him with a little frown. She even pouted her lips.

“Oh, you’re being too dramatic again, kiddo!”

Summer’s pouting even went on. She even hugged her uncle’s leg. “I’m not dramatic, Uncle. You love me, right?”

“Oh, of course!” Caius quickly answered and carried her in his arms. “I’ll bring you some treats once you bring home a lot of stars, okay?”

Summer’s eyes twinkled and she smiled widely. She even whispered something in his ear, then he nodded.

“Oh, baby Summer is already here!” greeted by the one who just came in.

Lyzza smiled at her friend Jessica, Summer’s teacher.

“Good morning, teacher,” Summer greeted her cheerfully. She came down from her uncle’s arms and stood there in front of them.

“Good morning! Let’s go inside?” Jessica asked her daughter.

Lyzza just gave Summer a quick kiss on her temple before she entered the classroom.

“Can I adopt your daughter?” Jessica asked. “She’s such a cute kid! She has a big heart.”

Lyzza just frowned and eyed Jessica jokingly. “Make your own daughter. That’s already mine.”

Jessica laughed at her words. Even if Summer’s arrival in Lyzza’s life was as shocking as it was, she still loved her no matter what. She fell in love with her daughter the very first time she knew she was inside her womb.

“You’re in charge of my baby today, okay? Just call me if there’s any problem.”

“Of course! She is like a daughter to me already. Go now. You and Caius might also be late for class.

Lyzza hugged her friend and waved at her daughter. Her brother was already in the 9th grade. On the other hand, Lyzza was taking up the tourism course in her 4th year. Taking care of her daughter didn’t take up much of her time, so she continued studying.

She really wanted to finish her college degree, given its importance in the environment she lived in. She would be at ease giving Summer all the best in the world if she had a stable and fine job.

Jessica was her high school classmate before. They just parted ways when they both pursued their studies in college. Jessica took an education course while Lyzza took tourism. They just met again at the same time she was pregnant with Summer. Just like her other friend, Qyla, Jessica never judged her for what happened to her. They never even asked her. Lyzza was the one who opened up about what had happened.

Since then, Qyla and Jessica have been her best friends. They were all Summer’s godmothers, and they never ceased to take care of her.

“You take care, okay?” Lyzza reminded her brother when they reached the university. Even if they were attending the same school, Lyzza never forgot to remind him of his safety.

Caius just nodded and hugged her before he went to the high school department at the university.

She watched her brother walk away from her. Time flies so fast. It seemed like it was just yesterday when she remembered Caius being 9 years old. It seemed like he was just crying in front of her because their mother was at the hospital and needed an operation, but they couldn’t do anything because they didn’t have enough money to pay for it.

Four years had passed since that fateful night when she gave herself to a stranger who bought her at an auction. It was a wonderful night, even if it was only for the money. She didn’t regret selling her body just to prolong her mother’s life. She also never regretted the day Summer came into her life. Her baby is the greatest unplanned gift in her life.

She was just nineteen when she got impregnated with her daughter. She was too young back then and thought she couldn’t make it through. But her family and friends were there for her. She needed to stop her studies in fear of losing her baby when she experienced spotting one time when she came to school. When she gave birth to Summer, she chose not to pursue her college degree and instead focused on her daughter and helped her mother as she built her convenience store in their town.

“Lyz, why are you late?” Quincy, who was the class president of their block, asked her.

“I just took Summer to her class,” she answered while entering their room for their first subject.

“Oh, right. I miss that little kid,” she spoke and looked for something inside her bag that was on her shoulder. When she found it, she gave it to Lyzza.

“I forgot to give this to you yesterday since you went home earlier. It’s for our internship. Our interview will be next week on Vesarius Airlines. Only a select few will be chosen for an internship, so we must give it our all.”

Lyzza looked at the paper Quincy gave her. The name and the logo of the said airlines were printed on it. It was the airline company that she always heard about from her classmates. Everyone in her department wanted to enter that company because, aside from its prestigious and promising standing amongst other airlines around the world, it would be a good credential experience if one had a chance to be chosen to have on-the-job training. She also heard that the company would probably hire a very talented intern who did well during the internship.

Well, she was one of the hopefuls praying to get the job and be an intern at that company. She promised herself that if she was chosen to do her internship at Vesarius Airlines, she would do everything to have a good and clean record in the company . . . for her family, and especially for her baby.