All good things must end. In a wink, the week ended and Ryo and Ellie were tightly hugging each other at the airport again. Both unwilling to let the other person go. Their silence spoke the words their mouths did not want to say. They hugged and kissed until the PA system announced Ellie’s trip was boarding. Ryo gave her another tight hug, another torrid kiss. Ellie did the same. Both uncaring about the world around them.
Ellie wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand and looked at Ryo. “I’ll miss you, baby. Eat well and follow your nutritionist, ok?” Ellie said between sobs.
Ryo nodded and pulled her closer again to plant a kiss at the top of her head. He sniffed her hair, taking in as much of her scent as he could. “You take care too, mahal ko. Call me when you get there.
“When will she come here?” His grandfather asked.Ryo swallowed hard at his grandfather’s question. Honestly, he does not know. “I don’t know yet, Sofu. She needs to sort out her store first before she can go anywhere.”“Hmm.” He nodded. “Managing a small business is more intense than a big one. I’m assuming she bakes everything she sells daily?”“Yes, she does.”“Hmm. And why did you need to get members of The Clan there?” He’d give it to his grandpa to switch topics without so much of a warning. The clan was an underground society of assassins and mercenaries his ancestors founded. Isamu Matsuda is the current head of the organization. Despite his age, he’s known to be ruthless.“His ex-boyfr
Despite Ryo and Ellie’s hectic schedules, they still squeezed a phone call or a video call in between. Ellie’s voice was Ryo’s stress reliever. The sound of her laughter relieved him of his tiredness.He loves watching her bake. Ellie would prop her phone on a tripod and do her thing while Ryo watches. Ellie loved listening to Ryo’s stories of how his day went. His world fascinated her.It has been a week since Ryo returned to Japan. He and Ellie somehow developed a routine. In the morning, she would send him a voice message. If he’s awake and is not busy, they would talk while she bakes or he would watch her do her this. He called her at night no matter how busy he is. It does not matter if their conversations were short. He needed to hear Ellie or his day would not be complete.In the rare instances when their schedules synched, Ellie would teach R
Ryo did not bother joining the dinner for the actors and the crew. He’s eager to go home and sink his teeth on Ellie’s chocolate fudge cake. The thought of it made him salivate. His entourage left the location right after he completed his scenes, surprising his colleagues. Ryo loved to hang around after shooting. He loved talking to the staff and crew or chatting with fellow actors. But today, he scurried away like somebody’s trying to run after him. Ryo keyed in the password for his private elevator. As soon as it opened to his penthouse, he ran to the kitchen to get Ellie’s cake. His steps stopped when his eyes landed on the center table in his living room. The box of Ellie’s cake is on top of the small table. No big deal. What blew his top was the box was opened. His eyes narrowed when he saw the cake beside the box. He drew a deep breath to calm himself. His instructions were specific. How could his men make a mistake?
Ellie woke up with an itchy throat. She remembered drinking soft drinks yesterday. She recalled if she had drank water afterwards or if she had enough water to wash out the sugar from her throat. Whichever the case was, it looks like she’d be nursing her tonsillitis in the coming days.She went to the kitchen to brew some ginger tea, then rummaged through her medicine kit for some paracetamol. The ginger tea and a buttered toast served as her breakfast. She popped a paracetamol after finishing her food, then took a shower.She sent Ryo a quick message while she was drying her hair with a towel. If he’s awake, they could have a small talk while she bakes otherwise she’d wait for him to message her when he’s free. His secretary said they had an early shoot for his movie. Looks like he’s not free since he did not respond right away.Despite feeling a little under the weather, she conti
“Grandma, where did you leave your luggage?” asked Ellie.“It’s in our hotel room in Manila.” the old woman answered her. Ellie nodded in response. She made a mental note to adjust their travel time so they could pick up their luggage before going to the airport.She drove with more caution than usual. Her parents waited for her outside the door when she parked her car. She helped the couple get out of the car. Her parents welcomed the couple and guided them inside the house.Her grandma busied herself in entertaining the guests. She immediately warmed up to the couple. When she said that the couple were from Japan, she proudly told the couple about Ryo. Her grandma beamed with pride as she talked about Ryo’s shows. She left entertaining the guests to her grandmother. She seemed to enjoy having peers around. Her mother busied herself in preparing for their dinner. As for her,
The siblings arrived earlier than expected. In a stroke of luck, they did not encounter heavy traffic on their way back. Claude and Vince slept in her bedroom while she busied herself with their dinner and game night food. Her brothers seldom crash at her place, so when they do, she makes sure that she makes their favorite food. For dinner, she whipped their family recipe of adobo. She also prepared buffalo wings for their game food.Ellie live streamed the news on her tablet and listened to it while she busied herself with cooking. The reports were repetitive. It’s about another victim of extrajudicial killing tied up to the government’s war against drugs. In the early days of the campaign, there people had an outrage from all the violence happening. A lot have protested about the injustice. But then as time went by, such reports have been a news staple, it desensitized the viewers. It’s unfortunate, really.
“Hey baby, how are you?” Ryo asked, looking at the tablet propped on his vanity. He had a shower and was drying his hair with a towel.“Doing great but I miss you, though.” Ellie said. She’s lying on her stomach and looking through the tiny screen of her mobile phone.“Yeah. Me too. I fucking hate this long distance shit. I want to be with you always.”“I hear you. Me too. How long has it been? A month?”Ryo nodded his head.“It felt like a year or longer, Ryo.”“I know.”“So, how’s your calendar like?”“Hmm… I have some talk shows, and a TV sitcom. My out of the country shoot got pushed out, thank goodness.”“I see. Is that pretty free or is that stil
“Uhm… I’m sorry. I’ll… I’ll go out now,” said the soft voice. Fear and surprise evident from it as it sounded shaky. Ryo’s head snapped at the sound of it. He swiveled his chair to face the direction of the door. “El-Ellie?!?” He looked dumbfounded. His eyes almost popped out of their socket. He rubbed his eyes to make sure she wasn’t an illusion. Oh, please don’t let her be an illusion. When he opened his eyes and found Ellie still standing at the door, he jumped out of his chair. He walked up to her in long strides and closed the gap between them. “Mahal ko?” Ryo asked, cupping Ellie’s face. He still could not believe that she’s standing before him. Ryo lost it when Ellie nodded and smiled at hi