My Neighbor’s Brother

The fine white sand of the islet tickles her bare feet as she walks slowly along the seashore. She has been walking aimlessly back and forth on the long sand dune for nearly an hour, thinking of how things unfold, going back to places she had been before, and literally killing her time. Having lived alone on the islet for quite a while, she has realized that things have their own time and timing. Life really is a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get. 

The heart-shaped islet looks like a decorative pendant worn by the mainland. It has become her hidden sanctuary, the fortress that defends her from all sorts of obliterations. The lushness of its surroundings attests to its capacity to support life, to protect, and to nourish any living creatures seeking refuge—be it permanent or temporary. This place is still unexplored, its hidden beauty sure to bring relief to tired and lost souls.

  

Watching the endless horizon, she breathes deeply and sighs as the ebbing water gleams in cheerful surprise. A licensed architect at 26, Ellah couldn’t ask for anything more. She has almost everything, beauty, brains, wealth, fame, and love. But, suddenly, the thought of her long-term relationship with Vince, her college boyfriend, gives her chills and goosebumps.

 

She and Vince met at a club orientation during her sophomore year. The low baritone voice of the tall young man holding the microphone fascinated and inspired her to listen attentively for two whole hours. After the orientation, Ellah and her classmates gathered around the long table situated in the middle of the hall and registered for the Fun Run the club was sponsoring. They were already a few steps away from the registration table when the same low baritone voice called for their attention. Ellah wasn’t able to write her contact number on the registration form. Honestly, she did that on purpose. Ellah seldom gave out her information. 

Days turned into months, and Ellah became active in the club. In their junior year, Vince was elected to vice president, and Ellah landed a post in the library and archive committee. In their senior year, Ellah formally introduced Vince to her family.

A broken seashell touches the tip of her right foot, which brings her back to the present. She gently kicks the sand to cover the shell and prevent further harm, and eventually she finds a place to settle.

Back in the city, when her friends asked about her love life, she would gladly and confidently say, “Of course I’m happy. Vince is almost perfect.” But when lying alone on her bed at night, emptiness spread from the four corners of her room, and over time, it entered the deepest labyrinth of her heart.  

Was she really happy?  

           

“What’s this?” The CEO asked as he slowly removed his eyeglasses and looked straight at Mikaella Lee, junior architect for Paramount Builders.

“I’m rendering my resignation, sir,” Ellah answered without hesitation. “And it is irrevocable,” she continued while crossing her two arms in front of her bosom to conceal the butterflies in her stomach.

 

Before she had headed to the office of the CEO, Mikaella Lee had been walking to and fro in front of her desk inside her office on the 10th floor of Wang Lee and Sons Tower, located in the heart of Ayala in Makati. Her resignation letter was dated two weeks ago, but she failed to hand it in immediately. The CEO had been out of the country for almost a week for a business meeting with the big bosses of Key Tan’s Holdings, an emerging electrical manufacturing company in Taiwan. It was a big project. If Paramount Builders could sign the contract, the company could secure more than 50% of its annual gross. Mikaella Lee understood the eagerness of their CEO to close the deal and get that partnership, that’s why she patiently waited for the perfect timing, and for his return.

 

The delay in submitting her resignation was a blessing in disguise, and a pendulum that almost pushed her sanity to drift. Every single day of waiting prolonged the agony and tempted her to change her mind, but she, Mikaella Lee, had the will power to pursue what she thought and said. The waiting wasn’t purely an agony, for during those days, Mikaella Lee was able to weigh things thoroughly and gain confidence that her decision was right. 

“Let’s talk, Mikaellah Lee,” the low voice of the 54-year-old CEO quivered. His face started to become auburn as his right hand angrily dropped the folder into the glass table. His action produced an audible sound, which caused the secretary to peep through the door.

“But sir.”

“Don’t call me sir.”

“Seven thirty.”

“OK,” she answered in a disappointed tone and faced the door to exit. The secretary sitting at her desk right outside the CEO’s office looked at Mikaella Lee with doubtful eyes, shook her head, and returned to work.

She was humming the lines of Mariah Carrey’s One Sweet Day as she drove slowly to Greenhills. At 7:15 she was already inside. The mansion was one of those lines of elegant residences in the subdivision. When she entered the gate, Trix, the German shepherd Mathew had been taking care of for years welcomed her. His tail wiggled as he began to sniff her hands.

“I miss you, sweetie?” she stooped to play with him for a while before finally going in. She went directly to the dining hall and noticed the table was set for five persons, so it means, everybody was present.

Carina went out of the dirty kitchen with a tray of yummy creama de fruta on her hands.

“Ellah!” she uttered joyously as she dropped the tray on the table and headed to embrace her daughter.

“Evening, Mom. Is there a celebration?”

“Not really. It is just a thanksgiving.”

“OMG! Is it a yes, mom?” Ellah’s eyes dilated like those of a kid who had just received a surprise.

“Yes, darling. It’s a YES,” Carina excitedly said while arranging the platter of dishes on the long table.

“That really calls for a celebration, mom. Shall we start tasting your specialty?” she smiled sweetly while turning toward the creama de fruita and started to scoop. Just then, Mathew, her elder brother together with Wilbert, her younger brother entered to join them.

“Keep updating yourselves, kids. I’ll call your father,” Carina left the three to call her husband at the veranda who told her to just call him when Ellah arrived. When she was gone, the three giggled together because despite of their age, their mother still treated them like small children. Mathew was three years older than Ellah, while Wilbert came late after 7 years.

Peter Wang was a second generation Chinese. His father, Wang Yi Chen who was 16 years old then, together with his two older brothers came to the Philippines in the early 1990s in search of a greener pasture. At first, Wang Yi Chen traversed the long roads of Ermita under the heat of the sun to sell banana que to passengers waiting for their ride. On their short stay in a small hut along San Marcelino Street, Wang learned the Filipino way of life and learned how to survive living in a foreign land. On the evening, he and his brothers sold different kinds of merchandize to cater the needs of jeepney and taxi drivers. From the little amount they earned in their almost 24 hours on the street, the three brothers decided to live separately and established their own lives. Wang ventured in the southern part of the country specifically in the province of Romblon in 1927, and when he was 28 years old, he acquired a franchise of a fuel station.

A promising businessman, Wang gained popularity and became a constant guest in celebrations and other gatherings. And because of that, many girls longed for his attention. But Wang kept his distance for he knew his purpose and he remained focus. He needed to build an empire, he needed to be more. His hunger for fame and money was never satiated that’s why he worked day and night like those times in Ermita. After two years, Wang registered the second franchise of his fuel business.

Wang was 30 years old when he met Juanita, a beautiful maiden from the far-flung barangay of the province. He saw Juanita along the road with a basket of rice cakes on her hand. She was selling rice cakes then in order to support her younger siblings. Juanita, a 19 year old orphan stopped schooling five years ago when their parents died during a sea mishap. Since then, she served as both mother and father to her three siblings.

Driven by unexplainable desire, Wang bought all the rice cakes in Juanita’s basket and volunteered to take her home. Along the road, the shy Juanita seldom answered Wang’s questions and maintained a distance. Even after few weeks of his constant visit, Juanita remained aloof and hesitated. But Wang was persistent. He never let a single day without seeing her and providing the needs of her family.

After a year, a simple church wedding was celebrated at the Parish of St. Anthony. Wang Yi Chen and Juanita were blessed with two children. Their fuel company flourished and after the birth of Peter Wang, their second child, another gas station was constructed.

Along with the three gasoline stations in the province, the couple also purchased a manor in the capital city. When Peter was a college freshman, he and his older brother Simon Wang stayed in the city. It was there that the family’s biggest nightmare happened. On the evening of June, just a few weeks after the class opening, Simon was hit by a rushing car along Mabini Street. He was walking back home from an evening class since the school was a few blocks away.

The family lamented for weeks, but later learned to admit that Simon was gone. And so, Peter Wang became the only heir of a multi-million fuel company because before he died, Wang Yi Chen acquired more chains of fuel stations across the country.

Like father like son. Peter Wang was far hungry of fame and wealth than his father. After earning a degree in Business Administration, and while taking charge of their businesses, he took up Civil Engineering and later acquired units in Architectural Design. After securing a license, Peter Wang established Paramount Builders, a group of company that specializes in building condominium units and subdivisions.

While reminiscing the past, Peter Wang looked at the wide view of his wife’s garden from the veranda. He could hear their children’s voices from the dining hall and thought of his wife, Carina, a pure Filipina and daughter of the town’s mayor. Carina was a loving wife and a caring mother, she was a perfect hostess in gatherings, too. The thought of how Carina nourished their children tempted him to ask, “What went wrong?”