The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the air of the cozy apartment located at the heart of Singapore. It’s Friday morning. Weekend once again. No work for her because her shift at the hotel goes from Monday to Thursday only but she has to work 2 extra hours every day.
She properly positioned the paper bags on the countertop.
Rhanie, Angel, Gab, Kate. Those were the names printed on the bags.
Freshly brewed Starbucks Coffee for Rhanie and sandwiches for Angel, Gab, and Kate.
These have been carefully prepared, just waiting to be picked up.
Meg removed her apron and set the freshly cooked bacon and pancakes on the table.
The sound of fumbling keys can be heard from outside and then the door slowly opens.
“Unnie, good morning.” Nerie greets her as she put down all her things on the countertop. She just came home from her graveyard shift – which will be done soon. She has a pretty good shift in the hospital where she’s working but she was kind enough to cover this deadly shift for a friend.
With her eyebags becoming more evident, she looks exhausted more than ever.
“Hello, Nerie. Kain na muna,” she hugged her beloved sister and gave her a glass of warm milk.
“Thanks, unnie,” Nerie said as she sleepily put pancakes and bacon on her plate.
Dressed in black overalls, Angel walked out of the room brushing her hair. She’s wearing the boots Meg gave her last Christmas.
“Morning, Meg. Morning, Best.”
“Morning Best.” Nerie smiled at her and continued slicing her pancakes.
Putting two pieces of bacon in her mouth, Angel got her sandwich bag.
“I need to go ahead, I can’t be late today. I have an important meeting with the director.”
Meg chuckles, “Sinong director na naman yan? Iba ka na talaga! Haha. By the way, I placed extra sandwiches in your bag just in case you go overtime again.”
“Okay, thanks Meg. Bye guys!” She gave her friends a tight hug. “Gab, Kate, Rhans, I’ll go ahead, bye!” She shouted as she picked up her bag by the door. She gave us a smile and the door closed behind her.
She looked at Nerie. Her eyes are drooping already.
“Nerie, mukhang pagod na pagod ka na. Matulog ka na. Nakakain ka naman na e. Ako na bahala dito,” Meg said as she brings Nerie’s plate to the sink.
“Salamat ah, unnie.” Nerie walked towards their room. On the door it says – HOME OF THE QUEEN, THE PRINCESS and the BUNNY. She smiled and entered the room and saw Gab putting mascara on her lashes.
Gab looked at her and in the most motherly way possible she said, “Nerie… Tulog na…” And she continued to apply lip gloss on her pouted lips. Nerie put on a tired smile and tucked herself to bed. Meg just smiled at this as she entered the room as well.
“May coffee sa labas Gab, uminom ka muna bago ka umalis ah,” Meg said as she kissed her cheek and walked to the other room.
On this door, it says – HOME OF THE WRITER, THE POPSTAR AND THE SUPERMODEL. Minwoo’s soothing voice – singing voice that is - filled the room as she entered it.
“Kate, aren’t you and Rhanie gonna be late for work?” Meg said as she sat down on their bed. Rhanie and Kate’s building is just one block away from each other so they usually go to work together.
“Rhanie, tara?” Kate said as she checked herself one more time on the full-length mirror. Rhanie came out of the bathroom fully made up already. “Tara, Kate.” Rhanie and Kate hugged Meg goodbye and in a jiff, they got their prepared lunches and the door closed with a slight thud.
Meg was left alone in the condo. Well, not really, since Nerie’s in their room sleeping.
What to do? What to do? She said to herself.
She suddenly remembered something and smiled. After cleaning the table and washing the dishes, Meg went inside the room.
She changed into jeans and a white top. Grabbing her blue cap from the hanger, she slowly walked to Nerie’s sleeping figure.
“Pahinga ka lang, Nerie,” Meg said as kissed her forehead and quietly walked out of the room.
Writing a short note to Nerie, Meg quickly sticks it to their message corkboard.
She got her bag and keys from the counter and finally closed the door behind her.
--
A few blocks from their apartment, Meg comes out of a grocery store.
Hmmm... is there anything I missed?
She looked at the stuff in her shopping bag.
It’s all set.
She happily skipped towards the corner where a few people stood, waiting for their turn to cross the street. She stood behind them and looked around the city of Singapore. She smiled. This is such a nice place, really. It’s been their home for about 2 years now. So far this city have been treating everyone well.
Angel's been studying courses about scriptwriting and directing and now she's working part-time in a film company. Nerie's been working as a nurse in a well-known hospital while Kate, Gab and Rhanie are working in multinational companies. And Meg, she's been a sous chef for a 5-star hotel for almost 2 years now.
As the pedestrian light turned green, she walked a few steps when suddenly, she felt something vibrating in her bag. She stood still and quickly rummaged her bag for the ringing cellphone. She flipped it open.
“Hello?”
She can barely hear the person on the line because of the bustling cars so she pushed a few buttons to increase the volume of the phone.
“Hello? Sorry, I can’t hear you very well.”
She turned her back to walk back to the sidewalk to clearly listen to what the person is saying.
At that moment, a sound of screeching tires was heard. Loud gasps and screams were heard from the bystanders as the body of the young woman fell from midair and back to the ground.
A few brave ones walked towards the accident.
There lay the fragile body of the woman, motionless, her face and body covered with fresh blood.
--
“Unnie!” Nerie exclaimed as she sat up, waking up from a bad dream. Her heart was beating fast, she is sweating.
Her cellphone rings. She picks it up.
“Is this Nerie Maalihan?” said the person on the other line.
“Yes. Why?” She asked, her hands shaking, she can barely hold the phone.
“I think you have to go to the hospital right now.”
--
A police walked towards the most solemn section of the hospital.
His footsteps remained unheard as the sound of heartbreaking cries filled the hallway. He walked towards a group of girls who are still shaken by the terrible accident and are helplessly trying to hold on to each other for support.
“Excuse me?” He said to the girls. All of them remained unchanged as tears just freely flow down their faces.
“I’m sorry for your loss. But we saw this phone just beside your friend. We found out that she was actually talking to someone on the phone before the accident happened.”
One of the girls turned her head up, her eyes red and swollen and breathing heavily. She hugged the girl beside her and whispered something to her before standing up.
“Luckily, we were able to trace the number of the last call just before the cell phone broke down permanently.”
The girl, who’s still wearing her black overalls since that morning, just stared at him as he hands the piece of paper to her.
--
Her fingers numb, Angel dialed the number written on the piece of paper.
One ring, two rings, three rings, four rings…
She was about to end the call when a person suddenly picks up.
“Hello?” said the other line.
Angel’s jaw dropped.
“Eric?”
--
June 21; around 11 a.m. on the streets of Singapore
Meg’s phone rang. She picked it up.
“Hello?” she said.
The noise of the cars made the voice of the other line barely audible.
“Hello?” said the person from the other line.
Meg’s heart skipped a beat as she can almost recognize the voice. Her brain stopped functioning right at that moment.
“Hello? Sorry, I can’t hear you very well,” Meg said as she increased the volume of her phone. With mind already confused, she turned her back and slowly walked towards the sidewalk.
“Hey, I know this is a bit early but… happy birthday, sunshine girl,” he said.
What she didn’t notice was that, the traffic light just turned green. And a speeding truck was coming towards her.
--
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