Time and Again

[3] A Special Guest

It was already 7:00 in the evening when I arrived home. Our housekeeper was waiting for me anxiously outside the gate.

“Where have you been? You’re father almost tore the whole hacienda upside down looking for you. Your father is about to conduct a search operation for you. He’s been worried sick about you.” 

“I’m sorry. I fell asleep. It was already dusk when I woke up.”

“You have to hasten. Your father is already very mad.”

“Okay, I’ll hurry up.”

“I don’t know what else to tell your father. I tried to reason with him but he refused to listen. Maybe you can have a better explanation as to why you went home late and why you’re dress is full of mud.”

I looked at my dress and it was really full of mud. I didn’t notice the mud stuck to my feet and clothes while I was walking.

“Can you please hold this for me?”

I gave the torch to our housekeeper. 

I needed to take a bath and changed my clothes immediately. I didn’t want to be seen by my father smeared with mud or else he might throw me outside the hacienda.

But before I was able to go to my room, my father called me.

“Isabel.”

I froze in place. 

“Where have you been?”

“I just roam around the hacienda.”

“What took you so long to come back home? Don’t you know that I’ve been looking for you since 1:00 in the afternoon? Why are you so dirty disreputable woman?”

“I fell on the mud. I was having a hard time walking with my slipper full of mud. I thought I’m free to roam around the hacienda as long as I could.”

“You have no right to answer back to me. I don’t care what happened to you. There’s no excuse for going home late.”

My father pointed his index finger to me.

“From this day on, you’re not allowed to go anywhere outside the manor without a chaperone.” 

It was the first time that I felt my father’s rage. I’ve always been the apple of his eyes. He’s always been a good father to me. He didn’t even blame me for the death of my mother. He loved my mother so much. He didn’t marry again after her death. 

“It must have been difficult for you to grow up without a mother.” Pretty interjected.

“It was very difficult indeed. So, you should love your mother while you still can before it’s too late because you will never know until when death will take her. Death comes like a thief in the night. It comes without warning.”

“You need to take a bath and change your clothes immediately. I want you to wear your Sunday dress. Make sure that you’ll be in the dining room before 8:00 in the evening for dinner.” My father said urgently.

Before I could ask any further question, my father already turned his back away from me.

I didn’t even have a chance to ask him why I have to dress properly for dinner. Did we have a special guest that I needed to please? 

I had no choice but to do what he bids me to do.

When I went downstairs, my hunch was right. We had a special guest.

“Is your special guest handsome?” Pretty asked.

“You are such a naughty girl! You’re always after for handsome boys.”

Isabel laughed and pulled Pretty’s ear.

“Ouch.” Pretty whimpered.

“Yes. You’re right. Our special guest was handsome. He was a Spanish mestizo mixed with Filipino blood.”

“Did you fall in love with him at first sight?”

“No, I didn’t. Love at first sight is only superficial. It rarely last. What mostly lasts long is the inner beauty of a person.”

I sat on the stairs and peeped in between the railings. I was curious with my father’s visitor and his handsome grandson. I listened to their conversation but I couldn’t make out what they’re talking about. It seemed like they’re talking in gibberish tones. 

“Isabel, come here. We’ve been waiting for you. Please sit down and join our supper.”

Amazing! I didn’t know how my father knew that I was hiding on the stairs listening to their conversation. I went down the stairs and faced our visitors timidly. 

I sat down opposite to him at the side of the table. My father sat in between us.

I looked at his deep-set eyes. It’s tantalizingly piercing. His aquiline nose depicts haughtiness.

The setup was a little bit awkward for me. I felt nervous not because I sat opposite a handsome man but because I felt a steadily escalating sense of foreboding.

My father cleared his throat at last which meant a signal for formal introductory.

“Señorito Carlos Miguel, I would like you to meet my daughter Isabel.”

“Nice meeting you Señorita Isabel.” 

“Isabel, I would like you to meet Señorito Carlos Miguel.”

My father paused for a few seconds then continued.

“Your fiancé.”

I frowned. The news shook my inner core. Honestly, I didn’t like the setup. I opened my mouth then close again. There were a lot of things that I wanted to tell them both. First of all, I was not ready to marry yet not because I was too young to get married but because I still wanted to enjoy my single life to the fullest. Though 20 years old was already a marriageable age during our time, it’s still too early to settle down. I wondered why my father wants to marry me off early. Maybe he wanted to get rid of me.

Second, I didn’t love him. What if he felt the same way as I do? Though he’s handsome but I wanted to know him first before we’d live together as husband and wife. What if he had a trait that I didn’t like? Or what if he didn’t like my attitude as well?

I wanted to react violently but I couldn’t. I was not allowed to defy my father. If I would do so, I would receive a spanking and a whipping. He was very strict. His words were rules in our dominion. If you didn’t like his rules, the door was wide open for you to step out. 

For my case, eviction was a better punishment than be married off to the person I didn’t love. 

“Don’t you think that love will blossom if only you had given him a chance?” Pretty asked.

“I felt like I was too young to fall in love and marry at the age of 20. Maybe if my father introduced him to me when I was 30 years old, I could have given him a chance.” 

My father elbowed me. It was his signal for me to say something nice to my fiancé.

“It’s my pleasure to meet you.”

Those words were forced out from my mouth as if someone was squeezing my throat to say something nice to him. 

I ate silently. I lost my appetite. I couldn’t hardly imagine how my blissful life suddenly turned to be my worst nightmare.