My Little Moon - 𝗂𝗋𝖾𝗇𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝗋𝖼𝗈𝗌

44. near, nearer

The sound of her medium-inched stilettos echoed through the halls of Imelda's humble abode.

Imee briskly walked right up to where her mother sat; all doubts washing away as she greeted her with a simple kiss on the cheek.

Imelda couldn't take a rest after hearing her eldest daughter's ragged tone from the phone call. She sounded absolutely peculiar and scared, none of which Imelda took as a sign for something good. But that is where she's about to be proven wrong.

For standing right in front of her, was her very own daughter. Looking as normal as she had seen her yesterday, and the day before that. If anything, Imelda would just presume she was good at hiding her expressions. . .which, she was.

Though that wasn't the case.

The minute Imelda held her daughter's hand, had she knew that her visit here wasn't her typical after work meet ups. No, this was something far more confusing and by simply a guess, something important. Imelda could feel the coldness of Imee's hand seep right into hers. One of the many traits to tell that something was up.

Imee usually has warmth radiating from her palms, and Imelda felt none of that.

"Bakit ka napa dalaw? And why do you look so troubled?" Imelda gently pulled Imee's hand as to let the woman sit beside her. Imee did so with no further trouble.

She fiddled with her hair, tossing it to the side, before answering her mother.

"I do?" Imelda nodded. "Oh."

"Why? What's wrong, anak? You're starting to worry me. . ." Imee sighed, she clearly didn't mean for her mother to worry too much. It was hard keeping a straight face when the thought of finding her niece bubbled up every few minutes in her mind.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to do that Ma. It's just. . ." She paused. "Can we wait for Bonget first? Before I tell you what's going on? I don't like repeating myself."

"He's coming too?" The mother perked up to which Imee could only nod. By now, Imelda started to put the pieces together. She only frowned when nothing seemed to come up to mind. Of course, at her age, it was understandable to forget things quite easily. . .but no, Imelda's memory was far too stubborn to forget things and yet, she couldn't come up with anything.

To distract herself from panicking, Imelda diverted the topic in the meantime. She needed to bring her heartrate to minimal speed before everything goes absolutely haywire.

"Why haven't you changed? Isn't your shift over?"

Imee looked down at her office clothes. Being in them was an absolute pain, but she forgot all about the sensation the moment she opened her emails. She could only give her mother a wry smile.

"I got. . .distracted." Was all her answer. Short and precise, and it gave away nothing. Imee averted her gaze towards the door when she heard it crack open.

Imelda did the same, but the frown from her daughter's answer never left. Both watched as Bongbong entered, along with Liza. They looked worried, and Imee suddenly felt a little guilty making them think that way.

Though, she played it off and stood up to greet her brother and his wife. All while, Imelda watched and waited on the couch.

"I'm glad you came." She pulled him in for a hug, caressed his back, before facing him straight on. "We have something very important to discuss. I'm. . ."

Imee glanced back towards her mother. She began to take the spot right at the very center of the room, presumably so everyone could see her. "I'm afraid this won't wait at kailangan na natin gumalaw."