Every Tick of Serendipity ( Ruler of Fate Series #3 )

KABANATA 46

Kabanata 46

The forty-sixth tick

After I sat up, Kairos wasn't there. It was the next day, but he's gone already on our bed. My eyes were squinting as I looked around the whole apartment, but there's no sign of him everywhere. Pinatay ko ang alarm na hindi pa rin tumitigil sa pagtunog at tumayo.

I pouted and walked closer to where our rabbit was. I dramatically and lazily squatted in front of her, "Where's your daddy?" inaantok kong tanong.

She only looked at me — innocently, sadly, and close to crying. Namamasa ang mga mata niya, habang nakababa naman ang mga tenga niya.

"Hala..." My head tilted. "Why, baby ko?" I asked gently before carrying her in my arms.

She started sniffing my neck, which made me giggle. "Hungry ka lang ata, eh? Hindi ka ba pinakain ni Kairos, hmm?"

Of course, she didn't answer me. But the way she leaned on my chest made me think that I was right. So, I walked to our kitchen and started preparing her breakfast meal. Pagkatapos no'n ay bumalik ako sa higaan at kinuha ang phone ko. I dialed Kairos' number before walking back to my own closet.

My forehead creased when the line ended without a single ring. Sinubukan ko ulit siyang tawagan habang tinitignan ang isusuot ko dapat ngayong araw, pero on the second time, he didn't pick it up.

I did that again and again, but no matter what I do — sent him a text or gave him a call — I didn't receive anything from him.

I rolled my eyes and stomped both of my feet, "It's his special day, but he's nowhere to be found?!" inis kong bulong bago pumasok sa C.R.

Even with all the time I spent inside, Kairos wasn't still there when I went out. Paulit-ulit kong tinawagan ang cellphone niya, pero wala pa ring sumasagot until now. I was done changing, putting on make-up, arranging my stuff, and even dressing our rabbit up, but he didn't pick up any of my calls even once as I did all of that.

Now, I'm just sitting on our couch and impatiently waiting with our rabbit for him. A few minutes and the ceremony will start, but we're still here.

I sighed and dialed Kuya Zyler's phone after I read all my text messages to Kairos. It took several rings before he answered me.

[A-Ano...] He cleared his throat, [Bakit? Busy ako.] inis niyang tanong.

Umirap ako, "And I'm mad, so I don't really care about that." masungit kong sagot.

[Aba—] He went quiet for a second, until he let out a deep sigh. [Bakit ka tumawag?]

I pouted. "Do you know where Kairos is?"

[H-Huh? Ano... Uh...] He chuckled. [Bakit sa'kin mo hinahanap? Hindi naman ako yung jowa.]

"But you're the friend." I rolled my eyes.

[Ikaw pa rin yung jowa, Nyx. Nananahimik ako rito, tawag-tawag ka.]

I was about to answer him back, but the line ended before I could even do that. He dropped our conversation! I groaned and tried calling him again, but he purposely ignored my calls na. Nang lumipas ang ilang segundo, na I'm dialing his number and he's rejecting everything, I decided to search for Kuya Xavier's number nalang.

"Kuya!" I happily greeted.

[What?]

Napatayo ako nang napatingin sa orasan. We're already ten minutes late from his graduation ceremony, which made me panic.

"Have you seen Kairos? Do you know where he is? Bakit wala siya here? We're supposed to attend—"

[Can you calm down?]