Before It Sinks In (Revised)

34

"Uhm. Excuse us, but what the hell is happening? Sam, what is she talking about?" Bright broke the silence after a while.

"Sam? Why are you calling her that? Her name's Freen, not Sam." Heidi replied, confused.

"I..." Freen sighed before continuing. "I'm sorry, Bright, Prim. I lied. I lied to everyone in the village. My name's not Sam. I am Sarocha Chankimha or Freen to those who are close to me. I left Bangkok because I wanted to forget the pain caused by my ex-wife, my unrequited love. I decided to change my identity because I wanted to start anew. I didn't mean any harm. I just didn't want anyone from my past to be able to find me. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

There was a round of silence among the four after the revelation. Freen had her head hung low in embarrassment of what she did. She cannot face the two, knowing that they accepted and loved her fully, not knowing that she decived them. But suddenly, she felt herself being enveloped with a warm embrace, and that's when she let her pain and frustration out. She cried because the pain she felt from Becky came back from the confrontation. She cried because of the pain she felt from deceiving the good people who accepted her in the village.

"There. There. No need to cry and apologize, Sa-Freen. Whatever your real name is, it does not matter. What matters most is that you didn't really do anything bad. You may have hidden your real identity, but it was not out of bad intentions. I understand. And I know that the others will too. You are not a bad person, do not blame yourself. Do not be too hard on yourself. We don't really care about your real name, what we care about is your personality and how true you were when you were with us." Prim said, patting the older's back lightly, as Freen held on to her even tighter, while crying her heart out.

Bright walked forward and caressed the still crying girl's shoulder. "She's right. We do not and will not resent you over such a small trivial thing such as a name. You have nothing to feel bad about. Nothing changed. I still see you as you."

"Thank you so much. You don't know how big of a burden this was for me. I thought I'll lose you when you found out. I thought you guys will throw me out."

"Don't stress over it, bunny. You won't lose us. We'll always be here for you." Bright replied ruffling the girl's hair, making her finally smile.

Prim, on the other hand, pulled away slowly from the hug, to wipe Freen's tears, smiling at the girl lovingly.

------

After the confrontation and settling everything, Freen and the others continued their vacation, as planned, with Heidi tagging along this time.

Freen found out that Heidi was on a vacation with her co-workers, which is why she got there. The girl also told her that she will have to go back to Bangkok in a few days, but she promised that she just has to do some things there, and that she'll come back for her no matter what. She even said that she will just go back on the same day that they end their vacation, asking if she can come with them to find out where she lives now.

If the first day with only the two competing with each other for Freen's affection was chaotic, imagine adding another suitor. Two days into the outing and Freen was already having a headache with the constant bickering of the three and how they are trying to pamper her.

"Freen, darling! Yuhoo!"

Freen was currently sun bathing on the shore, when her attention was taken by none other than Amanda Jensen who was excitedly walking to her on her skimpy two piece swimsuit.

Oh my gosh! What is she doing? Does that even cover anything? Freen asked to herself.

Good thing she was wearing shades or the girl will surely see her looking at her body, or so she thought.

"You liking what you're seeing, hmm?" Heidi asked with a wink.

Freen just shyly turned away.

"Can you please put sunblock on my back, darling?" The girl asked with a pout on her lips.

"I, uh, okay." Freen replied defeatedly.

She tried not to look too much on the girl's exposed skin, as much as possible, distracting herself with a conversation.

"When you said they were looking for me, what do you mean?" She started.

She was doesn't know why, but she felt the girl slightly flinch at her question.

"..."

"I was just wondering why they would look for me, when I tried to cover up my departure with a vacation. I even filed a vacation leave in the office to make sure they won't have a reason to worry."

"Well, I don't know. I just found out when they were already looking for you." Heidi replied, after a while.

"Is it because of Becky as you said? But she of all people has the least motive to look for me. I made sure to leave everything about our divorce settled. I even talked to our family lawyer before leaving, to make sure that they'll be able to process everything even if I was not present."

Heidi faced her before replying. She had this weird look on her face. She was about to say something, but hesitated after some time.

"I-I'm sorry, Freen. I think I forgot something in my room." With that, she stormed off, leaving the puzzled girl.

Are you hiding something, Heidi?