From A Distance

1-7

Day 1

The first day since Richard let Maine out of his sight. He was hesitant at first, but after looking at his phone, to check her location, he sees that she was safe and sound - once again - in Batangas. Most probably trying to cool off, and relax after their misunderstanding.

Richard had to have a major talk session with Mr. Mendoza, of course. I mean, Mr. Mendoza specifically gave him orders, but Richard tried his best to explain that they still needed some time away from each other. Mr. Mendoza ultimately gave in to his explanation, as he understood that Maine has already went through an emotional roller-coaster ride these past few weeks.

Day 2

It was only the second day, but he's her father so of course he would start getting worried. He decides to persuade Richard into looking for Maine. He checks his phone again, only to see that she was still in Batangas.

"She's fine, Sir!" he reassures him.

Day 3

Richard starts to get worried as well. She hasn't texted him, her social media accounts seem like they've been on hiatus, and all her friends have not heard from her. He drives over to Batangas, once again asking if she was around. They confirmed that she's been staying there, but that they haven't seen her since yesterday.

He asks for the keys to her room, his hands shaking as he unlocks the door. He enters, anticipating for her to shout at him again for intruding. But instead, the room was enveloped in silence. He hears the ringtone of her phone, and follows where it was coming from. He sights that it's on one of the side tables, he comes closer to see that it was Mr. Mendoza calling, trying to contact her.

Ten missed calls, and thirty-five unread messages, all coming from family and friends. Looking at the timestamps, it seems that they haven't been opened since 5:30 pm, yesterday.

He sits on the bed, trying to keep as positive as possible that she would walk in the room, in any second.

However, the seconds turned into minutes, soon an hour passed, and next hours passed.

Day 4

Then, he found himself waking up the next day, her, nowhere to be found. He panics, scrambling off the bed. Running out into the beach, screaming her name as if it would instantly make her pop right in front of him. His cries emanating pain, sorrow, and regret.

He rushes over to the reception. His hair was messy, and his eyes were red and full of tears.

"Where is she? Has she been here yet? Nakita niyo ba siya?" he blurts out, almost screaming.

Instead, fear was instilled in them, making them call the security. He flails his arms to break away from their holds but they were too strong. Richard was pulled to the parking lot of the resort. He gets into his car making his way quickly back to Mr. Mendoza, to report to him that she was officially missing.

Day 5

Mr. Mendoza didn't believe it at first. His one and only daughter, now gone, nowhere to be found, no way to be found. They reported it to the police, with them not being able to guarantee her safety.

An overbearing feeling of regret fills the both of them up. Mr. Mendoza feeling regret for all of those wasted years. Richard feeling regret for letting her run away, knowing that her last memory of him was brimming with pain.

Day 6

They received a call from an unknown voice, confirming that they had her. One hundred million pesos, was what they were asking for. Richard also heard the voice talking about not paying up, and so they had to take his daughter and add on to the money he already owed. Richard didn't understand all of this new information that he's gathered, so he shrugs it off, as he is also very worried about Maine's safety.

Day 7

A whole week has passed since Maine was out of sight. A day has passed since they got a call. These past twenty-four hours has been very stressful for Mr. Mendoza, as he tries to scramble as much money as he can to pay to get his daughter back.

Richard's been stressed out as well, as he tries to contact as much people as possible to help them find Maine. On top of this, he's also trying to make sense of his feelings for her - and he still can't put his finger on it.

Richard was sitting on the couch, staring out the window. Mr. Mendoza places a hand on his shoulder. He was holding a mug of coffee in his other hand and he offers it to Richard. Richard looks to him, and they both give each other a nod.

"Found anything yet?" Mr. Mendoza asks as he makes his way beside him, holding his own cup of coffee.

"Nothing, Sir, I'm sorry," he shakes his head and bows, ashamed of his lack of information.

"It's ok, Richard. We'll find her. I know we will."

"Sir, I should have listened to you. I really am sorry," he says still bowing, and now even covering his face.

"Richard, it's not your fault. Even if you ran after her, you wouldn't have caught up to her anyways. Alam mo naman 'yon madiskarte," he says chuckling, which Richard couldn't help but laugh as well at how true that was.

"Sir, how are we able to laugh in such a situation like this?"

"I don't know, Richard. Hindi lang talaga siguro tayo marunong mastress."

"Sir, please know, I really do regret it so much."

"Is that all you're regretting, Richard?"

"Po?"

"Don't think that I don't know what's going on, iho. Hindi ako manhid kagaya mo," he says with a smirk.

"Sir?"

"Anak ko 'yang si Maine, so minsan nararamdaman ko ang mga nararamdaman niya. And as a matter of fact, feeling ko, eh ganoon na din ako sa'yo. Para kasing may hindi pa kayo na-aamin sa isa't isa eh."

He takes a big gulp, unable to answer the father of the woman he hurt.

A/N: Get ready to go through an emotional roller coaster ride, just like Menggay did 😬 Watch out for the next update, next week!