Caught in the Arms of Another [Reid & Tiasofia]

Kabanata 23

Reid was not home that night. Ang sabi ni Yaya Lucille ay may emergency daw sa opisina at kinailangan niyang umalis. Ibinilin niya si Jared sa aming dalawa at nangakong babalik din daw agad.

I didn’t ask for further details anymore even though I was already worried about his situation. I hoped and prayed that everything was doing okay in him. That whatever the problem was already solved.

Bigla ko tuloy naalala si Ericson, Reid’s assistant. I wondered how he was able to manage the workloads all those times Reid was gone? It must be a big burden to him to do everything all at once.

But then, I saw and witnessed firsthand how hardworking and trustworthy that man iwas. Sa iilang pagkakataon na nagkasama kaming dalawa noon ay nalaman ko na hindi lang siya basta empleyado para kay Reid. More than being his assistant, Ericson was also good friend to him. Kaya anumang problema mayroon ang kumpanya ngayon ay sigurado at kampante akong malalampasan din nila.

“Babes, when is Kuya Reid coming home? I miss him already,” tanong ni Jared na nagpaalis sa akin sa mga iniisip ko.

I adjusted my position on the bed where we were seated, offering him a smile before reaching out to caress his head, my touch gentle as I ran my fingers through his hair. Saglit pa akong napatitig sa bata nang biglang may napansin.

Jared was growing a lot more like Wentworth than Reid.

Gulat na gulat ako nang biglang tumalon sa gitna naming dalawa iyong aso na bigay ni Wentworth sa kaniya. Jared scratched the dog’s head and neck and Sherlock Bones licked his cheeks in return.

The smile in my lips grew wider remembering how he named his dog. Ang sabi niya sa akin ay nakuha raw niya iyon sa paborito niyang palabas sa TV, which I had no idea at all. It was just so witty. Nagdadalawang-isip pa nga raw siya sa dalawang pangalan, kung Hairy Paw-ter o ito ngang Sherlock Bones. But since English Bulldog was not that hairy, he chose the latter. And until now, it still amazed me how they were already so close and getting along so well, ganoong wala pang isang araw na magkakilala silang dalawa.

“He promised to be home as soon as possible. You’ll never know, he might be here tomorrow when you wake up,” masiglang sagot ko sa tanong niya.

But that was all we had thought. Dumaan ang isa, dalawa, at tatlong araw ay hindi pa rin siya umuuwi sa amin. I was getting worried, while on the other hand, Jared wouldn’t stop asking me where his brother aas and when was he coming home. Ganoon din si Yaya Lucille na nababahala na sa kawalan ng balita sa kaniya. Ang sabi raw kasi ni Reid sa kaniya ay babalik din agad siya pero hanggang ngayon ay wala pa. We tried contacting him but he was not answering our calls.

It was on the fifth day when we finally reached him. Using Jared’s iPad, Reid talked to him over a videocall.

“Kuya! Where are you now? Why are you not coming home yet? When will you be here?” bungad at sunud-sunod na mga tanong ni Jared.