One More Chance

~~~Just a gentle whisper told me that you're gone. Leaving only memories, where did we go wrong? I couldn't find the words then, so let me say them now, I'm still in love with you. Tell me that you love me, tell me that you care. Tell me that you need me and I'll be there, I'll be there waiting. I will always love you, I will always stay true. There's no one who loves you like I do~~~

-Christian Bautista & Angeline Quinto-

I walked into the mini-office to calm my nerves and saw my daughter still busy playing on my computer. I decided not to tell her that her father has finally arrived because I know he will call her later.

I stayed for almost 20 minutes, scanning my emails through my phone and gazed up when Cali stood up and told me she's going outside to see her Tita Dana (Aunt Dana).

"Aren't you going outside, mommy?"

"Yeah, I'm going out with you, baby, I just have to check some messages."

I smiled at her and she sat down next to me on the couch, waiting for me to be finished with what I was doing.

"Let's go, baby," I took her hand and walked out the door hand in hand. We went directly to the counter where we saw Dana preparing orders for the customers. "Tita Dana," Cali greeted her with a cheerful smile.

"Oh, hi, my beautiful pamangkin (niece), are you done playing your favorite game?" Dana asked her while her hands were busy on the coffee machine.

"Yup," she nodded. "How can I help you, Tita Dana?"

"Whoa... you're so sweet, bunny." Dana kissed her on the forehead. "You can come with me when I bring these drinks to our customers and say hello to them. You can thank them for coming to our coffee shop and hope they enjoy the food and drinks, how's that, sweet bunny?" She softly pinched her chin.

"Yeah, I like that!"

And that's what my daughter did, that's why she found out that her father has arrived from his business meeting.

"Daddy!" I heard her scream and excitedly ran in her father's direction.

I almost rolled my eyes when I saw how the bitch touched my daughter's hair and kissed her on the cheek. And since I have customers too near their table, Cali saw me and ran to me. She asked me to come and say hello to Luke, which she didn't know I've already encountered a while ago.

We were in a 'convincing conversation' when Lucy stood up and walked over in our direction. Having the sweet fake smile on her face, she greeted Cali and asked her to come with her to their table but she refused, so she turned to me.

"This is your fault! What did you say to the kid?"

I blinked at her question. Cali was now busy talking to the two elderly customers who I had just given two cups of coffee, so she didn't hear what Lucy was asking me.

"What do you mean?" I asked, suppressing my smile. I'm sure this woman had no idea that I'm Cali's mother and I'm so excited to see her reaction if ever she finds it out.

"What did you say to Cali? Did you brainwash her or something?"

"Hey! Why would I do such a silly thing? And by the way, please watch your language!" I warned her in a calm tone, so everyone won't notice us.

"And what are you going to do, huh?"

I don't know but her question made me suddenly smile. I just shook my head and was about to turn around but she grabbed my arm.

"I'm still talking to you, so don't you turn your back on me!"

"I don't care about you and your issues, bitch!" I whispered-yelled, taking my hand out of her grasp. "Can't you see how busy I am attending to our customers' needs? If you have nothing important to say, you better shut up or if you have nothing to do with your life, you better go before I finally lose my temper and you'll just find yourself lying in a hospital bed!" Finally, my words seemed to have struck her as her face turned pale as if it had suddenly drained of blood.

"What's going on here, mommy?" Maybe Cali had noticed us and ran to me, taking my hand.novelbin

"M-Mommy?" Lucy asked, her eyes were moving from me to Cali. "Why did you call her, mommy? She's not your mom, you shouldn't call her that!"

"She's my daughter, what do you want her to call me?" I couldn't help but chuckle at her stunned reaction. That's what I've been waiting for.

"No, you're not, liar! You're just doing this to seduce her father!" Her voice came a bit loud that caught the attention of some of the customers near our spots.

"Huh! Oh, my--- why would I do that?"

"I don't know, maybe you're desperate enough to get Luke!"

"Oh, my God, Lucy, I pity you for having the luck of information about me and for having a mental illness... tsk. tsk. tsk." I grinned, shaking my head.

"How dare you!" I noticed how she formed her fists and maybe she was thinking of hitting me if Cali wasn't just watching her. "Cali, don't call this desperate woman your mom, because she's not your mom!"

"Huh? But she is my mom, she's my mother! And why are you calling her desperate? She loves my dad!" I gasped at what Cali had said and immediately grabbed her shoulder to stop.

"Cali---" I was about to say something when I got interrupted by Luke's presence.

"What's going on here, girls?" Luke asked and I couldn't help raising an eyebrow at him.

"This woman is so desperate to get you!" Lucy replied with a smug smile playing on her lips.

-'Huh! For your information, he is the one desperately trying to get me... to get me back and not the other way around!'- I mentally chuckled.

"And why do you say so?" Luke asked her and based on the expression he has on his face, I know he's enjoying the little show in front of him.

"Because she's pretending to be your daughter's mother!"

Cali and I shared glances and she giggled.

"But she is!" He shrugged.

"What?" Lucy frowned.

"I mean, she really is my daughter's mother. Why, do you have a problem with that?"

"H-Huh?" And again, her eyes moved from me to Cali and then to Luke. "You're just lying, aren't you?"

I bit my bottom lip to suppress my smile.

"Why would I do that? What would I get if I lied about my family?"

"Then why didn't you tell me---"

"Because I don't owe you an explanation nor do I owe you any information about my life. You are just my employee and although your father and I are good friends, still, you are just my employee as you are working under my supervision. And one more thing, I'm not disclosing my personal life to anyone unless she or he is my family or someone very close to me."

"L-Luke..." Shock and hurt immediately registered in her face because of Luke's words.

"Sam is not lying nor pretending to be my daughter's mother because she is my wife."

And that was the moment that my smile had vanished.

"Eherm! Ex-wife, Mister, we filed our divorce papers ---"

"Yeah, ex-wife, I'm sorry." He interrupted me after closing his eyes. He seemed hurt by the way I corrected him, but that's the truth. I don't want any false information circulating about me, so it's better to correct him right away. "This is insane!"

I gasped when the bitch threw me a death glare before marching back to their table. And when I thought she would turn to her seat, well, I was wrong as she took her bag immediately ran out of the store.

"Thanks, daddy," Cali said, tugging on her father's hand.

"Why are you thanking me, princess? I mean, what are you thanking me for?"

"For defending my mom against Lucy."

"Of course, because she's your mom and she's... (He paused and stared at me)...she's important to me."

-'Ouch!'- I gave myself a mental slap and after composing my sanity, I rolled my eyes at him and decided to leave them as I have to continue helping Dana and our staff assist our customers.

A smile formed on my lips the moment I turned around, but I quickly made a poker face when I noticed that Dana was giggling at me at the counter.