Blessing in Disguise [1]

Evening got darker. The sun drowned in the sky. The dusk moved up. The wind blew impetuously through the branches of trees along the road.

Dave suited his jacket up and rushed about speeding his walk up a half of running. His heart was pounding unsteadily after finding a group of people watching him closely, while occasionally coding each other along the path he passed.

A man was wearing a crew-checked shirt standing at the end of the street, talking to his bald-headed friend with a black sleeveless shirt. A man with black glasses looked like waiting for orders to run his car. Another man with shiny hair was sitting on a long wooden bench on the roadside in front of the bus stop while reading the newspaper.

Was the code about him or not? Was it all just an illusion or a fantasy? But, Dave did not want to take any risks right now. He reached into his cell phone in the bottom left pocket of his jacket.

"Oh, shit!" He forgot to fully charge his cell phone this morning.

Dave thought hard about how to get helps from others while his mobile phone was about to die. All of sudden, he remembered the public phone near to his friends' favorite café, Cozy, not far from where he was now.

"Hmm ... Two more blocks ..." He murmured.

Dave hoped he still had enough time to get in touch with the people closest to him. He burst a regret about his decision this afternoon to not want to be accompanied by anyone to freshen his mind by walking alone down the streets of his town. It was no use crying over spilt milk.

Finally, a glowing yellow telephone booth was at the end of the road, jutting slightly inside.

Getting into the booth, Dave fumbled coins in the pocket of his jeans and immediately put the coin into the phone hole. Immediately, he dialed the phone numbers already in his memory.

He stood restlessly waiting for the phone to connect, keeping an eye on the surroundings. Not much to see from the corner of the road. The sky got more darkened by the clouds. It looked like going to be rain, soon.

Someone from the phone said, "Hola ..."

Once he was about to respond to the greeting, suddenly he felt very painful in his head and he felt warm blood flowing from the top of his head down to his forehead. Everything was darkened. Dave was unconscious.

"Sir ... Sir ... Wake up Sir ... Are you alright sir? What happens?"

Dave opened his eyes slowly. He felt so painful and throbbing in his head. Dave managed to raise his head to see to whom he is talking to at the time, but he couldn't hold back his pain so he was unsuccessful.

There was vaguely visible a beautiful girl looking at him anxiously. Her voice was heard softly in his ears.

"Am I dead and in heaven now?" Dave said softly.

Are you an angel from the heaven assigned to save me? Dave asked silently.

He squinted to get her face visible. An Asian girl, long dark brown wavy hair, nice black eyeballs, blessed with a beautiful little mouth and smooth white skin like cotton, as he felt the girl wiping blood on his forehead gently. And Dave fainted for the second time on the lap of this beautiful girl.

Dave awoke again. He felt a very bright light beam dazzling his eyes. He tried to blink his eyes repeatedly, trying to adapt to the atmosphere at that time.

"Where am I now?" Dave asked in a husky voice.

He slowly saw the face of his mother, old enough yet beautiful, sitting on the edge of his bed. Suddenly, his mother's face looked very happy to see his beloved son was conscious. Her mother cried happily as she hugged Dave.

"Thank God you're conscious, son. I'm very worried about you. Now, you're in the hospital, Dave. Being unconscious for three days."

Dave's mother went out of the room calling up her other loyal family waiting in the waiting room. The door was open and the whole family walked half-way up to Dave who was lying weakly on bed.

"Welcome back, bother Dave," greeted the cocky Rosa, his only beautiful sister he loved her so much.

"You're so lucky this time, Dave," Toni continued, his quite handsome and dauntless brother handsome, while grumbling.

At the end of his bed, Dave saw his father smiling wisely as he nodded his head with high authority. At the time, it was clear that happiness shone on his face.

"What really happened?" Dave's mother asked very cautiously.

"We were very panicked when the hospital contacted telling that you were badly injured and unconscious. Luckily, there was a girl who found you lying bloody on the roadside and immediately took you to this hospital," her mother said slowly.

"The doctor taking care of you said that if the girl was a little late bringing you here, your soul could be beyond help."

Dave's memory drifted, imagining his meeting with the girl.

Hmm ... It seems the girl is real. The God's angel descended to earth to save my soul.

Thank God for helping. Dave thought.

"Then, where is she now, Mom?" Dave looked at her mother's face closely.

Dave's mother shook her head slowly, "I do not know, son. By the time we got to this hospital, the girl has gone."

Suddenly, Dave felt something missing in his heart. Her chest was shivering now.

Happy Birthday to you ...

Happy Birthday to you ...

Happy Birthday Dear Dave ...

Happy Birthday to you!

Dave blew out his birthday candle slowly with no excitement followed by the loud roar of applause from the guests attending his 28th birthday.

The celebration was a week later than Dave's actual birthday, on May 21st. But since the unfortunate incident happened, got attacked by strangers on his birthday, Dave family agreed to postpone the celebration.

Nothing special for Dave in his birthday. Just like the rest of the year, the party was filled with colleagues of his family business, pseudo birthday party, and very boring he thought.

He slowly drifted away from the party crowd, and took a seat in the bar stool. He was completely uninterested to be the hog at that night. Raging an endless thought in his mind. Only one thing he thought of that night.

"Want would you like to drink, Mr. Dave?" Andy greeted, the seasoned bartender hired by Moreno family to support his party's birthday festivities.

With a forced half-smile, Dave replied, "Just Whiskey Cola for me tonight, Andy."

Andy nodded politely, "Okay, I'll get you ready."

Dave glanced around the room, enjoying the soft drink Andy had given him.

In the midst of the crowd, just below the crystal chandeliers of his mother collection from the medieval era, his parents were talking seriously with Mr. Hierra and his lovely wife, Mrs. Helena.

They are both like arrogant nobleman and full of confidence, seen from the clothes they worn, all-black and elegant. Quite in contrast to the clothes worn by his parents, all white warm but quite simple and shady, pleasing to the eye.

Dave didn't know what they were talking about at that time, but from their style of conversation it seemed to lead to a serious conversation while occasionally glancing at Dave.

Dave smiled, nodded respectfully as he raised the glass he held.

Not far from where they stood, there was Adella, the only daughter of Mr. Hierra's family, standing gracefully and beautiful with her good friends.

Her shiny black hair was hung loosely on her shoulders. The white pearl necklace she wore that night was very charming and matching with the soft pink dress.

Unlike her parents, Adella is a warm and friendly girl, easy to get along with anyone and it's not difficult for her to attract anyone nearby.

She occasionally looked a glance at Dave who was sitting in the bar stool, smiling embarrassed with red cheeks flushed when Dave accidentally caught it.

Dave smiled slightly at her, and once again raised his glass.

Dave's preoccupation was disturbed when a voice from the side suddenly whispered to him, "Dave, why are you keeping yourself here? Get there to join the others. It's your birthday. You should enjoy it with the pretty girls in the middle of the party."

Dave looked toward his left side. There was a stubborn face of his best friend since his childhood, Nico, smirking at him.

"Hmm, nothing you can do but disturbing," Dave said angrily.

Nico immediately looked frowned at Dave seriously. "What's up Dave? Your face looks depressed, unusual. Any bothering your mind, right now? "

Dave shook his head in doubt, "I'm fine. Don't worry."

He sipped the rest of the drink in his glass and then hurriedly left Nico who stared at him afraid from a distance.

It was a beautiful morning. The sun still shyly revealed itself behind the white clouds like cotton. The chirp of Robin birds perching on the mulberry tree sounded melodious in the ears. Creating the cheerful atmosphere for whoever hears it that morning. The wind blew breezy and shook the trees infrequently. The weather was friendly enough in the Moreno family residence.

They all gathered at a large antique golden dining table in the middle of the family garden. The sound of the fountain flowing accompanied them.

The breakfast on Sunday morning was opened with Guacamole soup made from a mixture of avocado with chicken broth for seasoning. It was flavorful tasty and tempting indeed.

The conversation was slowly opened by Mr. Edward, Dave's father, "What happened to you last night, my son?" He asked Dave.

"Why are you isolating yourself in the middle of your birthday party?"

All of sudden, Dave was almost choked by the soup he had just spooned it into his mouth. He, then, hurriedly wiped his mouth to hide his surprise.

"Nothing, Dad. I'm fine," Dave said.

"Are you sure?" Mr. Edward continued.

"Because there's something serious we want to tell you this morning, Dave." Mr. Edward looked at his wife's face, Eva, and Eva nodded gently at her approval.

"What's up Daddy?" Dave asked as he pretended to spoon her soup nervously.

His heart was pounding, his mind was wondering about the topic his parents wanted to talk about.

There was a sudden silence. Toni and Rosa bowed their heads, focusing only on the food on their plates.

"Yesterday, your father and mother talked seriously to Mr. Hierra's family at your birthday party last night about their request to give you a marriage with their only daughter, Adella."

"You've already known Adella since childhood and their family is a respected family in our city. What do you think, Son?"

Dave looked at his father's face closely and said quietly, "Dad, can we talk about this after we've finished breakfast?"

Mr. Edward nodded at his approval, "Okay, Son. Let's enjoy our breakfast this morning while it's warm. "

Dave looked out the window from his father's office. A figure of a handsome, young, tall, athletic man, white-skinned and neatly combed black hair like a present-day youth hairstyle looked troubled, waiting for his father receiving a call from one of his business colleagues in the next room.

"Dave ..." His father's voice called up as he entered the room.

"Yes, Dad." Dave replied.

"Have you thought about Dad's question this morning?"

"It can make our family and Mr. Hierra's family united in a bigger family bond. And also, of course, it has very good impact for the potential development of our respective family business."

Mr. Edward continued, "Our hotel business chain will be very promising for overseas expansion if we can use Mr. Hierra's family transportation business network as a supporter."

Dave took a deep breath and exhaled a long breath before answering his father's question.

"Actually, there's something I want to talk about first, before we talk about this matchmaking."

Mr. Edward looked at his son's face seriously. He saw Dave's brown eyes glowing to tell him something.

"What do you want to talk, Dave? Say it," asked the father.

"Do you remember the beautiful girl helping me when I was attacked and beaten by strangers on my birthday? I am very curious to possibly meet her and thank to her."

Mr. Edward smiled wisely and said, "Oh yes, that girl. Of course, our family should thank to her for saving your soul by taking you to the hospital immediately."

Mr. Edward's face suddenly looked serious. "Actually, we have been trying to get her identity, Dave, but we have not managed to get information about the girl from the hospital. It seems that the girl is in a hurry to leave the hospital after taking you there."

Dave looked at his father's face with curiosity. Mr. Edward's forehead creased as if something had been hidden there. A lot of wrinkles appeared here and there in the lines of his father's face but it still showed remnants of handsomeness of Mr. Edward youth. The firm jaw descended to Dave, his son.

"Is that true, Daddy? No slight information available about that girl?" Dave looked quite disappointed. His face looked sad.

Again, his father smiled, "Don't be discouraged, my son. We'll try to find more information about that girl through our other sources, who knows among our family business network can help us find a way out."

Mr. Edward scanned Dave's face closely. "Well, about the matchmaking Daddy mentioned earlier, what do you think?"

Dave took a deep breath, "May I have time to think about it first, Daddy? I don't want to make a decision about it in a hurry."

Mr. Edward nodded, "Of course, you may, Dave. You should think considerately first. Because it will greatly affect your life in the future."

Mr. Edward was silent for a moment. "But, Daddy hopes you will have made a decision before our golden wedding anniversary. We plan to announce your engagement to the party if you and Adella agree to run the matchmaking plan," Mr. Edward added.

"So, you still have six months to think about it, okay?"

Dave looked excited, his expression was shining.

"Well, thank you, Daddy. Right now, what I'm going to do is to find that girl first."

Mr. Edward patted his son on the shoulder. "Your happiness is your Mom and Dad's happiness too, Son."

Dave hugged his father affectionately.

Knock, knock. It seemed someone knocking the door.

"Yes, come in," said Mr. Edward from the room.

It looked Nico poked his head from behind the door and asked, "Did Mr. Edward call me?"

Mr. Edward replied without taking his eyes from the laptop monitor while completing his job. "Have a seat, Nico, don't forget to close the door. I have something important to talk about."

Nico approached Mr. Edward and sat on a leather chair in front of a sturdy black desk.

"What can I do, Mr. Edward?" Nico asked.

"What's the progress of that girl? Have you got any information about her? "Mr. Edward questioned.

Nico lowered his head and replied softly, "I'm sorry, Mr. Edward. So far, I and other friends have not been able to get an identity about that girl."

Before Mr. Edward reacted, Nico nervously kept on explaining. "But, we've been spreading information to our family network all over the city. If anyone sees a girl who shows the characteristics given by the hospital, they will contact us immediately."

Mr. Edward looked at Nico's face and frowned his forehead.

"Hmm, all right. You must focus on this first. Find the girl as soon as possible."

Mr. Edward continued the conversation in a slow and careful voice. "I want this to be done as soon as possible so as not to interfere Dave and Adella's matchmaking plan."

Nico nodded deeply, "Okay, Mr. Edward, I'm ready. I'll finish it as soon as possible."

Mr. Edward looked at Nico to find out the probability level on the face of a young man, the best friend of his son since childhood. He stood from his sacred chair and reached the young man.

The scar on Nico's forehead was clearly visible as he bowed his head. The burly yet proportioned young man was embarrassed because Mr. Edward looked at him hesitantly from the top of his head to the toes of the shiny black pantoffle boots Nico was wearing. Nico lowered his head away from Edward's keen gaze.

"What about the problem of Le Coyote group? Have you cleared up?" Asked Mr. Edward.

Still with his head down, Nico replied, "I have, Mr. Edward, I've done it all. I guarantee that they got hard enough message from our family for daring to harm Dave."

"We will be more careful in keeping Dave to make sure that this incident will never happen again. We apologize for our negligence, Mr. Edward," Nico's voice sounded quivering softly.

Mr. Edward's jaw hardened, his hands clenched, holding back the pent-up anger, remembering the events that happened to his eldest son some time ago.

"You're lucky, Dave could still be saved. He's the heir to the throne of our family, you should be aware of that, Nico."

Mr. Edward paused, took a deep breath, and continued the conversation.

"I forgive you this time. Never leave Dave alone again under any circumstances. Do you understand?" Edward's voice rose.

"I do understand, Mr. Edward," Nico nodded steadily.

"Hmm, one more thing. Don't let Dave know about it. It's not the time for him to know about all El Lobo family affairs. This is for Dave's own safety. "

"There will be a time I will tell him about all our family secrets. Is it clear for you, Nico?" Mr. Edward asserted.

Nico nodded his head. "It's pretty clear, Mr. Edward."