Chapter 2

Raphael

Once again, waking up alone in bed this morning, I have a hard time opening my eyes. I don't remember when I slept last night, but it must surely be only a couple of hours that my eyes and mind rested because right now it feels as though a whole rock band is having a party inside my head and banging out their tunes at full volume.

Eliana is in the kitchen, scuttling around making breakfast, and when I enter the kitchen, she throws a nasty glance my way before slamming the fridge door shut.

Scratching the faint stubble on my chin with a finger, I ignore her and proceed to make a cup of coffee for myself before I crash on the couch and grab the newspaper that's lying on the coffee table.

As I whip open the newspaper, my sleep-deprived eyes lazily scan through the news articles on the front page before they land on a particular announcement that's printed on the bottom right corner.

It is an announcement for a high school reunion that is planned to happen in the upcoming weekend to celebrate the completion of fifteen years of graduating high school.

But why would I be so invested in this particular announcement?

It's because the reunion is for the students who passed out of the high school that I attended, and it is our batch that is completing the fifteenth year this year.

Right at the mention of high school, the first name that occupies my thoughts is Maya.

The doe-eyed, dark-haired, honey-skinned girl who had my whole heart—my first crush, my first love—although I'm confident that what I was feeling was purely a one-sided pubescent love, which will surely go to my grave along with me.

Will she attend the reunion?

I don't use any kind of social media platforms, and so I'm completely unaware of what my friends from school are up to. Navigating this maze called adult life is stressful enough that I haven't ever thought about getting in touch with my friends from school.

However, this reunion sounds like something that might help me relax and rewind a little, and even better if I could meet Maya there—probably with a kid or two of her own. I don't even know if she would remember me.

My gut instincts tell me that I should probably attend this reunion, and maybe, just maybe, something beautiful could happen in my uneventful life.

Unknowingly, I am smiling to myself before I set down my cup of coffee and call the RSVP number to confirm my attendance for the event.

The call is connected to the helpdesk at the hotel where the event is planned, and after a brief confirmation about my attendance, I give them my name and also tell them that I would be attending it alone.

Even though the announcement states that we are welcome to bring our family, Eliana wouldn't want to come anyway, and if I take Ariel along, then I wouldn't be able to drink even if I feel like it, or spend a little more time with my friends since I would have to bring her back home before her bedtime.

So I have decided to attend the reunion by myself.

After a shower, I dress up for work while Eliana gets Ariel ready for school, and then I leave the house with my daughter to take the bus to her school.

Once inside the bus, Ariel unzips her backpack and pulls out a jumbled Rubik's cube, holding it out to me.

"Daddy, do you know how to solve this? Mummy bought it for me last week, but I don't know how to do it. All the pieces in one side have to be the same color, but it is not turning that way," she pouts in a disappointed manner.

Laughing softly, I take the cube from her hand, moving my shoulder bag to my side thereafter.

"Bubba, do you know something? Daddy used to solve this cube in less than one minute when I was in high school. I was a Rubik's champion," I proudly lift my eyebrows and the collars of my shirt, making my daughter gasp, her eyes mirroring the admiration she feels within.

Even though it is no big thing for me, she still feels as though I'm an immense genius to be able to solve this puzzle that seems too complicated to her.

"Daddy, really?" She squeals in excitement, bouncing in her seat and rapidly pounding her feet on the floor of the bus.

It's just Ariel being herself.

"Yeah," I nod my head in confirmation. "Wait until you see me finish solving this," I wink at her, giving her a big smile while my hands begin rotating the layers of the 3x3 cube.

It takes longer than a minute for me to solve it because it has been a few years since I last solved one, and I had to actually revoke many moves and then redo the correct moves after thinking over for a few seconds.

Luckily, my daughter doesn't diss me for not solving it in under a minute because the concept of time is still a little vague to her. But once I finish solving it, Ariel begins to clap her hands in joy.

"Daddy, you're a genius. How did you do it? Wow!" She exclaims holding the solved puzzle in her hand and looking at it from all sides.

"It's not as difficult as it seems, bubba. Look here," I take the cube from her hand and rotate the layers a bit.

"Daddy, no. You ruined it," she frowns and complains, pouting.

"We can fix it back easily. Cheer up," I ruffle her hair, chuckling. "See, all these pieces move around, but this middle piece doesn't move, right?" I point to one of the middle pieces, my eyes lifting to look at my daughter's curious eyes.

"Yeah, why?" She quizzes me innocently.

"That's because that middle piece tells us what color has to come on that side of the cube. So we move around the other pieces to fit in"

Her mouth forms into an animated 'o' that makes her appear so much more cuter than she already is.

"Yeah," I lightly pinch her chubby cheek. "Also, we have to first solve this white layer. I will teach you the moves tonight, okay? You'll learn to do it real quick. Do you know why?" I wiggle my eyebrows at her.

"Because I'm daddy's girl," she bounces in her seat, giggling cutely, and I laugh along too.

"Do you know what's clockwise and anti-clockwise?" I ask, and she vigorously bobs her head up and down.

"I do. Miss Lim taught us what it is," she then makes huge clockwise circles in the air with her hand. "This is clockwise because the hands of the clock move this way," and then she changes the direction of the air circles. "This is anti-clockwise because it is opposite to the way the clock hands move," Ariel ends her explanation, beaming proudly.

"Wow... Miss Lim has taught you so well. Perfect. We'll learn the basic moves tonight, bubba," I ruffle her hair a bit, and she nods with a huge grin.

It is soon time for us to alight the bus at the stop near my daughter's school, and she carefully packs the cube inside her backpack before the bus comes to a halt, and then we both climb out of it.

After I give her a hug and a kiss and wave her goodbye before sending her inside, I proceed to take the subway to my office, which is twenty minutes away from the school.

The crowd is mad as always, yet I manage to find a seat inside the subway car, and once I settle down, I pull out my phone and begin scrolling through the job vacancy emails that I keep receiving every day.

One particular job opening interests me today, and it also seems to be a perfect fit for my skill set and experience. After checking out the other details about the vacancy, I make a mental note to submit an application for this new job tonight.

***

"So, these are the moves and their names. You need to memorize them first," I show her my illustration of the basic moves to get familiar with before one can learn to solve the Rubik's cube.

"Okay, daddy," Ariel begins to fidget with the cube as she lays down beside me on the pillow while I proceed to proofread my latest resume.

It doesn't seem so bad.

Filling in the necessary details in the company's web portal, I attach my resume and submit my application for the job opening, hoping that it should really work out in my favor.

"Daddy," Ariel places the cube aside and turns to lie down facing me, wrapping her limbs over my body. "When you were smaller, who bought a Rubik's cube for you?"

"I bought it myself with my pocket money. Granny wouldn't pay for toys, especially when I was in high school and supposed to be studying all the time," I smile a little at the sweet memories of my late mother.

"Who taught you to solve it?" My daughter seems to be in detective mode tonight.

"Uhm... I taught myself using a book from the library," I tell her the truth.

"Wow, daddy! You're so brilliant. But I can't solve it by myself," her voice grows sad, and I turn around to lie down facing her.

"Hey, bubba, you're only seven years old. I was sixteen when I first bought mine. You'll be an expert at this when you're sixteen," I ruffle her hair and cheer her up.

"How did you know about the cube? Did your friends bring it to school?" Her curiosity is really something.

Although, that's a question that brings back some fond memories which reside safely at the back of my mind.

"I once saw a friend trying to solve it, and I thought why not try it myself. And I did, and showed off in class, but she never noticed," I give her a sad smile.

"You did it to impress your friend?" Ariel giggles covering her mouth with her hands, mischief sparkling in her eyes.

"I did," I confess sheepishly.

I did it to impress Maya.

"Dinner is ready," Eliana announces from outside the bedroom doorway, and we both proceed to have dinner together with all three of us as a family, as we always do.

The forced bonding is something that happens only over mealtimes, with Eliana and I sharing the fakest smiles in our daughter's presence and talking to each other without even making proper eye contact.

I wonder how long it would take before Ariel notices this and begins questioning us. Or even worse, her noticing this and assuming what's wrong and getting troubled internally without telling either of us about it.

That would traumatize our daughter.