The Manila Miles
[Keifer's POV]
The iron gates of the Watson Estate in Manila swung open with a silent, mechanical grace. I didn't even wait for the valet. I slammed my car into park right in the middle of the circular driveway and sprinted toward the massive mahogany doors.
My heart was a lead weight in my chest. Please be okay, Dad. Please.
I burst into the grand foyer, my breath coming in ragged gasps. "Dad? Mom? Where is he?"
The house was eerily quiet. No paramedics. No beeping monitors. Just the smell of fresh lilies and the sound of a soft piano track playing through the hidden speakers.
"In the sunroom, dear! We're just having tea!"
I froze. That was my mother's voice. Serina Watson. It didn't sound like the voice of a woman mourning a heart attack. It sounded... delighted.
I marched toward the sunroom, my blood starting to boil. I pushed the glass doors open to find my father, Keizer Watson, sitting perfectly upright in a wicker chair, reading the financial Sunday papers and sipping an espresso. He looked healthier than I did.
"Dad?" I breathed, my voice cracking. "Mom said... she said it was your heart. She said it was an emergency."
Keizer looked over the top of his glasses, a small, mischievous glint in his eyes. "Technically, she said it was my heart. And it was. I was feeling a bit lonely, and my heart decided it wanted to see my son. A 'familial emergency,' if you will."
"A prank?" I roared, the adrenaline in my system turning into pure, unadulterated rage. "You made me drive three hours, leave my classes, and abandon... abandon everything... for a prank?"
"We wanted to see how fast you'd move when the Watson name was at risk," Serina said, stepping out from behind a marble pillar with a graceful smile. "And you moved very fast, Keifer. We're impressed."
I sank into a chair, burying my face in my hands. I thought of the empty room I'd left behind. I thought of the 'Watson Decree' I'd broken by disappearing.
"You don't understand," I whispered. "I left without saying a word. She's going to think I abandoned her."
"She?" Keizer asked, raising a brow. "The Mariano girl? Jasper Jean?"
I didn't answer. I just stared at my phone. I had turned it off to save battery during the frantic drive. When I clicked it on, the screen exploded with notifications.
[47 Missed Calls: Jay]
[112 Missed Calls: Rory, Erdix, David...]
[Message from Jay: Keifer, please. Just tell me you're okay.]
I felt a physical pain in my chest. I started to type a reply, my fingers shaking, when a chime echoed from the front gate's security intercom.
"Who on earth is visiting at this hour?" Serina wondered aloud.
The security guard's voice came through the speaker, sounding confused. "Ma'am, there is a young woman at the gate. She... she says she arrived by public bus from the university. She looks quite distressed. She says her name is Jasper Jean Mariano."
My heart stopped. Then it restarted at a gallop.
"Jay?" I gasped.
I didn't wait for my parents to respond. I bolted. I ran out the sunroom, through the foyer, and down the long, paved driveway. I didn't care that my parents were watching from the balcony. I didn't care about the Watson image.
The gates opened.
There, standing on the dusty roadside next to a departing public bus, was the most brilliant girl I had ever met.
Jasper Jean Mariano looked like she had been through a war. Her hair, usually so neat, was frizzy from the humidity. Her expensive sweater was wrinkled, and her eyes were red-rimmed from crying. She was clutching the plush bear I'd won for her at the arcade like it was a lifeline.
She had taken a bus. A Mariano—a girl who had never set foot on public transport in her life—had sat on a crowded, hot bus for hours just to find me.
"Jay!" I yelled.
She looked up, her face crumbling the moment she saw me. She didn't say a word. She just ran.
I met her halfway, catching her in my arms and lifting her off the ground. She buried her face in my neck, her sobs racking her small frame. I held her so tight I was afraid I'd break her, my eyes stinging with my own tears.
"I thought... I thought you were gone," she sobbed into my shoulder. "I thought my father had done something to you. I thought you realized I was a burden and you just... you just left."
"Never," I whispered, pressing my face into her hair. "Never, Jay. It was a prank. My parents... they're insane. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
I set her down, but I didn't let go of her waist. I framed her face with my hands, wiping away her tears with my thumbs.
"You took a bus?" I asked, a watery laugh escaping me. "Jasper Jean Mariano on a Manila transit bus?"
"I didn't have my car keys," she hiccuped, a small, exhausted smile finally breaking through. "And the boys were driving too slow. I couldn't wait. I just... I had to see you."
"You're incredible," I breathed.
"Keifer?"
We both turned. My parents were standing at the top of the driveway, watching us. My father looked contemplative, and my mother looked absolutely stunned.
"Is that... the Mariano heiress?" Serina whispered. "In a wrinkled sweater? Holding a cheap carnival toy?"
Jay stiffened, the old 'Burden' reflex kicking in. She started to pull away, her eyes dropping to the floor. "I... I should go. I look a mess. Your parents..."
"No." I gripped her hand, lacing my fingers through hers. I turned to face my parents, pulling Jay close to my side. "Mom, Dad. This is Jasper Jean Mariano. And she didn't come here as an heiress. She came here for me."
I looked down at Jay, the girl who had traveled across the city just to make sure I was breathing.
"And from now on," I said, my voice loud and clear, "there are no more pranks. And no more disappearing. Because where I go, she goes. That's the new Watson Decree."
Jay looked up at me, her amber eyes shining with a mixture of shock and love. In the middle of the Manila heat, surrounded by the opulence of my family home, the 'Burdened Genius' finally looked like she was exactly where she belonged.