From Frying Pan to Strange Fire

The fresh, cool, morning breeze was what usually greeted Grace whenever she opened the door in the early hours of the day. But something was different that morning. In addition to the morning breeze, an unexpected visitor was at the door.

“Mrs. Elvin?” Grace called out, surprised.

“Good morning, Grace.” The woman greeted, wearing a smile.

“Good morning, ma’am. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting? How long have you been here?” Grace probed, wondering if the woman had been knocking and she didn’t hear.

“Oh, don’t stress. I only just arrived.” Mrs. Elvin responded, bringing Grace some relief. “I see you are on your way out. Not to waste your time, I came to ask a favor.”

“Okay, ma’am. What can I do for you?”

“I need to see Joan but I don’t have the address or phone number of Mr. Baliante. I was hoping I could get the number from you.”

“Oh, sure.” Grace made to retrieve the card from her bag, but paused halfway and returned her gaze to the woman. “I’m sorry to ask, but Mr. Elvin was given the card also. Why didn’t you get the number from… umm, nevermind.” Grace dropped the question halfway, already having an idea why the woman couldn’t get the number from her husband. There was no need making her feel uncomfortable trying to explain. Joan was her daughter so she had every right to see the girl.

She retrieved the card, handed it to the woman, and the latter copied the number into her phone.

“Thank you.” Mrs. Elvin said, handing the card back to Grace.

“You’re welcome, ma’am. I’m actually on my way to her place now. If you want, we could go together. I’ll only make a short stop at the Brandons’ place to take a few of her things left there.” Grace offered.

“I appreciate your kind gesture, but I’m not prepared for it at the moment. Do extend my greetings to her. I’ll see her very soon.” Mrs. Elvin politely refused, bid her goodbye and turned around to walk away.

“Ma’am,” Grace called out, making the woman halt and turn around. “Please be careful with them. Mr. Baliante and the others, I mean. According to reports and stories, they are dangerous people.” Grace advised, keeping back the part where she wanted to ask why the woman didn’t oppose or speak against the man marrying Joan even though her husband was cool with it.

After everything Joan told her last night over the phone, she became scared for her friend. That led her to ask her father about Mr. Baliante and Roman, and the things she heard put her on edge.

A strange smile which Grace couldn’t read suddenly appeared on Mrs. Elvin’s face. Grace couldn’t tell if it portrayed sadness, pain, suffering, or regret. It was confusing and complicated.

“If someone needs that warning, I assure you, Grace, that someone is not me. I know them and yes, I know how dangerous they are. But it’s not Mr. Baliante you should worry about. It’s the one that married my daughter. Be careful.” Mrs Elvin returned the warning, then walked away.

Grace watched her go, wondering why she didn’t ask her to extend the warning to Joan. Doesn’t Joan need to be careful also? And if she knew all these, why did she not oppose the marriage?

These questions danced around in her head even as she drove to Richard’s house. Last night, she had taken Joan’s luggages which had been packed and kept in the guest bedroom two nights ago, to her place. However, there were still a few important documents left in Richard’s house that Joan needed her to retrieve.

“Good morning-” Grace greeted Mrs. Charles when she opened the door, but was rudely cut off by the older woman.

“What do you want?”

“Easy, madam. I’m not the reason behind your frustrations. Don’t take them out on me.” Grace responded to the rude question.

“Don’t talk to my mother like that. And yes you are the reason behind our frustrations, evil friend.” Richard barked from inside the house, coming to stand beside his mother. “No wonder you aren’t married. You lack the skills to keep a marriage.”

“I didn’t know it requires skills to keep a marriage. How come you have the skills and couldn’t keep yours?” Grace retorted, getting increasingly annoyed.

Richard fumed. “You s-”

“Shut it, Richard.” Mrs. Charles cut him off.

“You want to ruin me? Hahaha… You fail, Grace. I’ll ruin you both first before you get the chance.” Richard threatened.

“You can’t threaten me. I’m not Joan. I hope you remember that. Now go to your bedroom and get me all of Joan’s documents from the last drawer beside the bed, so I can leave this godforsaken place. Your presence disgusts me. I believe I don’t need to remind you that nothing should be missing.”

Mrs. Charles pulled Richard in and shut the door. A while later, she reappeared with the file and handed it to Grace. “Don’t come back here, you disrespectful child.”

Grace held back on responding and just walked away. She had a lot to say, but maybe that was not the right time. She climbed into her car and turned on the ignition, only for someone she recognized to knock on the glass by the shotgun seat. She wound the glass down to reveal Belinda’s smiling face.

“Hi Grace. I’m Belinda.”

“I know.” Grace said.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“I don’t think we’ve had the chance to get to know each other properly. Can I come in?” Belinda asked.

“No. I’m kind of in a hurry and heading somewhere important. Also, I don’t think your husband would appreciate your talking to his enemy.” Grace responded.

“Who? Richard? Haha… Don’t worry about him. We’re not married, and what we have is not even that serious.” Belinda dismissed, waving her hand. “I see you’re not dressed for work. Are you perhaps going anywhere close to Mr. Baliante?”

“What do you want, Belinda?”

“Alright, let’s cut to the chase. I need Mr. Baliante’s contact. You see, he’s been my idol for a very long time and I’ve been wishing…”

Grace wound up the glass the moment she heard what the lady wanted, and without hesitation she stepped on the gas and sped off.

“Keep wishing.” Grace muttered.

She drove for a few minutes before she brought the car to a stop. Taking out her phone, she dialed a number.