Lost in the Wilderness - The Forest of Evergreen Book 1

by Teresa May B. Bandiola

  Unexpectedly, she was informed that there were no classes and that Sophia was not with them at the museum, for the art exhibit.

  It sounded like a thunder crush in Elizabeth’s ears. Very soon, negative things began to border on her mind. On the double, she dressed up and prepared herself. Calling her daughter, struck her head, but she deliberated, first. She wanted to surprise Sophia, and catch her in the act, to know if her daughter might be truly hiding… Something!

  Jericho and Sophia were still at the garden, savoring each other’s company, just after they amorously fed each other during that early lunch.

  “I love you, Sophia… and I’ll never get tired of telling you this,” Jericho showed copious genuineness, as he laid his thumb over her lips, and glided it over to the side.

  She risked a smile but all of a sudden, a heavy feeling cropped up in her chest. It was as if it was going to crack her into pieces. Was it a premonition of something?

  It was a deepening moment for Jericho, but it just kept on torturing Sophia. Sophia blinked really hard, trying to understand the clashes of her thoughts... when Giovanni’s face, all of a sudden, flashed, like a dim mental picture. A feeling of extreme guilt wrapped her up right away. She tried to beat it off but it was failing her. She knew how Giovanni loved her, from reading her own diary.

  Sophia struggled to brush it all away. Then gazing at Jericho’s eyes, she wished for peace of mind, and so she spoke up. “Jericho, there’s something I want you to know.” Her tone quivered, with a wave of mixed emotions.

  “What is it, Sophia?”

  Slowly, Sophia distanced herself from him and thought of words to use, to help her explain herself, but Jericho crept nearer.

  Under those optimistic eyes, Sophia spoke again, “I loved a guy, Jericho. After you. His name was Giovanni. I—I couldn’t remember, except for my diary.”

  “Sophia, I don’t care about your past. What I do care about right now is... your present and future, with me.”

  For a split second, she was wordless. “It’s just that... it’s been just few months ago since he passed away and I... I feel like I’m cheating on him, now that I’m with you. Like... it’s too soon for me.”

  Jericho looked up, trying to grasp for some air. He couldn’t bear the squeezing of his heart, and it felt more unbearable than the sunrays penetrating his eyes. At length, he endeavored to walk closer her, while still trying to breathe.

  “Sophia, what will I ever do? What do you want me to do, so you can love me completely? Even before, when we were young, I always felt like someone owns the half of your heart! When will that time come, that day that... the whole of it will be mine?” Please, tell me! When?” Jericho was now down on his knees, clutching her waist with his shuddering hands. “I don’t wanna lose you again, Sophia!”

  It was tormenting her.

  “Jericho, please, stand up,” she asked, with her voice on edge. “Please, Jericho... please.”

  He did not want to. He merely laid his head over her tummy, like a little child, and clutched her hands tightly.

  His stinging tears soaked her clothes, and Sophia struggled to carry on, but she turned weaker and weaker.

  Shattered! They both turned shattered!

  A moment went by. Still, they were at the height of their own wishes to end their mutual agony, and to put everything back into place.

  “Sophia, you’ve killed me once! Do it one more time, and I’ll really die, forever!” Jericho cried out, holding her hands tighter, as if he never meant to release her.

  Hearing those words, Sophia could almost collapse.

  Moving seemed impossible, but he strained to clutch her closer and closer.

  Sophia pleaded with him to let go of her, when Jericho suddenly stood up, and kissed her, not allowing her to make any further move. He kissed her... over and over.

  Now, the clouds revealed the sun, which heated up the place where they were standing.

  Elizabeth was on her way to the hotel, and was filled with thoughts of unpleasant things, about her daughter. When she got there, she temporarily stayed at the lobby, to calm herself, and to prepare herself for any kind of explosion.

  She was sitting beside a man in an elegant suit, then she dialled Alex’s number, and asked if he noticed something strange in Sophia. Alex couldn’t recall anything, but then he shared that he caught his sister gazing through the windows last night, as if she had seen someone outside.

  Elizabeth’s suspicions worsened. She was still sitting there when Mr. Wakins, the owner of the hotel, saw her. He used to be her client.

  Mr. Wakins approached Elizabeth and talked to her in obvious glee. “Attorney... you’re here at my hotel!”

  Elizabeth was surprised to see him but she managed to stand up, and then shook Mr. Wakins’ hand.

  “Mr. Wakins…” Elizabeth greeted back.

  “Are you solving a case here, attorney?”

  “Something like that,” Elizabeth put on a smile, appearing unperturbed.

  “Okay, whatever that is, attorney, you are free to roam around my hotel,” Mr. Wakins offered with laughs. “After all, you helped me win my case.”

  Elizabeth smiled once again, and appeared grateful.

  “Attorney, I have to go now, and, thank you again!” In a hurry, Mr. Wakins ended their small talk, with a friendly grin.

  Watching Mr. Wakins exit the building, Elizabeth, at long last, approached the receptionist. She asked who had checked in at Room 808.

  The receptionist declined to reveal it, at first, but since she saw the boss talking animatedly to her, she finally mentioned the name Jericho Leivinhyde.

  Upon hearing it, Elizabeth instantly felt like blowing up, in shock, but she was able to ask when he had checked in.

  “A week ago, ma’am.”

  Right away, Elizabeth thanked the receptionist and walked away. Immediately, she called up Grandma Lucy.

  “Mom, what is the surname of Jericho? The one from Forest Green?” Elizabeth breathlessly talked to Grandma Lucy on the phone.

  “Leivinhyde. Why, Elizabeth?”

  Elizabeth, with waning strength, accidentally dropped her cell phone and broke it. Though it was hard for her to do so, she managed to ponder if Sophia was seeing this Jericho. Finally, she hastened to the elevator, to clear up her suspicions.

  Elizabeth was struggling with herself, and trying to stay relaxed. She knew she must not judge her daughter right away. But, it was this Jericho who truly bothered her of. She went to the elevator and surreptitiously tried to get to the eight floor.

  Standing before the door of Room 808, now Elizabeth started knocking but no one was responding. She wanted to call her daughter, but she realized, her own cell phone was already shattered to pieces. In tears, she finally went home, disbelieving all of Sophia’s actions. How could Sophia do this? How could she?!

  Sunset came at last.

  “I’ll drive you home,” Jericho told Sophia, as they began to leave the place.

  “You can’t drive me home. They will see you,” Sophia reminded him.

  “I’ll drive you near your gate then.” Jericho managed a smile, and caught a strand of her hair that was flown away by the cold wind. Then, he tucked it behind her ear.

  Sophia initiated a step, but she could not stop thinking of the kiss they shared, a while ago. Tracing her own lips, she seemed on the brink of discovering, something, until they reached his car.

  Arriving near Sophia’s gate, Jericho’s face instantly saddened. He was silently begging for more time with her.

  “I have to go now,” Sophia spoke in a low tone, and opened his car door.

  “Sophia, please, wait.” Jericho moved fast to grab her hands. “I love you, okay?” he reassured, very seriously.

  Sophia prioritized her own worry—that they might be caught together—rather than respond to his reassurance. “I think I better go. Mom is probably looking for me now.” Then, she got out of his car immediately.

  Unsatisfied, Jeric
ho let her go, and restarted the engine with a heavy heart.

  Sophia entered her home, but her mother was already fuming... as if a wildfire was scattered through her every nerve. She was waiting for Sophia at the living room, her eyes alight with fury.

  “Where have you been?” At least, Elizabeth managed to ask, first, as she tried to calm herself, when she stood up from the couch.

  Wordlessly, Sophia was rooted to where she was standing. The fire in her mother’s eyes sent her some silent warnings.

  “Why can’t you answer me?”

  Still, Sophia couldn’t say any word. It appeared like her mother knew something. Or everything.

  Now, Elizabeth approached her, passing a stare, as if she could hurt her at any moment. “I saw this piece of paper in your room.” She began confronting.

  Sophia saw it and could almost die. She didn’t know what to say. But she knew a bomb was about to explode now.

  “Have you been lying to me, Sophia?” Elizabeth completely hooked her eyes on her. “I called Ms. Bun and she told me that you don’t have a class today, and you were not in the art exhibit either, so where have you been?”

  Shaking prominently, Sophia remained mute.

  “What are you hiding from us, huh?” Now Elizabeth stepped closer to her.

  Still, Sophia couldn’t say anything. She felt more guilty than a suspect in a trial court.

  “Are you seeing someone? Why the hotel address?”

  Like a rock being pushed to the edge of a cliff, Sophia wished to escape, but her mom grabbed her, like there was no way out, for her.

  “Tell me about this guy, Jericho!” Elizabeth demanded, her hand still encircling Sophia’s wrist.

  Now, a heavy rainfall collapsed from Sophia’s eyes as she started to cry, and endeavored to face her mother, with vanishing strength.

  But Elizabeth was determined enough to interrogate her.

  It seemed that Elizabeth’s shout was heard by everyone at the house, all at once, and they now ran towards the source of commotion.

  “Mom...”

  “What, Sophia? Tell me! Have you been sleeping with him?”

  Sophia struggled to look at the floor, to avoid her mother’s deadly stare. She didn’t have the nerve to show her face.

  “I’m asking you! Did you sleep with him? A hotel address, huh?”

  Sophia was about to clear herself, when her mother suddenly slapped her in the face.

  Approaching, Philippe saw how Elizabeth hurt Sophia. For the first time... physically.

  Sophia, ashamed of herself, attempted to run straight to her room, but her mother grasped her hand again.

  “How could you do this to us? I may not be the one who raised you but I knew I taught you well! I never thought that you could do this to us!” Elizabeth delivered it all, with such gale-force, shaking Sophia’s shoulders, as if she was excavating Sophia for her very core. “Don’t you ever come back here if you find yourself pregnant, Sophia!” Elizabeth’s watery eyes persisted.

  “Mom, it’s not like that. It’s not what you think!” Sophia would have gone through fires and oceans to explain, and willingly received her mother’s consecutive blows.

  Alex and Nadine also rushed to the scene. They were very much surprised at what they were seeing.

  Now, Philippe dashed to stop Elizabeth from slapping Sophia even more.

  “Elizabeth? What’s going on? You’re hurting her!” Philippe grabbed Sophia away from Elizabeth.

  “Your daughter!” Elizabeth cried, not finishing her sentence.

  “What?!” Philippe yelled back, in response.

  When Elizabeth finally breathed in enough air, she began howling. “Sophia, you’re grounded! Your art class is over! No more cell phones! No more tablets! No more laptops!”

  Fleeing from her father’s grasp, Sophia ran upstairs.

  Sob after sob, Sophia locked herself in her room. She wanted to convince herself to remain loyal, for Jericho.

  A few hours after pouring out all her emotions, she rummaged through all her diaries. By coincidence, she saw some photos of Giovanni inserted in between the pages. She was so torn apart! Struggling with confusion and mixed emotions, she decided to read all her diaries, hoping to clear her heart out. Once and for all.

  Page by page, no word slipped past her eyes. Diary after diary, it was all clear to her now. It was Jericho whom her heart was always longing for. Not Giovanni.

  Bawling and bawling, Sophia couldn’t believe how she betrayed the deceased Giovanni, when the Jericho of her childhood was all she ever desired to be with.

  “I’m so sorry,” she wept incessantly, over Giovanni’s old photos.

  Chapter 22

  Always One Step Behind Your Silhouette

  It had been days since Sophia was grounded and Jericho could not contact her anymore. She imprisoned herself in her room, sulking, and Philippe was already worried for her.

  “Eliz, I’m her father. I have the right to know everything.” Philippe’s tone was more than tinged with fear as he pleaded with his wife, at the front porch, that sundown. “At least you can explain to me about this Jericho.”

  When Elizabeth opened her mouth, nothing came out at first, but she instantly recovered and started to spill out some details. “He’s from Forest Green. Mom told me that he’s poor and the son of an insane woman, there. Mom doesn’t like him and warned me about him.”

  “Eliz, so what if his mother is insane! You can’t just judge a person, through that!”

  “I think you should ask your mom about him, Phil.” Elizabeth unintentionally raised her voice. “She just can’t be so utterly wrong.”

  “I’m very worried for Sophia, Eliz. I think... I think you should talk to her,” Philippe answered back, trying to calm himself down.

  Wishing to end all the dramatic episodes in the house, Elizabeth listened to her husband, and agreed to what he asked of her.

  “You’re right! I missed Sophia already.” Elizabeth let loose the knot that was squeezing her heart. Agreeing to Philippe was probably the best solution for now.

  “I’ll walk you to her room,” Philippe gladly offered.

  “All right.”

  “When you were arguing with Sophia, I heard the word pregnant. What do you mean?” Philippe dared to ask while they were heading to Sophia’s room, but he was thrown away like wild waves breaking on the shore. The word pregnant just gave him goose bumps.

  Elizabeth did not answer him right away. She arranged, first, the better kind of words, in her mind, mulling over how she would tell him.

  But Philippe was already becoming uneasy, with her facial reaction.

  “Hon, it’s just my suspicion and I... hope it is wrong,” Elizabeth admitted, with regret.

  Philippe pulsated, but he remained brave for the situation. Picturing his daughter in the morning sickness mode was already starting to cause him chills.

  Sophia was on her bed, now, drained because of hunger and thirst. Her parents knocked on the door, but she was determined to ignore them.

  Her father knocked over and over, and requested her to open it.

  Bothered by the unending knocks, Sophia finally got up and opened it against her will, her eyes bloody and puffy, and her hair looking like it had gone through a hurricane.

  When her parents saw her, they were badly distressed. They took a step closer, but Sophia spun away from them.

  “Honey, I’m so sorry!” Elizabeth, without ado, apologized, and trailed after her. Then, a tight hug ensued.

  Sophia did not hug her mother back. Her mind was floating.

  “Sophia, honey, let’s go downstairs. I cooked a lot of seafood.” At any rate, Philippe spoke, and managed to be cheerful.

  Gazing at her daughter, Elizabeth tried to fix Sophia’s hair and to wipe away her tears. Then, she held her hand carefully and led her to the dining room, with Philippe on the side.

  Alex and Nadine were already at the dining table. When they saw Sophia, Nadine suddenly jumped
from her seat to clasp her.

  “Oh, I miss my sister!” Nadine expressed, squeezing Sophia like it was the last time.

  Like a slice at the heart, Sophia endeavored to fight the inexplicable emotions she felt, at that very moment. It seemed like everyone was concerned enough, and yet she remained silently stubborn. She couldn’t forget Jericho.

  Alex pulled out Sophia’s seat. “Take a seat, sis… and welcome back,” he winked, smiling.

  They began eating, and they all ogled Sophia. They could feel her extreme hunger.

  “Alex, I’ve never seen Sophie eat that much before! It’s kind of weird!” whispered Nadine to Alex.

  “Me too, Nad. She must be really hungry,” Alex whispered back, while stealing a look at Sophia.

  Sensing that every eye was fixed upon her, Sophia dropped down her spoon and fork over her almost-empty plate, and continued chewing. “Please stop watching! I did not eat for almost two days,” she pressed, while her eyes were entirely focused on the remnants of her grilled halibut with peach and pepper salsa.

  “Yeah! Dad, did you cook all these? They are really delicious but I prefer this shrimp taco salad, and these seared scallops, and these clawed lobsters, and these weird-looking mussels, too!” Nadine ventured to divert the topic, as she pointed each dish, one by one.

  “Yes, Dad. They are really good!” Alex appended as he put more seafood on his plate, as if he could munch them too, all at once.

  Philippe and Elizabeth passed a forced grin at each other.

  When Sophia was done, she excused herself and hurriedly went back, upstairs, without any word.

  Her parents watched her go upstairs, determined to remain strong, because of all their family’s dilemma. They tried to convince themselves that it was nothing, and they were trying to make up for all the years they neglected her, in Forest Green.

  “Sophie is still beautiful, even in her gloomy days.” Nadine was animated again, recharging their talk.