Sacrilege - Season 1 - Episode 74

4 years ago

Sacrilege - Season 1 - Episode 74

He had been there for her, always there. He and Laura were the two souls she had dearest to her heart. But, she realized bitterly, she had never been there for her father. The revelation of the previous night hurt her beyond words, but for reasons totally different from what would be the natural reaction. As she had listened behind the door to the words of her own father, as he unburdened to Laura, she had heard much more than the words coming out of his mouth. She had heard his pain. The pain that followed every word. The pain that hung to every sentence he uttered. How had she been blind to it? How had her father shielded so much of himself that she hadn’t glimpsed that part of him?

She had suspected that her father was still hung up on someone from his past. She knew it wasn’t her mother and was not hurt by it. She knew nothing about her mother. She had teased him about it, trying to get a bit of gist when he totally refused her desire for him to get married. She had wanted him to get married, to find a woman to make him very happy, to give him all the love he deserved because God knew he didn’t deserve to live a lonely life. But he hadn’t divulged any secret. He told her that she was his happiness. How was she to know that while he had been wiping her tears, he also cried in secret? Bled for the mistakes he had made and was yet to forgive himself for.
Tito wiped at the tears that sipped out of her eyes. Tears for her father. Tears for the pain he had carefully covered up with smiles for years. Her phone vibrated distracting her, she blinked and on cue, her finger poked out and slid the caller towards the red circle. Her phone read sixty two missed calls. Excellent! Her hand stretched automatically to pick her coffee only to realize she was all out. She couldn’t call for the ninth cup of coffee, they’d definitely think she was addicted or something – that is if they didn’t think so already. She swallowed her saliva, feeling it slip down her throat.

She stared at the screen and frowned as she realized that she had typed several lines of gibberish. Tito hit her hand in fury against the backspace, wiping off lines of incoherent words. Her eyes raked over the words on the screen, seeing where she left off with the dialogue, her hand poised on the keyboard. Her brain was suddenly blank. She could not think of any sensible thing to write. She had effectively drained herself.

Closing the laptop with more force than was required, she pushed herself to a lying position. Her taut muscles protested then started to relax. Images ran around her closed eyes, making her temples throb. Her phone started ringing again and this time Tito groaned out loud. “Oh, for God’s sake! Can’t you all just leave me alone?” she yelled into the empty room. During the first hours of the morning, her dad had called continuously, over and over again but she had refused to pick up. How could she? She had no idea of what she would say to him. She was mad at him, she was mad at herself. Heck, she was mad at everyone. Now, for the past few hours, Laura had also called endlessly and then Jane. Of course, she hadn’t picked up any call, neither had she even attempted to check on the various message notifications that rolled in. She’d rather be alone to sort out this entire mess with herself first. It was the reason she had dashed home from her father’s place in the middle of the night, grabbed her system and made for a conspicuous hotel where she could be all by herself without being disturbed.

Grabbing the phone, her finger stretched out to end the call but she had to pause when she saw the caller. Gloria? She pushed to a sitting position as fear reared up in her. Could something have happened? Was that why people had been calling her and she refused to pick? Pushing down her fears, she slid the caller towards the green circle.

“Hello” Tito breathed cautiously into the phone.

“Oh, Tito… where are you?” Tito senses the panic in the voice. She sensed the pain. She sensed the tears.

“Laura?” Her voice shook as she pushed out of the hotel bed. Laura was using Gloria’s phone? She had a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. “What is it?”
“It’s… it’s…” Laura’s voice broke. “Oh Tito”

“What is going on?” Tito snapped. The panic in Laura’s voice had fear engulfing Tito.

“You… you have to come… to the hospital”
“What? For what?” tears danced in Tito’s eyes as her feet grew cold. “Answer me, Laura”

There was silence on Laura’s end, but Tito could hear the panic. She could almost hold it. It was there in Laura’s irregular breathing. It was there in the silence that often speaks louder than words. It was there in the fast racing of her own heart. “There’s been an accident” Laura finally dropped.

Blood drained from Tito’s face. Strange cold overtook her and she hugged herself with her free hand. The hand holding the phone shook wildly. “Who is it?” her voice came out in a semblance of calm.

“Tito…”
“Just tell me”
“It’s our dads… oh Tito… our dads”