“Mommy, someone’s at the door,” Bryan shouted as he ran his toy truck around the living room carpet.

“Okay, just a sec.” Samantha left the broom and the pieces of chinaware on the floor and grabbed a towel to dry her hands with. As she approached the door, she passed by Bryan and whispered, “Who is it?”

He didn’t answer. He was too busy crawling around and getting the toy up the furniture. “Vroom! Vroom!”

She rolled her eyes and let out a smile. Then, she leveled her eye on the keyhole. She saw a hand, holding a bouquet of lilies. Then, she slowly leaned her ear on the door and asked, “Who is it?”

“Uh, I have something for Mrs. Mercado.”

She thought it was a man’s voice, so she peeped into the keyhole again to confirm. This time, she saw part of the face of the man. She was not familiar with him, but she knew in that instant the reason why he was there and what the flowers were for. When she sensed that the guy was about to look at the keyhole too, she looked away and walked back to the kitchen. “She’s not here,” she yelled.

Perplexed, Bryan watched his mother stride away. When she was gone, he glanced at the bottom of the door. He saw two shadows moving about. Then, the truck continued trekking the room.

“Uh, I’m sorry? Ma’am?”

Nobody answered back. Silence befuddled the man. When he rested his ear on the door, he heard faint sounds he could not decipher.

“Hello? Mrs. Mercado?”

“She said she’s not here!”

The man got shocked. It was a child who bellowed the answer he was hoping not to hear again. Then, he realized that it was a bit strange, what he heard from the child. He was about to knock at the door, but he supposed that it was no use calling the name of the woman he was looking for any longer. So, he decided to just leave the lilies at the doorstep and slowly walk away, down the hallway of the apartment.

***

Samantha reached for the neckties hanging by the door of the closet. She took them out of their hangers and threw them to the bed one by one. She also pulled out a couple of jackets, pairs of pants, a few long-sleeved shirts, and some boxers. Next, she bent down and got a black leather suitcase at the bottom of the closet. Opening the luggage, she sat on the bed and put the clothes inside. She didn’t mind them getting rumpled, she just wanted to get it over with. She was about to finish when she was alarmed by the shriek of the kettle. Almost at panic, she dropped everything to the bed and ran for the stove.

After turning off the flame, she picked up the kettle and poured some of the hot water into two mugs with tea bags. When she finished, she paused and gazed intently at the mugs, still holding the kettle up. Her eyes closed as she let out a sigh. She then replaced what she was holding to the stove and threw the contents of one of the mugs onto the sink. As she sat beside the dining table, she stared blankly at the other mug. Her eyes followed the movement of the steam, then they turned to the vase of lilies at the corner. Suddenly, she heard someone knocking at the door. Instinctively, she heeded the call and headed for the door.

She didn’t make a sound as she approached. She had to know first who the person was, if it was the same guy as the one who came yesterday. When she peeked into the keyhole, she got surprised when she saw a different guy, holding with two hands a few boxes of white chocolates and a small white envelope. Then she was taken aback when a hand blocked the hole and hit the door a few times.

“Who is it?”

“Is Mrs. Mercado th—?”

“No, she’s not here.”

She was about to return to the kitchen when the man said, “Ma’am, can you, uh, please open up? I just have something for—”

“I said she’s not here.”

She stepped back a couple of times and watched the silhouette at the bottom of the door. She noticed that the man left something on the floor, perhaps the boxes he was holding. Then, a white envelope slid through to her feet. She picked it up and peeped through the hole again. The man was already walking down the hallway, so she returned to the kitchen.

She grabbed the mug of tea and took a sip as she sat down beside the table. She stared at the envelope for a while, asking herself if she should open it or not. The front of the envelope was blank, so she turned it around and eventually decided to tear it open. She took out the card that had a colorful front, with some letters jumbled all over. After figuring out that the letters said “I AM SORRY”, she threw the card and the envelope to the trash can below the sink, not minding what the message inside the card was. Then, she heard a knock again, a louder knock. Annoyed, she headed for the door and shouted, “What now?”

“I’m home, Mom.”

Startled, she looked through the hole and saw the top of Bryan’s head. When she opened it, her son went inside, holding his school bag and the boxes of chocolates the man left.

“How come you didn’t use your key?”

“I forgot my key.”

“Where is it?”

“Somewhere.”

She followed him to his room. “What’s that you’re holding?”

“I came from school, Mom.”

“I mean the boxes.”

“What? These?”

“Yeah, where did you get those?”

He sat on his bed. “By the door.”

“You don’t know where those came from, Bryan. Come on, give it to me,” she extended her arms, “I’m gonna get rid of it.”

“You love white chocolate, right?”

The two stared at each other, not saying a word, not blinking an eye. After a moment, she put down her hand and reminded her son, “You brush your teeth after, okay?”

“Sure, I will.” Bryan excitedly opened a box and checked out the treats.

She watched her son take the first bite, smiled, and went back to her bedroom.

***

“Mom!”

Samantha woke up at the sound of her son’s yell. She hurriedly got up from bed and went to where she thought her son was. First, she went to the bathroom, but she didn’t find him there. Then, she checked out his room, but he wasn’t there, too. “Bryan? Where are you?”

“Outside!”

Upon hearing Bryan’s answer, she ran immediately to the door. When she got there, breathing heavily, she finally saw Bryan and approached him. “What’s the matter, Bryan? What happ—”

She saw a man, standing in front of her son, looking at her.

Bryan turned around, “Dad’s home.”

The couple didn’t take their eyes from each other. Then Samantha broke the silence, “What are you doing here, Ron?”

The man was leaning on the doorway on his arm. “Hi.”

Unmoving, she ordered, “Bryan, go to your room.”

“What? But Daddy just—”

“Now.”

Bryan looked up to his father with a sigh, “See you later, Dad,” and headed toward his room.

Ron patted his son’s head, “Sure, son.” He looked at his wife with a smile for a bit, then he went inside and proceeded to the kitchen. Samantha followed him.

“You think sending me those things would make me forgive you? Am I that shallow to you?”

Ron pointed at the vase. “But you kept the lilies.”

“Tsk. Why are you here?”

Ron sat alongside the dining table. “What do you mean? I live here.”

Sam leaned on the wall adjacent to the table. “But you just told me three days ago that you didn’t want to anymore.”

He sighed, “Sit down, Sam. Let’s talk.”

“I’m fine standing.”

“Okay. Uh, do you want some tea?”

“You wanna talk, right?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Let’s do that.”

“Okay, fine.” He paused and looked at her eyes.

“What?”

“I’m sorry.”

She stared back for a while, then closed her eyes, trying to fight back her tears.

“I know I messed up. I shouted at you, called you a bitch—”

She opened her eyes with ire. “In front of our kid.”

“Yes, and I accused you of a lot of things. I – I even threw plates and bowls and cups all over the place—”

“Whoa, they were not just plates and bowls and cups, darling. They were chinaware. And they cost a fortune. And to top that, they were gifts from my deceased mother.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m aware of what I’ve done, Sam. And I know I was wrong.”

There was a long pause while their eyes met.

“I’m sorry for everything.”

She snuffled as tears fell from her eyes. “Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Those things you sent me, they’re nothing compared to this, Ron. I needed words, not gifts. All you had to do was to apologize.”

“I just thought that they would melt your heart a bit. It did make you say ‘I do’ seven years ago.”

She gave out a smile. “I figured out what you were doing. I actually expected a diamond ring today.”

He stood up and opened his arms to her, and she went to him and received his hug.

“Don’t do that again.”

“Never.” He kissed her forehead and leaned his head to hers.

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