Forever in my Heart (Chapter 1)

It is mid-day. The heat is shriveling and people are half-running to catch the red light. Soleil was about to cross the busy intersection when she froze.

A portrait hung in an art shop window, so achingly familiar, it made her heart flap an old throb and her knees to turn jelly.

No, it can't be. It just can't be, she kept saying.

She walked inside the shop, heart hammering in her ears. It was like stepping back into her past.

May I help you, Ma'am? You look a little pale,” asked a young man standing behind the courtesy desk.

Oh, I'm alright. Just the heat, maybe. The portrait -?..” she pointed at the painting.

Who...how much?”, she managed to ask.

Oh, that. I'm sorry Ma'am, but it's not for sale. We have strict order from the owner not to sell it for any price.”

But...can I at least talk to the owner, please? I want to ask something about that painting. It's very important,” she pleaded.

I'll see what I can do. Will you please wait over here?”

The attendant waved her to a couch and disappeared behind a curtain.

Soleil couldn’t help but stare at the portrait. My God, after all these years, she thought.

Twenty-two years to be exact. She was only sixteen when it happened. Their family doctor could no longer handle her lingering kidney illness and advised her parents that she be brought to Cebu before it's too late. Soleil was already starting to swell and there was an alarming trace of blood in her waste. It was the summer of 1976.

Soleil was confined for ten days at the hospital before she was moved to recuperate in her Tita Gilda's house in Mandaue City.

Still weak, but feeling a little better, she sat by the guest room window and looked at the splendor before her. The sea...so tranquil, so blue and mesmerizing.

I'm going to like it here,” she breathed.

Will you be alright? Your Daddy and I have to go home tomorrow, but we'll be back for you in two weeks,” her mother said.

Before Soleil could answer, someone tall and dusky appeared.

Do you remember your cousin Frederick?” asked Mother, patting the guy's shoulder. “He’ll be your nurse, I suppose.”

She was dumbfounded. Frederick? Icky Freddy? How did he get o be so tall and good-looking? What happened to the skinny boy who liked to catch toads all day long, Tita Gilda was afraid one day he'd croak and grow warts?

My, oh my. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Soleil was impressed. At sixteen, she was a tough one to please when it came to the opposite gender. While all the other girls were going gaga over their crushes here and there, she remained unruffled by it all. Miss Repellent, her friends called her. But she didn't mind. It's just that she had yet to meet a guy who could create a stir within her.

I think you're a tomboy,” her best friend Mabel once teased. “So you better watch out!” she joked back.

I heard that you finally gave up bedwetting. At least, it would make my job easier,” Frederick said. Obviously, he still remembered what a terrific bed-wetter she was until age ten. Darn this kidney thing, Soleil cursed. She felt embarrassed, but managed to frown and stick her tongue out at him. It was the only thing she could do to keep from blushing. Frederick was amused.

See, Tita - she still acts like a baby. Does she still thumb suck when she's sleepy?”

Soleil rushed to defend herself. “For your information, Mr. Toadcatcher - I just turned sixteen three weeks ago. I am not a child and am quite capable of taking care of myself, thank you.”

Blood started rushing to her already flushed cheeks.

All right, all right,” Mother said. “Now you be nice to Freddy, girl. He's your host, you know.”

(End of Chapter 1 of 20 chapters)