The cab pulled up to the gates of the family estate, the tires crunching on the gravel as it came to a stop. Derek stepped out, breathing in the familiar humid air of Mindanao. The scent of salt and lush greenery hit him, a rush of nostalgia washing over him. Home.
Before he could grab his bags, a high-pitched squeal pierced the air.
"Derek!" Chloe and Chantal, his 14-year-old twin sisters, came barreling down the driveway, their matching sundresses flaring as they ran.
He braced himself as they tackled him in an exuberant hug. "Whoa, easy! You'll knock me over!" he laughed, tousling their identical wavy hair.
"We missed you!" Chloe said, grinning up at him.
"Yeah, you've been gone forever," Chantal added, punching his arm playfully.
"I've only been gone a semester," Derek replied, amused.
"That's forever," they said in unison, earning an affectionate eye roll from him.
When he looked up, his gaze met another figure standing a few paces away. Reyna.
She was smaller than he remembered--or maybe he had just grown taller and she remained five-foot nothing in generous heels. Her tiny frame was wrapped in a simple white blouse tucked into faded jeans, her dark hair tied back in a loose bun. She looked the same as she always had: effortlessly composed, yet somehow radiant.
"Welcome home, Derek," Reyna said, her voice warm but measured.
For a moment, he hesitated, then closed the distance between them. "Rey-Rey," he said, pulling her into a hug. She felt soft and familiar against him, her arms wrapping lightly around his waist.
When she leaned up to kiss his cheek, as she had so many times before, something shifted. Her lips brushed his skin, and a strange warmth spread through him--a heat that had nothing to do with the tropical sun.
Reyna pulled back, smiling, but Derek felt like the ground had tilted beneath him. "It's good to see you," she said simply. "I missed you."
"I missed you too," he replied, quickly adding, "we've all missed you. And I'm sorry for your loss."
Reyna nodded politely and backed away as the girls began chattering about plans for the week. Their parents, of course, were detained with business in Manila, and would miss much of Derek's spring break with the family. He only flew halfway around the world to be with them. They were great people, their children wanted for nothing and Derek was receiving the best education and apprenticeship back home in England that money could buy.
But it seemed they had always subcontracted the responsibility of hugs and kisses, words of praise and encouragement to a designated minder. There had been a succession of them over the years, but they hit the jackpot with Reyna. She was 18 when she arrived, the daughter of their then-groundskeeper, and she endeared herself at once to Chloe and Chantal as an inventive playmate and loving supervisor.
Derek, who had tired of the revolving door of aproned guards, treated Reyna first as a temp and later as more of an annoying older sister, always bugging him to do his homework or pick up after himself. It finally came to a head that weekend four years ago while his parents were off on yet another business trip, when he invited his pals over for an impromptu piss-up that wound up wrecking the joint and inviting the interest of the police. Reyna somehow persuaded the local constabulary there was nothing to see there, and the following morning Derek found her quietly cleaning up and trying to repair some of the damage. The hurt in her eyes was more than he could bear.
When his parents returned, he immediately owned up to his idiocy, and apologized to both them and Reyna. "I've been beastly to you and I am ashamed of that," he told Reyna after he was grounded. "I won't let you down again." Reyna hugged him in tears and things began to change after that.
Every night, after reading the girls their bedtime story, she would knock on Derek's door and they would talk about their days. In the months that followed their goodnight hugs and kisses lingered just a little longer, and they were more playful around each other.
Eventually Reyna told him about the man her parents wanted her to marry from their home village because it was high time she settled down and produced grandchildren. Derek, with a growing maturity and college on the horizon, suggested she think long and hard on that and not deny herself the possibilities of a better life.
He recognized her intelligence, how she was a quick study of just about any topic. He taught how to play tennis and she held her own on the court, often beating him in spite of her size. For her part, Reyna taught him to spearfish and he enjoyed the many hours they spent in the sea together. They formed a bond of friendship and in the back of his mind he was wondering about the possibilities he might be denying himself with her.
But the obstacles -- cultural, a yawning eight-year age gap, the fact that Reyna was employed by his parents to take care of him and the girls -- seemed insurmountable, almost taboo. And then the clock ran out. Bags were packed and he left the Philippines for England.
During his first semester at Oxford Chloe called to share the news that Reyna was marrying the man after all and how she and Chantal were beside themselves with grief that she would be leaving them after all that time.
"You're twins," he cracked. "You're always beside yourselves." But he was saddened too.
It was Chantal who called him six months ago with more sad news -- Reyna's husband had been killed in a construction accident, after two brief years of marriage. The girls began an immediate campaign to get her back and their folks were helpless to refuse, having tired already of another series of housekeepers. Reyna immediately accepted their offer, with a healthy rise in pay, and on the surface it appeared all was back to normal.
While the girls continued to plan his limited vacation days with things he could do for them, Derek felt a little ungallant as he watched Reyna lug his duffel and roll his suitcase up to the house -- she was still "Mighty Mouse" who insisted on doing the heavy lifting. The girls soon lost interest in him and scampered off, and he followed Reyna upstairs to his room where she was unpacking his things.
"Hey," he said, a tentative smile tugging at his lips, "what do you say we take a trip down the hill to the beach, sit in the cabana? Just you and me. We should catch up."
Her brows lifted in surprise. "To the cabana?"
"Yeah," he said, warming to the project. "We can go spearfishing! You still remember how to dive, right?"
A slow smile spread across her face and she began counting off her attributes. "I can still dive deeper, longer and catch more fish than you, my dear dayuhan," she said, using the sometimes-unflattering Tagalog term for outsider. But with her it was teasing tinged with love.
Derek and Reyna quickly gathered their dive gear and spearguns and began the journey down the slope of the steep hill from the estate to the beach, enough time to brief each other on recent events. Reyna excitedly told him about the night classes she had been taking since she returned to the estate, first completing her high school equivalency, and now embarking in courses toward a career tin social work, an ambition she had shyly shared with him earlier when he was still living at home. Derek was bursting with pride at her ambition.
Derek complained about the workload awaiting him back at school and Reyna teased him about the harem of beautiful women awaiting his return to England. Derek snorted and dismissed the girls he'd met so far as more interested in his financial prospects than his good looks and charm.
"Face it, dayo, you've set impossible standards," Reyna chuckled.
Derek shook his head. "Anybody I've met has pre-googled me and done a forensic analysis of my present and future net worth. It's networking without business cards and frankly it's depressing." He turned to Reyna and smiled. "Especially when I know sweeter and more honest women can be found off-off campus."
Reyna blushed and quickly changed the subject to her return to the estate and his precocious sisters who had apparently just discovered boys. "They are a handful," she sighed, "and the boys are...persistent."
Derek expressed his confidence she would have no trouble chasing off unsuitable suitors. He nodded to the ocean. "Hell, I've seen you stare down sharks," he said, "My sisters are in good hands."
They soon reached the cabana and once inside they began changing into their wetsuits. A sheer curtain strung down the middle of the tight quarters inside purported to offer privacy but as always offered an opportunity to sneak a peek at the shadowy form on the other side.
"I see you, dayo," she groaned as she tugged the tight neoprene shortie suit over her bare flesh. As a healthy adolescent Derek had stolen more than a few glances since they began diving together years before, but now he protested she was the one taking a forbidden gander at the no-longer virgin morsel. She pushed the non-business butt end of her speargun through the curtain and nailed him good, successfully enforcing her rightful solitude.
The sun hung high as Derek and Reyna waded into the turquoise water, their gear glinting in the light. Reyna wore a snug black shortie wetsuit, the sleeves cut off at the shoulders, accentuating her slight frame. By now Derek knew better than to dismiss her as a lightweight from appearances -- those arms won many battles hauling monster tuna out of the water. He liked the way the neoprene hugged her curves, and resisted the urge to tug the long braid strung between her mask strap to bug her as he used to as dopey teen.
"You ready?" she asked, adjusting her speargun.
"Always," Derek replied, suppressing a grin.
They waded into the gentle surf and Derek sighed as the warm water washed against his pasty untanned white legs. Heaven! Reyna pulled the old-school black oval mask over her eyes and adjusted her snorkel before tugging on her rocket fins. She removed the snorkel and smiled at her buddy.
"Same rules, dayo," she grinned. "Biggest dog wins. Loser bones, cleans and cooks."
