My One And Only

“Señor and Señora got into a car accident.”

Anna Maria shook me next as I went to shock right away, not being able to believe what I just heard.

“Child??? Are you ok?? You there??”

My mind could listen to her voice but it was far… very far from it’s the source as my insides took their sweet time to process what my ears heard.

I stood up when I found out what happened, ignoring Anna Maria’s voice. I strode towards where my cell phone was and tried my parent’s driver.

The call went to voicemail multiple times I tried it and it confirmed my suspicion a little bit.

What if my mom and daddy got into a severe accident??

I tried to keep away from all those disturbing and negative thoughts but then it was very hard not to think that way.

I did not even know what else to do, whom to contact, and try to find out more about how my parents were.

So I tried Josh’s number but he was not answering either. I would not be surprised if he did not pick till the next day because that was how it was always.

I would call, or drop texts to check up on him, he would only reply the next day or in someday, it would go beyond that.

His excuse was the same. His busy and hectic schedule and work. He had no time to waste it on calling me back or text. It was what he would say and I ignored it all the time because I knew how he was. A replica of my father.

But right now I needed him. He might have come to know or he must have been busy in some meetings and have not heard it.

“What do I do, Anna Maria?? I have no idea whom to contact and how to get more information. What if they are badly hurt??”

I let out, my voice breaking at the end. Anna Maria pulled me in for a hug, I hugged her back, scared.

Although my parents were not the ideal type and always demanding and ordering me around, scolding me even for the smallest and smallest of things but they were my mom and daddy.

My eyes watered as I sat all alone, the whole night waiting very impatiently to hear from them… or someone else regarding them.

I just wanted to know if they were alright and safe. It was messing with my head not knowing how they were.

My daddy’s publicist was very good in his ways of shielding information from the media so I could not find any sort of news either from the tabloids, internet, or anything else.

Anna Maria stayed up with me too. She gave me the comfort I needed at that moment, the warmth, the words I needed to hear at that moment to go on.

When the next ray of sunlight hit my face, I found myself passing out on the living room sofa. A light blanket draped over my body. It must be Anna Maria who did it.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes, stretching my body. Last night was like a nightmare as I thought about it.

I kept feeling like anytime then someone would call me to give me the bad news but nothing like that happened and right now I felt like everything was fine.

I had the whole day to find my parents, visit in whichever medical hospital they were and we would all be fine.

My eyes landed on my cell phone, I picked it up immediately and my eyes widened to see a text message from Josh. It was after past two in the morning. I must have fallen asleep by then.

I swiped the lock screen open and pressed on to the text message Josh sent me.

“I m sorry for your parents. Do not worry about the funeral, just get your black dress. My mom would arrange everything.

P. s just do not keep texting me after midnight…

I kept rereading the text he sent me trying hard to understand what he just said.

The words ‘funeral’ echoed in my mind. Whose funeral was he talking about?? And why did he refer to my parents in past tense??

My mind was battling very hard to not just give up yet and surrender to those voices in my head…. they were all screaming the dreading news at my face.

Maybe… maybe Josh was drunk and he sent me this text…. he might not have been in his right state of mind.

He must have found my constant texting a headache and annoyingly sent that to me?? He had a very sick way of getting back at me.

I stood up and called out for Anna Maria but she was nowhere. I roamed around the entire mansion and there was no one… not one soul. The whole place was empty and forlorn.

Where did the staff go?? What happened to the morning staff and why they were not in the kitchen yet??

All those questions kept revolting my mind as I struggled to keep my mind in a positive state and not let it drift it apart from those negative ones.

I kept chanting to myself that everything was fine… everything would be fine. It always worked for me.

I found my way back to the huge living room and sighed in distaste not knowing where everyone was.

What if my parents let all of them go due to the bank crisis?? That made sense. But that was really not my priority concern at the moment.

The doorbell rang from the exterior gate. I looked it up to see the newspaper being dropped by the side through the intercom. There were no workers to get it so I went out to get it.

It felt good to feel the morning air right on my face. I bent down to pick the newspaper up and my eyes could not believe what the first headline said.

My world collapsed and shattered into millions of pieces.