The Bad Girl: Chapter 18 - Retrospect

It was a clear day for the last working day of the week, another day to shower the land with the sun's warmth. Birds were chirping to welcome the new morning. Dew clung to every blade of grass on the field.

Although the sun was up, it was quite cool. The leaves were swaying to the gentle breeze.

Reina never went back to sleep after Chrissie's phone call. She immediately packed her things, knowing it was going to be a long drive.

The address Chrissie gave her was somewhere in the outskirts of Taipei. The travel time would be around 3 and a half hours.

After her things were packed, she left a note for Daniel on the side table. With a last glance on his sleeping form, she blew a kiss and went on her way.

========================================================

It was 6 in the morning and Reina's been driving for the past 3 hours. As it was a clear day, she opted to wear something comfortable and light: a plain white tank top, a pair of low rise jeans, and snakeskin GUCCI boots. She wore a white headband to keep her long hair in place and a pair of Jackie-O sunglasses.

She decided to call Ruth, her secretary. After the fifth ring, a groggy and annoyed voice answered the phone.

Reina smiled to herself before speaking, "Ruth, sorry I called quite early. Did I wake you up?"

Ruth's voice changed and hastily offered an apology.

Reina laughed. "It's okay Ruth. I called to tell you to cancel all my appointments today."

"I'm on my way to attend a more important matter. Thank you, Ruth," she said and ended the call.

She was taking a left turn off the highway when suddenly, her phone rang again.

"I'm expecting you to be here in 30 minutes and not a minute later!" Chrissie said on the other end.

"Okay.. okay... I'm actually taking the dirt road towards the address you've given! Just hope I won't get lost..." Reina laughed at her friend and shook her head. She was obviously in some kind of distress for her to order her like that.

========================================================

It's been five years since she had seen Chrissie. Their parents firmly decided to separate both girls fearing that they would get into more catastrophic scenarios.

Although, it broke Michelle Yan's heart, she and her husband decided to send Chrissie to live with her maternal grandparents in Geneva, Switzerland.

True enough, the girls' separation subdued their unconstrained personalities for the meantime.

Without the Yan and Yang tandem, Reina focused more on her academics. Although she partied every now and then, it wasn't the same as having her uncontainable best friend around.

Aside from that, she had been issued a severe warning for the stunt she pulled on one graduation ceremony. Until now, she still wonders why she never got expelled from ABAC. That particular scenario of adulterating Sherwin Xu's reputation almost ruined the university's morally upright impression and uproar indirectly embarrassed Thailand's Princess.

She could still remember that day...

"Well, what have you got to say for yourself, Miss Yang?" Dr. Komolmas asked in a stern voice.

Reina looked at her feet. She had never been this scared in her entire life! Her heart was pounding like crazy and felt like it was going to burst! She wished the earth would open up and swallow her whole!

"My God! Raindrop! What have you done this time?!" Jeri Stahl said in a bewildered voice as she opened the door into rector's office.

Reina gazed up to her and bit her lip. She was almost about to burst into tears.

Jeri scolded her daughter, "Don't give me that puppy dog look! Your father is fuming! He's blaming me for everything!"

"Who do expect to be blamed?" Drei Yang cut in, as he strode in the room, with a calm face but a murderous look. "After all she just took after you!"

"Why do you always blame me? Haven't you realized that you've allowed her to become as she is? Indulging her every whim and fancy? What was she supposed to think with all those women you keep on flaunting at her face?" Jeri rattled on and on, waving her hands at him.

The rector coughed to gain their attention. "Mr. Yang, Miss Stahl, may I remind you that you're in my office. If you want to settle your domestic disputes, discuss it someplace else."

The parents both apologized for their behavior and took their seats.

"No wonder this child turned out to be quite a problem," thought the rector regretfully. "Her parents are but children!"

"Now regarding the matter at hand, Mr. Yang, Miss Stahl, you do know why she's here, don't you?" Dr. Komolmas began.

Jeri and Drei just looked at him with a blank expression on their faces. They were clueless as to what their daughter had done.

Dr. Komolmas narrated what happened at the commencement exercises. Pausing every now and then, meeting the parents' eyes and occasionally looking over at Reina.

Beep! Beep!

"Sorry.." Reina said, and took out her hand phone. She switched it to silent mode and checked her SMS.

SMS: Yang, still alive? Are your parents done killing each other? Who won the round this time? –Chrissie

Reina giggled which caused Dr. Komolmas to look sharply at her.

"Miss Yang, this may seem like a joke to you but this is no laughing matter. It seems that you still find the turn of events amusing. I would like you to step out of the office while I speak to your parents privately," he addressed Reina in a calm but angry voice.

Embarrassed, Reina went out and immediately called Chrissie.

"Unfortunately, both of them are very much alive but Dr. Komolmas won the round. You should have seen them, Chris. They were like children reprimanded by the rector! It was hilarious! Good thing that Dr. Komolmas asked me to step out or I would have burst out laughing!" Reina relayed the information to Chrissie with much amusement.

Just then a familiar elegant woman rushed pass Reina into the rector's office.

Reina's brows furrowed as she tried to recall where she saw that same woman before. She made a face and shrugged.

"Where are you anyway?" she asked her friend.

Chrissie tapped Reina's shoulder and said, "Right behind you!"

"Then why didn't you say so in the first place?" Reina pouted and turned off her phone.

"It was fun watching you talking on the phone," Chrissie replied with a smile.

"Idiot!" Reina exclaimed and hit her friend with her bag.

They were both laughing and tickling each other when Reina's parents went out of the rector's office. They stopped as soon as they saw the grim expressions on their faces.

Reina thought at that moment that she was expelled and her parents had decided to split Chrissie and her up. But they did not and wonders of all wonders she was not expelled.

"Hmmm... Maybe Dad gave a huge donation for the school multimedia equipment," Reina thought.

Later she learned that Dr. Komolmas decided to give her another chance, as her parents pleaded, on the condition that Reina and Chrissie comport themselves responsibly, bearing in mind that they carry with them ABAC's name.

Although they have not quite mellowed out, Reina and Chrissie tried to keep themselves away from trouble, meaning, no pranks as audacious as the Sherwin episode.

Semesters had passed and the girls were enjoying their lives as young adults until one day...

"What's wrong with you, Yan?" inquired Reina, as she sat next to Chrissie.

"Feeling a bit under the weather?" she added, taking a look at her friend's pale face.

"PMS...." Chrissie replied, with much effort. She didn't really want to talk now. She would rather be left alone.

"Hey, didn't you say that you were having PMS a couple of weeks back?" Reina asked again, shrugging her shoulders.

Chrissie paled even more. Her eyes grew large from the realization!

"OH MY GOD! Oh my God!" Chrissie exclaimed, fear registering on her pretty face.

"Hey...what's wrong?" Reina suddenly felt alarmed.

"I'm delayed... I'm two weeks delayed... I'm never delayed!" Chrissie blabbed.

She stood up and paced back and forth. She bit her lip and ran her hands through her hair, held it on her nape and looked up to the sky.

"What?!" Reina stood up as well. "That can't be! You're always careful!" she swung Chrissie to face her.

"I know but... Omigod!" was all Chrissie could mutter.

"Hush! Calm down now. Let's not panic," she told her friend when she herself felt anything but calm.

Chrissie grabbed her purse and took out a cig, her Virginia slims, which Reina quickly snatched from her.

"Hey! You're suspecting that you're pregnant!" Reina reminded her.

"Just one stick...please...just one stick for me to calm down..." she begged and tried to get the pack from Reina. But Reina was quick to hide it in her bag.

"No!" Reina's voice was forceful.

"Come on, let's go buy a pregnancy test kit," with that Reina dragged her friend.

"I'd rather do a lab test," Chrissie argued.

So they went in a lab and Chrissie was taken blood sample for the serum pregnancy exam.

After an hour, they were able to get the result.

As soon as Chrissie read the result, she dropped the paper and went out of the lab, stunned.

They were sitting at Psychedelic Corner, going on a food trip in an effort to banish their depression

"How in the world could that happen?" Chrissie whispered or tried to do so as she gobbled up a huge slice of Devil's food cake.

"Like duh? You've been active since you were 14! It could happen!" Reina quipped, trying to make the situation feel light.

"But I was always careful! Damn! I don't even know who the father is!" Chrissie explained a matter of factly.

"You what?!" Reina almost screamed. "Please don't tell me..." she never finished her sentence when she looked in Chrissie's face.

"Yang, this is not the time for I-told-you-so's or how-could-you-be-so-stupid's!" Chrissie shouted at her friend. She was nearing to tears now.

"I wasn't going to say that," Reina countered.

"I'm going to get rid of it...that's it...yeah that's it..." Chrissie said, as if talking to herself.

"Now that is one thing you will not do!" Reina reached over and bashed her friend's head with her purse.

"Of course not!! I was just playing!" Chrissie said, rubbing the spot Reina hit, grinning.

"You! Ugh! You're impossible!" Reina's eyes narrowed. "You can actually joke and make fun about this?!?" she could feel her temper rising and her breathing becoming ragged.

"Easy, girl!" she laughed at her friend, despite her condition. "Come on! It's not as if I'm on the verge of poverty to not be able to afford raising a kid, even if I don't know how to... I could always hire a nanny right?" she smiled and wriggled her eyebrows.

Reina just rolled her eyes at her friend's demented wisdom.

"The only problem is telling the parents," Chrissie thought carefully. Her eyes filled with tears and said, "Now I say I fucked up big time!"

Reina hugged her friend. It's unusual since it's always Chrissie hugging her, "Come on, Yan. Your parents will be mad, no, make that furious at first, but they'll learn to accept that."

"It's not like they're paragons of virtue you know," she got a tissue and wiped Chrissie's tears.

"They had their share of misdemeanors," Reina rolled her eyes and continued. "Or have you forgotten what their reputations were?"

"Damn! I'm gonna be a mom! Damn!" Chrissie kept repeating, crying at that fact and laughing bitterly in disbelief.

As predicted, Terry & Michelle Yan were furious when they found out about Chrissie's pregnancy and couldn't figure out who fathered her child. After much argument, they ordered Chrissie to stay with Michelle Yan's parents who were living in Geneva.

========================================================

Reina was wondering if she's on the right track. All she did was follow the dirt road Chrissie told her to. But all she could see were trees, trees and more trees!!

"God! I can't believe I'm going to see Chrissie again!" she thought excitedly.

"I haven't seen her since she gave birth!" she added.

Reina smiled at the memory. Their parents allowed them to see each other when Chrissie was due. She was there when her best friend delivered her little bundle of joy.

"Aaaaaaaargh!!!"

Chrissie was screaming. She had been in labor for the last 32 hours. The pain would go and then come back with a vengeance. Beads of perspiration kept on forming on her brow no matter how fast Reina mopped them off.

Everybody was busy. They were constantly checking if Chrissie had opened up enough.

Soon, her water bag broke. Seeing the water broke, they instantly rushed her to the delivery room, Reina tagging along with them. Chrissie wouldn't let go of her hand.

"Easy now... breathe...short gasps dear, short quick gasps," Reina coaxed her friend and giggled.

Chrissie looked at her sharply, still breathing quickly.

"Sorry, it sounded funny when I do it," Reina defended. It's not that she found it amusing, but she was also trying not to be scared!

"Let's do it again...hihih...small short gasps..." Reina started again.

"Stop that... I hate that!" Chrissie glared at her but still continuing to do the breathing exercise.

"For a woman in pain you talk a lot..." smiled Reina.

The doctor checked if she was open enough and said "Okay I need you to push!"

Chrissie cried out, "But doc, I want to poo!!! Arrghhhh!!!"

The doctor continued to coax, "It's okay. It's perfectly natural. But I want you to push when I say so, harder this time"

"Push!" the doctor screamed.

Chrissie's grip on her friend's hand was strong!

Reina screamed. "I shall never have a baby!" she thought.

Chrissie pushed with all her might but still the baby wouldn't come out!

"Push!!" he screamed again.

And again, Chrissie pushed, harder than before. By this time, she's quite exhausted.

"The head's coming out!" one nurse yelled.

"Listen to me, Chrissie. One more push and the baby's out. So give it your best shot, ok?" the doctor said.

"AAARRRGGHHHHH!!!!!" Chrissie pushed the hardest and the baby just slipped easily on the nurse's hands.

A baby's lustful cries can be heard echoing in the room.

"Congratulations Miss Yan! You have a healthy baby girl," said the smiling doctor.

"Omigod! Yan, she's beautiful!" Reina was teary eyed.

"Let me see..." Chrissie's tears flowed.

"Hi baby!" she said hoarsely.

"Hi Kayley!" Chrissie rubbed her cheek to her baby's.

That was the most beautiful thing Reina ever saw. A new life welcomed into the world.

========================================================

"Kayley! Omigod! I missed Kayley, too," Reina thought.

Soon, she arrived at the place and drove inside the massive gates. She parked her car and looked around.

"Who owns this place?" she wondered.

Her musings were cut off when she saw a 4 yr. old Kayle running towards her. She had a teddy bear in her arms.

"Kayley baby!" Reina ran toward the little girl and hugged her.

But the little girl squirmed and tried to get away from her and ran back to her mom.

Reina stood up and spotted Chrissie.

The best friends just stood there, rooted on the spot, and just stared at each other, carefully noting the changes in their appearance.

========================================================

On the second floor window, a man, hidden from the view, was looking at the sight below.

"She's still beautiful!" he thought and downed his brandy.

"Finally, Reina Yang! We meet again!" he bitterly added and puffed from his cig, blowing a circle of smoke.