Chapter 30

Chapter 30: IG Stories

Hughie's condition is not getting better. The pain he is experiencing is getting worse. I am starting to feel so sad. Not to mention that Mew has not been able to return to Spain for the past three weeks.

All my contracts are now over. But due to Hughie's condition, I am unable to return to the Philippines. I do not want to leave Hughie all of a sudden especially with his illness.

He is getting weaker and weaker each day. The symptoms he is experiencing are also becoming more painful and extreme. That's why I decided to get him confined here in the hospital. That way, there is medical attention 24/7. Hughie's mom is also here. Tita Marem and I were close when Hughie and I were still together. Fortunately, she did not feel angry at me when she found out that his son and I broke up.

"Hughie used to talk to me about you," Tita Marem was talking to me. "He loves you so much. I even think that he loves you more than me," she was laughing as she cried. She wiped the tears falling from her eyes.

I can say that Hughie inherited his soft features from his mother.

"Don't say that, Tita. I'm sure Hughie loves you the most."

We are in Hughie's room at the hospital. Hughie is soundly sleeping on his bed after his chemotherapy this week.

He has been trying to get me to leave him and return to the Philippines since last week but I did not want to do that. I can still remember the nights I was drunk and crying because of Mew, how he was always there to take care of me. That is why I can never really leave him in his condition, no matter how hard he tries to push me away.

After all the sacrifices he made for me, the least I can do is to take care of him. Be there for him when he needs me the most. I could never reciprocate his love. I would be a bad person if I cannot do this at the very least.

And I am not only doing this out of pity and indebtedness. I am doing this because I care so much for him.

Hughie may not tell me that he wants me to be here, but I know that it is me that he really wants to take care of him.

Since Tita Marem is here now, we have decided that she will be the one who will sleep here tonight whilst I go home to get some things. I still have to come back tomorrow.

Mew and I barely have time to talk to each other anymore. Sometimes, we could only talk to each other through video call twice a week. He has a lot to do at the company because his work got piled up during his few weeks stay here in Spain. The company is now demanding more of his time. But with Aron now out of the picture, he has nothing to worry about, especially with my safety.

The time zone difference makes it really hard for us to find a time that we are both available to talk. Being in a long distance relationship is so hard. We have agreed to video call every eight o'clock in the Philippines which is two o'clock in the afternoon here. But sometimes, we are unable to because of me being busy with Hughie. He is also busy with work too.

I miss him so much already. And I'm also tired of just seeing his face through video call. I miss his big toy so much. Well, if you know what I am talking about.

I just arrived at our condo unit from the hospital, tired and sleepy.

It is now six o'clock in the evening here so it is probably twelve midnight back in the Philippines.

And I think he is already soundly sleeping. It's only Monday so he probably did a lot of work today.

I replied to his last message that he sent five hours ago.

"I just got home."

To which I was only able to reply now with "Can I call?"

I could not reply to him earlier when he sent it because I was busy watching over Hughie who is either angry or is treating me rudely.

I also noticed his missed call that I was not able to answer.

There is a good chance that Mew is actually asleep, but nevertheless, I still decided to call him, hopeful that he is still awake.

The phone just kept ringing and no one answered. Maybe he really is asleep already. I sighed. I miss him so much.

When will he be able to return to Spain?

While relaxing in the bubble bath, I thought of opening my Instagram account. After the awards show, I reached 1.5 million followers. It used to be only at 1.1M but because Mew's speech became a top trending topic that night, my followers count ballooned. Not to mention Aron's suicide which reached the national news that mentioned my name.

Because of Mew's speech, various reactions filled social media after that night. Many were delighted and amazed at what he did. There were also people who felt bad for me and got angry with the way how some personalities treated me during the show. And of course, I was also bashed by a few netizens for winning the award.

While scrolling through Instagram, I noticed that many people kept mentioning me in a post. I decided to check it out.

I frowned at what I saw. It was a video. A screen recording to be exact of an Instagram story where the video shows two men dancing in the middle of the dance floor inside a bar. Mew was tagged in the story along with another guy which I'm guessing is the other one in the video. The camera was far from the two men dancing and their faces were not obvious so I am not very much sure if it is Mew. And besides, if it is Mew, I am definitely certain that it did not happen tonight because according to Mew himself, he has returned home hours ago.

I checked the name of the person who posted the IG story and looked for his profile. When I got to his profile, I opened his IG story and saw that the video was no longer there.

Maybe that was posted a long time ago? And maybe it was not Mew because he never told me anything about going out to some parties.

I shrugged it off and turned off my cellphone. Fake news maybe, and just want to make an issue. People these days, really.

The following day, I went straight to the hospital. Tita, on the other hand, needed to go home to rest properly. Hughie is as usual, grumpy when it comes to me.

He does not pay attention to me and only talks to me if he needs something.

Good thing there is a TV here because without it, I might go crazy because of his silent treatment.

That day, we agreed to watch 'Someone Has to Die', a newly released Spanish series on Netflix.

We finished the entire season at three o'clock.

Shit! I forgot about the time! My cellphone was on silent mode so it did not ring when Mew called. He called me at two o'clock as scheduled but I missed his call.

I tried to call him back but he did not answer. Could he be asleep now even though it is only nine o'clock in the evening there?

I took a selfie and sent it to him. I made sure that I looked cute in the picture.

"I miss you." I sent it along with the picture.

"Gulf," Hughie called me.

I was busy scrolling for good films. I turned to face him.

"Hmm?"

"You have to promise me that you would always take care of yourself when I'm gone," he asked sadly.

Here he is again with his negativity. I gave him an angry look.

"Here you go again with your bullshit!" I complained. I went back on looking for a good movie.

I noticed my phone lit up. Mew is calling. But this time, it wasn't a video call. It was just a phone call.

"Hey," I answered the call.

"Hey baby." Gosh, I miss his voice so much. But I heard that his background was a bit noisy.

"Where are you? Why is your background noisy?" My eyebrows furrowed even though I knew he could not see me.

"Just here at home, watching something," he answered my question. "How is your day so far?" He tried to change the subject.

"It's okay. I miss you so much though." I whispered, careful to not let Hughie hear me. I did not want to be insensitive so I decided to use a low voice. I am with Hughie who is currently watching the TV.

I left the room to talk to Mew properly.

"I am sleepy already baby. It's 9 pm here. Can we end the call now? Let's talk longer tomorrow," Mew asked.

"Okay. Talk to you tomorrow then. Sleep well babe. I love you."

I waited for his answer but the line was already disconnected. I heaved out a deep sigh. No I love you too?

I noticed a series of notifications popping up again from my Instagram app so I decided to check it. My followers have again mentioned me in another screen recording of an IG story of the same person as last night. Mew is tagged again in the video. This time, it was a video of two guys drinking at a bar counter. And just like the video last night, the faces of the people in the video were not obvious because the person filming was far from them. Plus, the two guy's back were against the camera. But I noticed that it was the same person tagged last night though. Some guy named Tommy Saavedra.

There was also a similarity to Mew's posture with one of the guys in the video.

But it's impossible to be Mew. He is in our house, probably sleeping.

I checked for Tommy Saavedra's profile only to find out that it was a private account so I could not stalk him. Why does his last name sound familiar?

And because I could not scroll through Tommy Saavedra's account, I checked the account of the erson who originally posted the Instagram story.

He was having a live video. I was hesitant to watch but I clicked it anyway.

The owner of the account is a man too. Silvestre Serona. Maybe just Mew's age.

He was at a bar counter with who I think was Tommy Saavedra. Tommy was wearing the same outfit as the guy in the video earlier.

"Hi everyone! How are you guys doing?" Silvestre, the account owner asked the live viewers.

Tommy Saavedra was beside him smiling. He is handsome and has a fair skin. He has the same body complexion as me.

Someone watching commented : Where is Mew? The one in your IG story earlier. He and Tommy look good together.

They both chuckled at what they read.

"He's not here. That video was a long time ago," says Silvestre. He winked at Tommy after speaking.

"Bye guys! We'll end the live now." They both waved goodbye. But before the video ended, a guy appeared from behind with his back against the camera.

The guy had the same posture and the same body built as Mew. But I could not really tell because the guy only appeared for a few seconds.

Maybe I'm just imagining ?

I wanted to make sure if Mew had a connection with them so I checked Silvestre's followers and searched for Mew's name. But I did not see Mew in the list.

Maybe they are referring to another guy named Mew? I also checked his story to see if the video is still there, but sadly, it was not there anymore.

I am left with no choice but to check Mew's account. I don't know why I am doing this.

But I have a bad feeling about this.

"Why do you look angry? Is something wrong? Someone bothering you?" Hughie asked worriedly after noticing my reaction.

I checked Mew's following list. I did not find any Silvestre Serona. Maybe it was not really Mew they were talking about.

But I also thought of finding Tommy Saavedra's name in his following list.

I was nervous as I typed the name. My hands were trembling.

"Following Tommy Saavedra."

What the hell?

I opened Mew's direct message to send a message. I saw "Active 5 minutes ago" below his name.

"What the actual fuck?" I could not stop myself from swearing.

I thought he was sleepy?

"What's wrong?" Hughie asked.