Chapter Six (The Last Time, Part 2)

***Two years earlier***

It was a hard day for Sheyg. He had just done a very tiring job in his office. He had to do that if he wanted to be promoted as department head. It was one year ago that he was accepted to work in VERITAS Company as an office clerk and now he was ready to be promoted to be a department head. He then drove his car towards his apartment, his old apartment before he moved to his current one. He didn't know that he was about to get a surprise in his apartment.

He then parked his car in the building's parking lot and headed to his apartment. As he was about to open the door, he was shocked to find that the door was not locked. He carefully opened the door preparing to face any kinds of threats. When he opened the door, suddenly…..

"SURPRISE!" That's what everyone said in that room. There were his friends: Pearce, Max, Zack, and Shaundi, and also his parents, Haytham Thomas and Lucia Thomas.

"What's going on here?" Sheyg confused.

"C'mon workaholic, it's your birthday. Don't tell me that you forgot." Shaundi told him.

"Oh crap. How can I forget my own birthday?" Said Sheyg as he smacked his forehead.

"You better not forget how to breathe." Said Pearce joking.

"Happy birthday, my dear son." Said Lucia as she approached him and gave him a kiss on his forehead.

"Mom, please stop that. It's embarrassing." Everyone then laughed after he said that.

"Son, how about a picture first before we blow the candle here?" Haytham suggested.

"Sure dad. why not?" Sheyg replied his father.

Sheyg, Haytham, and Lucia then lined up behind the cake. It was Pearce who was trusted to take picture with Sheyg's tablet. Pearce had been known with his ability to make great pictures with any kinds of camera. Sheyg and his parents then made a big smile on their face as Pearce then snapped their picture. After that, it was Sheyg and his friends' turn to take picture. This time however, Shaundi did it herself using her phone and her monopod. After taking a few selfies, they then proceeded to the main show of the event. As the candles had been lit, Sheyg then made a wish and blew the candle. Everyone then clapped their hands and popped the confetti.

After eating the cake to pieces, they then enjoyed themselves in that small studio apartment. Sheyg then made an announcement.

"Everyone, I'd like to announce something."

"Just announce it already." Pearce cut Sheyg's words.

"Maybe he'll announce it after you shut up, Pearce." Said Max. Sheyg's parents could only giggle seeing them.

"I'd like to announce that I've been promoted as a department head in my office. Starting tomorrow, I'll be working in my new station." Sheyg announced to everyone in that room. Everybody then congratulated him on that achievement. They then showed a happy face but Sheyg's parents were the happiest.

"Well done, son. You've proven yourself to be an excellent man. I am proud." Haytham said to his son.

"How about if we have a party again another time? But just three of us." Lucia invited.

"Sure mom." Sheyg accepted.

Everybody then left the apartment after the party was done, except Haytham and Lucia who stayed to help their son cleaning up. Sheyg was in charge of cleaning the living room with the help of his father, and Lucia was in charge to clean the kitchen.

"Son, tomorrow we are going to fly to Ireland for a business trip. Can you drive us to the airport?" Haytham asked his son.

"When should I drive you?" Sheyg asked.

"Our flight will be at 1 o'clock. Think you can drive us that time?"

"Sure dad. I'll drive you there tomorrow."

His parents then left the apartment after helping him cleaning it. He had a bad feeling about his parents but he decided to ignore it. He then locked the front door and headed to his room to sleep. He had that uneasy feeling about his parents that made him hard to sleep. He tried to ignore it and finally fell asleep.

The next morning, he woke up early since it was his first day after being promoted. Being a department head and have subordinates is what everyone dreamed of and he was a fortunate one to achieve that. He then quickly took shower and got ready for the day. Arriving at the office, he then quickly headed to his new workstation, 5th floor of VERITAS building. He could easily find his desk since it was the only desk for the head of HR department. He was then introduced by his boss, Alan Stewart to his new employees and quickly got to his job as a new HRD department head.

"So, Thomas, How do you enjoy your new job?" Mr. Stewart asked him.

"It's very good, sir. I'll do my best as the new department head." Sheyg told his employer.

"Sure, Thomas, it's pretty good. And if you work hard enough, you can be the next CEO." joked Mr. Stewart.

"That's very funny, sir." Sheyg chuckled.

"No, I'm serious. Everyone can be CEO depends on their effort to get it. So you better work hard to achieve it but don't overdo yourself." said Mr. Stewart motivating his employee.

"Yes, sir, I'll remember that."

Sheyg then started his day as new department head in the office.

It was 12:30 at Paradise International Airport or 30 minutes before his parents' flight. Sheyg then lifted his parents' belongings to the terminal.

"There you go. I should go back to the office now."

"Sure son, we'll be off for four days. Two days in Ireland and the rest were for the trip." Haytham said.

"We'll let you know when we arrive there. Just make sure that you can be reached." Lucia added.

"Sure mom."

"Well, it's almost time. You better get back to the office. You don't want to get trouble in your first day in your new position, right?" Haytham told his son.

"Yeah, I better get back to office now. You two, have a safe trip."

"Sure dear. Bye."

"Bye son. Don't cause any trouble."

And they then hugged each other. After that Haytham and Lucia entered the terminal to wait for their flight. They waved their hand to their son and Sheyg replied them with another wave. And then that uneasy feeling came again to him. He felt like that it would be his last time seeing them and like last night, he tried to ignore it. However this time, it was stronger than last night. It was like he would lose his parents in something bad. He then looked into the sky to see nothing but bright skies above him.

'What is this feeling?' He wondered.

Trying to assure himself that nothing bad would happen, he decided to drive back to his office.

"It's been 8 already. They're supposed to call me around half an hour ago." Sheyg said. It was 8 in the evening and Sheyg still had that uneasy feeling about his parents. He was sitting on his couch watching TV hoping that he would hit a good show to watch. As he watched the TV, the show was cut with breaking news. Usually, he would ignore it and change to another channel. But this time, he had a feeling that he should watch it.

"A plane had just crashed over the Atlantic ocean. The remains of the plane was found floating on the ocean. It was a plane belongs to Paradise Air flight number XX-XXXX to Ireland. All of the passengers are reported dead. No passengers survived this crash…"

"No!" Sheyg said upon hearing that. That feeling now become pain in his heart. He then remembered the plane his parents were taking: Paradise Air with the exact flight number.

As he was still struggling to fight the uneasiness, his phone rang. Checking upon who it was, he was surprised that it was from Paradise Air. He then accepted the call.

"He…. Hello." Sheyg started to stutter.

"Are you Sheyg Thomas?" asked the officer.

"Yes, I am. Why?"

"We would like to give a bad news. Our flight number XX-XXXX to Ireland crashed and Haytham and Lucia Thomas were in the passengers list. They gave your number as the one we can call. Tomorrow, we would like to take your DNA sample to run the DNA test to identify the victims. Can you attend that?"

Hearing that, Sheyg then dropped the phone and cried, "No! This can't be! This can't be happening! No! No! No!" He then picked the phone again and asked, "Sir, tell me that it's not true. Tell me that it's a joke."

"We're sorry, sir. It's true."

Sheyg then hung up the phone and headed to his room. There he was lying down and cried. Cried a lot while bending and hugging his knees on the floor.

"This can't be. Mom, Dad, tell me you're going back home." That's all he could say in the end. He then realized that this is the bad feeling he had about his parents. That he would lose his parents in a horrible way.

The news spread quickly as his friends then came to console him. Mr. Stewart then told him not to go to work until the situation got better since he was worried that Sheyg might not work well in such condition. His employees then supported him by texting him. Three days after the discovery, Sheyg then received his parents' bodies to be buried. Two days after the burial, a man suddenly came to his apartment claiming to be his father's man.

"What is it? Don't tell me that you're seeing me to bill me for my father's debt."

"No, Sheyg. I'm coming here to give you this." said the man, handing a suitcase.

"It's your father's inheritance to you. Open it." He told Sheyg.

Sheyg then opened the suitcase to find out that it was his father's inheritance, money with a sum of 250,000 dollars and a small letter. He then read the letter.

"Sheyg my son,

I know that one day we'll leave you for your own. We know that you'll say that you could stand on your own feet. But I can't leave you without anything for you to carry along. So just accept this as our inheritance to you so that you can stand with your own feet. Get a new place and continue your life. We love you, son.

Our special son: Sheyg Thomas

Love you, your parents."

"Mom, Dad." Sheyg said upon reading that letter. Tears began to fall down from his eyes.

"Sheyg, I'm sorry about what happened to your parents. It's all out of our expectation." said the man.

"It's okay, no one's to blame for this."

"So, will you take the inheritance?"

"Yes, I will." Sheyg answered.

And so he took the inheritance money. The first thing he did was finding a new place for him to stay as said by his parents in their wish. He then found a new apartment. Much better than the one he was in. After buying a new apartment to live he sold his old apartment to a real estate agent. And he was ready to face the world by himself.

***Present times***

"And that's how it was." Sheyg told her.

"It must be tough for you I assume." Nerine said.

"At first, yes, it was. But now I've managed to survive so far. I've accepted the faith that I have to live on my own. Like you said before, everyone mustn't drown in sadness." Sheyg assured himself.

Nerine then could see a smile on his face. She was relieved that he managed to smile again. She knew that Sheyg was a strong person upon seeing him smile again after telling such story.

"Sheyg, can I hug you once again?" She asked him.

"Sure, just don't drown me in your breasts again like that." Sheyg accepted. Nerine blushed upon hearing that.

And so they hugged each other trying to get rid of their sorrows. They then knew that it was about time for them to get back to sleep. Nerine then walked back to her room while Sheyg closed his room's door and managed to sleep.

"My life is gonna be full of color from this time." He said. He then turned the light off and managed to sleep.

(End of chapter six)