I was dragging my feet home after a tough day at the gym, today's drill was different because I decided to push beyond my limit which was fun at the beginning but it left me exhausted.
The thought of doing chores when I arrived home was another issue. My parents went on their yearly vacation and I was home alone.
"Vacations are for young chaps and not old people", I continue to muffle words as I approach my street.
I noticed a van outside the house and wondered who it could be.
"Are they back?", I asked myself as I checked my phone if there was any missed call either from Mom or Dad but there was none.
I fastened my steps to see what was going on in the house but I haven't taken the fifth step before the van zoomed off.
I got home and found a small paper box at the entrance of the house.
After contemplating what could be inside the box, I brought out my phone with the intention of calling the police but I thought about it again, "Why would someone send a bomb to our apartment?".
Different ideas on what to do were flowing in my head and I finally made up my mind to see what was in the box.
I gently kicked it at first and I could tell that the object in it wasn't very heavy. I took a tour around the house and returned to the box.
I slowly opened the box and it was filled with coffee beans. I couldn't stop laughing at myself for performing so much drama before opening the box.
"Dad, did you order coffee beans?", I sent a message through the family discord channel.
He replied with a gif of a cat saying no and I sent the picture of the box to him.
"Where did it come from? Is there a name on it?", Mom asked and it was then I realized I should have checked for the sender's name.
Nothing was written on the box so I opened it again to see if there is a note in it, I found a brown envelope beneath the coffee beans.
"This should be it", I said to myself as I held the envelope.
I opened the envelope and found a letter.
"Brzzt Brzzt", my phone vibrated. I knew it was Mom but I haven't gone through the letter so I ignored the message.
I ran my eyes through it and it would take me some minutes so I went to get a cup of coffee to keep me alive for the next thirty minutes. I returned to the dining and settled to read the letter.
"Dear George", I read out and it was clear that the package was sent to Dad.
I continued after sipping from the coffee.
It's been two decades since you visited the province and with every sunrise, I have always wished that you find a reason to come back here.
I couldn't resist your charm on the first day I met you, your smile and words captured my heart. I was just 19 but I could define the feeling and my heart melt the moment you said "hello".
Whenever I am reminiscing about that day, I always wish that I could travel back in time to hold your hands again.
I thought you came to stay and my heart was broken when you told me you only came for a two weeks outreach in the province. You assured me that it wasn't the end of us and you did your best in keeping in touch over the phone.
Every night, I was always eager to hear your voice. It eases my stress and gives me hope but you stopped a few days before I discovered the pregnancy. Every attempt to reach you was futile, I really wanted to tell you that our intimacy on the day you left planted another life in me.
I became a useless child to the family, I was stupid indeed but no one knew how I felt about you. I longed for your love but he never looked back.
I waited patiently for your call as the new life grew in me. I was cast out of the house but didn't hate you for everything because I knew we were young and made a mistake.
I named her Georgina because she reminded me of you, she is soft, gentle, intelligent, beautiful, and charming just like you are. She is twenty and I felt it's time for me to let go of the feelings I had for you.
I knew you are not coming back the day I discovered that you are happily married and blessed with a wonderful son but I was still hopeful and I can't believe I waited 20 years before letting go.
Please accept the coffee beans as a gift, it was all I could think of while sending this letter. If someday you wish to see your daughter, we live at the edge of our province's coffee plantation. It belongs to us so will always be there, till we meet again.
Yours sincerely,
Adriana
I wanted to sip from the cup again and I discovered that it was finished.
"Dad has a daughter he doesn't know about", I said in awe as I grabbed my phone.
I tried explaining what was in the letter as I typed to reply to their messages on the family channel.
"This doesn't make any sense, I better allow them to return from the holiday", I thought and I deleted everything I typed.
"How long will it take you to find the sender's name?", dad message popped up.
"It was from Adriana", I replied
"Adriana???", he replied but I didn't reply again to avoid spilling the beans.