Until The Sunset Sets Again

"Alba, call your brothers and we were going to eat," my mother ordered me.

"All right, ma. I'll just go to the neighbor's," I replied.

"Sister, when are you leaving?" my younger brother Luke asked as we walked home.

We are four siblings. I am the eldest. Girl is next to me while the third and fourth are both boys. Our youngest brother was only five years old, still naive.

I smiled at Luke and shook his head. "I'm going to leave tomorrow so you three should be nice." I looked at them one by one. "Titania, you'll be the eldest temporarily, okay? While I am away, you'll be the first to scold when our youngest are hard headed. Hmmm?"

She nodded and suddenly hugged me. "I'll miss you, sister," she said sadly.

I caressed her back because she was about to cry. "Always remember that I will not leave you because I want to. I will leave you so that you can go to school and I can provide for all your needs and wants. I'll give you a better life."

"Sister, you're coming back," said Jarred, the third of the siblings. "Don't be like papa who left and never came back," he said seriously.

I felt sorry for them. I just want to stay here.

I took a deep breath. I want them to see me as a strong one, as a strong sister for them because if I am the weak one, where will they get strength? Mama and I need them to get strength. Even though there is no pillar of home to strengthen our family, they still have something to lean on whenever they need it.

I knelt down with my brother and touched his cheek. "Jarred, I'll be back. I'm not going to imitate papa."

Another reason why I wanted to go to Spain was that I heard our dad was there. I want to find him there. I want to ask him why he just left us like that. I wanted to ask him why he was so selfish and ran away from his family, to his responsibilities and obligations.

"Promise?" he said.

I smiled at him and nodded. "I promise that I will return for all you. When I come back, I'm going to bring toy for the youngest. I'm going to give a guitar to Jarred. And to Tatiana... I'm going to bring a boyfriend for her..." I looked at Titania to make fun of her.

He frowned. "Sister!" She's already eighteen years old and she never had a boyfriend so I always annoy her. I already had one but it didn't last long. Getting a boyfriend should not be in hurry, that boyfriend is just a problem so don't do it first. I don't think so.

"Let's go home," I told them. I will surely miss them and of course, my mama.

"Why are you taking so long? The food is cold oh. Didn't I always tell you to come home at the right time," mama said so we secretly laughed.

When the night comes, we slept together in one room because of the request of our youngest. He said that it is our bonding so we all agreed because it was also fun.

"Sister..." our youngest called.

"Hmmm?" my answer.

"How many days have you been there?" he asked.

I got up and faced him. My two brothers and mama were just quiet. He is still very innocent.

"My baby, just wait for me, okay? I've been there for a while but I will make time to talk to you," I replied.

He nodded as if he already understood it.

The next morning I was ready to leave. While we were packing, mama was crying. I don't want to leave but I have to. I also didn't tell her my other reason why I am going there. I don't want to upset her.

Honestly, I hate my dad. I don't want to instill hatred in him because he's my dad. I want to know the reason why he left us, why he left me. I want to understand him.

"Ma... take care of yourself too. I will always pray to God to guide all of you," I said to mama.

Shee nodded and suddenly hugged me while crying. "Be careful there, my daughter. Call mama when there is a problem. When you can no longer want there, go home to the Philippines and I will make the way," she cried.

I try not to cry in front of them. I looked at my younger siblings who were also crying. "Be careful. Don't be hard head to mama, okay? Titania, our brothers, huh?" I order Titania. She nodded and hugged me too.

"All right. Goodbye for now because I might be late. I'll miss the plane," I said goodbye to them.

"Group hug?" I said. I couldn't hold back my tears, they were already dripping.

They hurried over to me to hug me. "I'll miss you all," I said while crying.

I will be working as a manager at a resort in Spain. I graduated so I got in there as a manager. Good luck to me.

When I got to the airport I wanted to go home immediately.

I took a deep breath and strained to think about the future of my siblings. "You can't be weak, Alba. For the siblings, for mama, and ... for papa," I whispered to myself.

I pulled my suitcase, I walked and forced myself to steady myself. This is the feeling of Filipinos who leave to work abroad. They leave behind their loved ones. I'm still here at the airport but I want to go home right away.

"You can do it, Alba. You can do it," I repeated to myself.

I bit my lip because I was nervous. I don't know what world I will face in Spain. Spain is definitely very different from the Philippines. People, culture, and so on. I need to adjust.

I remembered my visa so I grabbed my bag. Shit!

"Where is that?" I whispered.

"Ouch!" I touch my forehead because of the force of the impact.

Because of that, my things fell out of my bag. I quickly picked it up, I also saw my visa dropped.

"Sorry, miss!" said the man, because it's a man's voice. I no longer bothered to look at his face. He helped me get my things.

"I can do it by myself," I said softly.

"Hey Arki!" I heard the man's call from afar.

I felt the man turn in front of me. "Wait!" the man answer infront of me.

When I finished I stood up and didn't bother to look at him, I just passed it.

"Wow! Really? She didn't even say sorry," I heard him say.

"Arki, you have chicks right away!" said the man who had called him earlier.

I try to calm myself down because I might get into a fight here.

"Of course not, it's not chicks. I bumped into her and she haven't apologized yet." Obviously, he want me to hear what he said because his voice is loud.

Annoyed, I turned around and was ready to fight when I heard the passengers calling.

"You should be thankful," I finally said before they left there.

DISCLAIMER: This is only a work of fiction. All the names, places, people are all work of fiction. I also used spanish language and first of all, I am sorry in advance if I had a wrong translation. I just used an english-spanish translation so sorry in advance. Thank you!

When I came to Spain it was very different. I bit my lip. I'm nervous about what my life will be like here.

I was greeted at the airport by an acquaintance here and who helped me to get a job here in Spain.

"Hola!" she greeted me happily. Hola means hello in english.

"Kia!" I nervously call her.

She shrugged. "You can do it!" she was motivating me.

While we were going to the resort she told me a story about this country. I listen really well. Even before I traveled and applied, I studied the Spanish language and their cultures so it's easy for me.

"Buenos Dias!" my boss greeted me when I arrived.

"Esta es Alba, la gerente que postuló hace un mes, señora. Alba, esta es la señora Emilia Echeverría," Kia introduced me. (This is Alba, the manager who applied a month ago, senora. Alba, this is senora Emilia Echeverria.)

I gladly held out my hand to the woman. "Encantado de conocerla, señorita. Prometo trabajar duro, no te defraudaré," I said. (It's nice meeting you, senorita. I promise to work hard, I won't disappoint you.)

She smiled at me. "Puedes empezar hoy si quieres. Kia, ayúdala a su respectiva habitación." She looked at Kia and nodded. (You can start today if you want to. Kia, assist her to her respective room.)

When ma'am Emilia left, I could still breathe easily. My lip almost bled because of the nervousness.

"Madam Emilia is nice so don't be afraid. I'll also show you what your office will be. You're lucky because you got in here right away but anyway, you also have a lot of experience in this industry so I wasn't surprised when you were accepted here," Kia said.

I nodded and look around. This is so beautiful, this place. I don't know if it's really work or vacation because it seems like every time I wake up every morning I'll see the sea.

By the way, Kia works here. She is in a higher position than me. Of course, she has been here for several years.

As we walked to the room where I was going to stay she's talking some things. She'z really too noisy at times.

"About your father. Are you sure you really want to look for him?" she asked curiously.

I nodded. "Yes. If he ever has a family here, I don't care about that. I just want to ask him something. That's all ..." I replied.

She held my hand to comfort me. She smiled at me. "From the very beginning, you're really kind. I remember when we were high school one time, someone liked you, the handsome man. What's his name, by the way? I already forgot." She even looked up to imagine who it was.

"Bruce," I replied shortly.

"Yeah! That's it! Then the ungrateful Mary who is so in love with Bruce. She fought and pulled you--"

"Then you pull back," I continued.

That's so harsh. We went on a guidance office after that.

She laughed as she remembered what she had done when we were in high school. "She's crazy! She's ugly and then she expects Bruce to like her? She's ugly, ugly!"

I sighed. "Hays, you really are."

"But kidding aside, you've been kind before. Mary used to fight you a few times but you keep forgiving and you still treat her mind" she said.

I smiled as I remembered that. "You know why? That despite that she treat me like that, I was still kind to her. One time, I followed her home and I saw her father beating her. And that's when I realized, she was just at school becoming free. Maybe, she's just like that. At that time, mama and papa didn't understand each other anymore, so that's why," I explained.

"Hayst, come on!"

I decided to work tomorrow. I really want to work now but Kia forced me to just work tomorrow. Today, we will take a tour and she will show me my work place.

"It's nice here," I said as we walked along the beach. There are already many tourists here because summer is near.

"Of course. I don't seem to be working here, I guess." She laughed.

"Take a picture of me," I ordered.

Her eyebrows rose. "Wow! Hey mare, it's not a vacation!" I stared at her. "I'm just kidding, here it is! Come on! Pose!" she commanded.

As we walked I checked out the whole resort. It's nice to work here. Maybe I made the right decision. There are many benefits of working here in Spain. First, I can find my dad here. All my questions that I have always been trying to answer will be answered. Second, I can help my siblings with their school as well as their needs and wants. My mom, she can stop working when I stay here for a while. And most of all, I think I can reconcile this country, this place.

"By the way, how was your trip? I haven't asked you before," Kia asked.

My annoyance flared up again when I remembered what had happened at the airport. "It would have been okay. It would have been peaceful but there were two man who annoyed me. I was the one who hit that man, I was blamed. And you know! He even told me that I wasn't sorry! " irritatingly I complained to her. I look like I'm a child complaining to my mother because I had a fight with someone on the street earlier.

She looked at me with one eyebrow raised. Staring at me and still smiling sarcastically. "Oh my gosh, Sol! Do you know the most laughable characteristic of you? Your hot-headedness!" she said with a laugh.

My nickname is Sol. Rarely did anyone call me back then. Family and friends who are very close to me. I wonder, Sol means day then Alba my real name means sunset. Weird, right?

My face went with it. Am I that immature? Of course, who wouldn't be angry there? I was the one who was hit and then he demanded an apology from me? Hello ?!

"Just don't let me see him because I'll hit him. He's lucky because the passengers were called before so I didn't hit him," I said annoyed. My blood is really heating up with that man.

She poked my side. She's trying to tease me. "Uyyyy! Maybe you're for each other. They said don't they, the more you hate, the more you love!" she taunts me.

I was about to tweak her when she suddenly ran away.

"HEY!" I shout here.

She waved at me when she was a bit far from me so I ran fast to catch up with her. I really miss this woman.

"Ouch!" I said, I was hit by a man AGAIN because we collided. I was then grabbed by my forehead because of the force of the impact on me. It looks like the man I bumped into. I can't get up because of the pain.

"Sol, are you okay?" Kia asked worriedly as she approached.

"Tss ... bad luck," I whispered. How many times do I bump into people? I guess I am really the problem.

I would have been sorry for what I bumped into when my eyes widened when I see who it was.

We looked at each other again and we reacted the same way when we saw each other.

"You again!" we once shouted at each other.

Our eyes both glared at each other. If I only had the power, I would have thrown him into the sea earlier or fed him to a shark.

The tension between the two of us disappeared when Kia jokingly coughed.

"Ah hehe... Sol, w-who is he?" Kia asked in a whisper.

I approached her and whispered to her. I don't take my eyes off the man. "The one I was telling you about earlier, the one who hit me at the airport yesterday," I whispered.

I became even more annoyed when he raised an eyebrow at me. He really annoys me even more!

"Wow!" I was about to kick the ugly man when Kia stood between us.

"Wait! Wait a minute, the two of you! Don't get our heads too hot hehe ... I know it's summer but don't shake your head!" Kia said awkwardly.

Suddenly a man came. He shouldered him. I also feel like he's the one with him at the airport who said I was a 'chicks'.

"Arki..." The newcomer looked at us, still staring at me then looked at his friend. "Is that the girl in the airport?" he whispered but I heard.

Arki nodded.

Arki is his name. It's so ugly, as ugly as his face!

The first letter of our name is the same, ha! He should have changed his name, annoying!

His friend looked at Kia. Kia on the other hand was awkwardly smiling at the two. "Ahmm... sir. I won't speak Spanish anymore because you're Filipinos, right? So did you check-in here?" Kia asked politely.

Kia approached me and whispered. "Let go of your anger first because they look like a visitors here," she whispered.

I look away and calm myself. I bit my lip.

Alba, calm down. Don't be so impolite towards them, they are at least a visitor here. Remember, you work here. If you don't behave, you may be fired. This is your first day.

I remind myself.

I took a deep breath before facing the two fireflies.

I smiled wryly and faked at them. "I'm sorry for being immature. I was just pissed. I'm sorry, sir," I politely said. I am also used to this kind of dealings. I have been working in this industry for several years. I started when I was in college as a waitress in various restaurants. Even if you really want to punch your customer, you still need to respect them because 'costumer is always right' supposedly. At first, I was sometimes fired because I bit the customer. One time, a rude customer touched me so that's why, I kicked him suddenly. The ending, I was fired. My naughty manager, on the other hand, believed more to the customer.

When I looked at Arki, he looked at me as if he was teasing me. He's really annoying.

"Stop me, Kia. I'm really going to hit this Arki," I whispered to Kia.

She laugh awkwardly. "Hehe ... that's enough." He looked at the two men and spoke. "Sir, do you need anything?" she ask.

I think my lip was bleeding because I bite it.

"Ah... we're looking for a resto because we're hungry," a man replied.

"Ah... do you want me to assist you sir? Alba and I can go with you. Isn't it, Alba?" Kia turned to me and widened her eyes.

I was about to answer when the man Arki suddenly talk.

"I think she doesn't want to," he replied.

"It's not because you're a guest here, you can treat me like that. If I made a mistake or did something wrong to you, I'm sorry. But don't expect me to treat you like a prince because you're a guest here and I'm an employee," I seriously promise.

"Alba ..." Kia scolded.

I'm trying to calm myself but this man really test my patience.

I saw how he clench his jaw.

"Bro, say sorry to her. You're at fault too," I heard his friend say.

He is still a good friend.

He looked at me without emotion. "I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," I replied.

Kia laugh awkwardly. "So we're okay, aren't we? Let me take you to the resto, sir. Where else do you want? Weren't you given a map?" Kia asked.

Alba, calm down.

"Ah... Arki, didn't you have one? A woman give you earlier," a man asked. Then he looked at us. "Ah... I forgot hehe. I'm Travis Chaurel." He shook hands with us.

"Nice to meet you, sir," Kia said. I looked at hee because of her voice. The woman is blushing!

When he shook my hand I just smiled. I'm also pissed on this man, ha! I don't want to be called a chicks ! What am I? A chicken?!

He looked at Arki. "And this is Arki Bienvinedo," he introduces.

I looked at him and he was staring at me. When he was not moving I was the first to lay a hand on him. "It's nice meeting you, sir. I'm Alba Monroe, I'm a manager here. Enjoy your stay here, you two."

He slowly accepted my hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He scratch his head. He looks like a high school lover who is shy. "I am really sorry for my attitude. I know I'm at my fault too. I should have respect woman. I'm sorry again," he said.

My two eyebrows rose. It's okay! "No worries, sir." I smile at him.

"Oh, you're fine!" Kia groaned. I continued to stare at him.

"Why aren't you wearing a uniform?" Arki's baritone question to me.

"Because she just entered here. Actually, her first day is still tomorrow," Kia replied.

He nodded.

"So it means, you're still not an employee right now?" he ask again.

What is this? Interview?

"We'll just take you to the resto. Looks like you're hungry sirs," Kia interjected again.

My head will soon heat up.

"Right! Let's go, miss Kia?" Travis was with Kia.

Less than an hour but it looks like it immediately shapes my friend ah! And here's Kia, it looks like it will give away!

When Travis looked at me, I raised an eyebrow at him.

He thought he could pass me in his face. Infairness, these two are handsome. I won't lie because every woman who passes by looks in our direction.

While we were going to the resto they wanted to go to, Kia and Travis were talking, they seemed to be getting along.

And me? Behind the two and quiet. And that Arki? He's behind me. The awkward continues!

I was surprised when he suddenly accompanied me on the walk.

"Alba, right?" he suddenly asked.

"Y-yes," I replied shortly.

"But why did I hear Kia called you Sol?" he asked. Are we close?

"Sol is my nickname but I don't give permission to call me that to those people who I am not close with," I replied.

One question, one answer.

"Hmmm... then I am not allowed?" he asked softly.

I rolled my eyes. "Obviously," I reply again. I am just being honest here.

I've been biting my lip for so long. This man is annoying.

I was surprised when he suddenly stopped in front of me and looked at my face. His face is so close to me. I can feel his breath.

"If that's the case then I'm willing to get close to you so that I can call you Sol. My Sol," he whispered.