Alex led us to Chocolate Kiss where we had pasta and sandwich. Di naman kami masyadong nagmamadali hehehe Cae was worried she might not get there on time, seeing the moderate-to-heavy traffic inside UP.

Buti na lang, because of two previous trips to UP, Alex already was familiar with the area. So, at exactly 12:17, I escorted Cae to the building lobby where a guy told us, “Pasok na kayo.” Akala yata, pati ako mag-e-exam. “O,” I reminded Cae, “Wag kang mag-cellphone. Text-text na lang mamaya.”

Alex & I visited some relatives whom we have not seen for quite sometime and stayed there for two hours. We returned to UP around 4:30pm. Around 5pm, some kids were already coming out of the building so I stayed nearby. Ten minutes later, still there was no Cae. Fifteen minutes…wala pa din.

It was already dark and nobody else seemed to be waiting but us. Where was Cae?

I couldn’t hide my anxiety anymore. I approached the lady guard and asked, “Miss, wala pa yung anak ko. May tao pa ba sa loob?”

The lady guard was surprised. “Ah hindi pa po ba lumalabas? Sandali lang po, check po natin.” Then she went in.

As I turned to Alex, a text message came. From Cae. “Ma, fin na.”

Hayyyy, I texted back.

“Sundo neo ko?” she texted again. To which I replied, “And2 kami labas.”

She didn’t answer. I texted her again, “Tagal nyo.”

I sat down on the wooden bench and waited.

After a few minutes, the lady guard returned, with a guy. “Ma’am, sino po ang hinahanap ninyo?” he asked. He had a UPCAT ID.

“Ah, yung anak ko, tapos na daw sila. Palabas na.”

The guard and the guy looked at each other. Scratching his head, he said, “Ah Ma’am, wala na pong bata sa loob. Kanina pa po tapos, nakalabas na po lahat.”

"Ha? Sigurado kayo? Kaka-text lang niya, tapos na daw sila," I repeated.

They looked at each other again. “Ma’am, wala na po talaga.”

Asan ang anak ko? Asan ang anak ko??? Daddy, asan si Cae? Asan si Cae?

Okey ba? That was just a suspense-thriller script Alex and I were creating while waiting for what seemed like an eternity. Parang yun na yata ang pinakamahabang 30 minutes for us.

The last batch of kids was coming out one by one. Then I saw Cae.

So how was it? “Sumakit ulo ko,” she said.

Let’s go home.