"What does it say? Why do you look so shocked all of the sudden, Mom?"

Mom scans through the letter once more,

she looks as if she's making sure that she read the words right.

She covered her mouth with one hand

while the other was holding onto the letter.

The suspense is killing me.

Mom just looked at me while her face was still in a shocked expression.

...

"See for yourself, son," she tells me as she hands me the letter.

I never noticed until now that the letter was quite formal. It had a wax seal with a logo of unknown origin. It smelled of man perfume, which was considerably strong, but not too strong since it was still bearable to the senses.

I opened the letter and read it out loud;

Dear Vincenzo family,

    We are quite thrilled to tell you all about this great news. Here in our workplace, we consider everyone like family, and our very own Tony Vincenzo showed to be a valuable asset to the family. We are excited to inform you that he has received a handsome promotion from the boss, thus, we are inviting you to join him in his brand new workplace for a special mission he's assigned on, which is located at Haggrew City, USA.

You'll be escorted by a limousine to a private airport, where a private jet will bring you to your destination. There, you'll be living in a beautiful neighborhood known as Izzaya. The departure will be tomorrow. Get everything ready by then.

                                Best Regards,
The Big Boss.

I couldn't believe what I was reading.

A big promotion that will need us to travel with Dad?

How can this be?

Does this mean that it will finally let me and Mom bond with Dad more,

or will it make our connection with him worse?

All these questions started piling in my mind as I finished reading the letter. Well, this was quite jaw-dropping, wasn't it?

Dad actually didn't visit this September, as a matter of fact,

his last visit with us was last year,

which aggravated both me and my mom to the point that we were actually convinced

...he died.

Though this suspicion quickly dispersed when Dad started sending postcards instead of himself.

I looked at Mom, the shocked expression of hers was eventually replaced with excitement. Her cheeks and eyebrows visibly rose. Her cheeks turned visibly red and her mouth curved into a big smile.

She walked to me and hugged me in a jolly way.

"We're going to America! We're going to America!" she kept repeating while she was joyfully hugging me tightly.

I nodded and laughed nervously in response.

Seeing my reaction towards the news, she stopped hugging me for a while.

"What's wrong? Aren't you excited?" she asked confusedly.

It's not that I'm not excited or anything because believe me, I am. The only detail that really bugged me was...

the high-quality service we are being provided.

What kind of promotion did Dad receive? Don't tell me, he bought a company director's seat without our knowledge?

Wait, but why do we need to live in America for that?

It doesn't make sense.

But whatever, I just want to look at the bright side of things.

Who am I to deny such luxury?

At least Mom is happy, and Dad might spend some more time with his wife and son,

...hopefully.

...

"Nope, nothing's wrong, Mom. I'm definitely excited for this new opportunity for the family," I reassured her.

Her concerned face quickly transitioned back to her joyful state. She started hugging me again, repeating the words, "We're going to America! Watch out, America! The Vincenzo's are coming!" or something along those lines. It's nice seeing her this happy,

who am I to ruin it for her?

We ate breakfast and as soon as we finished, Mom quickly ushered me to my room.

"You better pack up quick! We got a lot of baggage to bring," she cheerfully tells me as I go up the stairs to my room.

Those words actually ruminated in my mind as I was packing my valuables.

What about our other valuables that would be hard to bring?

Do they have service for that?

Are we going to leave everything here in the Philippines?

I really hope we don't have to.

The next day came by quickly and the next thing we knew, some guy who looked jollier than a kid on his birthday was escorting me and Mom out of our house towards a jet-black limousine.

He sported a semi-formal attire and his smile looked like it could shine in the darkness at night. He seemed friendly so I just dared myself to ask him questions,

"Hey, are you a friend or colleague of Dad's?"

To this, he replied calmly,

"Oh, heavens no! I could never compete. I'm just a level lower than him, but I already heard a lot of great things. Your father is a commendable man, lad!"

Hearing this, a mental image of him suddenly popped into my mind.

"So he's that great, huh?

I wish I could've seen it myself,"

I thought.

Just as I was going to ask another question, he ushered us in the limousine and closed the door.

The drive went on forever. The limousine windows were tinted too black so we couldn't really see the outside and admire the scenery. There was nothing we could do other than just sleep on the trip.

When we awoke, we were escorted out of the limousine by a completely different man.

This time, he was a quiet but formally-dressed gentleman. He doesn't seem to be a talker but I still tried to ask some questions.

"Are you a colleague or friend of Dad's?"

Unfortunately, these words just fell to some deaf ears. The same formally-dressed man escorted us into the jet opening.

Coming in, I hear a familiar voice that I hadn't heard in a couple of months.

Admittedly,

it almost made me tear up.