"Sir?" I tried to get this man’s attention. "Sir? Who are you and where am I?" I don’t know this place and I don’t know how I got here.
 
It is a beautiful place. There are a lot of trees here and I can see water from a distance. I think these trees are called cherry blossom trees. Those are the kinds you see in Japan, Korea, and more countries in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s just sad that we don’t have any of that here because of the weather. If we do have that here, I’ll be there everyday and declare it as my safe space.
 
I badly need a safe space right now because of everything that’s going on, and the guilt that I have in my heart.
 
The man turned around to face me. "You’re in paradise, honey. Isn’t beautiful?" He gave me his familiar smile.
 
My head tilted in excitement. "Dad? Is it really you?" I jumped out of excitement. It’s like I’m a little girl again.
 
"Hey, honey." We went for a hug. God, I missed my Dad so much. "I’m sorry if I didn’t visit you for a long time. You look busy."
 
"Oh, Dad. You don’t have any idea." We walked under this big cherry blossom tree. "I hope you still visited me though. At least I’ll have something great."
 
He didn’t say anything about what I just said. "Do you remember this tree?" He asked.
"No, why?"
"You said that you want to go to Japan to enjoy this tree. I didn’t really understand your affection for this tree back then, but now I understand. It’s really beautiful."
"I remember now. Someday, I’ll go there."
"Of course, I know you will." We were silent for seconds before he broke the ice. "So how are you feeling? With that friend of yours and everything that’s happening down there?"
Here we go. "It’s so exhausted, Dad. This seems to be more relaxing." I observed the place. "I love it here, Dad. I just want to be with you."
"There will be time for that, my lovely daughter. You go live a life down there. Everything that is happening with you right now might be the biggest obstacle and after that? You have a decision to make." He said.
"What decision?"
"To continue with your lies or to cut ties with it."
I was about to say something when, in just the blink of an eye, I’m back at someplace without my Dad.
 
Someone’s touching my hair. This time, it didn’t make me fall asleep more, but it did wake me up.
 
"Good morning, beautiful person." He said. God, I missed him so much. We've missed each other these past few days because of work. I wake up, he’s already gone. "Good morning, Detective. It’s so nice to finally see you." I hugged him tight and pulled him so we could lay on the bed.
 
"Want some breakfast?"
"You cooked? Or did you arrange it?" I said, teasing him.
"I cooked, like for real." He offered me his hand. "Let’s eat. I have to get to work in an hour." We walked to the kitchen while I was back hugging him.
"Aw, you really cooked." There’s ham, eggs, tocino and garlic rice that is well plated. "I’m impressed." He pulled out the chair and let me sit. He even served me the food. "What’s with you today?"
 
"The investigation is making progress progress. But we shouldn’t talk about it right now because you said no talking about murders when we’re about to eat." I can tell that he’s teasing me because he knows that I’m eager to know what’s going on with Ocean’s murder investigation, since we haven’t really talked that much these past few days.
 
"Come on. I know you’re teasing me." He laughed, then proceeded to tell me the information. "So did you know that Ocean died at that fancy hotel near your work?"
 
"What? Are you serious? Near my work? I didn’t know that." I said.
"Yeah, we guess that he left the taping to go to the hotel and booked a room for a day so he could go back to the taping."
"Do you know the reason he was in the hotel the day he died?"
"That we don’t know. It’s a complete mystery. There are no phone records about what he could be doing there because there is no phone with him."
"Maybe it’s at the place where they are shooting the movie."
"Nope, not there. It’s nowhere to be found."
"No witnesses?" He shook his head. "How about possible enemies? Who’s your suspect now?" He wipes his mouth with a tissue and starts moving his hands, which means that he’s about to explain something great.
 
"The only thing we have to list the possible suspects is motive. First, Mira. Maybe her and Ocean got into some kind of really heated argument that led to Ocean’s death and also, why is she not at ‘THE’ ball? What could she possibly be doing? Covering up a murder? Cleaning herself?" He’s feeling himself while explaining the details. He’s getting good at this.
 
"Okay, and other suspects?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, sorry about this, but Denise." What the hell?
 
"Why her? I was with her the whole day when Ocean died. " I said in the defense of Denise.
"See here’s the thing: Ocean did not die around the time of ‘THE’ ball. He died earlier than that." He said. We’re getting heated, I can tell that we’re about to have an argument.
"Yeah, but I’m saying that I’m with her the whole time." I cleared it.
"Were you? The whole time? You didn’t leave her side?" He examines me. Now, he’s interrogating me.
"Well, we were dressed and fixed in different rooms. But it’s impossible that—"
"Jess, this is a murder investigation, there’s no impossible thing—"
"So then stop interrogating me! You’re looking at me like I am a liar covering up for her murderer friend!" This upsets me so much. Why is he thinking that Denise did this?
 
He reached for my hand." I know she’s your friend. I can see that, but it is important that we list everyone who has a motive to do this to him because this is how it goes or else, we’re going to hit a dead end again." emphasizing his last words. When I looked down, he released my hand.
 
"Jess, it’s not just me who thinks that Denise is involved. She got the motive and she got the window of time to do the murder. I don’t want to make you feel that way and I’m so sorry." He reached for my hand again. "But you have to come to the station any time of this day if you want to help her."
 
"Wait, where is she?" I asked him.
"They’ve been interrogating her for hours. She also said that you can vouch for her whereabouts."
"Then why didn’t you tell me earlier?" I’m pissed. I feel bad enough for lying about that article, but now this?
"I just want us to have a good breakfast, I’m exhausted from work and I miss you so badly." He stands up. "Sorry about this. I’ll just go to work and if you’re about to go to the station, give me a call so I can arrange everything." He walks away.
 
Shit. Now I feel so bad for being defensive. I made our breakfast worse and he will probably be in a bad mood at work because of me.
 
I am a bad girlfriend.