Chapter 17
ARLENE MARIELLA's POV
Good morning Saturday!
I got up immediately. I poured water into my glass on the bedside table. I drank all the flesh of it, before standing up and facing the mirror.
"Hello, pretty girl!" I greet myself.
'I'm really beautiful!'
'Fadeless!'
I went straight to the bathroom to wash and brush. I went down to go to the kitchen. I looked at everyone on the table before deciding to eat because I already felt a stomach churn. I'm hungry.
I didn't catch up with Mama for breakfast because they said they left early for their business meeting with our company.
I finished what I was eating right away because Ian texted that he would pick me up around 11 AM. The one I met at the Mall yesterday, we agreed to go to their house today.
I've known you for a long time, we just don't get along because he doesn't have free time. Much paperwork was left to him by his parents for their business.
I put away what I had eaten before going back upstairs to take a bath.
I left the bathroom and went straight to the vanity mirror to put moisturizer on my face. After that, I looked for something to wear in my closet. In the end, it was a Black & White bodycon dress And a gray d'Orsay Flat that I chose to wear.
I went back to my vanity mirror. I put a little makeup on my face to make my face look a bit better.
* BEEP* BEEP*
I heard a horn coming from outside so I quickly peeked out the window. I saw Ian smiling at me immediately and smirked at me.
I grabbed my shoulder bag, before going down the stairs. Mama already knows that I'm leaving now, so I just said goodbye to Manang.
I went straight out and went to the passenger's seat of Ian's car. He was the only one there so I was comfortable riding.
"Hello! Good morning." I greeted him, I approached him to kiss his cheek.
"Hi! Good morning, Let's go?" he replied.
"Sure!" Lively as I agree.
He had already operated the vehicle. He has not spoken since we started. I adjusted my seat and turned to her before speaking.
"Why so quiet huh?" I laughed sarcastically.
"I'm thinking of a topic we're going to talk about. You just really preceded me in speaking." Said the sight was still on the road.
"Oh, okay... Where are we going?" I asked.
"At our house."
"Is that so?"
I never spoke again to see the name of the village we entered.
'San Jose's Exclusive Village'
Eventually, we stopped in front of a very large house. Looks like a haunted house outside but the color was very vibrant. There is a big tree there, on the side that serves as a shelter for the people. There are also many different types of flowers.
If only Riana was here she would be happy. She inherited from Lola Violeta a passion for the plant. Maybe next time, I'll be infected with her too.
I laughed at my thought. Ian came out to me first so I just followed him.
"This is our House." He was proud.
"It's nice."
"Yeah, thanks... So may I take you inside? My parents are there."
I'm just pulling instead of acting. My heart pounded, even more, when we entered their house. What have I prayed in my mind just to get rid of my nervousness?
"Hi, Mom! Hi Dad!" Sterian greeted loudly too, a woman so beautiful that her face approached hers. It was a bit old, but not obvious on his face and the shape of his body.
A tall, elderly man came out of the kitchen. Sterian's nose and eyes looked like that so I'm sure it was his dad.
He approached us and greeted his son back.
"Hi son, She's the one that you're talking about?" He asked, looking at me for a moment before returning to the child. His two eyebrows were raised, which was too wide to smile at the child.
"Hello, hija!" his mother greeted me. I was surprised because she suddenly approached me and kissed me. I was also forced to reciprocate with a kiss with disdain. "Yes son, she's so pretty, oh... what's your name, hija?" she asked while holding both my hands.
"Uhm... I'm Arlene Apostol po. Nice to meet you po." I stammered so I just bowed down because I was so embarrassed.
"Oh an Apostol, Are you related to Mrs. Carlene Apostol? And Mr. Laurent Apostol?" She asked again.
"Uh.. they are my parents."
"Oh so you are the daughter, You're so pretty, hija. I heard that they have a daughter but I didn't get a chance to ask what her name was, And now, you're here. I'm glad to meet the daughter of my friends."
"Thank you, Mrs. San Jose."
"It would be nice if you call me Auntie, hija."
"And so as for me, just call me Uncle from now on." Uncle Jonas interjected during our conversation with Auntie Fina.
I just nodded with a wide smile at them.
"Hey bro!" My attention caught by the familiar voice. My fist clenched when he stopped, right in front of me.
"Hey!" Sterian greeted him happily. He took his eyes off me before approaching Sterian and patting his back.
After the greetings happened in the living room we finally had a chance to go upstairs to start our movie marathon.
We are arranging our place for later when Sterian says goodbye to going to the mall, for our food.
Stewart and I were left here. He stopped helping me when my older brother left. I knew he was just pretending so I didn't pay attention to him anymore.
He went straight to the sofa and watched me arrange our seat later.
I arranged the placement of the fabric on the carpet, before placing the pillows there.
Just sit next to him while looking out of the veranda. I couldn't even close my eyes at him because of the irritation and disdain.
"How did you meet my brother without knowing his brother's name?" he closes in silence.
"I'm just 14 years old and he's 17 years old when I met him. Actually we accidentally bump our shoulders that time because of my clumsiness. Without looking at the way I was running to. With his super-strength I sat down on the floor then, I was in a hurry because Riana was waiting for me at the boutique with her nanny."
"So the next thing happened, He helped me to stand up. And we introduce ourselves. Since then I've always met him, I don't have a cellphone at that time to tell him where I am. We always just meet in a place of the unexpected. Until it got to the point that he wanted to get close to me, I agreed with him. Because he looks nice right? I can't refuse a man like him. "
"And about you, I didn't ask his name to him. That's why I'm a little bit shocked when I found out that he is your brother. I thought his brother is a nice guy like what he's telling me but I was wrong because you're not! I hate it when you piss me off every time you see me. Sometime, I want to drop this fist of mine in your face. "
I told him a long story. I felt like he was looking at me so I just looked at him and our eyes met.
Not a word came out of his mouth as he looked at me. I couldn’t read any emotion on his face. His lips twitched but not a single voice came out.
"If you have a question, ask me now... I can't answer those later." I'm averting my eyes.
"Does my Kuya always tell you how nice I am?"
[Kuya: Elder]
"Yes, why?"
"Just nothing." He never spoke after that.
I didn‘t think I had better acting skills.