Mr. HOT & Ms. COOL

CHAPTER 5: When They Opened Up About Their Past

Mayor Diego Joya asked his daughter again, "Bunny, you are still not answering my questions. What is your relationship with Kian Estrada? Why is he here?"

Reina had heard what her father was asking that time around, so she answered him, "We are just neighbors, Dad. His cat had trespassed on my balcony again. So he came here to get his cat again. He saw me installing Jill's play area by the wall, volunteered to help and so I agreed. I offered him snacks afterwards. Then you all suddenly arrived. If I didn't come home early, you might not even find me here at all. Why a surprise visit, anyway?"

Her father asked him, "How did you know him? Why do you seem close to him?"

She said, "We met on our flight back here to the country from New York City. We were seatmates for almost seventeen hours. So we had some small talk. The man was a perfect gentleman towards me. Then, when I came home here last night as you dropped me off, I found out that we are neighbors. That is all. He is kind to me. So I am just giving back the favor."

Then their father and son returned to her residence.

Ronaldo said, "We will go ahead first, Diego, Reina. The flowers and the goodies are for you. Robin personally ordered them for you."

Reina replied, "Okay, sir. Thank you for the flowers and the goodies, Robin."

Robin responded, "You're welcome. We will leave now, Mayor. Dad is not feeling well."

Reina's father said, "Okay, I understand."

As they left, she locked the door and then asked her father, "Do you want some snacks, Dad?"

"No," he answered and then asked his daughter, "Do you have plans for dinner?"

Her response was, "I will just start browsing my old compilation of digital images after installing Jill's play area and will just order delivery for dinner."

Her father then said, "Pack your hard disks and laptop. You can do it while we are on our way home. Your grandparents miss you. So you should have dinner with us tonight. Don't use your car anymore. My driver is downstairs. He will drive for us and drive for you back as well."

She said, "I will just start browsing the digital images when I return here after dinner. I will just keep the tools, wash the dishes, freshen up myself, and then we can already leave."

After tidying up her house and herself, Reina opted to wear a black high-waist flowy wide-leg pants with white cropped sleeveless semi turtle-neck top which she paired with white sneakers and black tote bag. She also brought her waist-length bubble pink studded leather motorcycle jacket.

On their way to the Joya Residence, her father had talked to her seriously.

He asked first, "Are you telling me the truth? Kian Estrada is not your boyfriend."

She confirmed it, "We are just neighbors, Dad. And we will probably work together coz he just asked me last night if I can be the photographer for all of his next production projects and other business endeavors. I agreed but we haven't closed the deal yet."

Her father’s next question was, "Do you like him?"

Her reply was, "Well, as I said he is quite the perfect gentleman. So I got no reason to be rude to him. He is not even courting me. It is just an ordinary interaction between neighbors"

Daddy Diego then asked, "And what about Robin?"

She said, "And what about Robin, Dad? I already told you that I have no time to entertain any suitors or more so go out on dates. Marriage is just not in my plans yet."

Her father blurted, "And when will you think of getting married? You already turned twenty-eight last May, bunny."

She said, "I am not yet ready to give up my freedom, Dad. I also don't know if there will be a man out there who can convince me about marrying him. I just want someone who will be there for me through thick and thin and will accept me for all that I am and will not try to change me to fit his idea of what a wife must be. I am afraid of getting wrong with my choice of a spouse that could only lead for us to end our marriage the way you and Mom did. So please let us not talk about this topic of marriage anymore, Dad."

Her father then realized – Guess this was the effect on you of the falling out between me and your Mom. Yes, we somehow rushed getting married and then fell out of love after more than two years of marriage. And now, you are afraid of committing the same mistake we did. I just don't want you to grow old alone. So I am introducing you to several eligible bachelors after your breakup with Arthur. But then you have met the most eligible bachelor in Roscotta on your own other than Arthur and Robin. He seems to be very nice to you. I have heard that other than his chief-of-staff, who is my wife's niece, he does not allow any other ladies to get very close to him because he had a serious girlfriend before, who is now Arthur’s fiancee. Nonetheless, he is cordial to all of his fans. He is a workaholic. You are a workaholic too. You seem to be similar in so many ways. He enjoys his independence so much just like the way you do. Guess, I should just let you be when it comes to your love life. Whether Robin succeeded or not in winning you over will have to depend on his abilities alone. I won't interfere anymore.

Reina's paternal grandparents were so happy to see her. They were already both on their late 70's. But as usual, she felt that her father’s second wife was not happy to see her but still remained civil to her.

Despite Diego's shortcomings as a father to Reina, he had always provided for her generously. She got to receive generous monthly allowance to date even if she already declined upon establishing her studio along with the printing lab three years ago.

On the other hand, Kian visited his maternal grandparents again for dinner at their unit in the nursing home.

Her grandmother asked, "Are you not upset anymore that we sold AVENTURA in Camnei to your father while you were away?"

He said, "You and Lolo owned it so you can do anything about it. I just couldn't believe that you sold it to him after everything that happened in the past."

Her grandmother said, "We transferred AVENTURA here in Roscotta under your name to help you out with the finances of Viajeros Enterprises. Your father is the only one who is willing to pay our asking price of the one in Camnei. He established that branch too. Through the years, he had never stopped asking our forgiveness, Kian. He had always wanted to take care of you but we did not allow it. He insisted to give you monthly support but we also did not accept it. Yeah, he had his mistakes that eventually led to your mother's death. But as years passed by, your grandfather and I had already learned to forgive and forget. He told us that the buyout is his way of thanking us for all the good things that we had done for him most especially raising you into a fine man."

He told his grandmother, "I lost Mom because of him."

His grandmother told him, "Your mother's depression started even after she and your father got married. She had always self-critical and with low self-esteem. She was often eased before for being fat and so she tried so hard to lose weight to the point that she had anorexia. I had not been a very good mother to her. I had always prioritized helping your grandfather with the travel and tours agency so that we would be able to give your Mom everything she need. But I failed to recognize that all she need was out tender loving care. We were always not around most of the time, leading her to stress-eating and gaining weight. Then as she gained weight, all the teasing happened. She had difficulty in communicating negative emotions and so she had just kept things inside of her. Her happiest years was with your father. During that time, she sought the help of a psychiatrist just to be able to deal with her mental health issues. Then she discovered your father's infidelity so everything turned up-side down again. You might call it her downward spiral. She felt that her attempts of getting professional help for years was just useless because she wasn't able to sustain your father's love. But all along, it was our fault. Your Dad was one of our employees. He was very good in business. When we noticed that your Mom likes him, we had requested him to marry your Mom. He agreed out of debt of gratitude. Then he met Diana. He had really fallen in love with her. They wouldn't be still together if not."

He said, "Why only tell me about this now?"

His grandmother then joined them and said, "Because we don't want to live you in solitude anymore. Yeah, your father had his faults, but we are equally to be blamed for your Mom's death. She was already having mental health issues back then even before she met your father but we failed to recognize them and also failed to help her out. It took us years to admit our own faults as parents, that we just blamed your father and deprived him to see you."

He said, "I guess, he just did not try much harder. There is no point of him being a father to me now whether he is sick or not. I have already gotten used to the fact that I both lost my parents when I was just seven years old. Let us not talk about him ever again."

After their visit to their respective grandparents, Kian and Reina arrived at the condominium building at almost the same time that they ended up sharing the elevator.

She broke the silence, "Are you okay, Kian?"

He lied, "Yes, I am okay."

But she didn't believe it, "I don't think so. We almost have similar fate. My parents separated as well when I was young. I was just barely two years old back then. The only difference is that my parents are still both alive. Yet the effects of their separation will forever remain in me."

The elevator then opened, he was still a little absent-minded and so she pulled his arm to go out and then led him to her unit.

She asked, "Did you have dinner already?"

He absent-mindedly said, "Yes."

She then handed him a bottle of sparkling water.

He accepted it and drank. Then he asked her, "How were you able to cope with the separation of your parents?"

She answered, "I was just barely two years old when it happened, so I guess I am not aware of its effects on me yet. Anyway, I still get to see my Dad. But my fate had dawned on me when Mom got married again. I was then starting kindergarten. Other students get to have their mothers or both of their parents on every school activities but I got neither of them. They both have their own happy lives already with their respective spouse and I was only accommodated whenever they pleased. Good thing I have my maternal grandparents as well as my maternal uncle, his wife and his son. But they still could not suffice to the absence of my own parents and my longing for a complete family. But as years passed by, I just learned to get used to it and exerted all my efforts towards work."

He then told her, "My mother had always battled some mental health concerns since childhood according to my grandparents. They said they failed to recognize it and weren't not able to help her out right away, and that they even arranged my mother's marriage to my father. They only admitted to me now that they should be equally blamed to the downward spiral of my mother leading her to end her own life. They suddenly wanted me to forgive my father, saying that he had always tried to be part of my life but they refused him. But I think that my father just did not try hard enough.”

She asked, "What if it is true then?"

His answer was, "Well, just like you, I already have gotten used to their absence. I had already accepted since I was seven years old that I just didn't lost my mother but my father as well. So whether or not he tried to be part of my life before does not change anything for me anymore."

She then asked him, "So, why do you look absent-mindedly sad?"

He asked her back, "Don't you experience it too at times?"

She admitted, "Yes, I do experience it too at times," and then told him, "But that is just one of the many sad realities of life. We cannot have everything we want."

He then asked her, "Do you think I am being hard on my father?"

She replied with, "I am not in a position to judge you."

He then pointed out, "But then you seem to have good relationship with both of your parents."

She admitted, "Yeah, you might say that. But then I just learned to accept their ways of accommodating me in their lives. I learned not to expect so much from them anymore. So I won't get disappointed. I just simply take what they can give."

He said, "You are still much luckier than me. You get to spend time with them when they can."

She agreed, "Yeah, that is true," and then told him, "But it is not still too late for you to spend time with your father."

He said, "But I am the one who has no time," and then changed their topic, "Anyway, do we have to set a business meeting to talk about the work agreement I told you about?"

She said, "I don't have scheduled photo shoot this entire week. I would just be staying here most of the time browsing my compilation of digital images through the years and then go out once in a while to capture moments. So you can just personally tell me the time and day for us to sit down regarding the details of the work agreement."

On the other hand, Ronaldo had talked to Robin that night privately.

He started by asking his son, "Do you really like Reina, son?"

Robin's answer was, "Well, I think that she is the most eligible bachelorette in the city because the others were taken already. She might be not be demure but she is well-educated in the arts and has a good family background."

Then Ronaldo pointed out, "But I don't think she is interested to have a relationship with you. Love cannot be forced. But if you still want to pursue her then it will all be up to your abilities. I think that it will be difficult for you to convince her about the merits of marriage. She is Diego's daughter from his first wife. Her parents separated when she was just one year old, barely two years old. The end of her parents’ marriage could be the reason why her views about marriage is like that just like your brother. They both opted to be single by their own choice."

Robin said, "If she has time seeing my brother then she is lying about not having time for dating."

Ronaldo said, "I think, she simply does not want to date you or any other guy. Reina and your brother just happened to be neighbors so the interaction between them is unavoidable."

Robin responded, "Then I guess I also have to be her neighbor."

Ronaldo suggested, "Or perhaps we can just introduce you to some other eligible bachelorettes. Afterwards, if you still think that she is the one you like, then I won't stop you from pursuing her. But be forewarned that you might not succeed in winning her over."

Robin acknowledged, "I understand what you want, Dad. You are just indirectly asking me to give way to my brother."

Ronaldo denied it, "That is not my intention. She had already rejected the idea of dating you from the very beginning, with her career as an excuse. You have seen her residence. She is a cat person while you are a dog person. She is creative, philosophical, non-traditional – a non-conformist. On the other hand, you tend to follow rules closely. You are very outgoing and easy to get along with. But she is not like that. She preferred being independent and self-reliant. She cannot be ordered around and would just tend to focus more on the goals to be achieved. Clearly, marriage is not one of her goals at the moment. Her career is her sole focus for the time being. She even admitted that those were the reasons why her ex-boyfriend broke up with her. They had been together for nine years with her boyfriend doing all the adjusting. So her career was not simply an excuse for not dating you. Her personality is just like as we had seen it last night. She travels not to seek out opportunities for social interaction but just to satisfy her sense of creativity and curiosity."

Robin said, "Well, I still believe that opposite attracts, Dad. But I will heed to your suggestion. I will try to meet as many bachelorettes as possible first before deciding whether to continue pursuing Reina or not."

But in Ronaldo's mind – I think that you will have no chance with her at all, son. With your brother being comfortable around her, it is most probable that he likes her a lot. It is much better for you not to interfere with that. I also think that Reina likes your brother, else she won't allow him to be in her personal space. Reina could be that one person for your brother. She would be able to understand your brother more because they both experienced growing up with their parents being absent for most of the times. I don't want it to come to a point when you and your brother would have to compete.