The Playboy and The Primadonna

PROLOGUE

Dylan Belmonte first took notice of Kelsey Mariano when they were five years old and became classmates at kindergarten. Although they had been playmates when they were still much younger than that with  their grandfathers Don Delfin Belmonte and Don Crisanto Mariano, being the best of friends.

Dylan teased Kelsey, "Hey, Kelsey! Why are you so fat?! Did your parents left you at the kitchen?"

Kelsey hated that so she bantered, "So what if I am fat, stickboy?! Did your parents not feed you enough?! It is none of your business if I am fat or not."

Dylan teased her further, "It is my business. I will marry you someday. So you better be not a fatty."

Kelsey responded, "I will not marry you, stickboy! I hate you!"

From then on Dylan had often played tricks or pranks on Kelsey. Oftentimes, their mothers had to report to their class adviser in school because of their frequent fights. One time Kelsey had pushed Dylan so hard because she was already angry of his teasing.

Mommy Liezl, Kelsey's mother, and Mommy Daisy, Dylan's mother  had to apologize to each other all the time whenever they had to go at their school.

That time, Mommy Liezl asked her daughter, Kelsey, "Why did you push Dylan, dear?"

Kelsey said, "He often teases me as fatty. And he often pranks me. I hate him."

Mommy Liezl said, "But you also teases him as stickboy. As for pranking you, then just don't believe him anymore.  Even if he teases you and pranks you, he still looks after you. He teaches you with your lessons. You also love dancing together. And you had been playmates when you were younger.  I hope that you will not push him anymore or physically hurt anyone. That is not good. If Dylan teases you then just ignore him and then tell it to your adviser."

Kelsey replied, "I did. But he just does not stop. He is so annoying!"

Mommy Liezl repeated, " So just try to ignore him. He will eventually stop if you don't pay attention to him anymore."

On the other hand, Mommy Daisy also talked to Dylan, Why do you keep on annoying Kelsey, son? That is not good!"

Dylan reasoned out, "Coz I like her. I want to marry her. I just don't like her to overeat so she will not get sick."

Mommy Daisy said, "You are still very young to be thinking about marriage, son. It will still take a long time. You have to study very well first, reach for your dreams," and then tried to change the topic, "Anyway, what do you want to be when you grow up, son?"

Dylan answered, "I want to be Kelsey's husband like Daddy to you."

Mommy Daisy tried to rephrase the question, "Other than that, son. Say, do you want to be a doctor? An actor? A businessman?"

Dylan said, "I like making sure that your work is good, Mommy, that no one does bad to you. If people do bad things to you you, I will fight with them."

Mommy Daisy said, "Not all things can be solved through fighting, son. Some people when they do something bad, they will be punished based from the law. Just like you, you did something bad to Kelsey so your teacher punished you by sending you to one corner. But then you still did not stop after that. You annoyed Kelsey again so she pushed you already. Physically hurting someone is also not good. So your teacher called up me again and Kelsey's Mommy. Your Dad will definitely not be happy. You will definitely received punishment. If you really like Kelsey, you should be good to her. Don't tease her. Don't do those pranks and tricks on her."

Dylan reasoned out, "Kelsey only talks to me when I help her in our lessons. She does not talk to me. She likes to play with other children. So I just tease her so she will notice me."

Mommy Daisy's response was, "But that is not good, son. Kelsey will just not like you even more. So please stop annoying her already. So that your Daddy will mot be angry, okay? It is not good for Daddy to be angry. You know that."

Dylan said, "I will try."

After that, Dylan tried not to call Kelsey fat anymore. But he always tried to get her attention still. He volunteered as her dance partner every time they had school presentation. He also volunteered to help he out with her lessons but at times he tends to be a nag telling her to lessen playing with the other children who was not serious about the lessons. Kelsey did not like that too.

When they were already 10 years old, Dylan's father died of heart attack. He was so lonely back then and Kelsey was the one who consoled him first.

Kelsey told him, "You should not be sad. Your Dad might not be here anymore. But he is in heaven watching over you everyday. That is what my Lola is doing. She is up there already too."

Dylan said, "But you still have a Dad. Me, I cannot be with Daddy anymore. No one will look after us anymore whenever Mommy is out. I love my Dad. He taught me so many things like riding a bike, riding a horse. He even gives me a pet dog even if Mommy does not like pets."

Kelsey said, "Yeah, I love my Dad also. He also teaches me a lot if things. I will also be very said if I lost my Dad. But then you do not have to be very sad coz you still have your Mom, your Lolo and your Lola. You also have your sisters, your Uncle and your Aunts, plus you also have lots of cousins."

When Dylan and Kelsey both reached thirteen, their grandparents had pre-arranged Kelsey's marriage to Dylan's cousin, Zachary, who was three years older than them. By that time, Dylan's mother had also remarried. Thus Dylan felt so devastated. But he needed to step up for her two younger sisters with his mother getting married and planning to migrate in Canada with her husband. His grandfather did not agree that they migrated with their mother. but they were allowed to spend school breaks and other holidays with Mommy Daisy. Their mother was also allowed to visit them anytime she wanted for as long as it would not affect their studies.

Dylan had become more responsible since then. He diverted his disappointment to the match of Kelsey and his older cousin, Zachary.

Zachary noticed then that he had become aloof to him so his older cousin talked to him.

Zachary asked him, "Why do I get the feeling that you are avoiding me, Dy?"

He denied it, "I am not."

Zachary replied, "I don't believe you. If you like Kelsey and you are angry about my pre-arranged marriage with her, then let me tell you, I am even much angrier about it. Lolo does not have the right to choose the one I will spend my entire life with. He even wanted me to take up Law."

Dylan asked his cousin, "Don't you like Kelsey, Kuya Zach?"

Zachary's answer was, "Let's just say that I do not feel anything special towards her. She is just not my type. She did not even pass as someone who I will have a crush on. I did not feel anything, not even a tiny spark when I laid my eyes on her."

Dylan asked his cousin further, "So what will you do about it? Will you defy Lolo's wishes?"

His cousin's response was, "I might. But I am still not thinking about it. It will still take so many years before it came anyway. I want to establish my own company rather than working for our family's business empire. I have no plans of entering politics as well."

He warned his cousin, "Lolo will not like it if you do not follow what he wants."

But his cousin seemed to be so much determined, "It is my life and not his. Besides, I will already be eighteen once I finished senior high school. I will already then be on the legal age to decide for myself. it is the reason why I am focusing so much on my studies. That way I can qualify to the premier government university in the country. Less school fees for me. i can support my own collegiate education."

And true to his cousin's words, Zachary paid no attention to Kelsey. He even had a fling with another lady during his initial year in senior high school, which was immediately stopped by their grandfather.

Then after senior high school, his cousin, pursued the degree program that he preferred and not what their grandfather liked. A plan then came up to his mind – If Kuya Zach doesn't like following your wishes, then I might as well do it, Lolo. I will take a pre-law degree once I finished senior high school. I will also pursue Law after my pre-law degree. And just like Kuya Zach, I will try to excel on my studies. Then perhaps you might consider matching me to Kelsey. Kuya Zach is geared towards defying your wishes. Up to now, he is still not paying any attention to Kelsey. I really feel sorry for her. She seems so happy with regards to her match with Kuya Zach. She is not even entertaining suitors because she thought that in the future, she will indeed be married to Kuya Zach. Well I can see why she likes my cousin. Kuya Zach is handsome, intelligent, and has gentlemanly manners. He is also not abrupt or taciturn in rejecting her. She is also well-mannered towards her even if he has not a bit of  interest on her. He can even find ways to avoid her in a way that it will not appear to be very blunt. And he often leads Kaye towards me. Whenever the Marianos visit Casa Belmonte, he will often ask me to accompany him on meeting up with Kelsey and then he will find an excuse to leave the two of us on our own. But then Kaye seems to be oblivious that my cousin is just making up an excuse. She actually believes every word Kuya Zach says. Kuya Zach is really something. He is so respectful of Lolo and yet he is not afraid of gong against Lolo's wishes. Perhaps because he has a another equally rich grandfather who fully supports all of his personal dreams and aspirations. Tita Vi is also not afraid to go against Lolo Delfin if it will mean the well-being of her sons and daughter. I hope Mom is also here to do that for me. Even if Lola and Tita Vi are very good to me and my two sisters. But they cannot do that much for us to defy Lolo's will. 

That time, his cousin just finished senior high school. The Marianos and other prominent upper class families had been invited at the Casa Belmonte for a polo match.

When his older cousin left them to play in the polo match, Kelsey asked him, "Do you also play polo like your cousin, Dy?"

His response was, "Yeah, I do. My Dad was able to teach me how to play before he passed away. But then I am not yet allowed to compete on those kinds of matches until I reached 18."

She said, "I heard that this is the debut of your cousin in those kinds of polo matches."

He confirmed it, "Yes. And he is really good. He is way our of your league when it comes to academics and sports."  in his mind – I cannot deny that truth. My older cousin really does excel in everything he got himself interested in whether studies or sports or even playing musical instruments. He is even better than me in dancing. I wanted to be just like  Kuya Zach. Then perhaps you will be romantically interested in me as well. It pains my heart seeing you admire Kuya Zach a lot with all of his so many good qualities. Just like now. Yes he can play the polo with finesse yet without being too physical with his opponents. My cousin is not like the other polo players in the match who were very brusque. His every move is well calculated. He is a very smart polo player because he used his intelligence in psyching his opponents and applying game strategies. Anyway, all I can do for now is to dissuade you into getting your hopes up with Kuya Zach, Kaye. He has no plans of fulfilling Lolo's wishes involving you. 

And then during Kelsey's grand debut party as she turned eighteen. Zach was supposed to be her escort and their supposed relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend was to be announced but then Zach had made a valid excuse on the last minute. Thus, he was not able to attend and he recommended Dylan to take his place instead as Kelsey's escort 

Kelsey asked Dylan, "Why is your cousin not here? Why are you the one escorting me?"

Dylan answered, "Kuya Zach had to leave early for the robotics technology competition. As if you still do not know. His love life is the very bottom of his priorities. It only means that you are the least in his priorities."

Kelsey complained, "Can you at least be kind to me just for this time? It is my birthday!"

Dylan's response was, "I have always been kind to you, Kaye. Telling you the truth is the best thing that I have always been doing to you. Will you have tried to stay fit if I did not tell you back then that you were chubby. I even encouraged you to pursue lots of dancing lessons to keep you fit and also because you are an excellent dancer."

After that, Dylan knew that Kelsey had gone spiraling down. Kelsey had been somehow obsessed to be the center of attention. And such had worsen when they both studied at Athenaeum de Missi University in Maunni City. They both had taken Management but they were at two different block sections.

The attention and adulation she got from being a famous dance troupe member of the university had gotten into her mind. Such had made her craved more to be the center of attention of everyone. In her mind, The only one who did not seem to recognize her talent was her betrothed and getting the attention of Zachary Belmonte had been like an obsession to her. 

Dylan had followed Kelsey whenever she partied with her friends and classmates just so he could look after that. He masked it by dating any interested lady so Kelsey would not think that he was following her.

At times, Dylan had also followed Kelsey whenever she tried to visit his cousin at his campus or at his condominium building. And he was very much aware of all of her failures in trying to see his cousin. His cousin just seemed to have a radar when Kelsey was about to pay him a visit and he would immediately be finding a way to avoid her. 

Dylan also witnessed the dinner that had been set up by his Tito Alexander and his wife so that his Kuya Zach and Kelsey could meet up for dinner sometime when his cousin had already finished his degree in Computer Science. At such point, he thought that Kelsey would already succeed in getting much closer to his cousin, but such had only made his Kuya Zach stray away from the family and dislike Kelsey even more. 

He had witnessed it from afar when Kelsey had  demeaned the very timid Briella Solomon at their very own family restaurant and when his cousin had covered up for Briella's aunt, who defended his cousin's lady love, from Kelsey's slap. He knew back then that his cousin  already had feelings for his best friend's sister. He discovered it sometime in April, when his cousin had asked his opinion on what present to give a young lady in a way that it would not appear that he liked her.

At that time, he was also shocked that Kelsey was capable of hurting someone physically. If his cousin was not there, to diffuse the tension, he also did not know what he could have done to prevent it. From then on, it seemed to him that he barely knew the feisty yet sweet and chubby girl he had fallen in love with. In his mind  –    How could you even think of slapping that old woman even if she badmouthed you, Kaye. You started it by badmouthing her niece. When did you start hurting other people physically? You were not that vicious before. You cannot even kill an insect. But now, you really attempted to hurt someone older than you. Where did your manners go, Kaye?

And things had gone even much worse than that from then on. He might not be around to witness the other meltdowns of Kelsey. But he had been made aware of such things by his sisters, because His cousin had always had never failed to informed their grandparents and his parents the inappropriate behavior of Kelsey so as to prove his point that he could never ever marry the likes of Kelsey. It had been somehow favorable on him but he also felt very sorry for Kelsey. But he could not find it in his heart to blame his cousin. He was also just a victim of the manipulation of their grandfather. Kelsey was also behaving badly. He was thinking – Oh Kaye, what is happening to you? Do you honestly think that you can attract Kuya Zach by showing your feisty side to him?