The Playboy and The Primadonna

CHAPTER 3: Confirmed Courtship

After the breakfast, Ella had already prepared herself going to her workplace at Literatura Portal Building. Zach would drive her to work that morning and Andy would just follow driving her SUV so she could use it for her other appointments in the afternoon.

On their way to her workplace aboard his SUV, she asked him, "Heart, have you already confirmed what is really happening between your cousin Dylan and Kelsey Mariano?"

He told her, "I have already message Mom with regards to it, asking her if she knows anything about it, but it seems that she has no idea. She is yet to check about it."

She responded, "I see."

Then Zach shared, "Dylan and Kelsey were classmates from pre-school to senior high school. They had also both attended Athenaeum for their bachelor's degree. Dylan will be on his second year in Law this coming school year."

She then asked, "Do you think that your grandfather has something to do with this pairing all of a sudden?"

He told her honestly, "I am still not very sure of it, sweet. But if he really does have something to do with it then I guess it is on our favor."

After dropping her off to work, Zach went to his private residence in Horrev City at Sorocon to check on the ongoing renovation of his wedding surprise for Ella. Zach was already near his private property when he saw Dylan's car pulled up in front of a flower shop. He decided to slow down and then saw him emerging from the flower shop with a bouquet of red roses on his hand. He had honked his vehicle's horn to get his attention.

He asked his younger cousin, "Where are you headed? Pursuing someone?"

Dylan smiled and said, "I am headed at Beaunne City to visit a lady."

Zach remarked, "Wow! It seems that you are already serious this time."

Dylan responded, "Yes," and then asked him, "Will you be headed to Casa Belmonte?

Zach answered, "Nope. I will just be checking something on my property but will head back to Vienburg for a lunch appointment later on. Don't be a stranger. Come and visit me sometime at the base"

Dylan agreed, "Sure."

Zach then decided to go on his way, "Bye for now. All the best luck for you and this lady."

Dylan acknowledged such, "Yes, thanks. Bye."

When Zach arrived at his private property, his paternal grandmother, his mother, and his sister were all there. After all the pleasantries and greetings, he informed them, "I just saw Dylan headed to Beaunne City on my way here. He has purchased a large bouquet of red roses."

Lola Armina said, "That is probably for Kelsey. I believe that your grandfather has finally given up on your match with her. I gave him an ultimatum last Friday. I warned him  that I will leave him if he will still interfere with your life."

He decided to show them the video of Kelsey at the base that morning.

Mommy Violeta's reaction was, "She is really something! Why is she addressing  Bri with such awful word? You did the right thing. And I am very glad that Kiel had agreed on such move."

He then opened up to them, "I dropped off Ella to work this morning before I headed here. She is still affected by Lolo Delfin's cold treatment towards her."

Adele voiced out, "Well, it might not be long anymore. Lolo likes Bri. He is just being stubborn. He will eventually come to terms with your relationship with Bri."

"I really hope so, " and then he also vented out to them, "But apart from the pact that Lolo had with Kelsey's grandfather, I think that there is another reason why he has turned cold towards Ella when he has found out about our romantic relationship."

The three chorused, "What is it?!"

Zach divulged, "I think that Lolo is worried that my girlfriend will be another Tita Daisy in the making."  

Lola Armina's reaction was, "You have a point there. Junie's death was really hard on your grandfather. And it did not help that Daisy was not around when Junie died from a massive heart attack. He had somehow blamed her for her lack of time looking after her husband and children. But Bri is very much different from Daisy. Bri always make time for her family and friends no matter how busy or tired she is. Your grandfather is just too blind to see such."

Her mother had seconded, "Mama is right? How can Papa even think or compare Bri with Daisy? Yes, Daisy was career-oriented. But then she had always make up for her absences to her husband and offspring back then whenever she had no scheduled taping, shooting, or pictorial. Bri is very much different from Daisy. Bri does not let her fame and fortune affect her relationship with her family and friends. She has always been a devoted niece to Gina. She is a very loving and supportive sister to Geoff. And she has always taken good care of you as his girlfriend. She is also not consumed by her fame and fortune."

Adele then added, "And apart from Bri's e-sports career, all of her other endeavors does not entail her to be away from home that much. With the very advance technology nowadays, she can even managed and oversee all of her businesses at home. As if we all do not know, Lolo! He is just so conservative when it comes to family matters. He would rather prefer that every Belmonte women just stay at home, take care of the family and have no career at all."

Lolo Armina stated, "Adele is very much correct with your grandfather's attitude towards family life."

Zach had voiced out, "But then Lolo does not know much about Ella yet. All he has seen when he had stayed at the base last year was how devoted she is with all of her endeavors. Lolo did not see her interacting much with Tita Gina. She was so busy back then with her online classes and the national tournament. She had only interacted with the people at the base during meals time, trainings and practices. She had followed her scheduled by the dot. Ella even had to troubleshoot a problem at the main restaurant back then on her own, that we arrived almost late at our own Championship match. Lolo has just frequently seen Ella as a diligent, devoted, and disciplined career woman. He only got to experience her cooking for everyone at the base when Kelsey had angered our resident cook and  tried to impress us with her cooking, which had turned out to be an epic failure."

Mommy Violeta said, "Well, he will see it for himself when the two of you are already married," and suggested, "Mama, I think that you should let Papa accompany you in going to Almeda Estate for their wedding. He cannot stop it from happening anymore. He will definitely not make a scene in front of my family."

Lola Armina voiced out her hesitation, "Are you sure about it, Vi? He might just spoil that day for Zach and Bri. He might not also came because he had a long debate with your father the last time they had seen each other almost a month ago."

Adele said, "He will eventually know anyway, coz he has been asking his employees to follow around Zach and Bri, and even Dad and Mom. Anyway, I think that he has given Dylan the go signal to woo Kelsey."

Lola Armina said, "That's true. Your grandfather and I have not been talking that much lately ever since I had given him such ultimatum. Dylan and Kelsey were classmates from pre-school to senior high school. They had also both attended Athenaeum for their Management degree but with different majors. I had even heard once, Dylan's sister teasing him about having a crush towards Kelsey. Your grandfather might have already asked Crisanto for some changes in their pact. Based from the video that Zach had just shown us, it seems that it was the case. Dylan is taking up law anyway. He is doing very well. The only problem is  his playful ways around ladies."

Mommy Violeta expressed, "Well, he purchased a large bouquet or roses. He has not done it with his flings.  They just mutually enjoyed each other's company. No strings attached as he always says whenever I remind him about safe s*x. He might really be serious about Kelsey."

Zach said, "Well, I wish him all the best of luck. As I recalled back then, he had always pulled pranks on Kelsey. They were like cat and dog back then. Kelsey was frequently the victim of his tricks and practical jokes. It might be the reason why Lolo matched me instead of him with Kelsey in the first place."

Adele then assumed, "Well, some guys do annoy the lady they like just to get her attention. May be that was just Dylan's way for Kelsey to notice him. This match will definitely be a riot. They are both strong-willed in their own ways."

Mommy Violeta said, "I have seen Dylan being serious in disciplining his two younger sisters. Kelsey will definitely be up for the greatest challenge in her life. I think that they will be a perfect match. Dylan will not just ignore the rude attitude Kelsey has the way Zach had always done. Dylan will definitely straightened her out and be authoritative."

Lola Armina said, "Yeah. That is very much possible, Vi. If he is really serious about Kelsey then he will try to bring out the best in her. He might be strict with his sisters but he also pampers them. I think he might also do that to Kelsey. Zach did not do such because he was not just interested in Kelsey form the very beginning. Then add the fact that Delfin has really been so hard on him, always trying to control his life choices for him."

On the other hand, Dylan headed to Beaunne City at the dance academy of Kelsey. All eyes were on Dylan as he went to Kelsey's office.

Kelsey somehow felt elated as her employees felt envious of her because of the large bouquet of red roses that Dylan had brought for her. In her mind – You are really making an effort, Dy. Are you for real? Are you dead serious about winning me over. You had patiently waited for me here at my dance studio last night. And then you had arranged for a romantic dinner. And now you even came here with a large bouquet of red roses. But then all the ladies here young and old are attracted to your charm. They just did not know that behind those looks is a womanizer. He even had multiple girlfriends at a time and these ladies did not even fight. Perhaps you can all be his next willing playmates, but not me. I want to be the only one in my man's eyes.

As Dylan settled down in the sitting area of her office, her secretary had immediately asked him what would he preferred for drinks. She answered for him, "She will not be drinking anything. So you may now go out. And please lock the door once you left."

Her secretary who seemed to be giddy over Dylan had immediately left them.

She then asked Dylan, "So why are you here? Don't you even have work?"

His answer was, "I got work but they can still manage even without me. I own the company anyway and I had already given my employees all the needed instructions they had to take. I can even monitor their work at my smartphone," and then he emphasized, "You are more important. I should take advantage of the remaining days of the school break. Because once the classes resumes then my time with you will be decreased."  

Her reaction was, "That is very good then! I don't have to put up with you that much."

He just disregarded such and then showed her the video on his smartphone saying, "This was sent to me by your brother this morning. I also encountered Kuya Zach on my way here but he never mentioned about this. What were you thinking doing such, Kaye? You should avoid being in a shameful situation even for just the sake of your brother. Whenever you go to the base, you always make quite a scene. Good thing Kuya Zach have not even done any drastic measure to put you in your proper place. Banning you at the base is not even severe enough. Are you not even tired of humiliating yourself and your brother in front of everyone there?"

She did not answer it but she said, "I thought you are here to court me but then you are just here to nag at me again."

His response was, "I am not that kind of man who will always do as you say, Kaye. You are wrong and you have to know that. I don't mind being the bad guy just for you to realize that what you are doing is very much improper. Why are you going this path? The more you attack Bri, the more Kuya Zach will hate you. You have already lost the battle. Lolo Crisanto and Lolo Delfin had given up as well. There is no way you can win.  Kuya Zach and Bri are meant to be together. They love each other. Do you honestly want to be in a marriage wherein the man does not love you just for the sake of your ego?"

She replied, "I should be asking you the same question. Why do you still insist on winning we over knowing that I don't like you."

He confidently said, "Oh, you like me very much. You just don't want to admit it."

Her reaction was, "So assuming!"

He just continued telling her off, "You better give up on Kuya Zach, Kaye? You must already accept defeat. He had defied all the odds just to be with his lady love. He does not even mind the indifference that he gets to receive from Lolo Delfin. In the end, Lolo had just given up on your pre-arranged marriage with him. I am here and I like you very much. So why still fight it? If you want romance, I can give it to you. We can always go out on dates, any kind of date you want."

Her response was, "I just want you to get lost."

His reply was, "I believe that it is not possible. Your elders like me already, Kaye. My greatest ally is your grandfather. You are only allowed to go out on dates if you will be with me. I am also your designated escort in any social even that you have to attend. Lolo Crisanto and Lolo Delfin are very much keen about our courtship period. Your Dad and your Mom have no qualms about it as well."

She said, "So what? I do not like to be with you, Dy. I had enough of your presence in my life. So I do not want to spend the rest of my life being with you. Just give it up. After sometime, they will just give up on this match and just paired me with someone else."

He said, "As if there will be another man who can put up with your behavior. You will be stuck with me for an unforeseeable time, Kaye. All you got to do is enjoy every moment of it. Take advantage of me."

She tested him, "Will you make me go on a shopping spree and pay for it?"

He said, "Well, your parents told me not to do such even if I have the capacity to do it. It is part of your discipline to just live within your allowance and income. But I will pay for all of our dates. You will only allowed to shop if you will be with your Mom."

She reacted, "See! You cannot even allow me to go on a shopping spree. I bet your cousin does that to that bitch."

His answer was, "Stop calling her that name!" And then he informed her, "Anyway, for your information, Bri does not allow Kuya Zach to pay for everything whenever they go out even if he wanted to. She does not depend on my cousin financially because she is also a billionaire like him. You got to stop involving them on our talk, Kaye. We can have different love story even much better than theirs. So please just give it up and accept your defeat. Do not mind about your ego anymore. I am here."    

In her mind – I will still not accept defeat. I do not want to be with you, Dy. I will not lost to that middle class b***h. I will ruin their relationship. I will definitely find a way to make her life miserable. I cannot just end up with a playboy like you, Dy. You had already been dirtied by so may ladies. At least with your cousin, that b***h is just the only one. And I bet they have not even done it because he is a prefect gentleman.  That is one big difference he has from you. He is a perfect gentleman while you are not. You are a ladies' man. You have already tasted so many other ladies before you even pursue me. They might just be all casual flings to you. But then I know them all and they all know me as well. If I ended up with you will be face with so much awkwardness knowing that my man had been the man of so many ladies out there. I do not even like the mere thought of it!