Clea Mair’s Pov
“So?” Tinaasan ko ng kilay si Miracle nang makauwi dito sa bahay na inuupahan niya.
Pinauna niya ako dito dahil may mga kailangan pa siyang asikasuhin at agad ko siyang sinalubong para komprontahin.
“Why are you here?” tanong ko sa kanya. “Bakit hindi ka man lang nagpaparamdam sa akin?” Itinuro ko ang sarili ko. “You know that I always worry about you, right?”
Bumuntong hininga siya at naupo sa sofa. “I am here because of a secret mission from Dad,” she said. “It is related to Asper Reign Dahlia.”
Kumunot ang noo ko. “What?”
Tumangu-tango siya. “Walang nakakaalam ng ginagawa ko dito dahil personal itong utos ni Daddy,” aniya. “Siya iyong may-ari ng shop kung saan kayo nagkita noong ka-meeting mo kanina.”
Naupo ako sa tabi niya. “Then, why didn't you even try to call me?” Hinawakan ko ang mga balikat niya at niyugyog siya. “I am trying to reach you more than you can, but you are always out of reach!”
“Hey!” sigaw niya tsaka tinabig ang mga kamay ko. “Hindi lang si Asper ang kailangang magtago sa mga naghahanap sa kanya, okay? Kailangan ko ding mag-ingat dahil alam ni Hector na kasama ako sa naghahanap kay Asper.”
My brother, Hector, is a bit of an idiot. And because of that, a lot of ministers wanted to control him. And the first thing that they encourage him to do is to get Asper Reign Dahlia into his side by marrying her.
Asper is the director of the Rain Foundation, an influential non-government facility in the country. Our citizens admire her more than the members of the royal family.
At dahil doon ay nagkaroon ng dalawang panig sa palasyo.
Ang isa ay gustong maging parte ng Azaria Clan ang babaeng iyon nang sa gayon ay mapakinabangan nila ang impluwensya nito sa tao.
Ang ikalawa naman ay gusto siyang tuluyan na lang mawala dahil maaari nyang sirain ang power balance na mayroon ngayon sa palasyo.
Galing din kasi siya sa angkan ng mga Dahlia, ang angkan na namumuno sa rehiyon ng Axia. They have the same power as Azaria had before. Pero nawala iyon sa kanila dahil sa isang insidente na kinasangkutan ng kasalukuyang duke ng Axia.
Kaya iniisip ng ilan sa mga ministro na baka muling pumantay ang kapangyarihan ng mga Dahlia sa pamilya namin kapag naikasal ito kay Hector.
Bumuntong hininga ako. “I understand that,” sabi ko. “But you should at least call me from time to time.”
We may have been in a strange family and grew up not close to each other because of royal protocol, but we still try our best to patch our relationship with each other.
Our relationship with our brother was already shattered because of his stupidity. Hindi naman pwedeng maging ang relasyon pa namin ni Miracle ang masira.
Kaya hangga’t maaari ay gusto kong nakakausap siya. Para lang magkamustahan kami at malaman namin ang nangyayari sa buhay ng isa’t-isa.
“Anyway, what about you?” tanong niya. “Why did you fly all the way here just to meet Andrel Henan?”
“Work-related,” I said. “The company that I worked for needed to get his approval to dock in his port. And we are also renting a warehouse there for our product.”
Kumunot ang noo niya. “Kailangan talaga na pumunta ka pa dito?” sabi niya. “His main office is in Tuer City, right?”
“He had urgent matters to attend here and instead of canceling our appointment, he proposed to change our meeting place here,” kwento ko. “Pumayag na ako dahil sagot naman nila lahat ng transportation ko. Mas hassle kasi kung magse-set na naman kami ng bagong appointment, eh kailangan na ang partnership na ito as soon as possible.”
Pinaningkitan niya ako ng mata. “Tell me, you didn’t do anything to seduce that man to get his approval, right?”
Kumunot ang noo ko at itinuro ang sarili ko. “Seriously? Tingin mo ba ay magagawa ko iyon?”
Tinitigan niya ako tsaka bumuntong hininga. “Well, I trust you. Pero kilala kasing playboy ang Andrel Henan na iyon. At maraming balita na pinapatos niya ang mga babaeng representative ng mga kumpanya na gustong makipag-collab sa kumpanya niya,” aniya. “It was like they needed to use their body just to get his approval.”
“Iyan nga din ang advice sa akin nang tumulong para makakuha ng early appointment sa kanya,” sabi ko. “But I am not that kind of woman.”
Though to be honest, those women don't seduce him to get his approval. They seduce him because he is super handsome and manly. Halos lahat nga ng babae kanina sa shop ay hindi napigilan na mapatingin sa kanya.
“Magluto na nga tayo ng hapunan.” Tumayo siya at naglakad na papunta sa kusina. “Are you going to stay here for a couple of days?”
Agad akong sumunod sa kanya. “Yeah,” sabi ko. “We still have to discuss the rest and other sets of rules that we are going to put in the contract. I don’t know when we are going to finish that.”
“Okay.” Binuksan niya ang refrigerator niya at namili ng mga ingredients. “I will stock up on some things that you might need.” She took out a couple of things and looked at me. “Do you have a car that you can use?”
I shook my head. “But we agreed on meeting up at SweetHeart,” I said. “Pwede naman siguro akong sumabay sayo papunta doon.”
Medyo maganda kasi ang ambiance ng store na iyon kaya masarap tambayan. Kahit siguro maghintay ako ng matagal doon ay hindi ako mabo-boring.
Kumunot ang noo niya. “Tatambay ka doon?”
Tumango ako. “Hindi pwede?” tanong ko. “Mag-o-order naman ako.” Ayaw ko din naman na mag-stay ng mag-isa dito sa bahay niya kung maaga lang din siyang aalis.
Napakamot siya ng ulo. “Well, I am sure that Asper will not go there but just in case, use the table in the corner, okay?”
“Okay.”
She cooked our dinner, and I was amazed by that since she never tried to learn that when she was still living in the palace. She was kind of a brat before since Dad was spoiling her too much, but everything has changed in the past three years.
I smiled while watching her and felt proud because she managed to do what she wanted without the help of our family.
Eh ako kaya? Magagawa ko din kaya na maging isang tulad niya?