The Escort

Chapter Five

            THE THIRD DAY. Janet has been pestering me on picking John Chu but after our last encounter, I don’t even know if I should even consider him. What I do like about him though is his laidback self which can probably win in my parents’ favour. My birthday is in less than two days, and my sister has been doing the party preparations which she assures me will be perfect. I highly doubt that. I hope she won’t hire male strippers like the last time she did for my twenty-first birthday. I literally face-palmed in front of a hundred guests as soon as male strippers appeared in my sight. My party guests don’t seem to mind though. Actually, they were highly entertained that they were dancing sensually, and thrusting their hips in front of some of my girl friends who weren’t mortified at all. I immediately left the party after that.

            Sometimes, Janet can be a bit too much. Her bubbly persona rubs off people in the right way and since she’s prettier than me, everyone tends to believe her. If she’s in an unfamiliar place, she can turn it into her home in a few seconds. People like her. She smiles a lot, makes small talk and she likes to listen to people’s nonsense conversation.

            Envy has always been inside me the moment she’s born. My parents instantly loved her, gave her the proper attention she needed and the things she wanted, while I was stuck training to learn the ropes of my family’s company. The only time their attention is solely focused on me is when I’m tasked to manage our company. It’s unpleasant. My father’s yelling still echoes in my mind perfectly.

            I love Janet but sometimes, I can’t help but feel jealous that the world loves her, and in turn, she equally loves them back. It’s the Janet effect, after all.

            I stand in the kitchen counter making French toast while I hear Janet’s loud, unapologetic yawn. She has gained weight ever since she stayed at my penthouse, and I haven’t seen her this big whenever she does a modelling gig. I let the thought pass and continue making my toast; I don’t want to pry into her personal life if she’s highly uncomfortable sharing it to me.

            “What’s for breakfast?” she asks in a sleepy tone, rubbing her eyes like a kid. She’s already twenty-five years old, but she infantilizes herself for some reason. I guess it’s to gain the people’s love for her. Or better yet, my parents love to treat her like a baby still. She yawns again and leans on the counter.

            “French toast,” I reply nonchalantly. I also prepare the batter for the waffles which lights up her eyes. “I’m also making waffles.”

            She smiles, her eyes wide like a child. When my parents were away for business trips, I usually cooked breakfast for the both of us. Janet looks so happy whenever I make breakfasts. I guess she’s holding onto the pleasant memories the both of us have. “Can I help?” she offers. Her bedhead makes her look funnier since she’s trying hard to pucker her lower lip and to muster puppy dog eyes.

            “Sure,” I reply. “Just grab me some strawberries and maple syrup. It’s in the fridge.”

            She skips happily to the fridge, like a kid on her birthday party. She grabs some fresh strawberries delivered handpicked and delivered by my favourite strawberry farmer, and a bottle of maple syrup. It’s imported from Canada and it tastes like heaven. It’s not like any other maple syrup I’ve tasted. My parents sometimes go on trips to Canada just to buy me maple syrup that can last me for a year.

            “What else do you want me to do?” she asks.

            “Just sit, and I’ll prepare the food.”

            She doesn’t sit. Instead she prepares orange juice and sets some plates on the table. By the time I’m finished cooking our breakfast, she’s sat across me busy typing on her phone. Her eyebrows are drawn together but she immediately morphs her expression into a smile, hiding her phone away.

            “This smells good.” She inhales the waffles and French toast. I also made some omelettes and cooked rice in case she wants to start her breakfast with a heavy one. “I miss having breakfasts like this.”

            There’s a pang of nostalgia in my chest. There’s that tenderness I feel for my sister, and the envy dissipates away from my chest. Tears almost well in my eyes but I put some waffles onto her plate in silence. “Your cooking always brings me back to my childhood.”

            I chuckle, my mind wandering in the memories. “Remember when we used to sneak into amah’s bedroom to steal her recipe book?”

            Janet giggles as she takes a fork of waffles. “Yes, she gets livid when she finds out. But then she’ll smile and shake her head because the food ends up delicious.”

            “I miss amah,” I sigh. We both frown and we continue to eat in silence. Our other grandmother, we call her amah and is my dad’s mom, has passed away two years ago. The thought of her gone brings an ache to my chest. Even Janet looks sad as she stares onto her plate. The frown on her face lingers and I ask, “Is everything okay?”

            She forces a smile but her eyes tell a different story. “Yes.” Her voice quivers.

            “Earlier you look like you’re in trouble.” Concern laces my words. I notice Janet has been picking up a different habit. Usually she works out in the gym, but everyday, she tends to coop up inside her room. I wonder if she even goes to her modelling shoot that she mentioned when she asked if she could live with me for a short while.

            “Uh,” she pauses. Tears leak from her eyes and before I know, she breaks down in front of me. She covers her face with her hands, her back in a crouch. I stand and bend to her sitting height. “I messed up, I messed up,” she says, her voice muddled because of her hands covering her face.

            “What do you mean?” I ask softly. I rub her back to calm her down but she continues chanting she messed up in between sobs. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”

            The only time I’ve seen Janet break down is when she failed a semester. Albeit my parents are not that strict towards her in comparison to mine, they don’t want her to smear her records by getting failing marks.

            She uncovers her face and looks at me. “I’m pregnant.”

            My ass plants on the ground, leaving me dumbfounded. “W-what?”

            “I’m pregnant,” she says, a bit quieter. Shame is written on her face. Ma and Pa’s favourite girl, pregnant. The look of devastation will clearly smear across their faces. That perfect image they see Janet in will clearly be shattered once they know that she’s unmarried yet pregnant.

            Now it makes sense. The spike in her appetite is a dead giveaway. “So you don’t have a modelling shoot right now?” I ask her.

            “I do. It’ll be next week.” She looks stressed and frustrated. “I don’t know how I can explain to them about my weight gain. Also, I’ve ditched my trainer who’s been blowing up my phone for days.”

            “Where’s your boyfriend?” I go back to my seat.

            “He went AWOL after I told him about our baby.”

            I purse my lips into a thin line. This is why relationships suck. Or maybe it’s her boyfriend in general. “He also blocked me from all my social media and don’t try contacting him, he’s probably blocked you, too.”

            “I’ll hire a private investigator,” I say calmly but Janet’s eyes look horrified. “He needs to man the f**k up and take responsibility for the baby that you both created.” I massage my temples, a migraine taking over it. I’m already stressed with the slight plummet of the company’s stocks last quarter, and dealing about finding a fake boyfriend (John Chu, actually). Now my sister adds that to the list of reasons why I’m suffering a migraine. But I don’t want her to feel she’s a burden because I know she’s going through more than she should.

            “You don’t have to,” she insists. “I know you’re already stressed and I don’t want to add your burdens.”

            “Don’t worry. I don’t like your boyfriend since the beginning and it’s payback for what he did to you.”

            Janet tears up but she stands up and hugs me. “I love you so much, Ate. You’re the best.”

            I roll my eyes. “How long are you pregnant?”

            “Eight weeks.” She smiles sheepishly.

            “You have tell your trainer the truth. Also tell your boss that you’ll have to turn down the project because you need to take the time off. I’m going to work now so by the time I go home you have to tell me that you’ve done what I asked you.”

            She sends me a mock salute. “I’m on it.” She’s back to her bubbly self, which sends me in a relief, and she skips back to her bedroom.

MA WAITS FOR me inside my office. She places a Chinese takeout bag on my desk, the smell wafting pleasantly. “Ma, what are you doing here?” I ask.

            “I’m just wondering how you are,” she answers. Between Ma and Pa, I’ve been a bit closer to Ma, but not to the point where I can tell her everything about me. She’s less strict when it comes to me, I have to give her credit for that. “I know you’ve been working since you graduated and I just want to ask how you’re feeling.”

            I almost scoff but keep it to myself. “Is there some kind of motive here as to why you’re asking? I don’t believe you’re genuinely concerned for me in any bit.”

            Ma frowns. “I’ve always been there for you, haven’t I?”

            The answer I give her is silence. When her eyes expectantly gesture me for an answer, I release a deep sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe you can tell me what you’re actually here for.”

            She acquiesces and says, “I’ve scheduled a dinner date with you and Robert.”

            Flabbergasted, I slam my fist on the desk and Ma flinches. “I have a boyfriend,” I grit through my teeth. The look on Ma’s face is priceless. Shocked, betrayed, and mortified.

            “Since when?” she asks, her eyes unconvinced. My parents know I haven’t been interested in anyone for ages, so dropping them the news I have one, of course they don’t believe me.

            “Since I say so. It’s none of your business,” I quip. Ma looks extremely hurt and ashamed—ashamed that she has already told Robert that the both of us are going to dinner, not because she’s ashamed that she knows little about me. That thought sends a prick to my chest.

            “But darling,” she enunciates her term of endearment for me with a bit of venom in her tone, to send me scurrying back to her control. It has slightly fazed me, but I don’t want to give her the satisfaction to be at her beck and call once more. “It will be disrespectful to cancel plans from your fiancé.”

            “He’s not my fiancé.”

            “He is.”

            “If you don’t leave, I will call security.”

            Her jaw drops into an ‘o’. “You won’t dare do that. Your Pa and I are still the founders of this company.”

            “Oh, I will. I’m the one who’s running it so I have a say on who can go in and out. So, get out or else I will ban you for the rest of your life.” Ma does not say another word, but her footsteps are a tad bit heavier. She tries hard to slam the glass door shut to make a scene on her way out, but only silence greets me. A little smile caveats its way to my mouth, and I’ve never felt so unburdened by standing up for myself against my Ma.

            Without a thought, I grab my phone and I send a text and e-mail to John Chu, telling him he’s in. I hope I won’t regret choosing him, but I trust Janet’s intuition.

            My phone buzzes, and I receive John’s reply.

            John Chu: knew it ;)