THE PERFECT LIE

CHAPTER 1: First Real Meeting

December 19, 2015. Saturday. Atty. Ace Enriquez was driving on his way to his hometown, Trista City, in the province of Arginne when he heard the news about one of the most famous female celebrities in the country regarding her rumored breakup with her rumored boyfriend. He knew her but not personally. She lived in the same building where he just moved in six months ago. She was also the crowned Miss World 2013 and the brightest showbiz personality to date, hence she was a household name.

The news was like this –    

Athena Lorenzana's on-screen love interest is already engaged to be married to her half-sister, Faye Soriano. Yes, our very own Miss World 2013 titlist turned singer/actress/TV host/ product endorser had been dumped by her rumored boyfriend, Joshua Madrigal. Rumor has it that their relationship was just on-screen and not off-screen. MGA Artist Center Management, who manages both of the careers of Athena and Joshua had released a statement stating that - 'Mr. Madrigal and Ms. Lorenzana had never admitted of any real off-screen romantic involvement. They are both professional artists who are just doing their jobs as on-screen partners. Whatever their personal lives may be were beyond our control. MGA Artist Center Management doesn't have any control on whoever our artists choose to date or have a relationship with. As for Mr. Madrigal's engagement, let's just wait for his personal statement regarding it. As for Ms. Lorenzana, she is enjoying her most needed break from work. She wishes her on-screen partner all the luck on all his endeavors.

Just as the news from the radio ended, he noticed a beautiful lady coming out of her brand red new SUV. She seemed to be having a problem with it.

He stopped his own SUV, went down and approached the beautiful, tall, fair lady who was wearing: light beige knitted top under a grey jacket; blue denim skinny jeans; brown flat ankle boots; and light brown glasses.

She seemed familiar but he could not seem to pinpoint who she was. 

Ace asked her, "Any problem, Miss?" 

Thebeautiful  lady who was looking under the hood of her SUV looked at him and replied, "I really got no idea. It just stopped and does not want to start again."

He really felt he had somehow seen the lady before but he couldn't recall. He volunteered to check the SUV's engine, "Can I check?" 

The lady moved aside to let him have a look. After asking her to try starting it several times, he said, "Do you have a mechanic? I cannot seem to pinpoint the exact fault but it is an engine problem. It seems very new." 

The lady answered modestly, "Yes, it is new. I just actually bought it yesterday. I will call the auto company." She got her big brown leather handbag inside her SUV, searched for her phone, and called the auto company.

After a few minutes of phone conversation, the lady told him, "They will pick it up, assess the problem, and fix it or replace it. We are still near the boundary of Missi and Canyan, right?"

"Yes," he uttered.

Then the beautiful lady spoke again as she put her sunglasses by her head, "By the way, I am Athena Jeanne Lorenzana. Thanks for your help, sir."

Then, he knew it! He reached for her right hand which she extended for a handshake. "You are very much welcome, Miss Lorenzana. I am Atty. Ace Enriquez. It is my honor to meet you."

She smiled genuinely, "I would like to abuse your generosity even more, sir." She kind of felt comfortable around him and she didn't know why. The lawyer was very handsome and really looked so relaxed in casual clothes of blue shirt and sweater of different shades , grey trousers with white belt and grey Giorgio Armani loafers.

He liked the way she smiled. It was genuine. He acknowledged it, "Sure."

She informed him freely, "I am on my way to Trista City. But with my car problem. I might not be able to arrive there tonight. Do you know of any nearest accommodation here in Canyan?"

He answered her honestly, "I am not that familiar with Canyan, but I am from Trista City and I'm also on my way there. I can offer you a ride." 

She replied tactfully, "I do not want to impose, Atty. Enriquez."

He assured her, "It will not be an imposition, Miss Lorenzana. Besides, the sun is about to set already. I cannot just leave you behind. It will not be safe for a beautiful lady like you to be stranded here alone."

"Thank you, sir," she just smiled and then recalled, "Your name sounds familiar. Is Anthony Charles Elijah Enriquez your full name?"

He was surprised. He confirmed it, "Yes, how did you know?"

She imparted, "I took Management Economics in Athenaeum. I just finished my first year when you graduated with the highest honor on the same degree."

He was humble enough to say, "It was nothing compared to the honor you gave the country by winning Miss World 2013, Miss Lorenzana."

She returned the favor, "But if I am not mistaken, you also brought glory to the country when you won an Olympic gold medal for equestrian. When was it again?"

He was quite impressed on how she knew things about him. He replied, "August 2004."

She also recalled, "And you also topped the bar examination, right?"

That had made him smiled and said, "It seems like you knew so much about me, Miss Lorenzana."

She was very honest in saying, "Well, you are a fellow alumnus. I always feel proud whenever someone from our alma mater is mentioned in the news for their exemplary achievements."

He felt really interested on her so he asked her about his offer, "So will you say yes to my offer?"

She answered with a question, "Are you sure it  will not be an imposition, sir?"

He somehow felt that the beauty queen was having second thoughts maybe because of his reputation as a playboy. So, he assured her, "It will be my honor, Miss Lorenzana. I also promise I will be a perfect gentleman. I will not ruin the good image you had for me."

He was so happy when she agreed, "Okay. I will accept your offer."

He did not want to show how happy he was. Hence, he replied kindly, "So, let us get your bags and wait on my car. We will hit the road again once your SUV is picked up."

She opened the passenger door of her SUV and got one medium size deep purple trolley luggage.

He was surprised for she had only one luggage. He helped her out in carrying it and asked, "Only this?"

She tried to explain, "Everything I need is there. I would just be staying most of the time in the hotel anyway. I just want to be away from the media."

He carried it for her and put it inside his own SUV through the backdoor with his own luggage and several bags of Christmas presents for his family and relatives.

They decided to talk more inside his SUV, a BMW X5, while waiting for the personnel of the auto company.

He was keen to know so he inquired, "So, why are you traveling alone?"

She replied without any hesitation, "My driver and my personal assistant are on their holiday break. I would just have stayed in Maunni if the news about my on-screen partner's engagement to my half-sister did not come out. So, I searched the internet for a hotel accommodation outside Missi and encountered Trista International Hotel."

Ace acknowledged it informing her, "Yeah, I just heard the news about you and them. Afterwards, I saw you having a car trouble."

To change the topic, she asked him, "So, will you be  spending the holidays with your family?"

"Yes, my sister begged me to come home," he felt like sharing to her so he replied.

She then had assumed, "It seems like you have not been home for a while."

He confided with ease, "Yes. Eleven years, actually. My father did not want me to be a lawyer. He wanted me to take up veterinary medicine, continue my career as an equestrian, train horses and riders for competition, and help manage the ranch." He really felt comfortable sharing his life with her. She had that charm of being a genuine person.

She then inquired, "Well, you won an Olympic gold medal, why did you not pursue a related career on such path?"

He answered truthfully, "They are my father's wishes and not mine."

The personnel from the auto company arrived so they came out of his SUV. Even if the problem could be fixed, the representative was so apologetic and promised to process for a replacement immediately. She signed some papers and then they exchanged contact numbers. The replacement SUV would just be delivered to where she would be.

Ace and Jeanne then headed to their destination. They talked more while they were on their way.

She was curious so she asked him without hesitation, "So, why did your sister have to beg you to come home, sir?"

He wanted for them to drop the formalities, "By all means, just call me Ace."

She replied, "Call me Jeanne. It is what my friends call me. Athena is just for showbiz."

Ace answered her question, "Going back to your question, my father is insisting that she marry a rich guy to save the ranch. My older brother seemed to have some bad investments so the ranch was used as collateral for a bank loan which is still unpaid up to now. I felt the need to come home, assess the problem, and do whatever I can to help."

Jeanne had assumed, "It seems like you love your sister so much."

He felt easy admitting to her, "Yes. But not just her, I love my family so much. Despite the misunderstanding I had with my father, I will not let the family lose the ranch. It has been with the family for generations"

She sighed and told him freely, "At least you have a family to come home to. I lost my Mom to ovarian cancer last year. As for my Dad, he has his own family." She did not know why she felt like freely sharing to him about her life.

He was kind of astonished as to why they have that mutual openness about each other's life stories.

Her phone rang, it was a call from Kristine, her handler who was also one of her best friends, she put it on speaker and answered it, "Yes, Kris."

That startled him further how this beautiful lady beside him seemed unafraid of him hearing a personal conversation.

Her handler asked, "Are you already in Trista City?"

She answered casually, "I am still on my way there. Got a problem with my SUV but it is all sorted now. Why?"

Her best friend, Kristine, imparted, "It seems that your hotel reservation had been leaked to the media. We still do not know who the culprit is. They could be there already once you arrive. If you got other alternatives, do so. You may not enjoy the privacy you wanted if you stick to your original plan of spending your holidays there."

"Please call the hotel for me and tell them I would still be coming within the period of my booking but not just tonight. It is fully paid anyway," she replied, "Thanks for the heads up. I will find alternatives. Love yah. Bye."

Ace felt the need to help her so he then offered her, "You can spend the holidays with us in the ranch. My sister and my Mom are great fans of yours. They actually requested me to buy your CD as Christmas presents. I am sure you will be very welcomed."

In as much as she felt comfortable around him, she hesitated, "I do not want to impose, Ace. You already helped me a lot by offering me a ride. I will just find another hotel to check into for the meantime."

So, she used her phone to look for another accommodation. She used an app on her phone and browsed on the hotels at Trista City and nearby cities in Arginne. They were all fully booked. She sighed, "They are all fully booked."

Such had somehow given him hope that his time with her would be prolonged, he then said, "Guess, you have no other choice but to accept my offer. Anyway, you already know my situation. You will actually be doing me a big favor should you agree to come. It will somehow lessen the tension between my father and me."

She was still hesitant so she asked him, "How will we explain why I am with you?"

He was fast enough to inform her, "I will tell them you are a good friend. Anyway, we both live in the same building."

She was surprised, "You also live at Victoria Condominiums in Maunni City?"

Ace smiled and confirmed it, "Yeah, I bought a two-bedroom unit six months ago at the eighth floor."

She replied, "Mine is a two-bedroom unit at the ninth floor, which I bought last year. How did you know I live in the same building?"

Ace assured her, "You got nothing to worry. I am not a stalker," so he informed her, "I saw you once at the lobby. I was leaving and you were coming in."

Jeanne exclaimed, "We are actually neighbors and I got no idea!" Then, she told him, "By the way, I never think of you as a stalker."

"I was just kidding you about it," Ace then asked again, "So will you accept my offer now?"

It gave him joy deep within when Jeanne smiled and agreed, "Yes, I really need privacy. I want peace and quiet away from showbiz even for just awhile. Once the media left, I will move to the hotel. But I owe you much already. Next time you need a favor, do not hesitate to ask me."

He smiled back at her and said, "I will definitely not say no to a beauty queen."

In a few more minutes, they had passed by Trista City proper. They saw the media people by the front of the hotel she was supposed to check in to.

He then commented, "It seems like they really wanted to get your reaction regarding Joshua Madrigal's engagement to your half-sister."

She retorted, "That is showbiz! I am kind of used to it already considering that I am a daughter of showbiz royalties like Peter Soriano and Joanna Lorenzana. If it were not for my Mom's dying wish, I really would not like a showbiz career. I am just fine managing my own restaurant."

He commented, "You can always go back to that life."

She comfortably confided, "Yeah, but then I have to finish what I had started. I joined the beauty pageant because of my Mom. A lot of her friends were convincing her for me to join the pageant. It was also my Mom's wish for me to enter showbiz because there had been lots of offers after Miss World. So, I entered showbiz and the rest is history. I now got a recording career. I am a TV talk show host, a product endorser, and a movie and TV drama actress. I am signed up for a two-year management contract with MGA Artist Center and a year of it just passed. I still have another year."

He asked, "Would you want to go back to that life?" 

"Actually, my restaurant is still operating but I cannot expand. It is difficult to find trustworthy employees. After I finished AB in Management Economics in 2011 at Athenaeum, I immediately flew to Paris, took and finished a Grand Diplomê in Culinary Arts at Le Cordon Bleu. Then, I returned here around April 2012 and opened up my own restaurant on December 2012," she informed him more about her life and she was still kind of wondering why she really felt easy around him. And he seemed to feel the same towards her.

"That is quite impressive," he exclaimed.

"Well, I was just a little above average student unlike you. You graduated with the highest honors both in Management Economics and in Law. Then you topped the bar, those are even more impressive," she retorted.

They reached the ranch in a few more minutes. It was already an hour before dinner time. The family seemed to have guests. There was a set up by the front lawn. It was Ace's sister who first noticed of their arrival.

Ace was opening the door for Jeanne when his sister started ranting, "Why did you just arrive now? Dad will already announce my engagement tonight," and then his sister noticed that he was with someone else, "By the way, who is with you?"

The rest of the family and some of the guests had already noticed Ace. They were all even surprised when the famous Athena Lorenzana came out of his SUV.

Most of the women, relatives and guests approached them to express their joy in seeing the beauty queen/artist they admired so much.

Jeanne felt like – Oh, there are just so many people here! And they are all looking at me. it seems like taking Ace's offer is not a very good idea. Will I be able to have some sense of privacy here? They all seem like to be my followers. Oh, I really wish it's not a mistake coming here! I do not know where will I go. I should have just returned to my condominium unit. But then I will just have to stay inside all throughout the holidays because of what happened. I do not like dealing with all the media attention during the holidays.