Overcrowded places, tight roads, and dirty surroundings came across as I was driving towards Angela's place.
The people kept on staring at my car as I made my way. It was visible to their eyes the curiosity and wonder as to who was the driver of the expensive car.
I stopped the car when I reached Angela's house. I found a little house made up of some hollow blocks and woods. It looks unfinished.
It looked like I am already here.
I immediately grab the brown envelope that John handed last yesterday and scanned the papers. After I saw the records of Angela printed on the paper, I was now one hundred percent sure that this is the house where she lives.
I quickly removed my seatbelt and got out of the car.
"Psst!" The drunk neighbors whistled at me.
"Let's get drunk, sir. Give us money!" The drunk man greeted me in not a nice way. I ignored each one of them and just kept on walking. I had no business with them and I didn't like to waste my time.
"Where's the doorbell?" I asked as I stared at the wooden door. It took me almost a minute before I decided to knock on the door.
Tok! Tok! Tok!
Tok! Tok! Tok!
The door didn't open even if I knock many times. Maybe there was no one inside.
I sighed as I glanced at my wristwatch.
It was already eleven-thirty in the morning.
Angela's neighbors kept on peeking and staring at me. They all looked curious. I just ignored all the neighbor's stares and kept on knocking on the door again.
I was about to knock for the nth time when I was stopped by the sudden voice I heard from my back.
"Who are you?"
I quickly turned my gaze where the voice was coming from.
And there, I found two children in their school uniforms. A girl who was probably eight to ten years old and a boy I think eleven to fourteen years of age.
"I am looking for Angela. Do you know her?" I asked the girl and bowed slightly to make eye contact with her.
"She's my big sister. Why—" The girl stopped what she was going to say when the boy pulled her and hid behind him.
"Who are you, sir? Why are you looking at our big sister?" he asked in a serious tone. He sounded protective.
Oh! They are her siblings!
I smiled sweetly at the two after I found out they are her siblings.
"I'm Clark, the childhood friend of your big sister Angela," I introduced myself and extended my hand to them, asking for a shaking hand.
I could see in the boy's eyes the hesitation to reach my hand but after a minute, he accepted it and shook our hands.
"Kokoy," he introduced too.
Suddenly, their youngest sister came out behind Kokoy and ran in front of me.
"Maymay!" she energetically said and hugged my waist which surprised me and at the same time made me smile.
"Come in, sir," Kokoy invited me to enter their humble home. I nodded to him and mouthed 'thank you' before I entered their house.
After five hours of waiting still, there was no presence of Angela.
"Why our big sister isn’t home yet?" Angela's sister, Maymay, asked out of curiosity.
I, on the other hand, was worried about her.
Where is she?
I am excited to see her again. Once she got here, how am I going to deal with her? What should I tell her first? Should I say hello? Should I say hi and hello? Or shout in surprise like 'hey Angela, I'm back!'?
I mentally facepalm at the thought. I was tense and nervous about how I should act in front of Angela when I face her. My goodness! That woman was driving me crazy! I felt like I'm going insane.
Kriiiiiiing…
I was stopped from what I was thinking and looked at my pouch. I immediately opened it to look at my phone. After I saw the caller id, I sighed. It was my secretary.
I got up from the wooden chair and moved a little away from the siblings.
"Clark speaking," I said.
"Sir, the meeting is about to start after one hour with Mr. Sy and Mr. Cheng," she reminded. I shut my eyes tightly because of what I heard.
"Cancel all my appointments," I immediately commanded.
Here they go again, the family Sy. They were now doing their next move. They would force me to get married. Mr. Sy and my mom would insist I marry Natasha for the sake of the company.
Darn it!
"But, sir—" she was about to protest when I stopped her from speaking.
"You heard me. I said cancel all my appointments. I have more important things to do than listening to all the talk of the greedy businessman," I firmly said and greeted my teeth. I couldn't help but sigh. I didn't want them to take a control of me in the end. So, I won't allow that marriage to happen.
"But sir, if I do that, many investors will be going to pull out their shares. If that happens, it might hang the company on the cliff and at worst it tends to go bankrupt. Mr. Sy and Mr. Cheng want a clarification about the contract and the other investors want a clarification too in our plans," she explained.
I sighed and closed my eyes tightly after hearing it. I massaged my temple.
I hate this situation. I hate this!
"Okay, fine."
"I'll be there in a minute," I said in defeat and dropped the call. I stretched my neck to relieve the stress I was feeling.
"Hey, little kids! I need to go. I have some important things to do. Just tell your big sister I visited here," I said to the two. They both nodded and hug me tightly. We bid our goodbyes and waved to each other before I got inside the car. I started the engine and finally drove it away from their place.
I didn't even catch a glimpse of you today Angela but I promise, I'll be back soon.
Angela's POV "Big sister!!!" Maymay greeted me excitedly when I entered the house. I gladly hugged her tightly. After a second, she let go of the hug and helped me with the bags of food that I was carrying. "Where's your brother Kokoy?" I asked and roamed my eyes around. "Brother is in his room, sleeping," she politely replied. From what I heard, I nodded and we walked together toward the kitchen. She placed the bags on the kitchen table and excitedly picked up the cooking utensils that were going to be used. I also started to take care of the ingredients. "Big sister, someone came here lately. He's looking for you," Maymay said while she was busy with what she was doing. "Who is it? But hey... Remember what I've been always reminding you and your brother, huh? Don't talk to someone you don't know. Maymay, it's dangerous," there was a melody of concern in my voice as I sliced the vegetables. "But big sister... He knows you well and he said you also know him—" I rose my right
Clark’s POV "H-hi..." she stammered while looking at my face. Looked like she was surprised by my sudden appearance, right here in front of her after seven years ago without seeing each other. "C-Come—come in..." she added and shyly bowed as I entered their humble home. "Sir Clark!!!" Maymay suddenly showed up like a mushroom and jumped up to hug my waist. I laughed a little and smiled while looking at her innocent face. I glanced in Angela's direction who was now confused by the scene. "Sir Clark..." Kokoy called me from the kitchen and greeted me. I just nodded and smiled back in response. After a minute, Maymay finally let go of the hug and play her toys on the salas. "How?" my gaze shifted to Angela. "I came here yesterday," I explained and smiled sweetly at her. She was surprised by what I said. "Since when you came back?" she asked in confusion while her forehead furrowed. "It's not important anyway. What matter is now," I answered and smiled for the nth time. "You woul
"Take care of yourself, huh? Be careful there.""Of course Angela, I'll be careful as you wish.""Uhmm...""Hey? Are you crying? What's the matter?""No! I'm not crying. It's just... I'm just going to miss you.""Aw... How sweet of you, Angela. Come here, I will hug you.""Wait, Angela! Before I forgot! Here, take this. Promise me you'll always wear it.""A ring?""Yep!""I bring a gift to you too.""A picture of you?""Yes. So you won't be able to forget me.""Haha! Of course! I'll never forget you.""Uhmmm... Clark?""Yes, Angela?""Hey, Clark sweetie! Come on! We're leaving!""Come on, spill it! Mom's calling me.""What are we?""Haha! Of course, we are---""Clark!!! How many times do I have to call your name for you to come over?! We're late for the flight!""Mom's getting angry. I gotta go Angela.""Uhmm... All right. Be careful there, huh? Take care of yourself, always.""I will. Come here, I'll kiss your forehead. Mwah! There you go..." (Giggled)"You're making me miss you even
Clark's POV"I'm happy to see you again, Angela," I uttered lovingly and held her right hand. I placed it on the top of my chest where she could freely feel my heart beating with love and joy.I'm longing for this moment to happen. I am happy that I'm already here in our homeland. I am ready now. I know. "You don't have any idea how much I miss you... I am always thinking of you every single day." I added and smiled at her sweetly. Being there in the States without a glimpse of her is freaking difficult. There is always sadness here inside my chest. I always look up at the sky. Watching the moon, hoping she's looking at the moon too. And waiting for the stars to fall to make a wish to fast forward the time. When it comes to her, my heart really softens. Fortunately, Angela and I were having a moment alone this time because her best friend was outside of the house. Talking to someone over the phone. I don't know what's up with her best friend. It seems she's jealous. But why? We w
“I'm prosti-" Ting! Her words were cut off when my phone rang. Indicating I received a message. We both shifted our gaze to the table where the phone would be found. I chose to ignore the text message and didn't bother to check it. I looked back at the woman I love and put a smile on my face. "What is it again, Angela?" I asked and tuck her some baby hair at the back of her right ear. She breathes deeply and slowly releases it. Looks like she's nervous. After that, she spoke. "I am a pros-" Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! The text message's tone alert ruined our conversation for the second time around. I gasped, shut my eyes, and later sighed in annoyance. "Uhmm... Check your phone, Clark. It seems important," she uttered and caressed my shoulder. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at her deeply. I don't want to ruin our moment but my phone keeps on ringing with a message tone alert. The hell? She just caressed my cheek then after a second, I sigh for the nth time and nodded as I
Shall I kiss her? I could feel her heart beating so fast, so am I. I was also deaf and felt numb because of my abnormal heartbeat. We were only a few inches apart when I stopped when someone suddenly sneezed behind me. "Hachoo!" she exaggeratedly sneezed and afterwards cleared her throat. Angela blushingly took a step back away from me and pinned her hair behind her ear because of the thought we were almost caught kissing. I shifted my gaze at my back just to see the one who interrupted our moment. And here was the culprit. None other than Bel. "Uhmm, Clark. Maybe, you should go home. I bet your mom is looking for you right now. I'll take you to your car," Angela said hurriedly and pulled me out of the kitchen. I looked again at Bel who was now just staring at me. There was no emotion drawn on her face. "Maymay! Kokoy! Say goodbye to Sir Clark,” Angela called her siblings. Maymay ran in my direction and hugged me tight. "Goodbye, Sir Clark. Please, come back here again soon,” M
Clark's POV It was already six forty-five in the evening. I was at the venue where my first dinner date with Natasha would be conducted. Honestly, I was not considering this night as a date. It was just like, you were eating dinner and making chit-chat with her. That's all. No string attached. After I entered the five-star hotel, an employee approached and greeted me. He immediately accommodated me on my way. "Good evening, Sir Clark! This way," he greeted me and gave me his best smile. He motioned the way where the venue could be found. I already knew this place because we own this. Oh! Let me rephrase that. My parents own this place but soon, the responsibility of this hotel will be put in my hands. It answered why the employee knew my name. I sighed as I viewed the place. My mom undeniably planned this. I could see it in the romantic red color decorations all over the place. She was desperate for me and Natasha to be lovers someday. I sat down at the table where our dinner p
After a half-hour, I was almost a half mile away from Angela's house. I took a glance at the stall of roasted and grilled chicken at the roadside. There were more chicken stores here. Looked like people in this village buy that kind of food. I couldn't blame them anyway. Grilled chicken was quite delicious. Most especially, it smells good. I looked at my watch, a few minutes before lunch. I decided to park my car on the side of the road, unbuckled my seatbelt, and get outside of the car. People on the street instantly looked in my direction, most especially in my car. Looked like this was their first time seeing this car model. Why would I not be having the latest car model? Our company is a car manufacturing company. I just ignored their stares and wore my sunglasses. I walked towards the stall. I bought two whole pieces of grilled chicken. Afterwards, I went to the convenience store to buy ice cream, chocolates and drinks. I just remembered the kids, Maymay and Kokoy. That was