Chapter 3

Afraid

I jolted with the loud sound of the water when Xander jumped from a big rock. I laughed at him when his face turned red from the impact of his dive.

This is what he meant when he said he’ll make it up to me – a picnic date in a waterfall within their land.

The Del Rio’s owned a vast land here in Malolos. They also own the biggest Food Manufacturing company in the whole province. Most of their properties were inherited from their grandfathers who are natives here in Malolos.

I heard his ancestors were not well off back then during the war. But they managed to grow their business to what it is now with the help of his grandmother, Donya Esmeralda Zalduaga Del Rio.

I don’t know his family’s history. And all I know about them is everything I heard from my parents. Ever since my family moved here, we became good friends with the Del Rio’s. And as an only child, I have been close to their family ever since.

Tita Alondra and Tito Thomas are very fond of me. It is maybe because they don’t have a daughter and Xander doesn’t have a sibling. She even packed our food for today’s outing, even when it was just the two of us.

“Is Gustave okay now?” I asked referring to his brown stallion.

I wiped the dirt off the blanket and started unpacking the food. I removed his hand when he attempted to get the food. He just laughed at what I did.

“He’s fine now.”

“Really?!” I exclaimed with excitement.

That only means he can teach me how to ride a horse now!

It was my request to him for a long time now but Gustave got injured. I’m afraid of riding the other horses because they’re not as kind and gentle as Gustave.

“Yup.”

“So you can teach me now?”

I blinked my eyes fast with excitement. Because I know if I do that, he can’t say no to me.

“Ugh, fine. After this,” he smirked.

“Thank you!”

I hugged him out of glee that he just laughed off. We could’ve done that first. Oh well, this one is fine since it’s just the two of us. I can spend a long time with him, alone.

“I heard you got into a fight at school,” he asked seriously as we were eating.

I stopped in the middle of eating and lifted my gaze to him.

“Where did you hear that?”

I asked trying to hold in my anger instead of answering him directly. The seething anger is building up inside me.

“That’s not important.”

“It is,” I cut him off. “So I’ll know whom to get angry with for being so nosy with other people’s business.”

“Cianna.”

“Oh! Let me guess. It’s that friend of yours, right? What’s his name again... Santi, right? He told you?”

He sighed. He didn’t answer and it intensified my anger. His silence confirmed my speculations!

I don’t give a damn if other people see me in a dark light. Their opinions of me don’t matter. That’s what I believe. But to see the only person I trust believing what other people are saying about me instead of trusting my words hurts – a lot.

“Let me guess again. He told you I was the one who started it? That I was the one who started the fight, right?” I smirked angrily.

“No.”

“Then what did he freaking tell you?”

“He just said what he saw, okay?”

“You know what, I don’t care. And it doesn’t matter if I explain myself because no one would believe it. You know me, I’m not the type to stoop so low just to prove a point.”

“I know. I’m just saying you should avoid those kinds of situations. You’re the newbie so everyone’s eyes are on you. Some of them may even have unfair prejudices against you because they don’t know you. They might misunderstand your actions and words. I just want you to be careful next time.”

I looked away. I breathed hard just to get rid of the lump in my throat. He’s got a point. That doesn’t cross my mind. But now that he’s saying all of these, it all became clear to me.

The reality is, I can never please everyone. Especially since I am straightforward and rude sometimes. But I don’t care what other people think of me. That’s why I don’t bother explaining myself. I’ll just think of them as narrow-minded and judgmental people.

I brush off the thought from my mind and enjoyed swimming. I shivered when the cold waters embraced me. My lips almost trembled because of the cold.

Xander challenged me to a swim which I gladly obliged. We went through a few laps and of course, I did my best. In the end, he let me win the game.

Next, we tried diving. Huge rocks decorated well the side of the falling waters which made them seem like a wall. It was beautifully and naturally decorated with big rocks. This waterfall remained untouched under the Del Rio’s.

Xander didn’t let me jump off from bigger and higher rocks. I laughed at how he dived. He slipped a little so his dive looked a little awkward and funny. He caught me underwater as I laughed myself out.

“That was so not cool!” I laughed.

I cling to his arms when he tickled me. I couldn’t help myself from laughing when I think of how epic his dive was.

“You’re laughing at me, huh?”

He stopped tickling me and I had to stop laughing when I felt his skin touch mine. My heart beat frantically as I stare at him.

My eyes fixed on his face, on his reddish lips particularly. Beads of water ran through his damp hair down to his face which made him hotter in my eyes. I wondered how would it feel to have his lips against mine. Would it be soft like how it looked?

I didn’t notice myself going nearer to him. I was taken aback when he pushed me lightly away from him. That’s when I woke up from being hypnotized.

“I thought you wanted to learn how to ride a horse? Why should we go back so I could teach you,” he smiled.

I had no choice but to oblige. I still couldn’t get over the fact that I almost kissed him. I almost did, but only when he didn’t push me away.

We were silent most of the time when we head back to their mansion. He gave me little instructions though during those moments.

“Don’t worry, Gustave is a gentle one. And he recognizes you so there won’t be a problem.”

I nodded and smile. We reached the Del Rio mansion after a few more minutes. Their mansion intricate with classic Spanish design is enough to beautify the whole land.

Their men are all caught up when we arrived. Some of them are in the horses’ stable while some are in and out of the wide hall of the living area with documents at hand.

One of the men on the horses’ stable was Santi. My brows furrowed at the sight of him. He’s wearing faded jeans and a black v-neck shirt.

“What is he doing here?” My voice was stern with suppressed anger.

“Who?”

Xander followed my gaze and he was shocked. He was about to say something when we heard tita Alondra’s voice from the entrance.

“Xander! Your father is looking for you,” tita Alondra smiled. “Cian, hija!”

I smiled and walked towards her.

“Yes, Mom. I just have to talk to someone.”

Tita Alondra’s gaze turned to me. She held my hand softly.

“Cianna, did you enjoy your picnic?”

“Yes, tita. Thank you so much.”

“I’m glad.”

We both turned when we heard footsteps of Xander nearing us. Tita Alondra bid her goodbye when Xander arrived.

“Your father is waiting in the study.”

“Alright.”

Tita Alondra smiled at me and left. My sweet smile faded when I realized who was behind Xander.

“Cian, I’m sorry but I can’t teach you today. Deliveries are coming and Dad wants me to handle them.”

I won’t deny I was disheartened by what he said. And I can’t do anything about it cause it’s important too. So that explains why everyone seems so busy. I smiled at him.

“It’s fine. We could do it next time,” I said.

He looked reluctant so I smiled even more to convince him. He doesn’t have to feel guilty.

“Santi offered to teach you instead. He’s not doing anything after unloading the mangoes so...”

A surge of disapproval enveloped my whole being. I looked at Xander knowingly, with literal disgust written all over my face.

“No! It’s fine. We could do it next time if you’re busy right now.”

I took a glance at Santi. He looked at me with that serious and stern expression of his while leaning on the banister. I looked away angrily. It was still so fresh to me everything he said and did, so no thank you.

What if he let me fall from the horse? Or worse he would intentionally push me? The mere thought of it fueled my anger even more.

“It’s fine if she doesn’t want to, Xander. Maybe she’s afraid.”

I felt my blood boil even more with what he said.

“What?” I spat.

I was about to lunge at him when Xander held my arm.

“Stop, stop it you two.”

“Why? Is it not true?” He asked, provoking me even more.

“Why would I be afraid? I just don’t trust the likes of you that’s why,” I looked at him insultingly.

“You are afraid then.”

“Of course not!”

He smirked which infuriated me even more.

Before I could even think straight I strut towards the stable where I know where Gustave is.

To be continued...