Andrew and Lana's Wedding...
"Let's go, sweetie. Let's leave Mommy for now and go to the church to wait for her there," I said affectionately to my niece, Andrea, who stubbornly refused to leave her mother, Lana, who was still getting ready with the stylist her brother, Andrew, had hired.
"But Aunt Sam, I want to accompany Mommy," Andrea insisted, yet she still managed to reach out her little hand to me.
I chuckled softly and glanced at Lana, who was quietly listening to our conversation.
"Your Daddy will accompany you for now, and Mommy will be accompanied by Grandma," I referred to Lana's aunt, Mama Cecille.
I noticed how my beautiful niece hesitated for a moment. Even though it wasn't explicitly mentioned, it was obvious that she was a spitting image of me. When I looked at her, it felt like I was looking at a younger version of myself.
"We'll go ahead," I bid Lana farewell, accompanied by a simple gesture that she responded to with a smile.
"Bye, Mommy!" Andrea waved at her mother before finally joining me as we left the room.
*****
"NINONG MARIUS!"
The small yet clear voice made Marius turn around. It was Andrea, looking stunning in her flower girl dress. He saw her about to run towards him, but she was quickly stopped by a familiar face. It was only the second time he had come face to face with Sam, Andrew's younger sister, and Lana's sister-in-law, but he never forgot her beautiful face.
"Aunt Sam, I'll just go to Ninong Marius.”
He heard Andrea insist, pointing in his direction. Because of Andrea's request, Sam looked in his direction. Perhaps, it was the moment she recognized him that she finally had a reason to let go of Andrea's hand.
Marius couldn't help but smile at that thought. There was no doubt that Sam was protective of Andrea, her niece. What more if it were her own child? For sure, she would be a good and nurturing mother someday.
But then, Marius suddenly paused. What was he thinking, and why did his mind go there?
To divert his thoughts, he took long strides and eagerly scooped Andrea into his arms. He knew Sam was watching them, but she didn't come closer or intervene, so as a man, he took the initiative.
As he approached them, he couldn't help but admire the kind of beauty he saw before him. He couldn't deny the attraction he felt towards her.
"Now I can attest that the combination of pure British and pure Filipino is indeed incredibly beautiful," were the words that, in truth, resided only in his mind, but unexpectedly slipped past his lips.
He didn't regret saying those words because he saw the effect it had on the young woman. Just like the first time he laid eyes on her, her beautiful face flushed with a deep blush.
*****
"M-MARIUS, right?" I couldn't admit it, but I felt a slight annoyance at myself for the effect those words had on me, coming from a man who, in essence, was a stranger to me.
A stranger, considering it was only the second time we had met. It had been a while since the first encounter, yet the way he looked at me, the shivers caused by the tone of his speech and his voice, I couldn't explain what it was.
"It's good to know you remember," he said, extending his hand toward me.
As funny as it seemed, I hesitated to accept his handshake. However, with Andrea present, watching the two of us, I decided to do the right thing.
I didn't want to come across as impolite, and I certainly didn't want my niece to witness that. Despite the nervousness I felt, it was the only reason why I reluctantly accepted Marius' handshake.
"Of course, Lana is my sister now, and all of her friends are my friends too," I replied with the most composed sentence that came to my mind.
I was anxious, and I couldn't understand why. However, I didn't want to show it. I didn't want Marius to see how affected I was by him, so I tried my best to appear normal in my actions.
*****
"I hope this won't be the last time we see each other," Marius said as we were leaving the venue where the reception was held.
I simply smiled and looked for my niece, who had been running around with her nanny chasing after her.
"Surely not, you're my sister-in-law's best friend, and you're also the godfather of my niece, so it's not impossible for what you want to happen," I replied and waved at the driver of the car that would take us back to the mansion.
"Andrea, Grandma is tired, stop running around," I scolded my niece when she finally seemed to tire out and let herself be carried by her nanny, Joan, along with Grandma Cecille, who allowed me to address her that way.
"As much as I want to, I do not have enough time to entertain you," that was the truth, so I chose to say just that to Marius, avoiding eye contact as I didn't want to get caught in the allure of his gaze again.
"It's okay, there will be many more opportunities," Marius said meaningfully, causing me to look up at him.
"What?"
"I need to go ahead now, take care," Marius replied instead, leaving me wondering what he truly meant by his last words.
"Sam, come on, my dear," I heard Mama Cecille's voice calling me.
The newlyweds had gone on their honeymoon, and Mama and Papa had also decided to return to the UK after Andrew and Lana left.
"Oh, okay," was all I could manage to say, feeling like I had just awakened.
*****
The next day, Monday, my life returned to normal. Since my brother was not around, I had to run our coffee shop all by myself.
In the afternoon, just as I finished work, my cell phone rang. I raised an eyebrow when I saw that it was an unregistered number. I had no intention of answering it, as I didn't like talking to people I didn't know. Based on my beliefs and past experiences, if it was business-related, they would text first before calling.
The call ended without me picking up. I thought it would stop there, but I was mistaken. My phone rang again, and it was the same number calling. This time, I decided to break my usual habit and answered, thinking it might be an emergency.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hello, Sam? This is Marius. I got your number from Lana, I hope you don't mind," the voice on the other line replied.
My heart raced as I suddenly stood up from my chair. "M-Marius!"
"Yes, I wanted to invite you to dinner, if it's okay with you?" he asked directly.
"D-Dinner?" I couldn't believe my question.
Marius seemed to be the fastest decision-maker I’d met, yet despite it all, I couldn't find any resentment in my heart towards him.
"I won't take no for an answer. I'm in the parking space of your building, waiting for you, okay?"
"Parking? W-Wait!"
The line was cut off.
I pondered for a moment, placing my phone on the table. I could still hear Marius saying the words, "I won't take no for an answer!"
Is he going crazy? Inviting me to dinner, asking me if it's okay, and already waiting at the building's premises for me to come out?
Well, technically, I could reject him. But why do I feel like I can't do that?
Confused, I sighed heavily, accompanied by the words echoing in my mind.
Whatever let's see how it goes!
"What do you think you are doing?" I exclaimed irritably as I approached Marius.I deliberately showed him the annoyance I felt because of what he did. I felt like a cornered mouse facing a cat, and Marius was that cat. But instead of being affected by my irritation, he sweetly smiled at me, then bowed and lightly kissed my cheek as a greeting."Send your driver home; I'll take you wherever you want to go tonight," he replied, opening the passenger side door of his car.At that moment, my irritation towards him intensified. But despite being annoyed, why did I feel as if I had lost control of myself and found myself stepping into his car? After that, I even called Mang Poldo to let him know he could go home ahead because I decided to join a friend for dinner."So, where do you want to eat?" Marius asked, startling me slightly as I realized he was already seated behind the wheel."Why do you keep startling me?" I retorted instead.I heard him release a soft chuckle. "Sorry, I thought y
The sound of my cell phone woke me up the next morning. I quickly reached for it to see who had texted. I sighed in annoyance when I saw that it was Marius. "So early," I muttered, taking a deep breath and getting out of bed.It was already five o'clock in the morning, to be honest. But Marius had beaten my alarm clock, so I was slightly irritated. And because I was annoyed, I didn't reply to his "good morning" greeting. Although deep in my heart, I knew he had managed to make me smile somehow. But my irritation overshadowed everything at that moment. First and foremost, I was still exhausted and wanted to sleep. I still had thirty minutes, if you think about it. But since Marius had become my alarm clock, there was no point in going back to sleep.I proceeded to the bathroom to take a shower. I knew the household staff was already busy in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Well, perhaps it was good that I woke up thirty minutes earlier today. I had a lot of work left unfinished at the
"Do you not have anything better to do in life than always teasing me like this?" I managed to retort, my tone unchanged. And since Marius wasn't looking directly at me, despite my annoyance with him, I had a chance to sneak a glance at him, however brief. Well, at least I could hide that or deny it more easily with my raised eyebrows."To be honest, Sam, I'm a very busy person," he replied with a short statement."If that's the case, why does it seem like you have so much time?" I asked him again, deliberately ignoring the possible implications of his last words."You know very well why I'm acting like this, Sam," he said, briefly glancing at me while raising his thick eyebrows.Honestly, only a blind person wouldn't be impressed by his charisma and handsome looks. I admit that even though my eyes are used to handsome men, growing up in London. In fact, I've had plenty of men show interest in me before who were even more attractive than Marius. But this one, I have no idea what he di
The hours flew by quickly. I didn't even realize it was already lunchtime if Alicia, my newly hired secretary, hadn't reminded me. "Would you like me to order for you so you don't have to go out?" she kindly asked me."Yes, please," I replied, giving her a grateful smile. With that, she left me alone. After a few moments, I found myself once again consumed by my work. Alicia hadn't brought the food I ordered yet, so I decided to use the time to finish up some other tasks.I was in the middle of my work when I heard the sound of a message alert on my cellphone. I casually picked it up and looked at the screen, unable to suppress a smile. It was Marius."Have you eaten yet? Don't work too hard. You might get sick," the text message from Marius said.To be honest, I didn't know if I needed closure for the annoyance, I felt towards him this morning. Because at that moment, I felt more of the excitement brought by his concern for me, even if it was just a simple text message. And that's wh
"Are you seriously going to wait for me here?" It has been half an hour since Marius arrived when I asked him that question. I was still working while he remained seated on the chair in front of my working table, engrossed in flipping through a magazine."You can move to the couch if you want to be more comfortable," I said again as he glanced at me and smiled."I'm really serious about everything I do for you," he replied to my initial question. "And to be honest, I don't know whether I should be happy or offended by your second remark," he continued.My eyebrows immediately furrowed upon hearing Marius's last statement. "Why would you be offended when you're the only one I'm concerned about?" I asked, unable to suppress a soft chuckle.Marius shrugged his shoulders before answering, "I just remembered that you might be tired of looking at my face, that's why you're suggesting I move to the couch." He still had a smile on his face.Hearing his words, I couldn't help but burst into la
I can say that there is a big difference in that dinner compared to what Marius and I did last night. Maybe it's because we are officially friends now. "Are you okay?" Marius asked me when he noticed I had finished eating. I nodded and took a sip of water from my glass. "Yeah, I'm so full," I said truthfully, followed by a soft laugh. I saw Marius's dark eyes sparkle as he continued to gaze at me. In them, I could sense the admiration that he had never really hidden from me since the beginning. "Do you want to go home now?" he asked as we walked towards his parked car. I shrugged quickly before speaking. "It's fine with me if you want to take a walk in the park first," I said. The park wasn't far from where we were, and we could see a few people walking there. Most of them were couples. Marius stopped walking and faced me. "Are you sure?" he asked, his face brightening with a happy expression, his thick and beautiful eyebrows raised. "Yeah. It's just a stress reliever," I repli
"I don't know if it's just because I've been busy, but the days have been passing by so quickly that I barely notice."Are you sure, Mama Cecille?" I asked as we were having breakfast in the dining room. I had told her that Marius invited me to go out for the day, and since I expected it to be a long day, I wanted to give her a heads-up in case I ended up coming home late."I'll take care of Andrea, Sam," she said, smiling at me. I knew she would. After all, during the long period when my brother wasn't around and Lana and Andrea were left in the care of Marius and Mama Cecille, it was Mama Cecille who took care of them. So, when it comes to taking care of my niece, Andrea, I'm sure she's in good hands.The truth is, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed in front of Mama Cecille. If only I could control myself, I wouldn't go out with Marius. But I can't deny the truth either—that I always want to be with him."Thank you, Mama Cecille," I said.She just nodded. "Will he pick you up here
After attending the church service, Marius invited me to the mall. We decided to have coffee at a nearby coffee shop, where our conversation took a delightful turn."Why didn't we have coffee at your coffee shop?" he asked me.At that moment, I was enjoying the bibingka I had ordered, along with the black coffee in my cup. I shrugged my shoulders and took a sip of coffee before answering Marius's question."I just didn't want our employees to think we were on a store visit," I replied. "And besides, I wanted to taste their coffee and bibingka here, to get an idea of how we can compete with them," I added, intentionally lowering my voice so that no one else could hear.Marius laughed at my statement, and I must say, he became even more attractive in my eyes. Although it wasn't the first time I had heard his laughter, it always sounded like music to my ears."You really are a businesswoman," he replied, his eyes sparkling with amusement before he picked up his cup of coffee to take a si