Episode 2

LUCAS decided to wander around. He wasn’t really planning to buy anything; he was just accompanying his older sister at her request.

 

 

His feet led him to the vegetable section. He smiled at the sight of the round, green leafy vegetables, his favorite. He was about to grab a cabbage when someone grabbed his hand. He turned to see who it was.

 

 

“You?!”

 

 

He thought to himself, “Small world.”

 

 

“Are you following me?” he asked, looking into the woman’s face. She was the one he almost ran over earlier.

 

 

“How dare you.”

 

 

“Saying something?” he teased, even though he heard her.

 

 

Instead of replying, the woman grabbed a whole cabbage and talked to it.

 

 

“Hays Maxine, is anyone around? No. But there’s a rude, arrogant jerk.”

 

 

“I’m Lucas.”

 

 

“Excuse me?” the woman said in a sarcastic tone. Her gaze was sharp and unfriendly.

 

 

“You were stating your name, so I guessed you wanna know mine,” he explained. He was amused by her reaction. “Girls’ strategy, right?”

 

 

The woman gasped and glared at him again. If looks could k*ll, he would have been dead already.

 

 

“Hey you, get away from me before I smash this cabbage on your face!”

 

 

He couldn’t hold back his laughter. She was practically spitting fire, prompting him to tease her even more.

 

 

“Old tricks you know. Women always do that to get men’s attention.”

 

 

He saw her chest rise and fall before she spoke again.

 

 

“Find someone else to talk to! I’m not interested in you!”

 

 

The woman was about to turn away, but he quickly stopped her cart.

 

 

“What’s your problem?!”

 

 

“Nothing. Have you?”

 

 

“You’re crazy!”

 

 

He grinned again. He had been in Sta. Monica for a while and could understand and speak Tagalog to some extent. But this woman’s way of speaking was so weird, or maybe this is just how people like her talk?

 

 

“Wanna talk about my motorcycle?” he said in a soft voice. “Do you even know how expensive it is---it’s a Harley Davidson.”

 

 

His amusement made the woman momentarily speechless. Her face turned redder than a piece of paper.

 

 

“Lucas..!”

 

 

He turned to the voice. It was his elder  sister, Lourine.

 

 

“Lourine..”

 

 

She was only a year older than him, so he called her that.

 

 

“I thought you left me already. And who’s that girl?” she looked at the woman next to him. “Girlfriend?”

 

 

“Hell, no!” he denied with a frown and approached Lourine.

 

 

He glanced at the stranger before helping his older sister push her cart. He was puzzled as he stared at his hand. He didn’t know if the woman had felt the same thing he felt earlier.

 

 

THIRTY minutes before reaching the Harrison mansion. It was perched atop a hill, which is why Lucas and Lourine, siblings, rarely went down to town.

 

 

“Good day, Sir!” greeted the guard, opening the large gate that served as the barrier to the Harrison family home. Lourine was driving her car while Lucas followed behind on his motorcycle.

 

 

“I told you darling, you don’t have to do that. Let Nanny Ebith do that,” said Lucas’s mother, Amelia Harrison. She watched Lourine as she busied herself arranging the groceries they bought.

 

 

“It’s okay Mom, I love doing this. Kinda stress reliever.”

 

 

“Yeah, you’re right, darling.”

 

 

“What are you doin’, baby brother?” Lourine turned to him, noticing him rummaging through the items.

 

 

“You didn’t buy cabbage?” he asked back, not finding what he was looking for.

 

 

“No.”

 

 

He frowned at the answer.

 

 

“Wait. You were too rushed. You even pulled me, right? It’s your fault baby brother why I wasn’t able to buy your favorite.”

 

 

“You should insist me to stay,” he insisted.

 

 

“Enough baby, I’ll ask Nanny Ebith to buy it,” his mom said.

 

 

He turned away from the two, feeling annoyed. It was funny, but cabbage was his weakness. He must have been conceived craving it.

 

 

“Lucas,” his mom called again, making him turn around. She sighed deeply before speaking. “Your Grandfather is coming soon.”

 

 

He didn’t say anything, and even Lourine stared at him.

 

 

“You cannot run away from it, Son,” she continued.

 

 

“I know,” he replied almost inaudibly. He secretly clenched his fists. That old man is going to witness his 21st birthday, and that day was the one he dreaded the most in his life.

 

 

---

 

 

“HERE’S the fare,” Maxine said to the tricycle driver, handing him a twenty-peso bill. She was in front of the mansion, unloading her groceries one by one.

 

 

“This is not enough, Miss.”

 

 

“How much is it?”

 

 

“Twenty-five.”

 

 

“That’s expensive. Any discount? I’m a student,” she complained.

 

 

“Come on. It’s only twenty-five, and you’re asking for a discount? Why didn’t you just walk then.”

 

 

Wow, when you’re unlucky, you really are. Why did it seem like everyone was just trying to annoy her today? She thought to herself.

 

 

She angrily dug into her purse and handed him some coins.

 

 

“Here you go. I hope your tire goes flat,” she muttered under her breath.

 

 

“Cheapskate,” the tricycle driver retorted, seemingly hearing her remark, before speeding away.

 

 

MAXINE caught sight of  Beatriz in the living room. She was reading a magazine.

 

 

“Hey!”

 

 

She stopped in her tracks and turned to her young mistress’s call.

 

 

“Why?”

 

 

“Bring me a glass of water.”

 

 

“Okay,” she replied and continued towards the kitchen, carrying her groceries.

 

 

“WHAT’S that?” Beatriz asked, raising an eyebrow at the glass she was carrying.

 

 

“A glass of water, Ma’am, can’t you see?” she retorted.

 

 

“I know! Are you going to give me water without ice?!”

 

 

“You didn’t say so,” she calmly answered her young mistress’s outburst.

 

 

“Common sense, stupid!” she yelled again.

 

 

“I’ll just change it.”

 

 

“Don’t!” Beatriz snapped. She set down the magazine she was reading and stood up.

 

 

Maxine watched her young mistress go upstairs, shaking her head. She had done that on purpose. She was incredibly annoyed today.

 

 

She picked up the glass of water to return it to the kitchen when a picture in a popular magazine caught her attention. It looked like a family picture. The two women sitting on the long couch were beautiful. Behind them, three men stood. Her eyes were drawn to the man in the middle, wearing a black suit – the arrogant one?! Next to him was an older man, probably his grandfather. She suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. She felt something was off about the old man’s face.

 

 

[HARRISON]

 

 

She raised an eyebrow. So that’s why that guy was so arrogant. He had something to be arrogant about.