Asia has decided long ago, she wouldn’t be using her connections to climb up the social ladder. Kaya kahit pa dala niya ang apelyido’ng Acosta, she would often answer, when asked if she has any connections to the Acosta’s, that her family name is just a random, nameless Acosta, na nagkataon lang na pareho’ng apelyido, pero hindi talaga magkadugo.
She wanted to be successful with her own hard work. And she’s actually doing it already. Her family knows this, of course, they support her fully and if they wanted to help, they would do it discreetly.
Pero ang kapatid niya, absent ata nung pinaalam niya ang bagay na ‘yun sa buong pamilya. Because her brother was walking towards their direction, not minding the eyes that were following him around.
Gus
Hi! It's been a long time. Didn't get to update lately because we were hit by the Typhoon Odette and our electricity was out for a few days! But all is well, altho, I do pray and hope for our other kababayans affected by Odette to be safe still. My prayers are with them. Will try making updates before Christmas, and also before New Year. Yey! I hope u enjoy reading this chap, bcos I srsly enjoyed writing this one! Song title was "Moment" by Jay Warren, just in case u want to know. Give it a try, it's a great song!
“Where have you been?” Ang tanong ng magaling niyang pinsan na prenteng naka-upo sa pwesto nila kanina, he had a bottle of whiskey sitting in one side and an almost empty glass on his hand. She took four long strides to where he sat and immediately landed a forceful smack on his arm, making her idiot cousin flinch a little. She should’ve hit him even harder. “Where have you been, my ass!” padabog siyang sumalpak ng upo sa katabing bakante’ng upuan, she made a grab for the whiskey bottle, taking the empty glass from Raf and pouring herself some. She made a face after chugging the whiskey down. “I should be the one asking you that, you idiot!” 
Awa lazily picked her phone up, nakadapa siyang nakahiga sa king-sized bed sa kwarto niya sa family house nila sa metro; the said family house was what they used to live with her parents and siblings when they were younger. Wala kasi ang Papa niya rito, he’s overseas for a business trip; the Voltes Five decided to celebrate Ember’s birthday at her family house for a change. At ang mga magagaling, iniwan siya ng mga ito mag-isa, ni hindi man lang nag-abala’ng gisingin man lang siya bago sila umalis. It was a Sunday morning, and Sundays mean family time, which means she— and the rest of the Acosta’s available and nearby— would be coming home to their ancestral house at the compound to spend the whole day with the whole clan.
“It’s really surprising to see you here,” she told Drew for the nth time. The doctor just chuckled. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t want you here, but it’s just weird.” A beat. “And rare.” Nilingon siya ng binata, brows furrowed. “What is?” “That they’re letting others join us when this is supposedly a family-exclusive get-together.” “I could leave.” There was sincerity in Drew’s words that made her feel bad for even blurting those nonsense and irrelevant shit out. “I hate to impose.”  
Turns out, there wouldn’t be any counselling sesh to happen, naalala niyang this week na pala ang alis niya para sa project nila ni Troy na ishu-shoot sa Luzon, Visayas at Mindanao. Kung alam niya lang, sana nung nasa mansion si Drew ay nag-demand na siya ng sesh. “I’m really sorry, Drew,” she told him over the phone, “Maybe after this project.” “It’s really okay, Awa.” Drew chuckled from the other line. “I understand but if anything, you can call me any time, okay?” “Okay, Doc. Copy that.” napabuntong-hininga siya’t ngumiti kahit hindi naman nakikita ng kausap. “I must be holding you from work, I gotta hang up.”&nb
“Are you not gonna sleep yet?” A voice from behind asked. Napalingon siya sa pinanggalingan ng boses at ngumiti. “Nah, not yet. Still waiting for a call.” Hinintay niyang maka-upo ang bago’ng dating bago nagtanong, “And you?” “Nah, not yet.” Paul Montana playfully smirked at her, to which she returned with a slight shaking of her head. “Trying to marvel the scene and the fact that I’m at the other side of the world.” “You’re travelling a lot, though.” “True.” Nagde-kuatro ito at sumandal sa upuan. “But I haven’t been here, in the Philippines. Although, I heard a lot about
After that little pep talk they had a couple nights ago, Troy had went back to being his usual self: loud and, dare she say it, annoying. He was messing around her majority of the day, especially during breaks. He would annoy the hell out of her until they’d both end up running around, with Awa chasing after him, hoping to get a chance to smack him at least once. Nagtatakbo ang binata palayo sa kanila, hinayaan niya na dahil pagod na siya kakahabol. And although she has the height, Awa just couldn’t catch up to him for reasons that 1) he’s six foot tall, mas mahaba ang legs nun kesa sa kanya; and 2) he was on the track and field back in high school and college, so of course he could run run. She went back to the tent panting, na-upo siya sa katabing upuan ni Paul— who was looking at her funny.&nbs
It wasn’t even fourty eight hours since they arrived at their last destination for their photoshoot when Awa received a call from a Rara. “Some terrible thing happened!” bungad nito pagkasagot na pagkasagot niya sa tawag nito. “I thought you ought to know.” “If it concerns the company and the employees, Rara, then yes, of course, I definitely shoud know.” Bumuga siya ng hangin at napahilot sa noo niya. “What is it this time?” “This time? So nangyari na ‘to dati?” “’Yung kamalasan, oo. N
Pina-una na niya’ng pumasok sa conference room sila Myra at Mia, because she made a quick detour to her office to meet up with her cousins. Awa received a message from them, informing her that they were in her office. And as much as she trust them with some errands, she couldn’t trust them enough when it comes to staying at her office, alone. They were busy arguing when she opened the door, tumigil lang nang makita siya. She made her way to the couch opposite theirs and sat. “You got it?” Ini-abot agad ni Blue, White’s younger brother, ang isang brown envelope sa kanya. She muttered a thank you bago mabilis na binuksan ang envelope para ma-check ang laman nito. Awa was eager to finally find out the truth and was ready to make the one responsible pay. &nb