“N-No ..” Why is she asking me that? “Why?”
“Oh, nothing. I’m just curious.” She said as she released a relieved sigh.
Hmm…something smells fishy. I just brushed it aside for now.
Thank goodness, she decided to drop it and started to ramble on about her and Phoenix’s childhood.
I felt my ears ringing from hearing her tiny voice talk the whole time. I was happy when we finally arrived at our destination.
“Hey, Maria!” A farmer yelled in greeting at us the moment they saw our figure from afar.
Maria approached the farmer “Mang Kanor! How are you?”
“I’m still alive, still kicking!” The farmer, who I realized is Mang Kanor, replied. “How about you? How are you?”
“Well, here I am, still beautiful.” She answered with a tiny laugh and stopped, “Wait, where’s my father?”
“Oh, I think he’s there.” He pointed from afar. “Take care of your father Maria, it’s like he’s working too hard, he’s not resting.”
“All right, Mang Kanor. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” She said,
The farmer then noticed my presence and spoke up, “Oh, hello Sereia!”
I sent him a shy smile, “Hello.”
Mang Kanor smiled, “What brings you two here?”
Maria slung her arms on my shoulders, “Oh, I’m taking Sereia on a tour since Phoenix is at his meeting.”
“That’s good. Keep her company.” He then asked me, “Are you enjoying it so far?”
I shook my head yes, “Yes, I’m loving the province life.”
And with that, Maria excused us, “Then that’s all for now. We better leave. Goodbye Mang Kanor!”
Mang Kanor nodded and waved at us, telling us to be careful.
When Maria and I were alone again, I couldn’t help but ask her, “Your dad is one of Phoenix’s farmers?”
She nodded, proud of her father. “Yes. I had always accompanied my father here when I met Phoenix. And that started how we became close.”
“Oh, I see,” Was all I could say. So that’s it.
Maria decided for us to stop by at a house not too far from the rice field.
“Rap-rap? Jay? Mae-mae?” She yelled, and instantly, three little kids appeared from the house and ran towards Maria. One little girl and two little boys.
“Ate Mar!”
“Yehey!
“Let’s play?”
They all hugged her as soon as they saw her. Maria giggled and nodded her head. “Yes. But inform your mother first, okay?”
They nodded. The little girl seemed to notice me and asked. “What is your name?”
Maria started to introduce me to them. “Ah, this is your Ate Sereia, our new playmate. Take care of her, she’s Phoenix’s friend.”
She warned them and the little girl, who I think is seven years old, went closer to me. “She’s beautiful.” She mumbled but I heard it.
I felt my heart melting at what she said. Awe, it really feels good when little children compliment you. You know that they don’t lie.
Kneeling down so that we are eye level, I touched her head. Her hair was braided into two, and I pinched her cute little rosy cheeks. “Awe. Thank you. And you’re a very cute little girl.”
I said and she blushed. One of the two little boys ran towards me and exclaimed, “You’ll be my girlfriend when I grow up, right? Wait for me.”
I giggled at that. Awe. So innocent. “All right, I’ll expect that.” I ruffled his hair.
“Now remember kids, she’s Kuya Phoenix’s guest. Treat her well, okay?”
“All right!” They responded happily.
Maria then faced me and pointed to the little girl, “Sereia, before I forget, that’s Mae-mae.”
She then pointed at the boy who said that he would be my boyfriend, “That’s Rap-rap.”
And finally, the other little boy who was silently staring at me, “and this is Jay.”
I nodded my head, trying to memorize their names in my mind then. “I hope I can be your friend, everyone!” I said to them.
C’mon! Let’s play now!” Mae-mae said, grabbing my hands.
Maria stopped her, “Uh uh, let’s say goodbye to your mother first, okay?”
Maria said and rushed the children inside the house. A minute later, the children were screaming excitedly and running towards her.
“Carry me, Ate Sereia!!” Said the little girl, Mae-mae. I’m the type of person who can’t say no so I scooped up the little girl in my arms and she beamed happily. “Yehey!”
The other two little children became jealous and also went ahead to ride on my back.
“Children…did you forget what I just said? Behave yourselves or Ate Sereia will leave us.” Maria said to them, warning them. Dhe faced me apologetically, “I’m sorry about that, Sereia. They’re so wild.”
I just smiled at her. “It’s fine. I’m enjoying their company.”
Maria nodded and motioned Jay and Rap-rap to come to her, “Come to me, I’ll be the one to carry you.”
Rap-rap pouted and exclaimed. “We’re tired of you. We want the pretty Ate Sereia to carry us too.”
Maria fake-gasped, slightly hurt. “So I’m not pretty?”
“You’re beautiful too. But Ate Sereia is better.” Jay replied.
Sadness flashed in Maria’s eyes but she quickly hid it. She just smiled at me and walked ahead. “Come on!”
We were going to the mangroves and the children went up first.
“We want to steal a mango from our neighbor!” Rap-rap shouted. “Come on, Ate Sereia!”
“Steal?” I looked at Maria for confirmation and she just shrugged.
“Uhm…Are you sure it’s a good thing to do?” I asked.
Maria shook her head, “Well no, but the owner doesn’t care anyway. And we’ll only get a few mangoes so that the owner won’t notice it.”
I let that process in my head, nodding a bit. Okay? The little children looked at me, waiting for me to grab a mango.
I shook my head. Never in my 28 years in life did I steal. And it’s a mango. I laughed at the thought.
*****
We did a lot throughout the day. And it was as if I was going back to being a child. And I miss the feeling of being a child again. But honestly, no matter what I say about Maria being suspicious, I’m thankful for her that I had fun today.
When we finished stealing the mangoes from the neighbor’s tree, we played hide and seek and all the other games I was not really familiar with.
Throughout the afternoon of chasing and running around, I was bathed in sweat. I breathed deeply, now panting. The weather is hot and humid since it’s summer but very enjoyable. I get to laugh and release all the pent-up stress in my body.
And now, I’m hiding behind the mango tree for another round of hide and seek. Fortunately, the tree was big enough to conceal me.
Maria is chosen as the seeker while I and the other children were the hiders.
I could hear Maria counting from 1 to 20.
18 …
19 …
20 ….
Now that she’s finished counting? She shouted in the distance, “Time is up. Where are you guys?” She asked, now walking to find the children.
“Hi, my princess.”
I jumped in panic at the sudden sound and forced myself not to shout. I look behind me and there, with all his glory, a grinning Phoenix. He seemed amused at everything.
“Phoenix?” I can’t believe it but asked in a whisper, glancing at Maria’s direction to see if she noticed where I was. I sighed when Maria was still finding the other children in the opposite direction.
He put his finger on my lips to shush me. “Shh … this looks fun. I want to play too.” He said and peeked to see where Maria was.
“Why are you here?” I whispered-yelled.
“My meeting is over and I missed you.”
He simply answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He gazed at me with his blue eyes, and I felt like drowning in them.
Did he miss me? I gulped, noticing that he was so close to me. We’re only inches apart and I could feel his breath fanning over me that it tickles my nose.
I couldn’t let myself speak, as I felt my heart throbbing and my cheeks flushing. His gaze was too heavy for me to bear that I looked away from him and that made him have a cheeky smile.
Instantly, he grabbed my hand and dragged me away and I was pulled from a trance.
What the-where is he going to take me?
I struggled to lose his hand from me but his grip tightened even more.
“Phoenix! What are you doing? Can’t you see we’re in the middle of a game? Maria might catch me! I don’t want to be the next seeker!” I yelled loud enough for him to hear.
He turned to me, “Playtime is over, princess. I actually came here to get you. We’re leaving.”
“What? But the game – I mean, what about Maria? Should we say goodbye first?” I suggested.
My heart was beating so fast at this point and I don’t know if it’s from the nervousness of Maria finding me or from the anger from Phoenix dragging me away here.
Well, I think it’s both. What is Phoenix even thinking?
He sniffed at me and made a disgusted look, “You smell like sweat now.”
I scoffed at his comment. “Whatever. I still want to play more.” I shook my head vigorously, stubborn like a child.
What can I say? I was deprived of this kind of childhood. Throughout my father’s overprotective gesture to me, it finally dawned on me that I really didn’t really have the chance to be a “kid”.
He sighed, “Okay, finish this game and we’ll say goodbye to Maria.”
I nodded and was about to hide again when Maria already saw us. “Phoenix, you’re here. How about the meeting?” She asked, approaching Phoenix to hug him and Phoenix hugged back.
I would say I really find this strange for just mere childhood friends to have this kind of relationship but I got used to it by now. I guess I should stop pointing at Maria as the bad guy here.
“It went well. We finished earlier than I thought so I figured I’ll see if Sereia was taken care of.” Phoenix answered, wrapping his arms around my shoulders.
Maria stared at Phoenix’s hand on me and she bit her lip, now looking down. She cleared her throat awkwardly, now faking a smile on her face. “Of course. She enjoyed today, right Sereia?”
I nodded, “Yes, thank you for letting me enjoy today, Maria.”
“You’re welcome!” She exclaimed happily. “A friend of Phoenix is also a friend of mine.”
Saying our goodbyes to her and the little children who were now out of their hiding spots, Phoenix then guided me to where he parked his car. I stared at it, now noticing something. It’s a vintage-style country car. It looks very old and almost like it’s broken.
I raised my eyebrows at him, “Are you sure it’s your car?” It seems unbelievable for a billionaire to drive it around. Considering his rich and famous, I really hadn’t expected this.
“Yes.” He answered. “Why?”
So that is why he refused to use it last time when we went to the farm. I’m afraid that one push and will break.
“Nothing, I’m just amazed that it’s not a limousine.” I joked and he chuckled at that.
“Try to drive a limousine on a muddy road. No sane person would do that.”
He opened the passenger door for me, and I hopped on it. He then put on the seatbelt for me before seating the driver’s seat and turned on the engine.
“My stay here really forgot that you have a car. We did a lot of walking to the farm and you never made an offer to use this car.” I commented and he shrugged.
The ride to the mansion was far from quiet. If anything, we were so loud that I’m afraid we shook the whole neighborhood.
With the radio streaming some songs, I started to sing and Phoenix soon joined in. It was chaotic, and I laughed as Phoenix mimicked some dance moves while driving.
“Didn’t expect you to be jamming to this song,” I commented as we listened to the Killing me Softly playing on the radio
He shrugged, giving me some snacks he stored from his car.
“Oh, I always hear it going home.” He answered.
I cleared my throat, “Thanks for today, by the way.” I suddenly spoke.
He frowned at that. “For what? I didn’t do anything except to drive you home.”
I shook my head, “It’s not that. I’m referring to you going on a meeting where I had a chance to meet other people. And I got to play with the kids.”
Plus, my view of Maria changed. She’s not bad after all. I think I can tolerate her.
He pouted and teased, “You really seem to enjoy being away from me.”
I was about to reply when a sharp pain stabbed my stomach. I stopped.
Phoenix noticed my mood changing so he asked, “What? What’s wrong?”
Realizing what it was, I muttered a curse. Oh. It’s the time of the month. Why now? I heaved a sigh.
“Being a girl sucks,” I mumbled.
Phoenix turned to me, hearing that. “Being my girl wouldn’t.” He said.
My breath hitched. W-what?
He then cleared his throat, his face turning serious. “Sereia, I have a question for you.”
He was staring intently at me. The intensity was too much to bear so I looked away. “W-what …?” I asked.
“Tell me. You’re falling for me, aren’t you?”