Total Possession

Chapter 4 Knockout round 2.0

Matteo was waiting for her outside. He was standing in by one of the cars. He was casually leaning with his back to her, speaking into a mobile phone.

Paolo pleaded to Sarah to be nice to his brother. It was the fastest way of stopping his suspicions, he had assured her. 

An open, friendly person was a person with nothing to hide. His brother would quickly lose interest if he saw for himself that that was the case, he had argued.

Sarah had reluctantly agreed but had felt constrained to remind him that he owed her big time.

Paolo had always had the ability to get around her and she knew why. She trusted him. There was no dark and hidden agenda.

Mrs. Guidicelli expressed delight that she was getting along so very well with Matteo, who could be a handful. Still, she couldn't control a certain amount of angst against the man.

Matteo swung around to face her as soon as she began walking towards the car, snapping his mobile phone shut and shoving it into his pocket.

He looked cool, casual and sophisticated wearing a pair of khaki shorts, a short sleeved shirt which hung loosely over the waistband of the shorts, and with the dark shades which shielded his eyes from her. 

"Hindi mo talaga kailangan gawin ito," Sarah said when she was within speaking distance of him. "May trabaho kang gagawin at mas gusto kong magbasa ng libro sa labas ng garden."

Instead of answering, Matteo pulled open the passenger door of the car for her to get in.

"Not much of an adventure kapag pinangakuan ka na ipapasyal sa City," he said once inside the car. 

Behind the dark shades, it was impossible for her to know what he was thinking. She could only imagine the triumph in his eyes as he contemplated a morning of fierce cross-examination. 

"Hindi naman ako nandito para sa adventures," Sarah said. 

Sarah had changed out of her cropped jeans into something cooler, a short blue skirt that fitted on her hips and a short sleeved white vest. Now she felt very exposed even though she knew that Matteo wasn't interested in looking at her legs.

"So what did Paolo tell you about the city?"

"Ito'y malaki at may ilang magagandang boutique."

Matteo twitch his mouth. "Remind me to tell him never to consider a job in the tourist industry. Okay, here are some facts. Cebu City is the capital city of the province of Cebu. It is the second city of the Philippines, being the center of Metro Cebu, the second most populous metropolitan area in the Philippines after Metro Manila. Cebu City is also known as the "Queen City of the South". The history of Cebu goes way beyond more than 400 years ago when the island became a province at the start of the Spanish colonization. In the summer of March 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his troops on board five ships arrived in Cebu. They were warmly welcomed by Rajah Humabon's community. But Magellan was not received well at the island of Mactan, where he was slain by the local chieftain, Lapu-Lapu. A 20 meters bronze statue was erected in honor of Lapu-Lapu. Cebu is the spot where Philippine history began, becoming the cradle of Christianity, experiencing American and Japanese occupation. Later on it transformed itself into a regional hub of everything, from arts and craftsmanship, to business and information technology. Traditions remain unchanged over the years, while every taste of things that are modern is embraced."