~~~ CHAPTER 16 - MISSED FRIEND ~~~
Goodness gracious!
"Am I imagining, mom? Is he really here?" I asked mom, so thankful to the newcomer that I could have a chance to disregard the issue of my drunkenness. But, apart from that, I was really happy to see him again.
"No, you aren't, dear," she declared as she signalled him to get inside. He stepped in bringing mommy's traveling bag.
I stood up and met him. "Diego!"
"Hi, Thea!" he accosted me with the widest smile ever. He was wearing a white short-sleeved button-down shirt and black slacks, the Sarmientos' driver's uniform.
"Oh, my God! I can't believe you're here! Did you drive all the way here?"
"Yup," he said casually. I had been used to the way he talked to me, like I was not the señorita of The Fields. He was my friend after all. Well, after the community services I had at La Carlota with Diego and Elena, I decided that the two of them stop calling me señorita. I just thought they were my friends and I personally liked them to call me on first name basis. Mom knew about it and what could she do.
I caught a glimpse of Nigel's bewildered expression as Diego and I faced each other. I thought I heard Nigel's curse as he walked out on us. He probably headed to the dining room.
"Congratulations! You've finally driven up to here. That's very good," I spoke excitedly, grabbing his arm. "Oh my, can't really believe you're here! How I wish Elena too were here!"
"Elena's busy with college, you know," Diego smiled, giving me the impression of his excitement when he uttered the word college.
"Wow!" I blurted, grasping my mouth with my right palm as I turned to Mommy Carol. "Seriously, mommy? Elena is now going to college? That was very sweet of you!" I went to mom and hugged her.
"The señora is also sending me to college," Diego reported from behind me.
Now I knew what to give Elena and Diego this Christmas. They must have cell phones so I could easily check them out.
When I faced him again, he was rubbing his nape with his forefinger. His blushing cheeks showed not of embarrassment but of incitement especially in the utterance of the word college. Perhaps, the realization of his dream had not yet sunk in him.
Way to go, Diego!
"I kept my promise, darling," mom said.
Didn't I have the greatest mommy in the world?
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Yes, we had a late dinner. Mommy, Diego, and I spent like an hour talking before we finally realized that Suzana had already served it. It was Nigel who cut the conversation off by asking whether we were to take our dinner or not. What was really with that guy? Should he be rude all the time?
After dinner, Nigel left to his room while mom went early to my bed. Mom and I both decided that she had to take a rest in my room. I guessed the catching up with her would be tomorrow. So, for the meantime, I stayed with Suzana and Diego in the kitchen for I wanted to be updated with everything in The Fields. While Suzana was dishwashing, Diego and I sat on the high stools beside the kitchen island.
"Really? How amazing is that!" I shreiked after Diego told me about how Elena was doing in college. He said all her professors were impressed of her good performance. "I always know Elena's brilliant. Wow! And how about you?"
He rubbed his nape and avoided eye contact with me, "Well, just... just trying to cope..."
I laughed loudly with how he reacted, "You better do well in your studies, Diego! You dream of becoming an engineer, don't you?"
"Yeah... yeah..." he shrugged his shoulders and continued, "but I didn't know college is that tough. But I'm trying, really trying hard! I'm not going to give up, just so you know! This has been my dream and, now that the señora is helping me achieve it, there's no way that I'm giving this up!"
Hearing his determination and assurance to finish college, though there was some sort of hesitation in his voice with how he was going to cope up with it, I felt proud and happy for him somehow.
"I'm really happy for you and Elena," I said.
He smiled showing his dimple in his left cheek, "I feel so grateful right now, you know."
Our conversation was interrupted for a while when Suzana asked permission to leave already. She said she would come earlier the next day for she had to prepare mom's milk bath. It would be Suzana's routine to please her señora with her bath and her meal every time the latter was around.
When she left, Diego, who was still in his driver's uniform, and I continued talking like we had not seen each other for years. It was our time for catching up so we made the most of it. He told me about the town college where he and Elena had been going to. He told me about La Carlota and the village children who missed me. He told me about The Fields, that nothing had been changed in there. Everything had been quite the same since the last time I was there. The mention of The Fields made me smile a lot.
"How's my lagoon now?" I asked eagerly.
"That I cannot answer!" He said, raising his hands up. "Your lagoon is a restricted area, isn't it?"
I grinned widely. "Oh, I miss that place so much!"
"Can't wait for the semestral break," Diego muttered, "so the lovely señorita will once again be visible in the hacienda."
I couldn't be more agreeable. I nodded and smiled at him.
We were like that, happily conversing and laughing, when Nigel entered the kitchen. He looked like he had just showered as obviously observed through his wet jet-black hair. He also looked like he was already ready for bed for he had changed already into a pair of pajamas.
Abruptly, Diego ceased from what he was telling me when Nigel came in. There was an awkward silence after that. Nigel headed to the refrigerator and got himself a bottle of mineral water. The sound of the shutting of the refrigerator door almost made me jump from where I was sitting. I believed Diego jerked himself from his seat, too. The shutting was done so harshly and brusquely that it seemed like Nigel was planning to tear it down.
What the hell was that?
I saw him gulping the cold water from the bottle. His back was facing Diego and me. Then, he turned his body to face us. Both Diego and I suddenly fidgeted on our seats. Why the hell he looked like he was going to eat us alive? Angry?
"Can't you guys tone down your voices a little bit? I could practically hear the both of you in my room!" he stormed out.
What? That loud? He must be exaggerating. His bedroom was way, way too far from the kitchen.
Diego stayed like a scared rabbit on the stool. He never looked up to meet Nigel's glare. So whatever happened to Diego's oozing confidence?
"W-we're sorry," I apologized.
Nobody messed up with this cold-hearted man, right?
"You compose yourself, Althea," he reminded me as if I were a kid who had just done something really bad. I felt bad myself.
"I'm sorry," I apologized for the second time.
Nigel trotted to the doorway but, before he was finally out of our sight, he turned to us, "And, by the way, it's almost twelve o'clock."
When he was gone, Diego and I breathed in and out hard simultaneously.
"Whew, I didn't know he's way too scary," Diego spoke out in relief that the man already left.
I gave him a weak smile, "Yeah, that... that was the great Nigelito Joaquin Sarmiento..."
"He's going to be your husband, Thea. Are you ready for that sort of temper?" He whispered like he was really concerned of me.
So Diego had finally accepted my engagement with Nigel... As in? Well, I was glad he finally got over me.
"I was born ready for that kind of temper, Diego," I said in all honesty. Well, that was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I had learned to accept wholeheartedly both the good and bad sides of Nigel. I was more than ready to be his wife.
"So, it's almost twelve o'clock indeed," he looked at his wrist watch. "Let's go get some sleep now or else..." he playfully smirked as he caught a glimpse of the doorway, trying to deliver the idea that Nigel might reappear there anytime soon.
I grinned at him and nodded my head.
I led him to the lone room near the kitchen where Suzana would stay whenever she was with me at night. I learned that she had changed the bed sheets for Diego before she left.
"Good night, Diego," I said as he was about to close the door.
He stood there like a dumbstruck boy. "I can't believe I'm seeing you right now, Thea. Good night, too."
"I'm more than happy to see you," I replied.
Slowly, he closed the door before me.
I missed you, Diego. I really do.
And I missed Elena, too.
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
I was grinning as I was marching to my room. I was grateful that somebody of my friends in The Fields actually visited me here. I couldn't help myself from grinning widely...
And, not only that, Mommy Carol, was actually in my room right now. That would mean that I could snuggle with her on my bed until morning.
Here I come, mommy.
With a big smile plastered in my face, I was silently treading the hallway to my room. Then, unexpectedly, I caught sight of Nigel standing and leaning his back lazily on his bedroom's door. His face was tilted a bit upward while closing his eyes. The bottle of mineral water was still in his hand.
What? Sleeping on the door?
I was about to say Hey, man! Why are you sleeping on your door? Is this the latest fad? But after his outburst in the kitchen a while ago, I didn't know if I still got the guts to speak to him. So silently, I moved to reach the door of my room just across where he was standing.
I was just about to surreptitiously open it when I heard him ask me a stupid question.
"So, how was it going with your boyfriend?"
I turned around to pay him an attention. Still, he was leaning on the door and closing his eyes.
"Boyfriend?" I asked confusedly.
Laggardly, he slightly opened his left eye first as if taking a peek on me, then two lazy eyes were now directed to me. "Diego, your boyfriend, how was your meeting with him? Too happy to see him, huh?"
Here we go again! Argh!
"How many times shall I tell you that he's not my boyfriend? He's just a friend," I told him, emphasizing the last word.
Still lazily, he pulled himself from the door and stepped towards me. I felt the awakening of the butterflies in my stomach when I beheld his towering figure in front of me.
"And how many times shall you lie to my face, Althea?" he bent down as he whispered it to my ear.
I awkwardly moved a step backwards until my back crushed into my bedroom door.
"I am not lying. I'm telling the truth," I said also in a whisper.
"Should I tell mom that her f-cking driver is your boyfriend? Could you also admit it to her so our supposed engagement would be finally over?"
"That's so freaking stupid," I gasped. "You are so not going to do that."
He drew a deep breath as he backed a little farther away from me. "I will, if you don't stop acting like you're my very faithful novia."
"I'm faithful to you, Nigel. Super faithful, in fact," I said matter-of-factly.
"And you are just one heck of a liar, Althea," he pronounced as he threw me a glare.
"Why do you keep on insisting that Diego is my boyfriend? Are you jealous?" Geez, was I too assuming? I didn't know but I just bravely stated what my heart dictated me to say.
Catching me by surprise, Nigel again stood closely before me and leaned his free hand on the door behind me so that his firm chest came into contact with my face. I gasped for air to breath as I brought my face upward to meet his eyes.
"Really, Althea? You who are one heck of a liar have the nerve to ask me that question? Jealousy is not in my stock of vocabulary especially if it has something to do with you," he stated firmly, clenching his jaws.
He looked mad, yes, but I had to be firmer than him. God help me.
"Really? Not jealous, huh? No feelings for me, huh?" I asked with a wry smile. "Then, how would you explain your almost kissing me in the living room hours ago?" I met his shocked expression with a pretend bravery.
Nigel's face reddened just as how I felt the heat in my cheeks.
Oh, my God! Why did I even mention the thing? My heart beat crazily as my mind visualized that intimate scenario.
He leaned his upper trunk to me even more. I trembled with our intimate closeness... again. I felt my whole body slumped to the door helplessly.
"Listen to this, dear princess," he mumbled acidly as our eyes battled, both vying to win this clash. "I've made out with a lot of girls without giving any meaning to the kiss at all. It was just a manly thing to do. Don't assume too much." He grasped his breath many times before he decided to back away from me.
I felt the heaving of my chest. Made out with girls? Lots of girls? No meaning at all to him?
Lots of girls?
Somebody had just poured a pail of water onto me! Like always, Nigel always found the right words to hurt me.
Finally, as he turned away, he left me flustered as he spoke, "Pretend again as my faithful novia and I'm gonna kick your f-cking boyfriend's ass out of here!"
In times like this, I was just too grateful that Mommy Carol was around. I badly needed someone to comfort me right this very moment.
I opened the door behind my back and walked backwards into my room. I could still see Nigel's towering figure in the hallway as I closed it. I slid myself underneath the comforter and curled myself up cozily under mom's loving arms.
"I love you, mommy," I whispered to her.
The sleeping beauty embraced me tightly and smiled.
Oh, mommy! How am I going to make myself the perfect girl for him? Please, care to help me, mommy.
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
A/N
Raise your right hand if you sense some jealousy here! lol.
Comment, comment, comment! I really loooove to hear from you!
And, oh, by the way, Nigel is pronounced /'Ny-jel/, but Nigelito (as how I like it to be pronounced) must be read /Ni-he-'li-to/. That's it.
Thanks again for just being there for this book. BTW, Happy Halloween!!!
'Til next update, guys!
(sapphiregirl22) ~_^