PAULENE
And I am here in the Richmond Mansion, again.
This house could be featured in MTV Cribs and the magazines.
It's amazing that Franz seems like a really down to earth person. He is really like a prince-- humble even though he is rich, smart, and very handsome.
He lacks one trait, though. It is none other than bravery.
I remember how scared he was at the Swinging Boat, not to mention that I also found out he is scared of Zombie movies.
I chuckled to myself.
Oh! And Eric's prank at the cabin!
Okay, that one does not count. It was really scary and I almost died, myself.
Franz was pretty brave at the cabin then. He even told us that scary story about the dog licks. I still hate him for using my name.
Well, I guess everyone has different fears.
As he, himself, told me, his fears do not make him less of a man.
I bit my lip as I remembered how close we were then.
"Let's just work in the library." Franz interrupted my fantasizing as he gestured me to the archway of their library.
I want a library this big inside my house someday.
"Give me a minute, I'll just go upstairs to leave my things," He said.
I gave him a nod before placing my things on the long, varnished, mahogany table.
I then went around their home library. I estimate more than 10,000 books inside this room.
I took out one book from the shelf just to check if the books displayed are real. I saw on TV that some designers just use empty boxes that are designed to look like books to fill shelves of home libraries.
I open the book and flipped its pages.
Wow. Real books.
I roamed my eyes around the room.
How can one family acquire this much wealth?
I then looked back on the opened book I was holding. The first word I saw on the page was, "Capitalism".
I chuckled to myself as I closed the book and returned it on the shelf.
I walked around and saw a small coffee table at a corner with picture frames on it.
I bent my knees as I take a good look at the pictures.
These are family pictures.
Franz is so cute!
And so that's how Franz's Dad looks like.
And Lucy looks pretty much the same even if she was with a kid Franz. She is still as beautiful now.
I then remembered the story Franz told me-- about Lucy's miscarriage.
Frances Lucia would have been very lucky to be born in this family. Franz's parents seem so loving. They seem like a very happy family. It's like they already have everything.
I then noticed a picture of a little Franz with a cute, chubby, little girl with blonde hair.
The kid looks very familiar.
I try to think of child actresses.
Hmm...
It's not a child star.
The familiarity is quite disturbing.
I know now!
I pick up the picture frame to take an even closer look.
Is this little girl Tiffany Hales?!
I examined the little girl's features.
I'm pretty sure it's her. If not, then, they really have a strong resemblance.
If this is Tiffany, it means she knew Franz since they were kids.
And they look really close in this picture. Little Franz had his arm over little Tiffany's shoulder.
They don't seem that tight the last time we were all together.
"She was my best friend then."
I was startled when I heard a voice behind me.
It was Franz.
I carefully put the picture frame back on the table.
Damn it.
"I'm so sorry, Franz. I didn't mean to--"
"It's alright," He cut me off.
"Uhh... That girl was your best friend? She looks like... uhh.. Tiffany. That's why I picked it up just to take a closer look," I explained to him.
"Yes. It's Tiffany. We used to be best friends," He said as he turned his back on me and walked towards the Mahogany table.
I followed him.
"Let's start? We don't have all night," He said.
"Uhh-- Yeah. Let's," I answered.
We then started researching for our report on Aristotle.
We decided to find what we need on books in their library because book sources are more reliable than the Internet. Franz was pretty sure that they have books on Philosophy somewhere here. However, he also instructed me to research via Internet later tonight for further information and references.
I'll be doing the research on Aristotle's biography while Franz will focus on Aristotle's works. Of course, I chose to do the biography. It's easier.
Or not?
I look at the piece of paper Franz gave me.
In it are his scribbles that read, "Aristotle's Biographical Sketch. birth, childhood, education, adulthood, until death-- everything!!"
I heave out a sigh as I start looking for useful information in a sea of Philosophy books.
"Will I bring all of these books at home?" I asked.
"Nope. I'll need those books too because the ones that contain biography, most of the time, also contain information on his works. Hmm... I have an idea! We will scan the pages you need, and then, we print it here so you can take them home," He answered.
"Wow. You are really smart. I never thought of that."
"How was that smart? It's common sense," Franz snickered.
I squinted my eyes at him.
"Guess common sense is not so common." He then let out a laugh.
I give him the middle finger.
Mom was already texting me. I replied to her all the information she needed to get here.
Time flies so fast, it's already almost 8PM.
When Franz was already satisfied with the number of references and the volume of information that we have, we started scanning and printing some pages of the books we need using the PC and scanner/ printer inside their home library.
After we're done printing, I now have about 50 pages of short bond paper with me.
"Is your mom coming?" Franz asked.
"I guess? But we still have about... uhmm... an hour," I answered.
"Good, how about we scan the materials again and discard the ones with redundant information? We should also highlight important things in your materials already so that it won't be difficult for you later." He suggested.
"Perfect! Thanks so much, Franz. From now on, I'm gonna pair up with you," I said.
He then laughed at this.
I laughed along.
We proceeded with the plan and diligently screened our printed out materials. Some information are indeed repetitive-- different books that basically say the same thing.
I look at Franz as he was concentrating on reading the materials and highlighting some important information from time to time.
I can't help but smile.
He is really diligent. He doesn't even have to be. He already has everything. Yet, he still works so hard. Looking at him inspires me to work harder, to study harder.
"Okay, here you go," He said as he handed me a bunch of papers.
I took them from him and stuffed it inside my shoulder bag.
He then rose to shut down their computer and the printer.
I took some pieces of paper laying on the table that were considered rejects by the genius Franz.
At least, my bag is now lighter without them.
I noticed that one sheet of paper had highlights on it.
Hmm...
A crease formed on my forehead as I read the highlighted words that didn't quite make sense.
The highlighted words were, "he was", "deeply"
This is weird.
I went on reading, "affected", "When", "he", "knew"
And why is it that only letter "u" in the word "rule" is highlighted?
This doesn't make sense at all.
Why would he highlight random words or letters?
The things boredom can do to a person.
Hmm..
Wait--
I read the words again.
As I read the words out loud inside my head, they started to form a sentence--
'He was, deeply, affected, when, he, knew, u.'
'He was deeply affected when he knew you.'
I was then startled when Franz suddenly snatched the paper from me.
I watch him crumple the paper.
"You read it? Uhh, I mean, you don't need these papers here. I already gave you everything you need there," He said, a hint of panic in his voice.
He went on, "I- I- j-just randomly highlighted things on this paper since you won't need this anyway. D-did you find important information here?"
He then quickly straightened out the piece of paper he crumpled.
"No! It's okay. I just checked to see if there's something there. You can throw that away now," I said.
'He was deeply affected when he knew you.'
I shrug off the words resounding in my head.
He just said it was random.
Why are you thinking so hard about it, Paulene?
It was nothing. Those were merely random highlights that coincidentally and amazingly formed into a sentence.
Besides, if it was not random, what is the significance of that message to you, Pau?
Nothing.
Well, it means that someone is actually inside Franz's head now.
Someone that has a great effect on him.
I want to know who that someone is.
Why does it matter?
It's not like I am the "u" that he refers to.
It might be Tiffany!
I brought her up earlier.
And something is surely going on between them.
Why am I even bothered?
It's nothing but meaningless highlights.
--
Check out the photo at the Multimedia on the side to see the material that Franz highlighted which bothered Paulene until the end of this chapter :)
Come on, give me a vote for the effort in making that photo! Haha! I actually typed the exact words from Judd Harmon's Political Thought in a document, highlighted the words, and print screened it! \:D/
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! The next events will be more exciting. I PROMISE! I am already so excited to let the next events unfold. Teeheehee! I hope you look forward to it!
This chapter is dedicated to CodyLongoLover13! Thank you so much for the love and support!