Abby's POV...
"Is this a race?" Gorio asked as I got up on my horse.
"Sure." I answered and raised my chin. "Race till the creek."
"You sure about that?" He asked and I smirked.
"You know my horseback riding isn't that bad." I replied and he chuckled.
"And the prize of the winner?" He asked.
"Ehmmm. Should there be one?" I asked back.
"Well, it will be more fun if there is." He responded. "How about some doing some dare?"
"I have a better idea." I said and smiled.
"Anything you like, princess." He replied.
"Anything?" I teased and wiggled my brows.
"Yes, princess. Anything." He answered wiggled back his brows then we both laughed.
"If I win, grant me a wish and I'll do the same if you win." I said afterwards.
"One wish. I like it." He said coolly and smiled cheekily. "I'll win this for sure."
"You wish!" I said confidently and smirked.
"Yeah, for sure." He said and smiled widely.
"Let's go!" I said and started to make Spirit run.
"Hey!" He yelled and made Hero ran after us. "You didn't even count and made a go signal!"
"Come and get us!" I yelled back and I can just hear him chuckling as he tried to catch up.
"Coming now!" He yelled as he laughed.
"I won't let you catch us!" I replied loudly.
"Let's see about that!" He shouted, his laugh echoing.
***
"So, you have to grant my wish." He said huskily as he hugged me from behind.
I was staring at the creek while Gorio went to tie the horses on the tree. I didn't notice him walking back towards me. I held onto his hand and felt his strong arms engulfing more into a very warm embrace. I smiled feeling contented as he hugged me tightly.
"Wish?" I teased.
"Yep. My wish. I did my best to beat you." He answered from behind and I can smell his minty breath.
My inner self smiled.
I'm getting used to all this.
But...
What about Anthony?
Oh geez. Anthony.
What am I doing?
No. The right question is, what am I feeling?
Ever since I started going out with Gorio, I'd always get carried away and forget about Anthony. And that made me feel scared. I calmed and reminded myself that I was just dating Gorio to get close to Anthony.
Right.
Get you mind straight.
I then removed his hands around me and faced him. He was quite surprised when I turned to him but his eyes immediately softened. I stared at him for a while. His eyes are now looking at me lovingly. Like how he always looks at me. I looked away, trying to act cool.
"W-what's you wish?" I managed to ask before I gulped because of the way he stares at me. "I mean, you won. So I have to grant your wish."
"Can you really grant my wish?" He asked with a brow raised.
"You won. So I guess I have to." I answered. "Plus, I'm a woman of my word."
He just chuckled and my brows met as I pouted.
"Just tell me."
"Okay. Okay. Fine." He said as he started to get serious. His right hand went up and caressed a side of my face. "My only wish is for you to love me back."
"Huh?" I blurted out immediately as I was speechless of his confession.
"I love you, princess." He said as he looked at me intently and I felt like I'm melting. "And if ever you can grant that wish then I'd be the happiest man in the whole universe."
There's these mixed emotions in my heart that I can't express when I heard him say that. It sounds cheesy but somehow it warms my beating heart.
"I know we just started dating over a week ago. But I wanna tell you now and let you know." He continued. "I have been loving you since the first time I saw you here. And it just grew deeper and deeper each day. I love you sooo much."
He looked at me lovingly and longingly, like waiting for me to say the magic words back.
"I..I.." I managed to say but no words followed.
I was dumbfounded and completely speechless. He literally took my breath away.
"You don't need to say it back if you don't feel it yet." He said and smiled sweetly. "That's why I ask it as my wish. My wish is for you to finally love me back. And I am hoping that you can grant this wish for me in the future. I am very much willing to wait till you do."
Then his face went down and kissed my forehead.
"I will wait until you do."
***
I opened my eyes slowly and was a bit surprised to see the white ceiling and white walls. I'm still in daze but I tried my best to look around. I was lying on the bed with my wrist connected to a glucose drip.
Hospital?
Why am I in the hospital?
My mind is still cloudy and I can't quite remember the last thing that had happened to me. Then I saw Mrs. Norris entering my room.
"Oh my gosh, you're awake Ms. Abby!" She exclaimed as she ran to my side and felt my forehead. "Thank goodness your fever is gone now. You made us so worried!"
"What happened?" I asked, still trying to grasp on what's exactly going on.
"After you washed the dishes and fixed the kitchen, you suddenly fainted. And you had a high fever." Mrs. Norris answered. "I already had a feeling that you're pushing yourself too hard when you cooked, Abby. I knew that you weren't feeling well. I should have stopped you from working earlier. I'm sorry."
Then I tried recalling and I remembered cleaning the kitchen and after that, everything is blank.
I didn't expect that I'll faint.
"Oh. It's not your fault Lolita. I just felt like I still needed to cook and all. I knew that I wasn't feeling that well when I woke up but I didn't realize that I had a fever." I replied and smiled faintly. I still feel weak and tired. "How long have I been here?"
"I brought you here around 1 pm and now it's already 8 in the evening." she answered.
"Oh my gosh. I have taken a lot of your time. You should've been gone by 5 pm." I said guiltily.
"Silly. It's totally fine. Plus, I will be gone when Mr. Salvador returns." She answered. "I let him go and change first. He doesn't wanna go at first but good thing I was able to convince him."
Gorio?
"He was here?" I asked out of nowhere.
"Yes, Miss. He was here from the moment you were examined until about more than 30 minutes ago when I asked him to go and change." Mrs. Norris answered sweetly. "He was so worried. He doesn't even wanna let you out of his sight. But then I told him that he won't be comfortable wearing his suit for the whole night while he stays here and watch over you. And he also must go and get your things and his."
He's worried?
Impossible.
Didn't he just ignore me ever since he met me again?
And he hates me, right?
"Really?" I asked again.
"Yeah, silly. He never left your side and he made sure with the doctor that you are absolutely okay." She said.
I can't help but smile when I heard that.
Does that mean that even if he hates me, he still cares for me?
Right?
So if he still cares, then there's a big hope for forgiveness.
Right?
And maybe...just maybe...for a second chance?
"I think he might be coming back by now." Mrs. Norris said bringing me back to consciousness after my mind started imagining things about me and Gorio.
"Huh?"
"He might be coming back by now as he emphasized that he'll be back as soon as he can." Mrs. Norris said again and smiled warmly. "But while waiting, you have to eat some of this warm porridge. I just reheated it for you. It'll help you recover faster."
"Thank you, Lolita." I said and her smile widens.
***
I was done eating the porridge and Mrs. Norris is now cleaning it up for me when Gorio suddenly entered the room.
"Mrs. Norris, sorry I was caught in a bit of a traffic and so I came back a little late as I-" he started blabbering but stopped when he met my eyes.
We held eyes for quite some time and he blushed a little. Well, my inner self smiled and I blinked several times trying to decipher if I was still dreaming or not.
"No problem, Mr. Salvador. You are just in time!" Mrs. Norris said as she clapped her hands breaking our eye contact as he looked her way. "I am also almost done cleaning up."
"Oh, okay." He answered and placed the overnight bag in the couch of the suite room we're in.
He went to my side and his hand automatically reached for my forehead.
"No more fever. Good." He commented right after and looked at me with a stoic expression. "How are you feeling now?"
I gulped and tried to wet my dry lips. "A little weak and tired. But I feel so much better."
"I'm done and I think I need to go now." Mrs. Norris interrupted and we both looked at her. She smiled and took all of her things.
"Thank you." We answered in unison.
Mrs. Norris looked at us cheekily and waved her hand before going out of the room.
"Why didn't you just rest when you're not feeling well?" Gorio suddenly asked afterwards.
"I really didn't expect it to get worse. I thought I can manage." I answered honestly. "And I didn't want to make you worry."
"But you did." He answered. "What would your Pop say if anything happened to you?"
Right.
So he cares only because of Pop.
He cares only because he cares about what Pop would say if something bad happens to me.
But he doesn't really care for me.
"I'm sorry. I just thought that I can." I replied as I started feeling down again. My face sulking upon my realizations.
And then his stare got deeper.
"Is there anything you're keeping from me?" He asked afterwards.
I just looked at him. I can't think of anything I was keeping from him at the moment.
"I don't really remember anything now." I answered honestly.
"And then why did you ask Peter to lie about the food you've been preparing for a month now?" He continued to ask.
My eyes widened in surprise. How did he know about that?
"I..I.." I stuttered as I didn't know how to answer.
"See?" Gorio blurted out as he slightly shook his head. "And you didn't know?"
I felt nervous. By the way he looks at me now, I cannot even say if he's mad or anything.
"I was gonna tell you about-"
"Until when will you continue lying to me about it?" He interrupted, his lips thinner. "Are you trying to make fun of me? Make a fool out of me?"
Oh...
He's mad.
"Trust me. I wasn't-" I tried to explain.
"You made me believe that I was eating something from someone who has a small catering business for home cooked foods for more than a month now. And you just made my most trusted assistant to lie to my face as you both make a fool out of me. And now you expect me to trust you?" Gorio asked in a mocking tone. His voice loud and firm.
I immediately swallowed the lump on my throat.
"Sorry." I replied right away and looked down. "You were mad at me and didn't even bother eating the foods I was preparing and cooking for you. And I...I just wanna make sure that you are eating right. So...so I asked Peter to help me give you the food without telling you that it's from me...It's not his fault. I'm sorry."
The look of disappointment in his eyes and the way his face creased tells it all.
"Sorry?" He asked sarcastically. "That is what you always say, Abigail. You always think that you can just do everything you want and play around people. And when you say sorry then everything will magically just be okay because you said sorry."
"I...I wasn't-" I started as tear started filling my eyes.
"You've never changed, Abigail." He suddenly interrupted with a glare. "You will always be a liar."
And then he went out of the room. As usual, I cried.
***