(Flashback)
I know for a fact that my sister Hannah loves Nico as well.
I speculated it during the last few years.
During the years that they have been apart, Nico was the only who was very showy when it comes to loving my sister.
He went for a preceptorship under my company four years ago whereas artists will participate in an immersion for a year in the world of art under the person they want. In Nico's case, he wanted to be under my supervision.
During that intensive training, there was never a day that goes by whereas he did not ask how my little sister is doing or when she will come by and visit us.
Even my wife Julia learned about this certain affection of Nico to Hannah.
My sister, on the other hand, was a tough nut to crack.
She did not show emotions.
Always hard at work, a workaholic if I might say, Hannah always had this blank expression since she was small.
You would not even know if she was angry or happy for they all looked the same.
I guessed I was also a part to blame on that since I encouraged her together with my older brother Ysmael and dad to do martial arts with us and join us in all other boyish activities.
In conclusion, that made my sister brave, courageous and unladylike.
She never cries.
But with her adept background on masculine activities, that made her inept on the rest.
It also made her dense in all other fields, especially the romantic side.
However, it was one fateful summer that made me realize that my little sister was not so little anymore.
It was one of the hottest summers ever recorded in the Southern part of France.
My phone rang early in the morning and I heard a quite familiar voice from the other end of the line.
"Good morning Kuya!" Hannah chirped.
"Han, did you know that most people were still sleeping at 5 o'clock in the morning." I answered in annoyance.
I am a terrible morning person.
"Well, I am sorry." She said still with the cheery tone.
"It's just that I needed someone to pick me up at the airport." She continued.
"What?!" Hearing that statement activated my brain schemes rapidly.
"Where are you right now?" I asked as I jumped off the bed and ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face.
When I heard what terminal she was in right now, I hung up and woke up my wife.
"Where are you heading to?" Julia asked sleepily. "It's too early." She said as she checked the alarm clock on her bedside table.
"Hannah just called." I said as I struggled on putting my left sock on.
Now where is the other pair?
I rummage around and found it hiding inside the shoe couch.
"Eureka!" I yelled suddenly as I hastily put in on while standing on one leg.
"Shush! You'll wake up Jessica." My wife reprimanded me.
I quickly shut my mouth as I looked at the connecting door that was slightly ajar to hear if our baby was crying in her crib.
I swiftly put on my pants.
"As I was saying, my sister called. Her plane just landed. So, honey, I need to go pick her up." I abruptly finished as I pulled my shirt over my head.
"Okay." She said. "Would you like Monty to go with you?" She inquired if she wants me to wake up our driver.
"Nah! I'll be okay." I said as I ran out of the door.
I suddenly remembered something.
I went back to our bedroom right away and kissed my wife goodbye. "Don't want to forget that." I said as I left the room in haste as I saw her smiling happily.
I grabbed the keys by the doorway and rushed to the nearest SUV at our driveway.
I arrived at the terminal that my sister was located.
I immediately spotted her sitting on her suitcase with her chin supported by her hands.
She might have waited for a while.
I honked as she spotted me.
"Been waiting long?" I asked the obvious once I lowered the window by the passenger side.
She laughed out loud.
I got off the SUV and helped her put her suitcase in the trunk.
"How are you little lady?" I finally had the chance to look at her fully.
She had grown into a strong independent woman.
"Never better." She said smiling.
"Come here!" I said as I gave her a bear hug.
"You're getting skinnier." I inspected when I felt her bones protruding especially from her back when I embraced her.
"Are you working too hard?" I said as we sat inside the car.
"Oh well, you know me!", was all she answered.
"That could mean a lot of things, lil' sis."
"How is work?" I asked as I glanced at her quickly.
She has this ability to settle in different places so fast, as I saw her already fiddling my car radio.
"You know! Same old, same old." She shrugged her shoulders.
"The boss had been treating you good?" I inquired about the old coot Rico.
"Yup!" She said cryptically.
"So, what are you doing here unannounced?" I asked as I kept my eyes on the road.
"Just needed time to relax." Hannah said. "Plus, mom and dad left for the Philippines." She said.
Oh! She's home alone again.
"I told you that I will hook you up with some of my friends so you will not feel so lonely." I jested.
I felt her shivered.
From cold?
I did not think so. The air conditioning system was not on that high up in the first place.
And it was the hottest season of the year.
Then, why did she tremble?
From fear?
"Hey kid!" I said suddenly.
That surprised her as she dropped the phone she was holding on the SUV's floor.
She clumsily picked it up.
"You okay?" I asked concerned.
"Do you think he is okay, Kuya?" She spoke softly.
"Who?" I asked bemused.
"Nicholas." She suddenly answered.
"Nicholas? As in Nico Reyes." I clarified.
What was that all of a sudden?
"Yeah, I guessed so." I replied nonchalantly. "I mean, I saw the guy a month ago during the Art Convention in Paris."
"He said he wanted to do his immersion training with me next year." I continued.
"I see.", was all she said.
We arrived at the ranch house and saw my wife welcoming us at the front door with our baby Jess by her arm.
"Ate Julia! Jessie!" My sister hopped off the SUV as she happily ran towards my family.
I smiled and saw my assistants getting Hannah's suitcase in the trunk.
"Let's go in. You must have been so tired." Julia said as she put her arm around my sister's shoulder naturally.
We were having breakfast when I discovered the main reason why Hannah was acting like that.
My assistant came in and handed me the morning newspaper.
Hannah was feeding Jessica with her squashed carrot and pureed apple while my wife was talking to someone on the phone. I think it was business related.
I flipped the papers and accidentally opened in the entertainment section.
I almost choked on my coffee on what I saw in bold letters...
NICHOLAS TO MARRY?
Is the artist bachelor settling down?
"Are you okay, Kuya?" Hannah said full of concern.
"Ye...yeah!" I stammered as I folded the newspaper close and hastily tucked it away from my sister's view.
"I just need to drink it slower. It was hotter than I expected." I smiled awkwardly.
The whole day, I noticed that my sister was not as active as before.
She kept to herself as she sat on our swing looking at the vineyards.
"What's bothering Han? She looked so melancholic." My wife asked me that afternoon.
That night, I explained the situation to my wife and both of us assessed the situation.
"You have to call him to know for sure." Julia said.
"And what will I say?" I asked in a panicky voice as I paced back and forth.
"Hey Nico, how are you doing? Oh, and by the way, are you really getting married? Because my sister is here right now and I think she is madly in love with you." I said as I imitated holding a phone imagining me having that kind of ridiculous conversation with the guy involved.
"Well, what else should we do? She's not talking." My wife pointed out.
I exhaled loudly.
"Okay, okay!" I convinced myself that this is the right thing.
I picked up the phone and called Nico.
It rang a couple of times and I heard him answer it so aggressively. He must have been jam packed with people calling him.
Apparently, I was going to be one of those annoying friends of his.
"Nico!" I said cheerfully.
Think happy thoughts, please.
"Who is this?" He said harshly.
"It's Francis." I seriously answered.
That tone always gets my assistants to move quickly and do things I wanted snappily.
"Oh, Kuya Francis!" He answered.
Yes! It worked. I still have the magic touch. Boo yah!
"Am I bothering you right now?" I asked.
Must remain calm and serious. Think business.
"No, no." He said defensively.
"I was just...uhm...just busy." He hesitated.
"What made you call at this hour? Anything I could do for you?" He asked.
"Uhm...I just called you to give you an update on your immersion training." I quickly thought of something to talk.
My wife encouraged me to go on.
"Oh! That's good!" He said with a sigh of relief.
"Will next month do?" I asked.
"Isn't that too early? You said you were fully booked." Nico responded.
"Uhm...Somebody cancelled so I have an opening for one more." I lied.
My wife gave me the thumbs up.
Well what do you know, I have some talent.
"That's why I thought of you right away..." I lied some more and that earned me another approval from my lawyer wife.
Quiet.
"Hello Nico? Still there?" I asked.
"Yep! Still here." I can here happiness flowing from his words.
"I was just so glad that you called me right away. I really needed to be away from this place for a while." He continued.
"Why? What happened?" I asked in a calm fashion.
But in reality, I was dying to know.
"I do not know if you read the news lately...these people have been pestering me regarding my romantic endeavors." He sounded frustrated.
"They kept on making stuff up that was okay for me at first but lately they have been so exaggerated. It was affecting my work." This guy really values his privacy.
"You know I went in this business to gain more experience, to share my talent and most of all, for the sake of art." The young man said.
"But everyday was a circus. Paparazzi never stopped ogling me, they even made a whole article on what I had for lunch." He said.
"I needed to really get back to my roots, Kuya." Nico said.
"Thank you so much for giving me that opportunity."
"Ye...yeah! Anytime." I stammered once again as our conversation ended.
So, everything was not true.
The next day, the newspaper bore some good news this time.
Everything that was written regarding Nico getting married was proven to be false.
I was about to tell my sister subtly when I noticed that she was already happily cooking in the kitchen early in the morning.
I guessed she already knew about it.
Ahh! Normalcy is hard to find and define.
(End of Flashback)