CHAPTER 27
It was almost noon when Aurora woke up the next day. She was glad that she didn't have a hangover. She took a full glass of water for how thirsty she was. The sun was glaring already when she opened her balcony. She saw her parents at the poolside below under the umbrella table.
Adolfo was working with his laptop on the table, and Sofia was on the deckchair. Her attention was focused on the sketchpad. She was holding a pencil, drafting something. Both were working. She unconsciously smiled from the view. She missed seeing them like that. She knew that they chose to stay at home to be with her for the weekend that she was there.
She was hungry, so she changed into a bikini bra and shorts and wrapped herself with a bathrobe before going down. She'd eat at the poolside with her parents, and she planned to go swimming after.
Servants greeted her when they crossed paths with her as she went to the pool area. She already ordered someone also to bring and serve her breakfast there. She brought her shades to protect her eyes from the heat.
As she strutted in the direction of her parents' , they raised their eyes at her. She took off the sunglasses when she stopped in front of them. She pulled a chair across from her father at the round table.
"Morning, Ma, Pa." She greeted them.
"Glad you woke up already. We thought you were waiting for Max's kiss since he's coming." Her mother's direct attack.
"What?" She blinked. "What do you mean he's coming?" Her confused reaction.
"Max also went home last night." Her father replied, eyes still glued to his laptop.
"You didn't mention to him that you were coming home? You could have gone with him. He also used their jet." Her mother looked at her finally.
She shrugged her shoulders. "What's it got to do with him? Hindi naman kami masyadong nagkakasalubong sa school. (We rarely met at school, anyway.)" She stood up to take off her bathrobe and placed it at the back of the chair next to her.
"Not even a call or a text to initiate a conversation?" Sofia was shaking her head. "Thought you had a crush on him." She said it under her breath and turned her attention back to the sketchpad.
She heard her alright; that made her eyes widen in bewilderment. She was about to say something, but her father beat her to it.
"We're not blind, anak." He now glanced at her. "You think we haven't noticed how kind and considerate you are to him? Especially your secret glances at him. You were not close, but we know you see him differently." He stated and adjusted the antiradiation glass he was wearing.
"That was before, Pa." She argued. Her breakfast came, and the maid put the tray down in front of her. She thanked her before she left.
"Before." Sofia noted. "Then what is it now?" Her mother pressed more while busy in drafting.
"Nothing. I'm not interested in him." Really? You're not? There goes that antagonistic voice in her brain again. She started on her food too because she was now hungrier.
"Then why did you react like that when I mentioned that he was coming over?"
Shit. She forgot that it was what her mother said first. "Why is he coming then?" She ignored her question.
"To send some important documents personally." Her father was the one who replied. "It was supposed to be Martin, but he had an urgent meeting today. So, he sent Max since he's at home." Martin was the D'Arco's patriarch.
"Don't eat too much. You don't want to look bloated when Max sees you." Sofia chided her daughter, who was currently eating.
She wanted to argue with her mother, but she was right. She was that conscious with her body with anyone, so she took really good care of it. But she was making it up through workouts and other activities that would make her sweat to burn fats, calories, and carbs that she had taken from the food she eats.
"One more thing, behave later. We'll be going to your uncle's house for the family dinner." Her father reminded.
"Bakit doon? Akala ko dito? (Why there? I thought it would be here?)" She was now drinking her lime-flavored soda. It was her remedy drink after a night with alcohol in her system.
She doesn't like her uncle's family. Especially his wife and his daughter. Those two were too stuck up, acting like they had more money than them when her uncle was just working under her father. She really wondered where he got his wife. But she likes her uncle. So, she still had respect for him.
"It's your cousin Lesa's birthday." Sofia announced and reached for the mango shakes that were propped on top of the table beside her. She sipped on the straw.
She grumbled. "Then it's a party, not a family dinner."
"She would only invite a few friends over, as your uncle said." Adolfo commented.
"Few friends? Baka nagmature na nga 'yun at kumonti na ang barkada. (Maybe she matured already and had fewer peers.)" Her sarcastic statement.
"Be nice to her. It's her birthday, and she's your cousin." Adolfo gave her a warning look.
She didn't say anything else. Lesa and she weren't on good terms after she accused her of coveting her boyfriend. She was rolling her eyes whenever she remembered it.
It was way back in second grade in a bar. She just finished performing that night when a guy approached her. Ade was at the bathroom that time so the guy had a chance to get close with her. She was on her way to the bar counter when she was shoved by someone from the drunk people who were dancing. And the guy who kept on bothering her, caught her in his arms. And that was the scene her cousin saw.
Her temper was running thin already because of Lesa's false assumptions so she couldn't stop herself anymore and engaged in a fight with her. They were never close even before but, in that incident, it got worse. So now, the two cousins didn't hide their hostility with each other anymore.
The worst part was, they were recorded by Lesa's friends that time. When his boyfriend hugged her and her cousin attacked them. That was highly embarrassing. It was a good thing then that her family erased the video in social media. She was grounded for a whole month because of that.
Ade was blamed by her own father too, by their butler. For not guarding Aurora attentively that she got into a fight.
Aurora sometimes felt like Ade was her bodyguard also. And after that, the two never came back in that club. It was the place her cousin and her friends mostly go to.
"I should not go." She mumbled after plopping a food to her mouth.
Her parents looked at her. "You are going with us." Adolfo with his hard tone. He wouldn't take had it otherwise. "Your uncle invited us."
"I could ruin the celebrant's mode." She protested. "You know very well how good our relationship is, Papa." She sarcastically pointed out and leaned at the back of the chair as she drank her soda.
"Either you are coming with us or you hang-out with Max. Pick your choice, anak." Her mother chimed in.
Her mouth hung open. Hanging out with Max seemed more dangerous for her feelings. She returned the canned soda on the table as she crossed her arms on her seat. Sometimes, she thought her mother was Maleficient. She sighed and said, "fine." She stood up and put the shades from her head on the table. "I'm coming with you." She grumbled and started walking to the pool stairs.
"Going out with Max would have been better though."
It was the last thing she heard from her mother before she jumped on the pool. She didn't want to hear another thing from anyone.