"Out! You two!" Chryxso's voice thundered in the room. She looked at him and back to his mother then threw them an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry, I was just really looking for my baby here but it looks like you have more business to attend to. I'll go now." and with that, she ran out and away from the Arestas' mansion. She snooted as she ran, she got her dignity back now.
Her mom is still holding her ladle when she came back home. Though her brows are still furrowed, she did not attack her anymore when she kissed her cheek and entered the house. She began her tirade as soon as they closed the door.
"What did you do to Handsome?" she glanced back at her mother.
"Nothing." She lied. Handsome would never tell on her. Otherwise, people will know his embarrassing outcome today. Serves him right!
"What did you do at the Aresta's?" she stoppd on her track and turned to her mother. He did not tell on her, did he?
"Kris just called and said you played around at their house." she smacked her forehead. Of course, Chryxso would tell on his brother. And big brother Kris, how could you do this?
"I just passed by their house. His mother is here and so is Chryxso." she replied, trying to brush it off as nothing.
"Don't go around there doing anything stupid Sweetheart." her mother said with a tone of warning in her voice.
"I just got out of the house now and you think I'm wreaking havok on someone's house already?" she simply said with no hint of hurt in her voice. She's already used to this kind of scolding from her mother.
"Their mother is very ill." She said in a soft tone and went back to the kitchen. Her mother let out a sharp momentary cry when she got inside. Sweetheart followed over and saw fish fully burnt on it's side. Poor fish.
She took the ladle from her mother, set the ruined dish on the sink and picked up some food from their fridge before tossing it on the pan for a quick cook. She prepped two plates for the two of them and scooped some food for lunch. Mia just looked at her daughter who would have been an accomplished chef if she'd want to but instead wasted her talents lying in her bed all day. She shook her head.
It's true that she's the one who called Handsome over to get her daughter off her idleness but no matter what her daughter would do, she will always support it. She put some meat on her daughter's plate as she just munches on. Sweetheart put the same meat on her plate when she saw her mother being affectionate again.
"Ma, you need more nutritious food than I do. I don't even move much so you can have all the protein you need." She put more food in her plate.
"Stop it." she scopped back the food she put on her plate and continued eating. Mia just smiled. She saw the same picture when Handsome and her daughter were still kids. Sweetheart would put foods she doesn't like on Handsome's plate and get the foods she like from his but he did not complain and just happily gives it to her. She really thought that their relationship would really be as Handsome said when her daughter was born but one day, her daughter just stopped talking to their handsome neighbor.
She never asked what the issue was as she thought it may just have been a simple case of puberty but as days go by, her usually cheerful daughter became increasingly quiet whenever Handsome comes for a vacation. She would try to be cheery but her smile does not even reach her eyes.
"Sweety," she heard her mother call. She looked up and continued chewing.
"Don't you want to work on the cafe that Handsome is planning to build?"
"I already agreed Mom." she complained.
"If you really don't want it-"
"I'll do it." She cut her. She'll do it to make his life miserable, how dare him say that she's just lazing around in front of her mother. Her mother did not ask anymore.
"Okay. Wash the dishes." She said before standing up. She smiled and nodded then stopped when she realized she had to clean the burnt stuff as well.
"You're punishing me?"
"Yeah. Also, take a bath will you. You look sticky and smell like a worn sock." That got her to stop chewing. She jumped out of her seat and stared at the full-length mirror in their living room. She closed her eyes and held in her scream while she clenched her hands.
She definitely looks worse than any other day. Her oversized shirt still has stains of the foods she'd eaten last night and her extra long pajamas are roled to her knees showing her charcoal stained legs when she grilled barbecues the other night. Yep, the day definitely got worse and so is her mood.
She started chuckling while looking at her reflection until it sounded like an eerie cackle. She remembered all the looks she got today when she ran away from their house until the time she entered the Aresta residence. Handsome, I'll definitely get you for this!
Sweetheart spent her next days stalking Handsome's social media which contains nothing but foods. When she came upon a photo of foods she does not particularly like, she stopped. The sight looks very revolting for her that she did not even visit his social media anymore.
She next camped at his parents' house waiting for him to visit. Whenever she hears his car coming to a stop, she runs out of their house and nestles tightly on his body while he looks on in shock and apparent disgust. His mother just cheers her on and her own mother gave up stopping her.
"When will you bring the contract over? Should we include that in our conjugal properties?" he cringed at her words but kept on doing what he needed to do.
Sometimes, he comes over just to have a rest or visit his parents as well but she always finds an excuse to twist the story and claim that his visits are for her. She event went as far as confessing her feelings for him. Well, she did have feelings for him before so confessing right now would not make any difference anyway. He still doesn't like her but at least she has no lingering feelings anymore. Just flat out annoyance.
He came over after three weeks of painstaking patience on her ploys and offered the contract. She sighed and resigned to her fate, she's really going to work. Her schemes did not work on making him back out of his words. She moued and grabbed her pen to sign. He tried to go over the contents of the contract but she just made sure that he's not cheating her into selling him the land and she did not listen to him anymore.
"I got it. I'll go." she said in dismissal before leaving him alone.
This is the real scenario, she acts sweet and head over heels for him when other people are looking but she'd be formal when they're all alone. Handsome seemed to have caught on but is gallant enough not to point it out to her nor reveal it in front of others. He's just being his usual self, accommodating but reserved.
Business started slow so Sweetheart did nothing but lazed around all day. Handsome would sometimes come over to check if she's bullying his crew. He indeed named the cafe after her - Sweetheart's Nosherry. Now, she's obligated to live up to her name. What a shrewd businessman!
It took awhile before she got the reins in managing the cafe but in that time that she worked, she found the most enjoyable feeling she never had in her previous jobs. She seriously thought of sincerely thanking Handsome but her words always get stuck in her throat and she just ends up annoying him again.
Handsome once brought his friends and the cafe got more bustling than usual. Many women flock her cafe just to have a simple talk with Handsome's friends. Of course, Sweetheart has already became a business-minded person so she always obliges his friends to serve as her crew whenever they visit.
For no apparent reason, they just agreed. Handsome is no exemption but she always makes it a point to make him the dishwasher.
"I'm sorry. I can't have you looking at my fiance all day, I may get into a fight with you." she jokes.
Her customers have already gotten used to her usual antics on the guy. Some cheered her in what they thought is her journey of love while others who had caught on are cautiously warning her.
"You should stop playing jokes with him. He's always been considerate of you."
"Stop joking and date seriously."
"Don't fool the man into falling into you. Would you take responsibility if he really falls for you?"
"Your jokes are getting petty. What if he has a girlfriend and she finds out about you."
To which she just smiles at them. I don't care. If he wants me to stop, then he has to fire me.