Joseph signaled Gary to go and take Donna with him before he disappeared into the mansion. The bottom part of his jeans are wet and he started to feel cold so he hurriedly climbed the stairs to his room to get a warm shower and change. He did not notice Celine who was sitting on a sofa near the stairs.
Just as he was about to go inside his room, he saw Adela hurriedly went out of Christine's room. He stared at the back of Adela going down the hall and downstairs, his brows knitted. He saw Adela coming back so he waited at the door to Christine's room. She was bringing a tray of food. He was relieved, he thought something bad had happened. He turned to leave and went inside his room.
************end of flashback******
Christine can't forget that day. She wondered what happened between him and Donna, did they become lovers? But she does not want to ask him because it is none of her business. She does not want to talk to him so she just occupied herself with sightseeing. She loves the smell of the grass, the chirping of the birds and the whistle of the breeze. She can see wildflowers along the way in different colors. Up ahead she can already see the vast plantation of pineapples and she can see few workers on the field.
Joseph reined in the horse to a different direction, he headed towards a forested area on their left.
"Where are we going? I thought we will go to the plantation?" she slightly turned and asked him.
"You wait and see. We will have our lunch first" he said smiling.
"Hmmm,'' she was so busy looking around. The trees are getting taller and she can hear the sound of water flowing, frogs croaking, birds chirping and the swish and swosh of the leaves. The wind becomes colder as they get deeper into the forested area.
Then after they passed a big old tree, she saw a stream.
"Wow,'' she was in awe. The place is beautiful, quiet and because of the tall trees, the ray of the sun could not penetrate.
"This is a part of the farm that not yet discovered'' he explained.
"Whoa," Joseph commanded the horse to stop. He reined it toward a tree. He dismounted from the horse first. After he dismounted, he looked up and extended his hands to help her dismount.
"Thank you", she said and balanced herself when she landed on the rocky ground.
The water is so clear that she could see the stones and small fish under the water. The trees on each side of the stream seemed to cover it from the sun, only a few rays of the sun penetrated. Colorful butterflies and dragonflies were hovering over the water.
Joseph took their picnic basket that was tied to the saddle of the horse. He found a nice spot on one side of the stream, under a big tree. He laid a mat on the grassy part of the ground and set the basket on it. He removed his shoes and sat under the tree, his back leaning on the big roots that protruded from the ground. He just watched as Christine was playing with the water. She already removed her shoes and rolled her pants up. She was holding her hat and shoes with her left hand and played with the water. She looked so happy and carefree. He felt her heart throbbed at the sight of her.
It has been five years and within those five years, he just contented himself by watching her commercials. She did a commercial for a shampoo brand before where her long black hair was flowing smoothly against the air and that every guy turned their heads toward her in admiration. She was also in a jeans commercial, an imported brand of jeans, she was so sexy that every time she passed by, everyone would turn their heads. She already did a lot of commercials on TV including toothpaste that showed her perfect white teeth. She did a whitening soap commercial, showing her flawless and smooth skin in which he wondered how she was able to maintain it if she smokes.
Christine felt that someone is staring at her so she turned around and found those black, deep-seated eyes fixed on her. She saw affection and tenderness on those eyes that she did not see before. Those eyes that haunted her before are still the same eyes but this time, it speaks of deep and warm emotion. Did he change? What happened? Is it the calm before the storm scenario?
She smiled meekly and slowly walked toward his direction. She was already hungry. Joseph never took his eyes away from her while she was walking like a goddess toward him. he gestured for her to sit on the mat while he unloaded the contents of the basket.
He took the roasted chicken wrapped in aluminum foil out of the basket, 3 stainless lunch boxes, mangoes, watermelon, apple, and 2 bottled water. She helped him arrange the food on the mat. She opened the lunchboxes and which contained rice and beef stew. The lunchboxes are thermal so the food is still hot. He took the utensils out of the box and handed her a plate, spoon, and fork. Then they said their prayers silently before they started to eat.
They were not talking while eating. Christine was eagerly eating and has already eaten more than of the chicken and has finished the beef stew. She was indeed hungry and so was Joseph who finished her meal in an instant. He took a swiss knife from his back pocket and sliced the mangoes and put it on a paper plate, then he sliced the watermelon and cut them into small cubes and put on a separate plate and finally he sliced the apples. Christine has a big appetite, she did not go into a special diet to maintain her figure. She eats what she wants to eat at any time of the day. She loves fruits so she was happy to see that Joseph has brought some fruits with them. She started with the mangoes, she finished 2 full mangoes.
Joseph was amazed by her appetite so he did not eat his share and gave it to Christine.
"Aren't you going to eat your share?'' she asked, her face turning red of embarrassment.
"You can have it, we have been eating that all year round. Those are the harvest from the farm", he said and handed her the remaining mangoes.
"Really? These are so sweet", she said and took them from him and started to eat again.
"That is why our client has increased their demand for this year. No other farm has produced this kind of variety and that is why we are dominating this market", he explained proudly.