As Belen arrived home, she notices the lights on, guessing, "he must be cooking."
The smell of fresh fruit enters her nostrils, guiding her to the kitchen. There she sees Noah wearing an apron underneath a plain white t-shirt and black sweats. His distressed black hair is getting in the way of his sight. He's focused on whatever he's cooking, when she shouts, "Surprise!" jumping out like a child to get his attention.
He looks up, swaying his hair away from his eyes, "Belen," he calls out gently, wearing a warm smile.
Belen gladly jumps at the chance to tease him, "my my! What a beautiful wife you'd make!" she giggles, sitting down at the table.
He quietly sets the table with fruits, vegetables, and the main dish, steak! As both meat lovers. She stares, salivating at everything but the vegetables, "so where did you go during your vacation? A farm?"
"what gave it away?" they automatically glance at the fruit and vegetables set on the table as they burst out laughing.
After eating, they go right to dessert. Noah swipes the plates full of fruit to the center with a fork poking it with cut up strawberries, mangos, and apples. "Here," he hands it to Belen. She readily takes it, "hmm, their good, wow! The strawberries are too sour!" her face cringes.
"Really?" he takes the fork from her hand, trying the strawberry, "mmm, their pretty good. You never really like sour things, that's why."
"If only it were dipped in chocolate, maybe I'd change my mind," she smiles seductively. Noah shakes his head, "no, once you get a taste of chocolate, there's almost no way of stopping you. Remember the last time you overate chocolate?"
Belen rolls her eyes, taking away the fork from his gasps violently sinking it into the mangos, "fine!"
Noah is anxiously bringing up her sister's topic. "ahem, Belen," he clears his throat, "I um, want to tell you something."
Belen gives him her undivided attention, but just meeting her gaze makes him even more nervous, "before the ball, I secretly met with your sister, and I only once met your mother. But nothing is going on between Mabel and me. It's strictly Ummm."
Her expression darkens, "is there something you want from Mabel? Why have you been meeting her behind my back? Why did you keep it a secret from me?"
Noah reveals, "I got curious whenever I asked you about your family. All you ever gave me was your side of the story. I want to get to know them personally."
Belen looks down, covering her eyes with her hand when she looks at him with saddened eyes, "do you not believe me? Is that why you want to know them? Am I not enough of a friend for you?"
His eyes quiver, seeing her sad expression, feeling choked, "n-no! of course not! Belen, you're everything to me! Umm, I meant everything a friend can offer. But I want to know who they are and help them."
"Help them in what way? Talking trash about me? Noah, they hate me! They just want me for money. If you can't say no to me, what makes you think you can say it to them." she rises from her seat, walking away to the stairs.
Noah immediately chases after her, "Belen! Please wait!" he holds her wrist, "I don't. That is not what I mean. People change. Maybe they want to reconcile with you."
"ha! BS! As if! NO! NEVER! That absolutely won't happen!" she sighs after noticing his begging eyes. "Noah," she calmly responds, "if that is what you want to do, and it makes you happy. Then do whatever it is you want, I don't accept them, but I do accept you. Just, please don't believe every word they say."
He faithfully responds, "I won't. If I have any doubts or questions, I'll ask you. Alright, please don't be mad," he cutely cocks his head, trying to soothe her anger.
"Good night, Noah," she says, bittersweet walking up the stairs dispirited. Noah sighs, walking out the door to her house, and somberly looks back with an apologetic expression, "good night…Belen."
***
The next day. "hmm, I guess she fell asleep," Everest wonders glancing at Belen's sleeping face while driving. He silently grunts, having difficulty moving through some sharp twists and turns, almost arriving at their destination at Sequoia national forest.
They left LA at dawn to arrive on time for Belen's first round of photo sessions.
Though as they got on the road, Belen seemed very sleepy and a bit grumpy. Her mood only made Everest nervous because he felt awkward, not knowing what to do. Should he try talking with her?
But her cold face only discouraged him from trying. After a few minutes, he noticed she fell asleep. Giving him a moment to breathe without feeling tension from her stare, this way, he's able to concentrate on the road since it's his first time driving to Sequoia.
"Nothing but a few curves, but" he glances at Belen sleeping, ��does this not bother her? She doesn't get motion sickness?"
Minutes later, Belen wakes up, noticing the strong sunlight shining on her face, "mmm?" she turns, overseeing the car doors wide open. She mumbles, "it's hot," with an irritated expression unbuckling her seatbelt, but just as she was about to get off, she misses a step causing her to slip, but Everest quickly jumps in front as she hit her forehead on his chest.
"ouch!" she whines, wrapping her right arm around his waist for support, Everest worriedly asks, "a-are you okay?"
She looks up, seeing his face slightly blurred because of the sun, and let's go rubbing her eyes. But Everest continuously asks, "Hey, are you hurt anywhere?"
She aggravatedly sighs, "no, I'm fine."
Everest refrains from speaking after hearing her tone, realizing that she is not in the best mood. When she asks, "where are we?"
He twitches, "h-huh, ah! We're here! At Sequoia, the team is setting up behind those trees near a river. I told them you were still sleeping. They said it was fine."
Belen finally opens her eyes widely enough to realize the change of scenery, the autumn leaves, sharp air, and the smell of earth. It's not her first time, but it takes her a while to get used to it because the atmosphere manages to dry her nostrils, preventing her from breathing correctly. After all, it feels like a thin knife slicing inside every time she breaths.
As she was taking in the scenery, Everest left and returned, "I told them you're awake, come with me, they're going to start your make-up," he extends his hand. Still feeling dazed, Belen slowly grabs his hand, leading her through the trees where they've set up a white tent with extendable tables, chairs, and a cooler filled with water bottles.
Meanwhile, Everest is looking around, since it's his first time being anywhere out of the city. It feels strange but new to see large, oddly shaped trees, mosquitoes buzzing near his ears every second. The hot sun, the trickling river's sound, while observing the assistants and photographer setting up their reflectors, laptops, stands, and more.
"You're Belen Astares's fiancé…umm Ever?" says the head photographer.
"Everest Fox, nice to meet you, Mr. Lukas Robin," they shake hands.
"Just call me Luke, is our princess ready yet?"
"Pardon?" Everest glances at his surroundings, unable to understand his question.
Luke laughs, "I meant Belen. She is a princess, you know."
"I always thought she was the queen," Everest humors.
Luke laughs, nodding, "not bad, kid! I like it. Better than the serious goody-two-shoes secretary of hers."
"I'm also her secretary."
Luke's eyes widen, "wow! Then you really must love her to be working for her! Nice, my man!" he kids around.
Everest shyly laughs, "it just sort of happened, do you not like secretary Noah?" he glances at the assistants' uneasy faces.
Luke sighs, "we'll he's a little uptight if you know what I'm saying," he winks.
Everest nods, "Ooh! Haha, I see. He's not the easiest person to get along with."
"But it's interesting to know you're Belen's fiancé. I never would've thought the day would come when she'd even date someone." The assistants all agree to make Everest curious to ask, "what do you mean by that? I-I can't be the first person to date her, am I?"
Luke stares at him, dumbfounded, "you do know that Belen's never had a dating scandal before, right? I mean, I know she's never actually been in a relationship with anyone."
"How do you know that? What are you to her?" Everest eyebrows slightly rise.
Luke jumps a little, feeling Everest's hostile tone, "Ah, don't take it that way, I'm gay. I'm one of her close friends we met in high school," his eyes soften, "she…she really does her best to stand up for justice," he laughs proudly.
Everest nods, "yeah, she…she is one of a kind, I guess," he smiles half-heartedly.
Luke notices, "I guess you two aren't exactly close enough yet if she didn't tell you anything about me?"
Everest flinches, looking away, "umm, w-well, we're still in the beginning stages so…"
Luke laughs, teasing him, "Hey, it's alright. It's none of my business. It took me quite some time to get her to talk to me, too," he sighs, "mmm, I think we're ready. Can you call her?"
Everest goes to the white tent where she last was when the make-up artist claims that she left, he gets uneasy, but as he was about to call her, he notices his phone is missing, "shit, I forgot it in the car."
He hurriedly rushes to the car, "why are the doors closed? I don't remember locking the car" he opens the van's side, about to step in when suddenly, Belen turns around covering her naked breast with her arm, shocked to see him of all people. Everest freezes for a split second noticing her shocked reaction and catches her bareback, exposing her beautiful skin.
He quickly jumps out, closing the door as fast as possible, hiding his flushed expression with his hands, "s-s-sorry!" his voice cracks from embarrassment, preventing him from even talking. He's shaken up that his mind can't think straight as it continues to replay what he saw, making him walk like a lost child when he bumps into Luke, "Everest! Where is she? We have to start now before the sun goes down Everest? Are you okay? Your face is red! Are you sick?"
Everest snaps out of it, realizing his hot cheeks, "umm she's coming, d-don't worry. I have to, umm…yeah," he hurriedly dashes away from them.
Luke simply shakes his head, "what is up with him?" Suddenly, Belen shows up, "I'm here."
Luke brightly smiles, "finally. We can start! Where were you?"
Belen coldly glares at him to shut up. Luke bites his tongue, "right…" nervously, "then follow me."
Meanwhile, Everest is a little far away from where they are taking the photoshoots, but he can still hear the cameras' shutter go off in the distance. He sighs, rolling his jeans up to his knees and enters the river barefooted, "ouch!" he winces "the rocks hurt, but the water is freaking cold! Good thing it's my feet and not my whole body!" he stops near the center where the water is just below his knees to scoop up some to his face.
"ahh…it's refreshing!" he thinks aloud as the water cools the heat in his hair and face.
He continues to do this to get himself to forget what just happened, "her skin, her chest, I almost saw it. Damn, what the hell is wrong with me? Why am I getting turned on by that? No! It's just her skin. There's nothing special about it. I've slept with many who had the same color skin. Then why the hell am I thinking? She's not my type anyway, so why!" he splashes his face violently.
An image of Belen caressing Noah's face pops into his head, "shit! Get out of my head! I don't want to see that!" he vehemently denies, "I don't care. I…maybe it's been too long since I stopped, maybe that's why. Ugh! Whatever!"
"Alright, everyone, good job. Let's take 15. You were amazing, Belen. Would you like to see?"
"No, thank you. I trust your judgment, Luke," she says casually.
One of his assistants asks, "hey luke. Magi will drive us to the bathrooms near a restaurant. Do you want to go?"
"I should, but I need one of you to stay here and watch over the equipment."
"Hey, Zen!"
"Yeah?"
"Stay, we're going to buy pizza!"
"Sure."
Luke turns to Belen, "do you have to go?"
She declines, "no, I'll stay."
"Oh! What about Everest?"
Belen glares at the water, "he'll be fine."
As they left, everything became quiet, with only the river's sound trickling and the wind ruffling through the tree branches. It's as if time froze. Belen continues to walk through the river barefooted without a problem, dipping her hands playfully.
Everest appears, confusedly looking around for any sign of people. He spots Zen sitting under a large tree's corner shade, "Hey, where is everyone?"
Zen lazily answers, "they all went to the bathroom. I stayed behind to look after the stuff."
"and Belen?"
"I don't know, still in the river?"
Everest rushes to the river but turns back, shaking his head in disapproval, "look after? As if!"
He notices Belen playfully dancing between the water while holding onto her dress by the corner to prevent it from getting wet. Everest's enchanted to see her child-like side, looking like a fairy playing with the glistening water reflecting the sunlight.
In his perspective, it seemed she was playing in a pool of pixie dust. All that was missing was her wings. He couldn't help but smile, seeing her genuinely enjoying herself when he turns around to leave, thinking it'd be best he does not show his face because it can ruin her mood.
"Everest!" he freezes upon hearing her shout his name. "shit!" he cusses underneath his breath.
And slowly turns but is surprised to see her smiling face calling him, "come!" she waves.
He wonders, "what?"
She shouts, "get in here!"
He gives in to her demand afraid to reject, and so walks near the river, stopping to take off his shoes and roll up his jeans again when suddenly Belen pulls him inside. He winces, stepping on the rocks, "it doesn't hurt you?" he asks, trying to keep his face from showing pain.
Belen nods, "it does, so what!" she playfully pulls him closer to the center, but he tries to resist, "w-wait! M-My clothes!"
"Oh, whatever! Come!" she pulls him more in-depth to the center where the water is nearly above his knees. He notices Belen's dress touching the water, "Ah! Y-Your dress! I mean the dress!!" he panics.
She looks at the dress's wet corners, "who cares!" she boldly states, "I can buy it. don't worry!"
Everest stares at her nonchalant expression, cheekily smiling like a child who doesn't care about the consequences. It's admirable, or somewhat different from what he'd expect thinking back, "is she for reals? Does she not care? Her dress, the dress isn't it part of her look? Shouldn't she be angry right now? At least, that's how women think. Sun-young would often get angry at me when I'd hug her, and she was wearing a branded outfit. She claimed that women don't like it when their clothes get torn or wet. But this woman, no! Belen, she does not seem to care…"
Belen spins around in the water splashing Everest when he shivers, using his hands to shield his face, and shouts, "Ah! Stop! Belen! It's cold! Please stop!"
She delightfully continues to splash him until he decides to join and splash her too. At this point, the two are completely soaked. She runs five-feet away, mocking him like a child would, saying, "Na Na! Bet you can't catch me!" she taunts him.
Everest annoyingly tries to chase her by baring the pain on his feet when he slips on a rock with moss landing on his knees. He gives in to the pain, "shit! That hurts!"
Belen turned around just in time to see him fall on his knees, noticing his face is in pain. She rushes near him, "are you okay?" she asks, sincerely shocked to see his scratched knees bleeding.
"Oh no!" she worriedly panics, looking around, "Zen!" she shouts, "ZEN!!!"
He appears alarmed, "Y-Yes?"
"Bring me a towel! Or much better a cloth! Hurry! And the first aid kit!"
"Y-Yes!" he leaves.
She curiously asks, "can you stand?"
Though as she asked, Everest can't help but get lost in her worried eyes blocking out all sound but her voice. "Everest! Everest! EVEREST!!" she yells, making him flinch, "Yeah?!"
"Stand up!" she angrily shouts, "come on! I know you can walk!"
Everest bewilderedly stares but carefully stands up, almost limping when he glances at Belen for help. But she simply ignores his gaze.
Minutes after, the whole crew arrives and starts questioning Everest about what happened and if he should go to the hospital. He dodges their concerns with a smile, repeatedly claiming that he's okay.
Belen, on the other hand, coldly ignores them, walking into the tent where the rest of the make-up artists start drying her hair and redoing her make-up.
While Everest is getting all the attention, he finds it odd that Belen's been acting quiet since.
It's night, and the crew is sleeping in their tents except Belen, who decided to sleep in the van and Everest.
But something continues to bother Belen when she gets out of the car, and Everest asks, "having trouble sleeping?"
She twitches, turning sideways, "Everest?"
He shines the light from his phone, "up here," he whispers, catching her attention, "what are you doing up there?" she asks half-curiously and half-angry.
He's on top of the van when he whispers, "come up."
"Where? How?" she whispers back.
He guides her with the light to the van's back, where she steps on a small ladder. He holds out his hand for her to reach, pulling her up.
"urkk," she silently grunts, sitting on the van, "you…set up here?" she glances at the thin blanket and pillow.
He awkwardly chuckles, scratching the corner of his mouth, "yeah, it was too hot in the van. Plus! It's my first time here, and gosh, the stars sure are bright!" he looks up at the night sky.
She follows his gaze staring at the stars, "it's rare seeing so many, huh."
His eyes are mesmerized, "mmhm! Very beautiful."
She sighs, "it was pretty smart of you to do this. I never would've thought you'd like it here."
"It annoyingly hot, but it's not something I hate. Thanks to a certain someone, I had fun in the water," he chuckles, taken aback to see her serious expression.
She silently sighs, "I'm sorry…" she murmurs. It's so silent, Everest can hear her apology. It shocks him but he pats her back, "it's okay, it didn't hurt" he smiles reassuringly.
But she glares at him, "yeah, right! You were in pain. Ugh! I didn't know you were so sensitive and easy to break."
"Hey! It's not like I wanted to fall. Is that why you were quiet the whole day? Because you felt sorry for me?"
She nods, "Kind of, but it mainly reminded me of when I'd play with my cousins, and because I was the oldest one, they'd often get hurt because of me. My mom never said anything, but my aunts did not hesitate to scold me. One day my youngest cousin slapped me across the face, I was about to hit her back, but her big brother stopped me. I cried to my mom, but…" she pauses, "she didn't do anything. I don't think she cared about kid fights."
Everest asks, "what did you do?"
"I killed her," she says coldly. Making Everest shiver but at the same time paralyzed with a bit of fear creeping in his body. Belen turns to see his reaction and breaks out laughing, "I can't believe you thought I was serious," she continues, "it's so fun teasing you."
Everest pretentiously laughs, "hahaha, y-yeah sure," he nervously gulps.
"I don't have that kind of courage, but that doesn't mean I can't," she grins maliciously, "we'll save that topic for another day.���
It becomes silent when he asks, "so, does your whole family like play an instrument or something?"
"Hmm?" she tilts her head, "what are you talking about?"
"I searched online, that your sisters play an instrument too. So I was wondering, is it a big deal in your family to play an instrument?"
She scoffs, "not really, its just something we do to make my dad feel greater? I don't understand it, but that's how it's been, especially when he told me to play the alto saxophone because apparently, his father used to play it."
"Your sisters play Ummm, give me a minute, I read about them," he tries remembering.
"My elder sister played the trumpet, and French horn, Iris, the clarinet, and I play the saxophone family."
"The saxophone family? What is that?"
She chuckles, "it's the soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass saxophones."
"Woah!" his voice crescendos, but she immediately hushes him, "shhh!" she whispers, "people are sleeping right now."
They giggled like teenage girls, "if you managed to learn that many instruments, then I'm guessing your music teachers probably scolded you a lot."
She blankly asks, "why do you think that?"
"W-Well I once tried playing an instrument back in middle school but…I was terrible at it, haha. So I quit, it just wasn't for me, and my teacher was rigorous."
Belen becomes quiet when she explains, "music teachers are different in and out of school. I wouldn't say it was difficult, but it was uncomfortable…" she pauses, "when your teachers are molesters."
Everest's eyes shudder. Unknowingly he starts trembling, trying to process what she means. "T-Then…d-did" he struggles to talk due to shock.
She sighs, "yes, I've had two in particular who've done things to me. And it always happened in the practice rooms."
"D-Did you tell your father about it? Or your mother?" he asks worriedly.
She slightly laughs, "my mom wouldn't care, and well, I did tell my dad, but all he did was change me to another instructor. My dad hates confrontation the most. He wouldn't say anything even if he were there," she says bitterly.
"Then, those perverts are still out there teaching?" he says, trying to keep his anger from exploding.
"Not at all, they're in jail now. They did the same thing to other children they taught before me, and they were the ones who reported him."
"Is that why you stopped playing your instrument?" he cautiously asks, concerned.
"No, because though those men physically abused me, the teachers I was mainly taught were all females, and they emotionally abused me."
"E-Emotionally?" Everest asks in disbelief, making him even angrier.
"Yep, those ladies were often jealous of how quick I was to understand the lesson. They'd verbally try to make me feel less than anyone else in the world. Sometimes I'd point out their flaws, and they'd yell at me to not question their teaching. It was terrifying," she pauses for a moment, "no matter what, I found comfort in my saxophone, it was always there for me. And whatever I felt, I turned it into music. I'm guessing that's why they called me a prodigy? Eh, I don't see myself as one. I was just a normal, passionate musician."
"I see…" Everest whispers with a sigh, feeling frustrated.
Belen notices, "are you uncomfortable? Should I have kept quiet?"
He twitches, "no! of course, not! It" he clenches his heart, "it hurts knowing that children go through what you went through. I knew it existed, but…" he shakes his head, unable even to finish his sentence.
Belen surprisingly nods, "yeah, it happens. I hate those criminals because they don't suffer anything other than being locked in a cage. While the victim is free but on the inside, they're the ones stuck in that cage," she sighs, looking sad, "it's not fair. I-I wish I can save them from that cage, and tell them. It's not their fault. We didn't know, we were scared, we were children. We are the ones who deserve to be happy," she makes a fist, "we can protect other children's happiness," she says sincerely.
Everest gulps, "I really can't say anything, but I know one thing, Belen. You're truly strong. I can see that."
She comments, "I'm not all that strong. I still have the fears," she yawns, looking up at the sky, "everything will pass, and I'll forget it all."
Everest asks, "I think you should go to sleep. You have to wake up at 5 am for the last photoshoot."
She rubs her eyes, yawning, "you're right, well, I hope your knees get better, or else if you can't drive, I'll have no choice but to leave you here" she grins.
"What?" Everest shivers, almost panicking, making her laugh. He realizes she was joking but laughs along captured by her beautiful smile that is radiant as the moon.
"Good night, Everest," she says, gently entering the van. He warmly smiles, "night, Belen…"