Shanaia Aira's Point of View
Since then, it has been my daily routine. Just home and school with my newly found friends and I've enjoyed every minute of it.
Charlotte and Venice became my best friends. I found in them what I needed from my family. If you choose to be happy and try not to decipher the things that make you sad, it will make some changes in your life later on.
And it will just come when you least expect it.
This happened after our first semester in school ended.
I was very surprised when I woke up the next day, it's the first day of our semestral break.
"Good morning baby!" Daddy said warmly as I entered the dining room for breakfast.
I felt like crying for the moment because of the scene in front of me. My family is at the dining table for breakfast.
I pinched my arms twice but I got hurt at what I did, it wasn't a dream.
" You're not dreaming baby sis, this is reality. " Shane butt in.
I immediately ran to daddy and hugged him tightly. I was crying on his shoulder incessantly.
"Hush baby, we're here and we are very sorry for our shortcomings." Dad said while wiping my tears.
Mommy came over and hugged us both.
" Yes baby, it is your nanny who told us that you were miserably lonely for a long time and just been happy with your new friends at school. If she hadn't informed us, we wouldn't have realized how much we were missing out on you because we were so busy with our careers. We didn't realize that you're now a grown up teenager that needs guidance from us. We're not there everytime you need us. Sorry baby, from now on we promised to have a family time at least once a week. We have already talked about it and you won't feel sad and alone in this huge house anymore. " said mommy while crying.
Andrew and Shane stood up, hurriedly approached us and both crying too. They joined in for a group hug.
"Baby I promise, from now on this older brother of yours will be visible again and I'll be the one to send you to school when your classes starts." Andrew promised.
"Really older brother? Thank you and I'm so excited to be back again in school." I said with a huge smile.
" Me too baby, even if you don't like my job as an actress, I'll take you to my shootings and tapings so we're always together. Is that okay with you?" said Shane.
" Of course I wanna go anywhere just to be with you. "I smiled at her sweetly.
" Now that we're okay , as padre de familia I make sure we have one day a week family bonding, we'll cancel all work for that day. " dad said.
We happily agreed to what dad had just said then we resumed eating our breakfast.
I just can't believe it. But because I love my family so much, I hold on to their promises.
So far the family bonding that they promised was fulfilled. Every Sunday. We're all together attending mass in the morning and when we get home, mommy would cook us food that we shared all day. Shane and I help her cook. If there's one thing that my sister and I to be proud of, it is our cooking abilities. When we were young she had taught us her cooking skills. She 's really good at cooking.When the time comes she will decide to leave her career in showbusiness, she will just set up a restaurant as a replacement in which we gladly agreed.
THE NEXT day my sister Shane woke me up very early in the morning.There's only a week left before the next semester starts.
"Come on baby, get up there. I want you to come with me so that you don't get bored here." she urged me to stand up.
I was forced to get up and look at her with only one eye.
" Sister it's so early, where are we going?" I asked.
"I have a shoot today and our location is in Baguio, isn't that your favorite place? so I'll take you with me." my sister excitedly said.
" Really? Baguio? That's awesome? I said come on, why are you still sitting there?" I quickly got up and pulled her out of my room.
It looks like my sister is just being misled by my behavior. She just laughed at my reaction and followed me downstairs.
___________
"Baby we're here." I heard my sister's voice as she barely kick me in the arm.
Oh no! I fell asleep during the ride, I didn't even see the beautiful scenery along the way. Sigh. I just scratched my head in annoyance. I even brought my camera so I could capture the good view. So bad!
I carefully picked up my medium size bag in the back of the car containing my clothes and toiletries for up to two days. Shane told me that we'll be back home after two days.
When I'm sure I was done with my stuff, I got out of our van and followed my sister who was waiting for me outside.
I was amazed to see what my sister was looking at.
Wow! as in wow. It's so breathtakingly beautiful. In front of me were two nice houses. The one on the right side is what they will use for filming and the other one on the left is our place to stay. The houses are of the same size and style, they are just different in colors.
The yard is huge. There are different kinds of plants and flowers in the garden. There's a grotto in the middle and a swing on the side.
It's so nice here. Even though I don't like my sister's job, it's fine with me now because they chose the right location where you can see God's amazing creation. So why not enjoy this once in a lifetime experience?
So, just enjoy Aira baby!
Because of the excitement, I hurriedly dragged my sister Shane into the house.
"It's so nice here and the house is twice the size of our vacation house in the next street. Will you let me go there? but maybe I'll just do it tomorrow because I'll be walking around here first and then I'll watch you film your scenes coz I don't want you to think that I didn't support you."
" I thought you don't like my job? You don't even want to go with me here, but it seems that you enjoyed it now. Alright, just go with Mang Simon tomorrow to visit our house but be sure you won't stay long there for I will worry too much. Come on, let's go inside. " sister Shane said. She walked passed me then I followed her.
When we got inside, I was even more amazed with the size and width of the whole house. It was complete with expensive furnitures and high tech appliances.
I noticed a man sitting on the couch reading a magazine.I couldn't see his entire face because it is slightly covered with the magazine and he's wearing a cap too. Suddenly there was a man that looks like more of a woman coming out of the dining area and he greeted us warmly.
" Hey pretty Shane, there you are. Come, let's go to your room upstairs, the whole cast was already in their respective room. They 're just resting coz after lunch we'll start to film .Who's that pretty girl with you?" he asked upon noticing me.
" Ah she is Aira, my baby sister. She went with me because she's still on a school vacation. Baby, this is Mama Kit, he is the head of our production ." sister Shane told me.
" Ah that's why she's pretty too. She inherited that to your beauty queen of a mother .You will surely enjoy it here Aira, we have a lot of staff and crew here. Come on, I know you're both tired, I will lead you to your room." mama Kit said then he lead us to the stairs.
Before we climbed the stairs I suddenly looked at the man sitting on the couch, who's also looking at us. My eyes widened in shock as I recognized him. My heart sank when my eyes met his. He smiled at me widely.
It's been a long time since we didn't see each other, maybe several months.
My goodness!
He is Ariel Angelo Montero or we simply called him Gelo. An actor, print ads model and a commercial endorser. He's our childhood friend and my sister Shane's best friend. He was also one of the cast of Shane's previous movie that I watched.Then he also had a new fast food commercial that I have watched several times.
We're also close because he used to be in our house since we were kids. My family and his family are long time friends because they are in the same field. Movies and Politics.
I was the only one who didn't belong.
I also smiled at him and I motioned to him that I'll go upstairs. He just nodded and mouthed the word ' see you.'
We were well rested when they called for lunch.When we arrived at the dining area, all the artists that are included in the movie, are already on their seats. Only about ten of them and the rest of the crew were eating outside because there was a long table that's reserved for the crew and production staff .My sister and I were already sitting in our seats and I was surprised to see Gelo now sitting in front of me.
Maybe he'll be in the cast of this new movie again. I noticed that I'm surrounded by artists today.
I just didn't know the name of other celebrities because I didn't have the passion to watch and I wasn't interested in showbusiness either.
I even watch a movie of theirs sometimes when they pressure me but I don't know more about the performing artists.
Whenever they have showbiz gatherings at home, I always leave, hang out and sleep at my grandfather Franz's house across the street.They just understand that I do not want their world, so they don't insist on interacting with them.
" Hey Shane, is that your youngest sister? She's grown up. It's been a long time since I last saw her. " said the middle aged actress.
"Yes, Aunt Sylvia, Shanaia Aira, she's just 13 years old." ate Shane replied.
I remember, Aunt Sylvia was Gelo's dad's sister, and yes, it's been a long time since we last saw each other.
I just paid attention to the food as they talked, coz I didn't understand what they were talking about. As usual, showbiz stuffs and I'm not interested either.
When lunch was over they were ready for filming.I went upstairs to bathe and change clothes..Good thing there is a heater in our room's bathroom. I will not chill.
When I finished dressing up, I went out to watch them filmed.
When I opened the door, the door in front of our room exactly opened as well.
The newly bath Gelo appeared in front of me wearing a white v neck shirt and dark blue cargo shorts.
Gosh! why is he so handsome? We hadn't seen each other for a few months, as if he had changed physically.
When our eyes met he smiled.It was like there are butterflies raging in my stomach because of that smile.
I was startled.
It was like I was lost to the earth and moved to another world. My heart was pounding still.
No way! what is it, do I have a heart disease?
"Hey baby are you going to watch them filming too? Let's go together." he's telling me something but I seem not to understand. My mind is in haywired.
"Hey Aira!" he called again and flicked his fingers in front of me.
"Huh!" That's all I can say. Gosh! what's happening to me, so embarrassing!
With so much shame I felt, I hurriedly get away from him and go down the stairs even though I could hear him calling me.
What happened to me? Why am I so startled about him?
Shanaia Aira you're so embarrassing! you are so obvious earlier in front of him!
What do I call my feelings for him lately? I can't name it.
Is that a crush? We've known each other since we were kids, but why just now my heart was pounding and I was startled for him?
Maybe this is only the effect of not seeing each other for months. Maybe I just missed him so much.
Oh my! I'm confused.