"Whoa, Am I really on my day off?" Tanya deadpanned, sitting on a swivel chair inside the meeting room of the Fuenta Glamouroza's company, located on the 3rd floor.
"I also wanted to ask that," Tristan agreed, looking at Whifler who sat across from him which 3 swivel chairs distance beside Tanya.
Whifler stopped flipping a folder and then glared at the two who obviously complaining. It's their rest day but, here they are, called for work.
"In this kind of loads our day off isn't like the typical rest day," Whifler retorted, then continued to flip the folder while reading each page.
Tristan took a deep sigh and then stood up.
"Nature's calling."
Whifler glared at him again.
"Make it quick. Don't you dare procrastinate."
Tristan just waved his brows up and down as a response then left. He stopped in front of two comfort room doors: One for Males and the other for Females'.
'Oh, God. This is what I hated the most!'
Tristan didn't have his own comfort room since Trish didn't have one. Trish humbly chose to use the exclusive comfort rooms for models just to show them she was not taking special treatments even though she was the granddaughter of the Fuenta Glamouroza's—their company—president. To avoid any dubitation, Whifler decided to make Tristan continue what Trish had been started.
"Please... I hope there's no one inside', he thought as he opened the Female comfort room.
They were not just the only ones in the company, so there may be someone using the bathroom.
He peeked inside, luckily, there was none. Tristan immediately used one of the cubicles. He made it as quick as possible and left the bathroom as soon as he finished.
Tristan sighed in relief afterward. Mission completed! Haha.
He was about to return to the meeting office when a girl—who looked like a staff—called him.
"Yes?" He answered as he looked in her direction.
"Uh, there's something I need to show you. Mhm... Mrs. President told me. I was about to go where you are but I'm uncertain whether to disturb your meeting or not. Good thing I bumped with you here, Ms. Trish," the girl explained while fidgeting her index fingers. She seemed nervous and hesitant.
Tristan smiled. "Oh. Okay."
"This way, Ms. Trish," the girl smiled back, then walked ahead.
Tristan just calmly followed her.
His brows knitted as he realized they were strolling the way to the rooftop.
His gaze became cold but, he was boiling inside, as he recognized the back of the person standing at the corner when they reached the rooftop. That familiar petite figure, annoying pink-dyed hair, and irritating aura.
His mood worsened as she turned and looked in their direction. She formed a despicable smile on her lips, looking at them approaching.
"I thought you will show me something nice. I didn't know you'll show me something that will sore my eyes," Tristan deadpanned to the girl he was with.
"I'm sorry, Miss Trish. I just followed what instructed me," the girl politely replied.
"You really came!" Gale smirked. She signaled to the girl to leave. The girl immediately left.
"Tch. Why did you call me here?" Tristan coldly asked.
"Nothing. Mhm... Just wanna greet you a belated happy birthday," Gale grinned.
Tristan just stared at her playful expression.
"Oh. Yeah? Thanks. But no thanks."
Tristan turned to walk away but, he stopped as Gale called him again.
"Why are you in a hurry? I have a present to give you too!" Gale walked towards his spot.
"I'm not interested," Tristan responded then continued to walk, but Gale grabbed his hand when he was about to step down the stairs.
"You don't want my gift?" Gale's tone became more sarcastic and suspicious.
"Yes," Tristan bluntly answered.
Gale chuckled. "That's so straightforward."
"Yeah. So now, leave me alone," he coldly uttered, then stepped down the stairs.
Gale rolled her eyes, annoyed.
"What a waste. My gift is the identity of the person who molested you."
Tristan halted. He snapped his head to look at her. "What did you say?"
"Oh. Does it intrigue you? Too bad, you rejected my gift earlier, weren't you?"
Tristan's cold expression became dark.
"Don't fool around!"
"Am I? I'm not," Gale ridiculed. She was smirking from within, looking at Tristan's expression. She took a deep sigh and threw a coltish look at him.
"Alright. But... How can I tell you if you're there?"
"What ab—" Tristan cut off his own words and just sighed out of frustration. He climbed up the stairs again and stopped in front of Gale.
"Good girl," Gale smiled in victory. She really enjoyed teasing Tristan.
"Now, tell me."
"Mhmm... He was a former janitor of the Fuenta's. And he didn't have a proper address since he was moving every month. And... He had two kids, a dead wife an—"
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT! I WANT HIS NAME!"
Gale raised her right brow at his sudden shout.
"Okay. Okay... Rudy Vargas."
"Make sure that's right!" Tristan scowled, then was about to go but, he ceased when Gale clasped his wrist tightly.
"I am not done yet!" Gale hollered, then swiftly smiled at Tristan's bewildered expression.
"Rudy was sent by someone."
"WHAT?" Tristan's emotion was now mixed. It was hard to distinguish if he was furious or confused. Or probably both. "Who sent him?"
"Oh, come on. You're really in a hurry, don't you? Let's just have some chitchat first and—"
"STOP WASTING MY TIME AND JUST SPILL THAT SHIT!" Tristan exclaimed, cutting off Gale's sentence.
"Whoa. Chill. Hahaha."
"Gale. I'm warning you." Tristan told with gritted teeth. Gale's face became serious.
"Me."
Tristan was taken aback by Gale's fierce answer. "What?"
"I said me... Did you not hear it? Or you wanted to hear the details instead?" Gale paused as something came up to her mind. She playfully looked at Tristan who was now agitated.
"Oh, yeah... Why not? Okay, listen. So... That Rudy, is my friend's uncle's cousin's friend. He was fired without reason and that's why he held grudges toward your family...And that made my plan easier. I gave him a sum of money to do what I said... Mhmm. He deserved it anyway because he did a great job! Don't you think?" Gale blithely blabbered.
Tristan clenched his fist. Holding back himself to smash this soulless woman in front of him. "Why?"
"Why? Mhm." Gale looked up, as if she was thinking, then looked at Tristan after a moment and mischievously smiled.
"Why, you asked? Well... Because you deserved it!" she smirked.
Tristan flinched. His gaze became darker. His fist was clenched even tighter. He was definitely at his limit.
Gale was startled and slightly grimaced as his arm stretched over her shoulder and slammed the wall behind her.
He was so mad... Absolutely mad. Thinking about his sister being treated like that, and the worst was just because this nefarious woman thought she deserved it? What a noxious shameless pest!
He wanted to smack her hard. He craved to crumpled that annoying face of her. He wished to punch her until she bleeds. But, he couldn't. Well, he should not. Aside from respecting his sister's image, he also still considered Gale's gender. He wouldn't dare to hurt a girl.
Gale looked at his arm which was just an inch away from her face. "Wow... That was scary."
"How could you," Tristan furiously mumbled. He took a deep sigh and glared at Gale.
"You'll pay for this," He warned coldly as he rested down his arm.
"Sure. I'll wait for it," Gale snickered.
Tristan didn't want to see her face any longer, so he left before he could hit her for real.
After Tristan left, Gale looked at the mini storage room—its walls were grey, the door was brown, and had two small square windows—at the left corner of the rooftop, which door was slightly open.
"She's gone. You can come out now."
Just a second after, a young boy— who was in his teenage—came out from the storage room with a camera hanging on his neck.
"So... Did you get it right?" Gale asked, with her arms being crossed.
The boy slowly nodded and showed her the photos he took earlier.
Gale smirked. "Perfect."
"Uhm."
Gale looked at the boy as he mumbled something. "What?"
"Uhm... S-She's too tall for a woman model," he shyly told.
"Well, she's the tallest among us. And yeah, she got taller. I think she just acquired an amazing gene," Gale replied. She was smirking while scanning the photos.
'Now. Let's see if you can still win this game, Trish.', she smirked.
.
.
Meanwhile, Tristan harshly pushed the door open of the meeting room. Tanya and Whifler were startled at his sudden entrance.
"What took you so long! I told you to m—" Whifler paused as he noticed Tristan's mood. His brows knitted. "Hey. What happened?"
"Let's go home now." Tristan's tone was extremely deep. He was obviously exasperated. "Come on!"
Whifler and Tanya were bewildered as he left restlessly. Instead of making his head ache thinking about it, Whifler just followed Tristan.
"What is going on?" Tanya mumbled—also confused—and then followed them.
.
.
.
"TRISH! TRISH!! TRISH!" Tristan yelled as soon as he arrived at their house. He was screaming like someone was dying!
He went straight to Trish's room but he stopped halfway when Trish already opened her door and went out of her room in a wheelchair and approached him confusedly.
"Tristan. What's wrong?" she asked as she came closer to him.
"Have you been molested?" Trish was stunned at his sudden question.
"What?" she felt her nervousness slowly climbing up. She was intimidated by Tristan's gaze.
"Don't make me repeat myself! I know you heard it clearly!"
"W-Where did y—" she was startled as Tristan banged the wall beside them. She fearfully looked at her raging brother. She had never seen Tristan this angry before.
Whifler and Tanya also hurried to their spot, worried and alarmed.
"T-Tristan," Trish mumbled. She was indeed trembling. Her brother was not himself. He was like a demon ready to eat her whole.
Tristan clenched his fist. He massaged the bridge of his nose and sighed to calm himself.
"For Pete's sake, Trish... Just answer me."
Trish averted her gaze and fiddled her thumbs.
"T-That's a long time ago... I r—"
"WHAT?! So, you really—Damn it, Trish! Why you didn't sue that man?"
"I-It's nothing. It's not t-that... Serious."
"Are you on drugs? YOU HAD BEEN MOLESTED! AND THAT WAS SOMETHING GODDAMN SERIOUS!"
"Tristan. Please... Calm down and listen to me!" Trish pleaded. Fear was seen in her eyes. She couldn't imagine this side of his brother. It was terrifying.
Tristan took a deep sigh. "Go ahead."
Trish looked down and was silent for a moment. She was still fidgeting her fingers.
"Yes. I-I was molested... But, It didn't go further than that because Tanya came. S-She saved me!"
Tristan and Whifler glared at Tanya after what Trish confessed. Tanya just looked away with her brows knitted in worry. She knew they were killing her in their minds right now for not telling anything about it.
"Please. Don't be mad at her if she kept this from you. I... I told her not to talk about it. She just fulfilled what she promised. I understand your anger and I'm grateful because you're worried about me. But, please Tristan. Just forget about it just like I did." Trish explained.
Tristan sneered. "So, you're okay with it? You're fine being treated that way?"
"It's not that I'm okay with it... I just don't want to make things worse. I'm not hurt anyway, and that is what's important for me. I don't want to cause any chaos. Please, understand Tristan."
Tristan chuckled in disbelief. He didn't know his sister was this stupid. Trish flinched as Tristan looked at her with full of pain and pity. But, it didn't take long, his gaze swiftly became cold.
"Just a piece of advice. It's really... Distressful carrying a burden that you could give to no one... It was hard suffering alone. Nobody sees, nobody knows, nobody to lean on. No one's there to lighten you. I hope you get that," Tristan deadpanned.
She felt her chest crumble in pain. She knew it wasn't just a piece of advice but Tristan was also letting her know some of his emotions. His suffering. His torments. His yearnings... And he didn't want his sister to go through that darkness too.
Trish couldn't help but, shed tears. She could feel Tristan's genuine love and care for her. Even though he said and showed his hatred towards her, she knew it was just because he was hurt and felt inferior compared to her. She looked up at her brother who was still staring at her coldly.
"I-I'm sorry. I-I promise to... To save you from that darkness too," she crackly uttered.
Tristan just ignored what she said and turned away to leave. He stopped as he saw Whifler ahead. Tristan walked towards him and whispered.
"You failed to protect her."
Whifler was stunned at his words. He got choked up by his gaze. He was really different. He wasn't the typical Tristan. He was intimidating.
They were all left dumbfounded after Tristan headed to his room and slammed his door closed. No one dared to break the silence.
Tristan forsook a hefty atmosphere around them.
"H-He divulged his monstrous side. It's... A real... Horrible." Tanya held her chest as its tremendous beating, gradually pacified.
Whifler—who just came back to his senses—went towards Trish and patted her back, she was sobbing.
"You should rest." Whifler pushed her wheelchair to her room. He helped Trish to lay in her bed, then tucked a blanket on her.
He caressed Trish's head. "I...I'm sorry Trish."
Trish turned to look at him. "For what?"
"I wasn't there to protect you," Whifler replied with that voice filled with gloom.
"No. It's not your fault... It's no one's fault. Don't blame yourself." Trish comforted him while holding his hand.
Whifler just weakly smiled and slightly nodded.
"Sleep now... I will talk to Tristan later."
"Okay." Trish smiled.
Whifler left after she closed her eyes. He glanced at her again before he finally closed the door of her room.
"Is she asleep now?" Tanya worriedly asked. Whifler glared at her.
"Why you didn't tell me?"
"I... Promised Miss, Trish." Tanya averted her gaze.
"You know that's ridiculous! What if it happened again? Tanya, You should've told me!"
"I-I'm sorry." Tanya bowed her head.
Whifler sighed. "That's not what we should take care of now, It's Tristan and why he knew about that."
Whifler's brows knitted. He felt something was off.
"Are you gonna talk to him?"
"Perhaps... But, let him cool first. You saw how he exploded earlier."
"Yeah."
Whifler and Tanya both sighed while peering at Tristan's room.
'Tristan. What happened?' Whifler thought.