"Where is you cousins?" Gabriella's grandmother asked when Gabriella entered the kitchen. Gabriella shrugged her shoulder and peek on the big bowl her grandmother was holding.
"I'm not sure where Sofia is, but Carlos is upstairs changing his clothes. Let me carry that for you." Gabriella responded and attempted to take the bowl from her grandma, but her grandmother yanked it to the side, avoiding Gabriella's grasp.
"No! Just sit down and let this old granny do the works for you." Her grandmother said and hurriedly walks towards the dining table to put the bowl she was holding.
"You should be served because you've travelled a great distance. If you don't want me to work, then assign the tasks to the helpers. Let's get down and talk about your trip to New York." Gabriella said and gently pulls her grandmother's arm to be seated. She then waves her hand to command the helpers around them.
"I would've enjoyed this trip if not for your rebellious cousin." Her grandmother said as she rolls her eyes. "I don't know what kind of bad luck Giancarlo Felipe got that was not blessed with his children. I cannot brag about his children to my Amiga's, it is really a blessing that I have both you and your brother." Her grandmother added.
"Are they really that horrible to be considered bad luck? I think they aren't, I've always been with Carlos and he's a good cousin to as far as I can tell." Gabriella replied.
"It's true, Carlos is good. But you know nothing about Sofia! She is such a disgrace to this family." Her grandmother said and rubbed the side of her head. "She almost ruined her father's name because of a scandal involving her." Her grandmother added. When a voice echoed behind them, they both flinched. They turned around to face their backs and saw Sofia, who had slightly red eyes.
"If you're going to trash my name again, keep it out of your lips. I don't want to hear my name, let alone when you're the one saying it." Sofia said and started walking towards their stairs when Carlos suddenly run and pulled her to the dining table.
"I don't want to eat! I have already lost my appetite!" Sofia shouts as she tries to get out of Carlos' grasp.
"You're being disrespectful, Sofia." Carlos whispered on Sofia's ears and put all his force to make Sofia sat on the chair.
"So what?! Does this old granny deserve to be respected?!" Sofia shouted again and rolled her eyes to their grandmother. A loud noise enveloped the entire dining hall when Carlos suddenly slapped his sister. Gabriella gazed at them in disbelief, while their grandma just raised her hand to her head and stroked it.
"Let your sister be, Carlos, darling. Sit down and enjoy the meal." The grandmother said and so Carlos sat beside her sister. Sofia was holding the cheek his brother slap with her while fighting back the leaking of her tears as she lower her head.
"Where's Jonas? " Carlos asked when he notice that they were only four of them on the dining table. Gabriella rolls her eyes and didn't speak
"Who's Jonas?" their grandmother asked.
"He's a friend of mine and Gabriella's suitor." Carlos answered and laughs while Gabriella rolled her eyes so much that her iris almost went beyond her eyelids. "I'll just go outside and look for him." Carlos added and stands from his chair to go out.
"Didn't you already have a suitor? Tell me about him later." The grandmother said and giggles as soon as Carlos left the dining hall.
"I assumed you prioritized your academics first; I had no idea your studies included flirting with guys. Is Tita Isabelle aware of it?" Sofia suddenly butts in and smirked.
"Oh! What's wrong about having a suitor? Gabriella excel on her academics unlike others who doesn't excel to anything other than creating scandal." The grandmother said as she darted her looks to Sofia.
"Jonas is not my suitor." Gabriella announced that made the both of them turn their head towards her. She just looks at them and continues eating her meal. The tension between the grandmother and Sofia subsided as silence engulfs the dining hall.
Soon later, Carlos walks in with Jonas following behind. They were laughing and conversing as they walked into the dining hall. Carlos returned to his seat, and Jonas sat next him.
They all keep eating. Jonas is continuously staring at Gabriella, which makes her uncomfortable, so she eats as quickly as she can.
"You're done already?" Their grandmother asked when she noticed Gabriella had already emptied her plate and set her utensils down. Gabriella nodded her head and smiled at her grandmother. "That's not possible." Her grandmother added and waves her hands on the air to command their helper to come to her.
The grandmother said something to the helper which is why the helper immediately walks inside the kitchen and comes back holding a box and handed placed it on the table.
"I both this macaroons for you, eat them." The grandmother said and pushes the box of macaroons in front of Gabriella. Gabriella obediently took one macaroon and stuffed it into her mouth while beaming at her granny. She tried not to look in the opposite direction since she didn't want her gaze to catch Jonas'.
They all continue to eat while conversing. Carlos was the only one who spoke a lot among them, while Sofia ate her dinner quietly. Gabriella responds when her response is required, however Jonas continuously asks Gabriella more after she speaks, and every time this happens, Carlos teases them.
When they were all done, Gabriella asked their helpers to help her grandmother walk upstairs. When her grandmother was already upstairs, she started cleaning the dining table.
"Let me help you with that." Jonas suddenly spoke from Gabriella's back and held the bowl she was holding which is also why their hand suddenly touched. Carlos saw it and so he teases them again.
Gabriella snatched the bowl from Jonas and walked into the kitchen, raising the side of her upper lip. She eventually finishes cleaning the dining table with the aid of the other helpers, but Jonas repeatedly trails behind her, attempting to catch her attention, while Carlos stood nearby, observing and teasing them.
As soon as she arrived in her room, Gabriella washed her body and changed into a purple night gown. When she got out of bed and grabbed her phone to check her social media account, she discovered there was no service. As a result, she immediately turned off her phone and placed it on the bedside table, got into bed and hugged her pillow, and instantly fell asleep due to exhaustion from her day's activities.
The night was dark, and the villa where they were staying was extremely quiet. Gabriella felt dryness in her throat as she awoke in the middle of the night. She got out of bed and searched the bedside table with her eyes closed for a glass of water. When she opened her eyes and saw nothing there, she assumed she had forgotten to bring water, so she got up and headed out of her room to their kitchen.
Because the villa was so dark, she took her phone with her and used its flashlight; however, her phone's battery was only 1% charged, so she attempted to move as quickly as she could. She refilled the glass with water once she finished drinking and carried it with her. When she was heading up the stairs, her flashlight went out and she heard a voice from the living room. She couldn't understand what they were saying since they were trying to keep their voices as quiet as possible, but she knew there was a voice there.
Her curiosity drove her to approach them and listen in on their chat, trying to figure out who was speaking in their living room.
"How many times do I have to remind you? There is nothing between us and there will never be." A man's voice said. Gabriella could not see their faces but she could see a figure standing on the living room.
"Then how will you explain what happened before? Are you just using me?" a familiar woman's voice replied as her voice started to crack.
"Yes! You were the one who assume that I'll reciprocate that bullshit of yours."
"H-hah! After all of those that I've done for you, I almost gave up my life for you and all you could do is to treat me like a trash as if you didn't gain anything from me." The woman's voice replied again with her voice trembling, she started crying.
Gabriella heard the sounds of her cries. She was torn within as she heard this woman cry; she wanted to reach her and console her, as well as condemn the guy in his face, but she held herself and simply waited to see what would happen.
They made sounds again, but this time it didn't came from their cries of voices but from the guy's movement. Gabriella stands there watching as the man raises his arms and embraces the woman's body.
When Gabriella witnessed how the woman's cries gradually subsided, she smiled. And she thought to herself, 'I'm pleased they've reconciled.' She assumed they were one of their helpers who had developed feelings while working and just had some quarrel.
Gabriella kept heading upstairs and saw Sofia's door was open as she went past it, but she didn't think much about it and just walked towards her room. And she fell asleep as soon as she laid her body on her bed.
The next morning, Gabriella woke up and promptly took a shower. She wore a white spaghetti strap sando and black high waist shorts. She walked straight to their kitchen once she finished applying creams to her skin. When she arrived at the kitchen, her grandmother was already there working with the helpers.
"Good Morning, Lola." She greeted her with a smile and hugged her from the back. Her grandmother turns to face her and hugged her back.
"Good Morning, my baby. Sit down I cooked pancakes for you." The grandmother said. They walk towards the dining table and he pancakes were already there. The helpers poured a tea on the grandmother's tea cup while they served Gabriella a glass of milk following the grandmother's commands.
Since Gabriella's cousins are still sleeping, only the two of them are eating at the dining table. When they were finished, they walked out of the villa and had a walk alongside the clear, blue sea.
Gabriella enjoyed the day with her grandmother until afternoon. She was helping her grandmother on putting cream on her skin as she planned to sunbathe. When Gabriella was done, her grandmother immediately starts lying in the sun while she stay under the shade sitting on the folding chair while sipping on her strawberry juice.
"Ahh this is so relaxing." Gabriella's grandmother said. Gabriella sip on her juice and nodded her head though her grandmother can't see her.
Gabriella took out her phone and photographed the sea as well as her drink. She then positioned her camera on a tripod. She begins to pose in front of it for an Instagram photo. When she was through, she checked her photographs, and when she was satisfied, she sat back down on the folding chair and sipped her strawberry juice.
After a few minutes, Gabriella's mother stands up and sat on the folding chair beside Gabriella. She sips on her lemon juice while looking at the sea.
"Are you sure you're not coming home with us? Brother will undoubtedly want to see you. He misses you as much as I do." Gabriella utters trying to convince her grandmother to change her decisions.
"I won't be able to accompany you home later, but I will definitely return the following week. I'll merely spend a few days at this villa." Her grandmother answered still looking the blue sea in front of them. Gabriella felt sad but she tried to brush it off considering her grandmother's reasons for staying.
Her late grandpa gave her grandma the villa as a present. Gabriella's grandma and grandfather spend the most of their time in the villa together. Her grandfather's dying moments with her grandmother were spent at this villa. The villa was the only thing that reminded her grandma of her husband, so she would go there whenever she missed him.
When afternoon approaches, Gabriella started packing her things and her grandmother helped her pack all of them including her gifts. When she was done, she took a helpers helped and put it inside the van.
Gabriella kissed her grandma on the cheek before getting inside the van, putting her head out the window and saying goodbye to her grandmother again. Her grandma waved her hands at them, watching the van vanish before her eyes.
Gabriella unpacked her belongings and removed her phone from her handbag as soon as she got at their house. When she opened it, a message from Olivia appeared on her phone, asking, 'WTF?'
Confused as she is, she replied asking why and her friend immediately replied telling her to open her instagram account.
And when she opens it, messages from Olivia again pop up together with a message from her other friends. She first opened Olivia's message and she was shock when she saw the photo her friend sent her. It was a screenshot of Jonas' story which she can't view anymore since more than 24 hours have passed already.
Jonas' story was a photo of her, sleeping inside the van with a text 'my sleepyhead'. She was typing a reply on her friend when a text message suddenly pops on her pop again.
'Ella, let's talk tomorrow.' It was a text message from Charles' this time that sent chills down her spine.