"Bro!" Zach heard a familiar voice from behind.
He turned around, and his eyebrows furrowed when he saw Torin walking towards him.
"Wow, so this is the fruit of your sweat and blood?" Torin murmured as he looked around, he was amazed by how beautiful Zach's place was now.
Last time he had visited, it was still under construction. It was such a nice and spacious land. All greenery and the air was so fresh…
Zach was inside the barn, where the horses were kept. He basically fulfilled his grandfather's dream…
Then, Torin looked at Zach as he shook his head.
"The heck, Bro! Why do you still look handsome even with that ragged outfit?" He commented with a grin.
Zach looked at himself, he was full of dirt and was wearing loose and torn shirt. He was helping his grandpa with farming a while ago, afterward, he was cleaning up Duke- his favorite horse.
"Oh, you have already bought your neighbor's land too?" Torin asked when he noticed the people, who were building a fence around the area.
"Yeah, Grandpa wants to do farming and ranching, so we'll need more space. Why are you here?" He asked as he walked to the faucet to wash his hands.
"I'm bored. I wanted to see your soon to be 'hacienda' and ask you to let me sleep at your villa for a night. Damn, it took me hours of driving just to see you, Bro. Why are you so cold? Your nicest and coolest friend is tired, and you haven't even offered me a drink first!" Torin said with downward curved lips.
"Do you want me to hit you instead?" Zach responded with an arched eyebrow as he walked to the backside of the house.
Torin scratched his head and followed his friend inside the house.
"I'll just take a quick shower… feel free to roam and get your own drink and food. Feel like at home." Zack said and left Torin.
Torin followed his suggestion and checked the mansion. It's really a nice and big house, then he paused in front of a big family photo, hanging on the wall.
"Nice…" he murmured, it was Zach's family photo. Then, he stared at a particular image and sighed.
His staring was interrupted by the grumbling of his stomach, so he walked from the living room to look for the kitchen and saw Zach's mom with their helper Ning there.
"Auntie Sheila…" Torin greeted and kissed Zach's mother on her cheek.
"Oh, Torin when did you arrive? Zach has not mentioned you'll be here. Sit down there and have a snack. I will prepare your favorite dish for dinner." Zach's mom said with a smile, she was still very pretty despite her age.
Torin was like a brother to Zach and he was already treated as one of the family by the Lims.
"Well, it's a surprise visit, so he didn't know I was coming. The villa looks so nice, Auntie." Torin said and started digging in the snack that Zach's mom had prepared.
"Yes… Zach made sure to fulfill his Grandfather's dream. He is thinking about buying more lands next to ours and do a lot of arable farming and ranching." Auntie Sheila proudly declared.
Torin nodded. Zach's life was always on the line and he deserved everything he had right now. If someone asked him, he would say that Zach deserved even more.
"Such a responsible man," Torin commented unconsciously, which made Auntie Sheila laugh.
"Yeah, I can't agree less. I only hope that he also takes breaks sometimes. You know, I want my son to be happy, date like a normal man at his age, then marry and settle down, have someone beside him…" Auntie Sheila commented with a low voice.
"I'm beside him, Auntie. I think I suffice, don't you think so?" Torin said jokingly, which made Zach's mom laugh hard.
"You're so full of jokes, Torin. You never failed to make me laugh. Yeah, you have each other, so you should convince your friend to go out with girls more, just like you. Well, just tell him to be serious to be clearer… Start seriously dating with a girl unlike you…" Auntie Sheila said with a teasing grin, which made Torin scratch his head.
He had the tag of a 'playboy'. If only they knew that his heart pumped for only one person.
He smiled and responded, "Well, I'm afraid of tying the knot, Auntie. The risks of being choked or strangled by that knot creep me a lot."
"By the way, where are the kids?" He simply asked.
"At school, as usual. The twins, for sure, will be glad to see you later. Lyra is in the city now. You know that girl is just like Zach… too absorbed with being a woman with a successful career. She wants to top the coming Bar Exam." Zach's mom exclaimed.
"Well, I can guess… She's burning her eyebrows for a long time now. I'm sure, like Zach, she'll achieve her goals." Torin murmured.
Their talk was interrupted by Zach's arrival.
"Torin, come with me, I'll show you the layout plan for X Country," Zach said as he walked towards the refrigerator, got bottled drinks and threw one to Torin.
Torin's face crumpled, "What the heck, Bro? Are we at work now? Oh please spare me…" he complained.
Zach's eyebrows arched, "Who told you to follow me here? Come and take a look at it. I want to hear your opinion." He said and turned his head to his mom.
"We'll be down at dinner time, Mom. Tell the kids not to disturb us till then." Zach said and gestured Torin to follow him.
Torin followed while he scratched his head.
Zach's mom shook her head as she stared at the backs of the Zach and Torin.
"Those two need a love life soon…" she murmured.
_____
"Dad, can I visit you inside the military school now? I'm done with shopping and having fun with my friends." Keira said sweetly from the other end of the line.
Field Marshal Chan's brow arched because this was the first time that his daughter wanted to visit him at work.
Keira always hated visiting the base. Whenever he asked her to accompany him to the base, she would always find an excuse to not go.
'You brat, you had ignored your father before and now because of…' he thought sourly, then sighed.
Well, at least, the man his daughter was swooning over was trustworthy and he couldn't find anything bad to say about Zach at all.
He couldn't even curse the man for bewitching his only daughter.
If there's a man, he would be willing to trust the life of his daughter: it was Zach.
He had monitored the guy growing from the bottom and saw his exceptional abilities on the battlefields, besides he even owed that man for saving his life.
Yes, if not for Zach, he wouldn't have been as healthy as a bull right now...
"Alright, come over here then." He answered and he could hear his daughter's happy thud.
His lips curved upward, he knew his daughter wanted to visit, as she thought that Zach was at the base.
He was a stingy father that would love to tease his daughter so he intentionally did not tell Keira that Zach was on a vacation.
.....
Keira was whistling happily inside the car as she looked at herself in the mirror.
She hated visiting or accompanying her dad before because she knew that he would only introduce her to his old senior officers, then they would talk about boring stuff that would just make her fall asleep.
But now, she knew that Zach would be there. For the first time in her life, she was excited about visiting her dad at the base, in her free time spared of training.
John and Jim exchanged meaningful glances. Whenever Miss Keira was happy, she would whistle her favorite song and she was really good at it...
"J & J, what do you think of my appearance right now?" Keira asked, smiling.
Jim was driving the car, while John was at the passenger seat. Keira often called them shortly J & J since she was too lazy to call them by their names whenever she asked both of them about something.
Miss Keira was a natural beauty and never needed any makeup.
"Stunning as always," John commented as he turned back to look at her.
"Absolutely… Miss Keira is the most beautiful woman on earth alive." Jim declared as he looked through the rearview mirror.
That was the dialogue Keira taught them herself... He did not mind saying it, at least, it was not a lie. Miss Keira was really an outstanding beauty, one of a kind.
.....
Keira walked gracefully towards her dad's office, but her eyes had vaguely scanned everywhere she walked by.
She hoped to see Gen. Zach somewhere. But to her disappointment, she couldn't see him anywhere.
She pressed the doorbell, and a soldier opened the door. As soon as he saw her face on the screen, he quickly opened the door.
"Miss Keira, please come in. The Field Marshal is with…" started the soldier but paused when Keira's lovely smile flashed right in front of him.
'How come such beauty exists? I can melt just with that smile,' the soldier thought dreamingly with an open mouth, staring at Keira.
Keira winked before she turned around and walked straight to her dad's office. She loved to see how every man drooled over her beauty. It's not her fault to be born like that, but, of course, she was grateful to be born beautiful. It's a blessing she wouldn't dare to reject.
"Hi dad, I did not see him around… Where is my man?" She said directly and failed to notice the man who was sitting on the sofa, drinking coffee.
"Is he out?" She continued and stopped when her dad stared at her, signaling her to shut up.
Then, she heard a cough from behind. She turned around and saw a young man.
"Oh, I'm sorry… It was very rude of me… I did not notice… Oh, do you have an important meeting? I will go ahead…" Keira said apologetically.
"No, it's okay. I'm about to leave anyway." The man answered as he stood up.
Field Marshal Chan rose from his chair and walked to Keira, while his eyes were at the man.
"Oh, you haven't met each other yet. This is my daughter, Keira. Dear, he is General Jeru Liu."
Keira gave him her usual smile and extended her hand, which he latter accepted.
Jeru smiled widely, he was obviously, completely smitten by Keira's beauty.
"Are you looking for someone? Maybe, I can help you and..." Jeru said.
Keira was about to answer and mention Zach, but her father interrupted quickly.
"Oh, she's looking for her godfather Gen. Leo. I've forgotten to tell her that he is on a vacation. Both he and General Zach filed a leave, and will be back before the admission test starts." Field Marshal Chan commented, which made Keira crumple her face.
"What? How long will that take?" She blurted out.
"Probably he will return before the admission test begins, so you have to focus on your training well during this time, instead of slacking like this." Field Marshal Chan commented.
"Sir, excuse me, if I may ask what do you mean?" Jeru interrupted with a furrowed forehead.
"Oh, this stubborn daughter of mine will take the tests. She wants to enter our base." Field Marshal Chan said simply and fixed some of the documents that he was going to take home.
Jeru laughed… "Sir, your joke is too much." He said still laughing.
Keira's eyebrow arched.
"Jeru, we will go ahead first," Field Marshal Chan said.
He quickly pulled his daughter towards the door before she started a debate with Jeru. He was sure that Gen. Liu would end up being embarrassed.
But Keira was unstoppable.
She paused and turned her head to look at Jeru intently, with still arched eyebrow she said, "Do I look funny, Gen. Liu?"
Then, she dropped her killer smile and added, "Get used to this face because you will often see me after that admission tests. I will kick your butt while you drool..." before she said any other words, her father quickly pulled her out of the room.
Jeru was left dumbfounded...