The loud sound of the alarm clock woke me up from my sweetest dream.
“Five more minutes, please.”
A sudden knock disturbed me again.
“What?! Let me sleep! Come back after an hour!”
I was attacked by my insomnia last night, so I just had four hours of sleep. Please, give me some more rest.
“Aren't you coming?”
I immediately get up from my bed, opened the door, and greeted Zayden who is now wearing his usual pair of suit.
“Where?”
He took his phone out then take a picture of me.
“Hey! Stop it! Are you really enjoying taking pictures of me?! Will you quit doing that?”
I don't want to damage Zainea's career and image just because of how I act and look.
“Ugly.” He shows me what he took.
“Duh, I'm not. I look cute there.” What's wrong with messy hair? Psh.
“Five minutes. See me outside. We'll go and meet Caileigh Ruscitti at 10.”
“Five minutes?! What kind of preparation will I be able to do within that time?! You're nuts!” I closed the door and went to the bathroom.
Gosh, how can he be so punctual?! Can't we be late for even a minute?! Let that Caileigh wait for an hour!
I did all my morning routines. I guess, I exceeded five minutes by just taking a bath. I usually finish my bath within 20 minutes.
When I went outside the house, I saw Zayden starting the car's engine.
“Hey! Hey! Wait for me!”
He really is short-tempered.
“Five minutes is not enough for me. I really tried to take a bath in just two minutes, but I can't. Sorry. Anyway, why did Caileigh asked you to meet her? I thought she's staying here for a month? Why is she rushing things now?”
Is she guilty that she can't even spend a single day staying here? Or she's planning something again?
“She's planning to extend her enterprise here.”
Her enterprise?
Tss. She doesn't own that! How come she's now interested in doing some business while all she did was to spend, shop, party, and travel?! That company was from father's hard work! She was not there when the company almost meet it's bottom line. It's just me who helped dad. And it was me whom he passed his beloved company!
“You seem bothered,” he commented.
“I'm not. Just excited.”
I won't let you get all the credits, Caileigh. I won't let you succeed on your plans. Extend? No, I know you're not planning an extension. You're planning to transfer the main branch of Ruscitti Enterprise here in Paris and covet it all. You know dad can't come here because of his promise to mom, so how can you do this to his company, to his life?
“That's not the face of a person getting excited.”
I stayed silent.
It hurts that my family is starting to be ruined.
Zayden is smart enough to understand that I need some time to think. He didn't ask. Maybe he's feeling strange on how I'm acting.
He parked the car outside a coffee shop. The coffeeshop where we used to go together; doing deep talks and sharing laughters.
“She's inside?”
“Hm.”
Mixed emotions attacked me. Longing because I didn't see her for almost two months. Disappointment because she abandoned and did that loathing thing to me. Angry because she seems to be not repenting on what she did.
I snaked my arms around Zayden's arm as we enter the coffeeshop. Only few are there.
I confidently walked beside Zayden. With the help of Zayden and Zainea's body, I feel assured that I can stop Caileigh.
Zayden tapped my hand twice.
“Keep your cool. You're trembling,” he whispered.
“I told you, I'm excited.”
I'm nervous. How should I treat her? Should I be plastic to her?
“Finally, you came!” Caileigh in her red suit stood up and greeted us. She gave Zayden a smile and turns her head to see me.
“Is she your wife?”
“The one and only,” I answered. I didn't smile. Show your true colors, Caileigh.
“Gorgeous! No wonder you got President Constello. Nice to meet you. I'm Caileigh. Caileigh Ruscitti.” She extended her hand.
I stared at it.
“She waited for an hour, woman. Accept her hand,” Zayden whispered in my ear.
I smiled. Okay, that's fake. But who cares? Zainea got a good acting skill, no one will know.
“Nice to finally meet you, Caileigh. I'm Zainea Amadeo. Zayden's wife.” We shook hands.
“Take a seat. Are you hungry? We can order. My treat.” She called the waiter and let us take our orders.
“So, President Constello, my apologies for suddenly asking you here. I'm currently in need of an investor, and only you can help me with the extension of Ruscitti Enterprise. Here is my proposal.” She handed him a document.
“I heard your sister is having a vacation somewhere. Where exactly did she go?” I asked while Zayden is busy reading Caileigh's proposal. He stopped from flipping the page. Caileigh was caught off guard, but she managed to compose herself.
She smiled again. Don't show me that hideous smile. It makes me want to puke from your plasticity and evilness.
“She's in New York. She handed me the company after she submitted her resignation letter. She wants to enjoy her life too. That's why.”
I clenched my fist under the table.
“How about your parents? Where are they?”
Zayden puts down the document.
“No personal questions, Zainea. Stop it,” he warned me.
“I'm just curious. Is it bad to make a conversation with her? Psh. Okay, fine. I won't talk.”
As if I don't know her background. This bitch. Vacation in New York, huh? Excuse me, I'm just here in Paris, in front of you. Too bad, you'll be just a pawn in my own chess game.
“No, it's okay, President Constello. I like your wife's curiosity, just like my little sister.”
Its because I'm the little sister you are telling about.
I looked at Zayden. “See? She said it's okay.”
“Still,” he emphatically said.
What's inside your mind now, Zayden Constello? Are you afraid that I might destroy your contract with her? Nah, your company would still be successful without Ruscitti Enterprise. Then, why?
“My mom passed away, and my dad is perfectly fine. He's having a great time with his friends in China while guiding me in managing the company.”
Dad believed her? Dad believed that I'm on a vacation?
I laughed of the thought. Caileigh's a great actress in front of our dad, after all. She's nice and sweet to me when dad's present, but if he's not looking, Caileigh is treating me cold and acts like a brat. That treatment she's giving me started from the day mother died. And I don't have any idea why she's acting that way!
“Oh.” What she said is true. Mother died seven years ago, here in this country. That's the reason why dad doesn't like to come here, for he vowed that he will never take a step on this place. The place where he witnessed mom's suffering and death.
He actually doesn't want us to come here, but we persuaded him. It's for the company.
“Yeah. So, how's my proposal, President Constello?”
Zayden stared at Caileigh as if he was analyzing her expressions and reading what's in her mind.
No, I won't let him sign the contract.
“Sorry—” I didn't finish what I'm about to say as Zayden suddenly talked.
“Let's discuss about this some other time. Make an appointment and meet me at my office. I want this to be done in a proper process.”
I grinned when the smile on Caileigh's face disappeared. You won't get what you want easily, dear.
“I'll be busy in a week.” Zayden looked at me.
I smiled. “Well, I'm sorry for letting you down, Miss Caileigh. We're going to have a vacation somewhere else in that week. You know, honeymoon. So, you have to wait,” I added.
Others may not notice it, but as a Ruscitti who shares the same blood as hers, I can see that she is pissed. She waited for us for about an hour, but she didn't get what she wanted. I would be totally upset with that, too.
She kept her smiling face.
“I know this day was supposed to be your time together, but I interrupted it. It's okay. I'm staying here for a month, I have a lot of free days to visit and talk about it at your office. Maybe I will do some revisions in the contract, too.” She sounded so understanding, eh?
“Good. We'll go first, then. We have a lot of things to do.” I stood up, but Zayden is still sitting.
“Wait, uhm, aren't you going to taste their snacks here? Their cooking skills here are superb.” I saw a glimpse of sadness in her eyes.
Are you missing me now?
“Ah. I'm sorry. I'm just missing my sister.” She wiped her eyes.
Tell the truth. Apologize. I will forget everything you've done. I'll act as if that accident never happened to me. Just say the word, sister.
I sat again when the snacks arrived. She ordered my favorites.
Honestly, I want to talk to her longer. Know what's inside her mind, and what grudges does she has that she's doing inhumane things. We can talk things, calmly! If she wants the company, I'll pass it to her. Only if she properly asks it from me, not by doing this!
I'm being wavered right now. I love the company, but I love her more. Caileigh and dad were the only family I have. I don't want the company to be the reason why my family's starting to shatter. I would rather choose to be poor while having them than be rich while watching them drift away from me.
“If you're missing her, why don't you visit her? I know she misses you too.” Visit every hospital in Paris to find me, and you'll see how critical I am.
She shakes her head.
“She doesn't like being disturbed. I don't want to destroy her vacation.” Lie.
Now, I'm mad. I want to cry, not from madness but from sadness. She's still being cold. She's still lying about me.
Say the word, sis. I won't sue you for causing that horrible thing to me, I promise. Just please, let's go back to where we used to be—happy and contented. Find me. Take me home. Take care of me until I get better, and say your most sincere apology. I'll accept that. I'm just waiting for you, sister.
“Your sister is waiting for you.”
Caileigh looked me in the eyes with mixed emotions—fear, shock, and anger. Anger?
She stood up.
“I-I'm sorry. Excuse me. I'll just go to the washroom.” She hurriedly left us.
“What is that for? Do you know her?” Zayden seriously asked.
I almost forgot. Zayden is here.
“That's not how normal people show their adoration to someone they idolize. From what I observed, seems like you have a deep hate against her. You hate her, but you don't like to hurt her.”
He held my hand when I stood up. He shakes his head saying that I must stop whatever I'm thinking.
“I'll just say sorry to her.”
He let go of my hand. “10 minutes. If you'll exceed, I'll barge in.”
“10 minutes,” I repeated. “Don't come until that given time.”
I'm standing in front of the washroom for about three minutes now. I'm having a second thought. Should I ask her now and confront her?
When I decided to open the door, I heard her shout. She sounds so angry talking to someone.
I take a peek. She's in one of the cubicles. I decided to enter and lock the door.
“You can't find her?! No! Find her body, immediately! Dead or alive, I want to see her!”
I want to celebrate from what I heard. She's going to find me. She wants to see me.
“I'll be the one who'll send her to her own grave. She won't have the chance to go back to China nor to Philippines.”
My world crumbled when she said that. I thought she's finding me because she wants to make it up for me, but no. She definitely wants me dead.
How could she treat me like I'm just a pest in her life?
Shock was written on her face when she gets out from the cubicle, only to see me there standing.
I smiled. “I'm just here to say sorry for the things I've said.” I don't know how I managed to smile despite the fact that I'm in pain.
I wanted to slap you hard, but I can't. I can't move my hands. I can't even feel my legs. They're becoming numb. My heart is squeezed, Caileigh. Because of you.
“For how long have you been standing here?” she asked.
“I just came in. Why? Is there something I shouldn't hear or see?”
“No. No.” She gave me a beam. “Apology accepted. You don't have to worry about that. I'm just being sensitive when the topic is about Calais.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“By the way, I think I will leave first. I have something to do. My apologies.”
“It's alright. Bid your goodbye to my husband, I'll just fix myself.”
“Okay. It's nice meeting you again, Zainea.”
I hold onto the sink when she left.
I silently cried myself out.
She's no longer the Caileigh I know.
The words she uttered kept on replaying inside my head.
“Zainea!” He forcefully opened the door.
“I'm still alive. You don't have to... you don't have to break their door. I'm just sad. It hurts...” I smiled, but I failed. Tears are continuously flowing. My vision is now blurry.
Without any words, he gave me what I needed the most. A warm hug from the cold Zayden Constello.
“Why can't she treat me nicely? I'm willing to give up everything and live a normal life, if she wants everything I have. She can just ask.”
“I'm all ears. Just say all your concerns, and leave the rest to me. You don't have to shoulder all these, alone. You have me.”