"How do you feel now sweetie? what happened to you, did you use that again? I told you not, right? did you break your promise?" JA's brother was throwing a lot of questions, with so much concern in his eyes.
He was there in her room sitting on her bed, holding her hand, and clasping it together with his hands.
She took a quick gaze at her alarm clock on the drawer. It was already 8:00 o clock in the morning. She was just glad it's Saturday and she doesn't have work. She met her brother's eyes who were staring at her, waiting for her to open something.
He tried to help her in getting up so she could sit beside him. She tried to recall what happened and it only made her sad. She started crying and sobbing like a child whose toy was taken away by someone without having a plan of returning.
"I guess, it's about your boyfriend. What did Ace do to you, sweetie?", her brother asked with his fist clenched ready to hit someone any moment from now.
"Okay, cry as much as you can until your tears run dry. Then tell me what happened", he said pulling her a hug while his hands caressed her head as she laid it on his shoulder.
After a moment, she stopped crying and started wiping her tears. Then she looked at her brother, who was just waiting for her to be relaxed.
"Ace was cheating on me. I saw him with my best friend Trixie. I did the mental telepathy, and..." she could not finish what she was trying to say upon looking at her brother's piercing eyes.
Although he knew about her plan of giving a birthday surprise, he had no idea that it would turn out like this.
"What? you did the mental telepathy again? how many times I told u not to do it anymore because It's bad for your health! Jannah Arianne, what a hard-headed brat you are!", her brother said angrily.
He used to call her by her full name when he was annoyed and angry.
"I'm sorry.", she muttered trying to avoid his hostile glare.
"By the way, how did I get here boo? I mean, how did I come home last night?", JA asked her brother who was still glaring at her with so much annoyance.
She didn't like to call him "Kuya" because he was just a year older than her. She was comfortable in calling him "boo".
"How did you come home? of course, you have a car because there's no way you would take the subway and just left your car out there.", he answered sarcastically, and she knew exactly why her brother was acting like that.
"Have you seen someone driving my car, when I got home?" she asked again, wanting to know if there was really a man, taking her to the passenger's seat and drove her home.
A look of anguish crossed her brother's face.
"Sweetie, are you okay? Are you not yet feeling well?', her brother asked, touching her forehead with his hand.
"Please tell me boo, am I the one driving my car?" she asked again, looking intently into his eyes.
"Of course, you don't allow anyone to drive your own car, not even me.", her brother answered while furrowing his brows in great confusion.
"What's the matter with you sweetie? I am angry for what Ace did to you, I am annoyed that you broke your promise to me, but even more worried of what's happening to you now", he heaved a deep sigh.
"Just relax sweetie and we'll talk later, okay? I'll gonna go out for a while to get something for you to eat", her brother said calmly as he turned his way out of her room.
"If you want something more sweetie, just call me. Nanny is in the grocery store coz we are running out of stocks already.", he added before locking up the door.
He was referring to their second mother who was taking care of them since they were young. There were only three of them staying in the house. Nanny, JA and her brother. Others were stay-out like their gardener, laundry servant and driver. They would just come to the house if their services were needed.
JA's mom was living in South Korea with her Korean husband. Unfortunately, they have no kids because her mom got an ovarian cyst and had undergone surgery. She got married two years after her father died and decided to live with her husband. She wanted them to live with her, but JA preferred to stay in the Philippines with her brother and Nanny.
Twice a year, her mother would come here to visit them and spend some time, but she and her brother would seldom travel to Korea because they have been occupied by a lot of things to do in the company. They were running the JJ Tech Company of her late father where her brother was taking the CEO position while she was the Human Resource Executive.
She never wanted to work in JJ tech because she was not a business-minded person. All she had wanted was to teach kids and do psychological counseling.
Her phone suddenly rang, and it was Mom.
"Yes mom, how are you doing?", she asked in a casual tone.
"Oh, dear, I should be the one asking you that? Jareed just called me and told me everything. I'm so sorry for what happened to you and Ace. He doesn't deserve you my dear.", her mom said trying to give her such comforting words.
"And one thing dear, please don't anymore use that ability. It will just harm you, please... I love you and I don't want to lose you. You and Jareed are very much precious to me.," her mom added, with a quavering voice.
"Don't worry mom, I'm fine. I'll be fine. Jareed and Nanny are taking care of me", JA answered with the assurance that everything's gonna be okay.
After several minutes of conversation, she hung up the phone. And she started recalling what happened yesterday. Pain was still there, but there was no hatred.
"Does it mean forgiving them easily after they have done wrong to me?"
Well, that's the kind of person she is. Easily get hurt but could easily move on too. That's why people kept on hurting her because she didn't keep hatred in her heart.
After a moment of deep thought, her phone rang. It was Ace. She just ignored his calls because she doesn't want to talk to him over the phone. A lot of messages kept popping on the screen, but she didn't read them.
Then her brother came in, holding a serving platter for breakfast in bed.
"Eat now, sweetie. And don't tell me you'll not gonna eat this and you'll be grounded", emphasizing his last words.
He scooped the chicken soup from the bowl and brought it to her mouth. Then, fed her with rice porridge.
She really loved how her brother was taking care of her. She smiled upon looking at him.
"What's with that smile sweetie? Do you think I forgot what you did by just giving me your cutest smile?", he smirked.
"Oh my, I thought I'm saved", I pouted my lips, thinking how I am going to get punished for breaking my promise.
She cleared her throats.
Umm.
"I'm sorry boo, I broke my promise to you. I'm sorry I make you worried about me. But I just wanted to know the truth because I felt something bad. And If I did not do it, until now I would still believe that Ace is the right one for me. It's been five months since they're having an affair and look! how they're able to handle it in front of me without feeling even a little doubt", she said with her tears starting to form in her eyes.
"And so, you did the mental telepathy again, even it would mean risking your own life? What if something bad happened to you while you were on the street? Why did you not call me and asked me to check on your boyfriend's whereabouts?", her brother started yelling at her.
"But nothing happened right?", she stuttered, while thinking about her savior last night.
"Because I was saved by my knight in shining armor".
"Knight in shining armor?", her brother looked at her and plastered a smirk on his lips.
"Yes, I saw a man boo. He helped me when I was about to faint. He took me to the passenger's seat. And that's all I didn't know what happened next. But I'm sure he was the one who drove me home.", she said with a certain voice.
"But you were the one who was driving your car. I saw no one inside. But as soon as you stepped out, you fainted and fell unconscious as I took you to your bedroom." her brother said intently.
She decided not to argue with him regarding this matter, thinking that maybe she was just mistaken at that time or maybe she was just dreaming.
"But JA, listen to me. Since you broke your promise, you'll gonna take this as your punishment. I'll send you next day to Seoul and stay there with mom for a few days", her brother said in an authoritative manner, not even asking if she wanted to go there or not. So, she voiced out in great annoyance.
"No! I won't. I'll just stay here with you or go with me", her voice wavered in great discord, holding back her tears to find its way.
Her brother looked at her with a hostile glare and she did the same. Staring each other for quite some time.
"Jannah Arianne! whether you like it or not!
"Jareed Andre, I said no!", she laid her body in bed covering her face with a pillow. Then she started sobbing.
Her brother heaved a deep sigh as he moved closer to her. No matter how tough he is when it comes to decision-making when he sees her crying, that would totally change everything.
"Okay fine, you stay here but could you please stop crying like a small kid?", her brother comforted her, trying to calm her down.
He pulled out the pillow that was covering her face and tapped her head.
"C'mon sweetie, look at me. Please don't break again your promise, okay?", her brother said with a soft voice.
She just nodded and gave her brother a warm embrace.
And then he asked, "Are you alright now? Are you planning to talk to Ace?"
She frowned.
"Do you love him? tell me.", her brother asked seriously.
"Honestly, I don't", she responded.
"But what's that idea of giving him a birthday surprise, and supposedly giving a 'yes' to his proposal? What if you did not find anything, so you'll be married to the wrong man", he uttered.
She had a deep thought in a moment, thinking about what her brother said.
Hmm...
"I just wanted to give myself a chance, hoping that someday I would learn to love him", she muttered while looking at her brother's eyes.
He then pulled her a hug and patted her back.
"Sweetie, my princess, you are still a kid, (he paused for a while) A kid who doesn't allow her boyfriend to kiss him", her brother said forming a naughty smile on his lips.
"I believe you didn't really love Ace, because if you did, at least you would allow him to kiss you. After all, he is a man", he added.
She looked at him and pouted her lips.
Then the teasing began. They chuckled while throwing pillows at one another until everything became messy.