Bounded Proposition

CHAPTER 3

A knock on my door woke me up from my sleep. I realized that I slept in the bath tub, so I rose and dried myself up.

"Ma'am Therese, come eat downstairs." I heard ate Sona's voice behind the door.

"I'll be there in a minute!" I shouted.

I went out of the bathroom and went into my walk in closet to change. I wore my nighties and went downstairs for dinner.

I saw dad sitting at the end of our dining table, on his right sits mama with a smile on their faces. I went to them to give them a kiss on their cheeks.

"Good evening Ma," I looked towards dad, "dad,"

I sat in front of Mama and started eating when she talked. "So, how did the interview go, anak?" She called me daughter in Filipino.

I heaved a sigh and smiled lifelessly. "It was fine, Ma but I don't think I got the job." I said.

"Why?" dad asked. "I think my princess is the most fit for the job. Did they tell you the reason why they didn't accept you?" He was frowning but has a slight smile on his lips.

I got quite nervous at his question because I didn't know how to answer it. "Uh, they didn't tell me, dad." I didn't want to tell them what truly happened earlier that day. I don't want it to somehow become an issue or something. Besides, ConCielo chain of Hotels is one of our company's business partners.

"Oh, okay. It's fine, anak. You should just work in our company. I'll talk to your kuya Sergo to let you in as the marketing manager. You can start with that. The position is empty, anyway." he said.

"Dad, we've talked about this. I don't want to work in the company. I want to work my way up to the top through other companies. I don't want to feel like I got to a high position because my family is the owner of the company." I said softly.

"But you're already great at what you do. You deserve a high position, Reese." he countered.

"I know, dad. But I still want to explore more in other companies,"

He sighed and looked at me gently. "Fine, just take care of yourself okay? You should find a husband already. We're not getting any younger." He laughed.

I frowned and shook my head. He's been telling me to find a husband these past few weeks. He'd joke about it often times, but I know he's quite serious about it. I can feel the subtle sincerity in his voice every time he jokes about it.

It's actually quite unnerving because I know my father. He might not be someone you'd expect to do cunning things, but I know there's a cunning side in him.

I still remember the time kuya Stav got his wife pregnant at a young age. My brother didn't want to get wed and said that he'll just support the baby financially. Dad surprisingly agreed but the next thing we knew after that; they were already signing their marriage contract in front of us. He and his wife didn't seem to be too happy about it, but as I looked in the face of our parents and his wife's, they seemed to be satisfied by it.

I don't know what to think anymore, but I hope that doesn't happen to me. At least I'm not as wild as them. Also, I'm the only daughter. I don't think dad would agree to make me have a loveless marriage. Well, I'm not saying that Stav is in a loveless marriage, but who knows.

"Let's just eat. The food is getting cold." Mama said with a smile.

The dinner went well. We talked and joked about random things. I removed the thought about what dad could do and thought that I'm the only daughter and I'm too precious to him to make my nervousness and suspicion of him go away.