FIVE
NAPUNTA sa pagkain ang atensyon ng dalawa nang dumating ang mga maid dala dala ang mga pagkain. Kumain lang sila habang nag uusap sa mga bagay-bagay tulad ng acads at mga hobby nila.
"So, what's the business of your family?" tanong ni Venna.
"Hmm..." Andrea started to think. "I'm not really sure. Last year I think the company created medicines? This year they're developing weapons? I don't know, my Father never told me and I am not interested so I just let it go," sabi niya. "How about you? What's your family business? Or what do your parents do?"
"They both worked for an agency. They're both dead now." Ngumiti ng tipid si Venna.
"Oh. I'm... I'm so sorry. I didn't know," Andrea said worriedly.
"No, no," Venna chuckled. "It's fine."
Nagpatuloy silang dalawa sa pagkain. Napasulyap si Venna sa mga lalaking nakaitim na pumasok sa dining area. Apat na sila ngayong nakabantay sa kanila. She now feels uncomfortable and unsafe.
"Don't mind them," sabi ni Andrea. "They've been my bodyguards for a long time now, they're good people."
"Don't they bother you? They follow you around, right?" Venna asked.
"I'm kinda used now. I've been living like this for 17 years already." Andrea chuckled. "They're better than my father's bodyguards, they all look so scary."
Venna laughed. "Yeah, some of my father's coworkers looked scary too." She raised her head to look at Andrea properly. "Speaking of coworkers, what's your Father's name? He might have been associated with my Father before."
"Henry," sabi ni Andrea. "Our Father's name is Henry."
"Oh, doesn't ring a bell." Venna chuckled. Actually it does. The famous businessman Henry Perseus is the owner of the Perseus Mafia, huh? Laging lumalabas sa balita ang Henry Perseus.
Pagkatapos nilang kumain ay napagdesisyonan nilang maglakad lakad nalang sa garden dahil hindi naman daw alam ni Andrea ang mga history ng mga bagay sa bahay nila, she said it'll be boring to roam around the house. At pinaalis din ng kapatid nito ang mga nakaframe na litrato nila kaya wala itong makukwento sa kanya.
"It seems like you're the only one home. Where is the family?" tanong ni Venna.
"Hmmm. Dad has work so he's not home. That's also the reason why only my bodyguards and the house's guards are here, my Father's men are not here..."
Father's men? Ulit ni Venna sa sinabi ni Andrea. So the house guards are not affiliated with the Mafia?
"My brother rarely comes home, he likes staying in his penthouse. And my Mom... She died when I was still a baby," paliwanag ni Andrea.
"Oh." Venna pursed her lips. Tss, eyes. Dali dali siyang lumingon pabalik sa bahay nila Andrea sa may second floor dahil kanina niya pa nararamdaman ang mga matang nakamasid sa kanya. "Don't you feel it? Someone is watching us."
Andrea laughed. "Uhmm? Them?" sabi niya sabay turo sa mga guard na nakasunod sa kanila.
Venna laughed too. "Yeah. Right." She shook her head and they continued walking. She stole one last glance at the house and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Do you have siblings?" biglang tanong ni Andrea.
Tinitigan ni Venna si Andrea. "Half. Two younger half siblings. But I never considered them as my siblings because their father is a bad person and they might be like him." Kumurap siya ng ilang beses habang nakatitig sa mga inosenteng mata ni Andrea. "But I guess I'm wrong. It's only their father, not them."
