Will you choose me? (Montecarlo Heir #2)

Kabanata 3

Napahilamos ako ng palad sa mukha bago tumayo at nagpasyang lumabas ng kwarto ni Amiel. Derederetso ang lakad ko pababa ng hagdanan at naabutan ko pa si kuya Anton na malapit na sa ibabang baitang. Kunot noo itong lumingon sa gawi ko bago umismid at dumiretso sa sala.

What's his problem?

Hindi ko na makita kung nasaan si Amiel ng makababa ako sa living room. Bad trip naman kasi to si kuya Anton! Nagmomoment na kami kanina tapos eeksena pa!

"Oh, Ria. Thank God I saw you here! I've been looking for you. Hindi kita nakita kanina sa dinner." Salubong sakin ni tita Athena sa baba ng grand staircase. She gently dismissed the middle-aged woman she is speaking to and went to me. I smiled at her.

"Good evening, tita. Hindi ko nga din po kayo nakita eh. Nasa dining po ako."

She giggled. "I see. I'm sorry, hija. Nasa lanai kasi kami kanina ng tito mo with the other engineers. You should have called us lalo na at mag-isa ka pala. Sumunod lang pala si kuya."

Kumapit siya sa braso ko at lumakad kasama ko. I saw kuya Anton standing in the far corner with another businessman, while we went to daddy na kausap ang dalawang members ng board katabi ni tito Raymond.

"Dad." Tawag ko kay dad. Sa gilid nilang mga lalaking naguusap ay sina tita Elisse at ang mga kaibigan niya. All of them turned to face me. Ngumiti samin si tito Raymond ng dumiretso sakanya si tita Athena while daddy nodded at me with a small smile on his lips that was short-lived. His fine lines are already showing but no one can deny that he is aging gracefully. Even with eyeglasses. Dad is still handsome.

I tried to reach for his cheek to give him a kiss. Umalalay naman siya sa likod ko.

"Are you done? Let's go home." He said. I pouted. Wala sa sarili akong napatingin sa gawi nina kuya Anton at nakita ko siyang kunot noong pinapanood ako habang kausap iyong matandang lalaki. Agad akong nagiwas ng tingin.

We are not yet done with the homework but yes, we can go home. I want to go home.

"I-It's nice to meet you po, engineer. My name is Nala. I'm a fashion designer. Ria told us earlier that she wants to pursue modeling. Papayag kaba kung tutulungan namin siya? Pwede siyang imanage nitong kaibigan ko. Her name is Karina Alvarado." Nala called dad's attention. Ngiting ngiti ito sa katabi ni tita Elisse na si Ms. Karina na nasa bandang likod niya naman na ginigiya niyang ipakilala kay daddy. I don't know but her smize earlier seems gone. She's a bit uneasy now and not making much eye contact. She quickly glanced at dad's way before staring back at some portraits hanging on the walls of the living room. Tipid lang siya na ngumiti sa amin ni dad bago muling nagiwas ng tingin.

Dad lowly chuckled. "Good evening. I'm sorry but my daughter is still very young. I want her to still focus on her studies at this point. She can pursue whatever she wants after she finished college." He said before his eyes darted at me. Tito Raymond chuckled beside him, probably making another side comment.

So he won't allow me to pursue it while taking college, then? I sighed. Sayang naman. I'm open to do that during my rest days sana. Hindi naman siguro magiging mabigat ang mga gigs ko but I guess I'll have to wait.

Kita ko naman ang hilaw na ngisi ng dalawa. Nala tried to take it lightly by laughing exaggeratedly.

"No worries. Nabanggit niya nga din kanina engineer. In the near future siguro Ria, yeah?" Tango pa nito sa akin. Naniningkit na titig ang ginawad sakin ni dad. I awkwardly smiled.

"O-Opo. Like I said earlier, I'll focus on my studies po muna for n-now. Saka na.. ang modeling." I cocked a brow trying to gauge dad's reaction. My grumpy dad just sighed. Hmp! Sabi niya noon pwede naman e!