August Reveries (FreenBecky)

Chapter 14

Present Time

Patricia slumped in the plush living room, her mood as stormy as the summer skies outside.

Mr. Wheaton had already left for a business meeting in town, but he made sure to give his daughter an earful for the overly dramatic scene she caused at the garden. He also made it clear that he expects Patricia to apologize to Francesca once the latter finished changing her spoiled shirt, warning his daughter against any more petty acts.

"Francesca had business with me, Abigail. Please, you better not kill the woman," Mr. Wheaton warned sternly, though his amusement at his daughter's antics was evident. "I thought you had moved on already? Didn't you two talk at your birthday event?"

"How did you even find out about that?" Patricia asked, only to realize soon after that Kirstin must have been the snitch. "Kirstin!" she hissed.

"Well, Kirstin mentioned it to me because she was recommending Francesca for the art piece commission."

"And why should that make me feel any better?"

"Abigail, darling, we'll discuss this later. I need to leave for the meeting now. Please promise me no more juice-throwing or anything that could lead Ms. Tamayo to sue you. Yeah?"

Patricia huffed and reluctantly nodded. After her father left, she remained seated on the couch, sulking with her arms crossed like a petulant child denied her favorite treat.

"Out of all the artists out there, why Frans?" she muttered, glaring silently at the window. Remembering Kirstin's involvement in the matter, she grabbed her phone and bombarded her best friend with lengthy rants.

The cobblestone mansion of the Wheatons had stood at the center of their expansive ranch property since the late 1890s. Mr. Anderson Wheaton had decided it was time for a massive renovation to ensure the estate's stability for generations to come. But before the reconstruction began, he wanted a landscape painting of the over-century-old house as a keepsake.

This is where Francesca enters the picture.

The old man hired her to create the artwork, with the offer to stay in the mansion throughout the duration to streamline the process. This was also to protect Patricia's privacy from prying eyes that might enter and leave the property.

"Trusted?" Patricia's words dripped with sarcasm as she read Kirstin's message. "She's my bloody ex for a reason," she muttered to herself but just loud enough for Frans, who had just entered the living room now clad in a clean baby blue shirt, to overhear.

"Is your Dad's gone?" Frans inquired, dismissing what she had just heard while craning her neck to scan the room for Mr. Wheaton's presence.

Patricia rolled her eyes. "No, he's right here—of course, he's not here anymore."

"Woah, chill? I'm just asking. No need to be feisty."

"Whatever," Patricia sneered, lifting her mug from the coffee table.

The younger woman then raised a brow when she noticed Frans taking a cautious step back, now positioned awkwardly between the foyer and the living room.

"Baka kasi itapon mo yan sa'kin. That coffee's still steaming hot, o," Frans explained, holding her hand up while casting a wary glance at Patricia. Despite her grin, Frans couldn't shake off a lingering sense of apprehension—and low-key itong natatakot. "Was that from a scene in one of your movies? I thought talaga nasa teleserye ako kanina," she added, chuckling awkwardly.

Patricia had already acknowledged that she might have overreacted earlier, maybe a little too much. However, she was too proud to concede this fact to the woman standing before her.