Five Years Ago | MILKCIIZE

The Peranza's

Ciize

The summer heat was just getting started.

And Ciize Peranza was already dreading it.

"You'd think I could at least have some coffee," she muttered grimly as she glared into her pitiful substitute for a morning beverage. Tea. What was the point? Without real caffeine, how could she be expected to face what was coming?

Outside the cluttered but clean kitchen of the Peranza family home in Pampanga, a summer storm threatened. Heavy raindrops hammered against the windows and raced down the gutters. Ciize shivered.

Symbols of foreboding seemed to lurk in every corner of the room, like mythic creatures waiting for an opportunity to pounce. Anyone with half a brain could see that the odds were stacked against them. The wrath of the elements was about to descend. The storm was brewing.

As if nature was determined to prove her right, the wind whipped through the trees, driving rain in off the mountains and slamming a loose shutter against the side of the house.

"Gotta fix that." She jotted it down on the mental list of notes she was constantly updating. Of course, she'd made the same mental note during the last storm, but that wasn't really important at the moment. What was important was that she was the only member of the Peranza Construction Company who'd bothered to show up for the meeting.

She took another swig of tea and made a face at the taste just as the back door flew open.

Ciize jumped as the doorknob slammed into the permanent notch in the wall that had been carved by years of Peranza family members flinging that door open with enthusiasm. A tall figure dressed in a vibrant red raincoat stood framed in the open doorway. Her blue eyes sparkled, and a grin spread across her wide mouth. Rain rushed in around her, as if it had been waiting for an invitation to enter.

"Shut the door." Ciize inched her chair away from the fingers of wet reaching for her.

"Hi to you, too."

Under the big table, Papa's huge Golden Retriever, named Bear, whined and thumped his tail against the floor in greeting. Ciize was feeling less enthusiastic.

She tossed a quick look over at her younger sister and snarled. "Don't push me, Cris. I haven't had coffee. Where were you?"

Cris Peranza grinned and lifted high a cardboard tray, as if she were offering up her firstborn child to the gods. "Getting supplies duh. But damn, you're still miserable in the morning."

Ciize's gaze fixed on that tray and the three tall cups nestled within. Her nose twitched, her blood pumped, and something close to awareness skittered inside. "If that's coffee, I'll consider letting you live."

"Better than coffee." Cris's blond eyebrows lifted for emphasis. "Lattes. From Starbucks."

"There is a God and She loves me." Ciize sighed dreamily. Starbucks was a familiar sanctuary, where the aroma of roasted coffee beans and the promise of a perfect latte always lifted her spirits. The consistency and comfort of Starbucks made it a beacon in the chaos of her mornings. oa naman.

"Pandesal too?" Ciize shoved her hated cup of tea aside and made a grab for the closest coffee cup just as soon as Cris set it on the table.

"Of course." Cris shucked the rain slicker, shook it once, sending droplets of icy water flinging in every conceivable direction, then hung it on a hook by the door. Her blond hair was braided and lay in a single thick rope across her right shoulder. Her black tee shirt was stamped Peranza Construction, and the letters were faded. Her jeans were worn and faded too, and her work boots looked as though she'd been kicking ass for generations. Plopping one hand on her hip, she said, "Cinnamon streusel and those blueberry ones with the crunchies on top. And," she added, reaching into the bag, "a plain biscuit for Bear." She tossed it under the table and grinned at the eager crunching sounds.