Sage Series 1: One Last Chance

Jealousy

Days have gone by since the rosemary incident, and Ricky was so anxious that he wouldn't let her even eat at the cafeteria of Mystic Entertainment. He kept insisting on cooking for her, claiming that there might be rosemary on one of the dishes she would buy. She chose not to argue with him about it, and besides she felt like a high school girl who's being courted by her lover. She never experienced that since she was too focused on taking care of her siblings, so she was kind of new to these things.

"Sweetheart."

She was pulled back to reality when she heard the snapping of fingers, she forgot that she and Ricky were discussing the contract for the collaboration with Triple E. Dance Studio.

"Yes Love?"

"Eat your food, and please don't look at the monitor anymore. The documents won't leave you, but the food will get cold."

He was pouting when he said that, and she found him so cute. It felt like she was looking at her brother, so she couldn't help but pinch his cheeks.

"It hurts Sweetheart!"

"Couldn't help it love. By the way, didn't Mama and Papa tell us to visit this Saturday? Do we need to buy anything for them?"

She asked anxiously since this would be the first time she was going there as a daughter-in-law, and not just a friend of Kyle and Rancel. She was internally panicking when she felt his palm on her cheek, when she looked up she saw his expression soften like he was looking at a distressed child. Well, maybe she was acting like one for him to look like that.

"Relax, it's just Mama and Papa. They only want us to be present, but I hope none of them invite Naomi."

Naomi. She heard that name countless times already, and she couldn't help but feel jealous. After all that is her husband's first love, and she sure hopes she has her brother-in-law's loyalty or respect at least.

"Celina Sapphire A. Elizondo get out of your head. My brothers never liked her, and we broke up even before the two of us got married."

She blinked a couple of times before facing him again, why in the world would she doubt his love for her?

"You will be the only wife of Cloud Zedrick Elizondo, I don't want you to doubt my love for you."

She just nodded and continued typing on her laptop, they were done eating lunch anyway. She still has a meeting with Arch. Technology, they will be in charge of the cameras and technical aspects of the project. After the meeting with Arch. Technology she would have to travel to Central to meet with Amethyst, the leader of Gemstone Incorporated. Since her company is located in Tung Chung. Gemstone Incorporated would be in charge of the outfits for the dancers.

She sighed upon remembering her schedule, it was so jam-packed that she wanted to break down. She looked at her husband who was reading a pile of documents, if it was two months ago she would just let it slide, but now that she's married to him that changed. She walked towards him and held his hands, it's one of her ways of calming down.

"You're stressed already, huh? How about I do the talking with Gemstone Incorporated and Archangel Technology? After all my dancer would be the ones to be using their outfits, and they would be working closely with us."

She just nodded her head and kept swinging their hands, a few minutes later she was calm enough to continue with her remaining proposals. Five minutes had passed, they heard a knock on the door.

"My lady, your brother is here." Her secretary Hillary spoke.

"Which one?"

"It's Mr. Jasper."

"Send him in."

The door opened and her baby brother's face lit up, but she could sense something was off about him. Although Jasper is a lot more quiet than the others, his silence this time around sets an alarm off her head. He didn't say anything and just hugged her instead, when his breath hitched she knew something was wrong with him. She pulled away and saw him crying, she gently cupped his face and brushed off his tears.

"What happened, little wolf?"

Her husband was also dumbfounded by Jasper's emotional distress, it must have reminded him of Rancel whenever the three of them fight with each other. It took almost five minutes before he was able to say something.

"Pete is having a hard time being a dad, the twins are always going for each other's throats. Shin doesn't want to go home, and Mama and Daddy can't handle them anymore."

She and her husband exchanged glances, fortunately, he understood what she wanted to happen. She saw him packing their bags and smiled at him. As the eldest, she needs to get to the bottom of this. She notified all of her brothers that there would be a siblings meeting, Shin and Pete were hesitant but decided not to argue with her. After two hours they reached the Aragon manor, and everyone was shocked by their arrival. And true to Jasper's words the twins were indeed going at each other's throats, she simply told Ricky to grab two pairs of Kali in her room. At first, he was hesitant yet followed her instructions, when she got a hold of the Kali, she calmly walked towards the twins.

"Hold this."

She dictated coldly as they looked at her, she handed it to them and stepped back.

"Don't stop until one of you is dead, and if I don't see any blood on the floor, I will kill you myself."

She stated and sat down on the sofa, and surprisingly none of them stopped her. Her husband visibly paled upon her declaration and just held onto her hand. A few seconds passed when they heard a loud noise, the Kali sticks were dropped alongside the twins. She nodded knowingly, the twins made up with each other.

"Done trying to kill each other?"

She asked and opened her arms wide, she hugged them tightly because they all needed this. It has been ten years since they've acted like that anyway, so it was new to her as well.

"Can you both tell me what made you do that?"

She asked gently when they looked at her, it had been so long since she looked at them properly. Her brothers had grown into a bunch of fine gentlemen, however they're still kids at heart. So, she needs to be careful with the way she handles things between them. They're like a ticking time bomb, one wrong move, and everyone will get hurt.

"We just... we just want..."

They were struggling with an explanation so she waited patiently for them, just like when they were younger, and couldn't explain that they only wanted to pay with a toy.

"We want to spend time with you, ever since you got married you rarely see us anymore. Do you... do you hate us, big sis?"

She felt like someone splashed her with a bucket of cold water upon their confession, because why on earth would her brothers think that she hated them? She signaled the other three to sit beside her, if the twins managed to have that kind of thought, the others would have it as well.

"No, I do not hate you. I was disappointed by what you did before, but the distance I've created was enough punishment for all of you."

"Well then why didn't you come visit?"

Of course, Shin would be the one to ask that. Mainly because Shin and her emotional empathy level were almost identical, they could sense if something was going on even without anyone speaking.

"Because I'm a wife now, I have to take care of my husband. It's within my vows remember?"

She saw how defeated they looked, and realized that maybe she neglected them to take care of Ricky. If she managed to balance out the two factions, this jealousy they were feeling wouldn't have happened at all.

That my angels, is how jealousy and hate are built up in someone's mind. So, for those who have siblings and are in a relationship as well, try to keep the balance between the two sides. Now, I know "Kali" is a form of martial arts, and it's used in a defense mechanism. So, please, for the love of every higher being we know. As well as respect for the art. Do not, I mean DO NOT! Use it to defuse a fight between siblings, it worked in this story but it will not work in real life. That would be all for now, have a great day ahead everyone!

-Anggie