echo [completed]

chapter 14

by dinner, cora was already dressed up with the clothes ms. eden had asked her to wear for tonight's special occasion.

it was just a simple, black bodycon dress... except she hated it. she hated how it clung on her body like a desperate soul. she hated how exposed it made her feel.

but no matter how much she hated it, she knew she had to do it for the sake of the plan.

"someone's all dressed up and looking good." cora inhaled sharply as andrew grinned at her.

she slammed her door shut and ignored him, walking in a pair of high heels she suddenly despises.

as she struggled to reach the other end of the hallway, the dress seemed to be shrinking with every step she took.

"how do people breathe in these types of clothing?" she muttered under her breath, trying to pull on the fabric and silently hoping that the blonde trailing behind her would leave her the fuck alone.

"ms. eden wanted dad to pick you up, but i volunteered." cora glared at him.

"and why would you do that?"

"i wanted to talk to you more."

"well, your time for talking to me is up so can you leave me alone now?"

"i'm serious." cora halted and turned around.

"and who said i was kidding?"

"no one did. and that's what i like about you." cora was surprised by the confession and snorted at the thought of it. "you take everything seriously. now people would think of it as a bad thing, but i beg to differ."

cora harrumphed.

"it's like...i get this vibe from you that even though you're not reacting to my pathetic and sadistic stories, you're listening to it and processing it. don't - don't even try to deny it. i see it in your face." andrew caught up beside her and reached out for her hand.

she was as surprised as him when she didn't pull her hand away.

"i see how your brows would furrow in concentration, how you bite your bottom lip when stupid shit falls out of my mouth and you try to stop a smile."

"you're very observant, huh." cora stated as they entered the staff room, lightly detaching her hands from his.

"one of my best qualities." he winked at her before being called down to the supervisor's office.

his departure gave cora time to concentrate on her surroundings.

there are a few tables drowned in expensive silk cloths and glimmering silverwares. the workers greeted her, smiling and complimenting her. some of them thanked her for being so nice to them.

cora wandered around the place, trying to look for small spots where keys would be able to conceal.

"i'm back." andrew chirped from behind her, causing her to lose her balance.

at that moment she was thankful he was there. it would have been embarrassing to fall on the ground for no apparent reason.

"quite jumpy, huh." he mimicked her tone from their earlier conversation in the hallways.

"what were you doing anyway?" he asked as they both settled on table 4.

cora shook her head as mr. collins took a stance near the podium and nodded at ms. eden, asking her to grace the workers her presence.

people clapped and chattered about her elegant dress. cora agreed that the dress blended really well with the fabrics they used.

"tonight marks the 50th year anniversary of my family's business and i couldn't be more thankful to have someone as loyal as all of you to stick around with us for that long. with your help, this facility reaches a new peak of success every year and you should be proud of that. you help our company thrive despite all the ugly circumstances we've been through, such as inmates escaping. speaking of that," ms. eden paused. "i would like to also thank our beautiful, young lady here, cora.." all eyes were now on the blushing brunette. "for helping us capture a very important and dangerous man."

the crowd cheered and hollared as ms. eden's speech ended, but cora was left confused.

"how can a limp like him be dangerous?" she asked herself.

that thought consumed her throughout the rest of the night. she just couldn't shake it out of her head.

"hey." andrew approached her, holding out a glass of red liquid. "don't worry, it's fruit punch." he reassured her with a smile.

"so that's your job here?" cora asked as she took a sip of the juice. "serving as a butler?" she teased.

"actually, i was only here to visit my dad, see how bad his sickness is taking over him, but so far," he inhaled. "so far it's been pretty positive. too positive, actually, that it scares me."

"and why is that?"

"he's been diagnosed with this...unknown disease and the doctor predicted like he'll be in bed rest for the rest of his life, but looking at him now. i mean, i'm not complaining that he's looking healthy, it's just...it doesn't make sense."

"well, just be glad he's still able to move around like that. some of us have our parents already buried six fit under." cora said, the sour taste of reality biting her tongue. "and burned."

"i'm sorry i didn't mean to-"

"save it and just be happy about your dad, alright?" cora snapped and gulped the punch down, chugging every last bit of it and putting the cup down the table loudly.

the room soon became like a club. more teenagers - most of them are the workers' kids - moved along with every beat, bumping with anyone near their body.

cora was absolutely horrified and rushed out for some air.

"didn't think i'd see you here." she remarked as andrew straightened himself up, attempting to make his shirt wrinkle-free.

"the place got crowded really quick." he reasoned.

"ah, i see." cora walked to where he was standing and sat down on the floor, taking her shoes off and massaging her swollen feet.

when she felt eyes on her toes, she felt embarrassed. "i don't do nail painting very well so i decided to quit doing it in 6th grade."

"girls had been teasing tiny cora?" she shot him a glare, which made his grin widen.

"i was homeschooled until i was in high school."

"is that so?" he replied as if he didn't believe her.

cora huffed as she continued massaging her toes and moved her way up to her ankle.

"hey." she looked up then realized he was sitting down next to her. "i'm really, genuinely, sorry about earlier."

cora shrugged off his apology and said it was all right now.

before she was able to reply to him, something electrifying started running through her veins and excused herself.

it's time to begin.

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A/N: i feel like no one's really reading parmiga related stories anymore, but i'll continue writing them anyway hahaha (for me)

12/30/2015

- lani