365 Days with the Celebrity

Chapter 22 - The Brother

Ariel enjoyed the company of Leon's cheerful brother since he arrived. Angel fell in love with her cooking the moment he tried her French onion soup on his first day, and had since been devoted to helping her in the kitchen like a disciple in waiting, much to the displeasure of Leon who constantly warned him not to help Ariel to do her job, but he ignored him.

Angel's positive vibes was a welcoming breath of fresh air, in contrast to Leon's pendulum mood swings and aloofness. At least he was approachable, friendly and humorous. It was the very kind of company Ariel needed after getting the cold shoulder from Team Waltz for some time now, except from Anna and Ryan, his stylist who would chat up to her occasionally while enjoying her homemade ice cream.

Unbeknownst to her, Leon was becoming anxious about Angel's and Ariel's fast developing friendship, although he said nothing nor interfered with their conversations. He continued to observe Ariel, who was already emotionally struggling with the isolation from Team Waltz, but thanks to the distracting presence of Angel, she was able to focus better in her work.

Lazing by the pool on a Saturday afternoon, Leon laid on the reclining chair and read a book, while Angel swam.

"These are for you guys," said Ariel as she placed on the table, two plates of banana split with homemade chocolate and vanilla ice-cream laced with generous ribbons of sweet, whipped cream.

"Wicked!" Angel rushed up from the pool and dived his fork into the dessert, "Ma ma mia! This is splendid!"

"Glad you like it," smiled Ariel.

Leon peeked at them from behind his book.

"Hey, look there!" Angel pointed at the direction behind Ariel. Puzzled, she turned around. Suddenly, she felt something sticky and moist, and wiped off the offending substance. She shrieked when she realised Angel had cheekily sneaked up behind her and smeared the whipped cream across her face.

"No, you don't!" She chased after Angel, who laughed evilly at her demise.

"It's sunscreen. Need me to help you with more?" he joked and dodged away successfully each time Ariel tried to catch him.

Leon narrowed his eyes at the two having a playful go at each other.

"Angel! Oh, you're so gonna get it from me!" She threatened. Just as she was about to grab Angel, she tripped and knocked into Angel, falling into the pool with him.

"Stop, Angel! Please stop!" Ariel begged with laughter as Angel tickled her in the water.

Leon jumped to his feet and thundered, "THAT'S ENOUGH! I did not pay you to be in the pool, so BACK TO WORK!"

He slammed his book down on his chair.

Terrified by Leon's sudden stentorian fury, Ariel swam to the pool's edge.

"Here you go," said Angel, pushing her up to the edge before helping himself up.

"I-I'm so sorry," she stuttered and gave Angel a doleful look. She wrung her wet clothes and scurried back to her room.

Feeling awful for her, he confronted Leon, "You didn't have to be harsh to her. It wasn't her fault. I was the one who started it."

"Does it matter? She has to do her job. She's my employee in case you've forgotten, so why don't you just back off!" Leon scowled.

"Com'on now, nothing wrong with a bit of fun. You're overreacting," Angel knitted his brows in a furrow.

"Are you suggesting that I should pay her just to have fun? What a genius way to blow off a million dollars!"

"Don't be ridiculous! You sound as if you own her."

"Oh yeah? Well, you've been distracting her from her work, causing her performance to sink!"

"Is that so? How come you did not complain? Maybe because our teamwork created even better dishes?" Angel teased, but Leon remained unamused.

"Anyway, I don't want you in the kitchen with her ever, as long as you stay in my house."

Angel glowered at his brother's sudden aggression and unreasonable request. "You know I won't," he stood his ground.

"Are you trying to test my patience here?" Leon challenged, crossing his arms.

"No, but maybe you like her, that's why."

"Oh, for goodness sake, shut this nonsense now!" He hissed.

"Good! Can I kiss her?"

"What? No!"

"Just kidding," He laughed.

"Do as I say or get out!" Leon seethed through gritted teeth. Angel smile vanished.

"Fine! But you know what? I'm no fool. I don't know the full story of what went wrong between you two after the Mia Marlene incident, but Ariel's hurt from the way you've been treating her lately," Angel contended and walked off.

Leon flinched at his words. Was she really hurting? He sank back into the reclining chair and rubbed his temples.

For the past few weeks, he tried so hard to maintain a distance from Ariel, just so he could keep his head level from those strange, fuzzy feelings he started to experience towards her. Moreover, he was not willing to be reprimanded anymore by his team for forgoing a much sought-after contract and be accused as a "softie" in the music business. Oddly, he did not feel bad at all about giving up the contract, except he regretted sleeping with Mia in a heat of lust and frustration.

The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt Ariel.