THE GOOD SISTER

Chapter 22 - Manuscript

Good morning my dears.  We are nearing the present, that moment you saw in the teaser. Some of you are wondering how this story will still end up that way, the way the teaser was shared but believe me, it will make sense once we get to that point. 

By now you know that although I do have third party plots, consistently throughout my stories, there is one consistency: the love between Richard and Dei/Maine is always strong enough to weather anything. Oh, and there's another consistency too; nothing is ever what it seems. What you see is not necessarily what you get :)

Hope you enjoy this chapter :)

The following day, Kat still felt bad about what happened to her with Inigo. Was she really that bad a person to deserve being treated by men this way? First there was Keifer who automatically assumed she would fall for him. Next this arrogant bastard Inigo insulted her by belittling her efforts in prepping for her TV shows.

If he only knew the training she went through for that fantasy series, all the burns on her skin from the rough cords of the harness, the bruises she got all over because she refused to use a double. How many people's minds make the same conclusion about her profession? How many among them assume that the glam and privileges outweigh the hardships?

It bothered her that people would think she was not working hard for the money she earned. She was proud of her accomplishments because she rose to fame without favors, it was sheer hard work. Damn Inigo for making her start doubting herself again. She was doing so well already.

The tears started coming and she let them. This was the part where she wished Richard was still accessible. In other dark days she had, Richard always calmed her down. She didn't call him often, but when she did, they connected, all the time. He understood her completely. Now, she didn't want to invade on her sister's time with him.

Her phone rang. She was surprised to see the caller was her sister. She let the phone ring a few more times to compose herself before picking up.

"Hello?"

"Kitty Kat! How are you?"

"Oh......I'm....ok naman."

"Huh. You don't sound ok. Are you sick?"

"No. I'm fine. Really."

"Kat, what's wrong?"

"Why did you call, ate? Did you need anything?"

"I just thought of you bigla. Maybe it was the right time to call. Kat, sweetie what's wrong?"

She suddenly started crying. She felt so alone in her condo, with just her PA sleeping peacefully in her room.

"You want to talk to Jay?"

"No."

"Ok lang with me. Sige na Kat, you're starting to worry me."

"No ate. I don't need to talk to him."

"Then tell me."

"Ate.........does my work seem easy to you?"

"No. I know how difficult it is and I don't have the stomach for it. Why?"

"Something happened last night......"

She told Dei about what happened, trying to be as objective as possible.

"You kissed him? Kaaaattttt............"

"I know. I'm so stupid."

"Did you.........enjoy the kiss?"

"Ate naman eh.........."

"I don't think you'd kiss him if he looked like a toad. Guwapo siguro 'no?"

"Yeah, he's so damn sure of himself."

"I'm willing to bet you enjoyed it."

"Tumigil ka ate ha. I slapped him good though. Twice."

"Yaan mo. He deserved it. I'm sure he'll contact you. Either to apologize or get more kisses from you."

"Sana wag na. He made me doubt myself."

-----

Dei was working on the edits of Richard's second novel when he arrived from a meeting with his agent. They were already on their second week in Miami, and were just waiting for confirmation on Richard's schedule for the book tour. The edit for his first book was already approved and forwarded to the printer.

"Hi sweetie." He hugged her as she rose to meet him.

"Everything ok?"

"Yes, we're all set. The books will be ready in a month. We'll release locally first, it will also be available online."

"So we're going home soon?"

"Yes we are. How long can you still stay with me here?"

"Dad is holding the fort for me. But I don't want to stay away too long, to be honest. Will another week be enough?"

"Yes. I just wanted to take you somewhere. You've been working so hard while we're here, I want us to have some vacation time too."

"Where are we going?"

"You want to go back to Evanston?"

"Yes! Oh my, can we do that?"

"Of course we can, sweetie. I'll make all the arrangements."

-----

They were cleaning up his room when Dei came across a manuscript that must have been written way back. It was entitled "Disruption," with only ten chapters. She started reading it and got so engrossed, she stopped what she was doing to turn page after page. Richard took notice and approached her.

"What's that, Dei?"

"Did you write this, Jay? It's beautifully written."

"Oh. That. I wrote that back in Evanston when we broke up."

"You should get this published."

"It's too short. Besides, I'm not sure people will like it. The ending is tragic."

"Can I have it?"

"Of course. It's the first story I ever completed in one sitting."

She cupped his chin and kissed him, imagining all these emotions he kept pouring out from him during that painful time they were apart. She was thankful he used writing as an outlet instead of turning to another girl to deal with his pain.

"I love you, Jay."

"I love you too.  I'm glad you liked that story."

With a last kiss, he stood up to pick up his phone to answer a call.

Dei's mind was working. She was going to surprise him by having the book published on her own. Maybe it was short but it still deserved to be published and sold online. She was going to give it as a gift for Christmas to him.

She would show the book to Kat, see if it would be good enough to turn into a short film. Would be a nice project for the three of them to work together, she as the screenwriter, Kat to star in the movie, and Richard as their consultant. Heck even that Inigo guy can be director if he was really as good as she read in the reviews.

She was going to look through his files from school tomorrow and find the soft copy of Disruption. If she couldn't find it, she could always ask Jean to type it for her. She had three months to get things done. Never before had she been so gung ho to do a project.

She was excited. Richard has done so many things for her, big decisions that changed his life. It was her turn to do something for him. This was going to be life-changing. She just knew it.