"Soooo, when will you go back here sa Phil? Andaming paperworks, swear!" Bungad sakin ni Maddie. Magkausap kami right now sa facetime and frustrations, wrinkles, and eyebags are so visible in her face.
"Maybe after three days? Kapag tapos na ni dad asikasuhin shangri la dito."
She sighed in frustration. "You know what? I'm so jealous of you! Buti ka pa nakakapag unwind even for a short period of time, and nakaka habol pa din sa school works at the same time. These acads are killing me!"
I chuckled. "Why don't you go on a trip din? Looks like you really need one." I suggested.
She frowned. "Kung kami lang yung may ari sa university katulad nyo, why not diba?"
I remained silent. I am Zephyra Xerene Abrantes Valois, the eldest and the heir to the VGC and AGC. The daughter of the french-filipino multi-billionaire Zachary Valois, and the most influential woman on business industry in Asia, Quindelia Abrantes.
Nag change topic sya. "Ooh, by the way, I stalked your IG account kanina," she shrieked kaya naintriga ako. It's been a month na kasi nung huli ako nag log in.
"What about it?" I asked, curiously.
Ini-reverse camera nya naman patapat sa laptop nya. "Look! You have 6.9billion followers na! Omygod! Halos buong mundo na nagffollow sayo!"
I forced a smile. "That's.. great?" I can't help but feel disappointment every time na maririnig ko sa mga malalapit na tao sakin yung about sa fame ko, status sa buhay, pera ng parents ko, everything. It makes me feel like they only like me because of those things. I hate it when they're treating me like a princess. I just want to have a normal life. I hate this kind of attention. "Hey, Something came up. I gotta go."
She smiled widely. "Yeah sure, call me when you get home. Keep safe, okay?" I smiled back and ended the call. Inopen ko yung instagram na application. I scrolled down sa mga pictures ko. I never took a picture of me na nagttry ng things na nagccause ng adrenaline rush like paragliding and stuff.
"I thought that phones are prohibited in this getaway?"
I darted my eyes to the door, and saw my little sister, Zephyrine, glaring at me. I chuckled. Galit na galit pa din 'to sakin. "I'll buy you a new phone paguwi natin sa pinas." I assured her. Nawala naman yung pagkakakunot ng noo nya saka sya tumabi sakin sa kama.
"Talaga? Kahit anong brand?"
Napaisip ako. "What do you have in mind?"
She widely smiled at me. "Latest model ng apple."
"I can give you a fuji apple. Be more specific." Pang-aasar ko kaya napasimangot sya.
"Kahit kelan ka talaga, panira. Latest model ng iphone, better?" Tanong nya. Natawa naman ako saka sya niyakap. "omg ate stop hugging me!!! Ang baho mo na!"
Mas lumakas yung tawa ko. "Hininga mo lang yung naaamoy mo, Yrine." Pinipilit nya naman kumala sakin pero di nya magawa. This is the thing I love about my sister. She never treated me as the heir of the Valois Group of Companies and Abrantes Group of Companise also known as the VGC and AGC. Kasi kay Zephyrine, she treated me as her sister, as a normal person in a way the whole world couldn't. Not even my own parents and friends.
I snapped back to reality nang biglang magsalita si dad. "An heir to a multi-billion companies doesn't do such things, Zephyra."
Binitawan ko si Yrine saka maayos na umupo. "Seriously? I'm not even allowed to hug my sister?" I laughed sarcastically. "If being an heir to our businesses means to stop having a life, then I want no part of it." Tumingin ako kay Yrine. "Don't forget to pack my things bago kayo umuwi, Yrine. Mauuna na ko umuwi."
