[Book 2] What If

Chapter 23

"Oh, shoot. Hon, I'm afraid I won't be able to wake you up tomorrow morning."

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The buffed man had explained that one of his clients had invited him for a hike so he would have to wake up and leave at dawn.

Being a nocturnal, Lea tends to fall asleep at daybreak and continues her rest up until almost noon. Since their rehearsal schedule will be at ten in the morning, somebody have to wake her up for her to get ready on time.

"Oh boy. What should I do?" Lea asks. She could not trust the help of an alarm clock as it is futile. No matter how loud they set the alarm, the Broadway star could not get up from her sleep with just the sound of it. She really needs someone to personally wake her up.

They could not put that task to Nicole as the teenager will already be gone for school during that time. Thinking about it, Rob had finally come up with a solution.

"I know! Since you and El will be working together now with the play, how about you sleep over tonight at her place? So at least you guys can go to work at the same time as well."

The couple looked at the young woman who was just walking with Nicole behind them. She had heard their whole conversation and seems to agree with the plan.

The Broadway star asked El if staying over at her place tonight is possible.
"Would that be fine?"

"Yeah, of course. You guys could come and stay anytime you want at my place. It will be troublesome if coach Lea would be late for tomorrow. We don't want her perfect record to be broken right?"

The three adults laughed off with each other. Lea has never been late in any of her professional or social engagements throughout her life. That is why people from the entertainment industry had come to respect her professionalism.

"All right, that's settled then. I'll just bring my wife over to your place later after dinner."

"Sure."

As they finally reach the parking lot, the Salonga-Chiens had parted ways with Ellie for the both parties to drive off with their own cars.

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As she arrives home, Ellie took her newly bought clothes upstairs to put inside the wardrobe on her walk in closet. Two of her lady helpers assisted her on bringing in the bags.

As she takes them all out and folded it to be placed in one of the shelves, El tried to look at the two female helpers as if she's visualizing them in imagination.

Her helpers are actually coming from the same family. The house caretaker; kuya Jonny, who mostly handles the garden and all the outside area is their patriarch. While his wife, ate Martha and their daughter Karen, are assigned to take care of inside home matters.

Ellie called on the two to come closer to her as she gave them each a pair of pants and shirts from those she had just bought.
She told them that she had bought plenty and she wants to have them add it to their pambahay clothes.
The two were delighted especially Karen as she appreciates her employer's kindness.

As an employer, Ellie has been one of the kindest. She makes sure that all of them are properly compensated and accommodated. She also sponsors Karen's schooling by paying for the kid's tuition and giving her enough allowance on top of their pay. They have their very own lounge and kitchen area aside from the separate rooms for female and male helpers. El had also been giving them day offs at the same time so they could leave the house and spend family time or do whatever things they want to do outside the village. In return of her generosity, the family of three pledges their loyalty to their benefactor.

Few hours later, after packing up all the things she'll be needing for tomorrow, El went downstairs to have her dinner. She told Martha that all of them can retire for the night as she'll be the one whipping up her own meal. She opened up her fridge and tried to look at its contents. Undecided, she just grabbed the cereal box and took out the carton milk as she pours them into an empty bowl.

Two minutes later, her phone beeped showing a message banner on her screen.

"We'll be there in five minutes."

It was from Rob. El left the kitchen area, still with her spoon on hand, as she goes outside to the driveway. She opened up the gates as she saw Rob Chien's car coming along. It stopped directly in front of her as Rob and Lea gets off the vehicle.

The man greets his 'adoptive daughter' as he hands over Lea's bag that secures all the things she needs for tomorrow. He then excused himself as he kisses his wife on the lips, driving back to their own home to retire for the night.

Lea felt a little bit awkward as they kissed in front of Ellie. She doesn't want to act that sweet in front of her secret lover. But Ellie doesn't really bother with it. After all, she doesn't have any right to be jealous as Lea is legally bound to love and to be with Rob. El is already satisfied with serving her coach in all ways possible. For since the beginning, she has been an ultimate fan of the world class singer.

"What's with that spoon?" Lea noticed as they walk towards the main door.

"Oh, this? I was actually eating some cereals back in the kitchen."

"For dinner? Didn't Martha prepare anything for you?"

"I told them to call it a day and just decided that I'll make dinner for myself." as they enter the main house, the two of them went straight to the kitchen for El to finish her supper.

"How about you coach, wanna eat anything?"

"I'm fine. We just finished dinner. Go ahead and finish your meal na."

Both ladies took their seats at the stools as Lea puts her bag on the kitchen top. She watches her protege dive her spoon on the bowl as she takes a spoonful of cereals and milk. The Broadway star smiles as she stares upon El, she just looks like a kid munching on her favorite food. 

The young woman noticed her coach's stare. She can't help but laugh at herself looking so childish as she eats. She finished it up and put the bowl and spoon at the dishwasher.

The two of them then went upstairs as she brought the Broadway star to rest. Instead of letting her sleep in Nix' room, she brought her over in one of the guest rooms for the singer to rest comfortably. The bed in Nicole's room is just fitted for a teenager's body size and the decorations inside are so animated. The singer might just laugh all night long if she is to stay in such a cutesy kiddie room for the night. 

As Lea enters the guest room, her protege bids her goodnight as she excuses herself to go to her own room. Lea puts her bag on top of the wall side table as she sits on the bed. It was soft and the texture of the blankets feels so good to her skin. She decided to take a shower to freshen up herself before fully retiring for the night. 

After bringing her coach to her room, Ellie went straight to the master bedroom as she grabs fresh clothes from her wardrobe. She decided to take her nightly bath before she falls asleep. After about thirty minutes, she goes out from her bathroom with heavy thoughts. El wonders if her coach is still awake. She hesitated to text or call her, as she's afraid the phone beep might actually wake the singer if in case the latter is already asleep. 

Ellie walked outside her room barefooted, stopped in front of her coach's room and called out her name.

"Coach Lea? Are you still awake?" El didn't even bother knocking as not to make any sounds that might wake her up.

But on the other side of the wall, Lea is actually fully wide awake. She thinks of everything that might happen tomorrow once Ellie starts working with them, and with Renan. Though she assured the young woman, she still feels uneasy about it. It was faint but she heard someone calling her name outside the door.

She walked towards its direction and without opening the wooden door, she asked:

"El?"