Reckless Abandon

Chapter Twenty Six

Alice's POV

The room suddenly fell quiet, everyone sharing reluctant smiles at one another, feigning their surprise. Lahat ng mata nakatitig sa bagong dating, her high pitched voice echoing all over the wide and spacious garden of the Buenaventura's. "Tita! Oh my God! It's so nice to see you again!"

Tumayo sa kanilang kinauupuan ang mga magulang ni Chico at nakipag-besohan sa babae. "Aika, sweetheart! Oh, I am so happy to see you again! It has been some time, no?"

Enrico froze in his seat, all the blood came rushing down from his face. He looked surprised seeing her again... after a long time. I can tell he's not thrilled to see her here. Sa itsura niya ngayon para siyang nakakita ng multo.

Nagkatinginan kaming magkakabarkada. We all shared the same subtle, confused look on our faces.

Anong ginagawa niya dito?

Enrico recovered from his trance and shot a meaningful glare at me from right across the other side of the table.

What the fuck is she doing here, Alice? You did not invite her, did you?

I scowled at him, shaking my head. Ano ka, hilo? Ba't ko naman yan iimbitahin dito?

"Enrico," lumapit si Aika sa kinauupuan nito. "Hello."

He stood up from his seat and forced himself to look at her. "Aika. Nice to see you."

Tumawa ng malakas si Aika. She covered her perfectly manicured hands over her mouth. "You dummy! Are you seriously just gonna greet me like that?! Since when are we so formal?" she steps forward and hugs him. "Happy birthday, love! I missed you." she says before giving him a huge, noisy kiss on his right cheek.

Shooting a glance at Eureka, I observe as her confused, polite smile turned into disgust after seeing what she just witnessed. Her pretty face wrinkled with a slight frown.

"T-thanks..." Enrico muttered before settling back into his seat. He turns to Eureka, who is sitting on his right, looking annoyed that she was no longer paying attention to him.

"So!" Aika chirped and looked at all of us on the table. "Hi everyone!" napansin niyang lahat kami nakatingin sa kanya, pwera nalang si Eureka. "I guess my old seat is taken, huh?" Aika smiles sourly, referring to the seat next to Enrico.

Eureka looked up from her lashes, tilt her head to the side and gave Aika a smug smile.

Hindi ko mapigilang mapangiti. Atta girl. "Aika, pwede kang tumabi sa akin kung gusto mo?" alok ko sa kanya.

"Umm," pag-aatubili niya. All seats are taken except the one beside me. "S-sure, Alice."

The dinner went pretty well for the most of us, except for Eureka and Enrico. Buong course hindi sila nakapag-usap dahil walang naging ibang laman ng usapan kundi life updates ni Aika at iba't-ibang klaseng kwento nung mga bata pa kami. All throughout the meal everyone had something to contribute except for the stranger on the table, Eureka. She smiled her way through the conversations, half listening, toying with her food, while Enrico was obviously uneasy and half-assed his way in pretending he is the slightest bit comfortable with Aika suddenly popping out of nowhere again, especially on his birthday, and most of all ruined his excitement in having Eureka here to celebrate it with us and his family.

When tea and desserts were served, Eureka finally excused herself from the table. Nakita kong hinawakan ni Enrico ang kanyang kamay, pero agad naman itong binawi ni Eureka at pumasok sa loob ng bahay. Tatayo na sana si Enrico para sundan siya ngunit pinigilan siya ni Aika, na sadyang nagpalipat ng upuan sa mga maids para lang matabihan si Enrico. He snatched a glance at me, and just by the look on his face, alam ko na agad anong gusto niyang gawin ko.