C9 9

"What's with that sinister smile?"

Callea's smile was gone and looked up on Deive’s face in wonder. "Why?" she asked.

"Nothing. Your smile made me feel strange. I got a feeling that you have naughty plans for me. Are you still mad because I didn’t arrive early last night? "

She shrugged. "It's okay!"

It didn’t matter if she would get mad at him. It was a done deal anyway.

"No, it's not!" he contradicted and flayed his arms. "It was my fault. I went to a party with my friends. I didn't expected that it was traffic on the expresway. My bad. I should have come earlier. I hope I didn't stay on the party for long." He held her hand while the other one cupped her cheek. "Let me make it up with you."

Her eyes sparkled. "How?"

With his gorgeous body?

The gross ideas inside her head was replaced by carnal thoughts. His body was really a meal. Argh! She was still a normal woman with libido after all. She couldn't help it. Wait, she had an access to his body once they were married, right?

“I will cook for you and Marina,” he offered instead.

The fantasy inside her head burst like a bubble. His cooking skills was his only way to make ammend. "You don’t know how to cook, right?"

"I know. A bit. "

She came down the bed and retrieved the tray. "No, thanks. Marina and I will cook and you relax here. Stay here inside this room and don't come out until you are well. "

"Yes, Ma'am!" he replied and gave her a snappy salute. She was on her way out of the room when called out to her. "Callea, wait!"

"What?"

He took her shoulder and kiss her firmly on the side of her lip. "Thank you for taking care of me." He caressed her cheek. "You look beautiful today. I hope you are the first sight I see whenever I wake up. See you later."

She felt like she was floating on air as she left the room. He kissed the side of her lips. He thanked her for caring for him. He caressed her cheek. He found her beautiful. Shit! She felt like a giddy teenager.

She was shocked when she met Marina who was on her way up the stairs. "Let eat. I'm hungry. "

"Why don’t you eat on your own?" Callea aske and gave her the empty tray. Then she walked towards her room.

"What is happening to you?" asked Marina. "What's did you do with Deive?"

He kissed her, caressed her cheek and called her beautiful. That’s it.

"Nothing," she replied in a still-zombie tune. Her eyes was just straight and didn’t look back until she get to her own room. "No interruptions. I will just spend my day inside my room." Then she slowly closed the door.

She leaned on the door and held the cheek caressed by a Deive. "He kissed me, touched me and told me beautiful."

She uttered that over and over again while she was staring in space. All she could see was Deive. All she could feel was Deive. All she could think of was Deive.

Deive. Deive. Deive.

Her smile was wiped on her face. Then she realized her predicament.

She didn’t want to be kissed by a man. But she agreed to kiss to Deive.

She didn’t want any man touching her but he allowed Deive.

And most of all, he want to be called beautiful. She even yelled at Marina earlier for praising her beauty.

But he let Deive call her beautiful. And she loved it.

"Eeee!" she screamed loudly and pulled off her pony tail. She pulled her hair like a crazy woman.

She faced the mirror and stared at her reflection. She was now far from the presentable woman earlier. Her face was covered with unruly hair. “How did I become beautiful? I didn’t even put on make up. Deive must be tryig to soften me up.”

She angled her face and tried to look for proof that she was beautiful. Her eyes burst looking at her body in her pastel-colored dress. She quickly took off her dress. She grabbed the old maid's costume that was tattered and marked with blood. Then she flopped down the bed and stared at the ceiling.

A real smile shone on her lips. Finally, she felt normal. The woman earlier with Deive was a fake. That woman didn't exist. Not even at he outside world.

The unkempt hair and tattered clothes was the real Callea Lopez. She people outside this mansion sees her as a ghost. She decided to be a ghost day and night. But inside that mansion, she was alive.

In that place she was really free.

CALLEA’S face was devoid of expression while descending the grand staircase.

It was around seven in the evening when Marina announced that dinner was ready. Her friend’s jaw dropped when she passed by her to check if everything was okay. .

"Are you okay, Señorita?" asked Marina while she was inspecting the cutlery and the hot meals served.

"Yes, of course. I never felt better. "

"What happened to you? You were locked inside your room the whole day then you go down looking like that."

She was wear a bloody red medieval gown. She laid her long hair down. But she curled the ends of her hair. She put on her black choker with ruby flower accent. She had thick black mascara and eyeliner to accentuate her beautiful eyes. Yet her lovely face held no emotions and all. She did not want to feel. All she needed was fangs to maker her look like a vampire.

She loved it. Her heart was frozen. All day he tried to devise ways how to resist Deive’s charms. She was "shaken" to the core the whole day. It's okay to be cordial to him or even mean to him. She could handle all those. No to his charming ways.

She got goosebumps all over her body whenever she thinks about how to could make her weak.

“Is he feelig better now?” Callea referred to Deive.

She did not attempt to approach his room earlier. She drowned herself in the sketches and new ideas. Bloody and gross ideas. It was the only way she could erase her attraction to him and she would return to normal.

When she thought she she in full control of her emotions, she went down to prepare dinner. But she won't be the nice and sunny girl she was earlier . She wanted him to get a glimpse of the real her.

“He would join us in a bit. He said he is feeling better now.”

She clapped her hands. "Everything is ready. All I have to do is set the mood for the evening. My fingers are screaming for a Beethoven piece."

She was not in her elements despite of her gothic look. There was something missing. She was not sure if she could face Deive without drooling on his gorgeous face. Playing the piano could help her relax a bit.

As if with a mind on its own, her fingers automatically moved over the keyboard. Beethoven's Pathetique. It was her favorite classical piece. The notes took over her. Her fears were blown by the wind and the music.

Oh! That feels good!

After she played, she noticed a pair of eyes focused on her. Her eyes flew to the grand staircase and clashed with Deive’s who was staring at her. He was as still as a statue. He was not blinking even when she approached him.

"Hi! Have you been standing here for long?" Callea asked in a smooth voice.

He gulped and nodded. Terror was written all over his face. As if that lovely song was a terrible ghost. He couldn’t even speak.

"Are you feeling better now?" she asked again.

“Y-Yes. Thank you for taking care of me. I didn’t know that you can play the piano. "

"Yes. It helps me relax when I have a lot of things in mind. Do you play? "

He slowly shook his head. "I am afraid not. I am also not fan of classical music. It gives me creeps. "

"Too bad. I love classical music specially the one I played a while ago. "

"Pathetique," uttered it softly. "The piece is indeed gloomy."

Callea raised eyebrow. "For someone who hates classical music, you sure know the piece."

He shrugged his shoulders and put his hand inside the pocket of the pants. "My grandfather likes classical music." He walked toward her

"Do you want to play me to play more?" She had tons of gloomy classical songs in her repertoire. Those songs speak about her personality.

He threw his hand in the air. "No."

"You don't want to hear me play?" she asked. Could she tolerate a man who didn’t appreciate her tastes in music?

"It’s not that I don't want to." He caressed the back of her palm. "I don't want you exhausted because of me. Yesterday you were tired cooking for me. This morning you took care of me while I was sick. Now you played the piano for me. "

"I should keep you entertained. You are my guest. "

He squeezed her chn. "I am just a guest to you? I thought I am the man that you are about to marry."

If she felt lost having him as her guest, how much more as the man she would marry?

Then the image of his bare gorgeous body flashed inside her head again. She shook her head. She didn’t even want to go there.

“Dinner is ready. We’d better eat before our food gets cold,” she offered.

He took her hand. She wanted to pull away but he tightened his grip as they walked towards the dining area. "You look beautiful tonight. Really beautiful. The gothic look suits you,” he whispered and it tickled her senses. She felt heady when she sniffed her manly cologne. Drat! This man was her undoing.

She smiled a bit but didn’t attempt to meet his eye. She only spent a few moments with him and she was already hit by Deive Hontiveros Syndrome – clammy hands, trembling body and she felt as if she was about to have a fever. Her body was getting hotter.

She hoped she could still live with her sanity intact after that night.

Callea kept of shoving spoonful of food into her mouth because she couldn’t think of gross and scary things during dinner to negate the captivating view of Deive's smile at her while they were eating. She just focused on eating a lot to her deep frustration.

"Hmmm ... this will ruin my diet. Homecooked meals make forget about discipline in food,” Deive moaned after slurping bulalo or beef stew bone.

“Food is supposed to be devoured and enjoyed,” Callea assured.

“I’m in trouble with my gym instructor. This bulalo is to die for.”

"Marina cooked that one.”

When she took Marina under her roof, she saw her potential in her cooking. She was so good that even just a simple vegetable soup could taste gourmet-ish. That was why she had fun teaching her her grandmother’s recipe and some recipe of her own.

"She's good. How long have she been here with you? "asked the young man.

"Two years."

"Why did you get her as your helper?” he asked casually.

Her eyes became sharp. “Marina is not a hired help. She’s a friend. She is my companion.”

"Really?" he asked with disbelief.

She tightly held the steak knife and pressed her lips. What was he trying to imply? That Marina should not be her friend because she was a hunchback? Was she stooping low in his opinion?

So Deive was no different from the cruel people outside. They judge people base on their appearance and now on substance. She loathed superficial people. Marina was a good person. Why should people judge her because of her deformity. As if she wished to be born a hunchback. Too bad. Marina thought Deive was a nice guy.

Deive looked alarmed and stopped eating. “Hey! Don't get me wrong. I do not judge your friendship with Marina. But it is just you two in this huge mansion. What if some robbers decided to come here? Who will protect you?" His concern looked real.

"Thanks for the concern, but no one would dare come to this place.

It helped that people thought her home was a haunted house home. It was so notorious that even thieves won’t set foot on the place. It would be difficult for them to take large antique furniture in the mansion. It was not easy to steal. There are no precious heirloom or money there. Everything she needed was arranged by her grandfather - from paying the utility bills to supplies. She also knew that her grandfather placed guards to watch over the mansion. She was okay with that as long as they remained invisible and won’t interfere with her life.

Callea sighed with relief. It was comfort to know that he was not judging Marina. Marina was her friend. She won’t allow anyone to hut her friend.

"According to your grandfather, you don’t leave the mansion at all. What do you do when you're cooped up here?" he asked with curiosity.

"I have online classes. I am taking up Creative writing. Because I like to make graphics novels. The old books and the library helped me enrich my imagination. I am also working with several novels. So I have a lot in my hands. "

She didn’t mention that she was a glowing graphics horror novelist. Her published graphic novels had followers on only in the Philippines but also in other countries. Her publisher Philippine based only but was able to get other readers abroad. Thanks to the Internet.

But she used a pen name to hide her identity. Only her publisher knew her informaiton. While she was a mysterious artist to the rest of the world.

"What are you currently working on? Romance? Fiction? Political satire? "

She smiled sheepishly. "I will tell you once it is published." She was not comfortable showing it to someone else once her works were still raw. Even in Marina was forbidden to see it. It was ncluded in her eccentricities as an artist. "How about you? You work for Hontiveros Coco Industries you, right? "

"I used to work for our family business. Not anymore,” he informed her with a sad voice.

"Then what do you do now?"

"A professional bum," he answered with a gloat. "That is why my grandfather is giving me away. Is it okay for you to marry someone like me?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. There was also nothing she could do because her grandfather wants her to marry him. Even if he was a terrorist, she would marry him if that was the only way to ensure to get the mansion.

"If its okay with you too eat the sweet potato tops and other vegetables in our backyard, then I am cool with it.”

His rich laughter echoed inside the house. She was stunned. Suddenly there was life and light inside the mansion that had not been heard for a long time.

"You will feed me potato tops and grass? Great!" He tapped the table. “So, it means I have to learn how to grow weed from now on.”

She looked away form him, her heart constricted. She loathed his smiling face. She loathed his laugh. It touched her gloomy heart. It was not good.

"If you are tired of sweet potato tops, you can dig for sweet potatoes underneath. We have lots of rootcrops here.”

"Don't worry. I'm not with Hontiveros Coco anymore but I am working on a project with some of my friends. A pirate cruise ship. "

"Wow! So it was like old, dusty pirate ship like the one on Pirates of the Carribean?" Callea’s eyes sparkled when she thought of the skeletons of dead pirates rising from the depths of the water to wreak havoc to the world. There were underwater treasures guarded by giant monster. It was exciting! They finally had something in common.

Deive shook his head. "It would be an elegant floating hotel.. I really want to travel the world when on board the ship. I think it is cool. " It presents the palms. "Do you want to go with me when we married?"

She looked at his stretched hand. It was a splendid invitation for any normal, starry-eyed woman who was in for a romance with a handsome man.

She smiled a bit. She was not directly refusing his offer to travel on his cruise ship. She had no plans to get out of the mansion and travel the world. The world was too vast and too cruel for the likes of her. She was happy to spend the rest of the life inside the mansion, away from the crazy world.