Capítulo 13: Chapter Thirteen

Alex heard a couple of knocks on the other side of her bedroom door.

"Yes?" she lifted her head from the game console she was playing but she didn't move at all from her bed.

"Adrian is downstairs, honey."

She pursed her lips. "I don't want to see him, mom."

"Honey, you know he's been..."

She hastily got up from her bed, cursing loudly when her feet were wrapped in the blanket. There was only one more step to get to the door so she could lock it when it was suddenly wide open.

The man she don't like to see appeared in front of her with a wide grin. Mrs. Sullivan — her mother, couldn't help but smile in resignation. Alex looked at the two with a frown, then the next second she immediately turned around and went back to her bed to continue the game she is playing.

"Adrian, what would you like to drink?"

The man turned around and smiled sweetly at Mrs. Sullivan. "Anything available is fine with me, thank you."

"Alright," Mrs. Sullivan glanced at her daughter who looked indifferent to the two of them. "Well, I suggest you be careful with the brat," she said, pointing at Alex with her lips.

That made Adrian chuckle and nodded. When Mrs. Sullivan left them, he closed his best friend's room door.

Ignoring the woman, he sat on her reading sofa and looked around. Alex's room hadn't changed much since the last time he has been here. And it has been almost a year already. The last time he came in was when he visited the woman because she had a fever and didn't want to be hospitalized.

One side of the wall of Alex's room is filled with her reading table, and there is a set of computers that have been rarely used since laptops began to scatter. Beside the table stood a shelf that was one meter high and filled with a collection of games and novels specifically picked by Alex. Even though the room is full of stuff, he never see any dust accumulating. Not even a speck. The woman really takes good care of her collection. Beside that shelf, there is a glass cabinet which contains bags of various models and colors.

"What are you doing here?" Alex asked.

Adrian gasped, and found his best friend already standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. "What?"

Alex snorted. She crossed her arms before saying, "Didn't you hear me? I don't want to see you, Herrera."

"Wow, what a shame. Even though I really wanted to meet you," replied the man with a face pretending to be hurt.

She hissed and hit her best friend's head with the game console she was playing. "I'm being serious!"

Adrian chuckled and that's when Mrs. Sullivan came in with two glass of cranberry juice. She looked at her daughter with a warning look. "Alexandra, stop being so rude! Do you want to be single for the rest of your life because of your barbaric nature?!"

Alex looked at her mom in disbelief. "Mom? How can you say that to your daughter?"

"What if there's no guy out there who wants to be with you, huh?! What can you do?!"

She stares at her mother even more. "Mommy! What are you talking about?"

Adrian raised his right hand, asking for attention. "Auntie, if there is no guy out there who wants to be with this brat, don't worry, I will."

Alex turned her head quickly towards the man. She glared at her best friend. "Can you just shut your big mouth for a second?!"

Mrs. Sullivan put the tray she was carrying on the table, and landed a smack right on the top of her daughter's head. "Watch your words, Alexandra Sullivan!" then she turned to Adrian, "Adrian, listen. Don't be so weak and soft-hearted with my daughter. If she says rude things to you, you can hit her head or do whatever as long as she keeps her mouth shut! Got it? You have my go signal to do it."

Adrian chuckled because Mrs. Sullivan sided with him. "Of course, auntie. I'll do 'anything' to keep her mouth shut. You need not to worry."

"Good." Mrs. Sullivan patted the man's shoulder affectionately.

"Oh my gosh, mom! Why are you siding with him, huh? Did you just forget that I'm your daughter?" Alex exclaimed dramatically.

Mrs. Sullivan chuckled and shook her head at her daughter's behavior. "You'll be twenty eight this year, but you're still childish."

"I'm not childish," Alex argued.

"Yes, you are a childish and rude-mouthed woman!" her mother immediately left her room before things got worse. Alex really can make things difficult for everyone if she wants to.

Alex snorted loudly then she fanned her own face with her palm. It was as if sweat was building up on her face from the conversation she and her mother had just now.

"Ah, this is really delicious," said Adrian after a few moments. "Alex, you should try it."

Alex stared at the man for a seconds, then shouted loudly. "Aaaaah!"

Adrian jumped at the woman's sudden scream. He took a nearby sofa cushion and threw it right at his best friend's head, making the girl fall silent. "Do you want to make me deaf?"

Alex snorted loudly, then looked at the man with a murderous look. "Do you want to die?!" she snapped as she threw the sofa cushion back at her best friend.

Adrian chuckled. "Auntie said that I can do anything to keep your mouth shut. Anything..."

Her eyes narrowed. "Keep your grin, damn it! I know you're thinking dirty things again with that perverted brain of yours!"

The man laughed even more. "You really understand me well, Alex. You must know what I am going to cover your mouth with, right? So stop saying harsh words."

"Tch!" she pouted and went back to her bed. She put her game console on the nightstand, then buried her whole body under the blanket.

Adrian stared at the mound on the bed. "Hey, Alex! Are you really going to sleep?"

"Please just entertain yourself, Herrera."

The man laughed and walked over to the bed. He sat on the empty side that the woman didn't sleep on. "Hey, I'm serious. I was wondering why you haven't texted back or picked up my calls since yesterday afternoon."

"You have to think it yourself," said the woman from under the blanket.

Adrian smiled. "I've thought about it, and I don't think there's anything wrong with what I said."

Alex lowered the blanket up to her neck. "There's nothing wrong?! Are you serious?"

The man nodded innocently.

"Damn it! You—"

She glared because Adrian just stole a kiss from her. "I am really close on choking you to death!"

"I can hit your head or do whatever I want to cover your mouth when you say rude things since I have a go signal from your mom. But since I don't want to hurt you, instead of hitting your head, I'd better shut that mouth of yours with mine, right?" the man replied with a not so sweet smile.

Alex exhaled exasperatedly. "You are so annoying!" she then put her hand on her forehead. "You bastard! You really run your perverted brain well," she grumbled.

"Back to the previous topic," said Adrian because they are slowly getting away from the original topic. "So why are you ignoring me?"

Alex glared at the man. "You told Jennie, your secretary, that you kissed me. And she definitely won't keep that information to herself. Everyone in your office must know, now! Where should I hide my face then, huh?!"

Adrian looked at his best friend in amusement. "Just because of that? Gosh! You're too much. I thought I messed something up," he said nonchalantly and then lay down on the bed.

Alex changed her position into a sitting position. "That is a serious matter! How can I ever come to your office again without feeling embarrassed, huh?! Hey, Adrian Callum Herrera! Don't pretend to be asleep!"

"It was just a kiss, Sullivan. Don't overdo it," replied the man. "What's wrong with kissing? Even kids in middle school do it."

Alex grabbed her hair desperately. "Throw away that indifference of yours a little! Have you not thought about what impact it will have on your reputation? You own the company! You are their boss!"

"So what?" asked Adrian in frustrated tone of voice. Sometimes he really can't understand the woman's way of thinking. "I'm just saying, I kissed you. Not fucked you. It's nothing." he then changed his position to be sideways, so he could look at Alex. "Besides, if I say that we've slept together, why should I be ashamed? Is sleeping with you something embarrassing? And kissing you is also something to be ashamed of?"

Alex bit her lip hard, holding back her emotions. But when she saw the man's grin, her defenses collapsed and in an instant she was on top of Adrian's body with her hands gripping around her best friend's neck with all her might so the man couldn't breathe. "You should have just kept your mouth shut, you bastard! And now, scram you to hell!" she shouted vengefully.

*****

Alex waited nervously. Currently, she is at WKL Elementary School, an elementary school that is quite famous in Makati area. She spent twenty minutes from her house because she had to be stuck in traffic. And after seeing the GPS on her car, there really is no other way she can go without getting stuck in traffic at all.

Of course, she wasn't in the context of a reunion to that elementary school, even though she did attend there when she was a kid. And this time, she visited her former school for an interview. She had indeed submitted her application about a month ago, and it was only today that she was called in for an interview. This interview call came to her in the form of an e-mail that she just received last Saturday.

The interest to occupy the art teacher at the school was really beyond her estimation. She thought that there were only a handful of people who are eyeing for the spot, ten at most. But it was more than that, it made her very nervous.

A man in his early thirties came out of the interview room, and she felt her hands getting colder minute by minute. After an employee called her name to go inside, she got up from her seat while giving encouragement to herself.

Just as she was about to grab the doorknob, her cell phone rang causing her to jump up in surprise. While holding back her curse, she looked at her cellphone screen and saw Adrian's face who was sleeping on the plane. What's the matter now? She thought in annoyance.

She does have a problem with patience. But oddly enough, she really likes children and doesn't have a problem even though most people think children are annoying. That's why she wanted to be an elementary school teacher.

Roughly, she shifted her screen towards the red mark on her cellphone. And before the man can call her again, she decided to turn off her cellphone. She doesn't need any distraction at the moment. She let out a couple of sigh before she stepped into the interview room with more confidence.

Thirty minutes later, she was on her way to Adrian's office. She couldn't wait to tell the man that she had done the interview, and that she would be accepted. It wasn't that she was overly confident, it was just that she felt that she was doing well. After all, her satisfactory values will certainly be considered by the selectors. And of course, she also has experience.

When she stopped again because she was stuck in traffic, she took her cellphone out. Frowning because her mom didn't call her. Usually her mother was impatient and needs to know how well she did in the interview as soon as possible. But then she remembered that she turned off her cellphone before entering the interview room when Adrian called.

After making sure the vehicle in front of her had not moved, she quickly turned on her cellphone. She is not surprised when she saw many voice mails from her mother, one from Lia, and another one from Adrian. It's strange that the guy only contacted her once. As she remembers, the man is of the same type as her mother. They both won't stop sending voice mail in just one go. They'd keep trying, and if the phone operator had gotten mad, they'd both have been badly rebuked.

She chose a voicemail from Adrian. A second later, the man's voice greeted her.

"Hi Alex. I understand you don't want to talk to me,"

She frowned when she heard the man's opening sentence. Why doesn't she want to talk to that guy?

"I know what I said yesterday afternoon was outrageous. And I'm sorry for that. I didn't mean to be rude and bring things up to fuck you and all the other mess. I'm really sorry. You know, I was just kidding."

She understand now. She remembered what happened yesterday afternoon. After Adrian talked nonsense about sleeping and kissing problems, she actually lunged at the man and strangled his neck. As soon as he gasped for breath, she took her hand away, and immediately chased the man away saying that she would not talk to him for the rest of her life.

Alex chuckled. It was as if she didn't know herself. She was really angry at that time. But only for the whole day. As soon as the night fell, and turned into morning, she had forgotten about it. After all, how could she not talk to Adrian for the rest of her life? Adrian, along side with Lia is the only person she will always keep in contact with except from her family.

"I know this sounds like a bribe, but if you want to forgive me, come over to the Sapphire restaurant. We will eat there. I'll treat you whatever you like."

She put her cell phone in the cell phone holder in her car and started the car. Five minutes before the office break for lunch. There's still ten more minutes before she arrive at the man's office. So as soon as she got out of the traffic jam, she immediately turned right. U-turn. She will just go to the restaurant that Adrian mentioned.

"He's not kidding," she muttered with a grin. The restaurant that the man mentioned is a fairly well-known restaurant. Famous for its very delicious food, and also expensive. From the second floor, anyone can see the beautiful scenery. "I'm going to bankrupt him in one go," she said determinedly.

*****

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