"PLEASE..." Cash replied, that surprised me. My lips parted.

I took a step back and stared at his face in disbelief.

"You're just kidding, aren't you?" I nervously chuckled, but his face remained stoic.

My forehead creased a little. He took a step forward to close the gap between us before slowly lowering his face into mine.

I gulped.

"C-Cash..." I stuttered, but he just kept on lowering his face until his face was literally just an inch away from mine. I could smell his scent. Our lips are almost touching.

My eyes widened, and I couldn't move a muscle. I wanted to push him off, but I didn't want to do it at the same time. My heart is pounding so loudly against my chest, and my palms are starting to get really sweaty.

A smile appeared on his lips. "Gotcha!" he uttered. His lips softly brushed against mine, and I almost forgot how to breathe!

Lumayo na sa'kin si Cash at saka tumawa ang loko dahil nakaganti siya sa'kin!

"You should have seen the look on your face!" Cash said while laughing so loudly.

I glared at him, but then he wouldn't stop laughing, so I started walking away and left him behind.

"Hey, wait up!" he called while catching up behind me.

I frowned at him when he caught up and started walking beside me again.

His face turned red when he pursed his lips together to stop himself from laughing.

"Bwisit ka!" I glared at him.

Oh, god. I just tasted my own medicine, and it is bitter!

"You started it kaya, and now you're napipikon," he said, stifling his laughter.

"You made a very bad choice in starting a war with me," I said, rolling my eyes at him. He just chuckled again.

"It is on!"

"It is really, really on!" he repeated. I bumped into his shoulder, kasi nakakainis siya.

Hindi niya alam kung anong pumasok sa isip ko nang magsabi siya ng 'please' kanina! I almost considered working at VM Corp. instead! Napaka-walanghiya!

He casually draped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. "Do you want another ice cream cone to calm your nerves?" He teases.

I tried to push him off, but who am I kidding? He is huge kaya compared sa'kin!

"Buy me a whole ice cream store instead. Pinainit mo iyong ulo ko." Sabi ko at tinitigan siya nang masama. Tuloy-tuloy lang kami sa paglalakad at hindi ko na alam kung saan kami papunta dahil paikot-ikot lang kami sa loob ng park.

Tumawa lang siya ulit. "Okay..." he casually replies, as if he's really going to buy me an ice cream store.

Nagyaya na akong umuwi kay Cash. We were walking back to his car when I unexpectedly saw Kuya Baker and he was not alone! He's with a girl, and Kuya's laughing so loudly that I could hear his voice from where we are while the girl is talking.

Napatingin rin si Cash kila Kuya at kagaya ko nanlaki iyong mga mata niya habang pinapanood silang dalawa na nagtatawanan.

I've never seen Kuya Baker laugh like that! He looked so happy, and his attention was focused on the girl, that he wouldn't even notice me and Cash standing just a few feet away.

"Wow," I said in awe.

I didn't know that he was seeing someone already! Plano ko pa namang i-set up siya soon!

"Let's go to them," I told Cash, but he just stopped me from leaving.

Umiling siya. "Just let them be. You'll just interrupt their date," sabi niya.

I sighed before nodding my head. I took one last glance at Kuya Baker and his date before we decided to leave.

"Do you really not know that Kuya's dating someone?" I asked, and he was quick to shake his head.

"Baker's a very secretive person, you know... Sometimes, I even question if we're really his best friends because he won't say anything to us about his life," he replied, with a hint of pagtatampo in his voice.

I poked the side of his body. "Tampo 'yan?" pang-aasar ko and he just rolled his eyes at me before entering his car.

Inasar ko lang nang inasar si Cash hanggang sa makabalik kami sa Empire. My tummy hurts because I laughed too much!

"Saya ka?" Cash said that made me laugh even more!

"Oh, gosh, please stop talking in Tagalog. Ang baduy!"

"At least I'm not conyo!"

"Duh!"

"Duh!" he mimicked, and he even flicked his finger before we both started laughing.

I unbuckled my seatbelt because we've been parked in front of the building for almost 20 minutes now.

"Goodnight, Cash. Drive safely!" I told him, but before I could open the passenger door, he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

He slammed his lips into mine as soon as I glanced at him. My hands instinctively curled around his neck, drawing him closer.

Thank goodness his windows were heavily tinted since we were parked right in front of the Empire Building!

"Cash..." I gasped against his lips as his hand slipped inside my top and began stroking my breasts against my brassier.

I slowly drew back from our kiss. Our eyes were filled with desire.

"Let's go to my room," I replied, and we got out of his car and went to my unit right away.

The night hasn't even started yet!

#

I only have a couple of days before I start working at The Empress.

Palagi kong pinupuntahan sila Tia at Evo para kamustahin sila. Tia just texted me a while ago that she brought Evo to get his checkup and everything's good naman daw. I wanted to visit them today, but I can't, because we have a mini-reunion with my relatives, as Kuya Baker just informed me this morning.

He said that he would pick me up by 4.

I'm not really that excited about this mini-reunion because I'm not really close to my other cousins and relatives. Pamilya lang ni Kuya Baker ang pinaka-close ko sa side ni Mom. And I don't have a choice because Aunt Via was the one who organized this mini-reunion and I love my Aunt Via. That's why I couldn't say no to her.

While I was doing my makeup, I called Mom on FaceTime.

"Mom, kumakain kapa ba? Pumapayat ka yata," I just noticed that every time I FaceTime with her, she looks thinner and thinner and I'm getting worried about her.

I like my stepdad, but sometimes I can't help but hate him because he doesn't take care of my mom right. Palaging sarili lang niya ang inuuna niya. Palagi nalang siyang nag-papaalaga, kaya napapabayaan na ni Mom iyong sarili niya.

"Pagod lang ako, Anak." Mom replied. "Ipakamusta mo nalang ako sa mga Aunties mo mamaya,"

"Why don't you just come back here to Manila, Mom? So, we can be together again,"

Mom sighed on the other line. "You know, I can't just leave Bryan here alone,"

"Paano naman ako, Mom? Mag-isa lang rin ako dito." Malungkot na sabi ko.

Mom didn't say anything after that. Nagpaalam na siya bago niya i-end iyong facetime namin.

A tear escaped from my eyes. I just don't say it to her, but I really hated her for forcing me to live here in Manila alone.

She chose to be with Bryan instead of coming with me. She doesn't know how hard it is for me to live by myself and think about her all the time. It's like she suddenly decided to throw me away in a country to live by myself just because our family business is not doing well.

I'm just really lucky to have Kuya Baker and his friends. Especially, Cash...

He made it a lot easier for me.

He made me temporarily forget all my worries about Mom.

He makes me really happy, and I always enjoy his company. It's like there are no dull moments when I'm with him. He always agrees with whatever I want to do.

Before 4 PM, Kuya Baker called and said that he'd already parked in front of the Empire.

I just wore a tropical print crop top, a maxi skirt, and wedge shoes. I put on a little bit of makeup and curled my hair.

I should've at least invited Curtis to this mini-reunion. Baka wala akong makausap doon.

"Kuya, I have a question," I said, while we were on our way to the venue.

"Shoot," he replied.

"Where were you the other night?" I asked. I glanced at him while he was seriously driving. His eyes were focused on the road, but I saw how he swallowed and tightened his grip on the steering wheel because of my question.

I had a talk with Cash the other night when we took a quick break after our 4th round, that I would not bother Kuya Baker with his potential love life, but I just couldn't resist talaga! I just kept on thinking about the girl yesterday, and I'm really curious about how she made Kuya laugh so easily with just her talking.

She's very interesting, and I'm a very curious person!

"W-Why are you asking?" I almost laughed out loud when Kuya stuttered!

Oh, gosh! I'm making Kuya Baker really nervous! I'm getting more and more interested tuloy.

"I went to your unit kasi the other night, but you weren't there. I thought you were out on a date," I chuckled. Kuya kept his mum while I've been suppressing my laughter.

Feeling ko namumula na iyong mukha ko kasi pigil na pigil iyong pagtawa ko!

When we got to the venue, Kuya was still quiet. I hooked my arm around him as we walked our way inside.

"It's so great to see you again, my gorgeous pamangkin!" Aunt Via immediately hugs me when she sees me and Kuya Baker.

"Hello to my favourite Auntie!" I greeted her and hugged her back. Nakipag-beso ako sakaniya.

"Hi Mom," Kuya greeted Auntie before kissing her cheeks.

A lot of my relatives were already inside chitchatting with each other. I already feel left out kararating palang namin.

"Why didn't you bring your boyfriend?" My jaw dropped at the sudden question of Auntie.

"Wala po akong boyfriend, Auntie." I let out a nervous chuckle before glancing at Kuya Baker.

"Nako, parehas kayo nitong Kuya mo. Hanggang ngayon wala pa ring pinapakilala sa'kin!" sabi ni Auntie at natawa ako habang poker face lang si Kuya na parang walang naririnig.

Gusto ko sanang sabihin kay Auntie na 'Hindi ka sure Tita na walang girlfriend si Kuya', but I just kept my mum. Natutuwa pa akong asarin si Kuya! I'll just make him slip from his own tongue that he's seeing someone.

Kuya and I took the huge round table, along with my other cousins.

"Do you miss your LA life, Sera?" Ate Elexa asked.

"You're really not going back to LA? Hindi ka ba nahirapan mag-adjust dito kasi doon ka na lumaki, right?" Zaya added. They're all looking at me, waiting for my answer.

I don't know why I feel pressured, e they're just my cousins naman.

I gave them a small smile and said, "Yeah, I'm going to live here for good na. It was hard at first, but Kuya helped me get adjusted." I glanced at Kuya Baker, who was sitting quietly beside me. "And yes, I do miss LA, but mas miss ko si Mom of course," I replied.

They just nodded their heads as if they were satisfied with my answer, bago sila mag-usap usap ulit. Tahimik lang si Kuya kaya wala rin akong makausap.

I wanted to get closer to my other cousins, but it's not easy because they all grew up together while I grew up without them in LA.

I was so bored just sitting at the table. Kinukulit ko si Kuya but he's busy with his phone. I tried to peek, but he's good at hiding who he's texting!

There were lots of games. They asked me to play, but I'm not in the mood to play. Around 8 PM, I got really, really bored na. I've been texting with Curtis, but then he stopped replying an hour ago.

"I'll be back," Kuya excused himself. Ako nalang ang natira sa table namin kasi lahat ng pinsan ko busy sa mga games.

I sighed before I stood up from my seat.

Lumabas ako at pumunta sa may fountain sa harap ng venue. The cold air brushed against my bare shoulder. I hugged myself and sat in the space around the fountain.

I looked up and stared at the clear sky. There are lots of stars, and the night is very beautiful, but I can't seem to enjoy it because I'm alone.

It's weird that I'm surrounded by a lot of people and yet I still feel lonely.

I miss my mother...

She's all that I have, and yet she's a thousand miles away from me—her only child...

I stayed there for I don't know how long before I decided to go back to the party.

I was about to walk back inside when I saw a car pulled over in the driveway. I stopped in my tracks and my eyes widened at the sight of Cash coming out of the car.

My heart starts beating erratically.

He's using a different car.

He smiled at me when his eyes landed on mine. He was wearing a suit and ties, and his dishevelled hair made him even look sexier. It looks like he just got off work.

He walks towards me. "Been waiting for me, babe?" he asked, and I immediately wrapped my arms around him, closing the space between us.

I nodded against his chest, "I am." I replied.

W H A T Y A S E Y