Chapter 2: My Obsessed Mum

In Sapphire's Room

“Yes mum, Carlos has started chatting with me!” Sapphire's cute voice sounded over the phone.

“That's good my dear.” Her mum praised.

“Mum, what kind of agriculturist is he? Does he own a farm as well? What kinds of crops is he into?” She sounded so curious and impatient.

“I'm not sure darling. I know he's hardworking and good-looking. Carlos would be a good husband for you, my dear.”

“So he's also good-looking, huh? I can't wait to meet Carlos already.” Sapphire said, sarcastically.

“Have you guys picked a date for the meeting?” her mum asked over the phone.

“Yes mum. It's 2:00 p.m on Saturday. At Blue Bird Hotel.”

“Wow! That's great! Who picked the venue?”

“He did mum. I've always wanted to check out that hotel too. I heard they serve the best food in the whole of Los Angeles.”

“Just be a good girl, okay? And make mama proud.” Fiona, Sapphire's mum persuaded. She has a good talent at that.

“Okay mum. I'll try my best.” Sapphire replied.

“Alright, bye now.” Her mum muttered and cut the call.

She stared at the screen of her phone as she cuts the call.

“Doesn't she ever gets tired of hooking me up?” Sapphire murmured underneath concentrating on the work on her table. On it were cardboard papers and pictures of Gabriel Anderson; her favorite actor and teen crush.

“Oh well, as long as I'll go to a fancy place and get a free meal out of it.” She joked, smiling at herself as she drew domestic animals on the cardboard.

And for a minute, she got confused. It's obvious that her mum seems to be good at distracting her after all. Thinking about what animal to draw after a cat and a duck, Sapphire walked to the reading table by the corner of her small, pink room.

Going through the laptop to check her email messages, she got notifications from 'I love actor Gabby's' F******k page. Then her blue, doe-like, button eyes caught something interesting on the screen.

Gabby's new video.

“How would I ever miss this?” An exciting voice cried in her mind as she ended up with a small blush.

Immediately, she downloaded it to watch. “I know Gabriel is an upcoming actor, but I'll support him the best I can.” Sapphire said to herself.

"Okay, I know the questions on your minds would be... Who is Gabriel Anderson?"

"Okay, so... Two years ago, a high school student came to meet her for support. His parents were so poor that they hardly offered three square meals but Gabby managed. He's a bit funny and witty but Sapphire love Gabby because he's talented. She had been supporting him like an elder sister since then. In fact, she enrolled him into an acting school just to make sure he gets the best out of life. Sapphire is not rich exactly but as long as she's able to feed herself, she's satisfied.

Going through the like-hate comments from viewers gave her mixed feelings. Sapphire hated the fact that someone would stupidly bad-mouth her Gabby. At least, if they don't like his movies, they should go to hell or better still, not comment at all.

She replied some hate comments with insults while others, with motivational advises. It depends on her mood.

Scrolling through the comments, there were about a thousand more, and she would like to go through every one of them. Yes! For the love she has for Gabby. Sapphire looked back to the reading table that was messy with colorful cardboards and Gabby's latest pictures made which her even more frustrated 'but who cares?' A slow hiss escaped through her mouth as she grabbed her handbag from the shelf. Opening it, she saw an apple.

It looked big and juicy... Sapphire wondered if he's okay. Her mind couldn't help but to remember the old man she helped earlier.

***

(Flashback)

Sapphire's P.O.V

“You have to receive treatment sir, please stay.” she begged, holding his hands that were still shivering.

“There's no need for that my dear. I'm alright now. You've helped me with enough, I'll just have to go home now and take a proper rest.” he begged.

“Oh... But you should have stayed a little sir. For today at least.” she tried convincing him, but it looked as if he had already made up his mind. 'Maybe he was in a hurry or something.' She thought.

Out of his old leather bag, he brought out a wallet.

“How much is my hospital bill?” He asked her, but she stopped him from paying back.

“It wasn't really much sir. You don't need to worry."  Sapphire replied him with a smile on her face. Yet, the elderly man was serious about paying her back for literally everything because, she saved his life and he was grateful. He wished he had enough on him to pay her with.

"I did it for you sir, it was nothing… really.” Sapphire lightened his face with an assuring smile.

After hearing this, the elderly man opened his bag and brought out a big, red apple.

His hands were still trembling, but he managed to hand it over to her.

“Take this apple.” He offered.

Sapphire stared at him blankly not knowing if she should collect it or not.  She knew that collecting things especially eatable things from strange, old people could be dangerous. Seeing the red apple reminded her of snow-white and her evil stepmother but, this old man looked too nice to do that.

A thrill of fear stricked through her mind as she looked at the apple.

“This was going to be for my wife, but I want you to have it instead.” He said with his hands, still trembling at it.

“Why are you giving me something that's meant for your wife?” Sapphire complained. “Your wife would scold you for sure, sir!” She explained, making him see reasons why she can't collect the apple.

“No, you saved my life. My wife would understand when I explain things to her. She won't scold me so please, accept this as a token of my appreciation.” he begged.

“Then I won't decline your offer.” Sapphire muttered and collected it with a heat felt, thank you.

“I actually love red apples.” she explained to him as they walked outside the hospital, side by side.

Sapphire stopped a taxi to take him home and also paid for his transport.

(End of flashback.)

Remembering this, she sighed her teeth into the red juicy apple by taking a yummy bite.

"Hmmm... this is actually delicious." She mumbled as a bright smile formed on her pink lips.

"It's so worth it. Really." She muttered as she ate the apple.

The half–light at dawn seeped into her room. The dawn chorus of melodic morning breeze drifted in. Waking up that morning felt like a duty. Well, that's the feeling Sapphire gets every day except for weekends when she would have to rest. The morning was bright and fair as usual.

About twenty minutes after waking, Sapphire was already prepared to go to school as she brushed her shoulder-length, red-brown hair, sticking at the back of her ears with tiny, black pins. On her was a beautiful, fashion blouse made of silk and white pencil skirt that brought out her slim curves. She looked at her reflection through the standing mirror.

“Well, I'm good to go.” She said to herself with a cute smile.

Just then, her eyes caught the list she had hanged by the side of the mirror. On it were; purse, phone, keys and wallet. Sapphire glued this to this mirror just in case, so she won't forget anything behind. After reading, Sapphire grabbed her purse, took her keys and phone. Remembering she was already getting late, she glared at her wristwatch.

“Oh no! I'm late.” Just then, she remembered.

Sapphire knew the public bus would arrive to the bus stop any time soon, so she rushed out. Something was telling her that she had left something behind, but she couldn't figure it out. Before leaving, her eyes searched the room like a confused bitch.

“Come on! You didn't forget anything!” Another voice muttered in her head as she rushed to the door side and put on her pink high heels before locking the door. Running like a rat that wants to escape death, something pushed her again.

“My phone!” Sapphire cried and turned back.

All of these was frustrating, seriously. She's not married, but her life is this messed up. Sapphire quickly unlocked the door and grabbed her phone.

“OMG! It's already 8:00 a.m!” She hanged her bag across the chest, running as fast as her legs could carry. Some passersby were staring at her as she was running. The 'kwos-kwos' sound of her 3-feet heels was audible enough to wake up a dead person but who cares? Finally, she got to the bus stop but... The bus was already leaving.

“Wait! Please wait!” Sapphire called after the bus, but the driver sped up. He probably didn't hear her.

“Oh God! What am I going to do now?” She wondered on the street, staring at the little money in her wallet.

***

At BB Hotel...

An annoying look was on his daring face.

“What's wrong with you all?! This is a crucial time!” He fired.

Miss Barbara, Mr George and Mr Tim stared at him with blank faces, not knowing what to say or how to reply.

'Working with this set of people was more than frustrating for me. They just piled up reasons for me to complain about.' he pondered.

“This is the perfect time for us to get falsely accused of insider trading! Ugh!” Jade threw a file on the table and abruptly jerked off his chair.

“Umm... Sir. How about this time we do it according to the chairman's rules, via red call.” Mr. Tim suggested.

“The Chairman?” He turned to him with red eyes.

“Y…yes.” Mr Tim wore a blank smile, exposing the upper part of his teeth.

“It's as if you think with your teeth! If not, you'll be aware of who the fucking owner is here, Mr. Tim!” He fired.

The poor manager replied him with scared looks as he gently nibbled on his lips, which was made Jade's anger boil the more.

“I'm the owner of this fucking hotel! Who the fuck is the chairman?! Do you not even know what your position in here?! It's been ages since the hotel split up! Do you still think that you're the chief secretary at Blue birds Company?!”

Speechless, Mr. Tim buried his head on the table looking so confused.

Ring! Ring!!

Ring! Ring!!

An annoying sound of the telephone distracted his conversation.

“Should I destroy that thing first or what?!” Jade gritted his teeth as if the words were difficult to say.

His attitude was just unbearable. The co-workers seated in front of him took in deep breaths as a million of thought ran through their minds.

Ring! Ring!!

Ring! Ring!!

It vibrated, again.

Jade stared at Miss Barbara as if he would divert his anger to her. Poor lady, she quickly went to answer the call to find out who it was.

“Yes, Attorney Lucas.” She muttered as she picked up the call.

The CEO stared at her with fire in his eyes. Same, his mind went wild.

'How can Lucas call me? Is he fucking dead or handicapped?!” Jade cursed in his mind.

“This is a special call that's connected to blue bird's office at BB Company.” Miss Barbara reported.

“How dare he use the red call to contact us, when he's a mere attorney?”

“He's one of the c...chairman's closest confidants. It would be best for you to, umm… pick up sir.” Mr. Tim tried to explain.

“_but who fucking cares?! This is my hotel, and I'm the one in charge!” Jade fired at him.

He collected the phone from Barbara, like a toy he isn't willing to share.

“This is Jade Alejandro! I'm sure that an attorney for BB Company has no business with our hotel.” Jade blurted.

After hearing Lucas's explanations, Jade let out a deep breath.

“Okay, I'll head there, let's talk in person.” He muttered in a low voice.

After the call, he turned towards his workers. The three of them were staring at him like stray cats. Immediately his gaze caught theirs, they quickly bowed their heads to the ground.

Jade huffed and shook his head at their nonchalant attitude.

“I'll be gone for two hours. Take care of the issue regarding the new hotel to be built in Hawaii and opening ceremony at our hotel here in California. We would start a meeting as soon as I get back.” Jade announced before taking his leave.

The three of them stole glances at him till he walked out.

“Ugh, finally!" Mr. Tim clamoured as Jade walked out.

"He might as we tell us not to breathe!” He added before taking a seat.

“That asshole!” Barbara hissed. “He's just so full of himself just because he was born into a wealthy home.”

As if they all said that suddenly, the three of them froze to the movement of the door as Jade came back to take his jacket from the handle of his executive chair. Then, they stood up, bowing a thousand times in a second, but he didn't even turn to them.

Leaving them in the shocked state, Jade walked out of the hotel when he bumped into a Sapphire. She almost fell, but he quickly wrapped his hands around her waist, holding her back in support. She froze in shock, but woke into reality almost immediately, so he let go.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?” He asked out of concern.

“Umm...I'm fine. I should have been more careful. I'm sorry.” She apologized.

Ring! Ring!!

Her phone rang, so she swiftly grabbed it from the side of her handbag and answered the call.

“Hello mum, I'm here already. I'm at the Blue bird hotel.”

“Okay, fine. I'll do great.” She muttered and cuts the call.

Meanwhile, Jade studied her confused face for a while.

“Can I help you with anything?” He asked calmly. How he usually does to his customers.

“Umm… where's the bathroom?” she asked.

“The bathroom is over there,” he pointed upwards. “It's by the third door to the right.”

“And the coffee shop is this way.” Jade explained further to her.

“Oh, thank you.” Sapphire answered with a smile and walked away to the direction of the bathroom.

“She's clearly here for a marriage meeting.” Jade muttered as his mysterious eyes raked over her slim body.

“Wow! They trained their staff really well.” Jade heard her say as she walked away in opposite direction.