CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 4

“CATHY?”

Wide eyes and more than the word surprise could ever figure out what she is feeling right now. Cath's out-of-luck life delivers her into the arms of the person that she least wanted to see right now. 

“Cath!”

Worst her little brother, that though struggling amidst his swarming fans is trying to catch her attention. She composes herself thinking that she should deal with this unexpected event professionally. She stands smiling awkwardly, but before she can say a few words or two, her stupid heart gets a head out of her and unknowingly runs away from the scene. 

“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” she murmurs and leaves her entire baggage to save herself from the humiliation.

But more likely escaping from the person that no matter how many times she denies it, her heart sure knows otherwise. 

“Will you please heaven and from above strike lightning at me right now?” her out-of-the-bag wish. 

Cath finds herself hiding behind a wall with her younger brother and Sam looking for her.

“For heaven’s sake.”

She falls to her knees realizing just how stupid she is. Even worst she feels like she jumping back to her teenage years acting like a lowly and weak heroine that always panics in front of her ultimate crush. 

 “Just how stupid could you be Catherine?”

She scolds herself and is defeated by the fact that she still does have a feeling for the person she hated so much. 

“What?” 

More than asking exaggeratingly while shaking her head with the thought that just hit her like a bullet. She took a deep breath and immediately convince herself. 

“You are dead wrong Cath. You do not have any slightest feeling about that jerk. Wake up from reality, understood?”

Her so-called convincing and to herself. Just then, the phone rang that startled her a bit.  

“I’m sorry.” She immediately apologizes after receiving a call from her older brother. “Do not worry about me, I’ll be home soon.” She assures, ending the call and thinking that she needed to take a breather from the surprises her unlucky life is throwing at her.

“Better start this assignment as soon as possible.”

After a second or two, she quickly checks her camera and made sure that everything is in place. Taking a cab and hurriedly away from the place. She requested to be taken to the nearest seaside not far from her target’s residence, to have a few people be interviewed as a start. 

“Two and three will be enough for just this day.”

Her plan for the moment, mumbling it in a whisper. The research leads her to the place where her target frequently comes by to eat. She arrives fifteen minutes later and now standing at the famous five-star seaside restaurant that even after learning about it, nostalgia immediately hits her and somehow makes her smile. 

“Sure, brings back the times.”

She then takes a snap or two, before entering the restaurant and sits at the best corner looking at the sea that she surely misses a lot. 

“Ma’am.”

Sitting on her chair where the waiter gives her the menu with a pleasant smile on his face, her stomach rumbles. Only feeling it just now after all the things that just happened. But before she could look at the menu, plates broke and screams took everyone’s attention. 

“I said I do not want that!”

More than throwing some child’s tantrums. Cath’s eyes landed on some rich and spoiled kids who think that the world only revolves around them. She put the menu down and observes the table two feet away from her. A woman who is all dressed seductively, yet still casual is currently at her end’s wit just trying to please the kids. 

“The stepmother?” 

Cath mumbles, somewhat seeing herself in the child’s shoes way back in the day. Throwing tantrums and screaming until her wish is fulfilled.  

“I want my daddy, right now!”

The little girl screams, but more like shrieking. Opposite from the little boy who is quietly sitting at the side. 

“I don’t want you!”

The little girl protested, throwing her stuffed doll that slides close to where Cath is. Worse, in the little girl’s ranting tantrums she accidentally flips a plate of cake onto the woman’s beautiful dress. That sure enough turns the woman’s face red in frustration and anger. 

“Look what you have done!”

The woman screams, acting like the usual entitled and sophisticated ‘ladies’ in the city. While looking at her red dress that is ruined by the vanilla frosting from the slice of cake.

“I simply cannot put up with this and your attitude young lady! I cannot believe this!”

She drops the motherly act if that was it is called for a while and added. “If you do not want to eat then fine. I’ll tell your dad what you did. But for now, I’ll leave you two here, so please do not make another scene! God!”

The woman then marches away quickly and leaves the kids with some men in a suit that Cath guesses are their guards, or perhaps the woman herself. Cath’s deduction from the way she observes the woman down from her shoes, dress, jewelry, and bag. 

“I hate you!”

The little girl screams towards the bodyguards which confirms Cath’s deduction. 

“The stepmother to be bodyguards,” Cath whispers, thinking about it like that. 

Just then, she notices the tears that are streaming down the girl’s eyes. With the little boy coming close and somehow comforting the little girl. She requested the waiter. 

“Bring me your most delicious ice cream, and make it the biggest.”

With a nod and immediately took her order. She took the stuffed rabbit and wears her hood which coincidentally has rabbit ears with it. All to her fascination and love for the furry creature ever since she is little. 

“Jump, jump, jump.” 

She makes a little squeaking voice, jumped toward the two kids, and started acting like a puppeteer in some theater. The two kids’ attention is then pinned on her and her bunny ears, greeting them using her tiny voice. 

“Hello, their kids. What are you doing?” 

Deliberately copying the tone of the character of Isabella from the famous cartoon Phineas and Ferb, and using the stuffed bunny as her puppet. She giggles and continues playfully. 

“Hey, hey, hey!” rapping impressively, which she is a bit had a thing with it but hides from the rest. 

She caught the soft side of the two kids and more when she performs a magic trick with candies and chocolates that the two loved. 

“Pick a boo!” she jumps out with a silly face that makes them laugh. 

The guards that for a while are on guard towards her are now at ease. Facing away with their back facing them. The little boy shrieked in utmost delight when she asks for a funny story to be told for them. 

“Do you want to hear about Mr. Bunny’s adventure?”

More than delighted as the two kids nod and even pulls their chair close to her. She sat comfortably and started to tell the tale that surely draws those sparkling marks to the two children’s eyes. 

“Alright!”

Knew her way toward kids, for she always has a soft spot for them and loves them. Next to her fascination and care for small animals. She ends the short tale of the fluffy little bunny and in time when the ice cream is served with the waiter placing it on top of the table and in front of the kids. 

“Wow! Just like in the story.”

The little girl is amazed at seeing the tower of ice cream now in front of them which perfectly resembles the one in her tale. Cath deliberately made up according to how the ice cream turns out. With her little imagination as a writer, and ends up giggling along with the two kids. 

“Excuse me?”

Interrupted by the tone of disbelief and more like an impending accusation that is waiting to be served. Cath smiles, stands up, and immediately introduces herself with the tone that she didn’t mean any harm. 

“Well you see, I’m—”

“I don’t care.”

Entitled and a clear diva, which reminds Cath of Francine. She is immediately shut and left casually taking her hand back for a supposed cordial introduction that she had in mind. But the tyrant lady is displeased by what she sees. Worse, that same woman grabs the ice cream from the kids whose expressions are protesting and escalates everything blowing it up. 

“Who told you that you can eat this stuff!” 

The woman fumes in anger, wherein Cath is seeing her as the typically controlled stepmother of Cinderella. Then with a snap from the step-mother material, the waiter rushes and without any sentiment or a little bit of restraint, she shoves the ice cream to the waiter and screams at the guards. 

“You are not paid to let some random someone approach the kids. What if she has some deadly disease with her or worse a kidnapper? Just what the hell are you all thinking.”

Cath’s jaw drops and she could feel her blood boil for a moment with those foul-mouthed words. Accusing her of something that she isn’t and has never done in her entire life. Worse, the entitled woman scolded the waiter by dumping the ice cream on him. Cath immediately helps the poor waiter with it. 

“Are you alright?”

She worriedly asks the waiter and helps him wipe the ice cream off his uniform which the waiter appreciated, thanks her, and immediately cleans the broken bowl and the mess that was created. 

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

Cath faces the entitled woman while holding herself back to not escalate the already mess up moment. Especially composing herself to dig into this woman’s background for her to write for some bad publicity that could ruin its life. 

“And who are you to say that to my face?”

The rhetorical question that means many, but the perfect fit in that time is for Cath to simply back off and let her do her job as the supposed or imposed stepmother or acting mother and all concerned for the kids. 

“Don’t you know who I am? I am the girlfriend of this twin’s father, their future stepmother.”

Chin up and brows high, Cath is about to lose her temper when the little girl interrupted. 

“No, she is not! Liar!”

“Monique!”

She screams, then looks back at Cath and a bit rephrases her words. 

“The future and that will not change. Which means I have all the right than some stranger with baggy and unstylish clothes, looking so poor.”

 So old fashion kind of taunting and insulting which Cath is all used to hearing from back then. But before she could straighten the mind of the entitled lady in front of her, the little girl calls. 

“Daddy!”

Surprise, and more than that, Cath’s eyes almost pop out from her face. For just how playful could her destiny brings her, upon seeing and meeting the person that she least wanted to see after running away from him? 

“CEO Lawrence. I mean,”

Puzzled where she does not quite know where to focus and by which all her initial thoughts of the mistress are not, and the person that’s walking towards them and the kids’ father is none other than. 

“Sam!”