Chapter 6 What are you doing here?

• I leaned into him and smashed my lips on his. 
• A gasp escapes from his lips, watching me do all of that. He really couldn’t believe it. 
• The kiss lasted for only a few seconds and I pulled away from him quickly. 
• I smirked at him, then winked. “What about now?” 
• I already gave my first kiss away anyway. It’s not like I’m losing anything. And I don’t care anymore. 
• Phoenix blinked, pulled from a trance. He sighed dreamily, touching his lips “That was…quick.” He commented. “Can you do it again?”
• I jabbed him in the stomach at his comment. He yelped in pain. “Damn woman, why are you hitting me? Haha, it was just a joke.” 
• I just rolled my eyes at him. Right in time, my phone rang and saw my mom calling. I turned to Phoenix for a second to excuse myself and stepped out of the mansion to answer my mom’s call.
• The good thing I also noticed about this province’s innovation is that there is a signal here and there is electricity unlike before where I struggled to find a signal to send a text to my mom. The perks of technology I guess. 
• "Yes, mom?" I said when I answered the call. 
• "I'm sorry my dear Sereia, but it looks like I couldn’t go there tomorrow.” I could hear my mother’s voice from the phone. “I'm still taking care of your grandmother."
• It's been a year since grandma was like that. I sighed. I'm strong, I don't need mom's help. I should face this by myself. "Okay, mom. Take care, I hope grandma gets better."
• “Yes, I will. By the way, your dad called. He was furious about your reaction, Sereia." She informed me. Oh, dad did? Well, no surprise there. 
• I sighed at that. Really, dad is scared of speaking up with his mother’s parents. 
• "Yeah, yeah. I'll take care of talking to him." I said. 
• Mom paused at that. I could imagine she’s shaking her head in dismay right now. “Okay, just convince your dad later. Anyway, have you talked to the owner yet?" She asked. 
• "Yes. The owner is said to be grandpa's friend. Grandma Nanding. Do you know her?" I responded. 
• "Lola Nanding?” Mom inquired, and yelled at me excitedly,  “Are you really referring to Lola Nanding? Oh my gosh, we used to be close! How is she? I missed her so much!”  
• Ooh, so mom really knows her, which means grandfather as well. So she was telling the truth earlier…
• Now I feel like I'm missing out on something. It feels like I had just uncovered one thing from the other things in our family. 
• "But ma, the title is in the name of Lola Nanding's grandson.” I informed her, before saying this with dedication, “But don't worry, I'll make a way. He said I just have to oblige to his terms and we’ll see."  
• Well, I shouldn’t mention what he made me do earlier, right? About the kiss? Mom doesn’t have to know that. 
• "I know you can handle that, remember not to push yourself too much. Take care of yourself huh?" She replied, and I nodded. 
• "Yes, mom."
• “When are you coming home by the way?”
• “Later, when I finish discussing to them,” I answered. 
• "Good. Then I need to hang up now, bye my child. I promise I’ll get there soon when I can.” 
• And with that, our call ended, I stepped inside the mansion and returned to the kitchen where I was just conversing with Phoenix earlier, but he was nowhere now. 
• I looked around and saw Lola Nanding already sitting in the living room. I quickly approached her and said, "Lola Nanding? Have you seen Phoenix? We were just talking earlier when I had a phone call and he was gone now."
• “Did he disagree?” She asked back, 
• I winced at that, “He disagreed, but he mentioned some things I have to do before I can persuade him.” 
• She sighed at that, "My grandson's head is really stubborn, I'm sorry about that, my dear. And I wish you luck, I hope you’ll manage to persuade him. What do you plan on doing now?"
• I wiped my hand which was covered in sweat and thought about it for now. 
• Lola Nanding is right. What do I plan now? I did Phoenix’s request to kiss him earlier, now what? Should I wait for his decision? 
• “To be honest, I don’t even know anymore, Lola Nanding. I guess I’ll just go with the flow now and see what happens. Thank you for the concern, Lola Nanding.." 
• She then stood up and patted me on the back, before motioning for me to come to the dining table, “You know what? Let’s set that aside for now. I cooked lunch for you. Let’s eat.” 
• I’m the type who can't say now when I’m offered something, so I nodded and decided to eat with Lola Nanding. 
• She cooked adobo for me and some fish soup that’s really nourishing. 
• While eating, we said, Lola Nanding really had that ability to make everyone welcome. I just met her but I feel like I’ve known her for a long time. I can see my own grandma in her as they look a bit similar. 
• "You know, I really took care of you when you were young.” She started. “You used to be cute and so talkative. I’m happy that you grew up beautiful and sexy." 
• I could feel my cheeks red from that,  "Thank you, Lola Nanding. You’re beautiful too." I suddenly see my own grandma in her.
• After eating lunch, I wanted to go home and rest now but Lola Nanding still invited me to play some cards with her. She said it has been a while since she had someone over.
• So the rest of the afternoon went by that I didn't even realize it was nighttime. I look at my wristwatch, 6:30.
• I gaped, planning to go home before nighttime. Now what? How can I go home now? It's late! It’s dangerous at night here. 
• "Grandma Nanding?" I called out. I saw her in the kitchen, cooking. I cleared my throat before politely saying, "It's late. I need to go home…” 
• "Oh no, I’m sorry! Did I keep you here for too long? I'm sorry. Sereia.” She said apologetically, looking guilty. 
• “Since it’s already night, why not sleep here? I can prepare one of the rooms for you to sleep in. You can go home tomorrow morning.” 
• She offered. “Plus, It's also raining outside. It would be hard for you to go home in this weather.” 
• Checking the windows to see if it really was raining, my eyes went round. It's really raining!
• I sighed in defeat. "Okay. I'll stay here for the night."
• Lola Nanding smiled at that, and hurriedly went upstairs to prepare the room. 
• I can't help but smile. She's really that happy for me to stay here? Awee, I guess she was really lonely here….
• Having some of our dinner, Phoenix was still out of sight this time. Not that I care. He can go wherever he wants to, it’s not my business. 
• "Here’s your room! Lola Nanding pointed to the nearest room when we ascended the stairs. 
• From what I can remember when it was still ours, this mansion had four bedrooms. This was our guest room and I only slept here once. I used to hang out here once in a while.
• Thanking Lola Nanding, I entered the room and sighed. I looked around to see everything was still the same and intact, thank goodness. 
• However, I forgot something.
• I didn’t bring any clothes with me!  I only had my makeup bag and some necessities since I didn’t expect that I’ll sleep here. 
• Plus, I couldn’t sleep without showering. So what should I wear now? 
• Just in time, as if the heavens heard my inner agony, there was a knock on the door. It was Lola Nanding, handing me a towel, t-shirt, and shorts.
• "I lent some of the clothes of Phoenix’s friend. She’s a girl so don’t worry." She said, and I thanked her before she closed the door now. 
• Since the bathroom was downstairs, I descended the stairs and showered.
• While rubbing some soap on my body, I couldn’t help but overthink everything. 
• Is it right that I stayed here tonight? It's good that it's Saturday and I still have time to go home tomorrow to work on Monday ... 
• But on the other note ... I guess this is right. Staying here for tonight would give me more time to persuade Phoenix.
• When I was finished showering, I went back to my room and laid on the bed. I was tired but my eyes were still open, not able to sleep. 
• Getting up, I went to the hallways and stood in front of my past room when I was just a child here. It was just situated in front of the guest room where I’m staying for the night so it’s easy to get in here. 
• The door was a bit opened. I bit my lip in nervousness. Who is sleeping here? I hope it's just Lola Nanding because if not ... I'm dead. Slowly, I opened it and found no one there. I sighed in relief. 
• Tiptoeing and entering the door, I left the door open. I walked towards the bedside table, and to the bed. Seeing that the designs are still the same as before... I felt relieved that nothing has changed.
• But the quiet silence was soon broken with a loud voice, surprising me. 
• "What are you doing in my room?!"