Court me

I crossed my arms in front of me, and looked at him oddly, “Why are you taking pictures of the sky in the middle of the night?”

"Why are you still awake?” He repeated his question as if avoiding my question

“I just saw a light flashing in the sky so I came here to check.”

"Okay." That was all he could reply to. He then continued pressing on his camera, and I quietly watched beside him. Silence followed and I decided not to ask further.

"Every time I can't sleep, I go here and take a picture of the stars. I love astronomy, and I love taking pictures." He started to speak up and I nodded. Phoenix stopped and glanced at me. There was something in his eyes, an unknown emotion but he quickly hid it and offered to smile at me.

He showed me his camera and the pictures on it.  All of it was just nature and the sky.

Honesty, it looks amazing. He really has a talent. "Wow. That's...amazing."

He turned to me and the corners of his lips curved into a smile, "Yeah." I could sense genuine happiness as he talked about his passion. The glint in his eyes was evidence that he really enjoys what he’s doing.

"Can I see the other ones?" I asked and he nodded, "Sure."

We stayed like that in the darkness, him showing his taken pictures and me admiring the beauty in it.

"You really take good pictures Phoenix. I wasn’t wrong when I said that you would be a great photographer!" I exclaimed.

I expected him to grin but his smile dropped.

"That's the point, Sereia. I love this…staying here and taking pictures. I really do. But sometimes, the world has hindrances in our way." He smiled bitterly.

There was a hint of sadness in his eyes. "I’m the heir of the multi-billionaire company. I have to do my responsibility.”

"Dad trained me since I was young for preparation in the future. I was born to take over the company soon. The pressure is so high, their expectations are high. And I can’t meet their expectations.”

A tear let out from his eyes. "You asked me what my true reason for hiding away from my fans is, so here it is. I ran away. I am rebelling from my parents. And Lola Nanding suggested that I stay here.”

"And this is where I started to rebuild myself. I was lost, Sereia. The real me wanted to capture moments. I’m interested in astronomy, nature, and art. To them, I’m a failure. I’m just a lowly son who they have no use of.”

As he said that, I covered my mouth from sobbing loudly, letting tears escape my eyes. "No, no. You’re not a failure."

I never knew this is what he was experiencing. All those tabloids, those rumors about him, he took it all quietly and lived his life the way he wanted it to be. And now, he expressed his true self to me.

I feel sad for him. I breathed in, controlling myself from crying non-stop.

He looked at me straight in the eyes, "The truth is, they are true. I am a failure, Sereia.  And I accepted that long ago.”

I shook my head,"No, they are wrong. Please, stop talking bad about yourself. You are amazing. I’m sure it will all be okay soon.”

****

Phoenix wasn’t in the house the next morning. I asked Lola Nanding where he went to but even Lola Nanding didn’t know where he was.

I still feel heavy learning the whole truth about his life. Behind the flashing lights, the expensive cars are someone who’s struggling to meet his parent’s expectations.

He really loves this place so much.

And I feel bad for wanting to take this land away. His happiness away.

Sighing, I was about to sit on the sofa when I saw Maria appearing at the door.

"Hello, Sereia. Shall we go now?” She greeted me, and my eyebrows creased in confusion.

"Where?" I didn’t remember Phoenix telling me something about Maria coming over today.

“The little children, Mae-mae, Jay, at Rap-rap miss you so much that they begged me to take you there and play again." She replied and continued, “But eat your lunch first. I have already eaten so I’ll just wait here."

I nodded, heading to the kitchen to eat and prepare myself.

When I was all ready, we instantly headed to the little children’s house and played with them.

However, something is missing inside me and I feel not in the mood to play.

My head is busy and raging with thoughts about what Phoenix told me last night.  I feel anxious.

"Are you okay?" Asked Maria when she noticed my expression. I just nodded my head at her and avoided her to make sure she wouldn't ask further.

Time flew by slowly for me today that each passing second was too heavy for me to carry. Thankfully, the sun was about to set and we stopped playing.

Maria then walked me home. She kept on glancing at me, sensing that something was wrong.

"Sereia?" She called out, looking at me cautiously.

"Yes?" I forced myself to look at her, still not in the mood.

"Is there really nothing going on between you and Phoenix?”

I raised my eyebrows at her. She was looking at me with a hopeful expression on her face.

Why does she always ask me about this? She’s really interested in my relationship with him. I mean, I had already thought that she’s somewhat nice but I swear, if she ever asks me about this again, I’m afraid my patience will run out.

I gritted my teeth to calm myself down. "Yes, there really is nothing between me and Phoenix,” I replied and that made her sigh in relief.

“I see. That’s great then.”  She mumbled to herself and I blinked at that.

“Why’d you ask?”

She cleared her throat, her cheeks flushing and there was a silly smile on her face. “Well, now that it's clear to me that you two are just friends…it is alright if he ever decided to court me, right?”

I stared at her in disbelief. Court her? The hell? What kind of nonsense is this girl saying to me? Is she messing with me?

"Hello, Sereia? Are you there" She waved at me when I didn’t reply and snapped her fingers to wake me up.

I blinked my eyes again, “Yes, I’m still here. What were you saying?”

“I was asking if it’s okay?”

Oh, so she really is serious. I averted my gaze to the ground, not able to reply to her. “Why are you asking that to me like you're asking for permission?”

“Nothing, I just felt like I should.”

“Then you should ask Phoenix." That was all I could reply to. Will he really court her? Well, they are childhood friends. It’s up to Phoenix if he will do that…

When I finally saw the mansion from afar, I quickly turned to her, “Thank You for today. The house is there now. You can go home.”

She looked at me with a pout, "But"

I started to walk away from her, eager to get away from her as soon as I could. "Bye! See you next time!" I shouted, running towards the house.

She just waved at me and turned around to go home now.

Really, my instinct was right. Now that I know her intentions, I don’t think I would ever see her as my “new” friend.

Does Phoenix even know this?

Gosh, the nerve of that girl.

I quickly ran without looking back and quickly entered the house.

“I’m back!” I exclaimed and saw Lola Nanding sitting in the living room.

“Welcome home, dear. You’re back in time. I’m still cooking dinner.” She said as she held a sewing kit in her flimsy hands.

I nodded and went to my room upstairs. Sitting on the bed, I breathed in.

Really, what a day.

Looking at my bedside table. I frowned as I saw something…it was a sunglasses case.

I grabbed it and studied. The expensive-looking logo tells me that it was something very expensive.

I never brought a product from that brand as I could never afford that.

I paused. Did Phoenix go to my room earlier and forget this?

I should hand it over to Lola Nanding for now then.

Returning downstairs,  I saw Phoenix standing on the door and noticed me at the stairs.

He offered a smile at me, “Hey.”

“Hey.”  I greeted back. This is the first time we talked today since he revealed his secrets to me last night.

He awkwardly stood at the door and he cleared his throat, pointing at the sunglasses case on my hand, "It's me who put it in your room. Did you like it?" He asked.

Oh, right. My sunglasses broke. I told him not to replace it but he’s stubborn. I smiled, “Thank you. But you really didn’t have to buy me this.”

He smiled. "Well, I wanted to, I just went through the mall because there's still time. I hope you like it."

"I wanted to ..." He stared at me with a glint of something in his eyes. He then approached me on the stairs. "And about last night, just ignore that, I'm just drunk."

I stopped at that, "Just ignore it? Phoenix"

"Fine, don’t ignore it. But please, don't tell Lola Nanding about it.”

I sighed and nodded at him. “Okay then.”

I suddenly remembered what Maria said to me. Psh, somehow, I feel something inside me. I feel angry for whatever reason.  I huffed at the thought. It’s none of my business, right? I should let it go.

I walked past Phoenix but he gripped my hands making me stop in my tracks.

"Are you okay? You look angry,” he said, leaning on me. He stared at my brown eyes.

“I’m fine,” I answered simply.

He was looking at me intently, his eyebrows furrowing even more. I averted my gaze to the ground, feeling like I would melt in the heat of his stare... "No, something is bothering you. Tell me."

I chose to stay silent and loosened his grip on me.

I didn’t say a word but he looks like he knows it now. "Did Maria tell you something you didn’t want?"