CHAPTER 39: UNWIND

CHELSEA

As soon as I heard someone calling, I immediately opened the door of the person who had been knocking on my door for a while. As expected, it was Manang Fe, who had brought a tray of breakfast. I immediately helped her with her luggage and placed it on the table.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you Manang and for waking you up... I told Red that it wasn't necessary because I was going to come down soon, but I woke up early..." I said to Manang, feeling embarrassed.

She smiled at me, "What are you saying, hija? This is my job. If it weren't for Sir's orders, what would we do here in the mansion? So it's okay. Go ahead and eat, your food might get cold. If you want me to prepare something else for you, just call me." I nodded and Manang Fe left my room.

I sat down and began to eat breakfast. While eating, I suddenly remembered Angel. I hadn't asked him yet if he planned to come to the mansion today. I grabbed my phone and texted him. If he didn't have any clients this morning, he would definitely still be asleep.

I continued with my meal and when I finished, I went down while carrying the tray. When I came down, it was a big surprise for me to see that the witches weren't there. Do they have a day off today? Is it common for them to have a day off? I need to enjoy this day because there won't be anyone to ruin or ruin my day today.

I headed straight to the kitchen and placed the tray in the sink. I began to wash them one by one. It's embarrassing to call a maid just to wash everything I've eaten. I looked back when the kitchen door suddenly opened... it was just Manang Fe.

"Oh, let me do that... Go back up to your room. I'll finish this. What kind of child are you..." Manang Fe said, trying to take the things I was washing. "Come on Manang, I'll do it here. I can do it and it's just a little. Please rest there."

"Are you sure?"

I smiled, "Yes, Manang..." I replied to her.

"Oh right... If you need anything, just call me or anyone here. I'll leave now to go to the market. I'll be back right away, so while I'm gone, you'll be responsible for yourself, okay?" I nodded and finished washing. I followed Manang out of the kitchen and as we walked, I suddenly became curious, "Manang... Did you notice Madame Buenavista? It's strange that they're not in the mansion today...”

"I saw them talking in the living room earlier. I heard them talking about an outing... Maybe they're on vacation. You know, they suddenly disappear and appear." Manang said.

"Is that so... Okay Manang, maybe Kuya Roy is waiting for you outside... I'll go first..." She nodded and I headed to my room. As I entered, my phone rang. When I looked at it, Angel had replied. He said he couldn't come because there was a problem with his family and he needed to take care of it first.

What can I do today? I'm not in the mood to sketch because Angel isn't here to comment on my work. Maybe I'll just watch a K-drama in the living room, after all, there won't be anyone to bother me. I went back down and headed to the living room. I couldn't find anything new to watch, so I just played anything. While watching, a maid suddenly approached me and gave me a juice to drink. She also offered me something to eat, but I said that cookies or popcorn were fine. She nodded and went to the kitchen.

While I was busy watching, I was startled to hear the laughter of the witches. I thought they were on an outing? As they laughed and talked, they headed to the living room. I noticed the change in Madame Buenavista's expression when she saw me. Sofia tried to smile at me, but I ignored it. What surprised me was that Maxine was still with them.

"Chelsea!" She greeted me and sat next to me on the sofa. She held my hand as if we were very close. "Auntie, can we include Chelsea?" Maxine suddenly said to Madame Buenavista. Include me in what? Does she want to bring me on their outing?

Madame Buenavista looked at me as if she was examining my entire being. "No... You guys go ahead, I might ruin your day..." I quickly excused myself and stood up to go back to my room when Madame Buenavista suddenly spoke up. "It's okay with me if you come along. You might say that I'm treating you badly because I don't want you for my son. You might spread wrong information to the media." She said.

"Don't worry, it's not my habit to ruin other people's reputation. I'll go first, enjoy your outing.” I was about to go up the stairs when Sofia suddenly approached me. "Chelsea, don't you want to bond with us? So we can have time to get to know each other... I know that our introduction wasn't good, but it's not too late for everything to be okay, right? Don't worry, I have no intention of taking Red away from you... I know that you are the one he wants and there's nothing I can do about it, so I'm here to support both of you... As long as Red is happy, I'm happy too." She said. I can see sincerity in her eyes. It's strange for them to be like this to me.

"Yeah, Chelsea, besides, the weather is so good today to just stay locked up in the mansion. Come with us. Sofia has a private island and we're planning to go there today! So what do you say? Game?" Maxine added. I didn't know if I should go with them. Maybe I won't be able to act properly because I'm not ready to be plastic with them yet.

"Uh-- maybe next time--" I interrupted what I was going to say when Madame Buenavista suddenly spoke. "It's okay with me if you want to come along, if you don't want to, we can go ahead first." She said and went straight to the stairs and went up to her room. I looked at Maxine and Sofia. Both of them were smiling at me. "So what... should we go?" Sofia asked with a smile. I didn't answer right away because I really didn't know what to say to them. I want to refuse, but there's also nothing wrong if I go with them. Maybe this is the way for me to be liked by Red's mom.

"Silence means yes! Let's go, and we'll help you pack!" Maxine said, and they pulled me up to my room with Sofia. When we arrived, Maxine immediately went to my closet and opened it. "Wow! Your clothes are so fancy... Hmm... bring a comfortable dress... This... This... and this... What do you think?" She asked me. The clothes she picked looked good, so I just nodded.

"Will we stay there for a long time? Why do we need to bring a lot of clothes?" I asked the two of them while getting my small suitcase.

"We talked earlier about staying there for 2 days, but it's not sure yet, right Sof?" Maxine said, so I focused my attention on Sofia, who was busy looking at my sketch pads.

"Ha? Yeah, if there won't be any problems with the weather, we can stay there as long as we want... You made this?" She referred to my sketch pads. I nodded in answer to her.

"I didn't know you were good at this kind of thing..." She said while still not taking her eyes off my works. I ignored her and just helped Maxine search for the clothes I would wear and bring. Maxine requested to borrow some clothes, and I had no problem with that, so I agreed. When we were done with the preparations, I told them I would take a bath first. They nodded and left my room, they just needed to fix their things as well. After I'm done, I should go straight to the living room because they'll be waiting there.

I checked my phone and looked at the time before going into the bathroom. It's almost time for lunch... When will Redemon call? I put my phone on the table and went into the bathroom to take a bath. I didn't take long in the shower because it's a private island we're going to, and for sure there won't be any people there and it will just be us.

While taking a bath, I couldn't get rid of the thought of what good spirit had joined the witches. They suddenly became nice and even wanted me to join their outing. Maybe they've changed their lives. It's a good thing they decided to start a new life. I'm ready to forgive everything they've done and said to me if they're also ready to apologize for all of that. God forgives, who am I not to?

After taking a bath, I wore my prepared clothes. I just wore shorts and a shirt and covered it with a thin blazer. I just blew my hair to dry it, and when I was done, I combed it. Before leaving the bathroom, I applied a little make-up on my face so it would look a little lively.

After coming out of the bathroom, I just fixed my things and double-checked them so I wouldn't leave anything behind. I got my phone off the table, and there was still no call from Red. I went down and went straight to the living room, and Maxine and Sofia happily greeted me when they saw me. Madame Buenavista’s expression was unchanged. "Let's go." She said so and went out of the mansion first, followed by the house staff carrying their luggage. They also got my luggage, and we left the mansion. When we were outside, Kuya Roy was waiting. He greeted me, and it seemed like he whispered something in my ear before I got into the van, "Be careful..." He said. I don't know if I heard it right or how I should interpret what he said. It seems to have a double meaning. I don't want to overthink it, so I just ignored it. After all the things were put in, Kuya Roy started the car, and our journey began.

While we were on the road, they discussed whether we should stop at a restaurant for lunch, but Sofia said she had already told their staff there to prepare the food. So, it was decided that we would eat lunch when we got there. I was gradually getting drowsy while we were on the road. I only woke up when I felt someone poking me and calling my name. When I opened my eyes, I saw that it was Sofia. "We're here..." She said that to me, so I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the van.

I saw that there were people waiting for us. These were probably Sofia's staff. "Are we going to ride on that?" I asked Sofia when I saw them putting our things on a yacht. She smiled, "Yup!" She replied kindly.

An elderly man approached us and spoke to Sofia. I just stood beside Sofia and listened to their conversation.

"Ma'am, you can't stay on the island because, according to the news, there's going to be a storm tonight. So, you can only stay there until this afternoon..." The man said to Sofia.

"What? We were planning to stay for one night..." Sofia said it with disappointment.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but it's dangerous to stay there during a storm because we might lose electricity and we don't know how strong the storm will be. It's better to be cautious... Your mom also wouldn't allow you to stay there during such weather..." Sofia sighed and agreed with the elderly man.

We boarded the yacht, and it began its journey towards Sofia's private island. I hope nothing bad happens to us, especially since there's a storm coming.