"PENTHOUSE"

"BY the way sweetheart, I would like you to meet my sister, Samantha. Anyway, you can call her, Sam," Andrew said as Samantha approached to greet them. "Sam, this is Lana," Andrew continued.

With a nice smile, Samantha hugged her and then kissed her on the cheek. "I am so happy to finally meet you," she said in a lively tone.

"Same here, Sam," she said without hiding the excitement in her voice because it was surprising that she felt so relieved with the woman in front of her.

"I hope you can visit the house, bring my niece with you. I also want to meet her,” she is talking about Andrea.

Lana nodded then smiled looking up at Andrew. "No problem, I'm sure you'll get along especially, and you look very much alike," she would tell the truth.

A kind smile broke out of Samantha's lips again. "That’s nice to hear. Anyway, I am afraid that I need to leave you. I have some jobs left upstairs. Your boyfriend did not stop until he convinced me, so I was forced to leave them," she said to Andrew who just laughed at what his sister said.

"And by the way, are we going to open the shop?" Samantha’s follow-up question referred to be was that shop where Andrew's surprise proposal to her was held.

"Don’t, there is no need. But pay for their day whole day of work, okay?” Andrew reminded Samantha.

"Noted," Samantha waved at her first before leaving the store.

"So, you are my boyfriend, are you?" she said with a laugh, and then she stopped when Andrew took her waist. They were just the two of them and the violinist she saw following Sam also left.

"Should it be a fiancé? Or husband-to-be because it sounds more like a piece of music to my ears?" he kissed her afterward.

Lana giggled at what the young man did. "Stop, your employees might see us," she said freeing herself from his tight grip on her waist.

That was when Andrew put his mouth to her ear then whispered to her. "It’s just you and me here now," he said biting giving her earlobe a not so gentle bite, so she sighed violently.

"W-Where are they?" she could not hide the intense effect that the young man had on her.

"In the conference room, pep talk," Andrew laughed softly although meaningfully.

Lana smiled broadly when she got what the young man meant. "O-Okay, I understand," she said with a weak laugh.

"Shall we date?" Andrew asked then place his arm over her shoulder afterward.

She looked up at the young man as they exited the shop. "Where?"

"You want to come with me?" he asked again with twinkling eyes.

Lana sighed so she laughed softly. "I think I know what you are talking about!" she whispered then pinched the young man on his side.

"No, of course not! Just come with me," the young man held her hand.

Andrew's action touched Lana's heart. It wasn’t the first time their palms had touched but she felt it was the first time. And that’s also what she sees as the reason why she’s feeling so happy.

It was a delicious shiver that crawls all over her when she felt Andrew's gentle squeeze on her hand that he was holding. They were in the elevator and the young man did not let go. When he was seemed to be not satisfied, he raised her hand and kissed it.

The employees smiled beautifully at her. They were happy for Andrew, and she could say that by the gleam their very eyes.

"This is my office, for your information as my future wife you can visit me here anytime, even without an appointment," the young man first welcomed her inside his spacious office.

Lana secretly shuddered again at Andrew's words. "I wonder how many women you have been able to get in here without an appointment?" she said following what she said with a weak laugh.

Andrew was about to speak when suddenly they heard a series of knocks on the door then it opened and spat out a woman Lana thought was between forty to fifty years old.

"Oh, sorry sir, I didn't mean to interrupt," she said as she closed the door again, but Andrew stopped her from speaking.

"It's okay, you weren't at your table before Mrs. Valdez," the young man signaled so the woman finally went inside with her eyes fixed on her. "Anyway, this is Lana, my fiancée. Sweetheart, she is my secretary, Mrs. Rowena Valdez," Andrew introduced.

"Now I understand why you're always happy son," the woman's voice was very happy then shifted her gaze over her and Andrew. "Yes, by the way, I'm on my way home, do you have anything else that you want me to do? Do you want me to order food for you?" Mrs. Valdez asked.

Andrew glanced at her with a beautiful smile and then winked. "Yes please?" the young man replied.

Lana blushed quickly because of what Andrew did. It was only a matter of time before Mrs. Valdez left. That was when Andrew pulled her up into a spiral staircase.

"Where are we going? Where are you taking me?" she asked consecutively.

"I'll just show you my penthouse," Andrew replied then with twinkling eyes raised the corner of his lip for a mischievous smile.

Lana's chest immediately throbbed. "I-I thought so?"

Amused, Andrew stared at her as he stopped to climb the stairs. "Yes, I'll just show you my penthouse that soon will be yours too," he explained in a cheerful tone.

Speechless, Lana just nodded. Then Andrew spontaneously obeyed. Above she was greeted by a classic penthouse with mostly wooden furniture and other basic equipment.

"Wow!" Lana said in an admiring voice.

"Did you like it?" Andrew to her.

The young lady nodded in turn. "It’s beautiful. It's just that you haven't answered my question yet. How many women have you brought here?" she asked in a teasing tone.

That was when Andrew clicks his tongue and then grabbed her by the waist again. "It's just you, believe it or not," he said in a serious voice while staring into her eyes.

The delicious flow of electricity immediately crept up because of how and the way the young man stares at her. Then, when she recovered, Lana chuckles.

"Seriously?" Lana in a still teasing tone.

Andrew scratched the back of his neck. "That's the truth. The truth is that this penthouse is my private place, Meaning for me and my family only. Even Patricia didn't see this, she's only allowed in the office," insisted the young man.

"Patricia? Talent manager? Aren't you two?" inexplicable jealousy slightly enveloped Lana's heart at that thought.

Andrew nodded. "You still have a lot to know and in the next few days, I will tell you one by one. But for now, I just want you to know that Patricia and I are not together. Something was happening back then, yes. But none of those meant something," in a flash the whole place was suddenly filled with tension.

Lana nodded. "I believe you," she would tell the truth.

Andrew's face quickly cleared and lit because of what she said. "Really?" he asked smiling sweetly.

That was when Lana caressed the young man's face. "From now on I will believe in everything you say because I trust you," she said.

Andrew bowed to her and kissed her on the forehead. "Thank you, sweetheart, thank you so much," the young man. "Come on, I'll show you the room," at the last thing he said a meaningful smile tore from Andrew's lips.

Lana followed the young man as he pulled her into the room where a beautiful and antique four-poster bed made of narra wood greeted her.

"It's beautiful," she said admiringly then stepped closer to the bed. "But it's better if you put a curtain on it, like what others used to do during the time of the Spanish Colonization in the Philippines," said the young lady.

"It's up to you, you know what to do," Andrew smiled as she got the meaning. "Come on, maybe our food is already downstairs," he said extending his hand to her.

It was then that Lana stared blankly at Andrew's hand.

"Oh why?" after a while the young man asked, who had just been staring at her.

The girl replied as if confused. "N-Nothing," she said then consecutively shook her head as she accepted Andrew's hand.

As soon as their hands' touch, Andrew pulled her into his arms. Lana responded with a tight hug to the young man.

"Promise me that no matter what happens I will always be the one and only man you would allow to hold hands," Andrew said in a passionate tone.

The young man's words filled Lana's heart, so it was as if her hands had a mind of their own and her embrace with Andrew became even tighter.

"Promise," Lana replied.

That was true in her, she could not give her hands to others because for her they were the extension of one's heart. That's why she feels a lot of good emotions when Andrew holds her hand. Because when the young man holds her hands, it's like he's holding her heart as well.