"Wow... The beauty of your face is really different, sis... Are you really hooking up with a billionaire? Damn, you look like the female lead in a novel. I really hope everyone experience this! This is crazy!" Laurel even touched my cheek.
I couldn't stop laughing because of my friends' comments on the Arcajante's mansion. My fake boyfriend invited them here. At first I refused because it was embarrassing but they persisted and Cadmus also wanted it so the driver of the Arcajantes brought them here.
"Do you have class?"
"Can we come here if there is... hehe." Laurel's polite but sarcastic response to Cadmus.
Cadmus nodded. "Let's go somewhere then."
"Where, if ever?" I asked as Nirca carried me from the back. "It's okay to stay here..." I said because I was really ashamed of him.
"I'm your boyfriend. You own what I own. No need to be shy, guilty or anything negative about it." He came to me and kissed my forehead. After that he looked at my friends. "Let's go?"
The fools laughed. "Let's go!" They shouted at the same time and jumped up and down. I came down from my saddle on Nirca to follow Cadmus.
"Where are we going now?"
"It's a secret. Trust me this time." He winked at me.
When we got in the car, the locas were very happy. We passed a large building with a rooftop. We looked up when we heard a loud noise from there. My eyes widened when I saw a Helicopter there! It didn't take long for my eyes to widen because it was so windy that I might even be blind because of how strong the wind is.
"What in the hell bro..." Renice was stunned while also looking at that. "What are we going to do here, Brother Cadmus?"
"We're riding that.." Cadmus pointed to the helicopter above. "I'm the pilot." He pointed himself.
The four of us dropped our jaws at what he said. He already has his own helicopter, he even brought my friends here and now, he's going to drive? I'm really going crazy overthinking the surprises he's doing!
"Are you serious? Really?" Nirca couldn't stop her mouth. "I hope all of us experience what two of you are experiencing right now. What a pity for me... That time when Lord blew up the talent, I didn't have anything left because you scraped it off."
"I hope everyone has a boyfriend first," Laurel shook her head. "Sorry it's just me, Cadmus, Erin, I'm just a burden." She dramatically said.
"You are pure nonsense." I laughed and faced Cadmus. "What time are we going up there?"
"We're going there now." He answered.
As we went up, I couldn't stop smiling. Yes, I will admit it! I'm excited like my friends. I just experienced it now. Why?! When we got to the top, we immediately heard the noisy helicopter. It's spinning.
Cadmus entered first because he was the pilot of the helicopter. They even made him wear a headset. He fixed something there for a while. His face looked serious as he looked at it. He also speaks and seems to be talking to someone in the headset.
A few minutes passed before our eyes met. He immediately smiled at me so I smiled back. He gestured me to go there. Someone came to us, two men and helped us to get inside the helicopter. We also put on a headset. I heard they called it, "noise canceling headphones" so we could talk properly inside the helicopter. Because it's noisy.
Cadmus doesn't look at us, he's very serious about what he's doing. I was just looking at him there in the rear view mirror. He glanced there so we looked at each other. He whispered something to the man who was supporting us in the helicopter earlier and he nodded before approaching me.
"You are supposed to be there in the front, ma'am, so that you and Sir Cadmus can be next to each other." It told me.
"Oh!" I laughed nervously because my heart was pounding with excitement.
I can already feel something changing in my stomach, I usually feel it when I'm in high places.
I looked at my friends where another man was still attaching their headsets. They gave me an okay sign to say it's okay if I move. I nodded. When the man held my hand so that I could get off the helicopter properly, there was no such loose barrier between the pilot's seat and the passenger seat.
"Hey..." Cadmus greeted without looking at me. "Are you okay? You look pale." He added.
"How can you tell? You're not even looking at me."
"Uh-huh? I am looking at you." He grinned, still looking forward.
"I hope you don't kill us here," I joked with a laugh. He also chuckled. "There's just a lot of things in the helicopter, how did you learn it all? There's a lot to press and stuff." I commented when I saw so many buttons in front of us.
I looked ahead and saw that we were going up. I saw some men gesticulating to Cadmus, perhaps signaling whether we should retreat or advance. I don't know! I don't know anything about this.
My hands started shaking when we got up. The noise is much louder if we don't have a headset on. I'm nervous, I don't know, I'm just nervous. Because it's high.
I looked up when I felt a warm hand holding my hand. It was Cadmus who was still looking straight ahead. "Don't be nervous, I'll do my best, I promise."
He looked at me for a moment.
"W-Where are we going?"
"Let's eat in my family's restaurant."
Then he let go of my hand because he needed to focus on driving the helicopter. I, on the other hand, tried to calm myself down while looking ahead. I could also hear the laughter of my friends in the back while we were up.
"Fuck sis, I'm flying!" Nirca shouted.
"You stupid girl, you aren't flying, that's just your imagination! That's so you, to feed your delusions that your crush likes you back!" Laurel laughed.
Renice was silent. I also heard that she and her boyfriend broke up. She doesn't want to talk yet, maybe she really isn't comfortable yet. But it's fine and somehow she feels better about these things she doesn't talk about.
"Marry that Cadmus, sis! He's yours forever because he took us on a helicopter!" Nirca joked.
I laughed. My nervousness disappeared. I can't breathe laughing.
"You guys are really crazy!" I just shouted back.
When we got down it was around one o'clock in the afternoon. We went to a place surrounded by a stone wall and lighted lamps. It's so beautiful here, it's like you're in another country.
"It's beautiful..." Renice smiled. I can see the tears in her eyes. I wonder what really happened to their relationship?
I approached her to hug her, for comfort. So did Nirca and Laurel.
Cadmus took us to a large restaurant. It's a two storey restaurant that screams elegant theme. It looks like it will be loved because the outside is all shiny gold.
"Let's eat lunch first, I bet you guys are hungry..." Cadmus held my hand. Familiar electricity coursed through my body. My hair rose and I felt a familiar tickle in my sensitive body.
"Maybe you're the one who's hungry, Boss Cadmus! You're the driver—or steer if that's the right thing to call it? Hah!" Finally, Renice's voice also rose. "But you're right bro, I'm really hungry hehe. But this place looks expensive. I only brought a little money..."
"God Renice, your style is rotten! Just say you have no money and you want Erin's boyfriend to pay for us!" Nirca shouted.
"Your styles are really rotten! Will Boss Cadmus bring us here if he doesn't free us?" Laurel's question looked thick. "Isn't it, Boss Cadmus?"
"Your face is really thick, Laurel! It's so good to fry your face in fish sauce!" Renice shouted.
"You're a good pretender! Pretending she didn't think of that in the first place." Nirca slapped back.
"Stop it! It's embarrassing! I don't know you guys anymore!" I shouted at them causing them to stop. "I'm the liberator."
"What? No way." Cadmus immediately blurted out. "We own this restaurant so you don't have to pay for anything. Leave it on me."
"But---"
"Sweetheart, leave it on me." He put his arm around me again.
"Hey, you're making us jealous, I'm going!" Renice stormed into the restaurant. She was the first to enter inside followed by my other two friends. Cadmus and I were behind and left.
"You're spoiling me too much..." I told him. "Maybe one day if I tell them that we broke up, they won't believe me. From what you're showing, it seems like you really love me... It's unbelievable." I added more.
"Why are you so afraid of falling for me, Erin?" He asked me with sad eyes. He removed his arm from me and followed my friends who were now inside.
But why do I feel hurt?
-------
Cadmus ignores me. My friends are currently eating foods that I only taste every Christmas. Hams and whatnot. He bought us a lot of food.
My friends are very happy. Even though I'm embarrassed, it's funny that I can make them smile with these things. Because when we are together, the sadness that we experience in our respective lives disappears.
As others say: mentally unstable friends who are more stable when they're together.
It was late at night for us to go home to Manila. They also have school tomorrow. Of course I also have school, but it's only an online class.
"You know... I vote for Cadmus on that one. He doesn't look fake like your ex, I could already smell the bad vibes at first sight." Nirca said.
"You're right, sis! Pisces things indeed. Not sure is Cadmus is a pisces though." Renice agreed. "I really vote for that man. Because he already has everything, besides, he only thinks about you... Wow. I hope every man is like that!"
"It used to be that we were all hoping is go have a relationship like you and your ex's because you were the only one with a boyfriend, but now, the tables have turned!" Laurel winked at Renice before looking at me seriously. "But if that guy hurts you, we'll always be here. Sis before jerks, okay! Even if we're not the CEO of a big bank, we'll take you to another country even if it'll cost a lot of money, as long as you and Renice aren't sad."
Renice hit her because she was crying again. We were both touched by our friend's message. We hugged one last time before Mang Elmo took them in the van back to where they came from.
I sighed. When I faced him, Cadmus was there who walked with me but did not speak. We entered the mansion until we both saw a picture of him and Jarmin.
We both stopped there. He lost his hold on me.
"That's Jarmin, he used to be my friend." He said and pointed to the guy beside him in the picture. "We're not close anymore. He's a very greedy person. He's also our rival company's CEO." He added and sighed.
That's my ex. I can confirm that he's really a greedy person.
"You should rest." He said this and put his arm around me again. We walked up the stairs because our respective rooms were there.
Since then he never spoke to me again.