Callea tightly held the steak knife and pressed her lips. What was Deive trying to imply? That Marina should not be her friend because she was a hunchback? Was she stooping low in his opinion?
She gnashed her teeth and closed her eyes to stop herself from throwing dagger looks at him. So Deive was no different from the cruel people outside. They judge people base on their appearance and now on substance. She loathed superficial people. Marina was a good person. Why should people judge her because of her deformity? As if she wished to be born a hunchback. Too bad. Marina thought Deive was a nice guy.
Deive looked alarmed and stopped eating. "Hey! Don't get me wrong. I do not judge your friendship with Marina. But it is just you two in this huge mansion. What if some robbers decided to come here? Who will protect you?" His concern looked real.
"Thanks for the concern, but no one would dare come to this place.
It helped that people thought her home was a haunted house home. It was so notorious that even thieves won't set foot on the place. It would be difficult for them to take large antique furniture in the mansion. It was not easy to steal. There are no precious heirloom or money there. Everything she needed was arranged by her grandfather - from paying the utility bills to supplies. She also knew that her grandfather placed guards to watch over the mansion. She was okay with that as long as they remained invisible and won't interfere with her life.
Callea sighed with relief. It was comfort to know that he was not judging Marina. Marina was her friend. She won't allow anyone to hut her friend.
"According to your grandfather, you don't leave the mansion at all. What do you do when you're cooped up here?" he asked with curiosity.
"I have online classes. I am taking up Creative writing. Because I like to make graphics novels. The old books and the library helped me enrich my imagination. I am also working with several novels. So I have a lot in my hands. "
She didn't mention that she was a glowing graphics horror novelist. Her published graphic novels had followers on only in the Philippines but also in other countries. Her publisher Philippine based only but was able to get other readers abroad. Thanks to the Internet.
But she used a pen name to hide her identity. Only her publisher knew her informaiton. While she was a mysterious artist to the rest of the world.
"What are you currently working on? Romance? Fiction? Political satire? "
She smiled sheepishly. "I will tell you once it is published." She was not comfortable showing it to someone else once her works were still raw. Even in Marina was forbidden to see it. It was ncluded in her eccentricities as an artist. "How about you? You work for Hontiveros Coco Industries you, right? "
"I used to work for our family business. Not anymore," he informed her with a sad voice.
"Then what do you do now?"
"A professional bum," he answered with a gloat. "That is why my grandfather is giving me away. Is it okay for you to marry someone like me?"
She shrugged nonchalantly. There was also nothing she could do because her grandfather wants her to marry him. Even if he was a terrorist, she would marry him if that was the only way to ensure to get the mansion.
"If it's okay with you to eat the sweet potato tops and other vegetables in our backyard, then I am cool with it."
What a couple they would make. Callea was sure that a city boy like Deive would change his mind and call off the engagement right away. He won't stand living a simple life with her.
His rich laughter echoed inside the house. She was stunned. Suddenly there was life and light inside the mansion that had not been heard for a long time.
"You will feed me potato tops and grass? Great!" He tapped the table. "So, it means I have to learn how to grow weed from now on." Instead of being disgusted by the idea and running for the hill, he was enjoying it.
She looked away from him, her heart constricted. She loathed his smiling face. She loathed his laugh. It touched her gloomy heart. It was not good.
"If you are tired of sweet potato tops, you can dig for sweet potatoes underneath. We have lots of rootcrops here."
"Don't worry. I'm not with Hontiveros Coco anymore but I am working on a project with some of my friends. A pirate cruise ship. "
"Wow! So it was like an old, dusty pirate ship like the one on Pirates of the Carribean?" Callea's eyes sparkled when she thought of the skeletons of dead pirates rising from the depths of the water to wreak havoc on the world. There were underwater treasures guarded by giant monsters. It was exciting! They finally had something in common.
Deive shook his head. "It would be an elegant floating hotel. I really want to travel the world when onboard the ship. I think it is cool. " It presents the palms. "Do you want to go with me when we are married?"
She looked at his stretched hand. It was a splendid invitation for any normal, starry-eyed woman who was in for a romance with a handsome man. It was tempting. So tempting. It was like for the first time, they had something in common.
She smiled a bit. She was not directly refusing his offer to travel on his pirate cruise ship. She had no plans to get out of the mansion and travel the world. The world was too vast and too cruel for the likes of her. She was happy to spend the rest of the life inside the mansion, away from the crazy world.