welcome home, love

Cristine woke up from that weird dream. She was soaked in sweat and she slightly panting. She realized that she is no longer in the plane, she is in a room. She must be in the mansion, she thought. She turned on the lights and saw that it was already three in the morning.

'How did I get here?', she thought and tried to recall what happened.

"OMG! " she said aloud as she get up immediately when she noticed that she was already wearing a pair of pajamas. She felt herself and was relieved to know that she seemed normal, she is still wearing the same undergarments. She was holding her chest as she sighed in relief.

The room was quiet, except for the carpet and bed, everything is the same. This is the room she was using during the few months she stayed here after her Dad married Celine. White is the majority color of the room with accents of pink and lavender. There is a thick carpet that covered the whole floor area of the room. The dresser is still there and in one corner, there was a round coffee table with two chairs and a couch on the side.

Memories flowed as she sat down on one of the chairs. She looked the big bed in the middle of the room. She can clearly remember how she and Jolo would spend several hours just talking to each other about anything.

One night, they were laying on the bed. They were chatting happily. Jolo is the younger brother of Joseph, he was the same age as me. He is someone that can easily mingle with people, has a very positive disposition in life. So that night, he was telling me jokes and I was the eager listener, laughing heartily at his jokes.

"That joke was an epic", my eyes are already wet with tears as I was laughing at his joke.

Jolo got up but not completely, he leaned over with his right hand on the bed to support his weight and stared at me with amazement in his eyes.

" You have a very shallow happiness. That joke was older than you, do you know that? Even kids wont laugh at that joke", he said pinching my nose with his left hand.

"I have not heard of that joke before", I replied and waved his hand away, still chuckling.

"pfff, where have you been if you havent heard", Jolo said and laid down again beside her.

"I have a question for you", Jolo said seriously.

"hmmm", she said and turned to face him.

"Why do bees have sticky hair?", Jolo said and turned to face her. His face was so serious, waiting for a serious answer.

"Hmmm", she said while folding her arms on her chest.

"It must be because they don't have feet or hands so they use the hair in their body to hold while they suck the nectar of the flowers", she said while turning on her left side with her left arm supporting her head.

Jolo turned to his right side to face her and with his right arm supporting his head. "Nope, wrong answer", he said with a solemn expression.

She realized that it is one of his tricks again so she played along, pretending to be thinking and analyzing his question while her right hand played with her hair.

Jolo squinted his eyes, anticipating her answer. He was trying so hard to hold his laughter. She looked so serious and adorable playing with her hair like that with her brows knitted and her lips pouted. Just as he was about to tease him, Cristine smiled sweetly and pointed her finger on his temple pressing it gently.

"Bees have sticky hair because…" she prolonged it with a mischievous smile on her lips and her eyes sparkling as if saying 'I got you this time'.

''And what the hell are you two doing?", came a chilling voice from the door. The door was left open and they did not bother to close it anyway.

Jolo laid his back flat on the bed and looked at the person on the door and said cheerfully, "hi big brother, we are just having fun''.

If Jolo was so calm about it, Cristine was somewhat scared looking at Joseph's scrutinizing eyes. She saw disgust in his eyes but it was just so quick as if a wind blew and it erased the emotions on his face. His eyes are as cold as ice looking intently at her. Cristine got up immediately took a pillow and covered herself. She was wearing a night gown, although the fabric is thick, it still hugged her body and accentuates her figure. At age 15, she already looked like a full grown up woman. She felt Joseph's eyes maliciously traveled her body from head to toe. Complex emotions are shown in his eyes, anger, lust and then mockery.

''We are only…. talking, we are not doing anything…. we even left the door open", she stammered. 'Damn, why am I always in a compromising situation with he comes around?' She thought inwardly.

A smirk can be seen on his face. "Jolo, go back to your room'', he ordered.

Jolo got up from the bed, turned to look at her with his mouth red: ''be careful, he has PMS '', and turned to leave.

Crisitne can't help but smile at what Jolo was insinuating. But her smile faded when she saw Joseph's grim face.

"What did I do this time?'', she summoned all her courage to ask him. She looked him in the eyes and tried to be brave in front of him. Ever since they moved her, Jolo was already treating her like she is despicable. And every time they see each other in the mansion, in town he always has this hostile and most of the time cold vibe around him. He is different to others, he seemed friendly and the perfect gentleman to others, specially that Liza who has been a frequent figure beside him.

"Do you like what you see so far?'', he asked with a smirk on his face.

Her face turned beet red when she realized what he meant. She was actually looking at him like scrutinizing from head to toe. She turned her gaze away from him and moved to the far side of the bed seeing that he was inching towards her.

"Playing innocent this time huh?'', he stopped a few inches away from her.

"You can flirt with all the boys for all I care, just leave my brother alone, he is not a match to you'', he said cruelly.