"Ana is a good friend of mine, and you are her family. So, that makes you my good friend too."
Rexana's smile widened after what she heard from Daerin.
"You are a good person, Mr. De la Croix. But, isn't it embarrassing for you to be our friend? You are not our kind. We are not part of your supposed to be group of friends," Rita said, she didn't want to be mean but she just have to let the young man see the reality. Since that was what was acceptable in the community that they live in.
"I understand you madam, but, please don't look at me as someone different from you. I am here to make friend, and I am the kind of person, who don't choose my friend besides Ana is a very good person. After I saw what that fisherman tried to do to her, I just want to protect her. She is not a kid now, you need to protect her." Daerin said and it was making Rexana speechless. She couldn't also help but swoon over his words.
She felt like she found a hero on Daerin and everything that she felt wasn't hidden from her expression, her parents could see it well and that made them worried.
"By the way, I had to go back to the resort, I have a work waiting for me. I just came here to apologize to Rexana for not noticing her, a while ago. My mind was just busy that time." He looked over Rexana upon saying the last words.
"Ahh… Uhm, it's okay I understand now," she said with her gaping expression, swooning before him.
However, she looked back at Daerin and her expression changed. "Do you even know, why I was there, near the resort?"
"Let me guess, are you hungry and want some food? Next time, it's okay to just get inside directly to the kitchen and ask Miss Chine for it."
Rexana pouted her expression getting worst and she looked like she was offended.
"No it's not that," she replied frowning.
"Oh, sorry, so what is it?" Daerin felt a little sorry for her. He just realized that what he said could hurt her. Nevertheless, shd didn't have any idea what else could be the reason for her to get there.
"I was there because I want to see you." Rexana seemed trying to gain enough courage for her to say that at first that she tried to speak out loud but her voice faded by the end.
"See me?" Daerin smiled, some part of him could partly guess Rexana's intention and sometimes it made him worried and some part of him enjoyed that kind of intention, since, that could only mean, he did touch Rexana's life. He was just hoping that, not the way he intended.
"I was there because I want you to see my changes," she smile coyly.
"Changes?" Daerin have to look at her thoroughly to find the kind of changes Rexana had been talking about. However, he was having a hard time pointing it out.
"Hadn't you noticed? I took a bath, I comb my hair, I wore clean clothes this time, can't smell the scent of the soap on my skin and the shampoo in my hair?"
Rexana tried to smell it herself and she felt disappointed.
"Oh, I guess, it's gone now. I didn't know that it won't take that long."
"It was because the weather is hot and you started sweating, but don't worry, I did notice your well-combed hair and cleaner clothes and looked much prettier this time" Daerin patted her on the head like he was petting a kid.
"Really? Am I really pretty?" Rexana's smile widened with her turning crimson face. That was the word, she had been longing to hear from Daerin. That was the pay of all the effort she had made. Just to hear him call her pretty is quite enough to make her entire day happy.
At that moment alone she could consider herself the happiest and no one could take that feeling away from her, and no one had ever given her that kind of feeling for her ever since. That feeling was new, yet so addicting for her.
"Yes, you are pretty," Daerin confirmed, that was the best he could say as it was what Ana had expected to hear. Nonetheless, he wasn't just saying that for the sake of saying that, he ran his eyes towards Ana's face and her entirety and she actually was pretty, although not that attractive to him, she looked like a kid to him, so innocent and kinda messy.
As Darien's bike dashed off the road to go back to the resort, Rexana covered her mouth with both hands as she was trying to control herself from screaming. The feeling was just so awesome for her, she had never experienced being cared for by a man like that in her entire life.
She always thought that she wasn't capable of experiencing that kind of feeling, the feeling of being special. Yeah, she felt special by the way Daerin had treated her.
She felt so overwhelmed that she didn't even notice a couple of times her parents had been calling her. Her mind was out of nowhere, keep recalling every word that Daerin said and every part of her face.
"Ana! Ana!" It was more than five times that her mom said that before she noticed it.
She was partly ashamed of her expression, yet, she couldn't hide her excitement with her wide grin.
She immediately ran inside her home to her parents and still shivers the moment she closed the door.
"Mom, Dad, what do you think of him?" She asked excitedly, she knew they would be empressed with Daerin as much as how he empressed her.
"I think he is a good person Ana, but he is not like us. He is so rich and we are worried about you." Rita's words changed Rexana's expression but it couldn't change the way he was feeling about Daerin.
"Worried why?" She asked wondering, she still couldn't grasp the idea of why they had to be worried for her.
"We are worried, because you looked like you are falling for him, and he wasn't like us. A man like him didn't fit for someone like us. They might not fall for someone like us, that's why we are worried for you. It would be impossible for him to fall for you, Ana. Maybe, he was just a good person and wanted to help us, but please don't expect too much and control your feelings for him," Andre explained.
Rexana went quiet for a moment since she couldn't understand much of what her parents were saying to her. What's with the word falling about? However, she didn't have enough time to ask them back. She had too many things to do to impress Daerin. She had to clean up again and smells good, so the next time they see each other again, she must always look clean and pretty and smells good too.