Hey itsmyaah, this cover that you made is so mind-blowing! I'm so happy to have finally Selena and Gui on the cover! It's just OMG! You are very talented. I really appreciate the time, skills, and everything that you put into this work. 😗😗😗

----------------------------------------------------------------------

~~~ CHAPTER 5 - GUYS AND FEARS ~~~

        After Nigel left The Fields, I practiced myself to become responsible. During Saturday and Sunday afternoons, I would stay in my private space near the lagoon. But now, I already made sure that I'd be back in the mansion before 5:00 o'clock so that mom wouldn't get worried about me anymore. In the palacio, I would help the cook in preparing dinner and oftentimes bake cakes with Elena.

        When classes opened again, I was already senior high school. I went to the same private school in the nearby town about a thirty-minute drive away from La Carlota. Just like before, I had my private chauffeur to drive me to school and back to The Fields every day.

        I knew I was quite popular in school for most people there were aware of my connection to the renowned Sarmientos. Most people knew I was staying in The Fields, specifically the palacio. They also knew that I was to become the future bride of the young master of The Fields.

        Though I was already popular, I became even more popular in my senior year. I was kind of questioning myself why because I wasn't the Queen Bee or something. Then, I began to accidentally hear from my schoolmates especially the guys that I was getting prettier every year. I was flattered with all the attentions I was getting until the time when the town mayor's son became interested in me. That was when I realized that I had to put an end to all of these enthrallments they had for me.

        The son of the mayor was a senior high school student just like me but we were not in the same class. His name was Javier --- confident, self-assured Javier Suarez. Well, he came from an influential family so he wasn't discouraged of my engagement. Rather, he showered me with flowers of different kinds every single day. It irritated me like hell.

        "Please, I want none of you, Javier, so please quit it," I told him straight to his face one time as I gave him back the flowers he sent me that morning. I cornered him while he was about to enter his physics class. His peers left us in the hallway when they saw I was handing back the flowers to Javier.

        He looked down at me frowning, his sluggish gaze never left my eyes.

        "I'm already engaged," I met his eyes like seriously. I wanted him to understand the seriousness of the situation and, of course, the seriousness of my engagement.

        He was one of those popular boys in school who had a lot of admirers. His pretty face placarded it like every day. While many girls ran after him, he was running after me. I had to stop it before it would become very grave and I would end up hurting him.

        "That's forced engagement, Althea," he replied placing his right hand into the pocket of his khaki slacks, his school uniform.

        "I wasn't forced into it, Javier. I planned it," I said frankly. Well, what could I do? That was the truth. Wasn't it me who initiated my engagement to Nigel?

        Caught by surprise with my statement, Javier cursed under his breath. His handsome face reddened. He must be really discouraged, so I thought.

        "I love him, Javier, so there's no way that I'd be entertaining other guys ever."

        He flicked his eyes at me, "Someday, you're going to realize that you're not really in love with him. So I'm not giving up, Althea."

        So, he was still not discouraged. Why was he so stubborn?

        I rolled my eyes at him, shrugged my shoulders, and walked away.

        Whatever! Oh, stubborn guys!

        It was only one of the many times that I rejected him because, yes, he didn't stop pursuing me. But I tried my very best to ignore him.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

        When December came, I was excited with mom's news that Nigel would be coming home on Christmas Day and he would stay in the palacio until the New Year. God knew how eager I was as I waited for him to come home on Christmas Day. But he didn't come. Mommy said later that Nigel didn't make it for he had to close a very important deal during the holidays. I couldn't believe Nigel to be that workaholic! Working even during the holidays! I hated that fact, really hated that fact. Somehow, I secretly wished I were one of his business deals, at least, by being one, he could spent time with me. Even during the holidays.

        Before summer came, I finally graduated from high school. As usual, just like all other important events of my high school life, I felt happy but there was always that missing piece.

        The day after my graduation, mom went to my room very early in the morning and talked to me.

        "It's about time, darling," she said as both of us sat on one side of my bed.

        I closed my eyes and wished it wasn't going to happen. But I had no choice. I had to.

        "You have to do this already. We can't wait for another day for this trip." There was so much concern in her eyes and I knew that if we only had a choice, she would rather have me stay in The Fields forever.

        With mixed emotions, I nodded and only hoped to myself that I would be able to do this successfully. It had been a long time... I was afraid... yet I wanted to go because I missed Nigel and I badly wanted to see him.

        "I know you can do this. Don't be afraid, Althea. I'll be just right here with you," she motivated me as we held hands.

         "It's going to be an eight-hour drive from The Fields but I assure you, darling, everything's going to be alright," mom smiled at me and squeezed my hands. "Besides, Nigelito will be there. Aren't you excited to see him?" she then announced in a cheerful tone.

        I missed him. I missed him. But would that be enough for me to overcome my fears?

        "And we're going to visit St. Louis University. You're going to love it there, darling. So, come on, pack some of your things and we'll leave early." Mom stood up, maintaining the cheerfulness in her tone apparently boosting my confidence.

        Yeah, it's about time. It's time to conquer my fear.

        A long distance travel actually was one of my greatest fears. I had never travelled ever again to places farther than the town since I arrived in The Fields. I was with my parents when that horrifying accident happened. I, miraculously, was the sole survivor. And the thought of it was killing me like hell.

        Ever since that fateful accident, I became afraid --- no, phobic was the right term --- of long distance travelling. It was a problem that I couldn't ever get out of my system. Every time long distance travelling would come out in the picture, my mind would always bring me back to those times when I had to struggle with nightmares every night after the accident where mom would always rescue me with her warm embrace. I was still eight back then and that was very terrifying. Without mom, I thought I was not going to make it through.

        Whenever mom would go to the capital to visit Nigel or to make follow-ups on the family businesses, there was that feeling of wanting and longing to go there, but I was always defeated by my fear. That was why I started convincing myself that I belonged only to The Fields. There was no way for me to travel long distances ever again.

        However, my high school life had come to an end and Mommy Carol found it necessary for me to go to the best university in the country. Of course, I looked forward to it, not for the love of it, but for my love for Nigel. I needed to be where he was, live with him, be with him, breathe the same air he was breathing, see him all the time. And I wouldn't experience all of those if I wouldn't travel.

        TRAVEL.

        It's already time indeed.

        Thus, convincing myself to set aside my fears, I decided to go to the capital. For the very first time.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

        Mom made sure that I had to calm down and relaxed myself as we were already seated in the car. This sounded difficult to do but I tried my best. She even made me do the breathing exercise.

        I was seated at the back. Papa was driving; mama was on the passenger seat. It was a long travel but I didn't mind it. All I knew was that we were visiting old grandma. I was just playing and hugging my favorite dolly. Papa was telling my mama sweet alluring words and she was overwhelmed with so much joy. She was giggling.

        It was a travel that started out just fine and beautiful... but ended horribly... terribly...

        "I don't think I can do this, mom," I dissented as the car stated to move. "I can't do this." Fear began to creep in my system as my mind reminisced what happened before.

        "Calm down, darling. Everything's going to be alright," mom found my hands quickly. "I'll be right here."

        Tears started to fall down my cheeks. The thought of the eight-hour drive made me want to cry.

        "You're used to travel. You go to the town five days a week. This is not different to your trips to school," she assured me caressing my hands.

        "No, this is different, mommy. This is going to be eight hours," I felt my body tremble on the seat.

        Suddenly, she enveloped me with her loving arms. "I'll be just right here," she whispered in my ears.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

        God knew I did all the possible things that I could do just to forget for some time that I was travelling in a car. I talked with mom, listened to her stories, held hands with her, hugged her, listened to music, slept... Then, we made a stop. We had our car filled with gasoline, then we ordered burgers for our lunch from a fastfood drive-thru.

        After eating, we kept going and I had to face again my fear.

        Every time my slim body trembled in fright, mom was all ready to encircle me in her arms. Of course, I hugged her back.

        Like a baby, I leaned my head on the pillow placed on her lap. Her fingers were brushing my hair every now and then.

        And I felt asleep again.

        When I woke up, I saw mom's concerned eyes directed to me. She clasped one of my hands and squeezed it to let me feel that the long journey was almost over and that I had finally conquered my fear.

        I hugged her tightly as my tears started to swell in the corner of my eyes. She rubbed my back slowly to let me feel everything was okay.

        "Mommy," I mumbled in between my sobs as I stretched out my body and leaned my back on the backrest.

        "Congratulations, darling! Surely, your mama and papa are very happy to see you right now. They must be very proud of you."

        I nodded my head while my tears generously streamed down my cheeks. It seemed like the tears weren't going to stop. They just flowed down freely and easily.

        We were interrupted when the driver reminded us that we had already arrived at Nigel's place. Hearing his name, I looked around me and saw the surroundings. Everything was unfamiliar to me.

        So this is the capital city?

        The sad memories just went away. They were replaced with excitement and eagerness. Finally, I was already in the capital.

        Nigel, here I come!

        "Here we are now, darling," mom's excited announcement. "Nigel will be very happy to see you."

        The car approached to a first-class condominium building. Oh, it looked so magnificent in its stature. I couldn't believe what I saw. So this was the place where my Nigel was residing. It looked like one of those modern structures that I only saw in magazines and tubes. Looking at that tower-like structure, I kept muttering the words, "Oh, my goodness!" for I was totally dumbstruck.

        Then, I heard mommy commenting about my being a country bumpkin. I laughed and giggled about that fact.

        "When I'll finally be moving to Nigel's place, I'll definitely catch up life in the city, mommy," I expressed aggressively.

        Later, after the driver dropped us at the entrance, we went into the building through a revolving door. The next thing I knew, we were already in the elevator going to the floor where Nigel's unit was located.
 
        "Which floor is it, mommy?"

        "It's on the twenty-third," she replied.

        "Twenty-third? Are you kidding me, mom?" I gasped. What the ---!

        She laughed as she shook her head. "I'm not kidding, darling."

        Everything in this building just blew my mind off. I wondered if I could adapt with the things around me. Everything was just so different from what I normally saw in The Fields.

        When we were finally at Nigel's doorstep, I noticed the numbers 2327 on it. Mommy pressed what looked like a button and the door swung open. A middle-aged woman welcomed the both of us. Later, mom introduced her as Suzana, Nigel's cook and housekeeper. The woman would report here everyday usually at 6:00 in the morning and go home at 6:00 in the evening.

        Inside the condo, I learned that it was thrice as big as I expected it to be. Though it was too small to be compared to the palacio, I still believed that it was too big a space for a single man to stay.

        As I was mesmerized on the interior architecture, which mom called mid-century modern design, I caught her asking Suzana about Nigel.

        Yeah, where was Nigel? He was nowhere to be found. Probably, at his workplace...

        "He's out of the country, señora, for a business conference," Suzana answered.

        "Out of the country?" I cried in disbelief.

        What? Nigel was out of the country? All the risks I took during our travel was just for nothing? I tried to overcome my fear in order to see him, yet he was not around.

        Mom and I stared at each other. We were both shocked.

        It took me like an eternity to grasp the whole situation until I finally pulled myself together.

        "How could I not call him before we came here?" mommy said disappointingly.

        "You planned to surprise him, mommy, remember?" I reminded her.

        "Then, how could he not tell me about this conference?" It sounded not a question, it sounded more of a frustration.

        "Well, maybe, he wanted to surprise us," I tried to throw a joke. However, nobody laughed... We were just too damn frustrated of his absence.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

        In order to get rid of the frustration and the disappointment lurking both of us, mommy brought me to shopping. Honestly, this had been my first time since a long time ago. I couldn't actually remember anymore when was the last time I had been to malls. For sure, when my parents were still alive, they always found time to bring me to shopping but not in very big malls like what the capital had.

        I was both mesmerized and scandalized with everything there --- mesmerized, because everything seemed very modern, very different from the country; scandalized, because it was too easy for city couples to show their affection publicly like holding hands or even kissing!

        My goodness!

        The latter only reminded me of that kiss in the library. I felt myself blushing as I was trailing behind mommy. It was almost a year ago but I still vividly remember it. I could still even feel his lips in mine. Oh, my God! However, as I wanted it to be a secret, I never told anyone about it. I'd rather keep it to myself. It was something that only Nigel and I knew.

        The next day, mom and I went to St. Louis University. My admittance had been processed months ago but I was called to report for face-to-face interview. It wasn't that tough. I was just asked with few questions that I managed to answer properly. Mom said I was part of those five percent of the total incoming freshmen students who belonged to the elite group. Being a foster daughter of a Sarmiento made it all possible. I was very lucky.

        I decided to enter the College of Social Sciences for no particular reason at all. Aside from that, I decided to enroll only the basic subjects because, honestly, I still couldn't figure out which course to take. There were just a lot of choices. I couldn't decide yet. I was surprised to realize that, all this time, I only thought about my love for Nigel and marrying him that I actually forgot to decide what course to take up in college.

        Was it a good thing or a bad thing? Know what? I didn't really know.

        Even so, with this fact, I still didn't care. What I truly wanted in my life, if you would ask me, was a life with Nigel. I only wished to become his wife.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

        Two weeks after we visited the capital, Diego, the gardener's son, finally confessed his feelings to me. He didn't tell me personally though. He only wrote a letter and asked his kid brother to hand it to me.

        Honestly, that letter was touching. He expressed how much he really loved me in spite of the fact that I was to be married to the Young Master of The Fields. He apologized for his aggression. He said he didn't expect me to feel the same way.

        I admired his courage to tell me the truth. Though he didn't belong to a wealthy and influential family just like Javier, Diego had the guts to do it. I just knew there was something about that guy and I still couldn't figure out what it was.

        But, even if I was impressed with Diego's confession, I couldn't help myself to get peeved.

        Oh, guys! How would I make them stay away from me?

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

A/N

        Hello, world! Thank you so much to all my READERS.

        This chapter doesn't have something about Nigel for I just want all of you to have more of Althea's character... ??? Hehe

        VOTE and COMMENT please!

        Lovelotz,
        (sapphiregirl22)   ~_^