****

It was a warm afternoon. Sandra visited her dad, Stephen Alejandro to gossip about Jade and his affairs but unfortunately for her, she met Kate by his side. They were discussing business related issues when Sandra walked in. The maid offered her coffee as she joined them on the table of discussion.

“I see you're here.” Sandra muttered while she rolled her eyes at Kate without greeting anyone.

Kate did not look at Sandra either. Instead, she concentrated on her coffee as if she didn't hear anything.

“It seems that Jade had gotten another girlfriend.” Sandra spilled out.

“You saw them too?” Stephen asked his daughter, interestedly.

“Yes, I stumbled upon them at the Cinema the other night. How come he changes girls like toys... So Ill-mannered!” She hissed.

“And why shouldn't he, Sandy? As long as he finds love, Jade would definitely settle with one. He's still very young and handsome. It's not bad for him to explore the world if he wants to before going to work at BB Company headquarters.” Kate muttered before taking a sip of coffee from the expensive looking, mug cup.

“The main BB Company headquarters?” Sandra's slim eyebrow raised in concern.

“Of course. Jade won't be at that hotel forever, you know. No matter what anyone says, Jade is the eldest son of this household.” Kate clearly pointed out.

“I'm my father's child too, you know? I'm the first daughter of this household! It's not just my older brother who's my father's child! Ace is a blood relative of Alejandro! My son is the first grandson of this household!” Sandra jerked off with irritation in her voice.

“Did I ever say otherwise?” Kate gently took another sip. “What's important is his skills, anyway.”

Dumbfounded, Sandra whooshed out air as if she was being kicked.

“You know Jade is your son, not my brother's. He's just an adopted child that is privileged to live such a luxurious life, and he has had enough! You two don't even share a single drop of blood, so what are you arguing about? He won't become your son just because he hangs around you and calls you mother!"

“Sandy!” Kate stopped her with a scornful look. “Watch your mouth, it won't benefit you in the slightest to get on my bad side. I have BB Mall shares too, you know.”

“You two, stop it already!” Stephen intervened.
“I thought you two have passed this! How annoying!” He placed his cup in the table and let out a heavy, breath to relax his nerves.

“And you, why haven't you left? Are you planning to spend the night with me? We have nothing to talk about so go to your husband!” The chairman commanded.

Feeling disappointed, Sandra grabbed her handbag and leave their presence.

"I'm so sorry about that." Kate gave apologies for her behaviour towards him and Sandra.

"As I told you, Jade is my son now, and he'll forever be. And he's also the grandson of my dad's companies as well. I hope you just don't forget who he is." Her attitude was laced with pride. Just like Jade would.

"Why does that punk take after you so much, Kate? He might as well have been born from your belly instead." The chairman smiled. "Don't worry, that punk is ten times more wicked than I am. And I know my children and grand children very well." He assured.

A small smile appeared on Kate's face as she heard this. She felt assured that e everything would be alright.

***

Sapphire was still trying to fix the puzzled toys, it seems impossible.

"It's a piece missing? Why won't it fit in?” She asked herself.

Lost in thought, Jade walked upstairs with the cups of coffee in his hands and gently placed it on the table. Sapphire was carried away with the toys that she didn't notice his presence.

From behind, he held Sapphire's hands and collected the piece of toys. As if Jade's back hug brought a tightening to her guts, Sapphire tried to concentrate on how he's fixing the toys, but she couldn't. It felt as if she was burning inside, from his touch and presence.

After fixing a part of it, he showed her and then went back to his seat. He took one of the cups and asked her to drink up. Sapphire tried to gain her consciousness, but she couldn't help but to admire him. She stared at him lovingly, as if something had changed in him.

“Did you know that kid you bought the model set for?” She asked, interestedly.

“No.”

“Then why did you do that?” Sapphire queried.

“Because his whining was really annoying.” Jade lied. “When are you planning to leave? It's over an hour already.”

Sapphire dropped the piece of toy in her hands.
“I think the instructions are wrong. I've read it a hundred times and nothing is right. I'm just going round in circles, I don't get it.” She slowly murmured with the manu at hand.

“Don't do this in front of kids. Kid thinks their teachers are good at everything.” He explained and started fixing the model toy.

It was created in a robotic form, so he fixed it. While fixing it, Sapphire watched him lovingly. She loved his transparency and sincerity. He just seems different from earlier on.

“Wow! It's just like you're a guru in doing stuff like this.” She commented.

A smirk planted on his lips as he turned to her. “Even kids can fix this without checking the menu. It's only you that can't, Fire.”

He pointed to the box where they wrote... [Suitable for ages 10 and above].

Sapphire frowned while Jade wore his smug, little smile at her. After completing it, both of them were about to leave when it began to rain.

“OMG! It looks like a sudden downpour.” Sapphire clamoured.

“Yeah, it is.” He replied.

“It'll probably stop soon, right?”

Looking at the sizzling raindrops, Jade couldn't help but to remember when he was an orphan. How he walked under the rain, watching other kids being loved by their parents.

“Jade!” Sapphire called as he turned to her.

“What were you staring at?” She asked and handed him a bag of the toy model.

“No, I don't want.” He objected.

“Take it, Jade. It's a gift.” She muttered. “It's good to have this at hand. So, try making this when you have some time. Who know? It might be fun.”

“I'm always busy.” He assured.

“So do it when you have time.” She handled it to him with a smile. 

This time, he collected it, with a grateful heart.

“It seems the rain won't stop anytime soon. Should we just run to the park?”

Jade looked around for a while.

"Give me a second." He told her and went to meet with the shop owners.

After a while, he came with a pink umbrella.

“You borrowed that?”

“Yes.”

“You should have borrowed one more.” she looked away, timidly.

“What for?” He pulled her closer and opened the door.

The both of them walked under the umbrella, as Jade unknowingly wrapped his hands around Sapphire's arm for protection. She wrapped her hands around his waist too with her head resting on his shoulders.

“So you borrowed a pink umbrella? Pink is my favourite colour.” She explained.

“I know that already.”

“What about you, what your favourite colour?”

“Black.”

“Sounds like my surname.” Sapphire chuckled as they walked together under the rain.

“You're a horrible person, hope you know that.”

“It'll just be your loss if you try to run off, you know.”

“You're the one with bad intentions!” Sapphire hissed as she tried to pull away from him, but he held her tighter.

“I'm creative though, so it's okay if I lack interest.” Jade muttered as they giggled together under the cold, misty weather.