Raging Love

Kapitulo 1

Kapitulo 1

"Wear your heels, ladies. We don't have the time, chop-chop," the man's voice become the alarm in the room.

"Anyare na naman diyan?" my former batch mate a few years ago, ask someone.

"Baka lalantad na si Sir-" someone stop her; she's charming though.

Most of the girls are charming and friendly, but the Pangasinan always made me smile. I don't know what's with this woman that I can't even explain. The way she flips her hair always reminds me of a friend back in New York.

"Luina," someone calls my friend's name, and I turn around, too.

My jaw drop as we saw Gaston with his huge grin on his face. I never expected that I would be able to see him again; he's on the right foot, five meters away from us. Wearing his ocean blue jacket with a palca shirt made by Roman Maseta, one of the best designers who dressed me like a queen.

"Gaston never changed, did he?" Luina smirks at me.

We saw him struggling to climb onto the ship even though he had the card in his hand. The crews were asking him beyond pep talk, that made Luina and I laugh in amusement. Until he puts his baggage on the ground, staring at us intently, with a shadow of death in his eyes.

"You guys sought to annoy me, didn't you?" he says in annoyance.

"Gaston, Gaston, Gaston..." Luina says, walks around him, and fish the flower in his hand. "Are these mine?"

"No," he says in his thick British accent. "It's for Fereine."

I look away when he grins at me. Oh, come on, Gaston. You can't like me, dude. The way you dress is not beyond perfection, and I wouldn't put myself at risk with a low-standard man.

"Anyway, I have proposals for you guys." His eyes are full of glee.

Luina and I look perplexed. What is he going to propose? I know it could affect my standard by degrading a person. So, I change my mind.

He's a nice man. Handsome as ever. I don't want to get cursed again.

"Come on, stop making a..." Gaston holds the card, and Luina hangs her word. "W-what is this?"

"New York Fashion week," he retorts, "they want to see you two," and we were still both shock, so he answers our questions. "Why? Because they saw your potential."

New York Fashion Week. Should I text Dad? No, he wouldn't mind that at all. How about Ghad? Maybe. But, I know he's busy with Manang Etang, who's probably sick right now. I pity her.

Whatever.

"Hey, I want to come,” I genuinely say.

If you were just here, mom. I know you will be proud of me. Your child’s now getting into one of the most prestigious events in history.

"Give me your cell, and I'll call Artmon real quick," he says with a cheerful voice. "But, before that. Let's eat at my favorite place. My treat. "

"Surely your treat, moron," Luina snaps.

"Did you just say that I'm a moron?" his voice raises a few edge.

"Gaston, calm down." He looks at me and I rub his shoulder. "Luina was just joking. She didn't mean it. How about we haul your luggage first and see what's in it? What do you think?"

As the ship continuously sailing, I looked at the sky while a sea of people are busy taking pictures. Others, on the other hand, eating their meals on the bench, while others sat in the loungers. The corner of my lips furrow as I realize that having a dream would not be easy. There are rumors of storms and thousands of pain to hold you up before you can get to your destination.

"Fereine," someone calls me that brought me back to my senses.

I turn round. "Yes?"

"You're in a daze, aren't you?" she almost finished her word when the intercom rang again.

"Again, ladies, wear your heels before coming here on stage. We want to see the elegance that we've been deeming for a long time." His tone become fancy at the end of the word.

"I don't think makukuha ako," a girl interposes with a frown.

I smile at her. "No, you can do it. As long as you believe in yourself, you can get what you want with conviction."

She gave me a ferment look. "Eh, kung gano’n bakit ka pa rin pabalik-balik dito? 'Di ba kung pinaghihirapan mo talaga ang isang bagay, makukuha mo? Pero bakit nandito ka pa rin?"

I am stun. I didn’t know what to react. Shouldn't I give her advice? Well, if she wishes, then okay, problem solved. The girl I admired shut her mouth off.

"Maghanda na kayo. We're sisters here, not competitors," she corrects a common misconception about pageantry.

She doesn't look like twenty-three, though. I wouldn’t want to criticize her, but she gave me the urge to do it. Her hair is close to blonde, but I didn’t know what happened to her face. It looks like she came from a surgery and gave her that vomiting result.

I thank to Miss Pangasinan because she gave justice to this sisterhood thing. Because that's what it's supposed to be. However, not all people could understand it.

Exactly before the timer went off, we came up on the stage. It's a huge walking hallway where you'll be able to flaunt your glimmering gown.

"Welcome to our second session. As a part of the Miss Universe Philippines Organization, we believe that beauty comes from within," he says with a smile on his face. "We assure you that you will learn a lot in this session. From how to walk; the posture that we are always learning all the time. Because these are one of the factors when you are on an international stage."

We just listen to the briefing until one of us ask about the question and answer portion. I think that's not part of the session, because that's for individuality’s progression and not for mass.

"I'm sorry, but the Q & A portion is not my job to teach you how to do it," he says frankly, and the girl nod in defeat.

Oh, boy. I know that being one of the representatives will never be as easy as it seemed. I watched the former Miss Universe, Gloria Diaz, and Marjie Moran. The way they spoke was like being in a whole new world. That’s the reason why I chose pageantry over my career in my dad's empire; that's why he's disappointed with me.

"First, the walk," he then demonstrates it for us. "If you walk, you must need to remember that you’re not just walking on the street. Thousands of people will watch you, waiting for you to exude your attitude on stage."

I step with one foot, followed by the other, and then slowly adapting the walk of the cat. They watched me as if they are mesmerized by the way I walk in the aisle. This is a piece of cake for me, knowing that I have joined fashion week with top paid models in the world.

"'Yan... 'yan ang hinahanap namin," he says with joy. "How did you know that?"

Well... no! They mustn’t need to know about me. Calm down, Fereine.

"By practicing... in the house," I lie politely.

"Grabe, hindi ko inakala 'yon, a. Ang galing mong rumampa," he gave a flattering remark.

I just smile. I remember Gaston. What's that lad doing? We have not contacted each other since I come back to the Philippines. It's not that I'm regretting that I am here, because I want to be part of the Miss Universe family, but some parts of me are searching for their absence.

"Gayahin n'yo si Miss Makati," he says with a thud in his voice.

"Ang pabida naman ang isang 'yan," I hear someone mutter in nowhere. I take a look at her and she is frightened.

"Miss Makati, execute again your walk, please..." he asks in a genuine tone.

"All right," I walked in the center of the stage.

I step with one foot and follow with the other, my hips are barely swaying. Cat walk isn't that easy, but I thank God I learned it beforehand. Because this is something I would most likely struggle with, the graceful sway of my hands doesn't makes it look like a hard walk.

"Magnificent, Miss Makati. O, kayo naman,” he then turns his attention to the ladies.

Pangasinan executes her walk, and I love her version. She’s like in a real pageant, really. The way she walks in like she’d had a lot of things that she could be improve. And then she slowly turn, gliding her hand on her hips, with a clip of her hair, and walk back onto the track with her natural fierce look.

This lady will going to win the crown tonight. I knew it already. She has the complacent vibes that made her look like at ease. She is, indeed, confident on her performance.

All the ladies has performed the walk well, but they didn’t able to make it to the highest level. Only Pangasinan has captured my attention, I know that she will shine tonight. A woman in simple black suit with a remarkable advocacy for cancer-stricken children is on her way to conquer the universe.

He checks his phone to check something. "The posture will begin momentarily. You can rest for a while, ladies. "

I draw a deep breath. I put my heels under the chair and dial my cousin's number. I know he's now asleep, or maybe he's with some of his mistresses after that woman left him. I don't hate her. I know her reason. But my cousin deserve more than pain.

It rings twice before he responds.

"Ghad, are you still awake?" So I begin.

"Yeah, I'm here with Sheram," he says with a breath.

"Sleep, baby boy. You have to rest." I joke and he laughs slightly.

"Do you want to talk to him?" he asks.

"Yes, please..." I sound desperate.

"Fereine," he calls my name in a seductive way.

"Sheram. Are you drunk again with your brother?" I scold him.

I'm going to pinch his belly if he says yes. But somehow I know that he just wants to comfort his brother, even though guilt is still in his heart after the incident with the woman. I want to yell at them for being in a confidential situation, but I can't... because I pity them.

"Wala lang 'to. Konti lang naman ininom namin," he admits with a joke. "Anyway, kumusta nga pala ang session n'yo?"

"It's fine. The ladies are getting good, you know," I say with a smile.

"Don't worry, no one can hurt you there. I sent agents to watch you there," he says, and my eyes enlarge awestruck.

"Who?" I ask and the entryway open and two men come inside.

I almost drop my phone when I saw him again. He's with his brother, who is busy typing on his phone. I look at the ladies as they start to chatter indistinctly.

"Oh! Who are these beautiful men here?" The trainer walks down the stage to meet the two.

I press the phone back on my ear. "Sheram, what is this? Why are they here?"

"Guwardiya mo, ano pa ba?" he says with sarcasm.

Ugh! I don't know how to react to these two men. They are not suppose to be here. Sheram, have you gone nuts?

The trainer talks with them in a formal interaction. Until I saw them gesture at my direction, with a fierce look in their faces, I knew the ladies couldn't carry on. Damn!

"Ladies, we have our new guards here. But these two gorgeous men will only serve one person," he says with delight.

Don't mention me, please. Don't mention me. Cyrex, on the other hand, smirk at me with his hands in his jeans pocket. I don't need a smirk, a guard, or a knight just to protect me, because I can manage myself.

"Miss Makati. They want to talk to you," he says with a malicious smile.

I hate that smile. It's telling me something that I don't want to hear. To end the abstruse idea of my cousin, I stroll down the stage and went in their direction.

"What are you doing here?" I ask Cyrex, enunciating every word, exaggeratedly.

He didn't look at me. "We're sent here to watch you. That's all."

I direct my gaze to his brother.

"Same as what he said," he speake, even though I didn't ask him.

"What do you want?" I ask in low defeat.

"We need to talk," and he then look at me. "Privately."

I breathe. "Where?"

He offers a hand and I hesitated to accept it, knowing that my batch would see us as if a real couple. Instead of accepting, I walk out of the room as they were both walking on my behind. I have no words for this, Sheram. Thank you for bringing the two here. Thank you. Ugh! I hate this.