The Best Mistake (GL)

unFORTUNATEly

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♦ Heathe ♦

SHE cringed the moment she felt the pain in her back. She slowly opened her eyes just to see an unfamiliar view of an apple-green-colored room. Totally confused, she pulled herself up, and quickly went back down after feeling a massive pain in her head.

What the hell?

She grumbled in pain, realizing that she had been on a hard bamboo bed. She couldn't remember how she managed to sleep on that hard bed. She could not remember what she was doing inside that room, either.

She took a glimpse at her wristwatch, her sight was a bit blurry so she had to blink a few times. It was fifteen to eleven in the morning. She let out a sigh and rolled over to lay her back when she heard the soft creaking of the door. Somebody opened it.

There, her human Advil appeared wearing trousers and a plain green t-shirt.

She smiled before forcing herself to sit upright. Even if she still wanted to lay back down because she felt painfully dizzy, she disregarded the feeling. She did not want to look like a loser in front of Ayen.

"Oh! You're awake, Your Highness," Ayen uttered.

The best morning greeting she had ever heard.

She did not flinch toward her mock, and kept the smile on her lips, instead. "Good morning too, Ayen." She jested.

Ayen went completely inside the room and slowly closed the door behind her. The gesture practically made her think of another wisecrack.

"Could we have our breakfast first before we even get into something here?" She chaffed, wiggling her brows.

Ayen's jaw dropped momentarily before glaring at her the moment she realized what she said. "You! So full of yourself! You're already awake and yet you're still in some kind of illusion," She hissed.

Heathe was starting to enjoy the friendly conversation as well as the morning view inside the room. "You didn't even need to close the door. What do you want me to think?"

Ayen ambled toward her, while she restrained herself from laughing so hard because the girl in front of her was wearing an indefinable expression on her face.

"Tell you what, Miss Heather La Rivas. Just because you are the owner of the land on which our house is situated, doesn't mean that I have to get scared of you. For me, you are still nothing but an ordinary person like us. You're just lucky to have wealthy parents. So, be prepared and expect that I'll always retaliate whenever you throw foolishness at me."

Instead of getting mad at Ayen's hurtful parlance, she instead held onto her shoulders and tried to calm her. Surprisingly, Ayen didn't resist.

Nonetheless, her headache somehow got ratcheted down. "Chill, okay? I didn't even do you any harm."

"Oh, really? So, why did you have to come back here right after our battle? You are actually bothersome, you know that?"

She scoffed, touching her left chest while feigning a hurt expression. "Ouch! That hurts. I'm just being friendly. Is something wrong with that?"

Slowly, she noticed that Ayen's facial expression softened. Perhaps she just realized that she was being completely rude.

"So what are you really doing here?" All of a sudden, her voice dropped a note.

She didn't hear her sing a song last night, but when she spoke softly that way, she found her husky voice so sexy. Did she sing like that as well? She must find out, soon.

"As I've said, I just want to befriend you. You're so hospitable that I want to escalate it right away to being best friends." She answered, sarcastically.

"If you're not going to talk to me properly, it's going to be bad," Ayen warned while shooting daggers at her.

She raised both of her hands to surrender. "Okay, okay. You have to chill, as well. You look like you're always in a fight."

"Let me remind you that we are actually enemies. Don't wish for a friendly conversation."

She c****d her head to one side. "Wait a minute. The battle was already over. Could you move on?"

Ayen stared at her for a moment, as if assimilating what she said. Until she spoke again, "My father once told me that no one from the La Rivas' put any interest in this land, hence the farmers confidently built their houses. Nobody even visited here for almost a decade, but now an heiress suddenly shows up, claiming the property. Had I not been brave to fight over our rights, we would've definitely been sleeping somewhere else. And now you're saying you want to befriend me? It's just confusing, but I might consider your reason only if we didn't meet for a competition."

"Wow. Such a judgmental person." She puffed her cheeks out in disbelief. "Can't we be friends?"

Ayen looked at her as if something was wrong with what she said. She thought she had to rephrase her question. "I mean, not just you. All of you here, of course. I want to make amends with everyone as I am going to look after the farm. If what bothers you are the days that nobody seemed to be interested in managing this land, it's because I was still young at that time. This property was named after me when I was seven. I had no idea about how to handle a business properly."

"You have fortunes. Having someone to assist you is not impossible."

"I don't trust people."

"That explains why I did come here at night, get boozed up, and sleep in a stranger's bed."

It was amusing to have such a witty conversation with Ayen. But the after-effects of having excess alcohol in her system were restraining her to enjoy the moment.

"Well, my father told me before that farmers are trustworthy. I guess, he's right. I got intoxicated, yet I still get to wake up in a nice room, well, despite the hard bamboo bed. But still..." She chuckled, but the moment she noticed that Ayen was seriously looking at her, her lopsided smile shrunk.

Ayen did not respond. If anything, she would have wanted her to keep talking— even if she was fond of threatening— rather than watch her as quiet as a mouse at the moment.

"Hey!" she snapped her fingers. "I know you're being mesmerized by my physical appearance. But don't be too obvious."

And as quickly as the wind blew, Ayen responded, "You wish!"

Ayen earned a shrilled laugh from her. Miraculously, she was fine. All it took for her headache to go away was to tease Ayen.

Ayen turned back and was about to open the door when she stopped her. "Wait!

The girl turned to her again with such impatience etched on her beautiful face. "What?"

"We're friends, right?" She wanted to confirm. She sauntered toward her, extending her hand.

Ayen's eyes flickered from her hand to her face. When their eyes met, she did not see any emotion in her gorgeous brown eyes, but it made her stare for a moment. She wanted to read her through her eyes but Ayen was playing mysterious, she knew how to deftly hide her real emotions.

The girl took a deep breath and looked in the other direction. She was about to lose hope when Ayen finally shook hands with her.

"I guess, I'll take my chances." Ayen added, which made her laugh.

SHE was greeted by the loud clatter of the kitchen utensils the moment she went outside the room. When she looked into the kitchen, the entire family was already gathered there. They seemed to be having their lunch. When she met the eyes of the woman whom she knew was Ayen's mother, she smiled shyly. The woman waved at her, gesturing for her to come over. She greeted everyone as soon as she got close to them. It wasn't hard to notice that Ayen had a big family, which she found admirable.

They actually thought that she was still fast asleep, hence they did not bother to wake her up. It kinda made her wonder because, as far as she could remember, Ayen unceremonially disturbed her early in the morning.

She looked at her, but Ayen averted her eyes, quickly. She discreetly shook her head in disbelief.

She believed she had met everybody last night. Ayen's grandfather was the one who invited her to join the group and he was also the one who asked so many questions. Nothing complicated, so it was all cool. A guy, whom she thought was Ayen's second brother, drew a chair out for her. She was going to sit beside Ayen and felt rather bizarre about it.

The girl was enjoying her meal when a mischievous thought quickly came into her mind. As she was about to take her seat, she purposely dodged Ayen's arm, which resulted in some content falling off of her spoon. She earned a glare from her, as expected.

"Sorry." She apologized with a hint of sarcasm.

Ayen shook her head. She might not have said something but she knew a scheme was already going around her mind.

"You're in the mood, Ayen. Why don't you mind your visitor first, then your meal?" Ayen's mother blurted.

"She's not my visitor, 'ma." Ayen answered as soon as she swallowed her food. "Besides, doesn't she have hands on her own?" She seethed, glaring at her once again.

How glad she felt knowing that she found herself an ally outside of Ayen's own mother. As much as she wanted to laugh about it, she had to fight the urge not to. They were in front of the dining room, thus exhibiting table manners was necessary.

"I'm fine, ma'am." She smiled instead and started placing vegetables on her plate. The food looked so delicious, a good thing that she wasn't famished, or she could not stop herself from wolfing.

"My! This child." The woman giggled while waving her hand out. "Just call me Auntie Irina. I'm not used to being called a ma'am. Besides, you're our senorita."

"Alright, A-Auntie Irina." She agreed, a bit reluctant. "But please, don't think of me as superior. We are all the same ordinary people here." She added, eyeing Ayen while emphasizing her last words.

"Okay. And what we have to do now is to eat. I cooked a lot just for you, Heathe." The woman dismissed.

She mouthed a thank you, even if it made her realize that they knew how much of a glutton she could be because they prepared a lot of meals. Embarrassing.

"Are you on a diet?" Ayen nudged her after a while.

"Is that a pick-up line?" She counter-asked.

Ayen gave off a bitter laugh. "You are indeed funny." She satirized. "Anyway, don't be shy. Just eat a lot. I know that you are nothing but voracious."

Her eyes broadened. "W-what the—"

Ayen was, for sure, the meanest person she had ever met. In spite of the fact that they had just met each other, Ayen was already comfortable picking on her, as much as saying rude things to catch up with her foolishness. It was just unbelievable because most people were afraid to make fun of her, but Ayen was different.

Ayen snapped her fingers and pointed to her, afterward. "Gotcha! I know you are a glutton. So here.." Ayen stood up halfway just to get the bowl, which contained a variety of cooked vegetables in it.

She was right in thinking that Ayen would put a large serving of meal on her plate. As much as she wanted to refuse, she couldn't, especially when she noticed that her entire family was focused on them. Her lips stretched into a forced smile.

Once Ayen was back in her seat, she uttered, "She's starving. She was just too shy to show it."

They both turned to each other. "Get ready for my revenge." She said between her gritted teeth, on which she only earned a grin from Ayen.

The lunch at the Santiago's was not as quiet as what she was accustomed to. It was not as if the family lacked table manners. They were honestly humble and well-bred. Perhaps they were just used to serving happiness on the table.

However, what her mother taught them was different. They grew up in a strict environment, always executing calculated movements. But she never learned. She was always clumsy, reckless, and an overindulged brat, especially whenever her mother was not around. Her twin sister was also tactless, but she had always been way worse.

Nevertheless, she enjoyed the Santiagos' company. It was honestly satisfying to eat while talking about things that would make everyone laugh. Actually, she and her twin sister sometimes do it, but only if their mother is not around.

If she could only stay at the farm, she was more than willing to do so. She had never experienced fun that way, ever.

After having lunch, Ayen left almost immediately. Feeling uncomfortable being with the other members of the family, she followed the girl. Ayen might not have noticed that she was walking behind her with a broad smile on her lips while listening to her as she hummed a familiar tune.

Just the way you are, huh? She muttered internally while recalling that it was the exact song she requested for her to play on the guitar last night.

At that time when she was not yet at the peak of being besotted, she remembered the way Ayen stared at her with such fascination while she sang out the lyrics. She was aware that she did not possess a euphonious voice, but at least she could still sing in tune. And last night it seemed like she was serenading Ayen, especially whenever she emphasized some lyrics in relevance to what she really felt about them. Thereupon, she gained scrutinizing gazes from the people around them.

What happened last night might've had something to do with why Ayen was so pissed off at her this morning.

Her thoughts were interrupted when something hit her face, particularly, one side of her eyes. Unfortunately, her left eye was hurt by its edge. "Ahh!" She squeaked, rubbing her left eye in the process. She felt discomfort and her eyes started to tear up as she stooped down.

"W-what happened to you?" A horrified voice distracted her for a moment.

But she couldn't utter a response because she was in pain. She suddenly felt a hand clutching her chin and carefully pulling her face up. Both of her eyes were teary and blurry in the same way that she couldn't make out Ayen's face.

"Oh no!" Ayen's shriek seemed an indication that something was not good.

She then felt her soft hand touch the hand that covered her left eye. Strangely enough, she felt a thousand bolts take a rapid course around her system, gradually reducing the pricking in her eyes.

"Did something get into your eye?"

She couldn't respond earlier after sustaining irritation, and upon realizing what Ayen was doing at the moment, she ultimately lost her voice. Their faces were only an inch away from each other. Ayen was blowing carefully on her eye, as though trying to remove something, but to no avail. Nevertheless, her actions somehow deviate her away from the pain.

Despite the distressing thoughts that she might get blind because of this incident, she uncannily found Ayen as her miracle. The way her soft fingers cautiously wiped her eyes were magically turning pain into relief.

Oh my God! What are you doing to me, Ayen?

"You should have worn shades. A lot of things roll around here on the farm. Some might inevitably go in your eyes or hit you. Like this." Ayen explained using her soft tone. "You should see a doctor and have your eye checked."

Knowing that Ayen couldn't be grumpy at her all the time made her think that bumping into mishaps was fine as long as Ayen would treat her gently.

How odd was it for her to think that way?

Ayen released a deep breath impatiently before taking her hand and said, "Let's go back to our house before something else happens to you."

For the second time that day, their hands intertwined once again. For a girl like Ayen who grew up on the farm doing many things, she didn't expect that her hand was unbelievably soft. She could hold her hand the entire day and surely would never get enough of it.

It was funny though, that she felt herself blushing under the harsh sun's rays. She was gushing over the realization that Ayen was holding her hand while they were walking. Did this girl have any idea that she was actually drawing off her strength and she was going to collapse at any moment?

But before another embarrassment would occur, she slowly tightened the grip for her own benefit. Ayen did not resist. It was like a whimsical moment that she wouldn't wanna let go of.

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