Heiress (Hanazono Series #2)

Heiress 23: Recharged

Irene’s POV

Pagkauwi namin mula sa school. Lahat kami lutang ang may energy lang ata ay sina Lavalee at Jace. Pagkapasok namin ng mansion ay nagkanyahan kami ng upo sa living room. Wala pa sina Lavalee at Jace dahil sila ang nahuling umalis ng school, may inayos pa at si Lavalee.

“Ohayo, Mnemosyne.” Napatingin kami sa kararating lang.

Nung una ang akala namin si Lavalee dahil Japanese yun pero nang magregister na sa utak namin ay si Jace pala yung nagsabi

“Ayiee you’re learning na ah.” Pang-aasar ni Lavalee kay Jace

“You always say it.” Sabi ni Jace at binuhat si Mnemosyne

“Irene.” Tawag ni Jess sakin kaya napatingin ako sa kanya.

I think I know what’s going on through this girl’s mind. She’s motioned Lavalee and Jace who sat beside each other. They’re the only lively ones among us. We’re all drained from the two exams. Those are no where near to the exams tomorrow but those exams drained us too much.

*DINGDONG *DINGDONG

“Young ladies, unexpected visitors arrived.” Sabi nung butler at kasunod nun ang mga lalaking di namin inaasahang makita.

“Kent? JC?”

“Xander?”

“Warren?”

“Charlie?”

Halos sabay-sabay na sabi namin at tumayo para lumapit sa mga lalaking kararating lang. Niyakap namin sila. I think they recharged us.

“My gosh! You’ve grown up fast.” Sabi ni Jess at ginulo ang mga buhok nila

“Ate Jess!” sabay sabay na reklamo nung tatlo dahil yakap ni Lav sina Kent at Jasper

“Wrong timing, Lavalee?” Tanong ni Kent kay Lav

“Nope. Come join us.” Sabi ni Lavalee at nagkanyahan na ng upo ang lima sa sahig kaharap namin

“I never imagined your house to be this big, Flame.” Sabi ni Kent

“Underestimating me, Jarvis?” nakakalokong tanong ni Lav habang katabi si Jace

“More like overestimating you, ate Flame.” Sabi ni Jasper

“Why are you boys here anyway?” tanong ko sa kanila

“Sinasamahan si JC.” Sabay-sabay na turo nila kay Jasper

“Wait. You’re not here to ask your crush’s hand from her family right?” Lavalee asked teasingly

“No way! She’s just a friend.” Jasper said but his cheeks are flushed

“Who are they?” Charlie asked and pointed the guys

“Ask them.” I replied

“Hello, Kuya! Ano pong pangalan niyo?” Warren asked

“Uh ako si Lt. Caspian Sandoval.” Caspian said

“Ako si Alpha Elijah James Luar, eto naman si Delta Ethan Gonzales.” Elijah said

“Siya si Police Detective Jace Scott.” Ethan said and pointed Jace

“You’re police officers?” Xander asked while examining each of them

“Uh oo.” Sabi naman ni Caspian

“Ryu!” sabi ni Jasper at nilapitan si Mnemosyne

“No, it’s Mnemosyne, JC.” Pagtatama ni Lavalee

“Ohayo, Mnemosyne.” Sabi ni Jasper at tinapik ang ulo ni Mnemosyne

“Here.” Sabi ni Jace at ibinaba si Mnemosyne

Biglang binuhat ni Jasper si Mnemosyne kaya nagulat kami nung nagwala si Mnemosyne. Akala ko ba sabi ni Lavalee mas kalmado kay Ryu si Mnemosyne? Mukhang ayaw ata mahiwalay kay Jace.

“Wag mong kuhanin Jasper. Mas gusto ata yung boyfriend ni ate Lav.”sabi ni Charlie

“Shiru. Jace is not my boyfriend, Charlie.” Sabi ni Lav at tinapik ang ulo ni Mnemosyne para pakalmahin

“Aww you don’t miss me, Mne?” tanong ni Jasper at binuhat si Mnemosyne papunta kay Kent.

“Why are you guys here anyway?” tanong ni Jess

“Sasamahan namin si JC.” Sabi ni Warren

“Wait a minute, JC. What was her name again? Your so called bestfriend but your crushing on?” sabi ni Lavalee na may tono ng pang-aasar

“Di ko nga crush si Ley.” Giit naman ni Jasper

“Who’s the girl, Jasper?” tanong ko dahil parang familiar yung nickname.

I mean there are many people who have the nickname that sounds as ‘li’ but still.

“Riley? Di niyo naman kilala yun eh.” Sabi niya kaya nanlaki ang mata ko at napatingin sina Lavalee, Jess at Chelsea sakin at natawa

Biglang tumalim ang mata ko kay Jasper. I don’t know maybe older sister instincts? I feel protective of Riley because she’s the main reason I joined the dak side, I took the throne in her place and left the other one for Thunder, just to save her.

“You mean Riley Zephanea?” I clarified with my serious tone

“Yes, ate Irene. Why – OH s**t!” Kent’s cuss cut what Jasper was supposed to say

“KENT!” sabay na saway nina Chelsea at Lavalee

“Chill, Irene. Jasper said na bestfriend niya lang si Riley. Chill.” Sabi ni Jess

“Ate Irene, Riley’s your sister.” sabi ni Kent

It’s not a question but a statement. Damn. Jarvis Kent AYAZAKI Fuentabella caught up quickly on the current situation.

“Yes, so I’m warning you Jasper Crimson, wag mong sasaktan si Riley.” I warned him

“Believe me, Irene. Oras na saktan ni JC si Riley, I knew that Astrid and Zia are already there to back her up. They’re friends, right Jarvis? Charlie?” Sabi ni Lavalee

“Yeah. Astrid’s spending more time with Riley, ever since Riley came here.” Sabi naman ni Charlie

“Let’s review already.” Sabi ni Jess

“Review? Are you sick, ate Jess?” pagbibiro ni Warren

Ang bilis nilang mag shift ng moods. Parang kanina lang tensyonado sila dahil sa pagka istrikto ko ngayon naman nakikipagbiruan na sila.

“We have exams tomorrow, boys.” Sabi naman ni Chelsea

“I’ll help review.” Sabi ni Xander

“I’ll help prepare food.” Sabi naman nina Jasper at Kent

“Okay pero first thing’s first, nagpaalam kayo?” Sa tanong na yun ni Chelsea natigilan yung mga lalaki

“I did.” Sabi ni Xander

“Dapat ipinagpaalam mo rin kami.” Sabi naman ni Warren

“If not, uwi.” Sabi naman ni Lavalee kaya bumagsak ang balikat nung apat.

We dialled their guardian’s and in a snap nandito na ang sundo nung apat.

“Madaya ka, Alexander.” Sabi ni Warren pagdating ng parents nila.

“Hi, tita, Tito.” Sabi namin at tumahyo para yumakap

“Uncle.” Sabi naman ni Lavalee at yumakap kay Tito Lawrence

“Tita Dana.” Bati namin sa Mama nina Warren

“Tita Chelsea.” Bati namin sa mama nina Charlie

Yep, her name is just like Chelsea’s pero ang kaibahan Chelsea lang talaga ang pangalan ni Tita kaya Crystal ang tawag nila kay Chelsea.

“Tita Jane.” Bati naman namin sa Mama ni Xander

“Sorry if these little boys bothered you.” Naiiling na sabi ni tita Chelsea

“It’s alright, Tita. They energized us from the draining exam.” Sabi ni Chelsea

“Right, your midterm exams. How was it?” sabi naman ni Tito Lawrence

“Dreadful.” Sabay-sabay na sagot naming tatlo

“Even for you, Crystal?” tanong ni Tita Jane

“I lost a bet.” Sabi ni Lavalee kaya natawa sina Tito at Tita

“Really? To whom?” Tanong ni Tita Dana

“To him.” Tinuro niya si Jace kaya napatingin din sina Tito at Tita sa kanya

“Congratulations, young man. Somebody finally had beaten Lavalee on a betting game.” Sabi  ni Tito Lawrence

“It wasn’t anything serious, Sir.” Sagot naman ni Jace

“We should go ahead then. Magre-review pa kayo.” Tita Chelsea said

“See you again soon, Tito, Titas.” Sabi namin at yumakap kina tita at nagmano kay Tito

“By the way, Tito Lawrence, I suggest you meet up with Papa and Tita Rhea dahil may gusto si Jasper sa kapatid ko.” Sabi ko

“Ate Irene!” reklamo naman ni Jasper

“Don’t worry, Irene. I’ll make sure JC stays loyal. Ayazaki’s are loyal, aren’t they, Lav?” sabi ni Tito Lawrence at umalis na sila

“Ayazaki’s are loyal pala eh.” Pang-aasar namin kay Lav

“Of course, look at Nii-sama, he’s loyal to his works and duties. Wala nga siyang jowa. Oh wait I think he’ll have one soon.” Sabi niya kaya natawa kami

I can already imagine Frost’s irritation once Lavalee starts setting him up just to give him love life. Lavalee’s really tricky and she always have a trick or two under her sleeves.

Pagkabalik namin sa loob ng mansion ay humiwalay sina Chelsea at Lavalee sa amin. They told us to meet them inside the meeting room which made Jess and I confused but we still followed.

Nanlaki ang mata naming lahat, even Jace nang makita namin ang dalang libro ng butlers. There are atleast three books for each subject which means there are currently 21 books on the table arrange and grouped according to subject.

“So first thing’s first. We’ll start with Human Resource Management. HRM.” Sabi ni Lavalee at may ipinlay na presentation sa screen.

‘Human Resource Management (HRM) is the term used to describe formal systems devised for the management of people within an organization. The responsibilities of a human resource manager fall into three major areas: staffing, employee compensation and benefits, and defining/designing work.’

Yun ang nakaflash sa screen.                     

“Related terms are Employee Benefits; Employee Compensation; Employee Manual or for mnemonic notations, EBECEM or 3Es for BCM, whichever you prefer.” She said and flashed the next slide

“Essentially, the purpose of HRM is to maximize the productivity of an organization by optimizing the effectiveness of its employees. This mandate is unlikely to change in any fundamental way, despite the ever-increasing pace of change in the business world.” Lavalee said without looking at the screen

“As Edward L. Gubman observed in the Journal of Business Strategy, ‘the basic mission of human resources will always be to acquire, develop, and retain talent; align the workforce with the business; and be an excellent contributor to the business. Those three challenges will never change.’ Do you understand?” sabi naman ni Chelsea

“Until fairly recently, an organization’s human resources department was often consigned to lower rungs of the corporate hierarchy, despite the fact that its mandate is to replenish and nourish what is often cited-;legitimately-;as an organization’s greatest resource, it’s work force. But in recent years recognition of the importance of human resources management to a company’s overall health has grown dramatically. This recognition of the importance of HRM extends to small businesses, for while they do not generally have the same volume of human resources requirements as do larger organizations, they too face personnel management issues that can have a decisive impact on business health.” Sabi ni Lavalee

They alternately discussed the lessons to us and they tutored us, Chelsea’s assigned to tutor Ethan, Caspian and Jess, while Lavalee would tutor Jace, Elijah and I.

Nagpaakyat nalang ng pagkain sina Chelsea at Lavalee dito tapos pinakuha rin nila after 30 minutes.

The terms we were reading made my head hurt and I knew it did the same to the others so I relaly focused on listening.

“Economics is about making choices.” Sabi ni Chelsea

“Economics is not just about money. It is about weighing different choices or alternatives. Some of those important choices involve money, but most do not.” Sabi ni Lavalee.

Pinatay niya na yung screen nung nagsimula na silang magtutor ni Chelsea.

“In many cases, money is merely a helpful tool or just a veil, standing in for a partial way to evaluate some of the goals you really care about and how you make choices about those goals. You might also think economics is all about “economizing” or being efficient, not making foolish or wasteful choices about how you spend or budget your time and money. That is certainly part of what economics is about. However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.” Lavalee added

I can’t help but think that they have built in computers in their minds. Damn, I don’t know how come they can study it like it’s just memorizing colors.

“How about this, tonight while going to sleep, recall what we studied to day. We’re only going to exam the subjects of exam tomorrow then tomorrow after our exams we’ll review the ones on the next then on Saturdey we’ll rest our minds. That way we won’t over work the brain.” Lavalee said enthusiastically and jumped

“Are you crazy? Your mind is tired and you jumped?” Jess asked her unbelievably

“Of course not. I’m just keeping myself awake.” She said

I started at Lavalee and that’s when I relaized that there are dark circles under her eyes. She may have covered those with concealers but her sweat is removing it.

After that. She gave us water and chocolates. We continued reviewing the four subjects in our midterm exams tomorrow.