Pleasure in Retaliation

CHAPTER VII

“WHERE do you wish to go today, Ma’am Lynn?”

I turned to Celia—who was sitting on the bed, watching me intently, as I gobbled up the breakfast that she had brought me to my room. The maid was very kind in bringing me food, since I woke up so late that I wasn’t able to catch the actual time for the first meal of the day. It was also very deep in the night when Señorito Adrian and I had ended our conversation last night.

I remember the freezing breeze of the cold evening, as well as the story that I told the Señorito about my dark past—especially about the maltreatment that I have experienced from my parents and the fact that they hid the truth about my being an illigetimate child.

I could recall the serious expression on the Señorito’s face as I told him about my past, and I could recall that not even for a moment did he interfere with my continuous speech. Even until the last words had come out of my mouth, and I no longer have the strength to work out some more words his eyes remained focused on my direction—his deep blue eyes full of seriousness, concern and warmth as he took in every single word that I uttered.

When Señorito Adrian noticed that I was trembling, which was caused by the cold night and the fear that loomed with the revelations that I told the man, he stood quietly and silently held out his hand between the two of us. Without hesitation, I placed my palm on top of his waiting hand, got up from my seat, and let Señorito Adrian pull me into the mansion.

I remained silent as I waited for the Señorito’s reaction, along with the fear that I might break the calming silence, which mysteriously draped a blanket of comfort to my chest—the same feeling that I felt from Señorito Adrian's suit that wrapped my body with warmth.

Until we reached the door to my own room in the mansion, the man remained quiet. When he finally turned and face my direction, the desire on not to break the reticence in our surroundings reigned over me. I looked down for a brief moment and focused my attention on our intertwined hands as I felt the man's grip tighten on my hand, but I did not even feel the slightest bit of fear.

Instead, what I felt was the strange feeling of comfort that doubled when I saw the look in the man’s eyes­—sympathy and concern. There was not a single hint of distaste in it, which I always saw in the eyes of my family, and for the first time in almost forever… not seeing ominous and judgmental eyes looking back at me made me happy.

A few more minutes of silence has prevailed between the two of us as the both of us stood in the hallway, motionless, our breaths creating the faintest of the sounds, until Señorito Adrian brought our clasped hands up to his lips and planted a small kiss on the back of my palm—which sent dozens of butterflies in to my stomach—as his blue eyes lingered on me, as if he still wants to explore everything that’s been swirling inside my mind.

I looked away from him when I could no longer bear to meet the Señorito's gaze, and felt his grip loosened on my hand until he finally let go of it. There were a few seconds of pure silence in the air, before I heard Señorito Adrian speak, which brought my attention back to him—and not to the random objects that my eyes tried to focus on a while ago.

“You should go inside now, Miss Lynn,” he said as he reached for the door knob to open the door to my room. “You must rest, you’ve had a long day today.”

Since I could not find my own voice, I just nodded my head in response to the Señorito. He only gave me a faint smile before he stepped aside to give me space and to let me in to the room. But before I could finally enter the room, I heard the man cleared his throat. I turned to his direction with a question on my face as I wait for him to say something.

I stared at Señorito Adrian for a moment when I saw—even in the dim light coming from the tiny lamps around us—how the light hugged his undeniably handsome face, which brought hot blood to the both my cheeks. Fortunately, there was not much light hitting in my direction so the Señorito cannot see the strange reactions that my body was making.

A few moments had passed that I did not hear anything from Señorito Adrian—and I could not help myself but break the silence and tried to ask him a question. But he was already starting to say something before I could even open my mouth.

“Miss Lynn, I may have never experienced the pain and suffering that you were in,” he said in a grim expression, his voice thick with sympathy.

“But I hope that as you stay here in the hacienda, the heaviness in your heart will be washed away with time.”

I could see that he seemed to be arguing in his mind as to whether he wanted to cross the distance between the two of us or not, but eventually he remained in his stead, stuffing his hands inside his pockets before he bid his goodbye.

“Good night, Miss Lynn.”

Even after the Señorito finally left, and I was left staring at the empty space in front of me—I just stared at the space he occupied a while ago, as my mind recalled the words that the man had said.

Since I did not know how to react and the man had already left in front of me, I could do nothing but let Señorito Adrian's words rewind and rewind like a broken record in my brain.

Even until I was able to put on some comfortable sleeping clothes and let my body hit the soft mattress, it seems like my mind doesn’t want to let go of Señorito Adrian's words—which brought the faintest smile to my lips, before the exhaustion finally overpowered my senses.

“Ma’am Lynn?”

The maid’s call was what caused my mind to return back to the present, and my eyes met Celia's questioning face as she waited for my answer. I answered her with a smile and I returned the smile plastered on the gentle face of the housemate who was with me and swallowed the food inside my mouth before answering her.

“I don’t really know, Celia,” I said with a timid smile as I reached for the glass of water. “Is there anywhere in the house that we haven’t gone yet?”

Suddenly, Celia’s face beamed with delight when she heard my question, and sprang right from her seat on the side of my bed and landed both of her feet to the ground. “Why, yes, Ma’am Lynn! I’m sure you’ll love this place that I will show you right now!”

I could not stop the giggles to come out of my mouth as I witnessed the innocent mien of the maid in front of me. In the whole duration of my stay here in the mansion, I have never seen the woman frown or her eyebrows furrowing because of negativity, because she is always has this bright smile on her lips and her face is always full of joy.

Perhaps because of her young age, Celia had not yet experienced any things that could erase the smile on her face, and if that time would come… I hope that that this seventeen-year old girl will be ready to face the challenges in her life.

Not like the things that had happened to me before.

Feeling dazed by the excitement that Celia was emanating, I quickly finished my breakfast, and as I put the empty glass of water on the tray along with the empty plates, the maid immediately took the tray from my lap and politely told me to follow her towards the kitchen so we could go together to wherever she wants to take me.

I quietly followed Celia’s tracks as she told stories about Camiguin, the hacienda and the Gentallan family.

From the Celia’s chats, I found out that it was Señorito Adrian's younger sister who had one of the large portraits along with the Señor and the Señorito’s on the hallway that I saw from a few days ago.

I wanted to ask Celia why in the days of my stay in the Gentallan mansion did I not see the woman she called as Señorita Amita, but I just let the maid to go on about her stories.

The maid's story went to a halt as we arrived at the spacious kitchen of the mansion, and she laid the tray on the side of the sink. Celia looked towards me with a wide smile on her face and ushered me towards a hallway that I have never crossed before.

“I’m really certain that you will love the place, Ma’am Lynn,” Celia said, almost jumping with glee and excitement.

I just smiled back at the maid as I followed her to someplace. We crossed a long hallway, before turning right and passing a long hallway once more. As we approached the place Celia says that I should witness, I could see shades of green reflecting from the huge windows to our left.

With the amount of curiosity getting on my nerves, I unconsciously looked towards my left, and saw a bunch of majestic trees being hugged with vines and flowering ivy—and I could instantly guess that Celia could have brought me to the mansion’s back garden.

My lips would have started to curve up to a smile as the maid and I walked through an open doorway—and I heard the contained scream from Celia, as I caught sight of the scene in front of me and all I could do was stifle a loud gasp at the scenery.

Right from where my feet were planted to the ground, I could clearly see the glimmering waters filling up an enormous bean-shaped pool that reflects the blue sky above it. The pool was situated at where I could guess was the back part of the mansion, and the amount of the tall trees and plants that adorned the lands was almost a triple from what I saw from the front porch last night.

My mouth immediately formed to a big O as I scanned the beautiful scenery, up until the point where my eyes could reach. Truly, I’ve only been to the mansion and not to the whole hacienda yet, I could already feel the excitement forming inside of my chest as I tried to imagine how the rest of the Hacienda Gentallan would look like.  

“Wow,” I can’t help but say.

“See, Ma’am Lynn? I told you, you’ll like it!”

Even though I could hear the sharp voice of the maid on my side because of joy, I could not take my eyes off the view.

It was so beautiful, and not once in my life had I seen a swimming pool perched in front of a view full of lush trees and flowering plants. The scenery felt really pleasant, warm and welcoming, that it almost felt like a home.

“Here, Ma’am Lynn.” Celia calls my attention and I turned to her, where she was pointing at a sun chair a few meters from us, with a huge umbrella that blocks the sunlight from whoever who sits. “You may sit here while I get you some refreshments.”

The maid immediately left to go to the kitchen, and I let her do what she wanted to do and made myself feel comfortable as I took the view in once more.

There seems to be no time that I will not be amazed at the hidden beauty of the mansion of the people who sheltered me, and I know that this is not the end of all the fascinating sights that I know in my heart I want to discover.

It was a few minutes later that I heard footsteps approaching from behind me so I turned to meet Celia, but my eyes widened when it was not the maid who met my stare…

…but it was the man that I poured my resentment to last night.

“Good morning, Miss Lynn,” Señorito Adrian greeted me with a smile as he approached my side. “I see that Celia has already took you to the pool area. Did the view turn up to your liking, Miss?”

The feeling of embarrassment loomed over me as I remembered our encounter last night, and I felt even more embarrassed by my actions—in which I didn’t find anything in myself to stop my mouth from uttering the words that I have said that evening. I couldn’t seem to find the right words to say to him, but I mustered up all the courage in me to answer his greeting.

“G-good morning, Señorito,” I barely managed to say with my quivering voice.”A-and, yes. You have such a beautiful mansion, Señorito—”

“Please, Miss Lynn. Call me Adrian, or the nickname that I go by—which is Drain,” he cuts me off as he took the extra space on the sun chair beside me, our bodies just mere inches from each other. “I feel old, and you seem to sound like the maids when you call me that.”

Embarrassed, I nodded my head in the man’s direction in response. “Y-yes, A-Ad-Adrian.”

Even when Señorito Adrian—Adrian, as what he wanted me to call him—noticed the tremors in my voice, he did nothing but offered a smile at me and propped his hands behind him before scanning his eyes to the beautiful scenery in front of us, the smile in his face widening.

I know that everyday in this man’s life he could see this breathtaking view, for he’s one of the owners of this place, but I felt a bit puzzled when I saw him almost mimic the reaction that I sure have plastered on my face when I saw the mansion's backyard a few moments ago.

The scenic landscape seems to bring excitement to Adrian's feelings to see the result of his family's hard work, and he wants to appreciate it in his own little ways.

When the man beside me opted to not break the silence around us, my instincts told me to just relax and imitate Adrian’s relaxing position as I turned my head towards the view around us, inhaling the freshest of air coming from the world of plants facing us.

The silence went on for a few minutes, and we stayed on that hand-propped-on-the-back position, until I heard Adrian call my attention.

“Miss Lynn.”

Feeling bewildered, I turned to the person beside me when I heard the seriousness in the tone of his voice, and found that Adrian was no longer staring intently at the view around us, but his piercing blue gaze was already focused in my direction.

I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat for a few times before I answered his call. “Y-yes?”

“After all the things that you shared to me last night… which I’m very grateful, because you found something in yourself to trust me with that information,” he said with an uttermost sincerity that almost made his blue orbs glow. “It seems like I’m the only one in this pool area who remains a stranger to you.”

“W… What do you mean?” I couldn't help but ask when the feeling of confusion wash over me because of what Adrian had said.

Upon hearing my question, Adrian sat up from being almost crouched on the sun chair and went on to say something with a relaxed and inviting tone.

“You were so brave in opening your closet and letting those skeletons out,” he said as he stood up and extended a hand to grab mine. “So I would very much like to reciprocate the trust you’ve given me by sharing something about myself, too.”