Chapter 5: The Unwelcome Familiarity
1570 Words
The flight to Tarlac the following morning felt longer than Gabriel expected.
Not because of distance.
But because his thoughts were unusually restless.
Beside him, Bianca slept beneath a silk eye mask, entirely unbothered by family drama and emotional complications she considered recreational entertainment.
Gabriel looked out the window.
Clouds stretched beneath the aircraft like pale oceans.
He disliked unnecessary distractions.
And Lola Santillan had already become one.
Which annoyed him.
He barely knew her.
A brief conversation.
An accidental encounter.
Nothing significant.
Yet something about her lingered.
Perhaps it was her indifference.
Or the unsettling composure in her eyes.
Most people approached him with some form of agenda.
Business.
Admiration.
Expectation.
Lola had approached him with none.
And somehow—
that made him think about her more.
Ridiculous.
He rubbed his jaw.
Bianca stirred.
“You’re brooding.”
“I’m thinking.”
“Dangerous hobby.”
He looked at her.
“You enjoy this too much.”
“Obviously.”
She removed the eye mask.
“So.” She stretched lazily. “Tell me honestly.”
“About what?”
“The girl.”
Gabriel frowned.
“There is no girl.”
“Lola.”
His expression remained flat.
“We met.”
“And?”
“And nothing.”
Bianca stared.
“You noticed her.”
“That means nothing.”
“You stared at her.”
“I observed.”
“You followed her into a hallway.”
“That was coincidence.”
Bianca laughed.
“You are exhausting.”
He ignored the comment.
She tilted her head.
“She’s beautiful.”
He said nothing.
“A dangerous kind of beautiful,” Bianca continued. “Not soft. Not trying too hard. The kind that unsettles confident men.”
“I’m not unsettled.”
“No?”
“No.”
She smiled knowingly.
“You should lie more convincingly.”
Gabriel looked away.
Fortunately, the pilot announced descent before Bianca could continue tormenting him.
Meanwhile, Lola and Bella drove toward the Monteverde estate beneath a sky washed clean by morning rain.
The province looked peaceful.
Rice fields shimmered beneath sunlight while mountains stretched quietly in the distance.
Bella drove with one hand on the wheel and excessive enthusiasm.
“You realize this weekend will be chaos.”
“Most weekends are.”
“This one has imported chaos.”
Lola smiled faintly.
“You mean Gabriel.”
“I mean Gabriel.”
Bella glanced sideways.
“So?”
“So what?”
“What did you think?”
Lola looked outside.
Trees blurred past.
“He seems intelligent.”
“That sounds suspiciously generous.”
“He saved me from becoming expensive wine.”
“And?”
Lola adjusted her bracelet.
“And nothing.”
Bella sighed dramatically.
“You are hopeless.”
No.
Lola thought.
Not hopeless.
Only careful.
The problem was not Gabriel.
The problem was familiarity.
Something about him disturbed old instincts.
Not recognition—
she was certain they had never met—
but a strange feeling she could not name.
Perhaps it was merely his presence.
Some people entered rooms like weather systems.
Gabriel Monteverde seemed one of them.
And Lola disliked being unsettled.
Especially by strangers.
Bella grinned.
“You know he watched you leave.”
Lola remained calm.
“People watch many things.”
“You are impossible.”
“I’m practical.”
Bella snorted.
“You keep saying that like it explains emotional avoidance.”
Lola laughed softly.
If only Bella knew.
Avoidance had nothing to do with fear.
It had everything to do with memory.
At eighteen, remembering her previous lives had nearly shattered her.
The flood of recollections came without warning.
Faces.
Languages.
Deaths.
Love stories that no longer belonged to this world.
One memory returned unexpectedly now.
A ballroom.
Candles.
A man smiling before asking for a dance.
His face remained blurred by time.
Only the feeling survived.
Warmth.
Danger.
The beginning of something impossible.
Lola closed the memory gently.
Past lives were ghosts.
This life was real.
And reality required peace.
No complications.
No emotional storms.
Certainly not handsome heirs with curious eyes.
The Monteverde estate welcomed Gabriel with old-world grandeur.
The ancestral house stood beneath towering acacia trees, dignified and timeless.
Staff hurried across the grounds preparing for Don Alejandro’s birthday celebration.
As Gabriel stepped from the vehicle, familiar scents greeted him.
Rain-soaked earth.
Wood polish.
Fresh sampaguita.
Home.
A complicated word.
Doña Celestina emerged from the veranda before he reached the stairs.
“My son.”
Gabriel smiled despite himself.
His mother embraced him warmly.
“You made it.”
“You sound surprised.”
“You enjoy resistance.”
“And you enjoy manipulation.”
She ignored that.
Then her gaze shifted.
“Bianca.”
Bianca stepped forward gracefully.
“Doña Celestina.”
Celestina smiled politely.
Beautiful.
Elegant.
Impressive.
And immediately—
the older woman knew.
This was not love.
Years of social experience sharpened instinct.
Bianca carried confidence, yes.
But not attachment.
Interesting.
Still, Celestina remained gracious.
“We’re happy you came.”
“Thank you for having me.”
Alejandro appeared moments later.
Father and son exchanged firm handshakes.
“You look tired,” Alejandro said.
“You look dramatic.”
“That is old age.”
Gabriel smirked.
Then—
movement near the gardens caught his attention.
A familiar figure approached the veranda.
Black trousers.
White blouse.
Hair touched by afternoon wind.
Lola.
For one irrational second, his pulse paused.
She had just returned from inspecting one of the estate warehouses and carried a folder against her chest.
Her steps slowed slightly upon seeing them.
Then composure settled across her features.
Doña Celestina brightened.
“Ah, there you are.”
Lola climbed the stairs.
“Good afternoon.”
She greeted Alejandro first.
Then Celestina.
Only afterward did her gaze move toward Gabriel.
No surprise.
No awkwardness.
Just calm recognition.
“Mr. Monteverde.”
The formality irritated him more than it should.
“Lola.”
Bianca smiled.
“We meet again.”
“Yes,” Lola said politely.
Bella, who had followed behind carrying iced coffee, looked delighted.
“This house suddenly became entertaining.”
Celestina glanced between them.
“You’ve already met?”
“At dinner,” Bianca explained.
Gabriel noticed his mother’s subtle satisfaction.
Dangerous woman.
Lola remained entirely unaffected.
“How was your trip?” she asked.
“Uneventful,” Gabriel answered.
“That sounds disappointing.”
He studied her.
“You prefer complications?”
“Not particularly.”
A faint breeze stirred the veranda.
Something strange settled beneath the conversation.
Not hostility.
But awareness.
Like two people quietly measuring unfamiliar terrain.
Alejandro broke the silence.
“Lola saved us from a disastrous land acquisition yesterday.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“She handles acquisitions?”
“And negotiations,” Alejandro said proudly.
“She exaggerates my usefulness,” Lola replied.
“You make executives cry,” Alejandro corrected.
Bella laughed.
“It’s true.”
Gabriel found himself unexpectedly intrigued again.
His mother had described competence.
But hearing it from others felt different.
Lola noticed his expression.
“You seem surprised.”
“I didn’t realize you worked this closely with family business.”
“I work,” she said simply.
The answer amused him.
No self-promotion.
No performance.
Just fact.
Bianca watched the exchange carefully.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Because Gabriel looked engaged.
Not romantically—
not yet—
but mentally.
And men like Gabriel rarely pursued anything that failed to interest their minds first.
Celestina clapped her hands gently.
“Enough business. Tonight we’re having dinner together.”
Lola’s eyes flickered.
Ah.
Family dinner.
Potential battlefield.
“I still need to review inventory reports,” she said.
“You can review tomorrow,” Celestina replied smoothly.
Lola knew that tone.
Negotiation disguised as affection.
And unfortunately—
resisting Celestina Monteverde required strategy.
She smiled politely.
“As you wish.”
Gabriel watched her.
No irritation.
No dramatics.
Just graceful surrender.
Yet somehow—
he sensed she disliked being cornered.
The realization felt oddly familiar.
Perhaps because—
he disliked it too.
That evening, the estate glowed beneath lantern light.
Dinner was held on the veranda overlooking gardens silvered by moonlight.
The atmosphere felt warm.
Civil.
Too civil.
Gabriel sat beside Bianca.
Across from him—
Lola.
An unfortunate seating arrangement.
Conversation flowed around business, travel, and Alejandro’s birthday preparations.
Then Celestina asked the dangerous question.
“So, Bianca,” she said pleasantly, “how long have you and Gabriel been together?”
Gabriel nearly reached for wine.
Bianca smiled beautifully.
And answered—
“Long enough to know he’s difficult.”
Laughter followed.
Gabriel glanced at her.
Traitor.
Alejandro chuckled.
“That sounds accurate.”
“And patient,” Bianca added.
Gabriel endured the amusement.
Then—
almost involuntarily—
his gaze shifted across the table.
Lola was smiling.
Not mockingly.
Not cruelly.
Simply amused.
And strangely—
he wanted to know what that smile looked like when directed entirely at him.
The thought arrived suddenly.
Uninvited.
Dangerous.
Lola sensed his gaze and looked up.
Their eyes met again.
Only briefly.
But this time—
she did not immediately look away.
Something quiet passed between them.
Not attraction.
Not understanding.
Only awareness.
And for reasons neither could explain—
the evening no longer felt simple.
Because somewhere beneath polite conversation and lantern light—
an invisible battle had already begun.
And neither Gabriel nor Lola intended to lose.
- Writer
