Chapter 14
1382 Words
"Ayy, do you have a date later?"
Izzy almost jumped in shock when her friend suddenly peeked from behind her.
She immediately shot her a glare.
"Pating! What the heck? Since when did you become so nosy?"
"Hey! Correction, it's nosy girl… I'm a woman, okay? And FYI, it wasn’t intentional. I just saw you staring at your phone like you were about to poop, so I couldn't help but take a peek."
She said dramatically, even putting her hands on her waist.
"Eh… It's nothing, just ignore it. Pretend you didn't see anything."
Izzy replied, quickly shoving her old cellphone into her pocket.
"Nothing, huh? Someone asked you out, didn’t they? Who is it? Don’t tell me it’s Papa Carl, because there’s no way he would text you like that."
Pating pressed on, making Izzy let out a deep sigh before rolling her eyes.
"It's really nothing, and it’s not a date, okay? The person just wants to meet up, maybe they just have something to say."
"'Just have something to say,' but the message said—'Let’s meet, later tonight'… What’s that supposed to mean?"
Pating added, clearly not planning to drop the subject anytime soon.
"It’s nothing, okay? It’s not a date, so just stop bothering me, alright? I don’t even know if I’ll go or not."
She scratched the back of her head.
The truth was, Izzy knew she owed Seth Santiago a huge debt, but that didn’t mean she had to show up every time he called her.
Besides, she still didn’t know if she could give him the payment he wanted.
She let out another deep sigh at that thought.
Even if she couldn’t do what he wanted in return, she knew she also couldn’t give back the money she had taken from him.
"Hey, girl, what’s wrong? You look like you’re about to pee yourself now."
Pating snapped her out of her thoughts. Izzy forced a smile and shook her head.
"It’s nothing… I just keep thinking about how big this problem is. I only did it for my mom, but now it feels like I’ll be carrying this burden for the rest of my life."
She whispered, making Pating frown in confusion.
"What are you talking about, Isabel? What kind of problem are you trying to get out of? What did you do?"
"It’s not something I need to get out of, Pating… What I need right now is a decision."
She said in frustration, pulling her phone out of her pocket again.
"A decision about what?"
Pating asked again, her brows furrowed even deeper.
"A decision on whether I should still be talking to you right now or not."
Izzy shrugged, laughing when Pating rolled her eyes.
"Just leave it alone. You and Carl are both so persistent. But don’t worry, I can still handle it. I promise I’ll tell you when I can’t anymore."
"Fine, whatever. That’s probably for the best anyway. You’re stressing me out with all this talk, and I don’t even understand a thing… Let’s just drop it for now. But right now, you need to pick a nice outfit for your date later."
Pating teased with a giggle, making Izzy frown.
"Ugh, shut up already. Someone might hear you and think it’s true."
"But it is true, right?"
"It’s not a date, Pating… And just drop it, okay? I’m not even going, and even if I do, I don’t need to dress up."
She said with a scowl, making Pating roll her eyes.
"You’re going. Don’t waste this chance! Someone finally noticed your beauty, and you’re just going to ignore it?"
—
The day passed quickly, and before Izzy knew it, it was already past six in the evening. She had been too busy cleaning and tidying up their small hut.
"Izzy, sweetheart, that’s enough cleaning. Our bamboo walls are practically shining now. If you keep this up, our house might just turn into gold."
Her mother laughed, and Izzy chuckled along with her.
"Just let me be, Mom. I just want everything to be neat, clean, and fresh. It’ll help you recover faster too."
Izzy replied while taking the pot off the fire.
"Isabel!!!"
A few moments later, she heard Pating’s high-pitched voice. She quickly stepped outside to meet her, only to curse under her breath when she saw the clothes her friend was carrying.
"What are those?"
She asked in confusion.
"What else? Outfit choices."
"Yeah, I can see they’re clothes, but what for?"
She scratched her head, frowning when Pating rolled her eyes at her.
"For you to wear tonight. Don’t you have plans to go out? Hurry up and get ready, or you’ll be late."
Pating said impatiently, pulling Izzy inside their house and shoving her into the bathroom.
Izzy had been so preoccupied all day that she had completely forgotten about Seth Santiago’s message.
When she remembered, she quickly pulled out her cellphone from her pocket—only for her eyes to widen at the multiple messages and missed calls.
"s**t…"
She cursed under her breath as Seth’s angry and serious face played in her mind.
Ignore my message again, and I swear to God I will never think twice to take what already belonged to me, and I am telling you, you won’t like it…
His warning echoed in her mind. Before she could even process it, she nearly dropped her phone when it suddenly rang.
She bit her lower lip hard as a familiar number flashed on the small screen.
"S-Seth…"
She whispered, hesitating whether to answer or just let it ring.
But before she could decide, her own traitorous finger had already pressed the answer button.
"H-hello…"
She stammered.
"Do you have any idea how many times I’ve tried to contact you? And do you have any idea how pissed I am that I couldn’t reach you?"
Even though she couldn’t see his handsome face, Izzy knew he was already fuming in anger.
"I-it slipped my mind that you wanted to meet today. I-I’m sorry…"
"It slipped your mind. So that means you did read my message? Why didn’t you reply?"
If she wasn’t already nervous from his furious tone, Izzy might have yelled back at him.
Who even said she had to reply to every single message he sent?
"I-I didn’t have any phone credit… A-and my phone is broken, sometimes it doesn’t even ring…"
She cringed at her own excuse.
"Meet me at 8. My driver will come pick you up."
"B-but I—"
She didn’t even get to finish because the next thing she heard was the beep of the call ending.
Izzy let out a deep sigh. A few seconds later, her eyes widened as she remembered his last words.
My driver will pick you up…
"Wait… Does he know where I live?"
She wondered, stomping her foot in frustration before rushing into the bathroom to take a shower.
—
"Fine, fine! I’ll wear it! I’m already late, Pating. Just give me anything—this black one."
Izzy said in a panic, grabbing the first dress she saw.
"Not that one—"
"This one’s fine! I don’t even need to dress up. What’s wrong with jeans and a baggy T-shirt?"
She complained while putting on the dress. In her hurry, she didn’t even check herself in the mirror.
"Here, put on some lipstick."
Pating said, shoving a lipstick into Izzy’s lips.
Izzy never used makeup, and she didn’t think she needed it. But she knew arguing with Pating would take longer, so she just let her do whatever she wanted.
"Wow… You’re actually pretty when you look human."
Pating said in awe, making Izzy pout while glancing at her smiling mother.
"You look beautiful, sweetheart. You really take after me when I was younger."
Her mother giggled. Izzy quickly turned to the mirror, only for her eyes to widen when she saw that the black dress barely reached her mid-thigh.
Before she could complain, someone outside their hut suddenly shouted.
"Izzy! There's a man looking for you!"
"That’s Manong Robert… Pating, my dress is too short! I need to change."
"No way! It’s fine, and it’d be rude to keep him waiting. Now go, I’ll handle Mother Hilda."
Pating said, gently pushing her outside.
- Writer
