Chapter 46

Third-Person POV "W-why you seem so concerned about that?" Felicity awkwardly chuckled and continued, "Quintin is a human too, you know. Who knows, maybe there was a problem in the office or some client called him and they were having some misunderstanding." His reasons didn't satisfy Elyana's curiosity. It was evident on her face, and because Felicity knew the real reason and was afraid Elyana would find out, he immediately thought of other excuses he could use to convince her. "You know very well, girl, how stressful it is to manage a real estate company. You were in the same fields before. He was off to work and being the boss—he wouldn't take a peaceful day off like normal employees." Elyana frowned, trying to remember if Quintin mentioned he took a day off for them when they were with him at the mall, and it seemed he didn't. "I'm not sure if he took off today. Did he? Did he tell you?" "I-I think he did," Felicity stammered. He took a little pause, pretending to be thinking to make it look real. "O-oh…I he did. Quintin told me yesterday!" "I see. You have a point. Their business is stressful. I encountered clients that were hard to comprehend, but mostly people are so demanding." Elyana finally agreed, and the matchmaker felt relieved at this moment. "Honestly, it crossed my mind that it was you who he was arguing with a while ago," she told him. Felicity raised his eyebrows and let out a hiss. "You know, if he tries to fight with me, I will delay his love life. That man has no other way but to be nice to me all the time." The two couldn't help but laugh about Felicity's statement. It was true because he had all his ways. "Miss Elyana, where will we put these boxes of decorations?" Their conversation was interrupted when the driver carrying a large box asked her this. "I think that box is the foot of the Christmas tree. Please bring that to the living room along with the other parts," she answered, and the driver obeyed. She turned back to Felicity after answering. "Excuse us, I will help them unload," she uttered. "I want to help too!" Felicity replied, and they both walked behind the van to get things that were not heavy for them to carry. Everyone free at that time went out to help. They went back and forth to the van, following Elyana's instructions on where to place each box depending on its contents. After emptying the van, Elyana and Felicity stayed in the living room while the others went back to their designated work. Felicity was itching to ask something of his best friend, but he couldn't find a perfect moment yet. The servants had already called them to have lunch. Felicity's mind remained on his question, but because there were people around them, he could spill it to her. He went back to his office and decided to ask about it when he came back home, spending his afternoon working nonstop until his secretary told him that she was going home already. He stayed for a couple more minutes in his office before heading back to the mansion. He found Elyana in the living room working on the giant white Christmas tree she bought, putting the golden poinsettias on a ladder. "Why you're doing that all alone? You can ask the servants to decorate," he uttered while walking closely at her. "It's fine. I want to do it myself to distract my mind, and I honestly enjoy doing this," she answered after giving him a quick look. After putting the last golden poinsettia in the branches, she went down the ladder to get more. Felicity saw that as an opportunity to finally ask her. "Umm…bessy," he started. "Yes?" she asked while looking for the other poinsettias she bought in a box. "You no longer have contact with Lu—I mean, your ex-hubby?" He almost said the name, but he suddenly changed his mind because uttering it was like saying a bad word. Elyana stopped what she was doing and raised her head to look straight into Felicity's eyes. She wasn't expecting him to ask that, but she realized there wasn't anything wrong if she answered that question. "Not anymore, since I came here to the Philippines," she answered. "Why did you suddenly ask?" she added after a few seconds of pause. "N-nothing, I just asked," he replied, but Elyana's face showed that she didn't believe it was just that. "I know you, Bakla," she insisted. Felicity looked away. He picked up a pack of golden poinsettia Elyana was looking for in a different box, and he handed it to her. "Thank you," she muttered, took it, and eventually reminded him, "You haven't answered my question yet." Felicity picked up a large Christmas ball inside the box and pretended to be examining it. A pillow hit him on the face unexpectedly, and because there wasn't anyone else in the living room but the two of them, he already knew who did it. When he gave Elyana a stare, he saw her holding another pillow. "I'm not afraid of that pillow, girl," he said while raising his eyebrow. Elyana thought of that as a challenge. The second pillow flew on Felicity's face, making him gasp. He felt twice the force on that one, and he couldn't help but react to it. "That hurts!" he exclaimed. "You asked for it. I thought you weren't scared. I will throw another if you don't answer my question," she warned him. "Why did you suddenly ask?" she repeated. "Well, I was just thinking... what if he suddenly shows up to ask you to give him another chance—-to fix the marriage he broke?" Elyana thought deeply. She tried weighing all the pain he gave her by going back to the day she discovered him cheating. She admitted that there was still pain inside his heart, but it made some difference. The pain wasn't much more hurtful than before, and she seemed to care less about him by then. "Seriously, I don't think he would. Knowing him—his ego is more precious than anything. Another thing, I think he and his woman are happy now. Just by this, he doesn't have reason to bother me," she responded. "But what if he does? Will you give him a chance?" Elyana let out a deep sigh. She stared straight into Felicity's eyes, and she saw how eager he was to know her answer. "Frankly, I don't know," she answered, and he suddenly looked away from her best friend. Felicity was disappointed with the answer he got. He was expecting a straight "no" but what was given to him was full of doubt. He knew that was like a maybe, in between a yes and a no; however, based on how Elyana reacted, he interpreted it to be closer to a yes. He wanted to protect his friend from getting hurt again. He didn't want to see her crying because of that same person, but he knew that he wasn't always there to protect her. Especially since he knew what Lucas was planning to do and wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly appeared before their eyes. Felicity was bothered the whole night. He stayed inside the room he occupied in the mansion, just staring blankly at the ceiling while lying on the bed. He was supposed to work after taking home some of the files from his office. The next morning, he woke up early from a short sleep. He prepared to go to the office early that day and buy breakfast from a drive-thru, but he changed his plan after he unconsciously took a different route and found himself parking in front of his mother's house. Eugene's motherly instincts told her something was bothering his son the first she saw him. "Do you have a problem, son?" she asked when he suddenly hugged her. He kept silent as he tightened the hug. "It looks like yes, Mom! Look at his face—I could read one particular word written. Stress, stress, and stress!" Lea interjected, who happened to be in the kitchen where Felicity found his mother. He loosened the hug and glanced at his older sister. "Stress, but compared to you, I am still looking fresh. Look at you—" "Go ahead, say it!" Lea's threat caused Felicity to close her mouth because she was holding a feeding bottle and aiming in his direction. "Mom!" He hid behind his mother like a child. Lea put down her raised arm. She knew she was looking haggard because she hadn't combed her hair or washed her face. She only woke up and went down to get water for her youngest's feeding bottle when Felicity arrived. "Chee!" Lea exclaimed before leaving the two. "Is there a problem?" Lea was already gone when Eugene asked this. She pulled her into the garden, where no one could hear whatever they were talking about. Felicity hugged his mother again and rested his head on her shoulder for a few minutes. Eugene caressed Felicity's long, silky hair like a child like he was a small child longing for his mother's love. The matchmaker felt more worn out at that moment, and all he wanted was to stay in her mother's warm embrace. His hug became tighter, and later on, the tears in his eyes started falling, something he didn't realize was going to happen. He wiped those tears before his mother noticed. He composed himself and loosened the hug when he was feeling alright. "I have to go, mother dearest," he said, afraid to look straight into his mother's eyes, which was why he slightly bowed his head. "Join us for breakfast before leaving," Eugene insisted. Felicity took his phone inside his handbag and said, "I don't have any extra time, mother. I have to meet an important client this early. Maybe next time. He rushed outside, but Eugene managed to chase him before he could completely enter his car. "Go back for lunch! I will cook your favorite!" she shouted, and Felicity had to make a choice but answered. "Okay, Mother dear. I'll be here by lunch!"