THIRD PERSON'S POINT OF VIEW "Before I forget, say hi to Cleo!" The smile on Garren's face faded in a flash. His son only mentioned Cleo's name... and he's already getting agitated. The woman's strange effect on him is riling him up. Cleo appeared on the screen and flashed a subtle smile, and God knows how much he hates how that made his heart prance. Despite his nerves raging, Garren still managed to keep a stolid face. His heart's erratic beating only ceased when he couldn't see her any longer, but deep within him, he longs to see her face even for a few moments longer. "What the fuck?!" Garren internally castigated himself. "Bye, dad! I'm going to prepare for school now! I love you." He smiled at his son. "I love you too, buddy." He washed his hands over his face out of frustration after the call ended. He hates it. He hates how Cleo can stir an unsettling feeling inside him with the slightest thing that she does. Suddenly, his mind took a trail down the memory la
"Did you swallow a rainbow? Your smile can already reach the Milky Way," I teased Greyson, who couldn't stop himself from smiling the moment he woke up. He giggled. "You can't blame me, Cleo. Dad will arrive today. I can't wait to see him." The smile plastered on my face faded like blazes. That's when I remember that it's Wednesday, which means Garren will arrive home any moment now. My two days of peace and solitude are about to come to an end. I put my smile back on and tousled his hair. "I'm pretty sure your dad misses you too. Now you should finish your meal quickly." He nodded fervently. "Alright!" After he took his breakfast, I let him rest and play with his tablet for a bit before we headed back upstairs so he could take a bath. While he's taking his time in the bathroom, I'm preparing his bag. All of a sudden, I felt my phone inside my pocket ringing. Surprisingly, Lorenzo's name flashed on the screen. I was quite shocked because he hasn't called or messaged me for the
It has been three days since Garren arrived, and it's also been three days since my mind is in a mare's nest. He's been acting really weird. This time, I'm not even piling things on. This is not merely because of that abrupt change in the car seat plan, but the way he's been behaving as if he didn't leave me with a bunch of unsettled questions that night before he left. He's acting oblivious and indifferent. It's as if he hit his head against a wall and now has amnesia. For starters, he now talks to me like he used to before. That affable aura surrounding him when we were on Santorini and when he brought us to the amusement park suddenly came back. Mind you, oftentimes, he's the one who initiates a conversation. Like that time he drove us to his son's school, he asked how I've been doing! It wasn't supposed to be a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that he stopped regarding my existence a month ago. But that wasn't the last time he acted as if he cared for my welfare. I was tr
"Where are we exactly heading, dad?" Greyson asked in the middle of the ride. Being this close with Garren again is enough to make me anxious. So I'm here in my seat and trying my best to make the slightest gestures. Gladly, Greyson is here to ease the tension in the air. "Picnic Grove. It's an hour ride from here," Garren answered. "You'll have a lot of fun there." The depressing silence returned as Greyson went back to playing with his iPad. "Have you ever been to a picnic before?" Garren blurted out all of a sudden. See? This is what I'm talking about. He initiates conversation with me, something that he stopped doing. "My parents brought me and my brother to a picnic before." I still responded because I don't want to appear snobbish. "What do you guys do when you're there?" "It's nothing fancy. We eat the foods that my mother cooks and then talk about some random things." A smile made its way on my lips, reminiscing about those simple yet happy memories—during those
"Dad won once again!" My face contorted as Garren took down my last chess piece. The exasperation I'm feeling heightened when I saw the smug grin plastered on his face. God knows how much I want to tear off that arrogance in his face. After we got tired of ambling around the park, Garren took out some board games that he brought so we could idle away the hours. Greyson has been playing this game for two years now, so he's good at it. But what made me fall for that notion was because he defeated his father. Then the latter challenged me into a game. I also know how to play chess. And since it's been a long time since I played one and I kind of miss it, I took on his challenge. I was confident that I'd be able to defeat him because his son did. But he proved me wrong. Because in the two sets that we played, he defeated me in the most humiliating way possible. I was only able to take down three chess pieces of him from those two games. It turned out that he was just goofing arou
"I'm done!" Greyson cried out, breaking the stillness hovering in the air. When we got tired of kite flying, Garren told us to rest first. Then he brought out coloring materials and three small canvases. He gave them to Greyson and me and told us to paint something. But here's the catch, he asked us to blindfoldedly choose a piece of paper on which each of our names was written. And we have to give our artwork to the person we picked. I prayed not to pick out Garren because I didn't want him to poke fun at my artwork. This is one of my fatal weaknesses. Gladly, the deities heard my prayer, and I picked Greyson's name instead. Although I'm not really proficient in this field, of course I still exerted an effort. I momentarily forget that I'm with these two and focused all my attention on drawing a rose with a backdrop of a sunrise. "I'm done too." I got hustled when Garren announced that. I'm the only one who's not done. It calmed my nerves. I picked up the pastel blue colo
Garren awakened me when we reached the mansion. I accompanied Greyson to his room and told him to take a bath. I did the same thing and felt relieved when I finally got to take off my damp dress and change into comfy clothes. The night went well. I wasn't at all surprised when Cynthia barged into my room and bombarded me with a bunch of questions about our day. I knew she wouldn't stop nettling me, so I narrated everything. She was grinning like a mad hatter the whole time I was telling the story. But I just ignored her insanity. When morning came, the repetitive sound coming from my alarm woke me up from my slumber. I yawned and pulled myself up. However, a curse fell from my lips as an excruciating pain shot through my head. I can also feel my body burning. I breathed deeply and attempted to stand up, but I ended up falling back to bed. I sneezed, feeling a bit dizzy while rubbing my runny nose. There's also this irritating obstruction in the back of my throat. Damn it. I
"Are you sure you're okay?" I laughed at Greyson's question. He's been asking me that from the moment he woke up until now that we're about to go to school. "I swear, I'm in good shape now." Fortunately, this morning, I felt better and my headache was gone. I still have a runny nose and cough, but it's bearable. I just wore a mask so Greyson won't get infected. "Just focus on your final exam, alright?" I ruffled his hair. Today is the start of their exam week, which means that their recognition day is approaching. I'm pretty sure that this kid will bag a lot of awards. Greyson has been busy for the past few days reviewing in preparation for their finals. I seriously admire his passion to learn. "Now I become nervous again," he grumbled. I chortled. "Don't be. I know you will ace that exam." He nodded. "Fine. But you're really okay?" I tousled his hair. "You're so stubborn. I'm alright, and it's all thanks to you!" Yesterday, when he arrived home, he came to my room and to