Chapter Two

Living room, 3:55 PM.

Living in a 500 square meter modern Mediterranean house with eight bedrooms is still new to me. What's noticeable is its number of chandeliers located in every central part of the room, such as bedrooms, living rooms, and kitchen area. Unlike our house in Valencia, the entire house is fully air-conditioned nonstop.

I am not gonna lie but there are areas in the house that I am still not familiar with. My favorite spot in the house is its roof deck near Sebastian's room and mine. I often see him drinking his morning coffee with his tight boxers' short and loose white shirt, right exact my favorite spot on the roof deck. I am a horrible liar if I am not going to admit that he is kinda hot wearing those.

To be honest, I've been living in this house for three years now, but I don't have proper communication with any of these people here. My father is busy being the president of the country, as he should, and there's Sebastian trying his best to be one of the best students in the same university I go to. I have said it before, and I will say it again, I barely know him. But I could feel how tiring and demanding it is for him to meet everyone's expectations.

This is the good part of being an illegitimate son.

Sitting next to Sebastian in the living room while pretending to use my phone is really strange. I could feel the tension between the two of us – it is either an emotional tension or something else. I really don't know. I've been wanting to break the ice between the two of us since I was sixteen but laying the first stone is kinda hard.

I tried to steal glances at him for no apparent reason. I must no kid myself but he really looks good with those tuxedos on, not to mention his Eastern Asian look and fair skin complexion with those fox-like eyes that make him look cunning, clever, and mischievous.

"Happy–." A word came out from his mouth, but a housemaid came in carrying a tray of beverages, so he immediately cut himself off.

"Mister Sebastian and Mister Laurent. The president's coming down in ten minutes." The housemaid said as she put the beverages on the living room table.

Sebastian and I nodded in unison. I caught Sebastian looking in my direction without looking at my eyes. I just gave him a slight grin. I slowly rolled my sleeves and reached for the glass of juice.

"Miss." Sebastian uttered. The housemaid was surprised when Sebastian called her; she bowed to him as a sign of respect.

"Yes, s-sir." She said in a stutter, a look of surprise and worry crossed her face. Sebastian rolled his sleeves and looked at her.

"I believe you are still new here. Just drop the honorifics, nobody in this house calls me mister or sir. You can just call me by my first name. I'm good with that." Sebastian said in a shallow voice. Low enough for the three of us to hear. The housemaid smiled in relief.

"Same goes with him." He added as he pointed at me. "You can just call him Laurent." He stated. I just smiled in agreement.

"That's noted, Sebastian. Thanks for letting me know." The housemaid responded. She was about to walk away, but she stopped and turned around. Her suddenness scares me. She looked at me, and I looked back at her waiting for her to say something.

"Someone sent you a bouquet. Lilies and orchids, I believe. Do you want me to get those for you, sir?" I could feel the excitement from her voice while letting me know about it. My eyes widen in surprise. I have no idea who would send me flowers on my birthday.

I just nodded at her. In excitement, she immediately put the food tray in the living room table and quickly run away to the head entrance. I could feel Sebastian looking at me in confusion, waiting for me to say something – I just ignored him. I tried to think of a single person who could send me a flower. I only have few friends here in the Philippines; plus, they are the type of friends who barely knows my birthday. Not from afar, you can noticeably hear the loud footsteps of the housemaid running to our direction. In just seconds, she came running with a massive bouquet almost her height.

Yes, orchids and lilies.

"Here it is." She said in enthusiasm. She slowly handed me the bouquet of flowers like it is a newborn baby. The smell of lilies and orchids is comforting and powerful, it reminds me of one of the flower shops I visited in Valencia.

I saw Sebastian clenching his jaw. He pursed his lips and slightly furrowed his eyebrows as he stared pointedly at me.

He did not say a single word.

"Gracias!" I said to her. She smiled at me widely and walked straight to the kitchen with the food tray in her left hand.

"Huh. Lilies and orchids." Sebastian said in a scornful or contemptuous manner. I could smell the sarcasm on his statement. He just stood up, unrolled his sleeves, and put his coat on. He quickly walked away, heading to the head entrance.

What the hell is wrong with him?