New Project (I)

10:01 A.M.

Katrina Fajardo's Residence.

June 6th, the year 2018. Wednesday.

While Katrina was sitting down at their dinner table, her Auntie Karyn went out of the kitchen door. She was holding a plate full of hot fried bacon. Katrina saw the appetizing breakfast served hot on the table that made her drool.

Sunny side up eggs, wheat bread, fried chicken, and rice. To add to the delicious meal, her aunt placed her favorite breakfast of all time, bacon!

"Didn't you have any photography shoots or mall shows today?" Auntie Karyn asked Katrina while sitting down across the table. She picked up her utensils and scooped up some fried rice. Their dinner table was wide, had 8 chairs, and painted in a mahogany color. 

The house was always empty. Sometimes, Katrina would dine alone there. She didn't hear Auntie's question. The hot strips of bacon that were placed in front of her mesmerized her. She scooped up three strips and nibbled down each.

'They restrict this because I need to maintain my figure. My nutritionist will be mad at me when my face gets bloated.' Katrina thought, but she set it aside as she couldn't resist the palpable taste of the bacon.

"I thought they prohibit you from eating bacon? You ate over ten strips of that," Auntie Karyn scolded Katrina. She pouted her lips, "It's just a few strips, Auntie."

"It's okay, Katrina. Just do not tell that to your manager and nutritionist. They will be furious at me for serving fatty foods on you," Auntie Karyn giggled. Katrina needed to be careful about what she was eating. She needed to maintain her figure for her to be beautiful in front of the camera. Her body should be of average size.

It should neither be fat nor slim. Her nutritionist always restricted her from eating rice and pasta. It has a lot of carbohydrates, it's the reason she's always ravenous. She lacks carbohydrates.

If her face got bloated from eating too much, it always infuriated her manager. Also, her nutritionist.

"Yes, Auntie. Where is Uncle Kaiden?" Katrina inquired, while scooping up some more of the bacon. Her uncle and cousin were always out of the house. There were certain cases when Katrina didn't see them for almost two weeks.

"Your Uncle Kaiden is busy with the company meetings. You know, he can't be here all day in the house sitting around. And your uncle said that he will be the one who will handle everything. He said that I should be here in the house even though I am the president of the company." Auntie Karyn mumbled, while slicing up some eggs. Katrina nodded at that. 

"How about Kyleigh?" Katrina asked while sipping an orange juice from the clear glass.

"She is busy with her law school. She also wants to be a politician like your mom and dad," Auntie Karyn uttered, still looking down at her food. Katrina sighed.

Since she was a kid, Uncle Kaiden and Auntie Karyn took care of her. When she confirmed her parents died when she was a baby, she always asked her aunt about what happened. She wanted to know how they died. But Auntie refused to answer those questions from her. Auntie Karyn always said, 'You will know at the right time.'

'When can I know? I am 23 years old. I am old enough to know the truth. Not a single clue popped even when I try to search for it.' 

Her mother, Katie Gil, was the sister of her Auntie Karyn. Katrina's father, Kenneth Fajardo, together with her mother, established Fajardo Inc.. The company that developed home and decorative furniture. The CEO of the company now was her Uncle Kaiden, together with her auntie.

After their successful business, Katrina's parents took the path of politics. When they died, they wrote in their last will that Auntie Karyn was the heir of Fajardo, Inc.

"Kat? Katrina?" It dazed her back to reality when she noticed her auntie was calling her.

"What is it, Auntie?" Katrina asked.

"I'm sorry." Katrina got confused and asked, "Sorry for what, Auntie?"

"I'm sorry because I cannot say what happened to your mom and dad. I am following orders from your grandmother and grandfather's rules." Auntie Karyn's straightforward tone emerged. Katrina chewed her food before answering.

"Auntie, I know there are reasons you couldn't say it to me. I know you will not hide what happened to them for the sake of hiding it for years," Katrina explained. 

She sighed, "Katrina, I decided not to say it to you because I want you to find the answer yourself."

Katrina got startled by that. Why would she be waiting for the truth to reveal when one flick of her aunt's tongue can crash her world out? Katrina was dying to find the answers about her parents' tragic ending. 

"But, auntie, how can I---," Katrina's cut off by what she had to say when her cellphone rang. She got confused about why her manager would call on her rest day.

Manager Maci will call for important matters. Such new projects, script reading, contract signing, and money negotiations urgently. Katrina looked at her cell phone and saw that no one was calling. She furrowed her eyebrows and opened it. She's astonished by what she saw.

They have posted her fight with Carmela online! She got hold of her cell phone and saw the angry comments coming from her own fans. She exhaled some air as she scrolled down.

"She has a trashy attitude."

"Another scandalous actress, Katrina Fajardo."

"She is just new, right?"

"It's her friend! Where is her mind?!"

"She is not that beautiful."

"She is just a newly debuted actress. Watch your manners, freak!"

"Margo is much more beautiful than her."

"She has no manners!"

"Maybe you forgot you are still new!"

"Her pride is on its highest level. Maybe you can lower it down, moron!"

"Margo is beautiful inside and out."

"Katrina has an angelic face, but she is rubbish!"

The comments she saw infuriated Katrina. She set her cellphone aside while holding her forehead. Her Auntie looked at her, bewildered by the change of her actions. 

"What happened?" Auntie Karyn asked her. Katrina doesn't want to look at her aunt.

"It's nothing, Auntie. Facebook notifications." Katrina drank some water to cool her head down.

"Oh, I thought it was something." 

"Auntie, may I go to the garden?" Katrina asked while standing up from her seat hastily. She placed her cellphone in her pockets.

"Sure, finished with your meal?" 

"Yeah," Katrina said, then walked towards the entrance door.

Their garden was full of blooming flowers. The lilacs, tulips, roses, and her favorite sunflowers were blooming its petals. Her Auntie Karyn was fond of harvesting and growing some plants. She even created a small pond, in which she took care of her coy fishes.

She slunk down herself on one bench in the garden where her aunt can't see her. She placed both hands on the sides of her head.

"It's so annoying!" She burst out while gritting her teeth. Katrina knew Carmela's the assistant to Margo, and no one could blame her. But she's confused by what she felt. She felt envious towards Margo for nothing. 

Katrina opened her cell phone again. She played the video that a customer took inside the restaurant. Katrina saw how she was in a rage yesterday to Carmela. She realized how she must have crossed the line.

She suddenly remembered their pledge! The pledge of friendship!

"Why are you not aware?! Didn't you have a television set at your home?! Or not, because your family is starving to death!" Katrina saw how she opened her mouth and said those words as if she was another person. She watched it and saw how Carmela slapped her. Katrina closed her eyes and looked up at the sky as she sighed in exasperation. When she looked back on her cellphone, something caught her eye. 

There was someone standing outside of the house. Katrina's eyebrows shot up, and she got puzzled. The person was wearing a black hoodie. The hood of his jacket was covering his face. Katrina stood up from her seat and walked towards the gate.

When the person standing outside of the gate saw Katrina walking towards him, he ran as fast as lightning. 

Katrina got surprised by that, and opened the gate. She looked in the direction where the person wearing the black hoodie went.

She got baffled that he's gone already. Katrina furrowed her eyebrows, and asked herself, "Who was that?"