CHAPTER XL: Time for a Fluffy Approach

There were still no signs of my brother nor my parents for an entire week.

The people who were left in the house and I basically rebuilt our awkward relationships with each other.

Since I had nowhere else to go for the rest of my vacation, I decided to just spend it here with them.

We chatted most of the time. Sometimes I provided assistance in household chores.

Let's just say I'm pretty capable if I do say so myself.

I also enjoyed the time where I helped make the food, in terms of both cooking and baking.

I preferably loved baking.

With my artistic skills, decorating cakes became undeniably fun.

I also noticed how each of them have their own goofy sides.

Chef Ron looks serious when he's putting together different meals but when he's done and free, he deliberately makes a mess out of anything he can smudge on my face.

Time in the kitchen would always turn from a cooking class to a typical cafeteria food fight within seconds.

I literally had to take multiple showers everytime that happened.

As for the helpers, Elsi was the daredevil out of all of them.

She would force me to join in her pranks during unexpected moments.

One time, she pulled a prank on Glory, one of the helpers assigned that day, which almost made her slap the hell out of me.

Almost.

Because stupid Elsi made me her escape route after making me put a plastic spider in Glory's hair.

I don't know who was the most afraid between the three of us.

Kris who I thought was a plain old bodyguard but he was actually the second-in-command amongst the security team.

Although he was assigned in such a position, he was so comfortable to talk with.

He's also a little overprotective, which was kinda funny and cute.

When I went to the mall to get some canvas, he was the one who took on the responsibility to watch me but as soon as he saw a group of guys coming at me, he charged in like a father guarding his daughter against boys.

He only calmed down when I handed him ice cream.

To summarize, I had a blast. They understood how I rarely open up and still accompanied me through it based on my flow without any form of pressure.

Of course, they're not always available since they all have their respective jobs to cater to.

The rest of my free time, I focused on painting.

Seeing the colors once again, I knew that I was definitely at peace in my own space.

When I'm immersed in my art, they don't bother me and, instead, they support me by bringing me food and cheering me in their own little ways.

Classes were about to start again. This means a new semester is about to start.

It was a drag to just think about it.

The only thing I'm doing at the moment is to lie down and stare away for the rest of my remaining time.

Elsi and the others were all busy with their duties that I have no one to talk to.

I was also tired from painting for two consecutive days which leaves me with absolutely no entertainment whatsoever.

So like any unoccupied individual, the best solution to soothe my boredom was to scroll through my phone.

I watched videos and reacted to different posts.

I also bad-mouthed nonsense tweets yet I still found myself lacking interest.

That's until a message popped up.

'Hey sistah! Wanna hang out?'

This came from Solar.

I contemplated whether to reply or not because being with Solar sometimes, or often, gives me a sense of doom.

'Don't ignore me! I'm already on the way to your house!'

After reading this, I immediately got out of bed while cursing her for her insanity.

I showered and fixed myself up.

When I checked my phone, I saw that there was an unread message from her.

When I opened it, I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

'Wear something cute!'

Honestly, that was annoyingly so vague.

But there's nothing I can do.

I sighed.

I can already sense the impending trouble.

Opening my large walk-in closet, rows and rows of numerous clouds met my eyes.

Skimming through the racks, I carefully chose what I'd be wearing for the day.

After five minutes of pondering, I picked out a white denim skirt partnered with a sweet frilling pink crop top.

I also added a white and gold belt and wore my white thigh high boots.

Including a few accessories here and there, I was finally done.

I checked my makeup and my outfit for any contradictions before grabbing my purse and heading out.

As I stride down the stairs, I checked my phone for any signs of Solar's arrival.

Confusingly, there was none.

I drew my eyebrows together as I typed a message for her.

However, I wasn't able to finish it because a voice called out to me.

"'Nak, there's a guest waiting for you at the lounge." I looked up and saw Manang at the end of the staircase.

I nodded and thanked her before walking towards the place she referred to.

And believe it or not, the guest was actually there.

Sitting pretty while drinking coffee at that.

"How did you even know where I live?" I placed my hand on my hip and looked at her skeptically.

She took a final sip of her coffee before answering, "I asked our dear friend Ross."

"Both of you just invaded my privacy, you know that right?"

"Meh." She shrugged.

"I already regret this." I whispered.

"I heard that."

"How lucky of you." I responded sarcastically.

"How were you able to come inside by the way?" I asked as I waited for her to stand up.

"Through th-"

"If you finish that sentence, I'll throw you out to where you obviously came from."

"I said I was your friend and showed them our picture together from Japan." She smiled innocently.

"How are you my friend?" I raised my eyebrow.

She slapped my arm as she stood up, "Oh come on! Are you still going on with that?"

I rolled my eyes and didn't dare to answer her anymore.

We agreed to just use her car since it was her idea to drag me out in the first place.

Plus, I didn't want to drive.

"Where are we going anyway?"

"My aunt gave me these tickets for a newly opened pop-up store near here." She looked enthusiastic as she wagged the tickets at my face.

I took the tickets and examined them.

It was a cute store that had their own exclusive café.

I guess this would be enough to satisfy me for the entire day.

"Oh, I'm also curious about something." She said all of a sudden.

"Shoot."

"What does 'nak mean?"

I turned to her, "Where did you hear that?"

"From the one who let me in earlier."

"Ah, it's short for 'anak' which means like daughter or son, depending on gender, in the Filipino language." I explained.

"Oh, so that's what it was. I thought that's your nickname or somethin'" She chuckled.

I just shook my head at her childishness.

She continued to ramble about some dude during the majority of our travel that at some point my ears automatically tuned out every word she was saying.

Luckily, she stopped once we reached our destination.

It was located somewhere serene.

In this urban place, you wouldn't expect that there would be a relaxing place like this.

There were trees and plants in the surrounding area.

It was like a mini park. The pop-up store was stationed at the left side and the park was extending towards the right.

The café can be seen from the entrance because they also feature both an indoor and a porch option for the customers.

When we entered the store, the first thing that caught my eyes were the fluffy merchandise at every corner of the store.

There was also jewelry, clothes, and other endearing stuff.

To be exact, the store shouted lovely and cutesy.

Well, it's not something that I hate because in terms of style, my mood shifts from girly to boyish within minutes.

In addition to that, I have a major soft spot for anything that's considerably cute.

As I gazed around the room, Solar proceeded to give our ticket to the attendant at the front.

She gave us identification bracelets in return.

She said that we could order and buy anything through that and all the transactions made for the day will be accumulated for payment at the end of our stay.

Basically, we just show this around to every supervising attendant and once we are done, the cashier at the end of the store will check our balance through the bracelet which shows how much we should pay for all in all.

It was actually simple and convenient because we wouldn't need to pay immediately or wait in line at each turning point.

I knew I was going to enjoy this a little.

However, little did I know, inside this adorable place, my heart and mind would be conflicted and clarified to a certain extent.