On the Market

After a while, Jenneth had the chance to talk to the birthday celebrant, Samantha de Vera.

"Jhing! I'm glad you came!"

"Happy birthday!" She hugged her. "And Merry Christmas."

Samantha smiled. "Thanks."

Jenneth gave her the gift.

"Oh! Thank you, Jhing! Thank you."

She was glad that Samantha liked it.

"I thought it was just me and Ryan and Kenneth? Oh, and Darlene," Jenneth said.

"I also don't know how this all happened. I just woke up this morning, and I saw everything being set up already. I just don't think I should cancel it because Dr. Helen already invited everyone."

"That's really how Dr. Helen is. She likes to treat everyone and organize parties."

"Who likes to treat everyone?" Dr. de Villa asked as he walked to them.

"Uncle!" Samantha embraced the old man.

"Happy birthday!" Dr. de Villa gave his gift to her.

"Uh! Uncle, thank you."

"It's so convenient that your birthday fell on Christmas day. At least I only need to prepare one gift for both occasions."

Jenneth and Samantha giggled.

"At least, Uncle, you have more budget to spend in treating other people especially those in Lab," Samantha said.

"Like this one," Dr. de Villa said, pointing at Jenneth. "She's always hungry."

"That's not true!" Jenneth denied as she stifled her giggle.

"She eats a lot," Dr. de Villa added. "But she never gets full."

Jenneth and Samantha laughed at Dr. de Villa's joke about.

"You're so mean to me, Doctor," Jenneth said.

"Can you find him a boyfriend so that she will stop asking me to buy her food?" Dr. de Villa asked Samantha.

"Don't worry, Uncle. That's our next project," Samantha said.

"Okay, then. I'll leave you two be, because I am getting some roasted pig from the buffet."

Dr. de Villa left the two ladies.

"Uncle! You can't eat that!" Samantha called.

But the old doctor is already on his way to the buffet. Although, he didn't really get some roasted pig. Everything is just a joke as he is also aware of the food that he should and should not eat.

"So, I was asked to find you a boyfriend."

Jenneth looked at Samantha.

"Who knows? That might be him."

Jenneth looked at the direction Samantha is looking at. She caught sight of Ryan, who is also looking at her. She looked away when their eyes met.

But on the same direction came a man walking towards them. The guy went to Samantha.

"Hey! Happy birthday!" the guy said as he went to Samantha and hugged her.

"Thanks, Stan. Nice to see you here," Samantha replied.

"I felt excited when Dr. Helen invited me to your party. The last time I've been to your birthday was I think during our 6th grade?"

Samantha giggled. "That's right."

"Well, after that you had new friends," Stan said.

"I deeply apologize," Samantha said. "Oh, by the way. This is Jenneth, a friend of mine."

"Oh! Hi, Jenneth!" Stan held out his hand.

Jenneth shook hands with him. "Hi!"

"Jenneth, this is Stan Fontanilla. He was a childhood friend of mine and classmate until I was accelerated," Samantha said.

Jenneth finally remembered who the guy is. "Oh! You own CPRU!"

Stan smiled. "Yeah, I guess so."

Another man went to them.

"Sam! Happy birthday!" he said, hugging Samantha.

"Thanks, Jared," Samantha said.

"Wow, Sam! You… you're stunning!" Jared commented.

"Come on! It's just me," Samantha said to Jared.

"You don't look like that when we were young. America seems to have done a lot of good things on you, huh?" Jared said.

Samantha just smiled.

"Maybe… we can go out sometimes?"

Samantha laughed at what Jared said. Jenneth frowned at the guy's boldness.

"Sorry Jared, but I'm taken," Samantha said.

"Uh…" Jared pretended to be dismayed.

"You know who's available? My friend here. Jenneth."

Samantha introduced Jenneth to Jared, who happened to be Stan's younger brother.

"Birds of the same feather, huh?" Jared said, obviously pleased with Jenneth also. "I can imagine you rocking Harvard's premises."

"No, Jhing is my friend during high school," Samantha said.

Jared contemplated. "Oh! So you're older."

Jenneth's eyebrow raised at what he said.

"What do you mean by that?" Samantha asked.

"Well, because women prefer older men. Isn't that true?" Jared explained.

"It's not the age. It's the maturity that we seek," Samantha said.

"Ouch!" Jared held his chest. "You hit me... hard... That's so painful, Sam."

Samantha laughed at his reaction. Even Stan who is just listening smiled at his brother's corny joke.

"Truth hearts," Samantha added.

"I need a doctor! I need a doctor!" Jared said.

"There's the doctor," Stan told his brother, indicating Samantha.

"Doctor! Doctor, I need help!" Jared pretended that he's having a heart attack.

"I don't treat hopeless cases," Samantha said.

Jenneth and Stan laughed.

"You're so mean to me," Jared said to Samantha. "I'll just ask Jenneth to treat me, then."

Jenneth felt a little worried with what Jared said. It's not that he's not someone she'll like. Especially physically. Actually, Jared is very good-looking. Aside from that, he is also a Fontanilla. They own CPRU, the most prestigious university in the region. And she doesn't mind if he's younger or not.

It's just that, Jenneth is not ready to have a relationship at this time.

Good thing her cell phone rang.

"Excuse me, I have to take this."

She didn't wait for them to answer. She immediately moved away to look for a quieter spot to answer the person calling her, who is none other than her cousin, Sharon.

"Cuz!"

Jenneth smiled. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas! Again!"

Jenneth laugh. Sharon already greeted her last Christmas Eve.

"Jhing, you really should see Seoul at Christmas. It's stunning!"

Sharon is now in South Korea for a fashion show.

"I bet it is," Jenneth said.

"What are you doing?" Sharon asked.

"I am walking… trying to look for a more quiet spot where I could talk to you."

"Oh! You're in the party. Of course!" Sharon said, finally remembering what she told her last time.

"Then, I'll just call you later."

"No, it's okay," Jenneth said.

"Come on! You should be enjoying the party and try to look for some guy."

"There you go again with your 'some guy' thing."

"Because, you're already 31 and you're still single. So yeah. Talk to you later."

Jenneth has no choice but to concede when Sharon ended the call. That's when she realized where she is. It was quite dark on that far side of that place. It wasn't perfectly lit up like the part where the party is being held. There's not much light, but there's something in the semi-lit corner that makes it look so magical. Jenneth can't help but feel enthralled.

She caught sight of something at the end of the garden. She went closer to see it more clearly, feeling stunned when she realized what it is. It was a swing! It was the swing that Darlene is talking about, Jenneth assumed. Well, there's no other swing on that place.

She moved closer to the swing and was amazed by its beauty. The white iron swing is decorated by rose bushes with flowers. It's very romantic. She was so drawn into it, and she almost sat down on it.

Until Ryan suddenly talked.

"So you finally found it."

Jenneth looked at him in shock.