VII - One Mistake

Who knows for how long they've been walking when her focus is clouded by her desperation.

Desperate to run, to escape. Desperate to rewind the time and never embarrass herself again.

But she's there, walking with the bodyguards like she's getting herself arrested by a famous businesswoman. There's no going back.

"There she is." The businesswoman's voice was heard from afar, Cheska's head hung low as they got closer.

The only view she can see is their expensive branded shoes, even for the bodyguards. They're jet black and polished, while Mrs. Amber keeps her shoes brighter among them. Simply match the color of her yellow sheath dress.

"Look up, girl, into my eyes." Her words interchangeably lace with a domineering tone, she doesn't seem angry like before, but it made Cheska feel like she'll get punished for not obeying her as soon as possible.

She slouches, struggling to look up with her head still down. There's not much time to wait, the businesswoman rummages her thick hands into her purse, "Let's cut to the chase, shall we?" Then impatiently holds out her phone.

"I researched your family business and I got the results, I'm impressed you were not like many others."

That loud tap of her finger clicking the screen caught Cheska's attention after she was 'complimented', the woman in a sheath dress turned the phone around and showed it to the college girl.

It's a blue-themed website, neatly designed with the symbols of engineering formulas and a background picture of skyscrapers. "It turns out you were telling the truth, I'm quite familiar with your working relatives, it's a newly built construction company."

She then pulls back her phone, and her finger slides on the surface of the screen up and down scrolling through. "So how old are you, child?"

"I'm 21-"

"21?!" Exclaims the aunt, "Aren't you supposed to mature up like people your age?"

Without any further explanation, Cheska immediately caught up to what she truly meant, and that made her sulk knowing that the aunt implies her reputation damaging mistake.

"It's a shame this business has just succeeded recently, and you ruin it for the sake of your ego."

Uncountable hits in one go. The popular girl who had just built up her prideful demeanor vanished in an instant.

"I can make their videos go away," she stutters "O-or if it's already too late, If this goes viral, I can make a public apology video, please forgive me I wasn't aware!"

Usually embarrassed people fluster, but Cheska lost all the color of her skin, blank, puffy, and panicking widened eyes. The only features she can express through her apology. Her body refuses to move from so many emotions going over one event.

The lady huffs out an exasperated sigh, while her eyes linger around in annoyance she finds where the girl in the Balintawak dress stays put in the corner of her eyesight, luckily she's distracted.

Recalling earlier she almost stumbled and wobbled on her feet, now she walks normally as if nothing happened. Until that is, Naria lost all her energy to keep presenting her posture now that she's hiding somewhere private.

Looking back at the begging girl, she's there shrunken with her hands clasped together. She has a choice to make, but it was never that hard to choose which one.

"Consider yourself lucky, Ms. Flores."

Cheska paused from the aunt's reply as she confusedly blinks over the older woman slipping her phone back into her purse, watching a simple nod that would signal her two bodyguards to stray and let herself move privately. "You can go now, but I won't let this slide."

Then that quickly ends their conversation, the aunt departs from the area leaving Cheska stranded.

Desperate, and devastated. She grits her teeth in guilt and humiliation, then covers her face with her clenching fists. Her dainty pink outfit was bought expensively, washed, and ironed. Only to be ended up getting creased when she stoops down on her knees. Feeling the need to cry, but nothing would come out.

"That girl wasn't lying, you knew it all along, didn't you?"

Alas, she shouldn't be crying at all.

She couldn't process what things have occurred so quickly, she has to know what was going on. So Cheska slowly loosens her fists, carefully scooting a bit toward where she heard that voice.

It's those two celebrities, they aren't too far away from her, they can be easily heard within that range.

Taking a small peek behind the wall, the aunt is standing there flabbergasted, and her niece is just nonchalantly hunched onto the wall.

"What are you talking about?" The aunt gasped, the way how jittery she moves tempts her to bring more 'emotion', to let out what she truly feels, but she continues holding it in as she keeps conversing slowly "Sweetheart, you were gone too long in States."

Yet failed to sweeten her words first, "Staying with dad has nothing to do with this topic."

"No, what I mean is, I think you're lost. You're not getting used to who you truly are, anymore."

The niece kept averting her sight away, embracing her arms. As much as the aunt would like to approach the upset girl, Naria is stuck on the corner with no plan of moving away. Every time her aunt fidgets closer, Naria slightly distances away.

"You're born to be a celebrity. We both are. Is this how would you handle rumors, hatred, the cyberbullying?"

"If you say we're celebrities, then you must've already known your frustration towards her is NOT necessary." Still, on the wall with her tame unreadable expressions, the older woman clicked her tongue with her hands on her hips. "Emotions got over me.." She shakes her head infuriated.

"That's bullshit—"

"Hey, language. I did what I had to do."

"You always make things so complicated." Naria didn't have to raise her voice, but it was clear and heard enough that made Cheska already pull out her phone and start recording in secret.

The aunt turns her back, irresponsive, while Naria gets off the wall standing still, losing her cool ever slowly "Oh I know why you were angry because you wouldn't let her spill the truth."

"I was just trying to protect you."

"You're not!" Finally, she isn't too clingy on the wall, now she'll be the one to approach her aunt who refuses to look at her own niece. "You didn't only embarrass her, you embarrassed yourself. You could've just handled it in a way that people won't get crazy about it."

The aunt still turns her back, not wanting to face her yet. "Then why didn't you help me at the first place? Do you have any idea how suspicious she was for knowing such a thing better than you?" She was initially reticent but then felt the need to speak, hoping this would end their dispute.

The niece in the mess has other ideas, nonetheless.

The handkerchief wrapped between her fingers is fully smeared with makeup for wiping off her sweat nonstop, but it had already soaked through every of her hair strands causing her pearly headpiece to hang miserably from its loosened volume of her updo. "Oh, I did, but you didn't prove her wrong. You thought I wouldn't notice, even though I already got home I still haven't heard from my grandmother for a fucking week."

"Naria..."

"No, nothing has changed here ever since I left with my dad, or probably when I was born!" The advanced technicality of cosmetics helped her look remain... alluring even during her alarming amount of distress, she thought that's what probably makes it worse, because what else would she prove that she had enough?

The exhausted young celebrity digs her heels, she grips onto that handkerchief so tight she could hear it squeak, whining from her rough touch. She wishes to do more and show how strongly she felt, but it's too much just because of a college girl's allegation. All Naria did is slightly crane her neck, and stoop down to her poor aunt's level from behind "It's you, always has been. This is all your doing." She snarls, yet word by word were delivered gently with a harsh soothingly tone... "You were right though; one simple mistake can still end a good day so bad-"

Then Smack!

Cheska flinched, and the sound unbelievably echoed through the tense cold walls loudly.

Her phone is shaking underneath her shivering hands. It caught all on tape, all of it. On the screen, it ends with a scene of an aunt pivoting toward slapping her tall niece, like a scene from a fictional dramatic story, from a telenovela, but unfortunately, none of them refused to believe all of this happening is real.