Chapter 28: the meet up.
What woke jian up in the morning was a chaotic birthday song sang by her best friends and mom, she was still out of it but she smiled and clapped along. She took her shower and joined them downstairs as they ate the croissant that Susan baked for breakfast. After breaking she told them she had to meet up someone before she left, they were actually glad she had somewhere to go so they didn't question her about where she was going. After she left chole and Ethan with the help of Ann set out to decorate the birthday venue.
When Fiona woke up the first thing she did was check her phone and her heart immediately fluttered when she saw 2 missed calls from Seth, her mood immediately surged. She called the maids in to prepare her bath and bring her breakfast to her room, she had to get ready to meet jian. She was going to be intentionally late just to make jian wait. She rummaged through her walk in closet finding for a fit that screamed 'i'm above you' and intimidating, after having her own show in her closet of wearing different outfits and practicing what to say to scare the girl off, she finally opted for a red dress, red screams danger, power, class, so she liked it, it's actually her favorite color. The dress was a stylist and elegant short-sleeved burgundy with a fitted bodice and flared skirt.The square neckline enhances its sophisticated look, while the structured corset-like waist creating a flattering silhouette. The attached bolero-style sleeves added a unique and classy touch. She decided to pick out a pair of diamond earrings with a single ruby necklace and silver heels plus a silver hand bag to match. Satisfied she took it out to lay it on her bed.
"My lady, would you like to have your bath or breakfast first" the maid asked
"I'll take my bath first" she answered
"Then the bath is ready" the maid said, after ushering the maid away, she got ready to take her bath.
All through out the drive, jian couldn't stop thinking about why Fiona would want to she her, her instincts were telling her it's about seth but she was dying to know why. Was she going to wish her happy birthday but does she need to go see her that early she didn't think so, was Fiona one of those crazy best friends that would create choas everytime their best friends get a girlfriend or boyfriend they act crazy, Fiona looked too classy for that, she won't fight her, right jian thought to herself. The drive wasn't long just a fourty five minutes drive
"We're here ma'am" the driver said, she paid and thanked the driver before walking in. Café france is a luxurious cafe, which houses mostly wealthy men and woman that just want to have their coffee in peace and meeting that can be held over coffe. So even though the name sounded casual the place wasn't, you actually need a reservation or be a really wealthy and important person to be able to just be able to walk in and order, so jian was a bit skeptical to get in, obviously she can't afford this place, she tried calling the number that fiona had texted her with to come out and get her but no one was picking up, the said Fiona had just finished her bath and was having breakfast as she watched the phone ring over and over again, she could feel the girl's frustration through the ringing and she enjoyed it. She specifically choose that cafe for jian to understand the class different between the two of them and between her and Seth too.
"Ma'am are you waiting for someone" the usher at the gate asked politely
"Um yes, Fiona" jian answered, the woman checked her book before nodding, Fiona had sent them a picture and told them to let the person enter after 25 minutes of waiting outside, it has been 25 minutes in the cold weather before she was let in, immediately her body relaxed the place was warm and very beautiful it had a homie touch to it while maintaining the class and formal attitude to it
"This way please" the woman said leading her to a table in the far corner. Jian sighed after taking her seat, the rich had it nice she smiled.
"Hello" a waiter greeted the moment she sat down, she smiled back saying returning the greeting.
"Would you like anything while you wait" the waiter asked as she passed her the menu, jian almost ran out of the place, the prices for the smallest item can feed her for breakfast, lunch and dinner. What type of coffe cost $56 would it give her super powers, she was really curious what it was made out of. She almost declined because there was no way in heaven she was paying for anything.
"It's on lady Fiona, she's quite rich so she won't mind" the waiter said and jian couldn't help but feel inferior. It's not even her money but her father's she said to console her bruished ego but as if the waiter heard her she said
"She's a very established lady just at 21 she is doing pretty well managing a small branch of her father's company" jian smiled, was this waiter here to praise Fiona, she couldn't help but agree she was indeed impressive when it came to business
"Um then can i have a cappuccino" she ordered and the waiter nodded before walking off. Jian's coffee actually came with a complimentary croissant, the coffe and croissant were indeed very delicious but the price was still ridiculous to her, she enjoyed her over priced coffe as she waited for fiona who was already 35 minutes late.
Mina was bored at home, her brother was already in school, her parents went on a business trip, she was basically home except the gate man, and a few maids. Her mom liked taking care of her space on her own so they didn't have a lot of helpers around. She sat on her dressing table's chair as she complated about visiting fiona, she had a very weird and strange dream the night before which didn't sit well with her one bit, the guilty feeling was beginning to crawl up again. Her dream started out nice and beautiful her and seth sitting in the grass and they laughed about whatever was funny, then it started to get dark suddenly, then there was rain and in the distance she would she jian and fiona running towards them, panicked she held Seth's hand to runaway but he flung her hand away and started screaming, it was like something straight from a horror movie the scene changed and this time she was in a wedding dress and so was Fiona and seth was there in a groom's suit but he wasn't holding her, he was holding jian as fiona cried and both Seth and jian consoled her, everyone was consoling her including Ethan, chloe, frank, berlu, Ann and a bunch of other random people she didn't know, fiona kept pointing at her as she shook her head and tried getting up from the floor but each time she tried she'll slip back down her wedding dress getting muddied and dirty, she started screaming which coincided with her waking up drenched in sweat, was this somehow a future prediction. Maybe seth was never meant to hers, she signed as she lay her head on her table , the heart wants what it wants but she could get seth without it involving fiona in any negative way right, and if seth loves her and they do get together Fiona would understand. She nodded, that was it. Fiona was her best friend everything would work out. So she got dressed and got ready to go see Fiona so they could hangout before they left for Jian's surprise party which starts at 4. She even decided to wear the jean and shirt fiona got her when she last visited and they went to shop at the mall, after applying a bit of makeup incase seth was there aswell, she put her hair in a messy bun after over thirty minutes of trying to get the hair into a clean bun she gave up. Feeling cute and satisfied she called her driver and left.
Fiona was finally done with her breakfast, she left seth a message saying they needed to talk in person Asap and they should meet at 'The LUX' which was just opposite café France. She wanted jian to see how Seth would go have dinner with her after she drops her speech threat she also wanted to alert him of his cunning cousin aswell. She checked her time, poor jian has been waiting for about 40 minutes, she called the staff to confirm if she was still there and they confirmed she was, she first ordered a cup of cappuccino which came with a complimentary croissant then 10 minutes later she ordered a mini cake since it was her birthday. Fiona frowned was jian having fun at that café instead of waiting in frustration, the staff even informed her of how she was bounding with the other staffs and giving them tips on coffee making and baking, she studied food production and management so she was knowledgeable when it came to food plus her mom is a baker too.
"Ugh this girl" Fiona groaned before cutting the call, well she'll just treat it as a charity case, feeding the poor is always a good deed. As she got ready a call came in it was Ann, at that moment mina arrived at the Aguirre household
"Miss mina" the gateman greeted, he was used to seeing mina around, when she got into the main compound, the maids greated her
"Is Fiona in" she asked
"Yes, she's getting dressed" one of fhe maids answered. Wait was she meeting up with jian, was that why she asked for the girl's number last night. Mina wondered
"Baes" Fiona said through the phone
"You left so early after the wedding and didn't even leave me a call" she added complaining, Ann had to leave because something came up with her dad but she did leave fiona a message she just didn't call
"Stop being a baby" she gently scolded, Ann was her closest friend and one of the only people who can put her in her place, Ann wasn't richer than her, prettier than her, has a better backing than her but maybe that's why their friendship actually stuck. Only a few people can tell the Fiona Theresa Aguirre to shut up and actually live to tell the tale.
"No" she whined as she sat down on her dresser to apply her makeup
"Well i have good news and not so good news" Ann informed as she got ready to spill the tea
"Then bad news" Fiona asked with raised brows and Ann shook her head then realized Fiona couldn't see her so she answered no,
"Well you'll decide whether it's good news or bad" Ann said
"Okay" fiona agreed
"The guy i like, actually confessed to the girl he has a crush on and he was rejected not technically but still" Ann said and fiona immediately started a scream cheering which Ann immediately joined in, that was definitely good news now her friend could finally get her long awaited chance
"What's the not so good news" Fiona asked as she did the final touches on her makeup, she just did a simple makeup just to enhance her features so it didn't take that long
"Well i kinda of had a spur of the moment and confessed too" Ann said and silence followed she was expecting it
"He rejected you" Fiona whispered as if those words were not meant to be heard
"Actually no, but he still likes her" Fiona activited her selective hearing she captured the 'actually no' and started celebrating for her friend. Ann explained the guy was at the wedding too but Fiona was busying coying up to Seth that she didn't have the time to introduce them or show her the guy.
"Oh too bad" Fiona complained
"Well i have some news too" she announced as she walked to the balcony leaning on the railing and watching as the gardener tendered to the beautiful flowers down
"Tell me" Ann was eager to know how far her friend was in the reconcilation process of her and Seth's relationship
"Well you remember the girl i told you about, the one that wants to steal my Seth well I'm going to meet her" she said with a scowl on her face at that moment mina happen to enter the room and Fiona didn't even notice because she was busy ranting to Ann so she silently sat down to eavesdrop on Fiona's conversation
"Really" Ann said she wanted to advise Fiona against it but she knew the girl won't heed to her warning or advice, as long as she was save and fine she wasn't going to interven in her process of getting her man.
"And that mina" Fiona said groaning, mina who was about to leave because she felt like it was wrong to eavesdrop on Fiona's conversation immediately halted as she walked closer to the balcony hiding behind the double doors that lead to the balcony
"She looks like she's still eyeing my man, i tried the 'i like him' but she didn't back off, she kept playing innocent white lotus which is annoying enough" Fiona complained, Ann listened as the girl ranted she knew Fiona wasn't looking for a commentator but a listener so she just nodded along
"I even played drunk that dense girl" she added and mina gasped she was obviously offended but surprised too that Fiona's that drunken episode was fake, the next day the girl acted like everything was alright so she also pretended like it didn't happen
"I was planning on using her to separate those two as punishment for wanting what wasn't hers but i don't want to anymore looks like my pushes of chaotic setting her brain is interpretating as encouragement" she continued, she put the phone on speaker taking a sit on the balcony seat as she fixed her heels
"Well it's because i do like her and want to be still be friends, I'm going to give her a direct warning, have to clip those wings before they fly" Fiona said
"I mean she has a very low chance, seth doesn't even seem to see her as anything more than a friend" Ann agreed, she wasn't even that close to seth and didn't spend much time in his company but she was considered more of a friend than mina who was a friend of a friend.
"Right" Fiona nodded agreeing, she was finally done and ready to move after she made jian wait for about 50 minutes, the cafe was 10 minutes away from her house. So jian would wait a whole hour before Fiona would walk in. Mina who noticed Fiona was ready and ready to leave immediately sneaked back downstairs to wait
"Get me a cold drink" she told one of the maids who immediately went to get it for her, she needed it to cool down her heart and think. So Fiona knew she liked Seth since their highschool times and pretended not too then she was also planning on using her, she was planning on using fiona too but at least she had a guilty conscience to it and fiona didn't look like she did, she thought to herself. The only thing that made the whole situation better for her is Fiona taught of her as a good friend and that was why she wasn't taking action against her and wanted to talk to her more like warn and threaten her in a passive aggressive way to give up. She sighed, what was all this she thought to herself as she was thinking she heard clicking of heels on the stairs she looked up to see it was Fiona coming down. Her maids had informed her of mina's arrival so she was expecting her downstairs
"You look pretty" mina complimented, she did look pretty
"Thank you" she replied sweetly, she was soaking in all the compliments she was receiving from all the maids too
"Going somewhere" mina asked as she played the oblivious card
"Yes, to see Jian" Fiona answered she didn't see the need to hide it she was going to have her talk with mina too
"Oh" she commented, she didn't want to ask why
"I'm going to clip the wings before they fly" Fiona said looking directly into mina's eyes and the girl subconsciously gulped, Fiona was known for not leaving empty threats
"Mina" she called halting her steps
"Let's hangout tomorrow, just us like the old days" she said and mina smiled before nodding, looks like tomorrow is the talk date, she sighed before leaning back on the seat
"Oh btw seth is coming, if he does tell him I'll back in a minute" Fiona added before walking off. Mina immediately sat up excited. She ended up waiting for a whole hours being all nervous at the end she bit her lips in embarrassment Fiona played her, seth didn't come and he wasn't coming. She just got played by Fiona.