Chapter 24: Chapter 23: Wine
When the doorbell rang, I looked at my team. "He's here," I mumbled.
They all looked unsure and uneasy.
"Guys," Geraldine butted in, "we're normal people tonight. Remember?"
The guys started to relax their stiffened bodies. Isagani has this unnerving stare at me. He's silently sitting on the couch and he's just staring at me like he's begging me not to do something.
What does he want me not to do, though?
I walked towards the door to open the door for Neuron. And two pairs of unemotional eyes greeted me.
"Michael, hi.."
I was flustered when I came face to face with Michael instead of Neuron. I still feel uneasy whenever I see him.
Neuron is behind him.
Michael raised the plastic bags in both of his hands to show me the beers.
"Good evening, ma'am."
I smiled at him. Neuron took the plastic bags from Michael. "Thanks, Michael."
Michael bowed his head to the prince. "I will excuse myself, Your Highness."
When Michael left, I stared at Neuron who was smiling from ear to ear.
I creased my forehead on him. "Why do you look so happy?"
"Because you called me? And you invited me over?"
What he didn't know is that it's all because of the beers.
"How many are they?" he suddenly asked casually.
"What?"
"How many people are inside your apartment?"
A dreadful consciousness crept into me.
How did he know I have people inside my apartment? Did he plant a bug inside my apartment?
"I never told you I have company," I uttered with suspicion, and doubt is laced in my tone.
He stared at me. "Why? You want me to believe that you asked me to buy this much alcohol just for the two of us? You're kidding. There's gotta be someone else, I assumed. Or am I wrong? Did you want to have me for yourself? You're a heavy drinker?"
I took a few seconds to digest what he just said and then I let out a low laugh and shook my head. I am seriously overthinking.
"Nah, I'm hanging out with friends," I answered.
"Great!" He suddenly looked down at what he was wearing. "Do I look somehow decent? Will they approve of me as your boyfriend?"
I laughed more loudly this time. "You look fine, Sir. Actually, you look overdressed with that suit and tie, but it'll do."
"I was at the palace when you called me."
At the mention of the palace, I couldn't stop thinking just when will I be able to get there? And how on earth will I make him bring me to that semi-annual dinner this Saturday? How?
I opened the door widely to let him in. And when my team saw him they all stood up in attention.
What the f--k! Why are they so stiff? And why did they stand up? They're making it obvious that they know he is a prince.
They might hate the king to death, but when they face a royal they can't help but show respect.
"Hey guys," Neuron awkwardly greeted. "Mind if I join?"
They all stayed silent until Geraldine decided to speak up. "Hi!" She greeted him cheerfully. "Welcome! I'm Geraldine." She walked near Neuron and initiated a handshake.
"Neuron," the prince introduced himself to her.
"Well, look at you!" Geraldine commented. "What a beautiful man you are!"
I faked a cough and widened my eyes at Geraldine to tell her to behave. And she just brushed me off by grinning.
Neuron came to look at Loor. "Wait, I remember you."
Loor pointed a finger to himself. "Me?" He asked, appalled by the prince's sudden recognition.
"You're that guy who took my lady in a car." Neuron sounded a little bit resentful, especially with his slightly creased forehead.
I elbowed Neuron's arm to stop him. "Behave. They're my friends."
Loor let out a nervous whistle.
I made him sit down on the couch. There's an awkward silence in my team and Neuron felt that. He leaned closer to me and whispered. "Should I leave?"
I just elbowed him slightly to dismiss his idea. I know it might be awkward for both sides. But I have reasons why I decided to let Neuron join us tonight.
I'm hoping, just a little hope, that maybe after they spend time with Neuron, they will realize he is different from the king. That he is a good man. And maybe, when a time comes where I have to protect him, they will understand and support my decision.
"I assumed it's a get-together, so I brought this," Neuron suddenly announced. He took a bottle of wine from the plastic bag and put it on the table.
I saw how Geraldine's eyes widened like she's seeing gold. She took the bottle so carefully like she's holding a newborn baby.
"Are you for real?!" she yelled. "Cashmierre?! The famous Cashmierre wine?"
The guys and I all looked clueless and it seems only Neuron and Geraldine are on the same page.
"Oh my gosh! How could we drink this! This is too precious," she shrieked, and then she stared at Neuron. "You just won me over! I already like you."
The captain suddenly cleared his throat like he had a sore throat and gave Geraldine a deadly glare that he usually only gives us when we make mistakes during a mission. Then came his low and cold, "What?"
Geraldine just gave him a cute little smile and shifted her gaze back to Neuron.
I really smell something so fishy between these two.
"What's so cool with that wine, anyway," Isagani interrupted without any emotion.
"Are you kidding?" Geraldine shrieked again. "This is, that 300 thousand mahs wine."
"300 thousand?!" they all exclaimed in surprise.
"You ignorant little crickets!" Geraldine bellowed in frustration.
In US dollars that'll be at least 6,000 dollars in a rough estimate. What kind of wine is that expensive?!
Gulu took the wine and smelled it. "That wine we tasted when we were at the--" he stopped immediately. If he didn't stop there Neuron would find out that we robbed the royal storage house.
"That wine we tasted?" Gulu rephrased his remark awkwardly to make up for almost making a mistake.
It's funny to think that a bottle of wine costs 300 thousand mahs, and Neuron just brought that here as a courtesy when we couldn't even afford a 50 mah canned beer. The gap between the royal and the poor is so enormous that it's baffling me to actually realize it now. If the gap is that enormous, it only solidifies the fact that this kingdom only favors the rich. It's infuriating.
"Can we drink this? For real?" Geraldine sounded like she's in the middle of euphoria. Because of just a bottle of wine. Crazy.
"Yah, go ahead."
I stood up and Neuron, like a kid, immediately grabbed the seam of my clothes. "Where are you going?" He asked anxiously like he is scared of being alone with my team.
I took his hand away from his grip on my clothes. "I will go get glasses for the wine. Don't be a baby."
He pressed his lips together like a kid scolded by his mother.
I eyed the four guys before I left them. I didn't find wine glasses in the kitchen so I brought any glasses I could find. When I came back to the living room, everyone was silently drinking beer, careful and deliberate in avoiding Neuron's eyes.
"Did something happen here for the short while I was gone?" I enquired to break the silence.
"Nothing happened," Geraldine answered. "Literally nothing except for an awkward silence."
I can't blame them for being uncomfortable around Neuron.
"Am I making your get-together awkward?" Neuron politely and apologetically asked.
"No, no! Of course not! We're just uhmm.." Loor tried to find the right words to say. "We're just normally like this. Yah."
I was surprised that the bottle of wine was already opened. Someone must've opened it when I was gone to get glasses. Geraldine poured wine on each glass and served it to each of us.
"You look excited," I murmured to Geraldine and she gave me a childlike grin.
"I am excited," she confirmed, then raised her glass. "Now, let's have a toast."
She really looks like she is enjoying this. All because of a 300-thousand mah bottle of wine.
"To a changed life!" she initiated the toss but then realized something. It must've slipped in her mind that we are with Neuron. That's how we normally make a toast. "No, no. Not for a changed life. To a normal life!"
A normal life. Approved. We all want a normal life. Even Neuron.
Then we clink our glasses and all shouted, "Forward and always forward we go!"
Even drowned in our toast, we could still all hear that one person shouted differently. We all stared at Neuron who was the only one who shouted 'cheers' as we clink our glasses.
Of course! Of course! Stupid of us!
We were so used to having a toast like that because that is how we do it in the camp.
"Again, again," Gulu demanded. "That's just how we do it as a group. Let's settle with shouting cheers."
Neuron looked so out of place. And it's so adorable to watch him get awkward.
I can't believe I'm seeing his confidence crumble just because of these guys who didn't even go to high school.
We all clinked our glasses again and shouted, "Cheers!"
As I'm about to take a sip, Neuron suddenly said, "When will you introduce me to them as your boyfriend?"
I choked and threw up the wine inside my mouth, spilling it on the table and on my clothes due to the surprise.
"Oh my gosh! You silly girl! How could you waste such a precious wine!" Geraldine exclaimed in horror and even hit me on my arm.
Ouch! This brat!
I looked down at my white shirt now stained with wine.
I glared at Geraldine. "What? You cared for the wine more than me? Look at my shirt, it's stained now!"
"For your information," she rebutted, "your shirt should be honored to be sprinkled by such wine."
I don't know if I should laugh or be frustrated by what she said so I just shook my head in disbelief.
Isagani straightaway took a tissue and initiated to wipe some drops of wine on my mouth. But before his hand could reach me, Neuron's hand was quicker to stop Isagani's hand and took the tissue from him.
"I can wipe my girl's face, myself."
Isagani and Neuron battled in staring at each other until someone cleared his throat.
"Rath, are you disabled? Or are you somehow a princess? Are they your butlers? Why are they fighting just to wipe the wine you clumsily wasted?" Those four rhetorical questions from the captain were meant to scold the two and to scold me for wasting an expensive wine.
I took the tissue from Neuron's hand and wiped my own mouth and arms.
Very slowly, my team started to loosen up a bit. They weren't as talkative as they are, normally, but they managed to let Neuron in on every conversation. As the night went deeper, empty cans of beer were scattered on the floor and the four guys were totally wasted.
Not to mention Geraldine who is now crawling on the floor claiming she's a cat. Oh god! What a mess!
I went to the guest room and prepared the bed for the guys. Since the bed cannot accommodate the four, I laid a sheet on the floor.
Neuron and I carried each guy to the room. The captain and Loor are on the bed. And Gulu and Isagani on the floor.
"Can you remind me again," Neuron asked breathlessly as we're carrying Geraldine towards my room, "what am I doing here carrying these people, hurting my back?"
Although breathless and tired I managed to chuckle. "All of these happened because of the beers you bought."
"Did you forget that you're the one who made me buy those?"
We slowly laid Geraldine on the bed and I put a blanket over her. Then we left the room. I walked Neuron towards the door.
"Thank you," I sincerely said.
He smiled and lovingly caressed my hair. "Anything for you," he replied almost in a whisper. "Uncomfortable to me at first, but I enjoyed your friends' company."
I smiled. I'm glad. I wonder if my team felt the same.
"Ah, I remember. That guy, Isagani?" He sounded like he wasn't sure if he remembered his name correctly. "He likes you."
I raised my eyebrows. "Why would you say that?"
"I just know."
I playfully hugged his waist. "So, are you jealous?"
Opposite to what I expected, he shook his head.
"I'm proud. If other guys want my girl, I would be proud."
"What?" I asked in disbelief. "Why would you be?"
"It makes me feel like a winner."
My forehead creased out of confusion. "Why?"
"Because the woman they desperately want is mine." He stared deep into my eyes and said, "You're mine."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone