NELINA
"Hi, Aunt Melissa," he walked close to mom, handed the flowers, and then kissed mom on the cheek.
"Thank you, Royce. These are beautiful." Mom said, a smile not leaving her face. He did win my mom's heart.
"Of course, they're beautiful just like you and Nelly," he said the latter as he glanced at me.
I was delighted, but I tried to hide it from him, and I ended up giving him a forced smile. He winked at me when mom wasn't looking. Oh, God, he obviously knows how to charm a woman. My face heats up seeing his simple gesture.
"Thank you, Royce. Please have a seat; I'll prepare the cake I bake for Nelly."
"Yes, I also have a mini cake for Nelly. I'll just put it here so that we can eat it." He placed the cake box on the center table and drew near to dad sitting in the wheelchair.
"How are you, uncle Arthur?" He said as he took my dad's hand and dabbed it to his forehead. He did the Filipino tradition of greetings. It wasn't surprising to me as I've noticed Royce has been a gentleman since the day we met.
Dad lifted a corner of his lips; it must be his way of greeting Royce.
"I'm so glad you're well, sir. It's nice to meet you again."
He never failed to amaze me with how sincere he is to my family and me. Although there were many times that this man loved to annoy me.
Mom came with dessert plates and forks that we could use to eat the cake. We were seated in the living room sharing the two mini cakes.
"You should try this," Royce said as he placed a slice of cake on my plate. "This is your favorite."
"Nope," I laughed at him because he hadn't guessed it right. My favorite is cheesecake, not the red velvet cake that he bought.
"Take a look at it. On top of it."
I frowned, glancing at the cake and back to him. Until I realized he meant the cherry on top. I froze, and my face heats up, thinking of what he wanted to say. When I stared at him again, he winked, plastering the wicked smirk on his lips. The night we had dinner at the yacht, he tasted my cherry lip gloss when we kissed.
You are so mean. I pursed my lips in embarrassment, eyeing mom and dad even though the thing was just between the two of us.
"You should try that sweetheart, it's good." Mom said while spooning her red velvet cake to feed dad.
I nodded in response and focused on my cake, not glancing at Royce again. In my peripheral vision evil smirk is not leaving his lips; it was like his way of saying he won.
And just when I thought that it was too much, he lifted the cherry on top and drew it near my mouth. "Here," he said as he moved it even nearer, it touched my lips.
Mom and dad were looking at us, so I couldn't ignore him. He secretly winked at me, declaring his victory again. He succeeded in annoying me. We were on the left side of the living room while mom and dad were on the right; they could not see Royce's face as he was facing me.
You wait when we're alone. Sneaky idiot. I love to get rid of that smirk on your face. If only I could retaliate using the mind trick I did.
After we ate, we settled on watching a movie together. Mom and dad were seated side by side. In the middle of the film, Royce pinches my cheek.
"What?" I whispered. We were sitting together, so it was easy for him to place his arm on the back of my couch.
"Take your hands off; what are you doing?"
He cleared his throat enough for mom and dad to hear that they shifted to where we sat.
"Can I talk to Nelly for a minute?"
"No problem, go ahead," Mom said, and they continued watching the movie with dad.
I had no choice but to bring him to the balcony. "This is the first time I stayed on your balcony," he said as he sat on the opposite chair.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Anything about us, about you, your birthday. I only want to be with you on this special day."
I can't deny that he got me there. I admit to myself that I longed to be loved and cared for. I was so aloof to men for the past two years, scared to venture into a new relationship. My last boyfriend scarred me the most.
"Thank you, I appreciate that," I said and showed him a genuine smile.
"There you go; I love that smile." He put his arms on the table between us and rested his chin on them. Making him a little bit closer to me. I don't know if it was just me, but it seemed that his eyes sparkled. All the while, he stared at me and never spoke like he adored me.
I know that the red apples are on my cheeks now. I can't help it; my face heats up every time Royce looks at me intently.
"By the way, have you had a hangover after what happened last night?" Royce asked, changing the topic.
"Did you remember how you got to your bed last night?"
I narrowed my eyebrow to the thought of what happened last night. Could it be? NO. I shook my head. "Probably Marie helped me get up to bed."
He chuckled. "Nelly, you are heavy; how could a woman do that?"
Does he need to be mean? "I'm not fat; I work out regularly."
"I'm not saying that you are fat. As a matter of fact, I love every ounce of you. But you are tall and of medium body type; a woman like Marie cannot carry you. Don't you think you should say something to me?"
"What? What should I say? Don't be ridiculous."
"How about a thank you?"
"Why should I?" I paused. "Wait, did you carry me to bed last night?" I swallowed a lump in my throat.
"I love seeing you blush. Yes, I did. Have you remembered how wasted you were last night? To be honest, it was way too cute seeing you drunk. Don't hesitate to call me next time you plan on hitting the dance floor."
No way, I don't dance at the bar. This idiot is lying again. You can't play mind games with me, not anymore.
"Stop lying; I don't dance at the bar."
"You did, and you were a good dancer. But don't worry about men trying to prey on you; I got you last night, so rest assured no other man laid his hands on you last night except me," Royce said, lifting his chin like he was proud of what he did.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, ma'am, you may choose to say thank you or kiss me." He chuckled, obviously enjoying the games he's playing.
"Dream on."
"I'll kiss you then," he said as he leaned over; his lips landed on mine before I could even oppose.
What are you doing? No words came out of my mouth. "Hey," I slapped his shoulder when I gained my senses. I was in a third-degree burn when our lips parted. He plastered a naughty smirk on his face. Suddenly, his facial expressions changed; he must have remembered another crazy thing to do.
"I'm sorry if I didn't visit early in the morning. Did you have a bad hangover? How are you now?"
It was when I remembered that I didn't have a headache anymore. The ginger tea might be effective. "I'm fine; I think the ginger tea works."
"Yeah, it does work. That's my to-go tea for a hangover as well."
One more thing, you're having a vacation with Marica tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, what now?"
"Are you sure you don't want me there? I can help you put sunblock on your body."
"Eww, no way."
I slapped his arm but not as hard as I could. I'm not annoyed with his tease anymore. As a matter of fact, there's a place in my heart that says, I want him by my side. I feel safe and secure whenever he's with me. No, not again. I shook it out of my thoughts when a lousy incident crept into my head.
"Why not? I can be your assistant for three days, no charge."
"No, tomorrow is just for me and my best friend, besty thing, that's how we call it. We don't want any trouble."
"Trouble? Me?" he said as he pointed to himself, laughing.
"Who else could it be? Yeah, you."
It was when mom came to help him annoy me again. "Royce, can you stay for dinner? If you have time, we can have dinner for Nelly's birthday celebration as a family."
His eyes lit up all the while, looking at mom. But I could never let him succeed and tease me again. "No, mom, he has a business to run. Let's not delay Royce; thousands of people depend on him."
"Oh no, don't worry about it. I set time to be away, so everything that needed to be done was settled before I came. So, I can stay for dinner."
"I am pleased to hear that, Royce. I'll leave you two here."
Royce winked at me with a naughty smirk on his lips when mom turned her back to leave. He drew nearer, pinched my cheek, and said, "I won."