Vanessa's POV
“Good morning Nancy, Drake, Kelvin, Liza and finally good morning Michael” I greeted everyone as I entered the restaurant to resume for the day's work. It's been two months since I walked into the restaurant looking for a job and fortunately enough that I got one.
Even though the pregnancy was starting to show, it was still a little bump that can be pass for normal. Everyone had been nice enough to work with except for Nancy, there's always a witch in the castle, right? I'm not all that surprised about her behavior, I've been with people like her in the past.
“Good morning, Essa” they all chorused back. I got the name Essa two days after I started working here, they were all complaining about how Vanessa was too long for them to pronounce therefore decided to shorten the name to Essa.
“See me in my office with the account book within ten minutes, I need to clear somethings out” Michael instructed before going into his office without waiting for my response.
I guess he's furious about what had happened yesterday night after he insisted on taking me home and I refused.
I was only trying to avoid the wrath of Richard who never really liked his own cousin. Who does Richard likes anyway? No one, I guess.
If Richard was to see him with me, I guess he'll start reminding me about how I'm breaking another part of the contract.
Only God knows how many rules that contract contains. I didn't get to read it because it was more than 50 pages, I didn't have the time.
Going into Michael's office with courage, I knocked on his door.
“Come in” I entered and placed the book on his desk.
“I'm sorry about yesterday, I didn't mean to be rude. I'm really sorry” I apologized
“Sorry??, About what?”
“About me not allowing you to take me home” I explained
“Are you being serious right now Vanessa? Maybe my expression yesterday gave you the wrong signal, I was not even angry about that”
“Are you saying you're not angry at me?” I asked
“No, but since you mentioned it, I think I should have been angry at you yesterday. That means, if I'm to forgive you, you owe me something then” he said smiling
“Whatever sails your boat. What do I owe you then”?
“A date, be my date tonight” I couldn't respond because the first time I agreed to be someone's date, I ended up as a surrogate.
“It's nothing complicated, it's all good. I asked Richard already and he agreed to it. It's all clear, your fiancée is good with the flow”
“You sure Richard agreed?”
“Yes, I called him myself” maybe Richard likes this one.
“If you say so, but I'm still surprised he agreed. Tonight, right” I asked
“Yeah, tonight it is”
“Where are we?” I asked for the hundred times that day hoping I would get a response from him. “It's a surprise,” he replied before giving the key to one of the men standing outside to park it properly before ushering ne into the Hall.
“It's been a surprise before we left my house and we're here now and it's still a surprise” I complained
“We are there already, just stop with the complains”
“In case you don't know, I hate surprises. Just tell me where….” I didn't get to finish the statement when I saw the giant banner placed at the front of a door.
“Wait! What is going on exactly? It's your dad's concert”
“Yeah, you don't like him?”
“Are you serious? I love him to pieces. I'm so excited…. I'm so happy I'm here. Thank you so much for bringing me here. It has always been my dream to see him perform live. Thank you”
“Enough with the Thanksgiving service, mother Teresa. Let's go inside, the show will soon start in twenty minutes”
We entered into the room and when I saw the arrangements and designs, I fell in love with the whole thing.
“This is amazing” I whispered loud enough for him to hear
“That's one if my dad's specialty, making ladies fall in love with his works. He should be back stage, let's go see him” he suggested
“I don't think I'll be able to do that...I'll make fun of myself” I cried
“Don't worry, you'll be fine” with that he dragged me to the backstage to meet with his father.
“Who do we have here? The prodigal son is back” his father joked immediately he saw him
“You have to prepare a feast to celebrate my homecoming, father” they started making different signs with their hands and ended it with a butt hit before hugging each other. I laughed so hard my stomach started to hurt.
“Long time no see, son. You look ugly as always”
“At least, I got it from someone”
“Definitely not me, who's the gorgeous lady with you?” His father asked
“Na Na, don't even think about this one dad. She belongs to the throne. Meet Vanessa Decruz, Richard's fiancé” He introduced
“Gorgeous ladies like you should really belong to the throne. I'm Daniel O'Brien and it's nice meeting you”
“It's a pleasure meeting you too sir, I've looked forward to this moment all my life sir”
“Remove the sir and placed call me Dan. I'll feel younger that way”
“Ok Dan” I smiled as we watch him walk away after he was called to the stage and we had to go find our seats too.
“Your father looks young though, he really took care of himself”
“He had me when he was 18 and now, he's just 42 years old”
“Meaning you're only 24 years old” I said
“Are you older than me”
“Call me big sis from now on” I ordered before turning to face the stage ignoring his laughter that had erupted through the whole room.
The concert was already at his peak and I was totally enjoying myself when I got a message from the devil himself. It says
*I'm behind you, don't turn and if you do, don't you dare acknowledge me. We're total strangers here*
Deciding to be a witch this once, I turned back and I saw a lady holding his hand like a five-year-old holding her toy.
“Hey Richard, I didn't know you'll be here. Call later darling, I miss you especially that body of yours” I smirked as I saw the look on his face. Facing the concert back, I was happy knowing fully well I just gave him a taste of his own medicine.