Callea groaned in frustration. How could her friend betray him like this? It was not so funny. She must talk to Deive soon.
She lifted the hem of her yukata or summer kimono that geishas and courtesans of Japan used. There was a commotion upstairs. Then she realized that Deive was cleaning up the attic. She walked faster to reach the attic and took the smaller steps two at a time. She had a bad feeling about this. If he was trying to change the designs of her clothes, then how much more could he do to her attic?
"Señorito, please don't do it," Callea heard Marina beg as she stepped near the door of the attic. "Señorita will get mad."
"No! I can't stand it anymore."
Callea's heartbeat double. What's happening in the attic? She pushed the door open with all her might. And she saw Deive and Marina fightng over a broomstick with a long handle. "What's going on here?" Callea asked with hands on her hips.
"Señorita, he wants the bats to leave," Marina reported. "You should talk to him so he will see sense." And Marina left them.
"They should go. Aside from Batman and Dracula is there any house that allows bats to thrive? No wonder your mansion looks like a haunted house because you let those bats breed here." Deive raised the broomstick to the ceiling of the attic where the bats set camp. "They don't belong here."
She stopped Deive's arm. "Those bats are my friends! Don't hurt them."
Those bats inspired her with her stories. They enhanced her creative mind. If Deive bothered them, where would they live? Other humans might hurt them. She didn't have the heart to make her friends leave.
He looked at her with a stunned look on his face. "Are you dreaming to become Batgirl? Do you want to turn your mansion into a Bat Cave? What if you got sick because of them. What if they bite you and drink your blood while you sleep? How could you live with this kind of creature in your house?"
"Now look who has a wild imagination." She flicked her finger to his forehead. "They are already residents of this house even before you came. What gave you the right to shoo them away?"
"If I will live here at Villa Celesta, I have the right to whatever happens to this house. As long as those bats are here, I would be scared to live here."
"Ah! So you thought you have the right, the same way that you have the right to tell my designer on what kind of dress I should wear," she asked with sharp eyes.
"Oh, that!" He let out a light laugh. His face twitched with guilt. "There was nothing new with the dress that Pipay brings. I've seen those before. It's all dark and gloomy. So boring."
"Well, you are not the one who will wear them but me. And those bats, this scary haunted house, and the boring dress that I love wearing are the reason why I have a job and I earn money. We are not yet married but you are already trying to rule my life. This is not what I signed up for."
"I am just helping you out. Do you always have to be on character? Do you always have to look gloomy and scary in every minute of your life? Callea, there's a time for your work and for your eccentricities. If we will get married, will you look like that when you face my friends or my business colleages? My grandfather doesn't even know this weird side of you."
She lifted her face and bravely looked him in the eye. "It was your idea to push through with the wedding. I am thankful for that. But changing myself for your own satisfaction is not part of the deal. After all, I won't even try to change you or your lifestyle or your personality."
"Do you really want to look weird forever?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"You will choose those ugly bats over me, the man you will marry?"
She pursed her lips.. "I think you can co-exist. Don't get in my way, Deive. I will marry you, yes. But I don't care much about your friends or your colleagues. I could pretend for a while, sure. I will think of it as cosplay if I have to face them. But it doesn't mean I have to change my life because you commanded it."
"And if I insist?"
The corner of her lips kicked up. "Then let's see who will win."
She left the attic with her head held high. If Deive thought that she was like other people who would follow his every whim, he got another think coming. She was the queen of Villa Celesta. It was her territory. Her house, her rules. Deive should know his face. He doesn't own her.
She thought her problem is solved because she already had an agreement with Deive and they would have a marriage that would be dissolved later on. She was dead wrong. It seemed like she picked up a huge rock and bashed her head with it.
Lines were drawn. Deive must know his place.
CALLEA felt weak. She was dead hungry yet she refused to leave her room. She didn't want to see Deive or talk to him. She was still pissed off at him. She didn't even care if the time for dinner has passed. She ate inside her room instead last night. She wanted to eat brunch at the lanai but she could still hear Deive's voice.
She smelled the delicious scent of food even before she heard the knock on the door. She was sure it was Marina who brought her food. Of course, she was her mistress. She couldn't let her starve to death. Perhaps she understands why she refused to see Deive.
She opened the door and was dismayed when she saw Deive standing there with a tray of food. "Hey! I brought you breakfast. I thought you want breakfast in bed and you are not in the mood to get out."
"I want to eat without you on sight," she said then tried to take the tray from him.
He lifted up the tray so she won't reach it. "Unfortunately, you have no choice but suffer looking at my handsome face. I want to be with you while you eat."
"No need. Just leave the food." But he didn't heed her request and set the tray on the table himself. Then he took a seat at the vacant chair near the table. She had no strength to fight him because she was weak and her stomach was grumbling. She had no choice but to sit on the chair and eat food he brought.