Chapter 1
Mavic’s POV
She was staring blankly at the blinking Christmas lights hanging from the large Christmas tree in front of her. Today was December first, and exactly twenty-four days from now, it would be Christmas, yet she was still single. There had been no progress with her five-year-long crushes on Lohen and Lucas despite all the hints and subtle moves she’d been making toward them.
At this rate, I’m probably going to be single for the rest of my life.
She let out a frustrated sigh at the thought before reaching for the innocent artificial leaves of the Christmas tree with a scowl on her face and began plucking them one by one.
He loves me, he loves me not. He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not—
She stopped stripping the poor Christmas tree of its leaves when a hand suddenly grabbed them and forcefully pulled them away from her guilty hands.
“This Christmas tree won’t even make it to Christmas if you’re already making it go bald this early, Maria Victoria.”
Her friend Naigel’s grinning face greeted her when she looked up. She answered him with a scowl before giving up and lazily lying back on the sofa. Shaking his head, he sat down beside her.
“What exactly have you been thinking about that’s got you sulking over here for so long?”
“Nothing, it’s just that I’m already twenty-six and yet…”
“And yet?”
“I’mstillsingleandnobodyhasevenbotheredtocourtme.”
“What?”
“I’mstillsingleandnobody’scourtingme.”
“Is your cough and cold still that bad? Why are you talking like that? Let me see.”
He asked with a frown before turning her face toward him and holding her chin as he inspected both of her cheeks. He leaned even closer without letting go of her chin. With what he was doing, their faces were practically touching. There was barely an inch of space left between them, and one wrong move would have their lips meeting. She immediately grew alarmed while he continued his shameless inspection of her cheeks and chin. When she finally recovered from her surprise, she pushed him away in outrage.
“What the hell? Why do you have to shove your face so close to mine just to touch my face?”
“Then why were you talking like that? What’s wrong with you?”
“I just bit my tongue, okay? What’s your problem?”
“That’s what happens when your mind keeps wandering off somewhere. Now, what’s got you sulking over here? I’ve been calling you from the kitchen for a while now because it’s time to eat.”
“I was just thinking about Periwinkle’s. I’m worried Shin Yang might not be looking after it properly.”
Periwinkle’s was the bookstore-slash-coffee shop business she and Naigel owned, which she personally managed. She hadn’t been able to show up at their business for five days because of the flu she’d caught recently. Their half-Japanese, half-Korean friend and neighbor, Shin Yang, was currently looking after it.
“Stop worrying so much about Periwinkle’s. Dae drops by every now and then to check if Shin Yang is still alive. Besides, I also asked Lei to guide him, so don’t worry.”
That was exactly what she was worried about. Lei was there. That half-baked Filipino who could barely speak the language would surely spend all his time trying to impress Lirea and get her attention. That idiot had been crushing on Lei for a long time, and he had never been discreet about his feelings for her. The problem was that Lirea didn’t like him, and the latter had very little patience when it came to Shin Yang, so she wouldn’t be surprised if she returned to find Lee Shin Yang’s cold, lifeless body waiting for her.
“Tell Lei to beat the hell out of that love freak if he starts acting up again.”
“She already did. But rest assured, he won’t end up dead because Dae’s there to referee between them. So all you need to do now is relax. Get some rest, or I’m seriously going to get in trouble with Tatay Kardo.”
He said before helping her toward the dining area. Once they had settled down, he immediately began putting food on the plate in front of her. He was busy spooning carrots and bitter gourd onto her plate when she stopped him. He looked at her questioningly.
“I don’t want carrots and bitter gourd. I don’t eat those.”
“I know, but you have to.”
“I don’t want to. They taste awful and weird.”
“You need to eat these. You keep getting sick because you’re not getting enough nutrients. All you ever eat is fast food and junk food, look what happened to you. Eat this.”
“I don’t want—”
“No more buts, Maria Victoria.”
“No—hey, what are you doing?”
“Each time you say no, I’m adding a spoonful of these to your plate. Now, eat.”
She looked down at her plate with a scowl, finding it completely filled with greens she mostly refused to eat. She glanced at the man sitting across from her, who was comfortably enjoying his meal and seemed to be having the time of his life making her suffer. He smiled at her before urging her to start eating.
“Why is everything green? What is this, grass? Am I a goat now?”
She grumbled under her breath with a scowl, loud enough for the grinning Naigel to hear.
“Then you’d be the prettiest goat I’ve ever seen. So go ahead and eat, my beautiful little goat. Don’t be shy. There’s still plenty of vegetables left in the pot. You can have an all-you-can-eat buffet of every green vegetable you can think of.”
He teased her with a grin, resting his chin on his hand as he watched her, looking absolutely delighted by her misery. Fuming, she stabbed a piece of carrot with her fork and hurriedly shoved it into her mouth. Her sudden movement sent her into a coughing fit, prompting Naigel to immediately rush to her side and hand her a glass of water.
“Slow down, sweetheart. There’s plenty more where that came from. I can cook more for dinner later if you really want to eat carrots that badly.”
“Tch!”
He merely burst into loud laughter before continuing to watch her in amusement, or rather, keeping an eye on her while she ate her grass.
She continued eating the innocent vegetables with a scowl on her face. That Naigel was seriously the biggest pain in her ass. From the time they were children until now, he had barely changed.
He’s still the biggest nuisance in my life.
It had been about twenty-two years since she first met Naigel at an exhibition where his painter mother’s artworks were being displayed in a museum, and from that day onward, he had never left her life. Their mothers were best friends, while their fathers had been fraternity brothers back in college, so it wasn’t surprising that she and Naigel had grown close as well. They were also both only children, and since their parents were only children themselves, their two families had practically become each other’s extended family.
But if there was one event in their lives that had truly strengthened the bond between her and Naigel, it would probably be what happened to them twenty years ago. Just three years after their first meeting, both of their parents tragically died in a plane crash. Her parents were declared dead on arrival, while Naigel’s parents remained hospitalized for a week before the doctors ultimately declared them brain-dead. She was six years old, and Naigel was nine at the time, and they were both heartbroken and devastated. To her, that was the very moment they both felt and silently agreed that from then on, they would always be there for each other. Every time. Together. For as long as they lived.
Naigel had kept that promise, just as she had. There had never been a moment in her life when she felt alone because Naigel was always there by her side. During those times when she felt like she couldn’t take it anymore and had nothing left to hope for, he held her close and cared for her with all his heart. Through every hardship life had thrown their way, he had never abandoned or neglected her. They had held on to each other. They had drawn strength from one another. And whenever she felt sad, he always gave her more reasons to be happy. To hope for a better tomorrow and a better life.
And for that, she would always be grateful to him and admire him. He had never once made her feel obligated to repay him for everything he had done for her. The care and affection he had given her were more than she could ever ask for, which was why Naigel was one of the few people she trusted with her life. Her all-purpose best friend was incredibly important to her, but sometimes, there were still moments when she couldn’t help wanting to chop him into seven pieces and grind him into fine powder out of sheer annoyance.
Just like now.
Her trip down memory lane was interrupted when she flinched at the sudden touch of Naigel’s cold finger against the corner of her mouth. He wiped something away from there before flashing her a triumphant smile. He even gave her right cheek a gentle squeeze, which she was certain had already turned red, although it wasn’t because he’d pinched it but because she suddenly felt so awkward.
Whoa, wait! And why the hell are you feeling awkward, huh? That’s Naigel, the annoying idiot, not your beloved Lohen or Lucas, remember?
“Will you stop bothering me? I’m eating here!”
“Why? What did I do to you?”
He asked with a grin before pretending to reach for her cheek again. She immediately stood up and planted her hands on her hips in front of him before his fingers could touch her cheek once more.
“HEY!’
She shouted at him with wide eyes, causing him to cover his ears and look at her with a grimace.
“Stop it, Mavy. I won’t tease you again, so stop shouting. You’re going to blow all the earwax out of my ears at this rate.”
She glared at him while he continued looking at her with a grimace, gently patting her shoulder and urging her to sit down and finish eating. Once she was certain he wouldn’t do it again, she sat back down and resumed her meal. He also returned to his seat across from her before resting his chin on his hand and watching her intently with a smile on his face.
“What?”
“What, what?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Why? How am I looking at you?”
“Do you want me to throw this okra at you?”
He shook his head and raised both hands in surrender before straightening up in his seat and finally looking away from her. He really was like a child.
Always so damn troublesome!
“Mavy, can I ask you something?”
She gestured for him to go ahead while she busied herself removing the poor little seeds from the string beans on her plate.
“Since when did you become this beautiful?”
The string bean seed she had been eating suddenly flew out of her mouth at his question. She choked again, prompting him to immediately rush to her side and hand her a glass of water while repeatedly rubbing her back. Once she had recovered from her surprise, she turned toward him, intending to scold him, but it just so happened that he was turning toward her at the same time, causing her neck to suddenly stiffen when she realized that their lips were barely a breath away from touching.
“Just now?”
Naigel asked her in an almost inaudible whisper, his eyes fixed intently on hers. She didn’t look away either. She could barely understand what he had said because of how loudly her heart was pounding. She felt as though she was about to come down with a fever or suffer a heart attack because he still hadn’t moved away from her and was continuing to stare at her intently.
“Don’t look at me like that. Finish your food, or I might just end up committing a sin right here and now, sweetheart.”
He said cryptically before straightening up and stepping away from her. She finally breathed a sigh of relief when he moved completely away from her. She was slightly puzzled when he didn’t return to his seat and instead picked up the plate he’d been eating from earlier.
“Finish your food. I’ll stop teasing you. And next time, don’t look at me while you’re eating and pouting like that.”
“Why?”
“I have a weakness for cute girls who eat their vegetables. And you, pouting like that, look like you’re asking for a kiss.”
“No, I didn’t!”
“Then stop looking like you are, or else you might end up getting a kiss. I’ll be upstairs if you need anything. I love you, Mavy!”
He said with a grin before kissing the top of her head and marching out of the dining area. She was left staring after him with her mouth hanging open, unable to believe the things he’d just said. When she finally realized what Naigel had just done to her, she irritably hurried through the remaining innocent vegetables on her plate.
Naigel Lee Verganza, you perverted flirt!
—-
-moongazer🌙
