PROLOGUE
"HAPPY Birthday, Henry!" Lia greeted him with a smile. "Here's my gift for you." She handed him a paper bag containing her present.
Henry was her older brother Teodore’s best friend, and he was six years her senior.
She had gone to see him in the hotel room he was using.
He was currently preparing for his 21st birthday celebration, which was to be held later at the hotel's function hall. "Oh, wow! Thank you, Baby girl!" Henry said as he took the paper bag. He immediately gave her a hug and playfully ruffled her hair.
"Eesshhh... Don’t do that!" She complained, fixing her long hair while facing a nearby mirror.
Henry laughed at her. He set the paper bag down on a table and approached Lia. "Don’t do what? Mess up your hair?" He ruffled it again. "But I’ve always done that to you, even when you were little." He reminded her.
"No! Stop it, Henry! I look ugly now." She pouted at her reflection in the mirror.
"Of course not!" He said, looking at her through the mirror.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yes! You're so lovely, Lia. To me, you’ll always be the most beautiful girl in the room."
Lia smiled at his words.
A moment later, he put an arm around her shoulder. "You okay now?"
She nodded.
"You're my baby girl, after all. Of course, you’re beautiful to me." He playfully pinched her nose.
She pulled away from his arm and turned to face him. "Can you please stop calling me Baby girl from now on?"
"Why not?"
"Because I’m not a child anymore. So stop treating me like that. I’m already fifteen."
He smiled at her. "Is that why you don't call me Kuya anymore?"
"That's not it."
"Then what is it?"
"Because I want you to call me—" She said in a low voice, averting her eyes.
"Call you what?"
She faced him again. "I like you, Henry. I love you! Do you love me?"
It took a long time before he answered. He looked straight into her eyes. "I do."
"Really?" Her eyes seemed to sparkle at his confession.
"Yes. I love you. I treat you like a sister, right?"
"No. I want you to love me more than that."
"No. I can't, Lia. I'm sorry."
She felt a wave of sadness at his words. "Why?"
"Because I have a girlfriend."
"What?"
Henry was about to say more when they heard a knock at the door.
Moments later, a woman walked in.
"There she is." He said.
* NOTE: Definition
KUYA - Older brother / Older person (boy)
ATE - Older sister / older person (girl)
