Say Something Good To Me - 2

No one really knew where the strong wind came from as they rushed out to the mansion's open garden where the swimming pool was. All the new maids in the mansion stared at the shiny, black helicopter in awe as it seemed to float above the swimming pool. The door opened and they saw the princess of the house, Sandy sitting in there. The older maids, who already worked for the family for years, were already used to such scenarios like this. The vast wealth of the Federal family doesn't blind them anymore. It already seemed like an ordinary thing for them from then on. Sandy's old butler, Michael, approached close to the pool in spite of the strong wind, and he reached out his hand to assist her as she got down from the helicopter. Sandy tried to keep her balance, carrying her small travelling bag in one arm while letting Michael hold her elbow to assist her. When she finally got down, Sandy cared less about the mess the helicopter wind did to her hair. She distanced, all along with Michael who carried her bag for her, and waved goodbye to the pilot of the helicopter as it flew higher again. After that, she ran her fingers through her long brown hair to straighten it and smiled at the maids. It was only when she realized that her parents were missing.

"Where's Mama and Papa?" she asked them.

"Your father's busy with the furniture manufacturing company," Isabelle, the oldest of all the maids answered, "and your mother... isn't she with you in Bella Amor?"

Sandy felt like laughing at herself. She had almost forgotten that her mother wanted to stay in Bella Amor for a few more weeks, while she was so tired of the same beach everyday so she returned back to the city. She was sure that she would miss everybody there, their relatives and friends, but then, the city life was more enjoyable for her. It was just that Bella Amor's sunset makes her feel really sad, and seeing all the tourist everyday going through some stuff like fighting, honeymoon

"Oh, geez," she shook her head and giggled a little. "I almost forgot."

She walked straight inside the house and everybody followed her inside. As they got in, they went back to their work. Sandy had felt so tired from hours of sitting on her trip so she went upstairs with Michael. As the forty-something-aged butler put down her bag at the foot of her bed, Sandy politely thanked him before he left. When she was finally alone, she did not bother to change her clothes. She jumped on her bed and slept.

_________________________________

Footsteps made him jerk and look up from the direction where it came from. As Rafael lifted his eyes, he saw Blue, ramping with his high-heeled Jimmy Choose. He was so proud of the killer heels; he had to wear it inside the Malacanang Palace. As of now, Blue evolved from the black-haired boy to a blonde-dyed, shoulder length haired gay. It took him a lot of effort to put extensions to his dark eyelashes, and of course, it was not that hard for him to do his make-up that he started doing as a routine since he was a teenager. Rafael sighed; he could not believe what on earth happened to his brother. It was like, his father was the toughest military lieutenant during his time and Rafael was as manly as his father and when it came to Blue, the hierarchy of men in their family suddenly made a nosedive. Sometimes, he thought he would like to deny that this is his brother just to save face. But what else is new? The society had really changed and the third sex was beginning to become acceptable then.

Rafael could not freak out, nor pull himself away when Blue leaned close to give him a kiss on the cheek and embraced him tight for a minute. As Blue released him, he saw his brother... or sister's smile on his red-tinted lips.

"So grouchy with all the paparazzi, eh?" Blue said, raising his eyebrow penciled to a light brown.

"You know I don't like them interfering with my personal life," he mumbled as he turned to sit on a sofa in the living room.

"So tell me, brother dear," Blue said in a girly tone as he wriggled his nail-polished fingers and sat on a separate sofa with crossed-legs. "What brings you back to Philippines? Really! No one expected it."

"Yeah, no one expected it, so how come the paparazzi are there?"

"Oh, you know how nosy they should be to do their work," Blue grinned. "Now don't scoot away the topic, Rafael-ly. What brings you back here? Isn't it years and years ago when you said you're not coming back in here anymore?"
"I only said that, not promised that, Blue. How about you?" he said as he rested his back relaxed on the backrest of the peach leather sofa. "What's with all the make-up and stuff? Really feeling like a princess here in the Malacanang palace?"

Blue giggled and slapped his brother's arm. "You bet! I really love this place! And guess what? I am planning to try show business!"

Rafael snickered. "And then what? Be a comedian?"

"It wasn't that bad being a comedian," Blue chirped.

"Sure, with your face like that, being a comedian will be easy for you," Rafael teased.

Blue slapped him harder but that didn't hurt Rafael. "Oh, come on! Can't you just be, at least, supportive to me? Hm? And this face is so beautiful-" Blue placed a hand under his chin with its palm facing down to emphasize his face, "-so TV celebrity material, dear brother."

"Yeah, right," Rafael surrendered. He just loves his brother to keep on pushing him down. "Be thankful that there are no ugly face genes running in the blood of our family!"

Their discussion was interrupted when they saw their father coming. None of them moved from their seats. It was just that, they were so distant to their father. Their mother already died years ago, yet, they did not develop any close relationship with their father. He was a military man, so what else could you expect from him? He had been too tough on them when they were kids.

"So, you're back," Gregorio Diego said, looking down to his son on his formal attire. "I thought you're not coming back."

"You have nothing to do with my return, if that's what you're thinking," Rafael answered, still the same kind of answer he would always give to his father.

"Then, what brings you here?" his father asked, trying to hopefully hear what he was expecting him to answer.

"Blue," Rafael replied, glancing a bit at his brother before standing up to be able to stand face to face with his father. "I just dropped by to ask Blue about Bella Amor resort."

Blue's eyes seemed to sparkle when he heard the name of the resort that his brother has just mentioned. He stood up, almost clapped his hands as he placed a hand on Rafael's shoulder to make him look at him.

"Oh! You want to go there?" he asked Rafael excitedly.

"It really depends," Rafael said with a grin on his lips.

Blue's forehead wrinkled, while Gregorio, who seemed not to like the discussion left them without their notice to go out to an important gathering. He was really about to tell Blue about that when he saw Rafael talking with him. In fact, he had been standing behind the post inside the living room for a long time, staring at his eldest son who already turned out to be a man. He could only hear news about him because of Blue, who usually chats with Rafael on internet. Gregorio sighed at the sight of his son and prideful to admit, even to himself that he missed his bastard son who had been out in USA for years. His return made him feel happy; even if he already knew it from the start that he would never be a reason for Rafael to come back to the Philippines. Gregorio was getting old, his retirement would be two years from now and if his son could not be the president of the Philippines, so be it. He was just hoping that he would retire happily, being in good terms with Rafael.

"Depends on what?" Blue asked excitedly.

"I saw your Facebook friend list," Rafael said, crossing his arms, "I saw that you're friends with Sandra Federal."

"Oh!" Blue looked more excited than ever. "Yes! Her family owns Bella Amor, you know!"

"Well, do you think she can help me with the reservations?" he asked. "I want to be in the penthouse."

Blue pouted. "You're not yet the president of the country but you're starting to act so VIP, dear brother. The penthouse belongs privately to the family, so you can't make a reservation for that. Why don't you just stick along with the suites?"

"I want the penthouse, that's why I need-" he shrugged his shoulders, "-you know, help from one of the owners, or family member of the owners, at least."

"Well, Marky already owns the resort, Sandy's cousin. I guess you should talk about the matter with him."

"Why not with Sandy instead?" he pressed.

"Why with your ex-girlfriend?" Blue asked back, wriggling his eyebrows all of a sudden.

"I don't like it when you're using that kind of tone as if this is some blind item scoop you are asking me."

"Then don't make me intrigued," Blue grinned, flicking his fingers in the air. "But since I am already intrigued, why her? What's the plan?"

"Geez," he shook his head. "She's the closest person I could think of who's close to the owner of Bella Amor."

"There's a lot of resorts around the world, why Bella Amor? And why Sandy?"

Rafael felt like his brother's questions were piping hotcakes thrown at his face. He wildly raised his hands to make him stop asking questions.

"What does that have to do with my want to have a Philippine vacation in Bella Amor?"

Blue grinned wider, looking like he just got a round two of those porn videos movie marathon.

"You're so obvious, brother. You're not here for a vacation, reservations or Bella Amor. You are after Sandy."