A Rose, A Ring and A Promise: Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

“Sapphire.”

Sapphire smiled at the girl beside her. “Hi Amanda!” Then she noticed that Amanda was holding a picture album. “What's that?”

“Oh this?” Amanda's eyes twinkled with mischief. “It's my brother's photo album. He thinks it’s hidden but I accidentally found out where he keeps this. It wouldn’t hurt to show this to you before I return it.” 

“Why would he hide something like a picture album?” Sapphire asked, curious.

“Because it has pictures from when he was little,” Amanda answered.

            Sapphire grimaced. She understood why Bryce kept it then. Her father used to show her childhood photos to her friends and it was embarrassing!

            I wonder what he looked like as a child…

Eventually, curiosity took over and she and Amanda started opening the album.

On the first page was a photo of a chubby baby boy with dark brown wisp of hair and beautiful, gentle eyes.

“That's my brother when he was 6 months old.”

“He's so cute!” she gushed.

They flipped a few more pages of the album, with Amanda explaining how old Bryce was there and where the photo was taken and other stuff.

“How did you know all these things about Bryce's childhood? You weren't even born yet when he was in this age, right?”

“Yes, Kuya was already 8 years old when I was born. But Mom used to tell the stories to me.”

“So that's how you know so much.” She flipped another page of the album and found that it was the last page. “Aww, too bad there's no photos of him in his elementary days. I wanted to see him in a school uniform.”

“Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find those somewhere in this house,” Amanda said as she tucked the album inside her bag.

“Find what?”

They both looked at Bryce who just entered the living room.

Bryce took one look at the guilty expressions of the two ladies and knew they were hiding something from him.

“Find what, Amanda?” He repeated to his sister.

Amanda made a show of looking at her watch. “Oh look at the time! I’m gonna be late for my class! Bye brother! Bye Sapphire! See you later!” She hurriedly went to the garage, calling the name of their driver on her way out.

“Amanda, get back here!” Bryce demanded, frowning. But of course, Amanda pretended not to hear him.

“It’s too early to be in a bad mood, Bryce,” Sapphire said.

Bryce turned to her and said, “My mood is not your business.” But his expression relaxed although he didn’t smile.

At least he’s not scowling. Schyler thought.

“You don’t have work today?” she asked puzzled because it was only the middle of the week and Bryce even spend most Sundays out of the house.

“I’m supposed to meet a client but it was cancelled so I decided to have the rest of the day off.”

“Oh,” she said, not knowing how to react to that. She was glad Bryce can have a rest from his usually hectic schedule. But she didn’t like how thoughts like ‘you can be alone with him’ chanted at the back of her mind.

“You’re not doing anything today?” Bryce asked nonchalantly, breaking her internal battle.

She opened her mouth to say ‘not really’ but before the words were voiced out, the doorbell rang.

“I’ll just get that,” Bryce said then went to see who was outside, mentally checking the list of possible visitors in his head. The security in his house is tight so except if whoever was outside was a relative or a really close friend who has visited him before, the guards wouldn’t let them through the gate without asking him first.

“Oh it’s you. Why are you here?” He asked when he opened the door to see his cousin Em with that usual smile-that-is-more-like-a-smirk on her face.

“I came to see Sapphire of course. Could there be any other reason? I know Amanda has class today,” Em said in a matter-of-fact manner.

“There is always the possibility that you came in behalf of all our pesky friends to bother me,” he said suspiciously. His close friends consisted of Em and three other guys – namely Ken, Nathaniel and Brad. They were friends since they were kids. That is sometimes a disadvantage because they think that’s reason enough to constantly meddle in his life.

“Even if I wanted to bother you, I wouldn’t do it in behalf of them,” Em said while walking pass Bryce and going inside the house. But she stopped walking when she realized that it was Wednesday today and the Bryce she knew never stays at home on a weekday.

“Wait. You’re here on a Wednesday. What miraculous power made you stay at home?” Em asked his cousin, genuinely surprised.

“What miraculous power are you blabbering about?” Bryce retorted.

“Bryce stayed at home for me, Em,” Sapphire, who had followed Bryce out of curiosity of who the visitor was, interrupted with a teasing tone.

“What are you blabbering about?” Bryce snapped at Sapphire.

The bestfriends laughed at the face Bryce was making.

“Oh my dear cousin is blushing. I never knew I’d live to see this day!” Em said at her cousin, still laughing.

“I was just joking, Bryce. No need to get so angry. Sheesh!” Sapphire said, thinking that the red flush on Bryce’s face was because of anger and not of embarrassment.

But Em knew better. Things have certainly gotten exciting since I last saw these two.

“Hey since you two don’t have anything to do, why don’t we watch a movie?” Em suggested, ignoring Bryce’s ‘Who told you I have nothing to do’ protests.

“Just the three of us?” Sapphire asked her bestfriend.

And be the third wheel for you two? No way! “No. I’m sure Nat, Ken and Brad would be happy to tag along. You’ve already met them right?”

“Yes and I’m sure it be fun with all of us there,” Sapphire clapped excitedly. “Too bad, Amanda has class though.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” Em said.

With the bright smile back on her face, Sapphire went to her room to change.

Em turned to Bryce who had been quiet all this time. “You wouldn’t be a killjoy right?”

“No,” Bryce said simply and left Em so he could change his clothes in his room too. But in his mind, he was saying, it’s practically a crime to disappoint someone whose eyes are shining like that over a simple movie.

Great! Things are definitely going my way. Em thought later as she watched Bryce’s reaction when he saw Sapphire walking down the stairs wearing red sleeveless top that emphasized her pinkish white skin and showed off her tiny waist, tight-fitted jeans that clung to her body like second skin and high-lighted her curves and black high heeled boots that made her appear taller than she really was. He looked stunned and mesmerized. In a matter of a few weeks, Sapphire was able to have him make that expression that he had not worn on his face for years.

“Let’s go?” Sapphire beamed at them like an excited little child.

“I’ll just get the car. You two wait in the front,” Bryce said and left the two of them.

“Are you having fun here?” Em asked Sapphire who was still smiling at Bryce’s retreating form.

“I guess you could say that. Amanda and I get along well because we have so many things in common. As for Bryce...” Sapphire stalled.

“As for Bryce?” Em prompted her. She was observing her from the corner of her eyes.

Sapphire giggled. “It’s so much fun to tease him because he gets irritated easily.”

“You’re not bothered that he’s bad-tempered most of the time?”

“It is part of his charm. Although it would be nice he frowned less and smiled more,” Sapphire gave an amused smile.

“Charm, huh? What if I tell you he isn’t like that before?”

“What do you mean?” Sapphire asked, confused.

“He used to be a different person back then. Although he was more strict and serious than the rest of us, he knew how to have fun. He laughed and went out with us and he had many friends aside from us. He was also admired by most of his employees at his company.”

“Really?! So what happened? What made him like that?”

“It’s not a ‘what’. It’s a ‘who’.” Em then went ahead and told Sapphire about Bryce’s ex-girlfriend Stacey who left him for another guy. In Em’s opinion, Stacey was a bitch. Nat, Brad and Ken didn’t agree with her but they did say Stacey wasn’t good for Bryce. Unfortunately, Bryce loved her too much, he wouldn’t listen to them. In the end, he was hurt and it made him turn into a very grouchy person.

Honestly, she was like that before too. Until she met Sapphire. At first, she was annoyed at Sapphire’s insistence to be friends with her but then the girl’s bright smile and forever optimistic mind-set pulled her out of her dark disposition.

She had a feeling Sapphire’s cheerfulness would nurse Bryce back to his old self. Bryce on the other hand, would give the security and care that Sapphire deserved. The two might even end up together!

“How horrible! So she didn’t really love him from the start? He was just a trophy boyfriend?” Sapphire looked really sad.

“Who knows? But if it’s you, would you have cruelly left someone you love and at the same day have a new boyfriend which just happened to be his long time enemy?”

“I wouldn’t do that!” Sapphire said with conviction and added softly, “So that’s why I saw sadness in his eyes. I thought it was just my imagination.”

Em looked at her bestfriend, surprised. She didn’t expect Sapphire to be that sensitive to other's emotions.

“Do you like him?”

Sapphire blinked once then blushed. “Don’t you think it’s too soon to answer that?”

“Okay, I’ll revise my question. You enjoy teasing and talking to him, right?”

“Yes.”

“You want to see his old smiling and laughing self?”

“Yes.”

“You find him handsome?”

“Yes.”

“So you like him?”

“Ye-” Sapphire’s eyes widened when she realized what she was about to say. She threw a dagger look at Em. “Hey!”

Em laughed.

Only the sound of the car’s honk from the impatient Bryce stopped Sapphire from strangling her still laughing bestfriend. She settled with spanking her arm hard.

I do not see Bryce that way. Em is assuming too much.

But she didn’t know why at the back of her mind, she wanted to agree with Em.

To be continued~

Note: In denial!!! Sapphire, that is. XD so what do you think about this chapter? :)