“Um,” Kira said, unsure how to answer a question that was suddenly way too complicated.Yes, he’s still my boyfriend. He still owns the hotel...probably.Ugh, too many minefields. She decided to smile instead.
“Ay look at that smile,” she cooed. “I’m looking forward to attending another wedding in this ballroom. Did you hear about the governor’s son’s wedding here?”
It was the perfect opportunity to escape to the buffet table, which was looking a lot less laden with food than it had been when Kira first left the ballroom. She was contemplating the kuchinta when someone stood next to her and started to put brownies on his plate. Alotof brownies on his plate. Kira tried to stifle a little giggle, only for Uno Luz to stop mid-take and look at her oddly.
“This is for me and my fiancée,” he explained. Kuya Uno had been stiff and standoffish throughout the board meeting, like he wasn’t quite sure how he’d ended up in a ballroom of a boutique hotel in Batangas. But hey, if he was comfortable enough to ask someone to marry him here, maybe he would do well.
“No, Kuya, I’m just glad you’re enjoying them.” Kira smiled. “They’re made with Gemini chocolate.”
“Are they?” he asked, then had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. “I should know that.”
“Well, you’re still learning.” Kira shrugged. “And I’m happy to help if you need it.”
“Thank you,” he said with a little smile. “You know, I was worried that you were going to be dramatic about this whole, ‘me looking into your business’ thing.”
“Oh, I get it. It’s something everyone has to go through; it’s normal, it’s not devastating. I’ve heard all the reasons why I shouldn’t have worried.” She shrugged. Easy to say now, but... “And maybe you thought I would be dramatic because the last time we actually talked, I was twelve, and you told me Kurama would never love me,” she said with a quirked brow, because Scorpios held grudges like nobody’s business.
“Well...yes,” Kuya Uno admitted, and Kira really appreciated that it was impossible for her cousin to hide his embarrassment. It made his Wharton-educated ass seem a lot more approachable. Even if he was still a bit of an ass. Was there such a thing as a half-ass? “But you know it’s not personal, right? It’s just business.”
Kira sighed. She picked up the second kutsinta. She freaking deserved it, if she was going to have this conversation. “Kuya Uno. If you still think that, then I think you have quite a lot to learn about the Laneways.”
She really did wish him all the best. She also had no doubt that Ate Nessie was going to have him wrapped around her middle finger very soon. “It’s not personal to you, but it is to me. It’s personal to the shop owners, to the family, and to everyone there. You saw how quickly they shot down the Carlton Group’s letter of intent.”
“Right.” He frowned. “I did think that was the wrong move, to not even consider...”
“It’s land. It’s not going away anytime soon.” Kira shook her head. He still didn’t get it. “It’s a safe space, Kuya. And honestly, it could be yours too, if you need it.”
That made him pause. He looked at Kira like she was a completely different person, like he hadn’t really seen her until now. Which wasn’t fine, but it was more his loss than hers.
“I...” he finally said. “I suppose.”
Kira couldn’t help herself. She laughed, leaving her cousin completely bewildered as she went to join the rest of the family making plans for Christmas.
It was later in the evening when Santi finally showed up. At this point, the Luz family was now in full family reunion mode, and it wasn’t a family reunion without “Dancing in September” playing in the distance. Technically they were well over their number of hours rented on the venue, but the staff of Villa didn’t seem in any rush to kick them out. Even if they were already discreetly bringing out the coffee and the dinner menu.
Kira had the kind of family that stuck around for events, just to make sure nobody else needed an extra hand, offering rides home to anyone who needed it. So after she smiled at a few titas and titos, assured them that no, she was definitelynotnext to get married, she escaped again. Out of the ballroom and to the walkway that connected it to the hotel, a long winding path in brick that had a trellis with pothos plants to protect the person walking from rain.
She was standing at the entrance of the ballroom, leaning against the wall and brooding like a princess in a tower, when her knight in shining armorfinallyshowed up.
It was funny, watching Santi walk to her now.
He’d done it before, of course. The man liked a good, dramatic walkup. But New Year had been about Santi taking a stand, showing her nothing but only his best side as he came to her. Back then, she had seen his determination, his arresting but quiet strength. New Year’s Eve he was striding toward her with Darcy’s sheer confidence and hope,as I had scarcely ever allowed myself to hope before.
It was hard to believe that the man that had frustrated her, challenged her—so stubborn that only Vigan longganisa sandwiches had gotten through to him—was the same man walking up to her today. Santi was walking to her with a smile. Hesitant, but he was there. He also looked exhausted, like he was in desperate need of a hug, and then a nap. He still made her heart sing. He still believed in her. He still had a savior complex that she knew was going to cause them alotof trouble in the future.
But he was here. Just as he said he was, that New Year’s Eve. She didn’t know where he’d been, what happened with his grandfather. She didn’t know what the future would look like for the both of them. But she had a sneaking suspicion that it was going to be okay.
“Hey,” she told him, smiling, although she knew it wasn’t her brightest, or her best. “You’re late.”
“Hi,” he said, stopping just in front of her, tucking his hands into his pockets. He’d pushed up his sleeves. And not only was it slightly distracting, it also told her that he hadn’t missed the board meeting just because. Things had been done. “I’m sorry. I’ve been talking to lawyers for the last two days. Name a form of communication, we’ve probably done it.”
“Morse code? Messenger hawk? Coded messages, skywriting?”
“Okay, maybe not,” Santi sighed. “How was the meeting?”
“Are you moving back to Manila?”
There was a moment where Kira thought that he would tell her that he was. That he had decided to take the hard way out and leave. But the moment came as quickly as it passed. She knew better now.
