Saturday, February 6, 2010

Paper Stars - Chapter One

Chapter 1 – Homecoming


It was a long journey back home.

Nadine settled quietly on her seat as she looked outside the window of the bus she is on. With each scenery, a nostalgic feeling is coming into her. It has been two years since she came home. Her work in the call center as a team lead won't even allow her to have a long vacation. Good thing she have decided to resign, for she would be able to be with her family once again. She will be able to have a long rest, for she have been working before she could even graduate from college. She knew her mom needed her now to run their business, and she have to be there to help her.

When she resigned from work, her boss was not pleased with her decision. She is being eyed to replace her boss as the Operations Manager of their account, but she turned it down by resigning. She knew that with that promotion comes a big responsibility, and she doesn't want to have that big responsibility on that higher position. Besides, she have already decided to manage their resort. She wanted to pay off all of their debts, so that her mom wouldn't have to worry about a thing.

A few hours later, she have reached her destination. As soon as they reached the terminal, she saw her brother, Angelo, at the waiting area. She gathered her bags, and ran outside the bus. “Angelo!” she shouted as she ran towards him. She gave him a bear hug, which made her brother unable to breath. “Na...dine... can't... breathe...” Angelo mumbled. With that, Nadine let him go. She looked at him from head to toe, and could see that he have changed a lot. The last time she saw him, they were of the same height. Now, Angelo is taller than her. And more handsome than their dad. “Wow, you're really becoming a man, huh?” she said. Angelo laughed, and shook his head. “Not really...” he said. Then, he looked at his sister, and smiled at him. “Welcome home.” he said. Nadine smiled back at her brother. She sure missed him, especially her mom. “I'm glad to be back home.” she said.

Angelo helped his sister with her luggage, and put it at the back of the car. Then, he hopped inside the driver's seat of their car. “I didn't know you can drive...” Nadine commented as she got inside the car. Angelo could only give his sister a smirk. “Of course. I'm all grown up... and have I told you that I am already driving? How can you forget that?” Angelo said. Nadine smiled shyly as she shook her head. “Just drive carefully... I just got home, and I want to see mom.” she said. Angelo rolled his eyes at his sister, and then he started the engine of the car.

“So, how's everybody?” Nadine asked as they drove home. “Well, everything's OK. Mom's OK. She's working hard to pay off our debts... and then there's some problems with Aunt Cherry...” Angelo said. Aunt Cherry is their mom's step sister. Her mom and their aunt doesn't go along very well because Their grandpa, Aunt Cherry's father and her mom's step dad, is always in favor their mom. Another reason why Nadine decided to go home is because their business is in the brink of bankruptcy, and they owe a huge debt to their Aunt Cherry. She knew her aunt would do everything to kick them out of their property so that she could see them all miserable.

“She really wanted us out, huh?” she asked. Angelo nodded his head. “You said it right! Man, I really want to kick her butt whenever she goes to the resort, but as they said, be kind to animals.” Angelo joked. Nadine laughed at him, and then she hit his shoulder. “You're so mean!” she said as she giggled. “But she's meaner! You should see her face when she's mad... it's so red, and you can see the vein popping out of her forehead!” Angelo said. Nadine could imagine what Angelo was telling him, and so she could only laugh.

--

Crimson Skies Resort.
Nadine got out of the car, and stared at the big arc on the gate with the sign of their resort's name. “Welcome to Crimson Skies Resort, the most beautiful place on Earth.” Angelo said. She let out a smile as she looked around the place she called home. “I'm finally back...” she muttered. Nothing have changed since she first left this place. It's still the same as she remembered it to be.

She walked inside their small in, only to find it empty, with no sign of the employees, or even her mom. “Where is everybody?” she asked her brother in confusion. Angelo could only shrug his shoulder, but at the back of his mind, he knew exactly where everybody is. “Oh, beats me where they are. Mom!” he shouted the last word he said. As if on queue, everyone came out from their hiding place, and surprised her. “Welcome back!” they all shouted in glee. Nadine was nevertheless surprised with them. They were holding a banner which says “Welcome home, Nadine!”, some were holding balloons, and their caretaker, Julio, was holding a cake.

“Nadine, sweetie!” she heard a familiar voice say. As she looked up, she saw her mother walking up to her, with her arms wide open. “Mom!” She hugged her mom tight. “I'm so glad you're back home, Nadine... I missed you.” her mom said. Nadine looked at her mom, and smiled at her. “I missed you too, mommy...” she said. Then, she turned to face all of their employees. “Thank you for the surprise, guys... thank you for the warm welcome.” she said. “We're so glad that you're home, Ms. Nadine. I know the resort would be much better under your supervision...” Julio said. Nadine smiled, and nodded her head. “I do look forward to work with all of you. I hope that you will help me make this resort the top resort here in Ilocos.” she said. “Don't worry, Miss Nadine, we will do our best to help you.” another of her employee, Myrna (the cook) said. Nadine smiled sweetly at them. “So, with that said, I guess we can start this welcome party, then we'll start to work right away, OK?” she said. Angelo gave her sister a confused look. “Aren't you going to rest for a while?” he asked. Nadine shook her head. “I guess there are a lot of things that we have to do here, so before I could fix everything, I don't want to rest.” she said. Her mom looked worriedly at her. “Are you sure you'll be OK? Your condition...” she said. Nadine smiled at her, and shook her head. “I'm OK mom. I have always been OK, so don't worry about a thing.” she said. Then, she turned to their employees, and gave them an authoritative look. “Get this party going, so that we can all start working.” she said.

--

After the welcome party, and after taking a little rest, Nadine began to work. Since it was almost summer, they had a lot of guests coming in. She was at the reception area, greeting some of the clients, when her Aunt Cherry came with her daughter, Melody. “So, the prodigal daughter is back.” Aunt Cherry said haughtily. She looked up at her, and though she is a little annoyed by her presence, she managed to force a smile at her. “Good afternoon, Aunt Cherry. Is there anything that I can help you with?” she asked. Aunt Cherry folded her arms, and smirked at her. “I don't think you can do anything right, sweetie. Do you think that by running this resort on your own, you can pay me back the amount that your mom owes me? I don't think so.” she said.

She sighed, and then she decided to ignore her. She won't let this woman ruin her day, or even her happy mood. “Well, then... I guess if you have nothing to say or nothing to do here in resort, please excuse me, for I have a lot of things to do.” she said. As she turned her back on them, she felt Aunt Cherry grab her arm, and pulled her to face her. “Don't turn your back on me, you ingrate!” Aunt Cherry shouted angrily at her. She was trying to control her temper, but this was the last straw. “I excused myself, have you heard?” she snapped at her. Aunt Cherry glared at her angrily, and then,she was about to slap her in the face. Good thing, Nadine was fast, and was able to hold her hand. “You have no right to hurt me!” Nadine shouted angrily at her. “I have the right too, bitch! After all, you owe your life to me.” Aunt Cherry said. Nadine shook her head as she glared at him. “I don't you anything, Aunt Cherry. Not even my life.” she hissed.

“Ingrate! After all the things I've done for you! If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be alive ! If it wasn't for me, the bank would have taken this precious resort of yours already. You owe me everything that you've got right now!” Aunt Cherry shouted at her again. “I don't owe you my life! Yes, you may have saved this resort from being taken away from us, and we are thankful for that. Don't worry, I'll pay you every single penny that we owe you for 'helping' us keep this resort.”

Just then, her mom and Angelo came out to find her having an argument with her aunt. “Stop it, sis...” Angelo said as she came to her side. Aunt Cherry could only sneer at her. “Pay?! I don't think you could pay me 5 Million in six months. Before you knew it, this resort will be mine.” she said proudly. Nadine reached for her pocket, and then threw the money she had at her. “There! Take that! I won't let you take this resort, I swear! Over my dead body!” she shouted at him. Aunt Cherry looked down at the money on the floor, then looked up at Nadine proudly. “That is not enough payment that I needed.” she said. With that, she turned around, and left her in anger.

Nadine looked at her angrily as she leaves. Her mom came to her to calm her down. “You will never have this resort... I swear in my father's grave... you can never take this away from us...” she said. She felt a tear fall from her eyes, and then she wiped it. She can't be weak right now. She can't be scared of her. Everyone is depending on her, so she have to be strong.

Labels: original story, Paper Stars