You Are Mine

"Uhrmm!", he cleared his throat to make his presence known. Christine and Jolo froze. Like in a slow-motion movie, they turned to look at Joseph who's face was as dark as a black hole. The temperature on the balcony dropped to beyond zero.

"Can't find a suitable room for you?" he said in a cold voice, his face so dark.

Jolo froze but Christine remained calm. She carefully got off of Jolo and fixed herself while Jolo hurriedly stood up and awkwardly smiled at his brother.

"We lost.. ahmm..we lost balance and we fell on the ground, that was all", Jolo explained. Christine gave her an odd look, he doesn't have to explain it really to Joseph. She is always put on a bad situation whenever Joseph shows up.

Joseph just looked at her for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Jolo.

"I wanted to talk to you but it seems you are busy, we'll just talk tomorrow", Joseph said and turned around to leave.

"I am not busy bro, I can always make time for you", Jolo said but Joseph did not look back as if he did not hear anything.

Christine shrugged her shoulders and went back to the swing and sat there.

"Its kind of late already, maybe we should just go to bed", Jolo said. He was also tired and wanted to rest. Joseph is an early riser so he must get up early in case Joseph would talk to him in the morning.

"Yeah, go ahead, I will just stay for a few minutes more here", Christine said. She liked what they did with the balcony and she wanted to breathe some fresh air.

"Okay, I will go ahead. Don't stay up too late, it is not good for your skin", Jolo said while he was walking towards the door out of the balcony.

"Alright but don't ever, ever, ever, forget about our deal. A deal is a deal!", Christine replied. Jolo stopped and turned to look at Christine, pretending to have a second thought. He loves to bully her.

Christine's expression turned sour which made Jolo smile. It is so easy to bully her. She looked so cute looking like an aggrieved child. He laughed at her and gave a thumbs up sign.

"You got it! Don't give me that look, it breaks my heart." He said putting his hands on his chest,exaggerating.

"Goodnight", Christine rolled her eyes at him and smiled.

"Goodnight", Jolo said and turned his back on her while waving his hand.

The balcony became silent. She let out a sigh and smiled. She laid on the swing looking at the vast sky with full of stars that look like diamonds. Half of the moon is hidden but it still shone brightly giving just enough light for everyone to enjoy. The wind is getting cold and lightly blowing, sending a little shiver to her spine. She wrapped her hands around her and closed her eyes. She loved the serenity of the night, it was so quiet except for the frogs and crickets. Everything in that night spells calmness and peace, except her heart and mind.

Now that she is back, she doesn't know what will happen. Judging with how Celine reacted during the dinner, she can already see that her life here will not be peaceful. Celine was the one spreading fake news about her and she has a gut feeling that she is responsible for the horse incident before. She doesn't really care what people think of her and she doesn't have any plan to explain herself to anyone. What she is concerned now is how her reputation, the reputation that Celine has created for her, will affect Claire. She is innocent, sweet and she is her only sister. Is Celine treating Claire well?

Now that she thought about it, she remembered Claire saying that Celine was always angry at her. Is she also angry at her own daughter? If that is the case then she feels pity for Claire. She must be going through a hard time. She promised to talk to Claire tomorrow, to see if Celine has been a good mother to her. Because if not, then there must be something wrong with her, something psychological.

She just stayed that way for a few more minutes. Her eyes were closed and deep in thought that she did not notice Joseph standing by the swing looking at her. He was there for about 5 minutes already, observing every movement of her lips, eyes, eyebrows,mouth and every expression she made. He just stared at her, mesmerized at the beauty that is laid in front of him. Her skin glowed under the moonlight, so pure and smooth like a baby's even if she was smoking. Her hair spread on the swing, so black and silky that he wanted to touch it and feel its softness. Her eyes tightly closed as if she is meditating. His eyes landed on her lips, her full lips that's so inviting.

He remembered the kiss they shared on the roadside, inside his car five years ago. He has mixed emotions, he is slightly jealous of all the men that might have tasted those red full lips. He is jealous of all the men who were with her within those 5 long years. He wondered if she has even thought of him, even just for once. He is willing to forget all of it, forget all the men that she was with and everything that she might have done in the past. He will never let her go this time. He will make her stay no matter what, even if he is going to use Claire.

When Christine left, he started to investigate and found out that Christine was innocent with the drugs and he felt guilty for judging her. But at that time, it was the most sensible thing to do. Celine was threatening to put her to jail, not that he will allow it, but her reputation will be ruined. Another thing was the baby Celine was carrying which is now Claire.

He also found out that Christine has never been involved in any indecent relationship or activity with anyone or their workers. However, when he confronted Celine, she showed him some pictures to prove her claim. The men in the pictures were not their workers. Celine claimed they were from M City.Celine said she had the pictures checked and they were authentic. Those pictures haunted him. Every time he wanted to get close to Christine, he will remember those pictures and jealousy and rage would take over.