Elise THEY were so into their argument that they hadn’t even noticed our movement down here, or noticed they were not alone anymore.“Didn’t you hear what I’ve been saying? She’s naïve—innocent provincial and all that which is a novelty these days. Nothing like that has happened between us,” Brandon was saying.Lisette laughed so loudly. In my head, I was shrieking at her. It was damn insulting! “She’s a virgin?! You got yourself a virgin girlfriend?”I saw Brandon snort. “So what? She was worth more gold than anyone of you. I’ve never met a woman ever that I admire the way I do her.”Lisette stared at Brandon like he just formed another nose on his face. Then she looked like she finally believed him. “Oh my God… what is it with you and virgins?”Brandon straightened up. He looked away from Lisette, too. “I don’t get what you mean.”“I lost mine to you when I was fourteen, you hypocrite.”And there I was, with my heart melting after I heard him say he admired me.And now, this.Ok
EliseTHEY were so into their argument that they hadn’t even noticed our movement down here, or noticed they were not alone anymore.“Didn’t you hear what I’ve been saying? She’s naïve—innocent provincial and all that which is a novelty these days. Nothing like that has happened between us,” Brandon was saying.Lisette laughed so loudly.In my head, I was shrieking at her. It was damn insulting!“She’s a virgin?! You got yourself a virgin girlfriend?”I saw Brandon snort. “So what? She was worth more gold than anyone of you. I’ve never met a woman ever that I admire the way I do her.”Lisette stared at Brandon like he just formed another nose on his face.Then she looked like she finally believed him.“Oh my God… what is it with you and virgins?”Brandon straightened up. He looked away from Lisette, too. “I don’t get what you mean.”“I lost mine to you when I was fourteen, you hypocrite.”And there I was, with my heart melting after I heard him say he admired me.And now, this.Okay. E
Elise"You didn't know Elise? She's Brandon's girlfriend—at least until just a few moments ago. We just found out Brandon is engaged to another woman.""Another woman? Gian, I don't...""The announcement was meant for tonight, right?" Gian asked to confirm without any pretense now of politeness in his flat question. "I mean, his engagement with the other girlfriend. Not that Elise wanted to marry him so that's okay. But it was still a big disappointment to me that he could be so duplicitous."Elise heard the gasps of surprise and whispers coming from the guests on the grounds. Where we came from, I could hear Lisette crying and Brandon's voice talking to someone. When I heard the voice of the person he was talking to, I understood the nervousness in the young man's voice.He had always feared his father.But right now, Mrs. Schultz was scared of Gian."Elise... Elise?""Oh. Is there another Elise? Or am I to be
Gian"It's just so belittling,” Elise continued to rant. “I really didn't expect to hear that from him. I told him about what happened to my mother, right? I mentioned it to him before. And that b-bastard acted like he c-cared. Turns out, it wasn't true."I sobered up. Yes, she did mention that a while back. She told Brandon about her German father to explain her mestiza appearance without revealing who the German was. I also know the story of Fritz von Schiller.Fritz was twenty-nine when he first set foot in the Philippines. He came here to take a break, have a big rest, after his first bout with cancer at the young age of twenty-nine. The Lehmann, Von Schiller, and Verrazzano families were friends and had business in Manila, so he chose to recuperate in the country. Fritz was close to Friedrich Lehmann, as they were both engineers. Friedrich was also friends with my dad, Angelico Verrazzano. My dad was close to Fritz's older broth
“Can I join you?”I looked up from my Cosmo drink to the man standing next to me. It took me just a second to perk up from where I sat at the bar. Even in the dim light, I could se“CAN I join you?”I looked up from my Cosmo drink to the man standing next to me. It took me just a second to see him, and I perked up from where I sat at the bar.Even in the dim light, I could see that he was tall and extraordinarily handsome.He carried the black Levi’s jacket, the white shirt inside in a pair of jeans exceptionally well—hot.He was near enough for me to know I liked his smell—manly and expensive.Most of all, he’s got the sexiest smile of anyone I saw here tonight.But it was his voice, low-key, vibrating, and yet clear against the low hum of conversation around us—the timbre of a man’s voice after sex—that clinched it for me.There was soft music playing in the background to boost the intimate ambience, as it’s meant to, since this joint was supposedly one of the hottest places to hook
“ELISE?”I was almost asleep and was surprised by the voice that called my name. I knew he’d called several times before I realized it wasn’t a dream, and my head snapped up.I hurriedly spun my chair to face the tall man who was striding to my office and I stood up.Then I blushed as I swayed a little at the abrupt movement.Good thing I recovered before he actually appeared at the connecting door from his office to mine, and his head was bowed, busy with something he was doing.“Gian! Yes? I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you. Right away,” I said.But when my eyes focused on my boss—or my mentor—I almost swayed again.I was already holding the back of my swivel chair for support.I found myself gripping it harder.My office was sleek and modern in its black, gray, and silver theme. It was pretty sleek, with choices of drapes and other furniture in shades of color serving as accents to the sophisticated look. I was proud that I chose most of the additional decor.But tonight, Giancarlo’s suav
“YOU look great, Elise. New dress?”I sighed. He had to go there.Really.“Your mother sent this to my house to wear for the party tonight, so I’m wearing it,” I said, cinching his mother to him. It was Madam Soniah who chose this dress for me and I was so grateful when I saw it. I couldn’t choose something this sexy, elegant, and classy. I grew up in the province and was raised by provincial parents. I still have yet to learn about sophistication.When I opened the big pink box that arrived last night and saw the beautiful dress for the first time, I knew I was wearing it no matter what. It was a knee-length cocktail dress, with slits on both sides up to the middle of my thighs. The neckline on the front was conservative so there was no cleavage to expose, but it was backless without being too obvious when you were looking at the front or the side. It was cleverly designed to make it this way, and I wasn’t going to turn my back on him to help him see it. Not if I could help it, espe
I FIRST met Brandon at one of Gian’s cousins’ parties. He made it obvious he liked me from the very beginning. He made sure he was at every other party I would be at since that first meeting, would stay next to me, and wouldn’t go away as much as was possible. As I’d said, Gian was generally tolerant of him. In my book, that meant he was okay.Handsome, smart, and charming, he tickled my heart. He got my phone number, and we started chatting even when we were not together in my free time.We started dating, and he was very gentlemanly. He was smart and we could talk for hours. I was never bored when we were together. He was boyfriend material. My mom already advised me that I could start dating, but to make sure I do it properly and not rush things or be impulsive like the rest of the young people had, she’d said. She reminded me I and Anna were raised better than that.Yes, we were not allowed to date when still in school. Yes, even when I was in college. Finishing college firs