"GOOD morning, hija." Mom greeted me as I took my seat at the dining table.
"Good morning, Mom, Dad." I greeted them back. I grabbed the pot of coffee and poured some on the empty cup in front of me. I brought the cup to my mouth and sipped coffee from it.
"How was your dinner meeting with Mister Nakamura last night?" From the newspaper that he was reading, Dad's eyes went on me.
It was almost midnight when I went home last night. My cousin Marcus and I had a dinner meeting with our Japanese investor, Mr. Nakamura.
"The meeting went well, Dad," I said. Thanks to Marcus, I wanted to continue but decided against it.
It was my first time meeting Mister Nakamura. I didn't know he had a very limited English vocabulary. Mr. Nakamura didn't bring his interpreter; it was a good thing Marcus decided to tag along with me.
It was Marcus who carried the whole conversation, given that my cousin knew how to speak nihonggo.
I took a few more sips on my coffee before I glanced at the watch on my wrist.
"I have to go, Mom, Dad," I said to the two people at the dining table. I wiped the corner of my lips with a napkin before I stood from my seat.
"Hija, you only had coffee," Mom said to me, her wrinkled forehead in a slight frown.
I pursed my lips. "I'll try to get a proper meal in the office," I went to her and planted a kiss on her cheek. "See you later." I cocked my head to Dad, who was busy reading the newspaper in his hand.
"Bye, Dad."
"Take care, hija," he said, this time without even looking at me. "By the way, Chrome's going home next month.
He was asking me if you wanted anything from him."
"Tell him to not bother, Ma," I answered her before I finally left the dining room.
Chrome was my younger brother. He was residing in the States right now for his studies.
I have two brothers—Christian and Chrome. Christian was three years older than me, which made him thirty-two. He was a photographer for National Geographic, the reason he was always out of the country. Part of his job was to travel around the globe. He only goes home during the Christmas season.
Chrome was our youngest brother. He was twenty-one. He was currently taking up Business Management at Harvard.
I came from one of the most influential families here in the Philippines. My mother came from a prominent political clan in the country—the de Silvas. My grandfather, Antonio de Silva, was a former president of the country.
On the other hand, my father was part of the Buenavista clan—one of the oldest business clans in the country.
I was the middle child in the family. I worked in the family's business, the Buenavista Group of Companies—one of the largest conglomerates in the country.
Our business? Almost everything in the market—from shopping malls, hotels, condo units, banks and investment.
At twenty-nine, I already held the position of Vice President for Operations.
"Good morning, Ma'am Claire." My secretary greeted me as I reached my office.
"Morning, Jenna."
"Ma'am, you have a meeting at nine am with Mr. Casillas," Jenna informed me. She was looking at her iPad as she followed me inside my office.
"Then eleven am with the board of directors, one pm with the union leader, three pm with Mr. Manuel of Operations." She placed a white folder on my executive table. "Mr. Enrique needs your signature before lunch."
"Thanks, Jenna," I gave her a grateful smile after she finished discussing all the things I needed to do for today.
After Jenna left me, I started reading the documents in front of me before signing each of them.
"Good morning, Claire!"
I stopped reading when I heard the familiar voice. I saw my cousin Marcus closing the door of my office. Then he walked straight to me, wearing his annoying little smile.
Marcus was my relative who has been the closest to me. He was older than me by only a year. We were classmates in high school and we both studied Business Management in the States.
His father, Tito Miguel, is the current CEO and president of the company.
"Hmm, morning," I mumbled before I continued signing the documents on my table. "Do you need something?"
From the corner of my eyes, I saw him open one button of his suit jacket and take the seat in front of my desk.
"Tsk. You can't even properly greet me after I saved your ass last night?"
I put down the pen on my table and looked at him.
"You know how busy I am, Marcus. So if you need something, just cut to the chase."
"God, you're so stiff, Claire. No wonder you can't even get a boyfriend."
I arched my brow. "Excuse me? I told you I had a romantic relationship before."
"When was that? High school?"
I shot him a dirty look. But, well… he was right. My first and last relationship was in high school.
"And come on, we both know you can't call that a relationship!"
"That's a relationship. I kissed him, Marcus." I snapped at him.
"You can't consider a peck on the lips a kiss, my dear cousin."
My eyes slanted at him. Don't get me wrong. I love this cousin of mine, but there were times like this that I wanted to wring his neck.
"Why are you here, Marcus?" I frowned at him. "Surely, you didn't break into my office just to shove in my face my lack of romantic relationship." I rolled my eyes at the last two words.
Marcus just chuckled. "Well, this."
From the pocket of his suit jacket, he got his phone. He opened the device and showed me something on the screen.
My lips slightly parted when I saw the online ticket of Amelie White's exclusive art exhibit.