"How did you get Gabriela to fall for you?" Miguel laughed. He retired on the sofa next to Rafael.
"It looks like you need advice. Your girl's having trust issues?" Rafael nodded.
"And its pretty confusing. I wonder how a girl could be so stern."
"Actually, I don't know how and when Gabriela started falling for me. She doesn't even know how I feel for her yet. But if you ask me, I think you should be open and sincere. Aunt Cariah once told me that girls like guys who tell them about their personal life. There can be other things to discuss, other than flirting."
"Hmm...I've never tried that."
"If she listens to you, you'll win her trust. Especially when you're always telling her the things you mean. Don't be playful all the time."
"Great. I think your tip will work more. The net's just giving me headache." Miguel chuckled.
"I'm glad you find it helpful."
~~~~~~~
Gabriela's face was laced with emotion as she laid in the dark, her sister's picture illuminated by the nightlight. She was staring at it with a sad expression, reminiscing on their best moments.
"It feels terrible that you're not gonna remember all this stuff anymore. The days we had....the fun things we discussed. And its a relief too, that hopefully, you'll forget the things Claudia made you go through," Her voice was cracking and trembling as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"I mean...the things I made you go through. You helped me get into The White's Academy, but I shouldn't have involved you in our college drama. I shouldn't have taken you to the pool party, you shouldn't have met Claudia. If only I knew how selfish she was. She didn't care that you were innocent. I'm sorry I couldn't come to the hospital – Miguel said I should stay away from things that make me cry, but I can't stay away from you for too long. I miss you. I miss your smile, I miss our laughter. I hope that when you wake up, you won't remember the awful emblem you've carried since you found out that Mr. Alejandro is not your real father. It doesn't really matter, Dani. You and I are sisters. I love you with all my heart. I wish you can wake up right now and we'll cry till dawn. It has been two years, Daniela. I feel like Carissa – she's out trying to avenge and reopen the case of her sister's murder. I can't live like Carissa for the rest of my life, knowing you're in coma, and its my fault," She bit her lips and let more tears flow.
"Dani, please wake up. Life without you has been incomplete. I can't have my graduation without you. I..I can't...I really can't. You know what, I'm not going to let you hang in there – and Claudia's somewhere having a blast. I swear, she'll see the total end."
Carissa was also buried in her sheets, crying uncontrollably.
"Marissa, we're so rich now, don't you think? I wish you were here with us, enjoying all the things we wished together. I wish I was the one who went to The White's High School, I wish I was the one who died. You had big dreams, Mari. But – you couldn't fulfill them, all because some daughter of a bitch saw you talking to her crush. It was such a crime to be poor, right? Claudia, you will fucking pay. The case is pending and once its reopened, you will be forced to leave this country. Wherever you go, I'll find you and end you, Claudia Myers."
Gabriela's car parked at Claudia's apartment and she was amused to see another car pulling to a halt. She alighted and her driver sped off. Turning on her phone's flashlight, she rang the door bell.
"Good evening, Miss. Do you have an appointment with Miss. Claudia or Miss. Sandra?" A maid opened the door.
"Fuck off!" Gabriela cussed pushing the lady aside and storming in.
"Where are you going? You can't just barge in like that!" Gabriela ran upstairs and the maid followed. She flung the door of the first room she saw and slammed it behind her.
The maid was aghast.
The door bell rang again impatiently. Claudia's eyes flew open and she jumped out of bed.
"Gabriela, what..are you..." Without hesitation, Gabriela pounced on Claudia and started punching her heavily. Claudia was screaming at the top of her voice. She tried to fight back but they rolled to the ground.
They were pulling each other's hair, growling and shouting. Gabriela wanted to rip her outfit but Claudia slapped her hard with the back of her hand and she fell to the ground.
The maid and Carissa were having a wrestle downstairs.
Carissa hit her with her elbow and she stumbled.
She ran upstairs, her teeth gritted in anger already. She opened the door and was confused.
"How the hell did you get here, Gaby?" Claudia's face was bleeding profusely with a black eye. Carissa ran towards them, joining Gabriela's repeated punches.
"You bitches! Why are you doing this to me?" Claudia snarled.
Her closet door opened a little and she noticed some hockey sticks.
"There – Gabriela! Get those!" Gabriela ran towards the closet, took out the sticks and before Claudia could think of something, they were hitting her hard.
"Ahhh!! Somebody help me!! Sandra!!! Cordelia! I'm in so much trouble!! Ahh!" She tried to dodge but the sticks were hitting her hand badly.
"How dare you, Claudia? How dare you kill my sister?"
"How could you do that to Daniela? You've gone crazy! I'll make you pay!"
"Daniela won't remember anything because of you! I was the one who stepped on your toes. I'm the problematic and infuriating one! Why take it out on my sister? You bloody witch!"
"Marissa wanted nothing but a luxurious and happy life. But you ended that! You killed my sister!" They were all crying.
Carissa's eyes met someone's and the stick fell from her hands.
"Easton?" Gabriela looked up to see him. He was standing at the door.
"Wha...what are...you doing here?"
"Who is he?"
"I saw your car outside and I thought this was your apartment. I was hoping to come see you." He grinned.
"He's....he's my...some old time friend who turned out to be a science instructor." Carissa muttered to Gabriela.
"Cool. Hi." Gabriela feigned a smile.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Teaching her a lesson." Carissa folded her arms and walked up to Easton.
"This is none of your business, Easton. Its me avenging for my sister. You liked her right, so just shut up and leave." She whispered.
"Really? Just because I said I liked Marissa, doesn't mean I'll watch you kill a student."
"Excuse me? Said you? You've always liked her and wanted to confess your feelings. Now that she's dead, you're at me like I'm your possession."
"I never...."
"Mr. Easton, its good to finally meet you. Carissa blurted out your name in one of our interactions. She crushed on you so hard but you ate on her. Terrible. Now that you've seen this mess, you might as well return home. Carissa's apartment is just a few blocks away." Gabriela chipped in.
Carissa swallowed. Easton smiled genuinely.
"Thank you, Gabriela Flores. I – I'll talk to Carissa in the morning and she'll explain why she's doing this. We understand each other. I'll listen to her." Gabriela nodded.
"C'mon, Carissa, let's go. Our job is done here," Gabriela sashayed out of the house. Claudia was sobbing profusely.
"Ahh!! Mr. Easton, help!! It hurts!! It fucking hurts!!" She cried.
~~~~~~~
Alejandro was sipping a glass of wine while flipping pages and glancing through documents.
"Honey!! Honey!!!" Jennie shrieked with a bitter cry.
"Darling, what's up?"
"Its terrible, Alejandro. Your daughter and her friend joined hands, went to my daughter's apartment and hit her badly. She was injured all over, how could they?!" Jennie complained.
"Gabriela??"
"Yeah, Gabriela. The only legitimate daughter, it seems." Alejandro rolled his eyes.
"Jennie, you've gotta calm down. Did she have any reason for doing so?"
"What reason could she have? How could she barge into someone's building so late at night just to assault the person? Its horrible of a heiress. I don't know how she's still the head of Flores Corp after several dirty acts. What kind of heiress visits the club, gets drunk with such a skimpy outfit, huh? Is she supposed to still be the heiress?"
"Jennie, Gabriela and your daughter Claudia are sworn enemies. You know how college drama is. Claudia and Gabriela might like the same boy, you know – childish stuff. That's why she's acting that way. She'll come to her senses, that I'm sure of."
"When? She'll come to her senses when Claudia is long gone? What the fuck, Alejandro? You don't care about me or Claudia for a second. All you see is Gabriela, the apple of your eye. What if Esmeralda Flores had her for a hobo or something -"
"Jennie, cut it out right now," He faced her, his eyes filled with rage.
"Don't you dare talk about my wife like that. She's more precious to me than you think. Esmeralda had Daniela for a homeless man, I agree but Gabriela is my daughter and she will always be. No one can take her place, no one can take her mother's place. And when Daniela wakes up, I'll never treat her like someone's else's kid again. Who knows, I might put her name back where it belongs!" Alejandro thundered. Jennie was shivering with tears.
"I can't believe we're having this argument again."
~~~~~~
Gabriela and Michelle were running in the thick woods, fear written all over their faces. Claudia was behind them, determination in her eyes to have them both and kill them.
Michelle tripped on a twig and fell to the ground, her knee bleeding instantly. Gabriela knelt beside her.
"Oh my God, Michelle," Gabriela touched the knee and turned to look if Claudia was behind them.
"Gabriela, just run, okay? I'll be fine, just run!!" Michelle yelled, her voice trembling with panic. Gabriela turned again and gasped when she saw Claudia swiftly coming towards them.
Claudia got Gabriela and pinned her to the ground.
"Please don't kill me, Claudia. I'm begging you." With a smirk, Claudia drew out a knife and brutally slit Gabriela's throat.
She let out a final cry of anguish that felt like it was sent straight into Miguel's heart to pierce it.
"Fuck, Gaby!!" He screamed. His eyes flew open and he jumped out of bed, his heart racing. He was startled to see Rafael on his phone.
It was a nightmare.
Rafael didn't move an inch.
"A dream, eh?"
"A nightmare, Rafael. A super scary one." He was panting heavily, trying to catch his breath. Rafael went to sit next to him on the bed, his face etched with concern.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Miguel nodded.
"Let me guess, it was about Gabriela." A mischievous smile spread on Rafael's face.
"Yeah. It was really bad. Claudia....Claudia's up to no good. Gabriela and Michelle were running from her in a thick forest, Michelle fell and bruised her knee, Gabriela wanted to save her but Claudia got them and slit Gabriela's throat..." He was talking so fast.
"Oh, gosh. Sounds scary, indeed."
"Wait," Rafael's eyes showed a glint of suspicion.
"Michelle was also in the dream right? Then why did you yell Gabriela's name only? Michelle was also affected." Miguel rolled his eyes playfully, trying not to blush.
"You know why."
"I don't know. Because you love her more?"
"Rafael, shoo."
~~~~~~
Isabella entered Gabriela's room and noticed her smiling cheerfully in her sleep. She raised a brow, went to the bathroom, grabbed a bowl of water and splashed it on Gabriela's face.
She jolted awake and sat up. Isabella was giggling.
"Isabella! What the fuck? I'm drenched."
"Why were you smiling? Dreaming about Miguel?"
"I don't think that's any of your business. Plus, I've never dreamed of him. Its just my mythical world and I. I'll see a sage one day. Maybe he'll tell me what the dreams are about. Dad says there are plenty of sages in Barcelona." Isabella nodded understandingly.
"Now, get rid of this. The sheets are wet!" Gabriela frowned.
Isabella took the wet sheets from Gabriela's room away with a laundry basket. Gabriela slammed the door behind her.
She noticed a notification popped on her phone screen.
[Hi. Did you sleep well?] Miguel's text read. She went straight to dial his contact.
"Good morning." She greeted softly.
"Hi. You must be getting ready for college."
"No. I have a meeting at Flores Corp this morning. I see Dad called me earlier." Gabriela replied him with a lazy voice.
"I'm not even prepared for the stuff we wanna discuss. I've explained to some of our employees, and they're getting to turning our ideas into reality." Miguel grinned.
"That's exciting to hear, Gaby. I feel so relieved hearing you talk." Gabriela was stunned.
"Um, did something happen?" She asked.
"I had a nightmare. And...I want you far away from Claudia. She's a threat to your life. She's ready to do anything to take your place. I'll tell Damien and she'll be out of The White's Academy, somehow. If that's what you want." Gabriela chuckled.
"Aw. You're so thoughtful and cute. Just let it go, Miguel. I'll take care of Claudia myself."
"Just stay safe. I'll call you every two hours to check on you."
"You're the best." Miguel's eyes widened. He was flustered.
"Really?"
"Yeah. You are really – the best....friend I ever had. You always look out for me."
"And Isabella?"
"Right. Isabella is my best friend. And you – you're more than a BFF." Gabriela was shocked at her own statement.
"Huh??"
"Pretend you didn't hear that. Bye!"
Gabriela cleared her throat, scanning the room filled with officials and lower-rank staff from Flores Corp. The air was thick with anticipation as she began to speak about the main topic: AI - Robots and Machines.
"AI can significantly boost cybersecurity measures," she explained, confidence radiating from her voice. "By leveraging machine learning algorithms, we can predict and prevent potential threats, safeguarding sensitive data and ensuring the integrity of our systems."
One of the officials, a middle-aged man with glasses, nodded impressed. "Very insightful, Gabriela. You're quite smart."
Gabriela smiled briefly.
"Gawd, your smile is a total lighthouse!"
"Now, moving on to the sales tips that'll be featured at the end of the magazine... Vendors should focus on highlighting the practical applications of AI in everyday life, making it relatable and accessible to attendees."
Just as she began to elaborate on her speech for the seminar day, her phone suddenly blasted a loud ringtone, disrupting the meeting.
The room fell silent, eyes turning towards Gabriela. Her eyes fell on the caller ID and her heart skipped. She tried not to grin.
Her phone rang loud twice more before she swiftly grabbed it, muttering an apology, and switched it off.
"Sorry about that," she said, composing herself.
The meeting room chuckled, and Gabriela resumed,
"As I was saying, emphasize the benefits of AI in enhancing customer experience..."The meeting continued, with Gabriela seamlessly weaving in her expertise, leaving a lasting impression on the attendees.