Chapter 21: Chapter 21

ROYCE

I held Nelina's waist as we walked to the outdoor dining area. It was the place near the infinity swimming pool. Even the stone in it was old to fit a Mediterranean style. Dark woods were used in the vast dining table and chairs.

"This was where I used to have dinner with grannies," I said as I pulled a chair for her.

"Thank you, you sure have a lot of beautiful memories with them," she replied as she sat on the chair.

"Nothing but beautiful ones. I wish they're here to get to know you. We would make a wonderful family," I said, intently looking at her.

It warms my heart seeing her smile even if she nodded no, for I could tell she was annoyed but not mad. Nelly seems to know how I'd love to tease her every time I get a chance to do so. She focused on her phone, but she couldn't hide her flushed cheeks. I enjoyed looking at her face, realizing that they were red because of me.

Our household staff has started putting the food on the table. As I looked at the food placed on the table one by one, I felt nothing but proud of what we had. All organic fruits, vegetables, roasted chicken, and seafood plates are prepared. I asked them to prepare fresh coconut juice for both of us.

"These are all of our products. We grow our organic fruits and vegetables; we even have an organic fish pen and livestock farms."

"Impressive; tell me more about your farm and how you go about food production and marketing the products."

I tilted my head upon hearing Nelly ask about farming. "That comes as a surprise to me. This is way far from your field. But I would be happy to satisfy your curiosity."

"Go ahead, I'm all ears," she said, her eyes lit in curiosity.

"It started with my great grannies; they made their organic fertilizer formula. It was supposedly for personal use. However, they found it to have a huge demand in the market, so they decided to produce it, and fortunately, it sells well on the market. At that time, the soil was different; it was more loam type and good for crop production, and adding the organic fertilizer was ideal. People in the '80s preferred the organic and natural food on their table, not like these days."

Nelly nodded in every point I made.

"It gradually depreciated in the late '90s, people started patronizing the instant products available on the groceries. Yet, the business has strived through the decades until my grandmother succeeded the business. While on my grandfather's side, they were on livestock farming and production. It was not hard to collaborate the business since it's the same in the manner of the marketplace. They started creating organic food for their livestock farm. My grannies put in every effort they could to maintain the business. I witnessed all their hard work; they barely have weekend breaks." I paused when one of our staff came close to me.

"All done, Royce. We hope the food we serve will be to your liking," Lita said as she glanced at Nelina. Nelly was polite enough to smile at our oldest household staff. Lita is probably in her late 60s; she has worked for our family since the late '80s.

"Thank you so much, we will have our lunch, and you can have yours too with your friends," I said, referring to the other household staff members. I nodded to aunt Lita as she walked back, heading to the kitchen.

Nelly seemed to enjoy the delicious view in front of us. "Shall we? I can continue talking while having lunch. We haven't touched on what my contributions are to our companies."

"Sure, I'm listening," she said; she gathered her fork and spoon.

I did the same as I continued with my story. "So I inherited all of these from my grannies. I'm now expanding the business from fresh organic products to creating dried products directly from the farm. We already have a variety of vegetable and fruit chips, bottled pickles, and relish," I said and paused to take my first bite.

"Good to know that; I want to try your products," she said. Curiosity crossed her face as her eyes widened, which motivated me to tell more.

"Sure, we have it here. Our products are not yet widely known as we just produced them late last year and are about to launch them online. Our goal is to make it available nationwide this year online."

"I wish you all the best; I'm sure you can."

"Thank you. Coming from you, that's very motivating. I am ten times more energized now," I said as I winked at her.

She nodded no, but she lifted a corner of her mouth, indicating that she wasn't annoyed. A few moments passed when she spoke again.

"You don't look like someone in this kind of business. Look at you, a junior car racer who's into farming. No offense meant, take this as a compliment. To be honest, I admire you for continuing the legacy of your grannies. I think you're doing a great job."

I love how she looks at me like she adores me. It was the first time she looked at me with admiration in her eyes. I feel all the hard work has paid off. Business is worth investing my time in if I get compliments from Nelly.

"God, if I get more compliments from you. I swear I'd triple the business revenue this year."

Nelly chose to be silent and focused on her food. I was delighted watching her enjoying the exquisite delicacies. "Let's savor our food and continue the conversation later."

"Yes, I love the food, by the way. And this fresh coconut juice is the best. I could never get enough of this," she said and sipped from the straw.

"This gives a province vibe, having it in the coconut itself." She meant the whole coconut was used as a food presentation. Where we can directly sip the juice from it.

"And the food, you must have excellent cooks here. Or maybe it would make a lot of difference when made with organic ingredients. Did I guess it right?" she said as she raised an eyebrow.

"Well, first, we have excellent cooks in the house. Most of them have worked for us for decades now, especially Lita. They won't last long if they are not good at what they do. And about the organic ingredients, I'm not sure if it changes the taste. However, in my personal opinion, the long-term benefits give me confidence that it would make my body healthier. Those thighs would probably trick our brain into thinking the food tastes better," I said, looking at Nelly, her face in complete curiosity.

"Yes, for me, it's the same. It must be your cook here. They were used to cooking fresh organic products."

Later after lunch, we continued with the house tour as she wished to have before the car collection tour. She's in a hurry, and I know what might be her reason for it. I laughed to myself, thinking about it. "Are you sure you don't wanna rest for a while? We just had lunch; we can stay here and enjoy nature and continue chatting," I said as the corners of my mouth lifted. I meant the garden surrounding the swimming pool and the whole outdoor dining area where we also have a minibar.

"No, I'm totally fine. We can continue with the tour while chatting about the progress of your business," she said, her facial expressions hardened. Therefore, I could tell that there was no way I could argue with her.

"If you insist. But later, we can stay here and have a drink," I said, turning to the minibar on the left side.

She rolled her eyes and went inside, not uttering a word. I chuckled as I spotted Nelly's red cheeks before she could get away from me. I followed her, paced fast to get to her side. "Hey, hold up. Don't you drink?"

"No, not anymore, not with you," she answered, but she didn't bother to look back. She walked fast to the dining area. I know she's annoyed.

"Sorry to have asked you that. We will not drink, okay. Forget about it."

When we reached the living room, I held her hand. Her hand was as cold as ice. "What's wrong?"

She looked away and clasped her hands together. "Nothing, it happens sometimes. Shall we continue the house tour?" Nelly asked, she ducked her head.

"Sure, let's take a look at the second floor."

I guided her to the stairs as I walked beside her. I was anxious about her because it seemed to me that she was experiencing anxiety again. The scene on the racing track came back to me. However, I didn't want to offend her, so I focused on our house tour. She kept her right hand to herself while her left was on the railing of the stairs.

I kept an eye on her on our way to the second floor. The stairs are a long walk; I stopped when we reached my great grannies' photos hanging on the wall, three steps to the second floor. "Nelly, these are my great grannies', great grandmother Lucia, and great grandfather Julio," I said, pointing at the photo frames.

"They're beautiful," she said, looking at the photo frames. "Are they foreigners? They don't look so Filipino to me."

"Yes, they are both half Spanish."

She looked at me and the photo frame back and forth. "It's amazing how you kept the quality of the photo."

I chuckled, seeing the confused look on her face. "We were able to find the best photo editor; he restored the photos to their glory. Only the photo frames were old and antique, that's why it looked old, but the photo is of high quality."

"Oh, I see. It's the antique photo frames. Good to know they achieved those kinds of restoration."

We proceeded to the second floor, where I showed her the collection of family photos hanging on the wall. It includes the grandfather and grandmother's sides. Next was my grannies' room. "Maybe we have to skip our guests' rooms since you're not interested in staying here with me," I said, pouting like a child to annoy her.

She drew a long breath. "Oh, cut the act," she said as she nodded no and walked to the terrace.

I followed her and placed my arms on the metal railings. We were on the terrace viewing the garden and the swimming pool.

"Do you wanna talk about it? Did you just have another anxiety attack before we went here?" It could be a past experience that left her scarred; however, Nelly was evasive.

"Let's not talk about it. Nothing like what I had on the racing track. Never mind." She pressed her lips together, forcing herself to smile, glancing sideways.

I nodded and didn't force her. "As you wish. Now, let's go to my room."

"What?" she asked, her eyes widened.

"I mean, our last space to look at is my room. I'll show you what's in my room," I said as I reached out for her hand and squeezed it a little bit.

Nelina seemed relaxed when I looked at her again. "Let's go; we can't waste more time."

"Come in," I said, inviting her to my room as I opened the door.