Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Athena’s P.O.V.

“Never mind,” he replied.

He broke our eye contact, and that made me feel kind of disappointed. I felt like I was hung on a cliff.

“Hmm… would you mind if I asked you something, Helena? About your mom?” Cristoff asked, maybe because he noticed my sour expression. He was already done with the red eggs, so he began slicing the tomatoes.

“About my mom? Three words that start with A-B-C. Well, she was an amazing, beautiful, and compassionate woman, and I always looked up to her. She was full-Spanish, had green eyes as well, and once she talks, her accent was so gorgeous! You couldn’t help yourself but listen to her words. I think that was one of the main reasons why my strict Dad fell in love with her. She was a woman of dignity, but she died when I was only six. I guessed I’ll tell you the other things some other time, Cristoff.”

Whenever I felt so miserable, mentioning my mom would make me feel blissful, but whenever I was happy, the thought of her would make me feel blue. But to summarize, talking about my mother would always make me teary-eyed.

“I was already expecting that your mother was beautiful… because you are so exquisite too. There was no question about it,” he commented. When I saw that he had sliced the tomatoes, I quickly snatched the container from him.

“I can do the mixing.” I awkwardly smiled at him then started mixing the red eggs and tomatoes altogether. I knew I was blushing, so I had to change the topic, “You’re right, I haven’t yet tasted this. So if this doesn’t taste good, I would not consume and let you eat everything! But you know what? It’s kind of ironic that I would be having lunch with my rival. I didn’t foresee this even in my dreams.”

“You are the only one here who was trying to make me your rival, Helena. I might have treated you as one before, but I already forgot about it. In that case, my enemy is drop-dead gorgeous, isn’t she? But enough with your mixing, I will be the one to finish it.”

“Okay, here…” I ended up handing him the bowl and no longer argued with him. But my mind couldn’t seem to forget what he said, and that made me feel light-headed again.

“I would bet my savings that you will enjoy eating this that you might want to have extra rice!” He giggled. I guessed this was the first time that I found his giggle attractive. The previous times only made me feel damn irritated.

He was still mixing the food when I suddenly remembered his erotic book. My curiosity was killing me inside because I wanted to know if he was really the owner of that book. If he was, then he was violating the school rules. He was still a minor, and I felt like reading that kind of book would only make him a crazy pervert.

“It’s done, so let’s eat?” he asked me. Suddenly, the urge of questioning him about that oppressive book had left my mind again.

I easily got lost with his stares and ended up nodding at him. “Okay, let me try if this one is truly delicious like what you had promised me…” I was excited to get my share when Cristoff gently patted my hand.

“Hey, not so soon! We have to pray first,” Cristoff told me.

Admitting that I got ashamed about what I did, I remembered my mom again. My mom always taught me to pray—pray after you woke up, pray when you were dealing with problems, pray to thank the Lord, pray when going outside, pray when eating your food and pray before sleeping. But living with Dad changed everything. Living with hell made me forget that I used to thank the Lord for all of my blessings.

Smiling and following him as Cristoff closed his eyes, I also made the sign of the cross and prayed. “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Blessed us, oh Lord, for these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord, Amen.”

I was about to get my fair share of the viand again when I noticed that his eyes were still closed. His hands were still clasped together, and he wasn’t yet done praying. I then did the same thing while covertly opening my eyes and frequently peeked at him.

“Lord, thank You because I was with Helena today so we can have lunch together. You gave us this time so we could eat my favorite dish, and I wouldn’t trade this for anything else. Hopefully, she won’t get mad at me again, and please tell her mom and twin sister, Athena, that apart from Uncle Miguel, I will always be here to watch and take good care of Helena. Thank You, Lord. Amen.”

Before Cristoff could open his eyes, I was done wiping the small tears produced at the corner of my left eye.

Would the situation be much more beautiful and enthralling if he knew that I was really Athena? That I wanted him to call me by my real name when it was only the two of us?

“Now, we can finally eat. I’m sorry, Helena, huh? Because I used to pray before eating, I might have hung you.” Cristoff made an effort to place the mixed eggs and tomatoes on my plate.

“Same here… but I just stopped myself from praying when my mom d-died, Cristoff. I could not exactly remember why I stopped. Maybe because until now, I couldn’t understand why God took her away from us. And as if Mom was still not enough, He also took A-Athena,” I responded with a shaky voice.

“My father died too when I was only seven, Helena. He was a brave policeman, and at that time, there was a hostage-taking incident. He was shot in the heart, and that declared him dead on arrival.”

My stares never left Cristoff, and I could say that despite everything, he remained optimistic. I saw how he swallowed a lump on his throat before he continued his statement.

“Our mom experienced a nervous breakdown. I thought she would also die and leave us. On the other hand, my older sister locked herself in her bedroom and never spoke to anyone. I ended up feeding my baby sister, who was only three by then. But God is great, Helena, trust me. There is a reason for everything. You may not know it for now, but eventually, you will.” He held my hand and tried to comfort me.

Yes, there could be a reason for everything. But until now, I didn’t know the exact reason why Daddy only loved Helena, considering we were twins. There would be no way that I had a father other than him, and it made me confuse for damn fifteen years.

“Let’s get over with our dramas and just eat,” I declared before forcing a smile on my lips even though it was indeed hard for me.

What Cristoff said somehow made me feel at ease. I was carrying this burden for so many years now, and I must admit that he made me realize that holding on does more damage, so I had to let go of everything that was tearing my soul apart.

But how can I fully do that when all I wanted was to live as Athena?

“Are you sure you will eat with your bare hands?” Cristoff asked in shock when I set aside the spoon and fork that he took for me.

“What’s the problem? You told me that this would be much more delicious if I would eat using my bare hands, right? So I’ll try.” It was my very first time eating using my bare hands, and I was glad that I was with him because he made this moment extraordinary.

“And that would make me fall for you even more—” I heard Cristoff mumbled those sweet words, but I pretended that I did not hear him.

“W-What did you just say?” My forehead creased as I asked him.

“Hmm, nothing… I just want you to enjoy the food because I prepared it only for you.” Cristoff avoided my glances, and it showed that he suddenly didn’t know what to do.

“Okay,” I murmured while smiling beyond perfection because I actually heard what he said.

Cristoff was quite falling for me, and it was enough reason for me not to be jealous of anything, so I didn’t want to start an argument. In fact, it looked like what I heard was even more satisfying compared to what we would eat today.