Invisible (Rastro) COMPLETED

Invisible 009

Here's Chapter 9..

****

Chapter Nine


Rhian walked back and forth in front of the guesthouse. Sometimes, she glanced at her watch and looked at the alley, like she was waiting for someone. She only went inside to take food from the pantry and then she waited on the porch again. This lasted till late evening.

She picked up the tabby cat that had been following her and keeping her company for the whole day.

“Cat, where is this pale face?” she asked to the cat.

The cat did nothing but purred as it lied on her lap.

“Do you think she… left me? Because I was being harsh to her yesterday?”

Rhian bit her lip, “Well, I didn’t mean what I said. I just needed a bit space to think and clear my head.”

She sighed and patted the cat’s head.

“Hmm, I should give you a name.”

“Since you’re so cool and calm, how about GlaiCha?” she asked.

The cat purred even more.

“You like that name, don’t you? Okay, I’ll call you GlaiCha!”

As she was stroking and patting GlaiCha the cat, a green van came from the alley and parked under the awning of the guesthouse. Rhian waited until the driver came out from the van. And she was right, it was Glaiza.

Glaiza climbed down the driver’s seat of the van and she couldn’t help but notice Rhian who was standing by with a cat. She smiled as the sight made Rhian looked like a lonely cat lady.

She walked to her, but then stopped when she saw Rhian marching towards her furiously.

“Umm hi?”

Rhian put down the cat and stood in front of Glaiza, gritting her teeth.

“Where were you?!” she asked.

“Er…”

“Where did you go?!Why didn’t you tell me?!”  Rhian continued to shoot her with questions.

Glaiza was shocked.

“How could you leave me alone?! Do you know how lonely I was?! I was talking to a cat!!” she added and this time even stomping her feet like a child who lost her candy.

Glaiza grabbed Rhian’s arms to calm her down.

“Hey… there’s nothing weird with talking to a cat,” she said, suppressing her laugh.

Rhian glared at her before hitting her right shoulder.

“You’re so mean! Mean! Mean! Mean pale face!”

“I’m mean? But I have something for you.”

“What is it?”

“You won’t be calling me mean after you see this.”

“Don’t tell me it’s a can of green peas.”

Glaiza chuckled and took out something from her bag.

It was a script book. On the blue cover, it was written ‘Episode 2’.

Rhian stared at it for the longest time, her eyes not even blinking.

“Wh-Where did you get this?”

Glaiza smiled, “Don’t be emo anymore. You didn’t lose your role in the drama. They somehow believed that I’m your PA and accepted the excuse I gave.”

Rhian looked at Glaiza, her jaw dropped.

“They gave the script for episode 2 so that you can prepare before filming. The press conference is in 3 weeks so we still have some time to make you visible again,” added Glaiza.

Rhian stared at Glaiza, not saying anything. But tears were brimming in her eyes.

“You went there for me?”

Glaiza nodded.

“But why?”

“I just… don’t want to see you cry,” replied Glaiza.

They both looked at each other, not saying anything.

Glaiza cleared her throat, “I-I mean while others didn’t hear you cry and sobbed, I do! Your cries are annoying! So I went there-

She looked away.
“I have to get to my room and change. Tonight it’s my shift,” she said before hurriedly went inside, leaving Rhian with the script for Episode 2.

Rhian looked at the script book in her hands and tears rolled down her cheeks. She smiled and held it to her chest.


Rhian gulped, “Wait, she’s going to her room and change? No!”



**


Glaiza was about to enter her room when suddenly Rhian came running towards her.

“Rhi.., what’s wrong with you?”

Rhian stood in front of the door and blocked it with her body.

“Yo-you can’t go in there!”

“I need to get change and work. Move aside.”

“No! You can’t go in there because… there’s a guest downstairs that needs your help! Rainbow asked me to call you since it’s an emergency!”

Glaiza creased her eyebrows, “What emergency?”

“A guest was about to give birth and they need a transport to the hospital!”

“Give birth?!”

“Yes! She already opened by 3 cm!”

“3 cm?!!” her eyes widened, shocked.

“Yes! That’s why you gotta go now!”

“O-Okay!”

Glaiza turned around and ran down the stairs. Sometimes, Rhian was amazed at how easy it was to fool Glaiza. Her mind was too innocent, making her wonder if her brain was made up of cotton candies.

Rhian rushed into the room and shut the door. The bed area was turned upside down and she couldn’t let Glaiza see this. Not after she saved her career.

Rhian quickly put back the bed covers and tucked it up. She doesn’t usually tidy her own bed since she paid someone to keep her place clean. But she tried her best. She arranged the pillows on the bed, the way she remembered how it was before. Just as she put the blanket on the bed, the door was pushed open.

An annoyed looking Glaiza entered.

“Someone’s giving birth huh?” she asked.

Rhian wiped the sweat on her forehead and grinned, “April fool!”

“April fool was two weeks ago!” Glaiza retorted.


**


“So you’re sleeping here again tonight?” asked Glaiza.

Rhian was sitting on the bed, reading her script, “Yeap.”

Glaiza sighed.

“Okay, you can sleep on my bed if you want. I’ll be working the night shift tonight so you can have my bed until six.”

Rhian looked at her as she was about to leave the room.

“Wa-Wait, so you’re not sleeping in the room?”

“No.”


**


Glaiza yawned for the nth time. She glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was already past 12am. Her eyes were closing but she flipped through the new issue of the cooking magazine to keep awake.

She was reading a recipe for a pea cupcake when suddenly she heard a creak from the stairs. She gulped and looked to the side. She saw a young woman in her pajamas, with a blanket around her shoulders.

“Rhian, what are you doing here? Not sleeping yet?” she asked.

Rhian shrugged, “It’s too hot in the room.”

She walked to the green couch and patted the small pillows.

“So you’re going to sleep there?” asked Glaiza, puzzled.

“It’s comfortable here,” she replied as she lay and wrapped herself with the blanket around her body.

She looked at Glaiza who was behind the counter and their eyes met.

Rhian smiled, “Goodnight, thickbrowspaleskin.”

Glaiza chuckled, “Go to sleep, Highnosethickskinned.”

Rhian grunted in protest but soon she yawned and drifted to slumber. She was holding tightly to the new script book as she slept as if it was a bolster. Glaiza looked at her as she was asleep, and oddly she didn’t feel sleepy anymore. Hours passed but she waited at the counter and watched over Rhian every now and then, just in case someone sits on the couch and wake her up.

Suddenly, her mind flashed back to what happened earlier that day. Right after she managed to convince the drama producer to keep Rhian in the cast, Bianca offered to treat her to lunch. To avoid suspicions, and because she was hungry, she agreed to it.

But it was uncomfortable eating with Bianca, since the latter couldn’t stop staring at her. She almost choked on her pasta.

“So, Glaiza, how is it working with Rhian?” she asked suddenly.

Glaiza swallowed the half munched pasta in her throat and looked at her. The latter stared at her, waiting for her reply.

Glaiza cleared her throat.

“Well it’s okay, she’s… just being Rhian.”

Bianca chuckled and for the first time Glaiza felt relieved.

“Well, she is Rhian Howell. I hope you can be patient working with her, she can be a bit… demanding and childish at times.”

“Ah, you mean b*tchy?”

“Oops.”

Glaiza covered her mouth and for a while the two women looked at each other, shocked.

Bianca let out a small laugh, “Yeah, that’s another word to describe it.”

Glaiza grinned awkwardly before shoving another spoonful of pasta into her mouth.

“I’ve known Rhian since we were in high school. She had been my little sister and best friend since then.”

“How did you manage to stand her attitude for so long?” Glaiza asked abruptly.

Bianca smiled, “I figured you’ll ask that.”

“She may seem… spoiled and a brat, but when you really get to know her, you’ll know that it’s not what it seems. She is… well, I think you’ll have to see it for yourself.”

“But I guess she likes working with you. She prefers to stay in contact with you during this whole time. She didn’t even tell me where she went.”

Glaiza smiled awkwardly.

“But what really surprised me was that you know about the butterfly,” she added.

Glaiza stopped eating and put down her spoon and fork at the mention of the butterfly. She looked at Bianca and their eyes met.

“She didn’t even tell her girlfriends or others that are close to her about her high school life. She’s very careful about the butterfly incident and how much it affected her-

Bianca stopped.

She cleared her throat and smiled.

“How’s the pasta?” she asked.

Glaiza smiled and nodded, “It’s good.”


And they never spoke of the butterfly again.


**


Rhian woke up when she felt the heat from the sun on her face. She sat up straight and yawned. It was still early. She had gotten used to waking up early since she slept at the guesthouse. She looked at the counter to search for the pale face.

She smiled when she saw Glaiza asleep on the counter. She got up and walked towards her. So many mischievous ideas came to her mind in order to wake her up. This should be fun, she thought. She playfully poked Glaiza’s cheek but the latter didn’t wake up. She wanted to slap her awake, but as her hand reached her face, she didn’t.

Instead, she gently stroked her face.


**


“Hey wake up Glai,” said a voice, followed by firm grips on the shoulders that were shaking her back and forth.

Glaiza opened her eyes and saw the blurry vision of a colorful unicorn. She blinked her eyes a few times and saw her best friend, Chynna, staring at her.

“Gee, are you tending the counter or drawing maps with your drools on the counter? Go clean up, you’re scaring the guests.”

Glaiza nodded and stood up from the chair. That’s when she noticed something falling from her shoulders.

It was a blanket.

The same blanket Rhian used the night before.


**


Glaiza dragged her feet upstairs and headed to her room. Screw bath and breakfast, all she wanted right at that moment was her bed. As soon as she opened the door, she saw that her bed was occupied, yet again.

“Ahhhh, Rhi get off my bed…” she said, with her eyes half-closed.

Rhian was sitting on the edge of her bed, with a cup in one hand.

“Good morning pale face!” she greeted cheerfully.

“Look! I made myself a cup of… instant coffee!” she added, proud.

“Oh great, bravo, congrats… now can you please move away… I want to sleep…” replied Glaiza as she squeezed herself around Rhian to get on her bed somehow.

After a few struggles, she managed to beat Rhian and conquer the bed. She lay comfortably on the mattress and pulled up the blanket.

Rhian, on the other hand, wasn’t satisfied with her defeat. Moreover Glaiza didn’t acknowledge her accomplishment of making her own drinks. She, Rhian Howell making her own cup of instant coffee is a big deal. It should be headlining the news.

“Hey, why are you sleeping? You’re such a lazy bum!”

“Hmmm…” murmured Glaiza.

Rhian grunted and marched to the window. And then with a smooth move, she opened the curtains and let the bright sun shine into the room.

“Ahhhh, the light! The light! I hate the light!” screamed Glaiza as the brightness hit her face.

“Wake up! You zombie!” said Rhian before she smacked Glaiza’s shoulder.

The pale girl sat up straight, angry.

“Rhian! Unlike you, I worked all night at the counter! I didn’t get enough sleep! Just let me sleep! Please!”

Rhian rolled her eyes, “Working? Oh please, you slept at the counter!”

“That wasn’t enough! I need proper sleep!”

Rhian linked her arm around Glaiza’s to pull her up.

“What are you doing?!”

“Can’t you see the weather outside?!” asked Rhian, angry.

She dragged Glaiza to the window and let her see the view outside.

Her eyes widened. It was a beautiful sight; the trees are blossoming along the street. It looked like a beautiful painting.

Rhian came and stood next to her as they both looked out the window.

“The weather is nice, so why do you want to waste it in your bed? Are you really a light-hating zombie?”

“Let’s go out and watch the trees,” she looked at Glaiza and smiled.



**


A young woman with very fair skin walked alone along the streets as she let out a few yawns. She seemed sleepy and tired but she kept on walking. Sometimes she smiled, snorted and sighed, and sometimes she laughed and then smacked the air.

She walked until she reached a bench by the park. It was under a tree where the trees were blooming. It was such a beautiful sight.

She leaned her back against the bench and then turned to look at the empty space next to her and grinned.

There was a little girl, aged not more than 4 years old passing by the bench. She was taking the morning stroll with her mother before going to kindergarten. But they stopped as they saw the young woman on the bench smiling by herself.

“Mom, why is that girl laughing by herself?” she asked as she tugged her mother’s hand.

Her mother gulped, “That girl is not well. Let’s go and leave her alone.”

“You mean she’s crazy? Aww poor lady.”

Then her mother pulled her away, but she couldn’t stop looking back at the woman on the bench. Their eyes met and she quickly looked away.


“Hahahaha! They thought you’re crazy!” exclaimed Rhian as she laughed so hard.

Glaiza grunted, “This is why I said I don’t want to go out with you! But you’re the one who dragged me!”

Rhian couldn’t stop laughing. She laughed so hard even tears came out.

“Okay! You can continue your tree sightings. I’m going back!” said Glaiza before she stood up from the bench.

Rhian grabbed her hand.

“Hey wait!”

“What now?”

“Oh come on pale face, who cares what they thought of you? You’re not crazy, you’re just talking to the invisible celebrity…”

Glaiza sighed, “See? Your statement itself sounds crazy.”

“Oh right! There is a way for you to enjoy the day out with me without the fear of being judged.”

“How?”

Rhian put up both her hands in front of Glaiza, grinning.

“We can use this.”

“Your hands?”

“If I hold you with both hands, I can make you invisible. Just like how we did back at my house.”

She stood up from the bench and stood next to Glaiza, and then she suddenly linked her arms with the latter. She firmly held Glaiza’s arms with both her hands. They looked like a couple on a date. An invisible couple.

Glaiza’s face heated up as she felt Rhian’s firm grip around her left arm. Rhian turned to look at her, and their eyes met. Glaiza froze.

Rhian chuckled, “Wow, you’re not so pale today. Your cheeks are… red. Geez, are you blushing?”

Glaiza shook her head vigorously, “It’s ju-just the bright sun!”

****

Chapter 10 next..actually sa past few days na hndi ako nakapagupdate is natapos ko na 8 9 10 chapters..di lang naupdate dahil sa internet connection.grrrrrr.. sisihin si globe hahahaha!!!