The Fall of Alexander the Great (Monteverde Series 3)

1

Chapter One

"Blythe, your hair!" Amanda tried to suppress her initial confusion when she opened the door of my unit. She called me last week to say she's crashing indefinitely because her apartment is under renovation. I suggested that she go to the Dominguez Manor in Laguna, the place we grew up in, but she said being near the beach makes her miss our parents even more. They are on their annual vacation, this time in Sweden, for two months.

"You like it?" tanong ko. "Ang ganda, 'di ba?"

"Well, yeah. It's unique and it reflects who you are."

I twirled and curtsied in front of her. "Thank you."

I had my hair dyed a bright shade of blue. It's more on the turquoise side, just the way I have pictured it will be when I requested the hairdresser to fix it for me. I had my long boring blonde locks chopped and curled at the tips. I have never been a fan of bangs, but for the sake of coming out of my comfort zone, I had it fixed as well. Surprisingly, it didn't make me look like a middle schooler. I like it.

"Minsan nagugulat pa rin ako sa pagiging impulsive mo. You come home with blue hair. You suddenly buy yourself a pet eel. Who does that?" She laughed. "And then there's this one time you really surprised Mom and Dad last year when they saw you on the newspaper reportedly dating a Senator's son."

I pulled the beanie to my direction and eased myself comfortably. "Well, at least Fluffy and Butter lasted longer than my love affairs." Three years ago, I bought pet eels and put them on display inside a massive well-lit aquarium in my living room. I named them Fluffy and Butter because I believed they deserved cute names, too. I fed them small fishes, but they died a couple of months after. I replaced them with hermit crabs and other exotic fishes.

"Fluffy and Butter would have really loved the newly-designed aquarium."

"I bet." Amanda cocked an eyebrow in my direction and pulled her laptop to her lap. No doubt she is busy with reports for her boss, someone named Krauss, who runs a Container and Chassis business. She has been in the job two years and it stresses her more than I do, so, I keep incessantly convincing her to ditch the job and manage the family business instead.

"I know that look, Blythe. Ayaw kong mag-resign. It keeps me busy, it challenges me."

"You mean your boss challenges you."

"I don't want to talk about it." She glared and I shrugged, knowing she's had feelings for him the first day she met him. How unfortunate. Her boss does not have the slightest clue that her apartment alone can outbuy his shares in the company.

"Hey, I saw a new car parked at the basement. Do we have a new neighbor?" pag-iiba ko ng topic. Alam kong kapag inasar ko pa siya tungkol sa boss niya ay magpapalit ang mood niya. I decided to let it rest, for now.

Amanda's forehead creased, a sign that she is trying to recall something. Then as if on cue, her eyes lit up. "Was it the sleek maroon Maserati?"

"That's the one."

"Yeah. The guy lives next door. Unit 101."

"What's he like?"

Biglaang pinagkrus ni Amanda ang mga braso sa kanyang dibdib. Even when I'm older, she likes acting like the big sister, which, if you base it on wisdom, she might as well be.

"Alam ko 'yang tingin na 'yan! To answer your question, he looks unapproachable, and unusually silent, as if he has this big reputation he wants to leave untarnished. Nakasabay ko siya sa elevator the other week and I smiled at him. He just looked at me with unnerving eyes. I wasn't able to detect even the slightest friendliness in him that day. On an unrelated subject, in case you are curious, he looks good."