Falling for the Enemy

Sofia Bardot: Friend or Foe?

By the time Cebu-based press people left, George and Jessica sat down to talk about their plans in Cebu and what they'll be doing in the coming weeks.

"The producer just told me that they'll give us a tour of Cebu - there's the city tour and the island hopping tour, which should be fun!" George exclaimed.

"That's great! The perks of being a newbie celebrity - I get to tour around a beautiful place for free!" 

While George is laying all the plans in terms of mall tours and possible out of the country shows, Jessica will be distracted by the sight of a lovely lady with an entourage of ten. This woman must be a VIP or something.

"Jessica! Hello? Are you still there or did you just teleport to  Mars?" George intervened.

"I'm sorry. I'm just distracted with the presence of the girl that just arrived in the reception area. Is she a politician or a celebrity I haven't heard of?"

George glanced and smiled upon seeing who just checked in. "Well, that girl is not just an ordinary person. She's not just a celebrity. She's the daughter of the owner of this resort!"

"Who is she? What's her name?"

"Her name is Sofia Bardot. She is a businesswoman by force, a lingerie model by choice and a hotel heiress by birth. Also, she is attempting to enter the music scene too. She can either be a competitor or ally." George informed the curious lady.

Sofia Bardot... I will Google her name later!

~0~

Nadia kept weeping until she got tired and eventually slept. The horror of Blessie's tragic death still haunts her up to this day and it will surely not stop anytime soon now that their lip-locking photo is out in the internet.

Her hotel room phone rang. She asked the receptionist to ring her at 6PM. She stood up right away and went straight to the toilet to freshen up. By 6:30PM, she found Ariel knocking on her door.

"Nadia! Were you able to rest well? I just read on Twi-"

Nadia shouted before Ariel gets to his point of terror. "Stop. Don't mention that first. We need to hurry up and get going. I'm blocking negativity!" 

~0~

The organizers prepared a special early dinner treat for the performers and their agents. The call time is 6:30PM and Jessica's team is already in the restaurant lounge. She wasn't surprise after all upon learning that she's the first performer in the area. Filipino Time at its finest!

"As expected, we're the early birds!" Jessica laughed.

"I told you to just come here at 7PM. Filipinos are never on time!" George exclaimed.

"Better to be early than be late. I don't want to be called a diva at the early chapter of my singing career! Also, I'm hungry. I'm really, really hungry!" 

George was busy asking the team for their preferred beverages when an eye-catching woman entered the restaurant who looked elegant in her blue cocktail dress.  The manager even dropped her purse.

"Where is Lorna?" the mystery lady asked one of the waiters. She doesn't look happy at all.

"She's in the kitchen, ma'am."

"Can you call her, please? I need to talk to that stupid idiot!" she said in a matter-of-factly manner.

The terrified waiter ran towards the kitchen as Sofia started kicking the wall. 

"Chill down, Miss.."

Sofia was about to shout and curse the intruder, but she was pleasantly surprised to see who it was.

"Uhm... wow, Jessica el Rio! Hi!" she said in a calming manner.

"Hi... I'm not sure on why you're stressed at the moment, but I thin it is better if you just sit down. I mean... uhm, you're in a public place so your customers might think there's a big commotion or something..."

George is nervous standing at the corner of the restaurant. Why is Jessica so brave to confront the resort owner's bratty daughter?

Sofia smiled. "I'm so sorry if you saw my dark side earlier. It's just that things aren't going my way the past few days and this stupid staff made matters worse!"

Jessica gave her the "I-Told-You-To-Be-Nice look.

"I'm sorry. God, this is humiliating! Can you tell Lorna to just go to my villa? Bye."

Sofia Bardot walked away leaving Jessica, George and the rest of the team stunned. 

~0~