Chapter 4 TROY

"Yes, Ma. Alright." Allison was busy talking to her mother on the phone. "I'll just send money there tomorrow morning." Her phone was on the bed and on loudspeaker so she could still organize the things she would take to Coron. It's already late; she should be packing tomorrow morning, but now that she has thought about doing it, she does so.

Allison told her mother that she was going to Coron this weekend. Because sometimes, her mother visits her without further notice, so it would be a waste of time if she weren't there.

"Okay. I'll wait for the money tomorrow."

She also mentioned to her mother her 20,000 worth of pocket money. For her, it is too much money, especially because she doesn't like to spend and she's not a materialistic person, that's why she thought of sending some of it for her mother's weekly allowance.

"Okay, Ma. I have to hang up now. I'm still packing my things," Allison said. Since she got her job, she's been supporting her mother financially. Her Dad is an American, and her parents married civilly and then lived together for about a year. Still, when her mother got pregnant, her father died of liver complications, so she never really knew him growing up.

Allison's mother and auntie, an unmarried old lady, Tita Divine, raised her. The two taught her and gave her what she needed. Because they earned a little from the small sewing business they owned, so Allison didn't get a bachelor's degree in college. She only finished vocational, but that's okay because after her studies, she immediately found a job, and that was at Liberty.

"Alright... But, Allison, be careful there, okay? I only agreed to that because that is part of your job." Her mother seems to remind her as if she is still a child.

"Your Mother is right, Allison," And that's her Auntie Divine's voice. "I don't want you to do something silly while alone. I don't want you and Troy to get into a misunderstanding."

Allison couldn't help but stop when her Tita Divine mentioned Troy's name in their conversation. Between the two of them, her Aunt Divine was the one who liked Troy so much for her, while her mother seemed to be just chilling in dealing with Troy.

Allison and Troy are both legal with her parents, but with Troy's parents, they're not. Troy has never introduced Allison to his parents in the whole period of their relationship. Allison doesn't know if Troy's parents are aware that he has a girlfriend because, believe it or not, Allison doesn't know much about his family. He didn't talk much, and they didn't have time to discuss it because he was very busy. They only meet together once in a while.

Allison quickly reached for her cell phone that was lying on the bed.

"Alright, Mom, Aunt Divine, I will hang up now. I'm going to finish packing; it's getting late now. Bye. Take care!" She didn't wait for their answer on the other line because she had already turned off the phone.

After turning it off, she returned her phone to the bed and continued packing while ranting.

"That coward, Troy! He's dead if he showed his face to me!" she said, annoyed, and almost threw the clothes she held in a suitcase. "I just realized that I'm the one who's stuck in this kind of situation," she snorted. "Obviously, I still have to explain to mama and Auntie Divine that Troy and I had already broken up. While Troy, I'm sure he was enjoying being single since his parents doesn't seem to have any idea about me. Damn! Why didn't I even force him to introduce me to his parents? You're stupid, Allison; you become too confident that he won't leave you! Huh? Now what? Look at you!"

It looks like this vacation is right for me because Shanell might be right; this may be the way to stop thinking about that nonsense, Troy!

Troy Scot's Office

"Sir Troy, the chairman would like to speak with you." His secretary spoke politely to him when she entered his office.

Troy came back to his senses from his almost several minutes of stupor, and then he cast a look at his secretary.

"Okay. I'll be there in a minute," Troy answered. His secretary just bowed to him and left his office.

Before he stood up from his swivel chair, Troy took one last look at his phone. When Troy saw that he had not received any message from the person he expected to text or call, he sighed silently and stood up from his seat.

Troy quickly took his navy blue coat hanging on his coat rack and put it on before he finally left the office. As he walked to the floor of the chairman's office, many employees greeted him.

He holds a high position in CTechno Appliances as Chief Financial Officer and now running to be the next Chief Operations Officer, who will soon happen after his business trip to Europe this end of the week.

After some minutes, he was in front of the chairman's office door. 'Herman Santillan' was written outside the door, and below was his position in the company as 'Chief Executive Officer and Chairman.'

Troy adjusted his tie a bit before he finally knocked on the door.

"Come in." A weak man's voice answered from inside, and that was all he was waiting for him to finally entered the office.

Troy's sight was welcomed by an old man in his 50s, sitting on a swivel chair in front of his beloved office table.

"Good afternoon, chairman," he greeted the CEO professionally before approaching his desk.

"Good afternoon; sit down, Troy." Troy sat down in front of the table. "Are you ready to leave this week for Europe? You know you are the only one I can trust regarding our business outside the country."

"Yes, Chairman. I'm just waiting for the day of my flight. Everything is set now, and there's nothing for you to worry about," he answered, and he nodded at him.

"Okay, good. Then, will you come home later? Your mom is looking for you. She always scolds me because she thinks I'm giving you a lot of work here at the company; that's why you're not visiting her."

Troy chuckled because of what he heard.

"I will try to visit later, dad," he smiled. He is professional when they talk about the company, so even though the chairman is his father, he still calls him 'chairman .' But when the topic concerns personal things or their family, he calls him 'dad,' and they are used to that setup. Troy is one of the sons of the company's owner, Herman Santillan. But he is just his Step Father. His biological father has been dead for a long time, and after almost three years, his Mother, Agnes, remarried Herman.

Herman's real wife also died long ago, and he has a son, his stepbrother.

Troy is two years older than his stepbrother. They were both old when they found out that their parents were remarrying. Their relationship is good, and his brother respects him as an elder, so there have been no problems since they became siblings.

But even so, his last name is still Scot. While his stepbrother's surname was Santillan, so they are often mistaken for not having a relationship with each other.

"Okay, I'll wait for that, huh? Your mother will be mad at me again if you don't show up, even if it's just a small dinner; River will be home late, too, so it's better if we have dinner together as a family."

River Santillan is the name of his stepbrother. As mentioned, the two are close even though they rarely talk or see each other. They also have no lousy relationship regarding working at his Step dad's company since River had no interest in handling CTechno Appliances. Their father was very grateful and happy when he learned that Troy was interested in managing and working in the company. Herman was distraught when he found out that his son, River, did not want to work at CTechno since he needed someone to help him manage it, especially when he retired.

"Okay, dad." he smiles.

"It would be better to pick River up at his condo later because he might forget about the dinner." The old man suggested.

"Alright, Dad. I'll take care of River. We'll go home together later." Troy agreed because it had been ages since he saw his stepbrother.

River was packing his clothes and things in his condo that night. He was getting ready to go to the wedding of his friend Fiona and Carlos, which will be held in Coron Palawan this coming Sunday. Because he was pretty busy with what he was doing, he forgot about the dinner at his parent's house, which would happen in about an hour.

He continued what he was doing, but after a few minutes, he was interrupted when his phone on his bed suddenly rang. He threw his gaze on it before reaching the ringing phone. It's Troy.

Only one question entered his mind: why his brother called him, which he rarely did? Yes, the two of them are close, but even so, they rarely see each other and talk because they are both busy with their own lives and priorities.

His brother, Troy, only focuses on his work and the sake of companies, while he is a happy-go-lucky guy.

But even though River was surprised, he answered that call.

"Hello. What's up? "He sat down on his bed.

[I'm now heading to your unit. Mind opening the door?] River automatically frowned at what his brother said. Even though he was confused, he stood up and left his room to open the door.

"What are you doing here?" River asked as he opened the door to his condo. His brother approached him slowly until the phone call ended. He puts down the phone call while still looking directly at Troy. "Is there something wrong, bro? Why are you here?" River asked more.

River saw that his brother looked like he had just come from his office because he was still wearing his corporate attire.

"Dad told me to fetch you," Troy answered, going straight into River's unit.

River frowned when he followed Troy because inside. He had no idea why his father sent him Troy since he had forgotten about the dinner.

"What? Why? "He asked in surprise.

Troy secretly shook his head while smiling because he was right that his brother would forget about dinner.

"It's a good thing that Dad thought to send me here to pick you up because otherwise, you'll forget about our dinner at home," Troy answered and sat on the couch in River's living room.

Shit!

River couldn't avoid cursing himself in his mind when he remembered about the dinner.

"Shoot! I forgot," he admitted. "The funny thing is, I was the one who insisted on going home later, but it turns out I forgot everything."

"Well, that is so you." Troy even laughed at him.

"Give me 5 minutes." And that's all River said before turning his back to his brother. He didn't wait for Troy's approval because he had already entered his room.

River hurriedly got dressed, and when he saw his things scattered on his bed, he ignored it for now.