3

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Villa

At breakfast, Chase was waiting for her in his usual table. It was a conscious act on his part to spare her the trouble of searching for him in the midst of other guests.

He had his phone to his ear, probably calling someone and he beckoned for her to come near when he saw her.

"Good morning," she addressed him and took her seat.

The way he ended the call abruptly didn't escape her wandering eyes, and the fact that he looked even more attractive at daylight only served to annoy her.

It must be the nerves again, for some reason she felt strangely on edge that morning.

"You hungry? They have the best sìnìgang here, you should try it," Chase suggested.

Taking his advice, she raised the bowl of the sour pork broth to her mouth and savored the taste of local food for a moment before moving on to coffee.

Standard filipino breakfast was heavy at best.

She paused, in between stuffing her mouth to look at the client again.

"I take it we are heading to the property today?"

"Yes, we actually call it the Sandejas Villa here. I'm surprised they didn't add that to the profile of the property," he mused.

"Sandejas... It sounds like an important name."

An enigmatic smile stretched on Chase' mouth. "You ever heard of the Sandejas clan? They're quite famous there at the Ranchos, and the family owns that Villa which is going to be your project."

She stared at him, processing the new piece of information. As far as she knew, the name of the property was classified.

Chase saw her hesitate, and he straightened before clearing his throat. "There is... something I should tell you. Maybe get some facts straight while we are on it, although it won't necessarily change things. You see, the only reason my name was registered in your portfolio is because I work for them," he said simply, gauging her reaction.

"So, you're not the real owner?"

"No, I'm just the liaison whose job is to basically see through this project, Lyari."

•••

The Sandejas Villa turned out to be a huge sprawling spanish estate in a secluded place in Nasugbu, up in the valleys that sheltered affluent subdivisions.

Against Chase' words, Lyari brought her own car with her, following his lead along Ternate highway for the next five hours. It wasn't feasible for her to leave her precious Honda behind in some longstay car-park and be in the same ride with Chase, no matter how far luxurious his Jaguar was. It just didn't sit right with her.

Chase's taillights beamed red after the last roundabout, then he turned to a small road that forked the main highway and rose towards the hill.

The landmarks Casa Milan and Sora Mountain Villa was left behind them, when the Villa slowly came to view as their cars inched atop the valley and Lyari finally got a good panoramic view of the horizon in the West as well as the mortar-clad facade of the structure nestled at the terraced belly of the hillside.

The temperature in these mountainous parts has cooled significantly; the slight breeze escaping through her car window was more bearable compared to the heat waves that seem to be a constant at the city.

They passed through massive wrought iron gates promptly opened by two guards in black suits who were currently positioned at the entrance.

Lyari had seen houses like these on her single trip abroad in Europe; she was used to seeing the grand scales of residences that came with the richer clients of her peers. She'd thought they were unusual to find here in the tropics, and it seems this one was only built on a whim. It was pretty impressive. In her line of work, she'd only specialized in renovating apartment complexes, building reasonable and efficient modern houses. Renovating a mansion was a first for her, and the challenge was welcomed.

The only thing that bothered her was the number of men circling around the property idly.

Were they really necessary? She didn't know. Maybe the owner was a paranoid sort and he liked to keep armed bodyguards.

As soon she got out of her car in the parking area, Chase came to her, looking quite tense after speaking to one of the men by the entrance.

"Come, Lyari. I'll take you to that tour of yours, what do you call that in your work?" He asked, taking her by the arm.

"It's the, uh, analysis of the site," she answered, still wary of the strangers around her.

"Hmm, okay."

"I see you have many guards around here," unbidden, the words tumbled out of her mouth in her observation.

Chase didn't have the chance to humor her when the wooden double doors of the mansion opened in front of them to reveal an older man with the same black clothes. His face spoke of recognition once his eyes set on Chase.

"Mr Romero, what a pleasant surprise. You came back sooner, I was expecting you to arrive for another hour or so," the older man said in a reedy voice. The warmth that shown on his brown face leathered with deep wrinkles told her they knew each other well.

"Pueblo, good to see you again," Chase acknowledged him with the same warmth "we took off earlier and there wasn't much traffic on the road, it was a miracle at the rate this country is going."

Pueblo turned to look at her, squinting his eyes. "Ah, that's good to hear. And I presume this is the architect?"

"Yes, her name is Lyari Sage, from the Metro. Lyari, this is Pueblo, the keeper of the villa."

She nodded at the old man. "Nice to meet you, Pueblo."

"A Manila girl. The pleasure is mine, Miss Sage. So, shall we get inside? It's not going to be any less hotter out here."

Chase led her through the interior of the house, easing onto the role of the perfect host. He spoke of the brief history of the house which wasn't much considering it was newly constructed in 2015, practically he talked about anything which he deemed was appropriate as a topic for her. He didn't need to try, Lyari was already spellbound with the place and she soaked up every aspect of the rooms they happened to pass by. Especially the courtyard inside which had a rectangular pool in the middle of it, which was always such a thing for spanish great houses.

When they reached their destination, Pueblo who was trailing behind left them to their own business.

The game area at the west wing of the estate was a gaping hole in the structure, where rays of sunshine shone through the massive room whose walls were completely reduced to rubble. Dust from the obliterated brick and mortar was everywhere.

Anyone smart enough would say this part of the house was blown up to bits by some kind of an explosive. Whether it was intentional bombing or not was the question.

"This is the game area, or what's left of it," Chase told her.

"And you want me to renovate this part," she added quietly, wanting to make sure they were really at the right place.

This was far from what she expected.

He smiled. "Correct. Mr Sandejas wants this part of the house to be turned into an office, not just any kind of office, but one complete with additional amenities for recreation."

"Whatever happened to this place?"

"Aren't you supposed to be taking notes, Miss Sage?"

The inflection in her client's voice made her snap to attention, and she glanced at him. Chase had his genial mask on, smiling that smile he gave her on their first meeting.

"Oh sorry, I was a bit distracted by the mess," she answered apologetically.

"Understandable, though the cause of this mess has to remain classified. My friend doesn't want any outsiders to get in the way with his personal matters."

"I see..." Chase's words had a jarring effect to her, more from the realization that something wrong must have happened to the place. Uneasiness crawled on the skin of her back for some unknown reason.

Stone debris crunched underfoot as they walked around the hollow remains of the great room, inspecting and taking pictures of the premises. Setting to do her work, Lyari tried to ignore how miffed she felt about the mess and the evident lack of symmetry with the raw elements of the structure. She tested the floors and remaining walls for stability, identified the vital parts of the room to set up the renovations and writing her observations on the tablet she brought with her, mostly technical stuffs.

"Does the owner want to retain the former elements of this place, or replace all of these with a more modern design?" She asked after sometime.

"That is part of the changes to be made, therefore I say we go with more modern. The rest should be up to you from here."

Lyari fiddled with her tablet, trying to visualize a design solution in her mind with some ideas of her own. But she'd need the result of the evaluations of other consultants first, the summary of that will be forwarded to her later on respectably by the firm.

The tour was winding down fast, and Chase glanced at his watch.

"When you're ready, just tell me and Pueblo will take you to a spare room upstairs. You must be tired from all that driving."

She stopped on her track. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose."

"Of course, I'm sure. You're the guest here, and I say you stay with us for the night," he answered simply with an indulgent smile.

"Actually, I was just thinking if maybe I could utilize one of those transient houses nearby," she pressed lightly, not wanting to spend the night in a big house full of armed men.

"Come on, Lyari. Those houses are practically unreliable here in this part of town, I should know since I live here."

She bit the inside of her lip, debating whether to accept his offer or go on with her original plan.

Just then, Pueblo appeared at the hall, announcing that the guest room was ready for her.

"See, you could stay with us, me and my guys could use with another guest to entertain in here."

"Does Miss Sage have other plans?" Pueblo asked.

Both of them looked at her expectantly.

"I suppose, it wouldn't hurt if I stay..."

Later that night, she lay in bed but found she couldn't sleep well.

Subsequent tossing and turning in bed made it worse. She finally gave up, and decided to head to the small balcony connected to the guest room.

She could swear there were mosquitoes on the covers, biting her sensitive skin.

Maybe catching some of the cold night air would do the trick for her.

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