a/N: hello y'all! waah...our exams are coming up soon, sorry if I wouldn't be able to update as before...but don't y'all worry...because here's another chapter!xD thanks to all those who reviewed...y'all make me happy.x3 ...enjoy! ...about the drinking thing...well, yeah I suppose they know how to drink, France and Italy are known for their drinks anyhow...so I guess they're taught how to drink at a young age...dunno...I'm not European,xD
Disclaimer: (oddly enough, I only disclaim when I feel like it...it that legal?) I don't own anything! ...don't sue me pleeze!...or else I won't update no more...and leave y'all hanging...(pouts) o.O?
My Porcelain Doll
Chapter Fourteen
"Gustav!"
"Enrique!"
Oliver stepped out of the car and smiled at his friend hugging his butler-turned-favourite-uncle-of-sorts.
"How's my young man?" the butler asked, rubbing the blonde boy's back.
"Gustav..." Enrique began. "This is Oliver..." and he dragged the said person over.
The butler bowed politely. "Very pleased to meet you, singor."
Oliver nodded and shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you too."
"Would you like to come inside?"
The Frenchman nodded, humbled by the hospitality.
"Welcome to out small and insignificant abode..." Enrique said somewhat lamely after dispersing the servants who had gathered around to fuss over them.
Oliver whacked him. "Don't say that! Your house is huge!"
Before the Italian could reply, two speeding torpedoes slammed into him.
"ENRIQUE WE MISSED YOU!" Rosette and Bianca squealed in unison.
"Girls, girls!" Enrique struggled against their iron hug and they let go. "This..." he straightened his shirt a bit. "...is Oliver...without a doubt I'm sure you know him..."
"Hi." they both greeted him before taking each of the frenchie's hands and shaking them.
"A-are your girlfriends twins?" the confused chef asked his friend.
"No, we're best friends." Rosette and Bianca filled in.
"I'm from Padua..." said the blonde.
"...and I'm from Tuscany." followed the redhead.
Oliver blinked at this double act and decided he was amused. "You're girlfriends are amusing, Enri..." he voiced out.
"Yeah they are..." the blonde boy replied as he hugged both the girls around the waist.
"Oh, Enri..." Biance turned to him, remembering something. "We came here to tell you that my papa is taking Rosette and I with him on his business trip to Japan. We'll miss you!" and she smothered him with kisses.
"We'll be back in to weeks..." Rosette informed; she'd been talking to Oliver about Tours, her mother's hometown.
Enrique's eyebrow rose. "When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow..." they both said with identical sad faces.
"We just dropped by to tell you that..." said Rosette.
"...and to meet Oliver." Bianca giggled.
"We honestly want you to come..." the redhead sighed.
"Oh I'll come with you two to Japan sometime...alone..." Enrique promised and smiled. The girls brightened.
"Okay! See you!" they said and left.
"...woah..." Oliver let out a breath. "They're a truck load...I marvel at how you deal with them." he said.
Enrique shrugged. "You're right. Let's say I'm used to it..." he grinned. "We're alone now...and at least they won't be here when we go to Robert's."
"Oh yeah...Robert's..." the frenchie said absently. There was s sound of onions and garlic being sautéed. "Hey...could I see your kitchen?"
Enrique blinked. "The kitchen? I..." Oliver dragged him to where the smell was coming from.
"It ain't yours..." the blonde said when they came to the traditional-style brick room.
Oliver stared for a minute or two, watching the chefs prepare food and the smoke rising from their pots and pans. He looked at the pasta noodles on the walls, the sauce on the floor and laughed.
"What?" the Italian frowned.
"Nothing..." he replied. "It's just that...your kitchen's so home-y."
Enrique smiled. "Come on, I'll show you around the house..."
--
"See?" You've got a bathroom that costs more than my kitchen..." Oliver said as they left Enrique's infamous golden bathroom.
"Hey, I thought we weren't comparing living spaces?" he replied.
"I'm just reminding you that you've got a remarkable space of your own..." the grass-haired boy shrugged. "You're degrading your villa too much..."
The blonde sighed, walking further up the hall. "This has been my whole world up until I was eight."
The frenchie pushed open a short blue door. "What's this room for?"
Enrique blinked. "Uh...oh wow...it's my old, old bedroom. Gustav cleaned this place up good."
He walked about the virtually empty room as Oliver examined to view.
"Hey I've never noticed this door before..." the blonde said, seeing an even smaller door at the corner of the room.
"That's cool!" the young chef said. "I wonder where it leads to..."
Enirque went down on his hands and knees and crawled through the door. Oliver followed the suit.
"An unused ballroom..." the chef stated, walking around the huge space.
"But...there's no other door..." Enrique replied. "The only way to come here was through the was we came..."
"That sucks..." his friend replied. "It'd make a beautiful ballroom. It's got a nice view..."
"Woah..."
"What is it?" Oliver turned to see his friend staring at the ceiling. He too looked up.
Looming over them was an immense painting. It portrayed a family of three enjoying a picnic in a meadow. The father was a handsome brunette with startling sapphire eyes. His strong-looking arms circled the waist of a strikingly beautiful slim blonde woman with pale storm-grey eyes. With soft smiles adorning their faces, they watched their young son play in the grass. Enrique's eyes widened as he saw a close resemblance of him and the boy. The family was eternally posed, serving as a grim reminder of what should've been had the circumstances been changed.
"Enri, who did that?" Oliver asked breathlessly.
"I..." the Italian walked around the room staring at the painting, looking for the artist's signature. "M-my mama..." he smiled. "She was a painter..."
"Was?"
"Mama died giving birth to me...I've never seen her. Papa says she looks like me..."
Oliver scrutinized the painting. "But isn't the boy in this painting supposed to be you? How did she..."
"It doesn't really look like me does it?" Enrique smiled weakly, looking at the representation of his mother. "It was as if this was mama's life project..."
The grass haired chef strode rapidly around the room, caressing the walls and pillars, occasionally looking up at the ceiling. "It was! This whole ballroom was you mother's life project. She was the one who painted every inch of it..."
Enrique was overwhelmed at the discovery. "It...it's amazing..." he said slowly, settling himself by the bug windows with Oliver.
"Where is your father?" the frenchie asked as both of them faced the sun.
"Papa is away on business..." Enrique said. "He always has been. I've never seen him since I was four. The only recent connection I had with him was when he gave me Amphilyon, and it was by mail too..."
Oliver looked at him thoughtfully and they fell in a comfortable silence.
"Hey...is that your garden?" he asked after a while, looking down.
Enrique followed his gaze. "Uh...you can't exactly call that a garden."
"What would you call it?" Oliver asked him. "A field of flowers?"
"That's my training...space. You see that big patch of grass? You press a button there and the dish come out..." the blonde replied.
He nodded. "Oh all right. Let's go down and see it!"
--
"I am a sucker for beauty..." the green-haired French boy said as they entered the colorful sanctuary Enrique tended.
"At least the gardeners didn't forget to look after them while I was gone..." the Italian mumbled, stroking the petal of a big white rose.
"They're beautiful Enri!" Oliver said softly, crouching low to tenderly examine a pale pink carnation. "Or do I make that sound like an understatement?"
Enrique grinned. "Yeah you do..."
The young chef smirked and moved amongst the flowers.
"Bring me here again one day; I'll bring me easel along and paint all of this..." requested Oliver.
"You're welcome anytime," the blonde Italian replied, picking up a fallen rosebud and handing it to the other boy for him to keep.
It was when they stayed in Italy that Oliver's and Enrique's friendship deepened.
TBCA/N: wahoo! I liked the ending...hope you did too...as well as the rest of the chapter. Reveiw y'all!
...to the members of the Bundle a la Shticksh...kung naaalala ninyo yung nasa clearbook ko na drowing ni Oliver at Enrique na nasa hardin...ayun yon. Dito siya galing, sa chapter na ito...Haha...I quoted my own story...yabang noh?xD