chapter 18: Grandma In The House

Diva was munching on the popcorn while watching a movie, turning the lights off in the living room. Her legs were stretched over it, and her elbow rested on the armrest��totally relaxed and engrossed in the movie. The pain in her leg disappeared after she made a maid give her a foot massage.
"Just what are you doing to my living room?" came an irritated voice that interrupted Diva's attention on the intense scene.
Without removing her eyes from the screen, she said, "Welcome back, Blaze. How was your meeting?"
"Good," he replied, still eyeing the poor condition of the living room. After a tiring day at work, he expected to come back home to find a clean, peaceful living room, where he could relax��but too bad for him. He glanced at Diva's leg. The way she was chilling, made him sure that she didn't have the pain anymore.
Blaze tried his best not to look at the popcorn crumbs on the sofa and went upstairs to freshen up.
After taking a relaxing shower, wearing his casual clothes, he went back downstairs to the living room with his laptop. He glared at the dark area, mostly at Diva.
She will spoil her eyes like that, he thought and went to turn on the lights.
As soon as the room illuminated, Diva sat up with annoyance. "Don't turn it on. It spoils the mood," she whined as her so-called theatre atmosphere died down.
Blaze rolled his eyes and responded, "I'm going to work here." He sat beside her on the couch, not before dusting the dirt off it.
"But I'm watching a movie!" she exclaimed.
"And?" Blaze turned his laptop on, not paying much attention to her.
"And..." Diva wracked her brain to think of something. "People who come home late don't get to bother the ones who come home early."
"For coming home early, you would need to leave the home," he remarked. After the meeting today, Blaze had a formal dinner with the Megamile Corporation, so he arrived late, and Diva had to eat dinner alone��which she hated the most. She couldn't even invite Lina over because Lina was supposed to take rest.
"Whatever." Diva crossed her arms stubbornly. All of a sudden, a light bulb lit up on top of her head as she protested, "I did go out today. I went to your office and the hospital."
"Okay, my mistake, Ms. Obvious," he told her and busied himself in his work. He knew it better than to prolong the conversation with her because that would end up in a headache for him.
Diva's nose flared with anger. She went to turn off the lights again.
"Diva," Blaze called out in an alarming tone.
"It's staying off," she declared and stormed towards the sofa.
Blaze got up and pressed the switch, lighting up the place once again.
The two of them repeated the set of tasks until Diva announced, "Do what you want. No matter how many times you turn it on, I'm gonna turn it off." She held her ground near the switchboard with puffed cheeks.
"There's no point, is there?" Blaze mumbled to himself and released a sigh. "Okay, I won't turn it on anymore." He went back to the living place and plopped down on the sofa.
"Promise?" asked Diva.
"Promise."
"Pinky promise?"
"Yeah, pinky promise, purple promise, yellow promise, every colored promise." Blaze huffed and grabbed a cushion, squeezing it close to his chest. He was annoyed enough for the day��so annoyed that watching a movie did not seem a bad idea anymore.
Diva laughed at his childish words. Even though he was a big-shot businessman, he still had some childish behaviors in him��but his composed, mature side overweighted all of that.
Diva sat beside him, pulling up her legs, earning a disgusted look from Blaze. He was still getting used to it. She turned on the movie and started eating her popcorn again.
Blaze also relaxed and leaned his back on the sofa.
Finally, some moments of peace were passing, or so Blaze thought.
"That girl is getting in the way of his work, don't you think?" asked Diva.
Blaze simply nodded.
After a minute, she said again, "She really needs some medical attention. Seriously, she is so clingy."
Says the one who needs to be in an asylum, Blaze thought.
Another moment of tranquility passed before Diva spoke up again, but this time it was about the side couple in the movie, "Oh, my gosh! Get married already!"
Blaze arched an eyebrow in confusion. "They are not even the main protagonists," he let out.
"So what? Everyone is necessarily the hero of their own life story," Diva quoted, proud that she could remember a famous quote.
"It's not the time for a John Barth quote," Blaze snickered.
Diva's jaw hung open. Here she thought she was superior for a moment until he said the name of the person who the quote belonged to��even she did not know that.
"Whatever." She turned her head to the screen again. "Ugh!" she groaned, seeing the female lead causing some unwanted havoc again. "She is so annoying."
Can she just enjoy the movie silently? Blaze thought. As an introvert, he loved watching movies alone, in a silent place. But that freedom of his ended the day Diva Adler became Diva Hudson.
"Geez, that guy should be kicked out of the squad already. She's such a liability," Diva criticized. "Can't the other members say anything to her?"
"Can you stop talking already?" Blaze finally said.
"But where's the fun in a movie if you don't criticize the characters? Look, if we don't criticize, and the characters are just perfect and shiny, that means there's no space for character development. A movie without a character development might as well as be a photo," Diva reasoned out.
"Where did that even come from?" Blaze was baffled as to how she came to the conclusion that character development was needed in a story.
"You told me to stop talking. That means you are asking me to stop criticizing them which is not��"
"Just stop talking in general," he cut in.
"But��"
"Stay quiet and enjoy the movie. Try to understand the meaning behind the movie, instead of just criticizing them." Before Diva could speak up again, Blaze added, "I don't like it when someone is talking during a movie."
Hearing that, she fell silent. She did not utter a word and kept criticizing the characters in her mind, quietly chomping on the popcorn.
When twenty minutes passed by, and Diva did not say a word, Blaze glanced at her to find her drowned in the show. A smile evolved on his face as he thought, she does listen to me, then.
Well, another person was to add to the list of the people who could make Diva shut up.
In between, Diva did want to talk many times, but she kept her lips sealed, remembering Blaze's words. She did not abide his every word ��she simply would not. Yet she could listen to his pleas once in a while, at least.
No talking during movies��she can give him that much, can't she?
When the romantic movie ended, Diva told Blaze to suggest a movie, and he chose a sci-fi movie��space traveling, to be exact. Blaze had a weird fascination for the latest technology, so if the time machine was ever invented, one could count on Blaze to get one.
On the other hand, Diva could not help but doze off during science fiction movies. The scientific, out-of-the-world concept of robots and time machines never got through her head, even though she majored in computer science and engineering.
Therefore, ten minutes into the movie and Diva was sound asleep. Blaze did not notice the sleeping figure beside him until half an hour passed by.
At first, he thought of leaving the sleeping Diva as she was, but Blaze felt bad. He would hate it if she caught a cold. Then he would have to take care of her, which he would rather not. Hence, he brought a light blanket for her and draped it around her. Then he continued watching the movie, occasionally glancing at her direction, making sure she did not fall off the sofa.
While watching the movie, Blaze didn't realize when he fell asleep himself.
����
The next morning, Blaze woke up first and realized he had fallen asleep as well, but without a blanket over him because, well, Diva didn't wake up in the middle of the night��too bad for him.
Blaze stretched his arms and glanced at Diva, who was sleeping like a baby. She was curled up in a ball, and the cream-colored blanket made her look like a cocoon. A slight smile curved on his lips, seeing her like that.
He immediately looked away when Diva's eyes started fluttering. She yawned and stretched her legs, mistakenly kicking Blaze in the abdomen. She squeaked and apologized to him, earning a death glare from him.
After that, Blaze stood up, ready to head to his bedroom. He noticed Diva still sitting there, lines of stress pulled over her forehead.
"What's wrong?" he asked, sounding slightly worried.
"Nothing. I just feel a storm is coming," she replied thoughtfully.
"Storm?" Blaze checked the weather forecast on his phone and said, "Today's weather is clear and sunny."
"Not that kinda storm." A frown took over her lips. Diva was getting a bad feeling as if something really horrible was coming and she was not wrong.
Because right then, a shout echoed throughout the hall room, leading up to the living room, "Diva Adler!"
At once, Diva jumped down from the sofa and stood still. Blaze raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Usually, when Diva panicked, she jumped on top of anything near her, but this time, she was standing straight on the floor as if she was part of military training.
"Diva Adler!" the same gruff voice called out for her.
"Who is still calling you by your maiden name?" asked Blaze, purely out of curiosity.
Diva snapped her neck towards him, a helpless expression etched on her face that screamed, "I am dead."
Blaze wondered who was the one who could make Diva stiff.
"Diva Adler, where are you?" The voice kept getting closer. Suddenly, Diva was grateful that Blaze's mansion was like a maze.
"Do you know the person?" he further asked.
Diva nodded as she mumbled quietly, "It's my grandma."