GRACEI barged into her room and my frightened self became more scared when my sight fell on the irregular rising and falling of the girl’s chest, her breathing crazily filling the room with loud, struggling sounds.“Ruby! Ruby! Wake up!” She responded to my call with a sleepy voice but her hard breathing still wouldn’t stop. As I made her sit up, David’s concerned words blared from the call. “Ruby, you need to wake up. Open your eyes, Ruby.” My worry grew by the second as I tapped her cheeks lightly to wake her up.“David, she won’t stop breathing hard.” My voice shivered with distress. “What should I do?”His voice echoed from the phone. ‘Hmm. Okay. Sit her up first. Sit her up.’“She is sitting up. She is.” I hugged the girl to my chest and adjusted her position after I grabbed her pillow to support her back.Amid my attempt to get her in the most comfortable position, my skin came in contact with hers and my fear grew.“David, she is hot. Her body is...”’Calm down, Grace. To deal
GRACE‘Grace.’ I stirred when a voice reached me in my sleepy state. ‘Grace.’I felt a tap on my shoulder but I shrugged it off.“Go away,” I grudgingly replied to the small voice that was distracting my sleep from God knows where.“Grace. It’s me, Dominic.” My shoulders felt another tap and my eyes snapped open without delay. Indeed, Dominic was by my side, his worried gaze piercing my worried, slumber-filled eyes.I sat up, let out a loud yawn, and asked, “You are back already? Uhm... I thought your trip was for a week.”He reached for my hair and swept a strand away from my face. My heavy eyes followed his every movement as he stood straight.“I hurried my plans and came back as soon as possible.”“Oh, you shouldn’t have bothered. Ruby is fine now.” I carefully got off the little bed and reached for the covered plate on the table that was not so far from Ruby’s bed.As my mouth began to munch on the cake that was earlier hidden from plain sight, my gaze fell on Dominic who kept his
GRACE“Did you notice anything out of the ordinary while I was away?” Dominic’s question brought me out of my bewilderment.I adjusted my stance. “Well, I did hear a door close suddenly. I thought it was Ruby, but when I got upstairs, she was still sleeping. Then, I noticed that your door was a bit ajar. But before I could investigate, Ruby started-”He nodded to indicate that he understood my unfinished sentence and my eyes went back to the demeaning word.“Hmm,” Dominic hummed.And I asked, “Who do you think could have done this?”He let out a slow exhale and replied, “I do not know.”My hands grasped the thickness of his arm as I recalled the message I got earlier. “Do you know what’s funny? I got a threatening text message earlier.”With a short frown on his face, he swiftly faced me. “What message?”“The person threatened to kill me if I do not leave you.”Dominic’s free hand swiftly cupped my cheek. His fingers trailed my skin and his eyes told me that he was determined to be th
GRACE“Grace. Get up. There’s something you need to see.” That whispering stirred me out of my barely-adequate sleep. And when I opened my eyes, the gorgeous blues of Dominic’s orbs stared back at me in a way that made me aware that he was very close to me.His eyelids failed to blink for a couple of seconds and I found that somewhat creepy. If he were someone else, I would have probably kicked his ass off the bed.“Hey there.” I threw him a lazy smile.“What were you thinking about?” His hand grazed my cheek.“How I could have kicked you out of my bed.”He frowned as he helped me sit up. “What?”“Dude, you were staring right into my eyes. It was creepy.”“It is nice to know that I can be good-looking yet creepy.”I playfully stuck my tongue out.“Why did you wake me up? I have not exactly gotten much sleep.”“I know. And I am sorry I haven’t been around to help with Ruby.”My eyes followed him as he reached for a strand of my hair and began to play with it.“Well, you are a busy man.
GRACE“So, what do you want to know about me?”“Anything I am not aware of.” I grabbed a slice of the barbecue chicken pizza and settled for the tale ahead.“Uh...” His deep voice boomed across the room as he tried to reason out an answer. “What do you know about me so far?”“I am pretty sure I am meant to be the only one asking questions,” I pointed out, but his persuasive look got me answering his question in no time.I downed another bite of the pizza and said, “I know you are Dominic Powers. A billionaire, a businessman, and a father. You were once married and you had a girlfriend. Uh... you are a very serious-looking man. And uh... I uh... guess I have reasons to believe that you like me.”“I do like you,” he abruptly replied and caused a shy smile to erupt on my lips.“Well, I guess that is all I know.”“I see.” After adjusting his seat, he also reached for a slice of pizza and held it for a while before interrupting the silence between us.“I grew up in the countryside. My fath
GRACE“Alright. Good day sir.” I ended the call I just had with my former boss, Mr. Cumming, and a huge sigh escaped me. I was about to replay the details of our discussion when I stopped myself. I decided it would be better to pretend the conversation never happened and proceeded to head for the living room where Ruby and Jeremy were having a serious class as usual.It has been a week since Ruby’s health breakdown and even though I insisted that she rested some more, she refused and said that she would prefer to resume her classes.“Mr. Powers just came in. He asked about you,” Jeremy informed me as soon as I sat down. The man flashed me a knowing smile and I rolled my eyes at him. But his smile soon turned into a small frown. “Hey, are you fine?”I guess the effect the earlier conversation had on me was still written all over me. Immediately, I added extra perkiness to make sure I was pretending very well.Then, I replied, “Yeah, I am. Why?”“I don’t know. You suddenly don’t seem ve
GRACE“Did you notice anything out of place?”I glanced at Dominic before replying. “Out of place? Uh... no. Everyone was busy with their work. Besides, I was occupied with escaping from those media dudes. I didn’t get a chance to notice if anyone was observing me.”My tone was a little unfriendly, but I am truly getting tired. As if it was not enough that I was offered my job back because of Dominic, I just had to receive a threatening message that tells me that someone has been watching me.After I received the text, I shook off the shiver that overpowered me and headed for Hotel Pierre. With haste, I showed Dominic the text and he immediately dialled the number of his friend that supposedly owned a security company. That friend of his is now around and is asking me questions with the hope that my answers would help his investigation. Apparently, ever since we saw the strange word on my bathroom mirror, Dominic contacted his friend and launched a swift investigation.After many seco
GRACEStepping out of a helicopter into a beautiful field filled with different species of flowers is certainly something Grace from two, three months ago would have not pictured at all. When Dominic mentioned moving to a safe place, I pictured another penthouse with a nice pool to swim in.But... The scene in front of me is more than that. It’s as though someone breathed reality onto a very detailed painting of nature. The plants that surrounded us danced with the wind, so did the length of my gown.As I reached for Ruby’s hand and pulled her closer to my side to block her ears from the loudness of the ascending helicopter, I took many seconds to enjoy the scene laid out in front of me. And as I did that, my soul felt relaxed, the same way I feel whenever I’m with Dominic.Soon, we were walking out of the bare field we were standing on and our feet approached the straight path that welcomed us to the lushness of the land. As we walked, admirable scents tickled my sense of smell and a
GRACEWe were all in front of Mr. Powers’ ward and swimming in silence after the doctor informed us that the older man was lucky to have survived the cardiac arrest he suffered.After hearing that, I can only imagine how strong the love he had for her was.But I just hope he is okay at the end of the day. He doesn’t deserve to suffer because a particular person could not make a decision that is befitting a person with sense.A sigh left me and I grabbed Dominic’s hand to continue encouraging him to remain strong."What will happen to the wedding?" Quintin asked.Janet, who already joined us, looked at the clock above us. "It is almost midnight," she stated."We can always reschedule the wedding till Father gets better, " I said since that was the only reasonable thing."Maybe." Janet sighed.After a short silence, Dominic said, "We are getting married tomorrow.""How?"Even others found his statement a bit odd. They carried confusion on their faces."Pops won't be able to attend, Domi
GRACEA lot of minutes filled with silence passed before I finally said something.While my mind failed to fully imagine the kind of chaos that could be going on in Janet’s mind, I asked, “Does Dominic know?”She shook her head and set the plate aside. "Neither does Pops. And we need to let him know before that woman does something rash. But I am a little scared.” Her breath shuddered, her jaws tightened. “I know this will be harder on Pops and Dominic.”I took steps forward and said, "I'm coming with you.""No.""Come on, Janet. Now is not the time to follow wedding norms. This is an emergency, Janet.”"I just"I cut in. "I can't sit back and talk about makeup and wedding gowns when something this huge is happening."Janet sighed and the next thing I knew, she was holding my hand. With that contact, she led me out of the room while others stared at our backs in slight confusion.As our feet rushed, Janet asked, "How do you think she found out about the wedding? We made sure to keep t
GRACE“Did you guys plan this on purpose?”“What are you talking about?” I turned to face Tiffany who was heading for the huge closet that came with my suite.“Your wedding is a day before Valentine’s. Did the two of you decide to ditch the official lover’s day?”“I doubt we saw things that way. We just picked a date that seemed fine because we didn’t want to drag things out.”Tiffany smiled. “You two sure are lovebirds.” She dragged out the bag where my wedding gown was resting and I left the dresser and walked to the bed in the middle of the room. “Have you tried your gown since the last time?”"Why? Isn’t it foolish to keep wearing the gown when its moment of service is yet to come?" That question remained on my lips as I grabbed a plate of cake from the food tray that was just delivered to my room.But as I bit in to enjoy the bliss of the pastry, Tiffany gasped and rushed to my side. After snatching the plate to my surprise, she asked, “Why? What do you mean by why? What if you g
GRACE“So…” It took some strength to stop my eyes from twitching with confusion and slight anger. “All that time, I was speaking with your sister? How did I not notice? How…?”Samantha got up. “How could you have noticed? Sandra always managed to fool our parents. Anyway, I need you to see something. It is the reason I asked us to meet here.”She motioned to a nearby guard and the man led the way until we reached the end of the corridor that branched to our left. My legs felt heavy as we moved, but I pushed myself because I still desired to know the full truth.I also need to find an answer to the part of me that keeps wondering if there’s a chance that the woman with me is Sandra and not Samantha. After all, from what I have heard, Sandra is good at impersonating her sister.At the end of that corridor was a heavily barred room. No doubt, it was a prison and while I tried to figure out who the occupant was, Samantha stepped aside and gave me a full view of the room beyond the bars.T
GRACEA few hours later, we arrived in Manhattan and I found my way to David’s place. And without wasting time, David drove me to a rarely used state prison yard where I was supposed to meet Samantha… or the person that’s Samantha’s sister.When we arrived at our destination, my eyes carried a certain weary and I became concerned about the next few minutes of that day.“Is she really in there?” I asked David."Yes. Samantha is waiting for you. She is going to explain everything in detail.”“Can’t you just tell me what you know?” My mind could experience a change. I was becoming hesitant and perhaps, I was not ready to face the crazy truth.It seems coming down to Manhattan might be a waste of time."Grace,” David must have sensed me holding back, “you can’t grow cold feet right now. You need to know the truth and you need to know it now.” I darted my sight to him and I was certain that my entire being was screaming silently that I was sacred. “Grace,” his tone softened, “you have come
GRACE"Okay, Dominic. I think it is your time to wear our traditional sweater," Janet announced as she whipped out the said sweater."Oh no, no." Dominic's voice boomed across the room and for some reason, he reached for my hand as though I was a very strong bodyguard that would ward off preying hands that would force him to wear the sweater. "I am not putting on that hideous thing.""But someone has to wear it every Christmas," Janet pouted and I wondered why anyone would want to wear something that looked and smelt like a disaster.Yes. It is that hideous.It possessed a terrible shade of red that failed to blend with the bright green that sprawled over the chest of the sweater in the form of a potato. Or… Santa Claus? The shape was hard to read.So, I squinted my eyes to attempt figuring out what the sweater was all about.Then, Janet asked, "Grace, do you want to put it on?"I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate. My hands waved frantically and my lips rushed out a response. “No. No. N
DOMINIC“What do you think Father wants to say?”Janet shrugged while her focus remained on the last bit of the cookie in her hand. After a deep swallow and some mouth-twitching noise I chose to ignore, she said, “He might just want to appreciate her. What?” One of her brows jerked with a touch of teasing. “Do you think he will try to convince her to leave you?”“Why would he do that?” My frown was very huge. “He wouldn’t dare.”“Relax. I am just joking. Pops would never do that to both of you. Or any of us.”“I know.” I scoffed. “I was joking as well.”Janet shook her head. “You still suck at making jokes. Some things never change.” I smiled at her words. “Hey, brother?” She looked up at me while noise from the living room hit our ears harder.“What is it?”“I shouldn’t have blabbed about the New York thing. I almost ruined things.” Janet was almost mumbling her words. She still doesn’t work well with portraying her feelings when she is in the wrong. “I am sorry.”“You almost ruined
GRACEChristmas period came within a flash and I discovered that I was especially excited to be going to Dominic’s family house. Perhaps the memories I created in that home were dearer to me than I thought.I wonder if their field of flowers would have a lot of flowers in bloom. I know winter is not so friendly to certain plants. I should take a look anyway. It would be nice to feast my eyes on something beautiful and rare."This place looks peaceful," Ruby commented as she admired every part of the houses we drove past.“Right? Everything is beautiful as well.” Every house and street we drove past carried a touch of celebration decorations and that view made me certain that the whole town would be a great beauty by nighttime.As minutes passed, we became closer to Dominic’s family house and since the route we were taking was quieter, I decided to sit back and enjoy the amazing view.“Daddy, are we going to come here often?” Ruby asked, the joy and enthusiasm in her voice almost conta
GRACE“I can't believe this man,” I muttered under my breath. “Why did he leave these here?” With anger, I picked up the socks Dominic sprawled all over the floor while he was searching for his special socks.It has been many months since we moved and I still don't understand his infatuation with those socks. I won’t deny the beauty of the black and red material, but the fact he only wears them to huge business partnership meetings makes me dislike his love for the socks. If the socks were that special, he would wear them to our dates as well.But no. He would rather turn the house upside down because of those socks, leaving me to take care of his mess.With a gradually dissolving anger, I approached the drawer where Dominic just disarranged and dumped all the socks without care. He can sort out his mess when he gets back.I turned from the dresser and the image of Dominic comically rushing out of the house to escape my nagging tugged in my mind, causing me to erupt peals of laughter.