And she surely knew how to get on my nerves when even her smile compelled all the blood in my veins to boil like shit. Happiness streaked through her like a comet, but I was the one who got exploded by it. However, while understanding the situation, the two things that intrigued and confused me the most were how on earth she was part of the crowd and how she knew about the measurement of the diamond ring on my finger. Ghino told me earlier that his friends would be coming to pick us up to join someone's birthday party. He did not mention anything about Maureen as one of his circle of friends. And so was the engagement ring. Don't even know about the size and weight of it. But Maureen immediately recognized it in just the blink of an eye. Who are these people around us, anyway? Are they certainly Ghino's friends? Or just gold-diggers just like Maureen? I have known Maureen for five years and have wandered the entire New York City but I never met and recognized any
He slowly undressed my gown until nothing was left on me. While I was looking at him, call it absurd, but Dylan's face suddenly flickered into my eyes and his name remained in my heart. Partly startled, I grabbed the blanket and covered it around me. Then I jumped out of bed "What?" he frowned before he reached out to my hand and pulled me closer. "I'm so sorry, Ghino," The tears in my eyes began pouring down my cheeks. "Don't know. I'm a little scared." "Was it because this is your first time?" he asked, his voice started getting calm. He tapped the surface of the bed next to him, telling me to sit down. I noticed that his aggressiveness earlier began to subside. His forehead and neck were covered in sweat, ejecting the alcohol content out of his body. So I dropped my butt on the bed next to him. He was already sober so I started to trust him again. "We can't if you're not ready yet, Elaine." he said, "You're scared and hesitant, right?" After getting my n
Dylan headed to the secretarial office, not to bid farewell to Dust and Jennifer, but to pack my things voluntarily. Both of their jaws dropped to the floor with their eyes fixed on him. "I'll take it from here, Mr. Spencer," I snatched the iPhone tablet and purse from him before he could carry them all by himself to the nearest elevator. "This meeting with the Singapore branch was a last-minute notification, so I'm afraid we don't have much time to get back to our respective places to pack our things," Dylan answered back, "We better get going 'cause we only have one hour and thirty minutes left not to be late for our flight." He slid to the doorway scanned the room for about ten seconds and stopped at me. "Don't worry about clothes, personal hygiene, or anything you need. I already reached out to our people there." "Please, take good care of the office for three days. Don't forget to call me if you guys have questions or concerns, okay?" I spoke up as I checked
"It's a long story, but I'm afraid we don't have the luxury to discuss the case right now. Instead..." Dylan suddenly tossed me his iPhone tablet. "Take a look at them." On the screen of his tablet were a list of images, and photos of individuals to be precise, whom I believed were part of Don Romualdo's shareholders Spencer Group, and Companies in their Singaporean branch. Even if I am not part of the old man's team, I was quite familiar with most of them because Dylan showed me their files about two years ago. If I am not mistaken, most of them were Don Romualdo's enemies. Wait. Do they have something to do with Don Romualdo's death? I stealth a glance at Dylan, allowing me to see his profound mood while looking ahead of us. I can tell that a lot of things were bothering him as well. After a few minutes of scanning his tablet, and reading every piece of their information, we hopped out of the car and bolted to the hotel in front of us. The first thing that caught my attention wh
"All right, right in front of everyone, I am going to pour everything inside this box." Mr. Morgan announced the second he picked up one of those papers scattered on the table. "We will start the counting of the votes. The first vote goes to... APPROVED." Even though it was still the first vote, Dylan could not deny the anxiety that was written all over his face. I could even catch a glimpse of the continuous trembling of his shoes under the table. "Here goes the second vote," Mr. Morgan continued, "The second vote says, APPROVED! Two for Disapproved while none for Approved." This time, I started to feel anxious for Dylan when he started biting his fingernails. It was supposed to be the first two votes but Dylan's world started falling into pieces. I started to wonder what he might do if he heard another disapproved of the votes. And there are thirteen more votes to count. Mr. Morgan suddenly cleared his throat as though he was removing the cold air that stu
Instead of an honest response or reasonable explanation to defend his wrongdoing, Dylan simply stared at me in the eye. Emptiness dominated his once-expressive eyes. A part of me wanted to believe that he was simply drunk or was carried by the sensation or good ambiance of the room after consuming three glasses of wine, but no. He was sober and knew what he did as he kissed me. While I was mirroring his profound stares, my entire body was frozen like still, and my lips yearned for more. Shit. What are you thinking, Elaine? One time when he passed out in my apartment, I kissed him once before and expressed my feelings. Even if he asked me about how to take responsibility for my actions a few days after that, he still ignored my confession and still treated me as his best friend and secretary. Nothing more. Nothing less. Then he kissed me again instead of an explanation, this time, he possessed a bit of aggression. The worst part, I closed my eyes and simply let hi
"Elaine, my brother's calling, should I answer the phone for you or just do it?" My soaked and naked body almost stumbled to the floor as I attempted to catch the soap that slipped off my hands after hearing Dylan's name loud and clear. Ghino knocked on the door before he added. "Are you all right, Elaine? I heard a thudding sound just now. I'm coming in." "No, I'm fine." I lied even if I was not. "Don't answer it. I mean answer it for me, please!" "Am I gonna answer it or not?" he asked again, still ignoring the phone that kept on ticking in our ears. I have the worst call ringtone in the world so it was easy for me to recognize it was my phone. "Of course, everything's fine, Ghino. Please, give me the phone. he might be looking for me now." I retorted before slightly opening the door and asking him to hand over the phone to me. Good thing Ghino differed from me who dared and attempted to invade his privacy by attempting on unlocking his phone. Mine didn't h
Ninety percent of me wanted to remove the diamond ring from my finger and leave the hotel room when I didn't know what to believe anymore. The remaining ten percent of me wanted to confront Ghino about his relationship with Maureen - to get to the bottom of everything. Seeing them together back at the birthday party of one of their friends was already suspicious. Maureen knowing everything about the diamond ring on my finger was also suspicious. It was as if she was with Ghino when he brought the ring for me. I don't even know if that necklace we won from the auction was actually bought by Dylan or not. Or perhaps Ghino told me his brother brought the necklace from him intentionally so that I would not get suspicious of them, but instead, he gave it to her voluntarily. How am I supposed to know that? All I knew was that everyone was lying to me. Everyone had their respective secrets they chose to keep to themselves. My brother, Maureen, Dylan, and now Ghino. "E