CHAPTER 4

Her last overseas trip happened when she was only ten years old and her mother was still alive. But it wasn’t a pleasant experience for Daniella. Her parents wanted to celebrate her birthday at Disneyland, but all day long, they just quarreled, and she ended up staying in her room…crying and disappointed. Now, she wanted to replace that memory with something good or even funny. Who knew what was in store for her?

   From the airport, she took a taxi to her hotel, then she checked in, and paid the room‘s security deposit. A minute later, she strolled towards the elevator that would take her to the nineteenth floor where her room was located.

   She was not fond of elevators after watching a lot of Asian horror movies where a ghost or supernatural beings showed themselves in the lift. She tried to calm herself down when there were a lot of guests in the elevator. She listened to their conversations and was glad that there were Filipinos too. But on the fifteenth floor, everyone exited the elevator except her and a man who wore a face mask.

    She felt nervous and scared. When the lift opened, she immediately went out and walked fast towards her room. As Daniella looked back, the man followed her and it alarmed her. With the card key in her hand, she held it tightly and ran towards the door. She only felt safe when she was inside the room.

    But later on, Daniella laughed at her paranoia. The man who followed her could also be a guest and his room was in the nineteenth too. If he was meant to harm her, then she would be dead already, right? Feeling brave to explore HK alone, she changed her outfit into something more comfortable during winter. He dropped by the restaurant adjacent to the front desk and had her dinner although it was still early. Then, she was on her way out.

    After two hours of walking and exploring, Daniella returned to the hotel to call it a night. She was tired. She was already dozing to sleep when she heard indistinct noises from the other room. The hotel’s soundproofing may not be enough but she could tolerate it. It’s just that the noises from her neighbor seemed to be like…they were having fun. It would be rude to disturb them so she just turned on the television and search for something worth watching. But regardless of the tv’s volume, she could still hear them…and it was just too much!

    She dialed the front desk and requested that her call would be connected to her neighbor. After ten attempts, finally, someone picked up the phone. It was a man with a well-modulated voice that was pleasant to listen to. But she was mad and she didn’t call to compliment him. “Can you minimize your voice while having sex?” Without any preamble, she gave him an earful and that she could report him to the front desk for causing a public disturbance.

    “Mind your own business, dear.” The man answered and it infuriated Daniella more.

    “What did you say?” She raised her voice.

    “If you’re bored, then why don’t you join us?”

    She hung up the phone or she wouldn’t be able to control her lashing tongue. Did she hear it right? Did he invite her to join him? The nerve of that bastard! Daniella was seething with anger as she went back to bed and tried to sleep.

    The following morning, Daniella woke up late and she felt cranky and not in the mood to visit any of the tourist destinations that the country has to offer. She went to the bathroom, took a quick shower, and headed down towards the restaurant to have her breakfast. Honestly, she was starving!

     It was a breakfast buffet and she just needed to choose anything that she would love to eat. She scooped a little rice, and chicken curry, and requested an omelet. Then she looked for a table that was a little secluded from the rest of the guests. Before digging into her food, she looked around first to check if there were familiar faces. But most of the guests who had their breakfast were Chinese and Indians. There were only a few people whom she couldn’t distinguish their nationality, just like the man who was eating alone and was seated one table apart from her.

    She eyed the man from head to toe. In fairness, he looked great and extremely attractive. The man was tall and lean, and his long hair was in a messy bun at his temple. She abhorred men with long hair because to her, they looked unkempt, but she could forgive him for sporting long hair, and his blue eyes were a bonus. Tanned skin plus blue eyes equal super-hot. What could his nationality be? She wondered!

    When she looked at him one more time, she was caught staring! As fast as she could, she diverted her attention to the hot coffee and drank it. It was scalding hot and she hurt her tongue! Daniella cursed loudly and the man seemed to hear her because he laughed. Or she just assumed.

    From that moment, she lowered her eyes and just focused on her food. After breakfast, Daniella decided to go back to her room to sleep a little more. While waiting for the elevator, Mr. Blue Eyes came, and he smiled at her. They were the only passengers going up and she felt excited at the thought that they would be enclosed in a small space.

    “Hello,” he greeted her.

    When he smiled at her, Daniella almost collapse to the floor. How did an angel find her? “Hi. I’m sorry if you caught me staring earlier,” she apologized and he nodded. But on the night floor, a sexy woman joined them, and she wasn’t shy to show the man that she liked him. Using her seductive form, the woman inched her way closer to Mr. Blue Eyes, and the bastard seemed to enjoy it, and both of them exited the elevator when they reached the eighteenth floor.

    Daniella was disappointed that there were women who flirted in a broad daylight! It was her first time taking an interest in the opposite sex but it was already doomed. When she was inside her hotel room, she stood in front of the mirror and examined herself. It was painful to accept, but her appearance was far from being sexy and seductive. She sighed deeply as she went to bed and covered herself from head to toe.

    But a few minutes later, she got up from bed and decided to shop for new articles of clothing at the department store on the second floor. She needed something nice to wear and all she had in her luggage were pants and basic tees. Who knows if she would meet the perfect man in HK? Definitely, Mr. Blue Eyes was considered for the position…but she disliked someone who flirted with random people.

    Marcus needed to get off on the eighteenth floor because he didn’t want Daniella to suspect him. He just used the stairs in going one floor up. He waited until the woman was already in her room before he ran towards his room. It was a mistake when he followed her to the elevator right after breakfast. He couldn’t risk being recognized!

   The other woman came in handy to salvage his error. What if he would introduce the woman as a possible suitor? That way, he could be visible to her beautiful eyes, and it would be easier to do his job. But fate has a different plan for Marcus.

     “Hey, going somewhere?” Marcus waited for the right time before he showed up near the woman who was waiting for the lift on the third floor. He just hoped that the woman wouldn’t recognize his voice. It had been a long that he was not with a woman and when an acquaintance from his younger days, flirted with him, he didn’t object and brought her to his room. He was not aware that the occupant in the next room would have the nerve to call him and tell him to minimize their voice.

     Marcus was interested in Daniella and he wanted to know her more, not as a detective, but as a man. Yes, he was aghast when he answered her call and it was very rude for Daniella to complain. He believed her to be an educated woman, but her rudeness and callousness were beyond his imagination. So what if she heard them enjoying the pleasure of sex? Wasn’t she supposed to keep quiet and ignore them?

    She glared at the man who tried to get her attention. “Hello, where’s your girlfriend?” Daniella asked because he was alone and seemed to be flirting with her.

     “Oh, I’m still single…and available! Can I get your name, Miss Beautiful?” He knew that it wasn’t included in his job to flirt with his subject, but he couldn’t help it when Daniella looked too fresh and pretty in the morning.

    “Daniella Reyes, and yours if you don’t mind?” She noticed that Mr. Blue Eyes was a good talker and with that skill, she doubt if women wouldn’t fall for him.

    “Marcus Madrigal,” he answered and immediately regretted why he gave his real name to the woman.

    Daniella smiled and extended her hand to Marcus. “Well, a nice meeting with you, Mr. Madrigal,” she said.

    “Ah, just call me Marcus, Dani.” There he was again, calling her Dani when they were not close.

    She became uncomfortable when he called her Dani. Nobody called her that. At home, she was just Ella, and she hated that name because it was too feminine, and she liked Dani better.