The Billionaire's Getaway Tryst

~Chapter 34~

I didn't say anything either as I watched him silently. Now I could tell why he hid his real self from everyone. It's because he thinks it might be too dark for anyone to decipher. Or maybe a part of him cautioned him to never speak about who he really is because he had been grated for it in the past.

"Fate has a really beautiful way of showing that it hears you. 'Cause years later, you started working in the same company I used to be the CEO of. At first I couldn't believe it, I'd thought that maybe you're someone else but I couldn't have mistaken it either. Your features are similar to my old neighbor but just more mature and enhanced now. Then you said your full name and I was completely sure it's you," he told me like he was in a trance.

My heart was thudding against my ribcage because even though it might not be a love confession or something extravagant, it still felt like one to me. A guy like him to have remembered me was as beautiful to me as it's to be in love. We both like each other but my feelings have surpassed that phase and I just wanted to bask myself in his beautiful presence. "That's why you'd looked at me weirdly," I said to not seem so affected.

He laughed, a real one and like usual, his eyes crinkled from the corners. "You can say that, yes. Truth be said, I never liked being the CEO but then you came and it just felt better like the old days. My anxiousness swept away, you know?"

"Skye..." I began. "Why are you so sweet?" All I wanted at that moment was to cry out of joy.

"Are you gonna cry on me?" He asked me, amused.

"You have the tendency to make me emotional." I replied and he laughed again. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to his chest. His familiar scent of wood whirled around me. "I wanna ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"You hate taking care of the business then, uh, then why'd you become the CEO? I mean, I know you told me that you'd known about it for so long but still you could have always opted out... right?" My question came out with reluctance because I feared that it might be a sensitive subject for him.

"I... never had a choice. My dad had wanted me to handle his business even before I had started middle school. But it never really affected me because I was too young to care and I kinda just shrugged off at the matter. Then understanding dawned on me slowly and gradually as I grew up. I began realizing that I might not be meant for it after I'd taken the business major in college. Really the worst phase of my life. I was hanging on a really thin thread, playing with my life, with my dreams like that," he explained to me somberly.

I was silent, processing his words and not rushing my questions to make him go at his own pace. Skye didn't show it but he had suffered a lot more than he was letting on. And who's to say that he wasn't going through it even now. "That's hard but you took the challenges head on and steadfast like a strong warrior," I encouraged him and sure enough, a small smile lit up on his ethereal face.

"I guess so but it was mainly because I was trying to prove my worth to my dad. For some reason, I've always seen disappointment flashing in his eyes when it comes to me. I just - I..." He stopped abruptly, closing his eyes before opening them back. "I wanted to change. He'd named this business after my big brother that I never got to meet because he-he, uh, he passed away ten days after his birth. It was maybe because of this very same reason that I wanted to do this for my dad because I know that he would have done the same." A lone tear fell down his cheek.

Tenderly, I brushed my finger against his cheeks. He was letting it all out, letting all these years' pent up frustration and all I just wanted was for him to feel better about it at the end. At that moment, I felt like I was his personal therapist and nothing could beat that. I would listen to him talk about anything. I would accept seeing him without his layers any day. He's just as vulnerable as any other person and I was glad to be here with him.