TRAVEL ROMANCE SERIES: #1 GENEVA | BÉBÉ

22. Dubai دبي

One Tower, Sheikh Zayed Road

She woke up to the ringing sound of her land-line phone. Groggily, she found out it was the maintenance guy scheduled to clean the air-conditioning system. She stood up to freshen up before the workers came in.

As she stared at her face in the mirror, a montage of last night's event replayed in her head. She was right to close the chapter with Eric and Wolff. She shouldn't have allowed this to escalate.

Getting herself into a situation with a man with so much history and drama in the public eye was the last thing she needed.

Damn it, she left her home on the East Coast to run away from conflict. The idea of being with a known figure and living a distance apart was equally dangerous and problematic, anyway.

And saying goodbye to Eric was also the best move. It hurt her ego, knowing that he didn't budge to fight for her when she was willing to give him a chance to redeem himself. He just sat there and said nothing, when all she yearned for was his affection and physical presence. He was too busy building his new life in Dubai, and she wasn't his top priority. The hurt in his eyes when she said she couldn't see him gave her more courage to let him go.

The power to decide between two good men who are best friends was quite the ride of emotions. But like all rides, it had to end. Besides, she didn't want to be in between this beautiful bond. Nothing is worse than ruining a brotherhood.

That is why she staged the call with Philippe. While in the elevator going up to the rooftop, she sent a message to the first officer to call her back. And when he did, she made sure Eric caught a glimpse of Philippe's name and face before she excused herself. Cruel as it sounds, he had to know she was moving on, even though she was far from it.

She shrugged off her thoughts as she was running late. Her friends were about to arrive any minute now. In a short, bareback dark grey dress, Veronica rushed to grab her killer stilettos. Her usual golden brown skin was even more radiant after spending time at the beach. And tonight, she let her wavy black tresses loose, ready to hit one of the hottest clubs along the strip right across her apartment tower.

When the doorbell sounded, she ran to the door. She quickly noticed the vases of flowers neatly placed on the console in the foyer. Wolff had been sending her flowers and love notes every day since Capetown. She contemplated whether to get rid of them already.

"Pèd mâak!" Drew, with his cute Thai accent, circled around to check her out.

She adored his Aussie accent but she loved it even more when he flaunted the other half of his heritage.

As expected, her new best friend was smoking in a chic white printed polo shirt, a pair of dark trousers and signature shoes. Everything from his well-coiffed hair to his curated outfit was on fleek.

Not everyone knew, but Drew was a commercial model on the side. She'd only found out from a few Thai crew members that he was quite famous back in Thailand. Just yesterday, another Thai girl showed her his new TV ad for a huge telecom company. He just rolled his eyes when she told him about it.

"Seriously? I'm going to look like your assistant," she admired her friend's fashion sense.

"Thanks, babe. But with this dress, I think you're going to steal my spotlight tonight," he laughed as he touched the limited threads on Veronica's dress.

"Looks like someone isn't over Wolffie yet," he said with one eyebrow up as he checked out the wilted state of the flowers on the console.

"I was flying nonstop. I'll throw them after my Mumbai flight tomorrow," she lied.