My Soul Will Find Yours : The Fulfillment of the Promise

The Spot His Lips Touched

I was mesmerized by the grace and beauty of watching Brandon casually comb his hair. He looked good with his hair up, but I had to admit that he looked better when they fell on his shoulders like black satin. This, coupled with his spectacles, made him really attractive. Like last time, I caught a whiff of his perfume. He smelled so good I almost wanted to ask what brand he was wearing.

"Anyway, how did you know Atty. Arroyo?" Brandon asked when I didn't say anything.

"He and I attended the same university," I replied simply, I didn't want to share that I used to date his cousin. That would be too much unnecessary information.

"You don't talk too much, do you?" he said, voicing out his observation.

For some reason, his words made me flush. I felt my cheeks warm up and I didn't know how to defend myself.

"Or am I too boring and you are just forcing yourself to talk to me?" there was a hint of sadness in his voice when he said this.

"Goodness, no!" I shook my head to reinforce my reply. "I'm just not good at meeting new people."

Liar, I told myself. The truth was, I just didn't know what to say to him. Yes, he's dreamt of me his entire life but to me he's still a stranger. It feels weird talking to someone who treats you like they've known you for years when you, yourself, have only met that person twice.

I sneakily peeked at him to see his reaction. This proved to be a bad idea because it turned out that he was staring at me. When our eyes met, something told me that he knew what I was really thinking and that he could see through my little lie. I looked away hastily and deliberately ignored his meaningful stare.

"I see," he said although he didn't sound like he did. "Anyway, shall we go and look for Atty. Arroyo?"

Now I felt guiltier. He was obviously "freeing" me from this awkward situation.

"Yeah."

Despite feeling extremely rude, I got up and followed him through the crowd.

We were almost back to the corner where Charles left us when I felt my phone vibrate. I took it from the clutch bag that matched my dress and read Charles' SMS. He said he was on his way, I internally breathed a sigh of relief. The timing was right. By the time we returned there, he had just gotten back as well.

"Really sorry for abandoning you. When she's in full tigress secretary mode, Karen is unstoppable," Charles took my hand and pulled me to his side.

"It's alright, don't worry. Besides, Mr. Lim here was gracious enough to keep me company," I gave Brandon a sincere smile which he returned with equal warmth.

"It was my pleasure. Anyway, now that he's here, I see no reason for me to stay. It was nice seeing you again, Hinata. Nice to meet you, Atty. Arroyo," he nodded and, without waiting for our replies, left.

As soon as he disappeared into the crowd, Charles suddenly burst into laughter. His eyes were suspicious but alight with mischief, "Did you go all Ice Princess on the poor guy?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, not understanding what he meant.

He laughed again. "And she doesn't even realize it," he shook his head, his lips curled upwards as if he was enjoying a secret joke. "I'm not complaining though..."

There was more to his sentence but I didn't quite hear it because someone turned on the microphone on the stage and its piercing feedback echoed in the entire room just as he was saying the rest. I'm not sure but if my lip reading was accurate, it was something along the lines of 'Because I want you all to myself.'

The activity on the stage officially started the event. Charles took my left hand, placed it on his right arm, and escorted me to where our assigned seats were. We shared a table with four other pairs, all the men were either senior partners or executives of the firm while the women were their wives.

For the first time since meeting him, I saw Charles exude an air of calm authority. Whenever we were together, he was either the wry jokester whose eyes would light up when given food or the empathic confidante who was always willing to listen. Seeing him like this in his territory gave me an odd feeling of warmth and pride. I've always known that he's an accomplished man, but seeing him like this was new to me.

As he spoke with his colleagues and bosses, he was articulate and composed. Not only that, he made sure that I wasn't left out and so were the other guests. Charles was a good conversationalist, I realized. He knew how to keep the ball rolling for everyone, no one felt left behind or excluded.

When the party ended, Charles offered to book me a room since it was already very late. I accepted his offer because although the shoes he gave me were comfortable, my feet were still killing me. It was as if they were screaming for my geta or zori!

One of the most significant changes I noticed after coming back to my time was that, although my body looked the same after returning to my time, it seemed like every inch of it felt different. Sleeping on a bed, bathing in a shower stall, using a pair of spoon and fork during meals, as well as wearing modern clothing were a bit problematic at first. There was also that time when Anne had to remind me that I was speaking Japanese and that she didn't understand a word I was saying five whole times on my first day back to work. When mum noticed these changes, she just laughed and teased me about it.

Our rooms were located at the hotel's eighth floor. Charles was also staying here for the night, his room compliments of his employer.

"Thanks for tonight, Nat. I hope you had fun," he said as he handed me the paper bag containing my clothes.

"I did. It was a very interesting evening for me," I smiled. "I learned so much about corporate law but what really struck me was how popular you were."

He chuckled. "The people in our company love to exaggerate, don't believe everything he said."

"Why so humble, Atty. Arroyo?" I teased.

"Please don't call me that," he scrunched up his nose and pretended to be disgusted. "Just address me as Charles like you always do."

"Alright, mister... Charles." I giggled.

"That's better," he smiled, took a step forward, and kissed my forehead. "Goodnight, Nat. Sleep well."

Before I could react, Charles had already entered the room opposite mine. As if in a daze, I lifted my hand and touched the spot his lips touched.