My few weeks after I was back to work were the busiest and even water breaks seemed illegal to me.
Shivaay was back with a "limp" like he put it. He was not only working as a copywriter at the ZAE Inc. but was also working on his story about the whole Miller scandal along with a veteran journalist.
When my friends came to know about Ms. Maxwell's resignation, they were hit hard by the news. I so badly wanted to tell them about her true intentions but I didn't have it in me. I would someday when I would feel like they could take the news lightly.
Mr. Williams didn't even bat an eyelash as he took her resignation matter professionally. It made me wonder if he was hurt to lose a good friend, though I did see a flash of regret in his eyes. It was as if he had quietly blamed himself when Skye and I went to meet him the next day. But we weren't too surprised to know that he had already seen her letter.
Skye was coping better than I thought he was and it made me feel better as well. He's got a new thing to put all his energy and concentration on. He opened his own carving shop which kept him busy most of the time.
While on the other hand, our department had to work ruthlessly as Samantha was temporarily declared as our head for the moment. She was even opted out to be the permanent head if things went well in the future. She was kind and nice but she was also too tired to juggle everything with all of those responsibilities put on her at once.
Even though we didn't have to work on a new campaign, we still had to make simultaneous advertisements to put up in the newspapers, tv and radio.
All in all, we were all blasted till our last breaths. So after weeks of enduring the hardships, it was finally Sunday. A proper Sunday where we were given a day off.
But I guess, even today I couldn't waste it by sleeping because Skye had called me to meet him at his place. The reason why I had pulled up in front of his tree house was because that's what he had "ordered" me to do.
With a giddy smile, I got out of my car and headed toward the house. Although what happened next wasn't funny at all, apparently someone found it though.
"Boo!" Someone from behind me exclaimed.
I began jumping on my feet continuously as I screamed like I was getting killed. My hand was on my chest and my eyes were sealed shut.
I felt a warm hand clamping on my mouth, laughing hysterically.
I didn't mean to scream like that. It was solely impulsive. Skye's laugh made me stop and I slapped his arm to take huge gulps of air. "You're wicked!" I punched his chest with a huge frown.
"Wicked, eh?" He tittered, making me roll my eyes.
That's when I properly looked at him. My eyes roved over his attire and I raised an eyebrow at him. He was wearing the same art therapy clothes. The white overall now smeared with colors messily was sheathing his original outfit. "Why are you wearing that?" I beamed, forgetting all about that scary incident.
Skye looked down at himself with a smile of his own. "This, my dear Valerie, is why I've called you here," he revealed excitedly. "I know you've been having a stressful time so I decided that let's do this. I think we both need this relief."
My heart melted at his caring attitude and these small things about him made my soul feel loved for. "Aww, thanks, Skye," I cooed, pulling at his cheeks with more force than intended.
He stuck out his tongue to lick my hands and I quickly pulled away. That made him smirk victoriously. "Come on, now."
"Someone's excited," I said in a low voice but enough for him to hear as I followed behind him inside the tree house before climbing the stairs.
Skye paused on the last stair and faced me with his gleaming eyes. Confusedly, I stopped below him too. He held out his hand for me and so I placed mine in his. Before I could blink, he wrapped his arm around my waist and hoisted me up against him.
"Was that necessary?" I gasped as I felt the wind was knocked out of my lungs.
"It was." He chuckled in my ear, giving me the tickling sensation. Swiftly, he turned me around with his arms still around my waist. "Okay I am gonna close your eyes so don't panic, okay?" There was a teasing edge in his voice.
I was about to protest but sighed when he put his hand over my eyes anyway. "What's with closing my eyes and all?" I asked but was met with silence as he led me forward by gently nudging the back of my knees.
We both took just a few steps when he stopped. I could sense the hesitance in his demeanor which puzzled me because I wasn't understanding even half of his actions. "What's wrong, Skye?" To put him more at ease, I softly rubbed his forearms.
Skye cleared his throat before he slowly took off his hand and stepped back.
I blinked my eyes to clear my vision and my lips were pulled down in a frown because of Skye's suspicious behavior. However all of that vanished the moment my eyes fell on the familiar and huge canvas sheet in front of me. It was the same one from our art therapy and I remember Skye asking for it from Hayden. Our prints were still intact but that wasn't what had stopped me in my tracks.
The words, 'I love you, Valerie because you have a beautiful smile so just stay… with me?' painted in red over our old marks had my heart going all wild. Heck, I could even feel my eyes getting watery.
"This is… this is…" I trailed off, unable to finish my sentence as I pursed my lips. I wanted to hug and kiss him so badly but I let myself soak everything in.
He walked to stand beside me with an anxious look. "Too much? Too clingy? Too-"
I cut him off by wrapping my arms around him and putting my lips on his. It was a kiss to erase all his insecurities. It was a kiss to make him feel beautiful. It was a kiss to make him understand what a gentle soul he is. It was a kiss to show him my love. I was brimming with an inexplicable happiness when he reciprocated those same feelings through the kiss too. "I don't mind the "too much" from you, Skye, because I love you too much too!"
Skye's movements stopped altogether and his lips were still on mine but unresponsive before he completely pulled away. That panicked me but it was soon dissolved the moment I saw his lips stretched into a wide smile. "I didn't hear you with what my ears are ringing and all because of my loud heartbeat right now."
That brought a laugh out of me. "Who would have known that you're such a sneak." I sniffled and giggled while my eyes were still pooling with the unshed tears. "I love you," I whispered, this time against his lips.
We both weren't too surprised to hear each other's confession because even if we didn't know it, maybe our hearts did. It was as if our hearts communicated with each other way before we did.
Though listening to it out loud and even better, saying it to each other was precious and gold. I felt beautiful in every sense, making me burst out with all the good feelings.
His gaze turned into his signature intense one. "This will never get old for me." And with that, his lips were back on mine. After that passionate and tantalizing kiss, he pulled away from me. Pecking my lips once, then twice and then thrice, he finally took a step back and ruffled his hair with a blushing smile.
I could bet a million bucks that I was looking the same with the way I shyly put my hands in my pockets. "That was good."
"I second that." Just like that, we both fell into a fit of synchronized laughter and all our awkwardness vanished into thin air.
"So care to give me those painting overalls too?" I pointed toward his overalls and he nodded his head vigorously.
Sprinting toward one of the corners, he kneeled down to pull open a box. Removing almost everything, he handed me the messy white overall along with the shower cap and gloves.
I wore them on my clothes and within minutes, we were both ready and about to attack the - wait a minute. Frowning, I turned back to Skye. "Where are we gonna throw the paints at again? I don't have the heart to destroy the 'I love you' confession. I want it to stay the way it is." I pouted, hunching my shoulders.
"Oh, well, too bad." He pouted as well, clearly joking as it was evident on his face. "Just kidding, don't worry. We are playing with the colors to paint all these wooden cupboards aka the walls. I don't care if it's properly painted or not." He nodded his head from side to side to show his jovial excitement.
My eyes widened because I actually liked his idea. "That's fantastic! Let's get on with it." I whooped, fist bumping the air and shaking my body. "Do you have a stereo or something?" I asked him once I was done with my weird dancing.
Clicking his fingers, he nodded. "Gotcha." He headed toward his study desk and after a few seconds of fiddling with it, I heard a song blaring from its speakers.
I whistled slowly because I recognized the song instantly. It was "Show 'Em (What You're Made Of)" by Backstreet Boys.
We both began opening the paint buckets as if opening the wrappers of our gifts on Christmas. I dipped my paintbrush in one of them and was quick enough to splay it on the wall carelessly.
Soon, I was twirling, dancing and splashing my paintbrush in all the directions. I released a gasping snort when a blob of orange paint suddenly landed on Skye's face.
I heard him groaning which made me roar out with rambunctious laughter. He swiped his hands on his face, smearing the entire paint further. "Darn it," he whined.
"Aww, you look so adorable," I cooed, trying to keep my chuckles in.
"You call this adorable?" He grumbled, pointing at his face with an unamused look. The next instant, though, his expression lit up as he took his paintbrush and dipped it in some random color before splashing it on my face. "If adorable had a face - oh, wait, it does." And his cackles were echoing everywhere.
Even though the paint was dripping down my face grossly and the smell invaded my nostrils, my heart still fluttered. His laugh was still beautiful to hear and I joined him as well.
And this is how it went as we incessantly played color fight while also painting the wooden cupboards in a criss cross manner. It was worse than a toddler's coloring book.
The time was even moving fast and it relieved me. Not because the moment would be ending soon but because even the time agreed that it was too precious for the both of us. It was as if time was secretly jealous and wanted to move quickly. It gave me the assurance that I would never forget it. It was a message that it was a remarkable moment for us.
Once out of our breaths, we both sat down facing each other. Skye's smile was so wide that it reached the corners of his eyes and I could tell that I was sporting the same look as my cheeks were hurting from all the smiling and laughing sessions.
"We should do this more often," Skye said, taking my hand in his before playing with my fingers.
"Agreed." I scooted closer to him, our knees touching.
"A hug?" He asked, opening up his arms.
Eagerly, I sat on his lap and hugged him like usual with a tight grip on him. I laid my head on his shoulder as he rested his chin on mine.
"You know, I've been thinking about something for a long time now." He paused and I nodded my head for him to continue. "Majority of the articles used to say that the billionaire has a getaway tryst… but in a yacht and I never agreed with them," he told me before stopping again, this time waiting for my reaction.
I looked up at him, staring into the hopeful world swirling within his eyes. "Why am I getting a feeling that now you agree?"
"Because maybe, I do. Instead of a yacht, this place - this tree house is my safe haven, our safe haven. This is gonna be our real getaway tryst. A place where we don't have to worry about the other people watching us. A place where we can be ourselves. A place where we can come to after running away from the eyes of the world. A place where we can be alone, together," he told me tenderly.
I could feel the tickling on my cheeks and I knew that I was crying. My lips were beginning to tremble so I pursed them and nodded my head. "I like it. No, I love it. Like… like Skylerie's getaway tryst?"
He laughed hearing that, making me grin like a Cheshire cat. "Whatever as long as it's our place but how about only "getaway tryst"? Or even better, "our getaway tryst"?"
"Whoa, it's got a nice ring to it," I agreed with him and we stayed just like that. In each other's arms as we tried to count the infinite stars blinking in the dark sky. With complete content and utter bliss.