Catalina didn’t have to wait long for Domenico to come out of the bathroom. It was the man, though, who was pleasantly surprised to see her standing at the side of the corridor. “Miss Catalina?”
She rolls her eyes. “My siblings left.”
“Darling,” he says after, reverting to his usual self around her.
“Yeah, yeah, hello to you too,” she mutters. Remember, Catalina, her brother’s words play in her head once again, Domenico Cavallini’s suite is number three. I’m sure you won’t get lost in finding it. And don’t forget to be accommodating. I beg of you.
Domenico tilts his head slightly. The corners of his mouth twitch up to form a small smile. “I’m in a state of euphoria seeing you here with me again,” he admits.
Catalina thought that he was going to bring up the conversation between her and her siblings moments ago, but then again the man has a weird set of priorities…because on top of that list is her. “Enough with all the flattery.”
Domenico furrows his brows at her. “I am not flattering you, darling. I only speak the truth.”
She lets out an exhausted breath and says, “Come on. Let's get the tour over and done with, okay?”
“I’d rather stay here and talk with you.”
“Fish, you heard my brother.”
“What I heard was that I could choose if I wanted to have a tour, yet I want to talk with you.” He takes a few steps to the side to lean against the smooth wall lined with matte wallpaper. He shoves a hand in his left pocket and tries his luck by inching a bit closer to Catalina. To his surprise, she doesn’t move away.
“If you want my opinion, you shouldn’t be wasting your time with me. Go back to the ballroom and talk with others.” She eyes him from head to toe, catching sight of some beads of sweat forming on top of his forehead.
“Who said that I was wasting my time? I’m enjoying this, darling. I’m not wasting my time at all. Think of this as…” he pauses for a moment, “our ‘talking’ stage,” he suddenly breathes out heavily. Catalina thinks that it’s a ruse for him to seduce her, trying to act all nonchalant yet sexy and all that crap.
She scoffs, “Talking? Come on, we’ve done more than talk.” She then started to feel unaccustomed to this sensation she was feeling on her face. It was then she realized that she was blushing. How embarrassing to blush in front of the fish! “Talking, yeah right – what the heck are you saying?!” She bursts out.
Domenico was unfazed by her raising her voice at him. He found it cute to see her try to bother him. He knows that he would never feel bothered by her. He chuckles. “Well, you said it, not me. We’re past the talking stage. Where are we now, then? The courting stage?” He then lets out a sharp exhale and groans softly under his breath.
“Courting?!” Catalina sputters. “Why would you–” she stops, watching how he’s steeling himself against the wall for support. She regards him skeptically. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” he replies curtly, “I’m fine.” He breathes out slowly through his mouth then the smile on his face returns. “Now, where were we–argh,” he groaned deeply, his arm flying to clutch the upper area of his abdomen.
“Okay, you do not look fine to me at all!” Catalina utters hastily in a growing concern.
“Darling, I’m just feeling a bit of pain.” He waves in dismissal. “Oh, maybe kiss me to take away all the–” he stops and lets out a strangled whisper as he finishes, “pain.”
“Do you want to go back to the bathroom? Are you refusing to go because of me? We’re all human–”
“No, no, I…” he trailed off toward the end, growing aware of his vulnerability in front of the woman he loves. “I…I normally feel this way when I don’t eat well or have nothing to eat at all.”
Catalina stops moving upon hearing his words. “W-What are you trying to say?”
“I occasionally suffer from this bitch of pain called acid reflux,” Domenico struggles to answer. “I have a weak stomach and I was weirdly only given–”
“Wine,” Catalina continues for him in a rush, “Yes, I know that.”
“How do you know that?” He genuinely asked her. “Wait.” He raises a finger in front of him. It was easy to place the two together. “Were you behind why I was unable to eat or drink water tonight?”
“A-About that–”
“Oh, you diabolical woman,” he murmurs, “This is why I love you.”
She pays no heed to his proclamation of love for her. She was more surprised that maybe he didn’t overhear the conversation with her siblings. Aside from the shock, guilt was eating her up. Why did she not think of this? Is it because she unconsciously looks at him as someone who would not bow down over trivial matters like stupid acid reflux? “Why did you not tell me that you were hyper-acidic?” Even if Domenico is feeling all the pain, Catalina still made it a point to scold him.
“You would have known if you’d made the time to talk and know more about each other.” Despite being in pain, he still made the effort to pout at her.
“Shut up and let me think,” she spits out, her worries getting the best of her.
“You can shut me up by kissing me. One won’t hurt, darling.”
“Can’t you see that you’re in no condition to be flirting with me?” She loops her arm around his and says, “Come now, I’m going to take you to your suite. It would be good to lie down–”
“I don’t want to burden you with my weight. I can walk without help.”
“I'm saying that you can lean on me without repercussions,” she tells him.
Domenico gasps softly out of excitement. “Why didn't you say so?” His face marred with pain disappears as a wide smile takes place. He gently removes his arm from her hold so that he’s free to wrap his arms around her. “You won’t mind if I hold you like this then?” He asks.
Catalina felt his breath against her neck and the hairs on her arm began to stand. Weirdly enough, she didn’t mind being held by him. She just won’t admit that. “I-I did say without repercussions.”
“I'm feeling a lot better now.” He then tenses behind her, softly squeezing her arms as he heaves out a low guttural moan. “Just kidding.” He takes back his words. “I'm not feeling well at all. Dio, I don’t feel good.”
Catalina was panicking at this point. “Okay, try to take slow and deep breaths while I take you to your suite, okay?” Her hand flies to hold his in reassurance. “This is from all the wine you drank tonight.”
“This is why I like whisky. Not only because of the taste and texture but also because of medical reasons. Maybe you’d want to know a fun fact about me before I run out of life.”
“You are not going to die, fish!” She berates him.
—---------
Once Catalina took him to his suite and led him to the king-sized bed, the man cries lightly in pain as he slowly climbs on top of the bed. She props the pillows so that his head lays comfortably on them. “What can I do? Do you want me to call for help?”
“I-I need to take off my clothes. The suit is suffocating me. Is there a robe I can change into?”
“Of course, there is.” Catalina heads to the closet standing adjacently from the bed. She pulls open the closet doors. On the shelf are an iron, two pairs of fluffy slippers, and a safe where one can keep their belongings. The ironing board is safely tucked at the edge of the closet. Hanging on its metal railing are several wooden hangers. Catalina immediately finds two bathrobes hanging on two separate hangers and she reaches in to grab one. She shuts the closet doors behind her and returns to Domenico who has moved slowly to sit up on the bed.
He groans under his breath and tries to remove his arms from his suit jacket. Catalina did not give any second thought and drops the robe on the bed. “Here, let me help,” she offers instantly. She assists him by holding the jacket by the shoulder area so that she can easily pull it from his arms.
“Thank you,” he whispers. He then begins to work on his necktie, but Catalina beats him to it, bending forward a bit to have a clearer view of loosening the tie around his neck. “You don’t have to do this–”
“I must,” she says, cutting him off. Her gaze goes up to meet his eyes. “You’re not feeling well because of my stupidity…and frankly, my want for entertainment.” She then returns to looking back at the necktie. It finally loosens and she can take it off from around his neck. “What kind of medicine do you usually take when you have this? I can call someone to bring it to us.” She grabs the jacket to hang it in the closet.
“Dio, was I able to tell you that that is such a good color for you?” Domenico couldn’t stop himself from getting hypnotized by the way the dress moved with Catalina as she walked across the room.
Catalina stops and repeats urgently, “Medicine, Nemo! I asked about medicine!”
“...You called me by my nickname.”
“Yes, fine, whatever, I called you by your nickname. Now answer me and tell me what medicine you need!”
The urgency in her voice finally got to Domenico’s senses. “Any antacid would work,” he answers. “Sorry, I got distracted. Looking at you made me forget the pain–” A sudden wave of piercing pain hits the upper area of his abdomen and he doubles down on the bed, releasing a quick cry.
Catalina rushes back to him and goes down on her knees. She looks up at him, her eyes are still wide in alarm. “You need to take the medicine now.”
His hand moves to grasp her arm. “No, no,” he murmurs. “I can’t take medicine yet.”
The crease between her brows deepened. “Why? You’ll get better–”
“I…I need to make myself vomit first.” He raises his head to glance at her. Catalina could tell by his expression that he was serious. “I’ll start to feel much better if I vomit.”
“Is that what you were trying to do in the corridor bathroom?”
“...It’s a bit difficult for me sometimes,” he admits in a shy voice. It was Catalina’s first time seeing him look humiliated.
“So how long does the pain usually last?”
“At least four hours.”
“Four hours?!” Catalina exclaimed. All the more she felt guilty.
"Yeah," he coughs out, proceeding to unbutton the top collar button of his top. "Look away," he instructs her. "I'm going to take off this shirt and my pants."
"I-I have to make a call as well," Catalina stammered, turning instantly to give him privacy. She heard some rustling of clothes and soft grunts behind her. There is a slit in her dress that gives her ample space to reach for her phone plastered by this transparent band around her thigh. It's an easy way to bring her phone everywhere with her when it comes to fancy events. She presses a button to call her bodyguard.
"Yes, miss? Do you wish to go home already?" Cisco speaks on the other side of the call.
"Not yet," she answers. "I need you to bring some antacids to suite three."
"Are you feeling sick, miss?!" Cisco asked her in alarm.
"They're not for me. Just bring them here please."
"Is there anything else you need?"
"No. Hurry."
"Right away, miss."
Catalina ends the call just as she hears the sound of the bathroom door closing behind her. She turns to find only his clothes on the bed. She assumes that he’s inside to try his hand at expelling the acid out of his system. What she thought was a harmless and mischievous act has now turned into something really painful and perhaps, unbearable for the man. She never meant to inflict pain on him.
She walks to the other side of the room, which doubles as a small living room, with upholstered leather chairs sitting on the smooth maroon carpet, hoping to clear her mind and find a way to make him feel better. Two glass bottles of spring water stand on the bedside table and she makes a mental note to tell him about them.
The bathroom door opens and Domenico trudges his way out of it, with only a bathrobe wrapped around him, smiling a bit triumphantly. “Finally. I’m feeling a bit better now.” He sits back on the bed and Catalina heads over to move the rest of his clothes away.
She then eyes him carefully once he’s fully laid down and props his head on a mountain of pillows. “You’re still wearing underwear, right?”
“Of course, darling. I may want to marry you, but it doesn’t mean that I want to move that fast.”
It is a surprise for both of them when Catalina laughs softly, clearly amused with what Domenico said. “I’m glad to know that you still have your boundaries.”
“Please, it’s you. I’d do anything for you. And the first thing I’ll do is respect you with all my heart.”
Catalina takes a seat on the edge of the bed. She folds his shirt and neatly lays it on his pants. “Don’t talk about respect. It’s making me feel guilty about what I did tonight…I’m sorry,” she murmurs, her voice sounding genuine.
Domenico laughs softly and slips a hand inside his robe to start rubbing his upper abdomen in a pattern. “I have to say sorry, too, you know,” he confesses. He then grimaces. “Dio, sorry always beats my pride…but know that I mean it.”
“...What are you saying sorry for?”
He sighs in defeat. “I’m sorry about the flowers. I got excited and…I know I shouldn’t have shown it in that way.”
The way he moved his hand made some part of the robe shift to the side, exposing a sliver of his chest at Catalina. She knows that it was unintentional, yet she still looked away, forcing out a cough. “I-It’s okay. It is.”
“Don’t forgive me that easily. Having you here with me is making my heart beat fast and it will burst out of my chest if you continue to be so kind.”
Before Catalina could reply, her phone vibrates with a new message. It’s just Cisco waiting outside the suite with the medicine. She doesn’t reply, knowing that he will continue to wait for her.
“What was that?” Domenico asks.
“A message from my bodyguard. Your medicine is here.”
“I can take the medicine later. I just need to ask you this question that’s been bothering me for a month. What did you do to the flowers I sent you? I bet you threw them away, didn’t you?”
She throws him a look of disbelief. “Did you really think that I was absolutely furious with you?”
“You did block me.”
“Good point. Okay, yes, I was mad but it didn’t mean that I couldn’t appreciate a lovely gesture.”
Domenico forces himself up in surprise. “You thought it was a lovely gesture?”
She grows quiet, refusing to answer. She wants to make him figure that out on his own. “I gave the flowers to my employees,” she tells him instead, “There were a lot of extra ones that they were able to bring home. It was nice to see my employees’ office cubicles decorated with flowers. I’m not lying if I say that I enjoyed working the following day because of how pretty the office looked.”
“Why would you lie about that?” Catalina noticed that Domenico’s eyes were drooping when he asked.
She shrugs. “If I felt compelled to lie, I would have done so.”
“Did you keep at least one bouquet?”
“No,” she answers without missing a beat. “I didn’t see my favorite flower.”
“Really? Not one of them?”
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, they were all very beautiful flowers, Nemo. But there is one that holds a special place in my heart.”
He had his eyes closed already and yet he mustered the last ounce of strength to say, “Would you tell me what it is?”
She shakes her head and then stands to walk to his side. “If you’re not going to take your medicine now, then you should go to sleep.”
“You’re not going to give me an answer, are you?”
“...You should sleep, Nemo.”
—---------
Domenico did not know how many hours have passed since the moment he fell asleep. What he could only recall was that he felt piercing pain in his stomach.
And that his darling took care of him.
Feeling rigid in most parts of his body, her forces himself up by the elbows. He groans under his breath and relief washes over him when he couldn’t feel that much pain in his stomach. It’s more bearable now. Rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, his vision clears and offers him a new look into the suite he was given.
He was gradually growing to like the interior design of the room. His eyes raked over every piece of furniture and decorations in the suite. He was surprised to then find out that his clothes were folded neatly on the other edge of the bed and that he was only wearing a bathrobe.
“Was I wearing a bathrobe around Catalina?” He croaked out to himself. His throat felt so dry that he automatically reaches over the bedside table to find a glass bottle of water.
His hand stops mid-air when he also sees a piece of paper with some words written on it and a shot glass with two antacid pills inside. With curiosity getting the best of him, he forgets the water and grabs the paper first.
Here are some antacids for you. I had to leave while you were sleeping. Business matters never rest.
By the way, chrysanthemums.
“Chrysanthemums…” he mutters, “She likes chrysanthemums.”
Her favorite flower boggled him.
“Why would she like the flower that symbolizes death?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've always thought of how I can make Nemo more 'human'. I mean, where can you find this perfect person who would unconditionally love you? A good-looking person who even knows how to defend themselves and make one easily swoon seems too...perfect.
I decided to go deep into my experience. "When do I feel helpless?" And then it hit me. Like literally hit me, because I was suffering from hyperacidity when I thought of this part of the story.
It seemed like the perfect condition for Nemo. THOUGH, I DO NOT WISH HYPERACIDITY TO ANYONE EVER. IT HURTS LIKE A BITCH AND TO EXPERIENCE IT AT LEAST TWICE A MONTH IS NOT COOL. But, if there was something that would slow our tough, slick, and lovesick Nemo down, I definitely know that it would be a bad case of hyperacidity.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Vote?
Comment?
Thank you!