It was one tough weekday at work followed by the deadlines that usually had her there on her chair for two more hours of overtime — That was always Nina's daily routine
She was contended in all aspect of her life—well, At least that's what she has been telling herself for quite some time now.
She started a career on her own, bagged her self a job just months after graduation and then she has been living the time of her life—or so she thought until the night that she met him.
Just your typical love story isn't it?
Every time she closed her eyes, she sees those orbs of his so sensuous and radiant like pure diamond which seize every fiber in her being. Her finger tingles at the memory of his firmly built body like a knight waiting to rescue her with his strong arms.
She'd feel the heat of his breath against her neck, the hardness of his body tight to her own. There was no escaping his arms and the way they had wrapped around her.
And Goosebumps would always erupt when her memories get to the point where he licks his way up to her collarbone from her breast, to her neck, to her ear. The way he brushes his lips along her jaw that got her toes curling with anticipation
"I'm going to make sure you're not gonna forget this .. night with me"
"With who? Mr. Arrogant?"
"Possibly" He gave her a weak smile that made her inside scream for more before he claimed her lips once again. That sensuous tingling feeling she felt when he finally devoured her lips with his. Their lips met in the darkness, the rational part was long forgotten. She just can't get enough of his touches, his kisses, his——
"Babe?"
When she opened her eyes, a set of deep coal black orbs gazed back at her with such a worry. She can't help but feel a little pang of disappointment that it was not the warm inviting brown eyes. She blinked several times until finally her mind could grasped the reality
"Huh? What?"
She blinked once more and realized she was in some fancy Italian restaurant along Makati. She felt the blood rushing to her cheeks—embarrassed that she probably dozed off to lala land while her boyfriend sat across from her
Yep, boyfriend. With the capital B.
"Tough week?" He asked and that heart-stopping smile sat right across his face as he lifted his flask. The same familiar smile which used to entice women her age back in College. It flashed right in front of her but for some reason, she couldn't return the same smile to him.
"You have no Idea" She sighed, playing the pesto on her plate with her fork "Kung alam mo lang"
Guilt felt suddenly too acidic to ignore. It was churning her lining, eating away what she had for years now with this guy sitting across from her.
She looked up and once again found him gazing at her with those eyes. It was familiar but at the same time foreign. It was odd. It was as if he could see right through her.
She found herself fisting that napkin on her lap.
"I'm sorry, Gerard. Deadlines. You know how it is" She said but somehow that voice lacked the conviction she badly needed. And hearing it herself made her cringed. "Ang lame" She thought of banging her head on the nearest wall or might as well slit her larynx so she wouldn't say something as stupid as that. "Deadline? What a bull"
But above all, she didn't expect to hear a chuckle coming from her boyfriend. It was simply out of character for him to do so
"Babe, it's okay. You don't have to give me that look"
"What look?"
"Like I've grown two heads right in front of you." He chuckled once more "Al though, I do really have two heads. Just that the other one is right down—"
"Alright!" She raised both her hands in surrender "I get it". And at that she found herself laughing along with him. This is what she missed whole week. This is how it should be.
She flashed him the most genuine smile she could muster and said "Powder room. Be back"
"Sure, I'll just get the check then we'll go"
She leaned down to her boyfriend and kissed him in his cheek before she wound herself away from him and made the beeline to the Comfort Room.
She leaned her head to her open palm as if having the major hangover of the century. Might as well have that, at least there's always a Tylenol but with this situation she was having, she didn't even know where to begin
Closing the door from the cubicle, she finally went to the sink, washed her hands, scrubbing it thoroughly before she gazed up in the mirror.
She tried to smile to herself but she cringed the moment she did. It was as if she was having constipation.
She sighed once more—or maybe it was her but she has been sighing since the moment they walked through the door.
She looked at herself once again and began to wonder what was oddly different with the way she looked or Gerard's reaction for that matter
Lately, her boyfriend for four years has been oddly different. The way he kissed her, the way he held her hands— It's like she didn't know the person at all. It was as if this guy was a total stranger.
"Gaga, guni guni mo lang yan" She chastised herself as she dug on to her bag and got her Mac Ruby Woo. To which she began to reapply them again on her lips
"I love him. I love Gerard" It had become her mantra now. "I love him, of course". It sounded so force whenever she thought about it. "I love him" It was too foreign for her ear the moment it was out of her lips.
And the ladies who stood with her by the sink gave her a dirty look. She rolled her eyes. "I love him"
She should feel secure, she should feel safe saying those words but now she's not even sure who's even "him" anymore.
She slapped her right hand across her forehead, grabbing her Celine bag as she did. "4 years kayo ni Gerard pero isang gabi lang parang.. wala na"
She frowned "I love him" yet that's the only thing she could hold on to—- Not for too long that is.
"Nice dress"
She stopped right on her track the moment she heard that oh-so-familiar baritone voice. It was as if she could feel his breath against her throat, the shift in his words. Flat and low, without the casually playful cadence he'd usually had
She found him leaning so casually by the painting as if it's the most natural thing in the world to do so. It was as though the world she'd known had been brushed aside by his company, pushed back until they had been curled up alone here. Just the two of them
She seen heat in his eyes, no, not just heat, fire burning bright and it slid through her like tendrils of heat licking over her body. She felt his eyes raking every angle, drinking her up from every edges and curves in her body before he looked up to her face.
"Run, Nina. Run" She thought but it was as if her sole were glued to the ground. Waiting for him to swallow her like a prey. As it was with so many other things in life; the best answer was the shortest one. She wanted him. To see him. To drink him in. He was beautiful. Stunning. His corded chiseled abs and hard-to-touch chest was now covered by some white V-neck T. But it was enough to make her rampantly needy, ferocious and sudden in the intensity of her want.. His dark, rugged looks with that stubble on his chin was enough to make a woman weep.
He made his way to her. Each step was like gunfire to her heart that she wasn't able to dodge. Hot hands learned the curves of her body, she watched them move over her warm skin and shivered when he whispered in her ear. A smirk playing along his lips as she "But I know.." his words a low rumble against the curve of her ear.
"You're even more beautiful without it"
..
(Edited: As of April 13,2015)