The Ordinary Guy

The Cold Breeze

Saturday morning, Helena is getting ready to go to Tagaytay.

(Tagaytay is a city which is around 70 kilometers south of Manila, the Capital of the Philippines. It is known for its scenic view of the Taal Volcano.)

*Phone Vibrating*

"Hey Karen, why are you calling me this early?"

"Just checking on you. Did you sleep alright?"

"Yeah, I actually did. I was thinking of making another painting when I get there. Maybe that helped me sleep better."

"That's good. Well, let me know if you need anything else. I'll send you the e-mail confirmation from Horizon Villas for your booking. Enjoy your stay. See you on Tuesday."

"Thanks a lot, I better get going now, traffic might start to get heavy going to Tagaytay. Bye."

She picks up two of her bags. Wearing a white long sleeve blouse, blue skinny jeans and a white sneakers, she puts her sunglasses on and then leaves her Condo Unit. You can tell by the way she carries herself that she is a model.

*Basement elevator opens*

Helena exits the elevator. There are two young guys waiting by the door. They are in their 20's and are both roughly around 6 feet tall, one is wearing blue polo, and the other one was wearing a plain black shirt. They are really good looking. Both of them are staring at Helena and are in awe of her beauty.

"Hi, I think I know you, are you the brand ambassadress for Sapphire Clothing?" asks the guy in blue polo."

"Oh, yeah you're Helena Virtusio. I'm a fan of yours. Wow, you're so gorgeous." says the guy in black shirt."

"Thanks." replies Helena while giving them half a smile. She then walks away to find her car.

"Dude, I think I just saw and Angel. I think I'm in love."

"Can't blame you for that, she's just too pretty. She's a bit strict though, don't you think?"

"Yeah, she's got a really intimidating vibe."

Helena then sees her car parked on the forth parking spot from the exit ramp. It's a Silver Range Rover. She prefers SUVs over smaller cars since she always carries a lot of stuff when she has commercial shoots. She also carries extra painting materials at the back just in she gets inspired to paint something.

"Alright, I think I'm ready to go. I need this. I really need this. Maybe after a bit of relaxing, I can take off my mind from that strange dream. It's probably the stress that's piling up." She tells herself.

Her car exits the basement parking and heads on to the south bound of Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue and eventually got in to the South Luzon Express way going to Tagaytay. She looks at the dashboard of her car and see's that it's already 9:30 in the morning.

"I wonder why I feel kind 'a sleepy. It's already past 9 o'clock, and I slept fine last night." She ponders. "I should stop at one of the gas stations to get something to energize me."

Seeing a 7-11 at one one of the gas stations along the expressway, she then stops and goes inside the convenience store to get something to drink. Her choice is a cold bottle of Gatorade. Most people would opt for a cup of espresso or americano, but she doesn't drink coffee since it only makes her even sleepier. She chugs down the entire bottle and then throws it at the trash bin.

"Well, I think that did the trick. Now that I've had my fuel, I won't get drowsy anymore." says Helena.

She gets back in her car and continues to drive towards Tagaytay.

*Gentle breeze blowing*

"Wow, it so cool and refreshing here" says Helena while chuckling like a little girl.

"I'm glad you're liking it here, this is where I go when I want to clear my mind." replied the young guy.

He's about 19 years old, a bit skinny, and he looks like a typical moreno filipino guy. He looks quite average.

(Moreno is Filipino/Spanish term for brownish skin tone.)

"Oh, that's nice. How did you discover this spot anyway?"

"Well, I was roaming around the school when I noticed this abandoned building here at the back."

"It's off limits here right?"

"Yeah, but the security guard doesn't go to this part of the school so I figured I'd take a peak inside and see what's inside. All of the rooms are locked, but emergency exit was open so walked checked it out and the stairs led me here to the roof deck."

"I didn't know you were such a rule breaker, haha"

"Well, sometimes you've got to break to rules to find out unknown." replied the guy while smiling sincerely.

"Hey! Get down from there, that building is off-limits!" screams the security guard.

"Oh no, we've been caught, we've gotta run" Helena exclaims nervously.

*Loud car horn continuously honking*

Helena looks ahead and sees a car stopped a head. She panicked and screamed, but was able to swerve and avoid it.

"Oh my gosh! I almost died right there!"

Her car stops at the emergency bay a few meters from the broken down car that she almost hit.

"I've got to calm down, I'm still alive. Gosh that was really scary."

Trying to recall the incident made her really confused.

"Was I dreaming while driving?" she asks herself. "That felt kind a' real. who was that guy that I was taking to? I've got to sort these things out, it's driving me crazy. It's seriously gonna get me killed!"

After a few minutes, she continued driving and drove more carefully and attentively to avoid getting into an accident.

*Car engine stops*

Helena gets down from her car and heads to the reception of Horizon Villas.

"Hi Ma'am, what can we do for you today?" asks the receptionist.

"Hello, I have a reservation, here under the name of Ms. Karen Delgado. It’s for today until September 27."

"Good morning Ms. Helena, welcome back. Everything is ready for you, here's your Villa Keys." Interrupts the reception supervisor in a very hospitable voice.

"Oh hi, Lesly. Nice seeing you again." responds Helena while smiling.

"Apologies if our receptionist did not recognize you, she's one of our new staff."

"No worries at all, Lesly. Thanks for the keys. It's the same Villa right?"

"Yes, it's still Villa number 5. As usual."

"Okay, thank you. I'll head there now. Thanks again."

*Door unlocks*

Helena enters the living room of the Villa. She puts her bags on the couch and heads to the second floor. She opens the door to the Terrace and was greeted by the cold breeze and the majestic view of Taal Volcano.

"Gosh, this breeze reminds me about that daydream I had earlier. That's the first time I had that dream. It felt so real." She then inhales deeply.

"I have to know what's happening to me. I need answers."

-End of Chapter-