Pleasure in Retaliation

CHAPTER VIII

“WHERE exactly are we going, A-Adrian?” I could not help but ask the man as we rode inside a black car.

Ever since the man gently pulled me away from the pool area of their mansion, he said that he would take me to a place where he could introduce himself better.

“You’ll see. And don’t worry, I’m not kidnapping you,” Adrian said as he let out a faint chuckle when he heard the hint of fear in my voice.

I just let Adrian think that it was out of fear that I stuttered when I asked him about where we were going, even though the real reason for my stutters was the fact that the man’s name slipping out of my mouth sounds so foreign to me.

As we left the area and passed through the hallway, he told me something about a spring in a park, so I guessed that he would bring me to a part of their hacienda. But when Adrian motioned me to get inside a black SUV with him and as I sat at the seat beside him, waiting for him to tell me where we are going, I could no longer feel that we are still inside the hacienda’s premises.

As we crossed the lengthy road ahead of us, I could not do anything but settle my back at the back of my seat and stare at the never-ending road, paving its way between hundreds of gigantic trees. I just heaved a deep sigh as I admired the view behind the window to my right.

We turned onto a bumpy road, before a bunch of huge trees along the side of the road disappeared and spewed out many flowering plants on either side of the narrow road. Moments later I felt the car engine die, and I turned to the man beside me—and found its blue eyes on a fixed gaze in my direction, causing my cheeks to blush in beet red.

I immediately looked down and averted my eyes away from Adrian, because I could not meet his deep gaze on me. I opted in focusing on his hand resting on the steering wheel, before I asked Adrian a question in a trembling voice.

“A-are we lost, Adrian? Or…” my voice trailed off as I did not know how to put more words into the question that I asked him.

But I did not hear an answer from Adrian. Instead, he removed his seatbelt and opened the driver’s seat door on his side before and got out of the car. Confused by what was happening, I could do nothing but mimic his action, removing my seatbelt and got out of the car to follow Adrian to wherever he might go.

As I followed Adrian along the narrow path, the stones and pebbles crunching as the soles of my slippers slap on them, I let my eyes roam around the surroundings and admired every lush and vibrant greens and other colors that beautifully hugs the others.

In those moments that I remembered my little dream about being taken away to a paradise, and from the scene in front of me I was gradually bringing that dream to life. It seemed like it was no longer a dream for me to go to a paradise, for since Adrian found me in the middle of the road and he took me to this mysterious island I felt nothing… but undeniable peace and comfort.

I was about to bump into the man's back when he suddenly stopped walking if I did not notice him slowing down. I immediately put a few strands of distance between our bodies and asked him why he stopped walking.

 “A-Adrian? What’s wrong?”

For a moment it was a total silence that was imminent around us, and all I could hear was the sound the wind made as it conversed on each of the leaves and flowers. I was trying to focus on those sounds when I heard a strange sound coming from somewhere near us… a faint sound of flowing water

A river?

When curiosity got to the better of me, I leaned to the side so that I could see what made Adrian stop him dead in his tracks, and a smile instantly crept up to my face as I looked towards another view bearing such a magnificent beauty.

“Welcome to my little fortress, Miss Lynn,” Adrian said without even looking back at my direction. “The view’s not much, but I hope you like it.”

“Are you kidding me?” I exclaimed, approaching Adrian’s side to see the full beauty of the almost glowing stream in front of us. “If this is not the ‘not much’, then what view could possibly be considered as ‘too much’ that you’ll show me?”

I heard the faint laughter of the man next to me when he heard my reaction, but I could not even make a brief glance at Adrian and spat at him for my whole attention had been drawn to the scenery—and the desire to just dive in to that stream wa staking up all my willpower.

The small stream was surrounded by trees on both of its banks which provided some shade, and the light from the sun that wasn’t covered by the leaves is what gave the waters a captivating glow. There are also large rocks around that can be used as a seat if desired.

“Come here, Miss Lynn,” he called me as he reached out a hand, and without hesitation did I placed my palm on top of his. “Let’s sit at the part where we can get the most shade.”

Adrian led me to one of the large stones with a flat surface that laid beneath the shades of the trees before letting go of my hand and reached for his back pocket. He then fished out a dark blue handkerchief, unfolded it and laid on top of the stone before inviting me to take a seat.

“Please take a seat, Miss Lynn,” said the man as he pointed at the handkerchief that he laid on top of the large stone.

My eyebrows were drawn together as looked at the seat he prepared and noticed that only one person can fit on it, and the question slipped out of my mouth before I even thought of it.

“But, where will you sit?” I asked Adrian as I laid my eyes on him.

But Adrian just went to the other large stone besides the seat that he offered me and sat on it, crossing his legs as he faced the crystalline waters. A few moments of silence had passed, and he only showed me his answer by his relaxed position, all I could do was shrug my shoulders and sit on the stone with his handkerchief on it.

With the sound of silence roaming around us, just the faint sound of flowing water and the hushed voices of the leaves conversing with each other, I let the comforting peace take over us as I brought my knees up to my chin and stared at the stream too.

A few moments after I heaved a sign of contentment, I heard Adrian spoke from beside me, and I turned to his direction as I listened to him speak.

“So, Miss Lynn, did Celia fill you up with everything you need to know about me?” The man said, his attention still focused on the waters, his blue eyes reflecting the glow.

“Not really.” I said without thinking. It was a few seconds had passed that I noticed the lack of politeness in my voice and I immediately went to continue my speech in a much polite note. “Uhm, I mean… no, Adrian. I haven’t heard much about y-you.”

Even when Celia basically told me how mysterious you are about not letting any people in your room.

I saw him bob his head up and down and looked at the stream for a few more moments before laying his smiling eyes on me. “So, would you like to ask the questions, or just let me spit all of it out?” He asked with a light tone.

For the reason that I do not know how to answer him—with the slight discomfort of the thought of asking him things about himself like a damn slam book, and the hidden amazement on the fact that he could just state every little thing about him to a mere stranger like me, all I did was shake my head to the sides and let hi comprehend my answer… whatever answer that he wants me to say.

Adrian let the silence to pass by us for a few seconds before changing his position, stretching his legs in front of him as he leaned his body to the side, facing me. He sent a small smile in my direction before he started to speak.

“Well… as you may already know, I am Adrian Nicollo Gentallan,” he introduced himself jokingly that made me let out a few heaps of giggles.

“I’m thirty years old, I work around the Hacienda Gentallan as someone who manages the plantations and production of goods. I don’t really have much things that I do as a hobby except from watching classic movies and… I’m single and purely available, if you want to know.”

The last part of his statement is what drew the line and made me crack up, my loud laughs echoing throughout our surroundings. “What a ridiculous thing to say,” I told him between laughs which made him join me on a minute-long of chortles and giggles.

I stopped myself from laughing to let Adrian go on about his self-introduction, calming myself by placing a hand on my stomach and rubbing it gently. When I finally calmed down and turned my attention back to him, I caught Adrian’s stare lingering on me, the laughter in his face already gone—but there was a wide smile plastered on his face that made my heart flutter.

Even though I was blushing, I nudged him for his silence and told him to continue his story as I tried to hide my tomato cheeks using my knees and my palm.

“Y-you can go on, don’t l-let me interrupt you,” I said to him, stuttering.

Adrian’s stare lingered on me for a few seconds, making the red on my cheeks turn brighter, before he nodded his head and opened his mouth.

“Well, what did I left behind?” he said to himself, his face with wonder that I noticed even it was there only for just a mere second—which made him look like a silly twelve-year old.

“Ah, about my family. Well, you’ve seen my Papá already, and there’s Mamá Minerva who’s in the hospital because she needs to be checked regularly by the doctors. Then there’s Amita Valentina, my half-sister,” he stated as he stared at me with his deep blue eyes.

“Half-sister?” I could not help but ask.

“Yes,” Adrian answered while nodding his head. “I’m Papá’s son from his first wife, and Amita is Papá and Mamá Minerva’s daughter.”

After all the stories that Celia mentioned to me about the Gentallan family, the maid never mentioned about the truth about their family tree.

I wouldn’t also be surprised if Celia didn’t know about it since she’s still young—but the thought of the both of us, Adrian and I having the same characteristic on not being entirely a part of the family, made me realize that even the richest and most powerful people in the world must have gone through a lot.

And I wonder how hard it must have been for Adrian.

“How did you…” I tried to say as I try to build up some courage to ask him about a personal matter. “How did you feel when the Señor g-got remarried?”

I heard him heave a heavy sigh before looking away from me and pinning his stare back to the water. The thought that I had pressed something as a sensitive topic made me feel guilty, and I was about to say sorry to him after a minute long of silence when Adrian sprang up from his seat and did some stretching.

“Would you like to take a quick swim at the stream, Miss Lynn?” He asks me, as he took a brief glance at my direction. “I have some spare clothes in the car and some snacks if you like.”

The man was quick, and he sounded so adamant when he changed the topic, so I didn’t press him about the issue any further. I considered Adrian’s invitation for a quick swim, and the water looked so inviting that I started to get up from my seat and say a yes to him—when suddenly, the world got gloomy.

Adrian and I both looked up at the sky at the same time, and saw the large gray clouds hovering above us, a sign that the rain is about to make its downpour. I turn to Adrian’s direction and saw him shrugging his shoulders while bearing a slightly apologetic look.

“Guess the sky won’t permit us to dive in, Miss Lynn,” he said as he reached a hand to his back to dust off some sand particles on his back side. “I’m really sorry.”

“No, it’s not your fault, A-Adrian,” I stammered, still feeling a bit queasy as his name slipped out of my mouth. “Maybe we should go back.”

“Yeah, we should,” Adrian said as I stood and got the handkerchief that I sat on. I was about to reach out a hand and return it to him, but Adrian just shook his head at me and started to walk towards the car. “You can keep it, or throw it away, Miss Lynn.”

I stared at the handkerchief that I was folding in my hands and felt remorse if I threw away the item Adrian had given me, so I decided to keep it—putting it inside the pocket of my pants before following him. I found him opening the passenger seat’s door for me, so I hurriedly went near him and thanked him before I went inside the vehicle. Adrian just smiled back at me before closing the door on my side and went to the driver’s seat.

As Adrian started the car and maneuvered the vehicle away, he calls my attention. “Ah, I almost forgot. Miss Lynn.”

“Yes?” I answered him while facing the stream and stretching out a silent goodbye to the breathtaking scenery.

“I have a surprise waiting for you in the house,” Adrian said as he drove us back to the hacienda. “I hope you’ll like it.”