Secret Blessing

Chapter 1: Without Her

Year 2026

How’s it going?” Winter asked as she looked out the windows of her own office while having her hands on her trousers’ pockets.

“Still no progress, Miss...,” the guy with the black leather jacket answered.

Winter closed her eyes and sighed. This is getting frustrating for her. She turned to him. “Are you sure you’re doing your job?” she asked.

“Yes, Miss,” he nodded.

She slammed her office table. “Then, do better!”

He flinched. “Yes, Miss...”

“We’ve been doing this for five years! The next time I summon you here and you don’t have any news, I’ll take back all the money I paid you. I’m not getting my money’s worth!” Winter exclaimed. “Get out of my sight!”

He nodded and left.

Winter sat on the swivel chair and held her forehead. She sighed again.

“Hubby, wasn’t that too harsh?” Demetria asked when Winter just straightforwardly said her secretary’s mistakes and told her to be better.

"It will help her improve, wifey. Besides, I didn’t shout at her. I just want her to get it done,” Winter replied.

Demetria nodded in understanding.

“We should push each other to be better. We can always take one step at a time, just don’t make the same mistake we did yesterday or in the past.”

Demetria sat on her lap and placed her arms around her neck. “But can you try to tone it down a bit?” she asked.

“Hmm…,” Winter hummed. “Okay, I’ll try.”

Demetria smiled. “Great,” she said as she kissed her briefly. Then, she massaged the sides of her forehead.

Winter reciprocated her smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, my love.”

A tear escaped Winter’s left eye. How I miss her... she thought. She wiped it and looked at her watch, which was given by the same girl she thought of. It’s lunchtime. Demetria usually comes to her office with her lunch box so they can eat together in the pantry, but it’s different now. She eats alone.

She took her suit jacket and put it on. With her wallet and phone, she left her office to go to a restaurant. She’s hungry and she has to be healthy until the news is given to her by the private investigator she hired. She’s looking for Demetria, her ex-wife. She realized that she didn’t want to live without her. How dumb she is for even agreeing to have a divorce. Truthfully, she’s mad at Demetria for giving up so easily on their marriage. Doesn’t she love her anymore?

She was craving a steak, so that’s what she ordered. When she started eating, her frustrations came to the said food. Demetria’s good at hiding. Until now, she couldn’t find her. It’s been five years since she left and Winter has been trying to find her for that long.

“I shouldn’t have let her go,” she mumbled. “Now, look at me. Miserable.”

Her phone rang in the middle of her meal. She answered without sparing a look at who was calling. “Hello?”

“Hey, Win!”

“Vic,” Winter recognized the voice, it’s her best friend, Victoria.

“How are you doing?” Victoria asked.

Winter scoffed. “What do you think?”

Victoria sighed. “Still not over her?”

“I don’t think I’ll get over her,” Winter replied. “She’s the love of my life.”

“But are you the love of her life?”

Winter felt a pang in her heart. “What do you want?”

“Oh, yeah. Summer and I are going to the bar. Want to join us?” Victoria invited.

Winter shook her head. “I don’t feel like going.”

Victoria rolled her eyes. “You’ve been saying that for the last five years,” she said. “You deserve to have fun once in a while, dude.”

“Still no,” Winter said.

“Look, I’ll let you borrow my P.I. so he can help yours. Just join us tonight,” Victoria tried to bargain. “It’s free of charge, same with your drinks.”

Winter considered the deal. “Fine. What time?”

“8. We’ll be waiting.”

Winter hangs up and finishes her food. Then, she went back to her office as she had an emergency meeting at 1. She’s last to arrive at the conference room. An employee showed her a newspaper and a TV broadcast.

“Our current ambassador has a leaked scandal so we’re all proposing that we change our ambassador,” her employee suggested.

“Scandal, you say?” Winter asked.

“Yes, Miss.”

“Have you looked into it?”

The employees looked at each other. “But Miss, it’s all over social media. It may cause damage to Fury’s image.”

Fury is a brand of car Winter is running. She inherited it from her father, who started the business. When she graduated from college, her father gave it to her so she could manage it and use what she learned, since she was the only one who was willing to take over the business. It was hard at first to be the CEO. It was hard enough to be one of a billionaire’s daughters, but she got through it. Thankfully, the employees are welcoming, too. She was grateful to her father for hiring those kinds of people.

Winter caressed her chin. “What did our ambassador say about the scandal?”

“She said it’s not her, that it was photoshopped.”

“And you don’t believe her?”

“Miss, a lot of people believe it and some are dragging Fury’s name. We need to take action right away.”

“I understand, but make sure first. Get a copy and have it checked by a professional. We won’t want to fire someone because of a mistake she didn’t even make. Technology is scary these days. We have to be meticulous about these things,” Winter said.

“What if she’s lying?”

“Then, do what you must. Find another ambassador.”

They nodded in understanding.

“Are we done here?”

“Yes, Miss.”

Winter stood up. “Then, I’ll be going. Submit what you have to submit and I’ll attend to it.”

*

Winter locked her car before going inside the bar Victoria invited her to, Victoria’s Summer. The bouncers let her in right away since she’s a member of the family of the owner, Summer, her older sister, who is also her best friend’s wife. Who knew they would end up with each other?

Summer is the second oldest in the family, Autumn is the first, Winter is the third child, and the youngest is Spring. Their parents sure love the four seasons because they are in a tropical country, the Philippines. Their father wanted to live in the U.S. but their mother wanted to stay and start a family—their family here.

Winter smiled bitterly; Demetria wanted the same thing as her mother. Stay here and have mini-Winter’s and mini-Demetria’s. The sad thing is, they don’t get to do that anymore. Demetria gave that up along with her.

She went to the VIP room where, for sure, Victoria was. She likes to hang out there after work. She had her own business but her wife, Summer, wanted to open up a bar of their own. Victoria’s Summer is a gay bar. Straight people can also hang out there, but once they create a ruckus that also applies to gay people, they’ll be dragged out of the bar. Their security makes sure that everyone will be comfortable.

She opened the door and saw Victoria cuddling with her wife, having drinks. She rolled her eyes as she closed the door behind her. “Seriously? You’re making me a third wheel,” she said and sat beside them.

Victoria laughed. “Don’t worry, I have got a girl for you.”

Winter’s confused. “What? You said I’m just joining you?”

“But I won’t let you not have fun.” Victoria wiggled her eyebrows. “I have a new employee. She accepted my invitation and should be arriving by now. Maybe you can get to know each other.”

Winter glared at her. “I don’t need another girl. I need Tria,” she clarified.

“Can I give you a reality check? She’s gone, Win. You can’t even find her. It means that she doesn’t want to be found,” Victoria said.

“You said you were going to help me find her,” Winter reminded her, annoyed.

Victoria shrugged. “And I’m keeping my word. I just want you to rethink this. It’s been years.”

“And I still love her.”

“Does she still love you?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m trying to find her.”

“So you can get her back?” Victoria asked.

“Possibly, yes,” Winter answered.

“What if she doesn’t want to come back?”

Winter went quiet. She knows there’s a possibility that she doesn’t come back, but she won’t cross that bridge until she gets there.

Summer placed her drink on the table. “Okay, that’s enough. We’re here to have fun, aren’t we?”

“It’s her fault,” Winter pointed at her best friend. “It’s like she’s forcing me to move on when I don’t want to.”

“Babe, let my sister be. She will get over it if she can. Besides, if that happened to us, will you be able to move on from me easily?” Summer told Victoria.

Victoria sighed. “Point taken. Sorry, Win.”

Winter nodded. “It’s fine. You have a point, too.”

“How about flings, Win?” Victoria pushed.

Winter shook her head in amusement. “I appreciate that you want to help, dude, but you know I’m not into that kind of thing.”

“Yeah. She’s not like you, Victoria,” Summer said as she rolled her eyes. “Before you met me, you had a lot of girls.”

“But that was before! Why bring it up now?” Victoria retorted. “I only want you.”

“I know,” Summer said as she kissed her. “You better be.”

Winter smiled at their interaction. She envies them, they are still together. They got married after she and Demetria got divorced.

Her smile faded as it crossed her mind again. She’ll do everything to get her back. If she fails, oh, boy, another end of the world. It also ended when they ended their marriage.

The door opened, revealing a woman wearing office clothes. Winter guessed this was Victoria’s new employee. She went to fill her wine glass with White Wine, remembering it was Demetria’s favorite.

“Oh, hey, Cassandra, join us,” Victoria greeted.

The said woman sat beside Winter. “Sorry, am I late?”

Victoria shook her head. “Oh, no, no. You’re just in time.” She gave her a glass of drink. “I want you to meet my best friend, Winter. Winter, Cassandra. Cassandra, Winter,” she introduced.

Cassandra lent her hand for a handshake. “Nice to meet you, Winter,” she greeted.

Winter shook her head. “No need to be formal,” she said as she gestured her glass to her as a greeting.

Cassandra clinked their glasses and sipped on the wine. Winter did the same.

“So, what do you think about Winter?” Victoria started. “First impressions?”

Winter stared at her as Summer facepalmed. They know her motive.

That left Cassandra speechless. “Uh…”

Winter cut in. “Don’t mind her. She’s had a few drinks.”

“Yeah, we’ve been here since she left work earlier,” Summer said.

“What? I’m not drunk,” Victoria contradicted.

“You’re not. You’re tipsy,” Summer said. “I think we should go home.” She stood up and pulled Victoria with her. “We’ll go ahead, Win. The drinks are on the house.”

Winter nodded. “Thanks, sis.”

They left the room. She’s now alone with Cassandra.

“So, what do you do?” Winter asked.

“Marketing officer for Miss Victoria,” Cassandra answered. “How about you?”

“CEO of the Fury,” Winter said. “You may have heard about it.”

Cassandra looked at her. “Oh, that’s why you’re familiar. I’ve seen you in any kind of medium. I’m a fan of your brand. I’m planning to get one in the future.”

Winter smiled. “Really? Another possible customer, then.”

“Yeah… I have to save up first.”

“You will,” Winter said as she sipped her wine.

“I want to ask…,” Cassandra started. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.

“About my divorce?”

Cassandra nodded. “Yeah...”

“Hmm…,” Winter hummed. “It’s hard until now.”

“Is it harder than break-ups?”

“For me, it’s also considered a break-up because we split,” Winter said.

“Why?”

Winter hesitated to answer.

“I mean… it’s okay if you don’t want to. It’s a private matter, anyway.”

“I guess it’s okay to tell a stranger,” Winter said. “It’s because we can’t have a child. We tried many times. I wasn’t giving up but she did. She got tired...”

Cassandra nodded in understanding. “That sucks?”

Winter shrugged. “I guess.”

“My boyfriend broke up with me, too.”

Winter furrowed her eyebrows. “Why?”

Cassandra leaned her back on the leather couch. “Because I won’t have s*x with him.”

Winter scoffed. “I’m sorry but that’s crap. He only dated you just to get to your pants?”

“It seemed like it,” Cassandra said. “He thought if he waited long enough, we'd do it.”

“But why won’t you do it, anyway?” Winter asked.

“I want to do it after marriage,” Cassandra answered. “Is it too much to ask?”

Winter shook her head. “No. My ex-wife and I wanted the same thing and we did. It’s one of the precious memories we had.”

“Does it still hurt after so long?”

“Yes, because she’s the love of my life. I don’t think I’ll get over her even if my best friend tries to set me up with other girls,” Winter said, laughing. “I appreciate that she wants to help but I can’t do it. I don’t want to.”

“That’s understandable,” Cassandra said. “Another question. How did you try to have a child? In-vitro?” she asked.

“We used my bone marrow sperm cells. Research tells us that it’s 100% possible but no success for us...,” Winter answered.

“So, if it was, you'd have a daughter, then?”

Winter nodded. “We will have our offspring...”

Cassandra gestured her glass. “We’ll just drink to that,” she said.

Winter did the same. “Yeah, for better tomorrow.”

“For better tomorrow.”

They left the bar after a few drinks. Well, few for Winter since she’ll be driving. It’s the other way around for Cassandra. Winter caught her waist as she almost fell to the ground.

“Want me to drive you home?” Winter asked.

Cassandra shook her head. “I’ll just take a cab.”

“Are you sure?”

Cassandra nodded. “I see one!” she said as she gestured her hand and the cab stopped.

Winter opened the door for her and helped her get in. “Be safe,” she said.

“Thanks, Winter. I hope things work out for you,” Cassandra said with half-lidded eyes.

Winter smiled. “I hope so, too.” She closed the door and tapped it.

The cab left as she went to her car and went home. She lay on the couch and closed her eyes.

“Love, you should change,” Demetria said.

Winter shook her head. “My head's aching.”

Demetria sighed as she went to their room to get some clothes, then helped Winter change into them. Then, she went to get a basin with water to wipe her face and arms. “Better?”

Winter hummed. “Thanks, wifey.”

Demetria smiled as she kissed her on the forehead and caressed her hair.

Winter sobbed as she remembered. She misses her badly and she wants her back. She just hopes that when she finds her, she’s not too late.