Pleasure in Retaliation

CHAPTER VI

MY body immediately stiffened when I heard the things that I did not expect to come out of Señor Guillermo's mouth.

Although it is no longer surprising that probably because of his wealth and power, the Señor would know the names that make up the business world, but what hindered my ability to move— or even speak—is his assumption that I have a connection to the people who were the sole reason why I chose to stay in their home.

No matter how hard I tried to open my mouth and answer the question that the Señor threw at me, I could not muster even a slight amount of force to utter even a single, two-lettered word. I also tried to shake my head in a form of a non-verbal “no” to his question, but I felt like I have no control of my own body. I just sat there, stopped dead on my seat, as I let Señor Guillermo wait for my answer.

The Señorito seemed to notice the sudden silence that crept around us when I could not answer his father. Señorito Adrian cleared his throat for a brief moment before calling the attention of Señor Guillermo, which seemed to serve as him saving me from my sudden inability to speak.

“Well, there are so many Aguirres in the world, Papá,” he said in a tone that encouraged the Señor to shift his attention to him. “Maybe, it’s just a mere coincidence that they bear the same surname.”

“Yes. Yes, mijo, I suppose that’s the case,” Señor Guillermo immediately nodded and turned to me for a moment and offered me a small smile before turning his gaze back to his son. “Well, I’ll be heading upstairs now for I have an early flight tomorrow.”

I noticed the slight frown that formed in the Señorito’s face when he heard those words from his father, yet I still remained silent as I witnessed their discussion.

“Really, Papá? But you’ve barely just arrived,” he said with concern. “We haven’t even gone to the hospital to see Mamá yet.”

“Ay, mijo. No need to worry, I’ll be fine. Madrid is warm and cozy at this point of time right now, and I’ll be visiting tu Mamá before heading to the airport,” Señor Guillermo answered him with a tone of assurance to his son. He smiled sweetly at Señorito’s direction as well as mine before he started to stand up from his seat. “You should be accompanying our lovely guest here to every inch of the island. I bet she’ll love her stay even more.”

I saw Señorito Adrian nod his head in agreement to his father's suggestion as he also got up from his seat to support Señor Guillermo.“Si, Papá. I’d be happy to accompany Miss Lynn to wherever she would want to go,” the man stated in a deep, redolent voice as his deep oceanic eyes landed on mine—sending a knowing look at my direction.

“But only if she permits to it.”

Those expressive words that Señorito Adrian has said did not even sound too surprising, but the way it sounded made too much impact on me. I immediately felt the warmth flush on my cheeks, and I immediately looked down and tried to focus on the food in front of me so that the Señorito could not see how red my face probably was.

I overheard the two men talking in a low tone but I could not figure out what they were talking about, so I opted to hold my head low while I tried to finish the food on my plate.

After a while, I felt a sudden shift of movement from where the Señor and the Señorito was standing so I turned to their direction, and saw one of the Señorito’s hands resting on his father's back, and he smiled softly at Señor Guillermo before turning to me.

“Miss Lynn, I hope you will not mind me leaving you for a while, I’m just going to accompany Papá to his room,” he said in a low tone. “I’ll come back here right after.”

I immediately shook my head and answered him politely. “No, Señorito. I w-will not mind.”

He nodded in agreement, then motioned Señor Guillermo out of the dining hall. Before both of the men could finally leave the premises, they stopped for a brief moment and the old man turned to my direction as he bid his goodbye.

“Good night, mi querida,” he said in a softest tone which brought a small smile on my face. “I hope that you will enjoy your stay here.”

I nodded my head at Señor Guillermo’s direction and answered back to him with a slight blush on my cheeks. “G-good night, Señor. T-thank you for letting me stay in your home.”

The old man nodded his head towards my direction and gave me a smile before letting the Señorito bring him upstairs. In less than a second, silence immediately lingered around the dining hall.

Since I was already feeling full and could not anymore finish the remaining food on my plate, I reached for the table napkin and wiped my mouth dry as I wait for Señorito Adrian to return.

All I could do while I remained seated was to wander my eyes around the four corners of the dining hall and admired the beauty of my surroundings. Cream was the color of the walls with faint scribblings of veins on it, and the room was enlivened by the huge chandelier, which gave out the ample glow to make the room look happy.

I would not have realized that my lips were arched to a wide smile if I had not heard someone clearing their throat from somewhere—as well as their approaching footsteps.

“You look exceptional when you’re smiling.”

My cheeks immediately heated at the words that came from Señorito Adrian. When my eyes landed at his direction, I could see his blue eyes staring at me intently, as if wanting to discover something deep through my soul. I stifled a faint gasp, and tried to regain my composure as I propped my head down because of embarrassment and discomfort.

“Are you done eating?”

The Señorito did not seem to notice how I reacted to his words as he continued to speak with utter confidence, as I felt his presence approaching my side.

“Y-yes, Señorito. T-thank you f-for the food,” I tried to answer even if my lips were starting to have tremors.

Even as I felt my chest pounding harder and harder with each step that Señorito Adrian makes—I tried to lift my head, and there I saw him standing almost a meter away from where I was.

“I would be greatly honored to go to the front porch with you, Miss Lynn, to grab some fresh air,” the Señorito said in a low, yet somehow saccharine voice as he extended his hand towards me. “If you don’t mind someone like me as your company.”

I tried to find something inside me to refute the Señorito’s invitation—but could not find anything aside from a slight interest to know why Señorito Adrian has did all of those good things to me, and even stated some words that holds some deep meaning behind them.

Given that I do not know how to reject Señorito Adrian's invitation, I could do nothing but nod my head as I slowly got up from my seat. I couldn't even muster the courage to meet the man's deep stare so I automatically bowed my head low and tried to straighten the slight crease on the dress that I was wearing.

“Miss Lynn?”

I was a bit taken aback when I heard him call my name and immediately looked up to meet the Señorito’s eyes. “Y-yes?”

I noticed the glint of amusement in Señorito Adrian's eyes which gave me a slight feeling of discomfort. But he just ignored my reaction and show me his outstretched hand.

“Shall we?” He said as an invitation for me to go with him.

Even with the feeling of introversion looming around my chest, I still held out a trembling hand and placed it on Señorito’s waiting palm. He offered a smile before he guided me out of the dining hall, as he held my hand with a gentle tug.

He walked ahead of me and I just followed him while my eyes could not stop travelling between Señorito Adrian’s face and our clasped hands. I was secretly thankful that he could not see my face—which I know was definitely beet red—but was still silently praying that he would not hear the loud banging of my chest.

Due to my divided attention, I would not have realized that we already reached the mansion’s entryway if I had not felt the the chills that ran up to my shoulders due to the cold wind coming from the open doors. I immediately hugged my free hand to my exposed shoulder as I followed Señorito Adrian out of the house towards the front porch.

The Señorito took me to a table and guided me to sit on one of the sun chairs, and before he took the seat opposite of mine—he raised our clasped hands to his mouth and planted a kiss on the back of my palm—which caused my cheeks to scorch hotter.

When Señorito Adrian sat in the empty chair, he stretched his hand out and reached for a goblet from the small table in front of us and poured wine on it. After the man took a quick whiff of the wine’s smell, he turned to me and held the glass between us before offering me to have a drink with him. “Do you drink, Miss Lynn?”

“N-no, S-Señorito. S-sorry.” I immediately shook my head in denial, and some of the memories started to floodmy mind.

The memory of the first time I drank an alcoholic beverage came to my mind immediately, and the things I remembered at that time made my body tremble even more.

Ever since those unpleasant things happened to me, I took an oath to myself that I will never drink alcohol again.

“Have you ever been to Camiguin, Miss Lynn?”

I was a bit startled when I heard the Señorito’s voice, which brought me back to the present. I looked at his direction and saw him sipping wine from the glass that he was holding, as he waits for my answer. I swallowed the small ball of fear that was starting to clog my throat before answering his question.

“N-no, Señorito. I’ve only heard it f-from m-my f-family,” I said softly, when I couldn't help my lips shudder because of the word that I could not ever stop from saying.

My family.

“Are you cold, Miss Lynn?” He said with mixed concern in his voice and laid the cup he was holding on the table. He was about to take off his suit but I immediately shook my head.

“N-no, Señorito. I’m f-fine,” I tried to say to him.

But Señorito Adrian did not budge. In the end, he took his black suit off and bent towards me. He crossed the distance between us, leaned towards my side and snaked his arms around me as he draped the suit on my shoulder with utter gentleness.

In the whole minute that the Señorito offered his help to ease the coldness that I was feeling, all I heard was the loud ringing of my heartbeat hammering inside my chest. There was only a mere inch of space between our faces, and all I could think about was how musky the Señorito Adrian’s smell is—along with the fear that the man would hear how loud my heartbeat was.

As soon as Señorito returned to his seat, I let out a sigh of relief that I did not even realize that I was holding back. A moment passed and silence fell around the two of us, so I had enough time to calm myself down.

It was a few minutes later when I heard Señorito Adrian’s voice again when he spoke, and my eyes landed towards his direction, but I did not stare back at him because of the discomfort that I am feeling.

“Miss Lynn, I would like to ask you something. But it’s completely up to you if you will answer it or not,” he stated in a low voice.

I blinked a few seconds in confusion and tried to understand the meaning behind his words but I could not find anything. So all I did was nod my head and sat straight as I await his query. I could feel his blue eyes boring a hole through my head, and the queasiness that I felt was starting to double with each second that passed.

Señorito Adrian drew a long breath, took a swig of wine from his glass before letting out the question that I knew he was going to ask all along—for it was the topic that we left off before we got interrupted on the breakfast that we had this morning.

“When I asked you earlier this morning about the reason why you chose to stay, and when Papá asked you about being connected to a businessman in Cagayan de Oro… in all those times I saw you stopping dead. You froze like you were afraid of something,” he said, with the hint of concern still looming in his voice. “What happened, Miss Lynn? What caused you to be afraid this much?”

No matter how hard I try to avoid this situation to happen, I could not help people, especially Señorito Adrian, to ask about the things that brought me too much nightmares. No matter how hard I try to let go of my dark past, time will eventually come that I have to reopen the closet and let the skeletons out.

Before I let the memories—that I was trying to push towards the innermost corners of my brain—flood into my mind, I took a deep breath, bowed my head and looked at my hands fisted on the surface of my lap.

I heaved another deep sigh before meeting the waiting eyes of Señorito Adrian and uttered a little statement before pouring out the memories of my dark past.

“I’ve n-never experienced being a p-part of my own f-family, Señorito Adrian.”