A WEEK LATER
Dulce stood in front of her new compound in New Zealand. It's a lovely sight to behold, she had a lawn and neighbors would live quite close. She sighed as she looked up to the sky searching for something, but giving up when her eyes started to hurt. She was tired, hungry, and exhausted.
She had gotten off the plane two hours earlier, and she had driven the rental car to an apartment that she had paid for. She didn't tell her father where exactly she was going and she didn't know either, but she compromised by promising to call him every week. That was the only way she had gotten out of the house.
Gazelle wasn't happy that she was leaving and tried to question her more about it, but Dulce kept a tight lip about her condition to her best friend. It didn't seem like much, but Dulce decided to keep talking less and less before she let something slip off. If anyone could see them, they would assume that both of them were keeping malice. But Dulce had assured her that they are on good terms and there was no need to panic.
She sighed as she shook her head, trying to get rid of the lingering sad thoughts about her family and friends as she carried the last box inside her new house. It was a two-bedroom apartment with an attic and a basement. It also had a full living room, dining room, and kitchen. It wasn't void of necessary amenities, either.
She looked around, pleased with her choice as she started arranging. She wanted to use the first few weeks and set things right since she was the only one. She was done with the bedroom, since it was where she would be sleeping all the time. The bedroom took her the entire day and by night, she was so exhausted that she collapsed on the bed without eating supper.
*
*
The next day came quickly and Dulce was arranging the living room to make it more presentable when she heard a knock on her door. She paused, shocked, maybe she had misheard it. There was no way that she would have visitors. She told nobody where she was going. Even if her dad saw her tickets, he wasn't supposed to have her house address.
The knock came again, a lot harder this time around convincing her that she wasn't hearing things, and she stood up. The faster she saw who it was and dismissed the person away, the faster she could go back to her work. It was probably a case of the wrong address.
She opened the door slightly to see a woman standing in front of her smiling with a food tray in her hands.
“Uhmmm….you are at the wrong house, miss.” She said as the lady in front of her laughed, displaying her white set of teeth before replying to her,
“Oh dear. You are quite the comedian. My name is Izzy, and I am your new neighbor. I saw you pack in yesterday and decided to come say hi. This is for you. I made it myself.” She said with a grin as Dulce smiled and took the basket from her before allowing her inside. There was no way she wasn't going to show common courtesy.
“Sorry about the mess. I was just rearranging, but I guess you can sit here.” She said, leading her to a furnished sofa and continuing,
“You must be thirsty. Stay here, I am coming, let me get you some water.” She quickly said as she left her visitor and went into her kitchen. Taking deep breaths, she slowly filled the cup with water and made her way back to the blonde and gave her. The woman took it from her with a smile and drank from it.
“Is there anything else that I can help you with?” Dulce asked out of courtesy, as Izzy nodded her head and said,
“Your name?”
“Huh?" Dulce looked at the woman as if she had grown two heads. How on earth can she ask of that so quickly? Literally or figuratively. Was she a lesbian? Was she flirting with her? These questions swiveled around her head.
“I told you mine. You never did tell me yours.” Izzy said bluntly, snapping Dulce from her thoughts.
“Oh, my name is Dulce. Sorry about that, I guess I forgot. You are a hyperactive type, so I forgot.” She said as she watched her new friend shake her head violently. If she shook any harder she was afraid that it would yank off her neck, android to the ground.
“You shouldn't apologize. I understand. You have an…interesting name. Dulce. It seems fancy.”
“O, it's nothing fancy at all. It's quite common where I am from. Well, not quite common but people don't consider it to be unique which means that they have heard far much worse ones.” She said as Izzy burst out laughing again.
“Wow, it looks like I made the right decision coming to befriend you. I thought you were going to shun me out, actually. You seem like the type that hates company.”
“Well, I am, but I guess you are not that bad. Do you want to leave?” She asked, standing up as Izzy shook her head and said,
“No, I am not. You look like you need help. Let's bond over attaching wire.” She said with a grin as she went to one side of the room to start arranging it.
“Yes, I am quite convinced that the conversations we will have will be quite shocking,” Dulce said with a wink, and yeah, it was a pun.
“I can't believe you just said that,” Izzy said, trying to cover her mouth since it was funny, and Dulce grinned at her. Maybe staying here in New Zealand wasn't that bad. It had barely been a day, and she had made a friend.
Aspen Mckinney idled with his phone in his limousine's comfort. His hands never stopped visiting every major news site that was in the country. In fact, he had gone through all the major news sites and was searching for the slightest bit of light that shines towards a certain headline about CEO of a certain prestigious enterprise who was caught having an affair with a certain lady. He smirked at the thought of it. Shortly after he left the motel, he vowed to himself that if that Godforsaken manager of his motel did not do what was right for the damn news not to go out, he was going to do everything in his power to pull them down. He had placed certain important calls. He called his lawyers to keep their eyes on the wheels. Whenever a certain strange article about his personal life popped out, they should take very drastic measures to pull down the stronghold of the supposed prestigious hotel. It was not far from his reach. Just a matter of minutes was more than enough for him to do
“ You said five minutes. We spent more than ten minutes. " “ Sorry, sir. I must have made the wrong calculations. " “ Like you have always done. “ Aspen sighed heavily and stepped out of his limousine's comfort, clutching his briefcase in his hand. He strode towards the elevator that led straight to his office floor. A few moments later, he was walking into his office and dropping the briefcase right on the table. Flipping out his phone from his pocket, he searched for a particular contact. It was Hagar.He needed to call Hagar and figure out how far he had gone with the little assignment, which was not little, that he had given him to do. “ Alright. Here we go. " He dialed the contact that stared at him. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. “ Hello, Sir. Good morning." “Good morning?” Aspen asked with his brows arched. " Is there any good thing about the damn morning?”“ Sorry, sir. I had to dig up more before I would contact you. " “ It has been a couple of days already since
Aspen took his phone and searched for the contact of his best friend, Derek. In a situation like this one, the only other person that he was very certain he could rely on was the likes of Derek. Derek, just like him, was a wealthy and top-class individual. The dude was a civil engineer who had even gotten to a Level where his construction company always got the bigger contracts in the country. Some time ago, there were issues in the presidential office building. He was contacted specially for that job and he had done a work that was worth sampling to the whole world. In addition to all his money, he was a good and loyal friend to Aspen. Both of them. have been through thick and thin. They had been friends for years already. And through the years of their friendship, none of them would be able to say that there was once a moment when they had to go extra miles away from each other due to a quarrel. Such things could never break them. And in fact, the combination was sent from heave
Mr. Theodore Florencia was taking a slow walk through the premises of his house. Nothing particularly was going on in his mind. But at the same time, he would not say he was not thinking about anything. Without any particular direction in his mind, his feet turned and began to lead him to the garden. The garden held pleasant memories he would love to hold on to. Oh yeah. The garden had existed for so many years and was likely less of a garden. It looked more like a bush. He strictly forbade everyone from walking into it. Why? That was the garden he had built with no other person but the mother of Dulce, his first daughter They had built and cultivated that garden all by themselves. The pleasant times when they had to trim it together. Those little things endured love between them. It was one of their biggest dreams to take very good care of the garden with their children when the time was right for them to start coming. That dream kept on growing with their marital life. Not so lo
A few more days passed. But Aspen still walked with the tip of his toes to avoid stepping in the shards of glasses that date night have thrown into his path. The events of what ensued that night were yet to get erased from his memory. Around now, it was no longer the memory that troubled him. He had learned to adapt to the new idea that he already slept with a stranger. That was already in the past. However, the main problem was that there was still no news about the stranger that he had a one-night stand with. Was she a ghost? With his level of influence over the society, there could hardly be a person that he would not be able to find no matter how well such a person hid him or herself. In the past, when his father was still the CEO of the company, something had happened. A man-made away with a big amount of cash. Big enough that it shook the company so badly. Their competitors had taken over the race at that time. Though after much struggle, his father was able to return to the r
The air around New Zealand was one that Dulce had always dreamt of. She loved the place. Right there, on her veranda, she was cooling off in the comfort of the cool breeze that slowly caressed every part of her body. Oh yeah. She was loving the feeling that was with it. Her eyes were shut. In her mind, all she could see was relative peace. Some folks would say that peace was not a relàtive feeling. While some believed that peace, while it might be relative as a word, was not by any means relative as a feeling. But little did they know that peace as it was, was not just a feeling. It was a state of mind. Dulce was in that state of mind now. There was no reason to be troubled. No more reasons for her to be anxious and weary at all times. More reason to be worried about the next second of her life. This was heaven. Heaven could be on earth too. If that was the case, then, this place she was in was the heaven she was living in. They say all worries disappear in heaven. Her worries were
“ Dreams?” Izzy asked, biting a piece of her own roll. The crunchy sound coming from their mouths would definitely arouse anyone close to them to want to have a taste of the cheese rolls. “ That crunchy sound is something else. Dulce said and giggled. “ Well, you can say that again. Though, not every stuff that sounds like this is to be considered as a delicious thing to have a taste of.”“ I don't think I understand. “ Dulce out the remaining part of it and take another one. “ Do you know what a kola nut is?” Izzy asked her. Dulce arched her eyebrows. Kola nuts? What are those? She thought. “ Kola nuts. " Dulce repeated. “ Yeah. Kola nuts. Heard of them before?” “ Uhm. I can't say I have never heard of them before because I just heard of them from you. " Izzy giggled. “ I guess that should be true. " “ From the way you have spoken about it, I already want to taste it too. I guess it must be very tasty. Am I right? New Zealand seems to have a lot of tasty stuff. Like, a lot
Days had passed already. But there was still nothing very certain about the whereabouts of the mysterious lady who had walked into the hotel room of Aspen Mckinney. By now, he should have figured it out, but surprisingly, he was still locked up in it. That was very absurd and unreal. Aspen was not one to be dwelling on what had already passed. Things of the past needed to remain buried right there in the past. While other things of the present were to be dealt with to avoid any mistakes that already took place in the past from repeating itself again. This was a way Aspen lived his life. And it was very good for him. No time to worry so much about what had passed already that can't and will never be restored. But other corrections could be made. But here he was, still dwelling endlessly over that single encounter with Dulce. He still had no way of confirming the identity of the lady. Although Derek had mentioned that the lady that he had tried to help out earlier on was Dulce. T