Chapter 7

AFTER Jeremiah dragged my stepdad away, I caught the disappointment in our mothers’ faces. Before they could say a word, I quickly excused myself to face the other guests.

But I did the opposite. I stepped out of the banquet hall to get some fresh air to avoid the tedious talks about the stock market from the male guests and the latest trends from the females. It was like everyone inside was competing against each other about who was more fashionable and knowledgeable.

I’ve been exposed to parties ever since I was a little girl that now that I was older, I’ve grown tired of it and with the people who constantly comes for it that’s why I refused this grand party that my parents wanted to give me. I wanted a quiet and private birthday celebration. But in the end, my old folks won again. I just couldn’t say no to them at times.

I stopped walking when I saw a certain guy in the lobby. His lips were bleeding. There was also blood gushing from his forehead. His white long-sleeved polo was now coated in blood. And his knuckles were swollen. He was easy to spot on that’s why he caught the attention of the people walking around, including the hotel employees.

But when the guy looked at those people, for some reason, they immediately looked away and proceeded on going back to what they were doing as if they did not see anything peculiar. The security guard who was roaming around and was about to approach him suddenly stopped for a minute and then went on the opposite direction.

My mouth parted in disbelief. How could that happen? The man was bleeding, for goodness’ sake! But no one seemed to care. My family owns this hotel. And I’m the one who manages it. I could not allow this to continue happening to any of the customer. I would make sure to call a meeting first thing tomorrow morning about this.

The stranger gazed at me for a moment. And for the first time in my twenty-six years on Earth, I felt my heart flutter. I feel like I’ve seen those pair of eyes before. He looked strangely familiar. I couldn’t tell if it was just my imagination running wild again, but the man’s gaze seemed cold to everybody, and yet, when he looked at me, I saw a flash of warmth there but it swiftly disappeared.

And then he nonchalantly walked past me while I remained frozen. I just stared at his back as he walked farther and farther away. I held my chest and gently patted it, hoping it could calm my heart.

But not long after, the stranger stopped walking and turned around. He took a couple of deep breaths before he walked towards me. His eyes were alert as if there were other people in the area which only he could see. I shook my head at the thought of it. Maybe I’ve been watching too many supernatural films these days, courtesy of my best friend who was a fan of those things. But I guess I need to quit watching them because my imagination kept getting the best of me lately. I feel like wherever I go these days, I’m being watched. And I can’t shake off this weird feeling.

“You’re from the banquet hall, right?” He asked in a polite tone. Even his voice was familiar. I could swear I’ve heard it before.

Because I’m still too stunned to speak, I just nodded. My eyes went round when he took my hand and gently pulled me back to the banquet hall. Even his touch was familiar. He only released my hand when we were in front of the door. I couldn’t explain the disappointment I felt. It was odd, but it felt really nice to be held by him.

“Avoid walking on your own from now on. This world is not as safe as you think it is, woman.”

“W-what do you mean by that?” I asked when I finally found my voice. “Is something going on here? I know the owner of this hotel. I could help with-”

“Many things are happening everywhere all the time, Alison, things that ordinary people should not see or hear. There are many bad guys out there. And I could be one of them. That’s why next time, don’t allow anyone to hold you and take you away like I did. What you did was a major risk. What if I brought you somewhere else?”

He was lecturing me but his voice remained tender. I couldn’t tell him that the whole place was my territory. No one would dare do something against me here. He was the one who opened the door for me and softly pushed me inside.

“Remember what I said, Alison,” he added and closed the door before I could even speak.

“Wait, how did you know my name?” I asked when I opened the door again, but surprisingly, he was nowhere to be seen. My forehead creased. How did he manage to leave so fast?

“Hey, you look flustered. Did something happen?”

I turned towards Jeremiah, still stunned. “Yeah. This happened,” I said while patting my chest. “I think my heart just raced for the first time.”

“I’M TELLING you, Dad, everything is under control. My team was able to remove all the news clip in all social media sites. I already have a plan. I will tell you about it at the meeting tomorrow,” I said on the phone while massaging my temples.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, Dad,” I answered before I glanced at my wristwatch. It was already past eight in the evening and I’m still in my office.

“All right. I have faith in you. We’ve been talking about the hotel for quite some time now that I forgot to ask about you. Today must have been so stressful for you. Forgive this old man. I must be really getting old. Are you okay? Have you had dinner yet?”

I could hear my stomach grumbling, but I still nodded and smiled when I heard the concern in his voice. “I’m perfectly okay. I already had dinner with my team. Don’t worry about me and just rest for now, okay? And don’t wait for me at home. I might come home late. Good night, Dad. Regards to Mom and Jasper.”

I leaned on my swivel chair after I ended the call. Each day was busy enough, but I became extra busy all thanks to a certain issue. I also went to several meetings and by the time my last meeting was over, it was already past office hours. Yet, I could not go home because I had to study and sign tons of paper works first. Some of my employees were also forced to have an overtime because we had to come up with ways to promote the Cabrera hotel. But they all went away an hour ago.

I would not even have realized that I haven’t had dinner yet if only my stomach did not complain while I was talking to my Stepdad. But I did not want to worry him or to make him feel guilty over it. It was my fault anyway. I was the one who forgot all about dinner.

The Cabrera hotel’s reputation was in a mess right now because of the manager there who had an affair with a famous actress’ husband. I wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t read it online. And worse, even the hotel got caught up in the actress’ wrath. She kept spouting nonsense about the employees, the service, and the food. The manager resigned on her own, but the chaos she inflicted remained.

Now we have to think of another way to revive the hotel’s reputation. My stepdad was the chairman of the hotel chain that we owned that’s why I was really embarrassed. He just promoted me last month as the new managing director and yet, this happened. Because of this, I know that the board members would criticize me even more. They had been against the promotion and insisted that I was still too young for my position and I need to acquire more experience first.

But my stepdad owned the most number of shares in our hotels. He owned sixty-five percent of stocks that’s why he had the final say when it comes to important business decisions. And he happened to trust in my ideas and abilities so much, especially since he had been training me ever since I was in first year college. He used to make me work at the hotel every weekends and made me promise that I would train Jasper the same way when the time comes.

My parents had high hopes for me especially when I graduated Magna Cum Laude while Jeremiah was the Summa Cum Laude. And I didn’t want to fail my stepdad who was brave enough to stand up for me and my mother when my biological father ran away upon discovering that my mother was pregnant that’s why I struggled to embrace my stepdad’s big and-most of the times-complex world. I didn’t push my own dream of becoming a romance writer because I did not want to disappoint my parents. Not to mention that my Stepdad was now sixty-two years old. As much as possible, I didn’t want to give him any more problem.

I sighed before signing the last document on the table. I always make it a point to finish all the work for the day because I didn’t want work to be piled up the next day. I removed my eyeglasses before I stood up. I’m feeling a little sleepy. I better go and wash my face in the comfort room before leaving. After all, I’d be driving back home. It was our number one house rule to have breakfast together every day to catch up on each other’s lives.

I was in the middle of splashing water onto my face when I suddenly saw something in the mirror that completely woke all my senses. It was a guy with blazing amber eyes who was staring back at me. And he… doesn’t look human.