Flashback: Two months ago.
Siena walked in a hurry along the pavement crowded by pedestrians, and entered a café at her left side. The glass wall café was dominated by soft pastel colors. It was just seven thirty AM, but the café was already crowded by customers enjoying their breakfast.
“Welcome to Cheers Café!” a friendly voice greeted.
“Good morning, Brian! My order, please…,” Siena replied, flashing a smile to the barista standing behind the counter.
The man with oriental look was smiling warmly, forming a soft crease near his eyes. His lean body was just a little bit taller than Siena. His black hair and black irises typical of Asian combined with his chubby face made the man look warm-hearted and friendly.
“Green tea latte, less ice, ready to go. You’re late
Flashback: Two months ago. Siena arrived at a tenth floor building locating couple blocks from Cheers Café. Angels Daily office was on the eighth floor of the building. Though it was just a small company, but Siena really enjoyed her job here. She also made a good living. Well, not a luxurious living, but the satisfaction was more valuable than the amount of her salary. “Siena! Hold the door!” A scream was coming from outside, when Siena was already in the lift. Siena immediately pushed the ‘open’ button. A girl at her age ran hastily into the lift, with a backpack on her shoulders, a paper cup in her left hand, and a plastic folder in her right hand. It seemed like she was having a difficult time to bring all her goods. “Thanks, Siena Chan! You’re the best!” the girl greeted, chuckling.
Flashback: A month ago. CRAAACKK!! Alfonso Garcia smashed his own cellphone onto his desk violently. It was not shattered, but at least the screen would be cracked. He was not even bothered anymore. The pain was suffocating him. He felt as if his heart was burning. He had just finished reading the article on Angels Daily column, nothing else but the article about Adalfo Garcia’s life story, his grandfather. He could hardly believe it, why would Adalfo willingly reveal his life story on a media like that? It was just not his grandfather’s common behavior. What made Alfonso enraged the most was Adalfo’s honest confession about how his grandfather had become the reason behind his parents’ separation. This was Adalfo’s confession: “It was I who should be bl
Flashback: A week ago. A black limousine stopped in front of a luxurious house in Beverly Hills. Siena rushed out from the car. Adalfo sent his private driver to pick her up. He wanted to see her immediately. Heart pounding, Siena frantically ran to Adalfo’s bedroom. Lucio said Adalfo had been lying in his bed for the past two days. She knew Adalfo had coronary heart disease, and he had undergone the bypass surgery once. But his condition was getting worse lately. “Grandpa…,” Siena called out, standing in front of Adalfo’s room. Her heart was racing, her chest was moving up and down trying to breathe. Adalfo lay in a jumbo size bed in the middle of the large bedroom. He turned his gaze at Siena. “Hi, Siena…. Come…,” he requested in a weak voice.
The most challenging journey in your life is the journey to find yourself.*****Back to the present time.Siena was sitting with a somber face in Adalfo’s private jet. Alfonso was on another seat, not far from across her seat. But she knew his piercing eyes kept glancing at her several times from the moment they sat, as if he was scrutinizing her.Her cellphone suddenly rang. “Hi, Damien….”“Siena, what are you doing?!” Damien sounded panic. “You can’t go to Dubai with Alfonso! He’s dangerous! I’m heading to the airport now! You must wait for me! Don’t leave without me!” he instructed.Siena glimpsed at Alfonso. He was looking back at her with a mischievous smile on his face.“Damien, I’m sorry. I can’t expla
They had travelled more than half an hour from the glamorous city center of Dubai. Getting further, the environment somehow looked contrast. Instead of luxurious view, factories and simple houses dominated. The black Mercedes Benz stopped in front of a large and tall building, looking more like a simple apartment.“This is the House of Aman,” the driver from Adalfo Hotel informed.Siena turned her gaze out. The building was far from luxurious. It was almost similar to her previous rented apartment, simple and clean. But the barren, hot, and dusty environment surrounding made the building look bleak.Siena opened the car door. But Alfonso did not even move an inch.“You’re not coming?” Siena asked, frowning.“I’d better stay here. It’s too hot outside. Besides, I know there’s nothing worth enough here, just by catching a glimps
A wide grin showed on Alfonso’s face. He really enjoyed having fun by mocking Siena. “It’s easy. Just follow whatever I want. As simple as that,” he spoke nonchalantly.“But what do you want? You can’t just order me to do whatever you like!” Siena growled.Alfonso leaned his body comfortably on the car seat, as the car driving them back to the city center. “Just start with accompanying me around the city of Dubai.”Alfonso was really serious with his words. He instructed their driver to drive them around the city center. As the day getting late, he demanded to visit a grand shopping center full of people. He strode in to a deluxe boutique with Siena tailing from behind. Just in the wink of an eye, a young girl who was the shop assistant served him passionately.“Thanks to you, I don’t even bring any clothes with me. Thus you must pay e
Siena preferred to enjoy her sparkling water rather than the night club atmosphere. She did not know anybody here, and was not interested in dancing or hanging around with someone. “What so good about night club? There are so many other places worth to visit in Dubai,” she kept on mumbling to herself. “Good evening,” a deep voice greeted from behind her. She turned around her seat. Two men around their thirties were smiling at her. The first man was blonde and brown-eyed; the other was brown-haired and blue-eyed. They both wore fancy tuxedos, looking so glamorous. “Are you alone?” asked the blonde man. “Seems like you’re new visitor. I’ve been to this club many times, but never seen you before.” She could smell strong alcohol scent from their breath. Her instinct alerted her at once. “Well, I’m not alone. I come here with a friend, but she’s… in the toilet now,” she rep
Unable to close her eyes, Siena was still turning back and forth restlessly in her bed long after she lay down. Her thoughts just kept on drifted back to everything happened today. At one point, she was really upset because Alfonso ‘kidnapped’ her, forcing her to come to Dubai with him, while she and Damien had prepared all their plans well. On the other side, she was also wondering why Alfonso was willing to help her at the night club. He even beat up the jerk harassing her.“Should I thank him?” she murmured. The next second, she shook her head. “Hell no! He was the one who kidnapped me to Dubai! He also forced me to go to the night club!” she grumbled.However she could not deny that she was amazed by Alfonso’s strength and skill. She was born and lived in Japan until she was ten. That was the time when her own grandfather taught her Aikido. She continued to practice the skill to defense herself a