-Lucy’s POV-
I woke up staring at the ceiling not wanting to get up. What have I done? What should I do? And what will I do? My mind was looping around those questions when my mother knocked on the door. “Honey aren’t you going for walk today?” I sat up on my bed and sighed. “In a while, mom.” It has been my routine to go out and have a walk. Honestly, it wasn’t just an ordinary walk. I walk to get a chance to see Mr. Wise Man again. Everyday I look around and sometimes knock on doors to ask if they knew who Mr. Wise Man was and where he could possibly live. However, all were in vain. I stood up and went to the kitchen where my mother was. There was toasted bread and strawberry jam on the table. I grabbed a bite sluggishly that my mother noticed it. “Anything wrong, hon?” I gave out a fake smile to her and said, “No mom, just feeling a little lazy today. Thanks for the bread, I’ll go take my walk now.” I hurriedly went outside to avoid my mother’s eyes. I can’t afford her to see me like this. A month has passed, but it felt like an eternity for me in search of the man who saved my life back then. I closed my eyes and inhaled the lovely sweet scent of sea breeze when suddenly there was a tap on my shoulders. I stiffened and was afraid to open my eyes. Could it be? Could it be him? I slowly opened my eyes to see who it was. It’s not him. My heart was disappointed. I see a man right in front of me, but he is not that man who I’ve looking for over a month now. “Yes? How can I help you?” The man smiled at me and asked, “Are you that woman who have been looking for a certain man in this area?” My heart flopped and suddenly felt excited by his question. Maybe this could be my lead to find my Mr. Wise Man. “Yes, it’s me. Do you happen to know him?” He scratched the back of his head and said shyly “Well…I am not certain if he is the right one, but based on the people who told me about you and the person you have been describing to them. There is one person that I know fits your description.” My eyes widened and suddenly grabbed the hands of this man “Please! Do tell me!” I couldn’t hide the excitement anymore. The man looked at their hands clasped together and that’s when I realized that I gripped it too hard. I let go of his hand embarrassed by my action. “I-I’m sorry.” The man gave out a soft laugh. “It’s ok, miss. By the way I’m Nick, Nick Emerson. I live just five doors away from yours.” He blushed a little. “My apologies, I know where you live because I see you everyday walking by the bay.” I smiled at him “No need to apologize. I’m Lucy Summers. Nice to meet you, Nick.” I lent my hand to him into a shake. “Nice to finally know you, Lucy. Going back..” Nick started. “Why are you looking for this man?” I looked at him in the eye and said “Well, he’s my savior.” Nick was stunned for a little while, but didn’t really bother to ask why instead he said, “I’ll walk you to where he lives.” My heart started to pound while I followed him to where my Mr. Wise Man could be. We walked silently and as we got nearer to what seems like a small garage Nick said “The man I know, based on your description is my dear friend, Conner. He lived in this garage.” He turned his back to face me. “I hope you won’t feel down, but I have to tell you he isn’t here anymore.” I felt like I was struck by lightning. This couldn’t be! No! He promised me that he will come back for me! Tears started filling my eyes and asked “Where could he possibly be now?” Nick shrugged his shoulders “The last time I saw him was a month ago. It was raining hard when I saw him pass by. Conner was a good buddy of mine. I come here every morning to have a cup of coffee with him. To my surprise he wasn’t here anymore the next morning. I know you have been looking for him. I wasn’t really sure how to approach you back then, but seeing you today wearing a gloomy face, I felt the need to tell you. Well, I am also not certain if I guessed the right person so I brought you here. You can go take a look inside. I think there’s a picture at his side table or somewhere.” He started going through a bunch of keys “I come here often, he’s like a brother to me and he was kind enough to lend a spare key to me so that I can open his house when I needed to.” finally he found one to open the small garage. When I went inside it was no garage. There was a couch and a table lamp at the side. Right across it was a drawer that fit perfectly to the wall behind it. Behind the wall was the bath and there was a small sink with a wall mirror just near its bathroom door. The whole space was filled with a very masculine scent. For me, it truly felt like home. I ran my eyes to every corner of the house and just then I noticed a small picture frame on the table lamp. I took it and saw the face of the man I have been looking for a month now; Mr Wise Man. The moment I saw his face and knowing that he is no longer around tears just fell on my cheeks. How could this happen? Did I do something wrong? Why did he suddenly leave? There were so many questions in my mind until I found myself hugging the person who led me to my Mr. Wise Man. I cried my heart out and when I am finally sober I suddenly felt ashamed. “I-I’m sorry, Nick. I didn’t mean to cry on you like that. I-I wasn’t able to control myself. How shameful.” Nick cupped my face, wiped away the tears falling on my cheeks and looked me in the eyes. “Don’t you ever call yourself shameful. Crying is never a shameful act. I have seen you put so much effort on this and I truly understand how you feel. I don’t wish to put you down. I just really wanted to help. I wish I could do more, but for now this is what I can offer you.” I gradually nodded “Thank you, Nick for giving me this chance.” He patted my shoulders and pointed at the picture frame I was holding. “You can have that. Come on, I’ll take you home.”
Nick’s POV- A month ago.. I was about to do some stretching when I noticed this young lady walk past my house. A new lady in town? She was walking and looking around like she was trying to find something until she started approaching people like she was asking something from them. I stopped what I was doing and ended up observing her. She got me curious of what she was trying to do. She was walking with no direction and stretching her neck while her eyes were searching. That confirmed my initial reaction that she was truly looking for something or maybe it could be someone until she stopped her tracks and began to slowly sit on the white sand. I guess she got tired from all the walking she did since early morning. I saw her pulling her hair up into a bun and wiped the sweat that was dropping from her forehead down to her neck. I swallowed concurrently as her hands went down her neck to wipe her sweat from there. What was that for, Nick? You are acting li
-Conner’s POV- A month has passed, and a lot of things has happened. When I agreed to go with my uncle Jack. It was a difficult decision to make, however there are so many unanswered questions about who I truly am, my blood line, my family and relatives. There has always been this empty space inside me, and I wish to fill it to make me whole. When we arrived at the Lowell mansion, he immediately introduced me to the rest of the Lowell family and to my surprise I was treated rather nicely than I was by my own father. Everyone was so warm to me that I questioned what was behind my father’s attitude. My uncle said that my grandfather and father had some misunderstanding in the past, it must be something really serious to make my father act like a monster I knew he was. There should be something behind these walls and I am going to find out what it is. I am going to find out the truth. While looking around the mansion I was truly amazed by how luxurious it was and what t
-Lucy’s POV- When mom and dad divorced, my mom got really depressed and lost her interest in managing our family business ‘The Delight Café’ and so I decided to take over especially that we don’t have any other source of income. I hate to say that my mom became engrossed with my dad’s decision to leave and so she started to drink alcohol, date different men, she literally became irresponsible and forgot how to become a mother. I had to work my ass off because I still have two siblings to take care of. A miracle happened the night I met Mr. Wise Man and finally, my mom is back on her track. Now, we have 7 cafes around Brisbane. We do catering services, hold events, and pastries as well. It has been a year now and I have been on my toes, making myself in a busy frenzy just to forget the person whom I have been longing for, Mr. Wise Man. Even if I got hurt because of what he did to me, I still wish to say thank you to him for if it wasn't for him, for the realization that he ga
-Lucy’s POV- It has been a week now since my mother told me that I am to marry a stranger. I haven’t had enough sleep for 3 days thinking about what’s going to happen next. Today is Saturday and I just want to shake off everything from my shoulders and enjoy the rising sun. I am sitting at the balcony, sipping a cup of coffee and taking pleasure of the view in front of me. I breathed in deeply and rested my head on the back rest of my couch when I was startled by the knock on my door that I almost spilled my coffee on my chest. Who could it be? I am a little pissed, but I was determined enough not to ruin my day. I opened the door and saw the smiling face of my mother, but there’s a slight touch of worry in that smile. “Hi mom, good morning” I kissed her on the cheek before letting her in my condo. “What brings you here so early in the morning?” I asked as we both sat on the couch in the living room. “I came here early so that you can prepare yourself.” She said in
-Lucy’s POV- I blinked my eyes a couple of times trying to figure out if I was dreaming or not. Here in front of me is the man that I have been searching and longing for a year now, but he seems a bit different now. There is this distance between us and the tenderness in his eyes that gave me comfort once is gone. He took my hand and kissed it gently. “Nice to finally meet you, my lady.” I felt the same feeling when we first met. He sent thousands of bolts inside making me blush. However, he is acting as if he doesn’t know me. Could it be that he has forgotten about me? I bowed down and responded “Nice to finally meet you as well, Mr. Lowell.” He smirked upon hearing me call him by his last name. “My future wife calls me by my last name, how rude.” I was flabbergasted. Since when did this man learn how to tease? “I-I am sorry I didn’t mean it that way.” He took a sip from his glass of red wine while eyeing on me. “I’m Conner, my future wife.” My face became redder and hotter
-Conner’s POV- It has been a year since I left Brisbane for the inventory reports of “L Airlines” in Canada, Japan, and Singapore. I also got tied up with Indonesia which allowed me to open a port in there. Ever since I saw Lucy together with Nick I devoted myself in managing the business that my uncle Jack endorsed to me. I read the airline’s history, a couple of strategic designs and other documents that would help me understand the business more. I made a couple of action plans which I presented to my uncle and made the necessary modifications that I think would best benefit the airlines and its employees. I trained and worked day and night. I had to focus because a lot people depend on me now and most especially I need a lee way to keep myself from thinking about Lucy and her ongoing relationship with Nick. Now that it has been a year I feel that maybe I have gotten over what I have felt about Lucy. I was about to loosen my tie when uncle Jack knocked on the door. “Welco
-Lucy’s POV- I looked at the man who confidently wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I felt goose bumps all over my body and literally do not know how to react on how he acted in front of Nick. I thought they were friends, but somehow it doesn’t feel right. What is going on between these two? My mind was so absorbed that I flinched when Nick talked “Welcome back, Conner. Good to see you again old friend.” Conner looked surprised with Nick’s response. “Good to see you too, Nick.” He offered his hand for a shake, but Nick didn’t receive it. “Where were you all this time?” Nick’s eyes squinted like he was peeling every skin Conner has.” Conner placed his hand inside his pocket when Nick didn’t accept it and gave a seemingly awkward smile. “Well, I don’t really need to explain much, but this right here, this place we are in is my mansion. I worked HARD to build this sweet thing so that I can truly say that I DESERVE everything that I have because I didn’t earn it from STEALING.”
-Conner’s POV- I walked down the hall trying to suppress all the feelings I have inside my heart. Seeing Lucy again opened so many emotions in me making me feel so confused. SHE IS WITH NICK, PERIOD. That’s how it should be. I instilled that in my mind and heart after I saw them kiss a year ago, but somehow what I saw in Lucy’s eyes made me wonder. The way she looked at me and asked me “What happened to you, Mr. Wise Man?” It made me feel like she longed for me. Maybe it’s just all in my mind. I had to put on a straight face in front of her even though I truly wish to go run and hug her for I truly have missed her. I walked towards my room exhausted. I took a shower before heading bed. Even though I am really tired I couldn’t sleep because every time I close my eyes I can only see Lucy’s face. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling and placed hand on my chest. “Calm yourself” I uttered. “You are going to be with her tomorrow. You better behave, Conner!”