CHAPTER 5 - THE INDICATIONS

It’s hard to defy our fate. It was like water flowing in a river where no one could stop it, even if you fight and struggle, you’ll just end up being carried away with it. Especially if you’re doing something that must have been avoided.

IT HAS BEEN 5 years since the last time I encountered a public scandal with an unknown woman. I’m just thankful that our Media Department of our company could take damage control at its best capacity. Eventually, by that time, the issue had already subsided and the issue had been forgotten, along with the disappearance of the woman that I met. I actually tried to find the identity of that woman, not because of the scandal but because she kept calling me "Jonas," my twin brother’s name. It’s been a while since I lost contact with my brother, but all I know is that he’s just around the corner. 

With the help of the investigator that I hired, I was able to confirm that the woman was really Jonas’s girlfriend. But when I went to her house, where she was renting a room, the investigator said that she had already left. I also knew that my twin brother had cut off ties with her. Somehow I felt guilty about it, maybe because I know for a fact that I contributed to the reason why they separated even though it wasn’t really my intention. But the mere fact that I was the man who took my twin brother’s girlfriend's virginity made me feel like the monster I am today.  

However, I knew that my brother knew nothing about the issue: that I was the one who was with her girlfriend in the photo. I also tried searching for Jonas, but one day, he himself showed up in my office. But he was not alone. I was surprised by that moment because, when he visited, he was with the girl that I even tried to forget.

"Sir, we’re already here." Alex, my secretary, said." My mind went back to the present when he said something. 

The car stopped at the most prestigious restaurant in the city, where a lunch meeting with the city's biggest investor would be held. I went out of my vehicle when my driver opened the door for me. I am stunned and impressed with the feedback and reviews of this restaurant, even though it was newly opened two weeks ago, according to Alex. He recommended this place, so I know that it’s not that bad because I trust her judgments. I fixed my suit and went straight to the restaurant, while Alex was following me. 

As soon as we entered the restaurant, one of the ushers greeted us. No other people were around because I rented the whole place. I wanted the lunch meeting to be private, where no one could eavesdrop on what we were about to talk. 

"This way, sir," the usher said and escorted us to the function hall. 

I roamed my eyes around and never thought that this place was very huge inside, and it has its own function hall. We went straight to a 6-seater table and sat. I looked at my wrist watch; it’s exactly 11:00 a.m., and the door of the function hall opened as if by chance. Mr. Leopoldo Marquez, who was the vice chairman of Zobel Real Estate Corporation, came in and greeted me with a hand. He is with her secretary and his assistant, Mr. Juan de Jesus.

I smiled and bowed my head as a sign of respect and gratitude because they came in exactly at the time we'd scheduled.

"It’s been my pleasure to finally meet you Vice Chairman Marquez," I said, offering him a handshake. Then I also greeted his assistant, saying, "And the same to you, Mr. de Jesus."

******

I’m so glad that the meeting went well, as we got the deal while we were eating and talking about business. However, when I felt the need to pee, I excused myself and went to the restroom.

But there’s something that I saw outside the function hall since it was left open. It caught my attention, so instead of going to the restroom. I went outside the function hall and moved to a table placed at the corner of this restaurant.

I got so confused because this place is supposed to be exclusive to our company for this business meeting, but there has been a child roaming around here, aside from the staff of the restaurant. I was about to call a staff member or an usher here, but I instinctively stopped myself when I saw the face of this boy, holding his gadget. I don't know why, but when I saw him, I had a different feeling. I'm at a loss for words, especially in light of the young boy's expression. I felt as though I had traveled back in time as our eyes locked and we appeared to be having a gazing contest.

The boy exactly looked like me when I was about his age, though I am not so sure about his exact age. All I know is that he looked like me and my brother when we were the same age. While he was looking at me, he was giving me some feeling that I couldn’t even explain. It seemed like I had a strange connection with this boy, who was looking at me curiously. 

That moment, I felt that my heart recognized something, though I could not comprehend what it was. I tried walking towards the child to see him more closely and have a little chat, but he was just seriously looking at me. I couldn’t even tell by his expression if he was scared of me or not. His eyes have no emotions. However, when I was about to reach his position, I heard my secretary calling me from behind, so I looked back and saw her standing at the door of the function hall. 

"Sir, Mr. Marquez has been looking for you." 

"Okay, I’ll be right back in a minute. I'll go to the restroom first."

"Noted, Sir."

Alex bowed and left me outside the function hall. I looked back at the child, but I didn’t see him there again. I heaved a heavy sigh and thought that I must see him closely later. I couldn’t explain the feeling that I felt earlier, but I shrugged the thought off for now because I have something much more important to do. 

Weird. Why do I have to feel that way?

******

I WAS with my twins to take a walk with them here in a mall in this city, but before that, we went first to the restaurant that I owned. This is the new branch that we just opened two weeks ago. Since the front door was closed and is exclusive to the company that rents this place, we went inside through the back door. I even heard that vice chairman Marques, who was the vice chairman of Allaine’s company, was here.

Since I’m already here, I also checked to see if the service that we’re providing here is okay, since I was worried because our customer is a big businessman today. Even though I knew that my staff was properly trained and could give the best service, I tried not to be so complacent. Since the businessmen were inside the function hall, I left Nicolo and Nicolai at one of the corners of this restaurant, near the rest room, since the table there was not so visible in this place.

"Kids, stay here first, okay? I have to talk to Manager Cathy." I told them as they nodded.

"Yes, Mama."

"Just behave well because we have special guests today, alright? Don’t attract unwanted attention." I added that and caressed their heads. "I’ll come back here shortly after I talk with Manager Cathy."

I smiled at them, gave them thumbs up, and they nodded their heads. Then I went to talk with Cathy, who is the manager of the restaurant, to check if everything went well with our VIP guests.

After a minute or two, I finally caught up with everything that had happened here, and I could say that there isn’t any problem. "Alright, Cathy, just call me if you have any problem here, okay? But so far, I know y’all are doing a good job, so keep it up!"

"Thank you, Miss Zobel; noted." Cathy said and bowed.

After that, I went to the table where I left Nicolo and Nicolai, where I still saw them playing their Nintendo Switch. Nicolai was too focused on playing his gadgets, while Nicolo was alternately looking at his gadget and the restroom. When I was about to approach them, Nicolo stopped playing and went towards me.

 "Mama, I want to go to the CR." Nicolo told me, so I came with him to the restroom.

I saw Nicolai raise his head, seeing me and Nicolo going to the restroom, so I patted his head and smiled. "Nicolai, behave here, okay? I’ll just accompany your brother to the restroom. We’ll be back right away."

"Okay, Mama." he answered and smiled.

A few minutes had passed, and Nicolo and I had already come back to where Nicolai was sitting so we could now go to the mall. That’s where we will eat for lunch, so we have to go there now, and I’m hungry too, even though it only took us a moment here.

While we were going towards Nicolai, I saw a man in a suit standing not too far from Nicolai, and watching my son as if he knew him. Even though I was just seeing his side profile, I couldn’t shake the thought of him from my mind because his face was so familiar. 

He was seriously looking at Nicolai, and I couldn’t explain why, but nervousness came into my mind.

Oh, God, please… it must not be him.