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
Dulce smiled to herself to get the weight that was leveled right up to her chest. The very path to start turning her dreams into reality had started or was about to start. After taking a good look at all that had ensued so far, she could beat her chest and say proudly that she had made the best decision of her life by moving away from home. That was the first half of the decision. The second half of it was her having to adopt the dreams of her mother, who she never got the opportunity to meet. What she always did when she missed her mother so much, she would go to a mirror and take a look at herself. Since her father had some time ago made mention of the fact that she looked exactly like her mother, all she needed was to take one more look at herself to see her mother. The picture she had seen was also a good proof that the both of them, and they were a perfect match. Some time ago when her supposed best friend, Gazelle, visited her for the first time and took a look at the pictur
FIVE YEARS LATER. In the business suite of an airplane that was on course in the air, Dulce was seated, having both eyes staring far into the clouds. This was a ritual she always tried to do. Multiple inspirations always came from the simple glance she stole at those clouds. Exactly one year ago, her business company launched a new design for a gown that broke the internet. They had named it clouds. The relative peace with which they moved was so pleasing to anyone that could just fix their gaze on it, even if it was just for a while. Five years had passed already since she left her home. And right now, she was on board headed to the same place that she had disappeared from. The sweet thing was that this time around, she was not going there as the girl that had no ground to start on in the family. No. Five long years had passed already. And right now, she is not the twenty-one-year-old lady that ran her father's business from the back without any appreciation from anyone for th
Aspen Mckinney was now twenty-eight years of age. He had added five more years to his age. Time had passed too. In the past, the younger version of him only kept a small tuft of hair on his jaw. But right now, the older version already looked more handsome than he was with a line of well-carved beards running down both cheeks to meet at the jaw. Those caramel eyes of his seemed to have blossomed even better. His hair was ever-black and striking in rhythm with his fair and smooth skin type. His height seemed to have increased too. Yeah. It was always said the height increment was bound to cease the very moment the individual struck the twenty years mark. But that was not exactly true. One was meant to stop growing that much around then. However, one was bound to keep adding little cubits till growth ceased completely. It was a sigmoid curve. The early stage marked the last phase where people didn't grow much as little children. Then, the last phase of rapid growth followed before
It had not been up to three hours since Dulce alighted from the airplane. After a tumultuous time spent in the air, they were now subjected to another moment of wait. They had been waiting for a while now. The supposed driver that was meant to take them home was not yet anywhere close to the airport— at least, not within the range of the vision of eyes. Dulce was trying so hard not to get irritated by such illicit behavior. Why would someone dare to keep her waiting for more than two hours and slowly approach the three-hour mark?Oleta and Zigfrid did not care so much in the past hours. But now, they were already frowning. Even though the kids both clutched cups of ice cream, it still was not enough to suffice for the frustration that was slowly growing in their hearts. If the adults could get that frustration on their faces, how much more? To crown it all, Dulce was yet to let anyone recognize her. No one knew it was her. Her face cap and sunglasses did a good job of masking