Two

Isabelle’s POV

I’m Maria Isabelle del Frado, an interior designer and a daughter of a politician. I love going to a place where it is smoky, noisy and a lot of people are dancing. . I get happy when I'm in places like this, this is where I come out who I really am. I can do everything I want to do. I left home when I started working because I prefer to be alone than with my parents who did nothing but force me to marry a politician's child too. My father is a Governor here in La Union that’s why our surname is well-known, and he also  supports the practice of arranged marriage, and leaving our house was the only way to escape his tradition.

Here we are today with my friends at Party City NightClub, one of the famous clubs here in La Union. It's a little early so there are still a few people. We just sat on the sofa while drinking, later when the number of people increased, we would join the dancers, for now we will drink first.

"Isabelle, how many are your targets tonight?" my friend Jena asked.

I smiled at the question. "It depends, you will never know I might get a lot of men tonight," I replied and wink at her.

“You are so unbelievable Isabelle, last night you had three men in one hour. Maybe you want to break your own record?” another friend of ours, Jayson, asked with a laugh.

This is where my friends know me, flirting with men. They don't even know that I'm  not doing anything other than kissing guys; all they know is that when I hook up with a guy, something happened to us.

Jayson said, swinging his hands in the air, "Some people are coming, we are about to enjoy this night.”

The music in the club is a bit loud, so we need to shout when we are talking. Only the three of us are together now, Jena is my best friend and also my cousin while Jayson was a friend of mine when we were in college. They are also my colleagues, that’s why I’m always with them.

While we were still waiting for the very peak of the music, I first drained the drinks of my glass. 

"Isabelle come on, maybe someone can get to our favorite spot," Jayson shouted while pulling me.

We are already in the middle of the dance floor, I don't care what people think here as long as I'm just having fun. My body moves with the strength of the music. I just let the guy’s dance with me, I simply wait for a chance to catch a flirty guy. And I was not disappointed, I saw a man who was chinito, masculine and tall, these are my types. While dancing I walk slowly to get closer to him. And I’m really lucky, he noticed me right away.  I didn't have a hard time noticing me, he made the first move himself. And in just a few moments we have done what I wanted to do before. I wrapped my arms around his neck and started kissing him even though we were still in the middle of a crowd. As we kissed, he backed away and all of a sudden, he was sitting on a sofa and I fell on his lap.

"You're a good kisser my darling," he whispered when we stopped what we were doing.

I winked at him and gave him a sweet smile. "I'm an expert with this, you know," I replied.

The person I was talking to didn't flinch anymore and he immediately grabbed me with a kiss. I didn't beat the kissing style he showed, I just followed what he was doing.

We just stopped kissing when we were running out of breath.

"I know a place near here so we can continue what we are doing," he smiles.

I quickly got up from his lap. “Oops sorry darling I don’t like the thing you’re thinking. Bye.” I left him immediately.

I walked fast because he might chase me. I huddled with a lot of people so that he could no longer see me. I immediately saw my friends and approached them.

"Oh Isabelle, how’s the man you catch?" Jayson asked with a faint smirk.

I roll my eyes because of Jayson's question. “He wants us to go to his place, even though we didn’t know each other’s name,” I said.

“Why haven't you given him a chance, you will never know if he is your Mr. Right,” Jena said with a smile.

“My beauty is not for a motel, and I don’t want that kind of man. I want to know their names or I want to check their background first, before giving up my virginity,” I replied.

Jayson smirked and added, "Let her do what she's doing Jena, maybe till she grows old all she knows is to kiss."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at what they stated. I kept dancing in the hopes of hooking up with another man. I rolled my eyes as I noticed a man seated at the bar counter. If you look at it, he appears unhappy, as if you are unable to paint his face. It seemed as though someone was urging me to approach him and whispering, "Make him happy, Isabelle," in my ear.

I was about to approach him when Jayson suddenly grabbed my hand.

“Hey Isabelle, where are you going again? Let's go home,” he said.

"Just a moment, I'm just going somewhere for a while Jayson," I replied while pulling my hand that he was holding.

Someone grabs my hand as I make my way to the bar counter to talk to the man I'm looking for.

“Where are you going, Miss?”  the man asked who grabbed my hand.

“Who are you?", I enquired, with a slight annoyance in my voice.

I can see the man at the bar counter looking at me as I continue to look at him. I make a face at him as if I need help.

“You don't immediately recognize me?” He said aggressively, "I was the man you kissed earlier.”

"Would you please let me leave?” I respond, "I don't care whether you're the man I kissed earlier.

I winced in pain as the man tightened his hold on me. I faced him and tried to pull my hand away.

While I’m trying to pull my hand, I heard a voice behind me.

“What’s going on here?”

“It’s none of your business bro, so please leave us alone,” answered by the man.

I was shocked to hear the man at the bar counter speak as I turned to look at the person who spoke. 

He approached me and attempted to take my hand, but the man's hold was really tight. And because of how quickly the incident happened, I was shocked when the man abruptly collapsed to the ground; I was unaware that he had already been punched. A few people looked at our situation but they didn't interfere anymore.

My savior took hold of my hand and led me over to the bar counter.

"Are you okay?” as we took a seat on the bar stool, he asked.

I didn't respond immediately because I had been simply gazing at him up until this point.

He waved his hand in front of my face. “Hey miss, I’m asking you,” he said with a forceful smile.

I suddenly went back into my trance. I said, "A-ah yeah, I'm okay," inaudibly.

He gave me a furrowed-browed glare, and I returned the same.

He then asked me. “By the way, did you know that guy?”

I responded more quickly than a horse, "No. I didn't know him.”

"Are you sure? If you don't know him, then why did he do that?”

“I don’t know. Can we please stop bringing him up?” I replied.

He just shrugged  his shoulders and then he turned his gaze on the dance floor. “Be careful next time,” he said without looking at me.

I didn’t know how to react. I had the impression that something had changed, and my heart seemed to be racing more quickly.

He is about to stand and I immediately grab his hand. He looked at my hand that was holding him.

“Do you need anything?” he asked.

“I-I just want to thank you for saving me earlier,” I said while looking at the ground.

“Is that how you express gratitude? Why are you unable to look me in the eyes?” he responded.

Because of what he said, I looked up at him, and when our eyes met, he grinned.

Something really different when our two eyes meet.

“Ahm I. I’m not just not used to it, sorry. Please give me your name so that I can properly thank you,” I said with a slight smile.

He smiled and held out his hand in front of me. “I’m Jericko Santilla,” he said.

I was going to shake his hand when I realized I was still holding his other hand. I slowly released it and shook his hand. "Hello, I'm Isabelle. Thank you Jericko for saving me earlier,” I said with a full smile.

He said in a sexy voice, "It's my pleasure to save a gorgeous girl like you."

I really don’t know but I think I already had a crush on him. Especially when he is smiling, my heart beats so fast.

“Isabelle? What are you doing here? We've been looking for you for a-,” Jayson was stunned while speaking. “Oh, who is this tall, dark, and attractive man here? Who are you, mr? Jayson questioned Jericko.

He didn't get my attention because I was still focused on Jericko.

I'm sure my friends were amazed by Jericko's good looks.

Jayson's query went unanswered by Jericko.

He just looked me in the eyes and said. “Bye Isabelle, nice to meet you and please be careful next time. See you when I see.”

I’m just staring at him while he’s walking towards the crowd until he disappears in my sight.

Because we still had work to do tomorrow, I invited my friends to go after that incident. They keep enquiring about the man I was chatting to earlier. I chose not to respond because, at least for one night, I wanted to be the only person who knew his name.