“Hi, Lianne, ” Cain greeted once again, flashing a bright smile whilst staring at me with recognizable depth.
“Uhm… Li? Is he your friend?” Alona asked immediately.
Finally! They are back to earth!
“Huh? I ah… I uhm… well.” Really articulate, I know.
“I’m her friend, ” Cain filled in. “Cain Von Cavill, ladies.”
Jen and Alona smiled widely at him, like two kids watching a delicious display in an ice cream shop, and then they gave me this weird oh-yes-he-is-a-good-catch look.
He pulled a small glossy rectangular card from his pants pocket and handed it to them.
Their eyes widened even more as they read the writings on it.
‘Is that a business card?’ I asked myself.
“You’re the CEO of Cavill Industries?!” Alona squeaked in excitement.
Cain produced another off-the-charts smile again and coolly replied, “Yes, I am.”
“Oh! Li! You haven’t told us you have a CEO friend!” Jen remarked, sending me another weird you’ve-got-to-spill-everything look in her eyes.
“Oh, we… we just knew each other here in the resort Jen. I… I didn’t even know that he is a CEO of a company, ” I choked.
“The Cavill Industries, Li. This company is actually very verryyy veerrrryyyy famous and wealthy, ” Alona stated, highly stressing the word as if I didn’t know what it meant.
I didn’t miss Cain grinning because of this. “You flatter me, ladies, ” he said, then turned to face me and squeezed my arm.
“Well, I see that you’re busy right now, Lianne, so maybe I should get going. I’ll catch up with you later?”
‘Hell no!’ my mind stressed. I definitely don’t want to catch up with him!
But because my friends were watching, I just simply nodded at him, albeit hesitantly…
Jen and Alona were all smiles when he left us. He strode towards another side of the parking lot and into a rather ridiculously expensive-looking silver race car. A man in a black suit opened the polished door for him and in he went after glancing at us briefly.
“He is definitely a CEO alright. That car is a McLaren 12C’!” Jen gasped.
As the flamboyant car drove away, Jen and Alona were already staring at me earnestly.
Oh no…
But then suddenly they both squealed in excitement.
“Wow, Li! I can’t believe you know that kind of man!” Jen shouted at me.
Then Alona added, “Yes! And he is so gorgeous and damn so manly, you and him without a doubt look good together! I could see it in the way he looks at you, he likes you so much!”
‘Oh, you don’t even know everything girls. He is the man who almost raped me!’ I exclaimed to myself.
But, that truth, I couldn’t divulge to them. Sadly. It would be a good thing to keep it from them. At least I wouldn’t have them all worrying about me again. This was still our vacation in the first place. They need to have fun, relax, and enjoy.
Jen inched her way towards me and then grabbed my arm in a BFF-like manner. “So Li, spill me some juicy infos! We are dying in here of anticipation.”
“Huh?” So the interrogation starts. “I don’t really know him that well yet, Jen. As I said, we just met… uhmm, two days ago.”
“When Li! And where?!” Alona asked.
“In the mansion, he… ah… he is also a guest in the resort.”
I hope my assumption is right. I actually don’t know if he is a guest or not.
Jen stared at me like she needed more juice. “And?” she said.
“Uhm, you guys were so busy I had to find a way to occupy myself so I toured around the mansion by myself, and there I met him in the… the third floor.”
Oh, no… this is definitely leading up to that room on the third floor! I have to think of other diversions.
“We just bumped into each other there, ” I continued, straying from the truth. “That’s just it. Yeah… I never knew that he is a CEO of a multi-billion European dollar company.”
“Well, you are one heck of a lucky lady, ” Alona commented and then winked at me in encouragement.
“Heyyy guys!” The singsong voice of Rachel suddenly caught our attention. She was running towards us, with a clueless look on her face.
“Hey, what did I miss?” she asked, then I saw both Jen and Alona switching glances at me, their smile obviously only but a tip of the iceberg of excitement.
***
It was thirty minutes past five when we arrived at the campsite. The area was great. The pathways were made of cobblestone and on its sides, small bonfires were lit. There were small, medium, and large cabins made of coconut and mahogany wood, and a mile away from the plaza, I could see a dark blue lake stretching miles away.
Breathtaking.
I knew without a doubt I was in touch with nature and I liked it.
Our cabin was one of the largest in the camp. It had four separate small rooms and a single living and dining room. It was actually located near the pebbled lake. Talk about VIP treatment.
Jen had gone quickly to where her boyfriend was, knowing his group was also in the camp. Now, I’m left all by myself again as Rachel and Alona had a meeting with the program committee for a camp welcome party this evening. Apparently, both of them were made judges in tonight’s camp show.
I went to my assigned room, placed my backpack on a small cabinet, and neatly folded my change of clothes on one of its shelves. The room was cute. It was painted pink and the light fixture above my head was shaped like a fern leaf.
And then my eyes caught something glinting green on my bed.
I turned to have a better look and saw a pendant necklace resting on my pillow. It attracted me, so I immediately took a closer inspection, sitting on the bed and scooping up the necklace.
The jewelry had a silver and gold chain, no doubt expensive, and as I looked at the pendant dangling in the air, I fell into a daze.
This looked exactly like the emerald pendant I saw in the painting!
“My God, is this really true?” I covered my mouth as disbelief enveloped me.
“And it suits you perfectly, Lianne.”
I suddenly heard a familiar voice right at my door. As I looked, my heart sank without delay.
Cain stood on the threshold, wearing his devilish smile, obviously obstructing my path for escape.