Ann’s POV
The moment I open my eyes, I feel his touch before I can see him lying next to me with his arms on his jaws, staring at me like a piece of mannequin.
My mind reels back to the event of this morning, and I figured his confession wasn’t a dream after all.
I glance around to see we are at the penthouse, not the mansion. My gaze shifts to the wall clock, and I see that it is 6 p. m. already.
I slept for long.
So much for crying too much.
I couldn’t believe what he said. That was what I wanted, but it was hard for me just to believe it when he suddenly blurted it out until I saw his face.
His eyes spoke volumes of words.
I already know Vicente to be a man of little words. But his actions will tell what he feels.
He has a smile on his face, but he looks extremely tired.
His arm is still in bandage.
I am about to ask if he is ok when he lets go of his arm on his jaws and brushes it over my hair.
Emotion spirals over me, and I shut my eyes.
His fingers trace my face, and I clench my fist to stop myself from grabbing him and kissing him like my life depends on it.
I have waited for this day.
The day he will tell me what I want to hear. The day I will open up to him about my feelings. The day that will change everything between us.
“Do you feel better now?” His voice sounds so different to me, so thick and cool.
With a lump stuck in my throat, I nod.
His fingers continue to brush my hair, and I finally ask. “When did I sleep off? And why are we here?”
“The penthouse was closer and you wouldn’t stop crying so I decided to bring you here. But you slept off before we got here.” He explains, and I bite my lower lip in regret.
It wasn’t my fault.
I waited. And things were happening too fast.
I search his eyes, only to see the man I have allowed myself to fall head over heels in love with despite my resolve not to fall for Vince after Ryan’s heartbreak.
He stands up suddenly. “Let me make you something to eat.”
I watch him walk to the kitchen, roll off his shirt, and get to work like he did the other day.
But I have no appetite. I just want to lay in bed with him and talk.
“Vince?” I find myself calling him, barely in his whispers.
He looks up but strides back to the bed before I can motion for him to come closer. “Do you want something? Are you okay?”
Vicente has no idea what that word makes me feel like. Anytime he asks me if I am ok, it makes me love him more and more that it hurts.
I shut my eyes, and he is inches from my face when I open it.
Without thinking, I ask. “Can I kiss you?”
He doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t nod his head in the affirmative either, and I bite my lips again with regret.
Suddenly, his fingers grab a hold of my jaw, turning it towards him as he takes my lips.
At first, it was slow and sweet. But then it becomes urgent with each taste of his lips and exploring of his mouth.
In between the kiss, I hear him whisper. “I love you, Ann.”
And my body becomes too weak to kiss him back. My hand drops from his head, and he finally pulls away, staring at me with the eyes of a man madly in love.
All of this is taking me by surprise, and I have no idea how to react.
He lays me down and lies next to me with my head on his chest, beating twice its normal rate.
“When I told you I liked you and you didn’t say a word, I thought it was unrequited,” he utters sharply, making me turn to him with a low gasp.
A smile crawls to my face. “Of course not. I was just confused.”
“Confused?”
“Yeah. I liked you from the beginning and I always showed you how much I care, even though you always act cold towards me. Even the other day when you had a nightmare, but you pushed me away so I assumed you didn’t like me like I did with you.”
“Uhm.”
“So when you told me you liked me, I was confused. I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t know what exact interpretation to give to that. I assumed it was just your way of…”
“You wanted me to come out clean with my feelings?”
I nod.
“Liking me wasn’t enough because I didn’t like you. I was in love with you.”
He falls silent, staring into space before holding me tightly. “I’m sorry it took this long.”
We sit in silence, each with our thoughts. I still can’t believe this is real, and Vicente is here with me, telling me he loves me.
“So what changed?” I ask after a moment of hesitation.
“What?”
“What changed? Your idea of love and marriage being non-existent….”
“You,” he quickly replies, cutting me short. “It was quite difficult taking a different route from the usual route you know. It was hard to finally admit to myself that what I thought wasn’t real was real after all.”
I flash him a smile. A proud one. “How?”
He sighs and pecks my forehead. “You are different. You are lovable. You are carefree. You are special, Ann. Falling in love with you was inevitable, I would say.”
Laughter fills my inside, and I let it out.
“Trying to be a romantic guy, uhn?”
****
Vince’s POV
Before she woke up, I was staring at her beautiful features for God knows how long. She had cried a lot, so I had to drive here instead. The moment I carried her in my arms, she slept off immediately.
The exhaustion from the kidnapping and all must have kicked in.
With my hands on my jaw, while lying next to her on the King-sized bed, we continue to stare at each other in complete silence until I decide it was best to tell her the truth and be honest with my feelings.
“I…
“Do you…” We both speak at the same time.
With a smile, I urge her to go first, but she shakes her head as a lone tear drops.
“I’m sorry it took this long to realize my feelings.”
She doesn’t say a word, but I know she understands me.
I must have hurt her a lot. Keeping what I felt to myself for so long. She was waiting for it. Craving to hear me say the word and when I eventually did, she broke down completely.
“I’m sorry,” I repeat again, caressing her cheek.
We sit in that position in silence until she glances up at me. Her eyes are dry, and there is a twinkle.
“I love you, Vicente,” she admits, making excitement rush through me as I stare at her beautiful plump lips.
“I love you too, Ann. I’m sorry…”
She doesn’t let me finish my statement before cutting me short with a kiss. When her arms wrap around my neck, pulling me closer, I lose the little control I thought I had as I let my lips claim hers. Exploring every edge of her lips and also the insides of her mouth.
She lets out a low moan, and I almost drag her clothes off.
Slowly, she pulls away, breathless.
We stare at each other, our breath mingling.
“Will you forgive me, Annette?” I ask softly, trying to catch my breath from that unexpected passionate kiss. I want to do more with her, but take it slow.
A small chuckle leaves her mouth. “There is nothing to forgive Vince.”
“I insist.”
She tries to move away, but I grab her back to the position, enjoying the feel of her breath, fanning my entire face.
“Please?”
“Ok. I forgive you.”
“So, are we in a relationship now?” I let the next question roll off my lips. We are married, but what we have now is different. It’s real.
What I feel for Annette is new and real. And I want to claim all of her. MAKE her mine forever.
But I need to take it a step at a time. I don’t want to scare her away.
Her eyes widen a little before she eventually nods. “If that’s what you want.”
“What do you want?!” I question sharply. What she wants is what I want as long as she doesn’t leave.
She pulls away, biting her lower lip as she looks thoughtful momentarily. “Well, practically, we are still married, so I don’t know how we go about it…”
“Should we remarry? MAKE IT real this time?”
“I think there’s still a lot to talk about. A lot we need to know about each other. Don’t you think so?”
I nod in agreement. “I’m ready to take it slow. I’ll go at whatever pace you want us to go as long as you are here. With me.” My fingers brush her hair, and I peck her forehead.
“Can I ask some questions?” She asks with a smile, and I nod. “How did you figure it all out? I know this is all so new to you. Our accidental marriage. Then my feelings and then yours. How did you figure it out?”
A genuine smile leaves the corners of my lips. Kyra played a huge role, and Fernando, too. Kyra opened my eyes to the reality that despite not believing in the existence of abstract things like love, I could be a victim. I could fall in love.
And I did.
Fernando made me feel unworthy of Annette. He made me think she would never fall in love with me, but the reality was the opposite. She was madly in love with me.
If he hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have admitted to myself just how much I loved her.
“That day at the courthouse,” I suddenly begin, knowing this is totally different from what Annette wants to hear. “Something happened that I think you should know.”
Curiosity fills her eyes. “What?!”
“You dragged me to the altar and I knew instantly that you were drunk, yet I allowed you to continue dragging me. Even when you asked the priest to tie the knot, I couldn’t say a word in opposition.”
She nods in remembrance. “I have been meaning to ask you that. Why didn’t you stop me?”
I stare at her beautiful face. How could I?
“Because I didn’t want to stop you.” I confess, kissing her nose and her lips briefly.
“What?!” She exclaims in disbelief. “You didn’t want to stop me?”
“Yes, I was curious to know what it felt like to be there with a woman. And most importantly, I was enthralled by you, from the very moment I set my eyes on you on that cold floor.”
Realization dawns on her, and she bites her lips again, thinking.
I have always imagined how she would react to this. But now it doesn’t matter.
Frankly, it would have been pretty easy for me to grab Annette and carry her out of the courthouse the moment I noticed she was drunk and about to do something stupid by getting us hooked together, but I didn’t.
I wanted it, too. And it happened.
She nods, urging me to go ahead.
“Love has always felt like a strange emotion to me. I have never felt this way in my entire life so I guess that brought about the confusion when Kyra mentioned I was in love with you.”
“Who is Kyra?!” She asks softly as I squeeze her hand.
“My therapist,” I reply, her eyes bulging open.
“You had one?” I nod. “Was it that bad?”
“I had to go back when it became worse,” I tell her. She already knows about the insomnia and the nightmares. There was nothing more to hide.
“Go on,” she urges again with encouragement.
“When she told me that, I was in denial. I told myself that emotion was something I had never felt in my entire life, and I didn’t hope to feel it. Then I began to push you away, thinking it would help me get over whatever I was feeling. Nothing was working. I decided to tell you I liked you, thinking it was just a mere attraction, but when you didn’t say a word, it dawned on me. I was desperate for an answer, whether an acceptance or a rejection, but none was forthcoming. I became frustrated.”
She covers her face with her palms. At first, I thought she was crying again, but when she drops her hands, I realize she is shaking with laughter.
“I’m so sorry,” she apologizes. “I was also confused. I didn’t know what you wanted. I thought for a moment that you were just messing with me and you didn’t feel what I felt.”
“Yes, I thought as much but I didn’t know that until Kyra mentioned that again. That I needed to come out clean and tell you what I really felt. I went in search of you at the club to tell you that. To tell you that I love you but you suddenly asked for an annulment.”
Silence fills the air.
She avoids my gaze as she fidgets with her fingers.
“But it’s all in the past now. Let’s go on dates…”
“Vince?” She calls, looking up with a frown. “I’m sorry. I was a bit immature with all of that. I know I overreacted but I was too angry to think of anything else. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” I pull her into a hug just as her stomach grumbles again.
I disengage, and she shuts her eyes in embarrassment. “Hungry?”
“Famished,” she responds, and I stand up quickly to fix something, but she pulls me back, making me fall on top of her on the bed.
Her face radiates with happiness. And it reminds me of how all of this started.
If Annette hadn’t come into my life, maybe I would still be in denial, thinking true love doesn’t exist somewhere.
But here she is in my arms, letting me experience that feeling of being loved.
‘Love exists,’ I say to myself. ‘And this is true love.’
I lean down and take her lips.