Lucas already turned frigid on his stead, waiting for Hera to flip the cloth up and expose him but as Hera hunkered down to peer at the intruder a waitress mistakenly crashed into her and all the glass of wine she held in her tray fell off and shattered on the floor, some of the wine poured on Hera’s dress.
At that moment she let go of the tablecloth to scold the waitress, Lucas crouch-walked over to the next table. While hiding under it, he monitored his environment. He could hear Hera barking incessantly at the girl and others gathered around Hera, trying to smooth her anger with words. In a haste, Lucas crouch-walked to the hallway
in search of the elevator.
His breath catches, and he blew out the ones he didn’t know he stacked in his lungs and sucked in a few more to even his breathing.
Having schooled his features, he pressed the panel button and the elevator doors fluttered open. Lucas shoved inside it and pressed the panel to his floor.
On arriving at his floor, he hastened into his suite. Panting profusely as curiosity inundated him.
Lucas slipped to the floor and instantly strutted into his suite. With wobbly hands he fluttered the wrinkled paper open and glanced at the names scribbled on it.
However, the top of the sheet had the tiny logo of the orphanage where Nica and Abbey stays in. Leafing through the names, he saw the marks scribbled at the side of all the names.
As his eyes traveled down
further, he saw a name that started with ‘N’ but the rest of the letters were torn off, making Lucas assume it to be Nica’s name but looking at the side, it didn’t contain any mark like the others. All that was scribbled on it is a date.
“9-10-2010.” He read aloud, confused at the slightest. Lucas let the sheet slip off his hands and flew across the floor as his thoughts ran wild. “A date?” He mumbled under his breath. “That could be the day Nica was born but why is Hera trying to find out the date of birth or whatsoever? Why is she making research about the kids at the orphanage?”
Lucas erected on his feet but in the process, his eyes caught the scribbled words at the back of the paper.
Picking it up he read, “Her parents died in an accident Forty-eight hours after she was born on their way back home. Meaning, her baby truly died. So no record of her baby having survived after she gave birth to her.”
Lucas’s mind drove back to the day he read a text on Hera’s phone.
Found something about the girl. Should I call or will you come around ma’am Hera?”
Lucas is getting more confused. He can’t lay a finger on whose child they’re researching about. Of course, he can’t be the ‘him’ that the text message he read in Hera’s phone was referring to ’cause he doesn’t have a child but the nagging feeling to find out whose baby they are secretly making underground research about rises inside him.
“Why didn’t they mark Nica’s name amongst all names.” He mused.
**
?Back at the ballroom. ?
Lucas emerged at the time Sia was on stage addressing the people. She had her guts under control despite it being her first time addressing the public as Sia and as Mrs. Monson. Her stroll around the stage, her body gestures, the movement of her lips and the smiles that pluck at her lips when she describes something funny has him mesmerized. Her wits, composure, attire, and looks are what men could kill for and he could see the hungry daggers both young and old men threw at her in the room.
It ached him that others are admiring what should be his. But Sia being Sia, she didn’t regard their gaze except for one person…Jake.
Jake and Sia traded glances of which Lucas couldn’t make meaning out of it. ‘is there something going on between them? Why do they keep staring at each other?’ He asked himself.
“Beef Carpaccio?” A waitress asked interrupting Lucas’s train of thought. He side glanced at her and shook his head. He doesn’t have an appetite for anything. He only wants Sia as his. To talk to her.
“We meet again.” Someone spoke behind Lucas and upon veering his head, he knit his eyes with Liam who beamed a smile at him.
“Hey, bud!” Sending a radiant smile at Liam, Lucas shook hands with him. “You came along?” He asked.
“Of course. I work for her.” Liam pointed in Sia’s direction. “She looks magnificent tonight.” He stated.
Nodding his head, a smile slips from Lucas’s lips. “She definitely is.”
Liam peered at Lucas and beheld the way he molds his eyes at Sia, gulping the lump of spittle in his throat as he watched her speak on the stage.
“She’s all you could ask for in a woman.” Liam blurted, riveting Lucas’s attention back.
“I believe so too.” He commented. He doesn’t need to be told that Sia is all he could ask for in a woman. Kind, beautiful, compassionate, conscientious, you name it.
“Except she doesn’t believe in love.” Liam verbalized. His words startled Lucas to the core.
He should have known all along that Sia lost hope in love because of what he did to her. Because of him, her ability to catch feelings for people dimmed.
Now, Sia only believes in no strings attached kind of life. Is that what she’s doing with him? Despite telling her they didn’t just fuck that he made love to her. Was that why she hastily left him that day? Not because she feels pain but because she has this conventional belief of no strings attach and that love doesn’t exist?
Lucas slammed his eyes shut, feeling a self-resentment for making a girl with a wonderful soul become the carefree person she had turned out to be.
“I can’t believe she’s like that. It only means she was hurt before.” Liam stated, staring pointedly at the regretful Lucas. “Sometimes, relationships with the wrong people cause some to turn to heartless demons and uncompassionate devils they are.”
Liam has only one aim to trigger Lucas to speak. It’s been a long he wanted to know what happened between the two that Sia could go all out to exert revenge on him despite the fact she has a good heart.
Swallowing thickly, Lucas faced Liam and smacked his lips tightly. “Do you believe in the saying ‘everything has a reason?'” He asked and Liam nodded.
“Then, I believe whoever hurt her has a reason for doing what they did. But even if they spill it. It mightn’t repair a broken heart.” Lucas said, scratching his jaw.
“But I also believe in explanation. And getting second chances. The person mightn’t get a second chance but the explanation can set that hurting soul free.”
Shaking his head, Lucas said, “That’s if a smidge of opportunity is given to the person to speak. To explain.” He shrugged.
Lucas went back to his suite immediately after they rounded up the conference. As much as he’d love to speak with Sia, he can’t get anywhere near her due to the security team that surrounded her.
After eating the gourmet room service he ordered, Lucas went to his balcony to relax and receive some fresh air. The sky is already pitch black as It’s already 1 a. m. Lucas watched how the tycoon’s high-profile cars zoom in and out of the hotel. The paparazzi clustered around taking shots of different magnates.
Lucas ventured into social media where he saw Sia’s picture swimming over the screen nonstop. The conference is what’s trending at the moment which led to Sia’s pictures flying over the screen.
With a joyful heart, Lucas admired Sia, his fingers sliding across the screen as he imagines touching her skin or spearing his hand through her hair.
Moving to his phone’s gallery, he scanned old pictures of them together, her smile, brunette hair, and blue eyes is still the same. Only her skin changed. Lucas plays videos of them and cackled every time he watches Sia speaking in front of the camera like she owns a Vlog. Sia had always wanted to be a content creator but too bad her social life was zero.
That’s why Lucas assumes she didn’t push further with the whole Vlog and content creation stuff.
Voices from the balcony beside him interrupted his trip down the memory lane. Lucas switched off his balcony light and his room’s, plus the sky is moonless except for a few stars stationed distantly on the sky which is why the two people on the balcony beside his can’t see him.
But Lucas can see them clearly as the light from their room seeps outside.
Just a few meters away from him is Sia in the company of Jake.