GRACEI barged into her room and my frightened self became more scared when my sight fell on the irregular rising and falling of the girl’s chest, her breathing crazily filling the room with loud, struggling sounds.“Ruby! Ruby! Wake up!” She responded to my call with a sleepy voice but her hard breathing still wouldn’t stop. As I made her sit up, David’s concerned words blared from the call. “Ruby, you need to wake up. Open your eyes, Ruby.” My worry grew by the second as I tapped her cheeks lightly to wake her up.“David, she won’t stop breathing hard.” My voice shivered with distress. “What should I do?”His voice echoed from the phone. ‘Hmm. Okay. Sit her up first. Sit her up.’“She is sitting up. She is.” I hugged the girl to my chest and adjusted her position after I grabbed her pillow to support her back.Amid my attempt to get her in the most comfortable position, my skin came in contact with hers and my fear grew.“David, she is hot. Her body is...”’Calm down, Grace. To deal
GRACE‘Grace.’ I stirred when a voice reached me in my sleepy state. ‘Grace.’I felt a tap on my shoulder but I shrugged it off.“Go away,” I grudgingly replied to the small voice that was distracting my sleep from God knows where.“Grace. It’s me, Dominic.” My shoulders felt another tap and my eyes snapped open without delay. Indeed, Dominic was by my side, his worried gaze piercing my worried, slumber-filled eyes.I sat up, let out a loud yawn, and asked, “You are back already? Uhm... I thought your trip was for a week.”He reached for my hair and swept a strand away from my face. My heavy eyes followed his every movement as he stood straight.“I hurried my plans and came back as soon as possible.”“Oh, you shouldn’t have bothered. Ruby is fine now.” I carefully got off the little bed and reached for the covered plate on the table that was not so far from Ruby’s bed.As my mouth began to munch on the cake that was earlier hidden from plain sight, my gaze fell on Dominic who kept his
GRACE“Did you notice anything out of the ordinary while I was away?” Dominic’s question brought me out of my bewilderment.I adjusted my stance. “Well, I did hear a door close suddenly. I thought it was Ruby, but when I got upstairs, she was still sleeping. Then, I noticed that your door was a bit ajar. But before I could investigate, Ruby started-”He nodded to indicate that he understood my unfinished sentence and my eyes went back to the demeaning word.“Hmm,” Dominic hummed.And I asked, “Who do you think could have done this?”He let out a slow exhale and replied, “I do not know.”My hands grasped the thickness of his arm as I recalled the message I got earlier. “Do you know what’s funny? I got a threatening text message earlier.”With a short frown on his face, he swiftly faced me. “What message?”“The person threatened to kill me if I do not leave you.”Dominic’s free hand swiftly cupped my cheek. His fingers trailed my skin and his eyes told me that he was determined to be th
GRACE“Grace. Get up. There’s something you need to see.” That whispering stirred me out of my barely-adequate sleep. And when I opened my eyes, the gorgeous blues of Dominic’s orbs stared back at me in a way that made me aware that he was very close to me.His eyelids failed to blink for a couple of seconds and I found that somewhat creepy. If he were someone else, I would have probably kicked his ass off the bed.“Hey there.” I threw him a lazy smile.“What were you thinking about?” His hand grazed my cheek.“How I could have kicked you out of my bed.”He frowned as he helped me sit up. “What?”“Dude, you were staring right into my eyes. It was creepy.”“It is nice to know that I can be good-looking yet creepy.”I playfully stuck my tongue out.“Why did you wake me up? I have not exactly gotten much sleep.”“I know. And I am sorry I haven’t been around to help with Ruby.”My eyes followed him as he reached for a strand of my hair and began to play with it.“Well, you are a busy man.
GRACE“So, what do you want to know about me?”“Anything I am not aware of.” I grabbed a slice of the barbecue chicken pizza and settled for the tale ahead.“Uh...” His deep voice boomed across the room as he tried to reason out an answer. “What do you know about me so far?”“I am pretty sure I am meant to be the only one asking questions,” I pointed out, but his persuasive look got me answering his question in no time.I downed another bite of the pizza and said, “I know you are Dominic Powers. A billionaire, a businessman, and a father. You were once married and you had a girlfriend. Uh... you are a very serious-looking man. And uh... I uh... guess I have reasons to believe that you like me.”“I do like you,” he abruptly replied and caused a shy smile to erupt on my lips.“Well, I guess that is all I know.”“I see.” After adjusting his seat, he also reached for a slice of pizza and held it for a while before interrupting the silence between us.“I grew up in the countryside. My fath
GRACE“Alright. Good day sir.” I ended the call I just had with my former boss, Mr. Cumming, and a huge sigh escaped me. I was about to replay the details of our discussion when I stopped myself. I decided it would be better to pretend the conversation never happened and proceeded to head for the living room where Ruby and Jeremy were having a serious class as usual.It has been a week since Ruby’s health breakdown and even though I insisted that she rested some more, she refused and said that she would prefer to resume her classes.“Mr. Powers just came in. He asked about you,” Jeremy informed me as soon as I sat down. The man flashed me a knowing smile and I rolled my eyes at him. But his smile soon turned into a small frown. “Hey, are you fine?”I guess the effect the earlier conversation had on me was still written all over me. Immediately, I added extra perkiness to make sure I was pretending very well.Then, I replied, “Yeah, I am. Why?”“I don’t know. You suddenly don’t seem ve
GRACE“Did you notice anything out of place?”I glanced at Dominic before replying. “Out of place? Uh... no. Everyone was busy with their work. Besides, I was occupied with escaping from those media dudes. I didn’t get a chance to notice if anyone was observing me.”My tone was a little unfriendly, but I am truly getting tired. As if it was not enough that I was offered my job back because of Dominic, I just had to receive a threatening message that tells me that someone has been watching me.After I received the text, I shook off the shiver that overpowered me and headed for Hotel Pierre. With haste, I showed Dominic the text and he immediately dialled the number of his friend that supposedly owned a security company. That friend of his is now around and is asking me questions with the hope that my answers would help his investigation. Apparently, ever since we saw the strange word on my bathroom mirror, Dominic contacted his friend and launched a swift investigation.After many seco
GRACEStepping out of a helicopter into a beautiful field filled with different species of flowers is certainly something Grace from two, three months ago would have not pictured at all. When Dominic mentioned moving to a safe place, I pictured another penthouse with a nice pool to swim in.But... The scene in front of me is more than that. It’s as though someone breathed reality onto a very detailed painting of nature. The plants that surrounded us danced with the wind, so did the length of my gown.As I reached for Ruby’s hand and pulled her closer to my side to block her ears from the loudness of the ascending helicopter, I took many seconds to enjoy the scene laid out in front of me. And as I did that, my soul felt relaxed, the same way I feel whenever I’m with Dominic.Soon, we were walking out of the bare field we were standing on and our feet approached the straight path that welcomed us to the lushness of the land. As we walked, admirable scents tickled my sense of smell and a