Sophia was officially having her first ever “what in the hell is actually happening right now” moment. She simply wanted to go on with her night and end her shift as peacefully as she always does, but how can do that when a crazy man almost jumped off the balcony?! Forget everything else, she was not about to let anyone die on her watch even if the person wanted it so badly. Not ever! She had to take a moment to breathe because her mind was already going overloaded with everything that just happened.
No one can blame her for her instinct to act up as fast as it did. Now that she had a better time to process what was happening, even though the man looked like he was about to jump, there was the possibility that he was just enjoying the night that way. Yes, enjoying the night, but the man was too drunk to know better. Accidents could still happen and, by how he looked so relaxed, and as if ready to just go wherever, he could have easily been knocked down by the breeze.
Again, she was not letting anyone die tonight for whatever reason. It was better to be entangled with all of this than have a man fall off the building on her way home.
She shivered at the thought of having this man's lifeless body on the ground. She took another breath and shook her head. He is alive and no other thoughts should plague her mind. She did her part and she does not need to worry about anything else; well, except for the obvious fact that this man is her responsibility now until he regains consciousness.
The adrenaline made her strong enough to pull this man away from the balcony, but it was not enough to create a miracle for her to be able to carry this man into the room where they are right now. When she processed what needed to be done, she immediately called for the security personnel to help her carry this man to a room.
She could get away if she walked away now. She already did everything that there is to be done by a bystander like her. He is already safe here and she doubts that he has the energy to do anything else. That sounded so nice because she rather goes home right at this moment, but she knows she cannot. She even already informed the administration about their situation, but no one came until now. On top of it, for her peace of mind, just to be sure, this man is her responsibility until he is conscious enough. It would have been better if someone was going to pick him up, but, until then, she was not planning to leave him alone.
She will never survive the thought that someone died because she let it happen and if it was really his goal, the thought of it will forever haunt her.
Shaking her head, she convinced herself that it was enough overthinking and more working. She could just think of this as something like being overtime.
Removing her coat fully, uncuffing her white shirt, and rolling its sleeves up to her elbows, she stretched her arms before trying her best to adjust the man's position into a more comfortable one. She made sure that his head was properly on a pillow, and that his body was not twisted or anything like that.
She did not mean to touch him directly, but her instinct immediately made her touch his forehead sensing that he felt too hot. She was right, he could be running a burning fever with his current temperature.
Standing up and sighing as she looked at this man, she simply shook her head before heading to the bathroom to make him warm, wet towels.
Soul's Secret is not only entirely a club itself. It has hotel rooms and suites exclusive to VIP clients for additional fees. The room they are in right now costs more than a thousand to stay in for a night. She surely cannot pay it herself, but this man could certainly can. He had access to the balcony, he had to be a VIP client to even know that it was accessible.
After drenching two face towels in warm water, she came back to wipe his face and arms. She debated whether to wipe his already exposed chest or not, but decided against it. This would help him feel comfortable even for a little, and it was the best she can do about his fever. He placed the other wet towel on his forehead and left it there. She stared at him for a while before sighing again. She stood up to adjust the room's temperature.
She made up her mind. She cannot obviously stay here forever, waiting on him, because she had to be at the university first thing in the morning for their thesis proposal. So, until five in the morning, she would wait for anyone to pick him up or be with him. She would call the admin again to at least send a replacement for her because there has to be someone looking after this man. She sighed for the nth time.
Finally feeling the effect of the last drops of her adrenaline, she slumped on the floor just beside the bed. It was dawning on her how tired she was of handling all this stress, and how physically demanding it was on her part.
She kicked off her heels and hugged her knees. She should not stay here and should just use the sofa in this room, but even walking to that seemed impossible for her already melted legs.
Never in her life had she ever thought of simply ending everything in one go—she never experienced anything that would give her the urge to do what this man could have done. She understood that to some, ending it all in one go seems to be the easiest way, but now she was just thankful that she has never experienced that kind of need to resort to that way.
If this man was really planning to jump and unalive himself, she was still hoping that that was not the real case, but if he was... She took a deep breath and released it as if emptying her heart. If this man was planning to jump off the building, she just hoped that it would never cross his mind again, that everything will be better for this man to never have that kind of urge ever again.
Trying her best to pull herself up, she successfully stood up with her shaky knees. Keeping her focus not to fall gave her the chance to look at the unconscious man more properly this time.
She gasped realizing how this man looked so fine. It reminded her of that one time she saw an illustration for a male lead character in the romance novel she was reading. He looked like it. He looked like what leading men should look like. He was straight-up taken out of a fiction book.
From his angel-like facial features to his whole build. His aquiline nose to his pinkish lips. If kissable lips were true, this was how she would imagine those lips would be. His thick brows and long lashes. His broadness overall, almost everything about him looked both sophisticated and strong. He looked alluringly kind and yet intimidating for whatever reason she cannot pinpoint.
Suddenly realizing what she was doing, she immediately looked away. Staring is rude, and staring at a sleeping person counts for sure. She would not want to know that a stranger was staring at her while she was sleeping, and this man would highly think so too.
She slowly made her way to this room's sofa and let out a heavy sigh of satisfaction when her body landed on its softness. She could pass out right here, but, of course, she just realized now that she did not fix his blanket over him.
Slapping her forehead for her dumbness, she forced herself to stand up, painfully walk back to him again, and do what she has to do.
Tucking him better on the blanket, she found herself staring at him again. This time, not because she was admiring how he looked like, but because there was this sudden flood of familiarity dawning on her.
She gasped, audibly loud this time that she needed to cover her mouth.
This man was supposed to be her friend Jelly's client! He is one of the Ortega siblings, one of their VIPs on top of the list. He is none other than Navier Ortega.
He suddenly groaned and that shot her back up to sense to see if he was in any way pain or discomfort, but he did not open his eyes nor say anything. Now that she knew who this man is, she can easily—
Right before she could move away from him, he grabbed her arm and groaned again.
“D-Don’t leave… A-Angela…”
Sophia’s full name is Clarissa Angela Sophia Diwa and it has been her name for almost six years now. It was the name given by her foster mother Mrs. Diwa, and it was the first of all the amazing things she has given her. There are no laws that forbid the foster parents to change their adoptive child’s name, and her home orphanage actually discloses that to them in the seminars they have to attend to finalize the adoption process. Though most of the couples that are usually interested in adopting do not really mind about the names and such, Mrs. Diwa took that chance and gave her new names. Yes, gave her new names instead of changing her name completely. Back in the orphanage, she simply went by her name 'Angela' as it was the name given to her by the nuns heading the institute. There were no specifics as to why her name was Angela, but she was never the curious one to know if there were any reasons for her name or not. She was Angela because she was Angela, well, until Mrs. Diwa add
Navier, for the first time in years, was sure that he had a dream—a dream about Angela. Angela is their childhood friend. He, Angela, his sister Nicole, and Sage have been together ever since they were kids. Even though Nicole and Sage are older by a few years, they really do not have any other choice but to stay together with them. Sage is the son of their parents’ longtime head of security, and Angela is the daughter of their close neighbor. All of them were inseparable since they reached puberty, and that was exactly why he has been fixated on his “love” for her. She was the first girl in his life and the one that mattered most. He has always pictured her beside him even when they grow up to be adults. He wanted to make sure that she would end up with him no matter what. He had been so fixated on her that he did not see other women the same way. It was toxic. He was toxic. He did not know how to properly "love" her. He showed his "loved" by scaring every man in her life, to mak
It has only been a week since the unfortunate night when Sophia saved Navier Ortega, and she was already receiving way too many business cards from him. So many that she had to label that night to be “unfortunate” because it made her conscience a wreck and he even kept on insisting, almost like harassing her, to let him repay her. She still could take off her mind that he could have died that night, and he was reminding her of that every single day with his business cards. This is one of the days that she hated her strong imagination more than anything else. Yes, Navier was safe and nothing happened to him, all his business cards for the past week were her proof of that, but picturing his lifeless body on the sidewalk from jumping off the balcony once still gave her nightmares. She was very glad that he was alive and well to have her reminded daily with his business cards, but she just simply wanted to clear and free her mind from that almost jumping-off balcony scenario. She could o
Sophia does not understand what was happening right now nor why was it happening. She was just about to leave her house and head to the city’s library to finish her requirements when she was suddenly cornered by someone who introduced himself as a lawyer. She had no choice but to let him in for the conversation he was asking for. She was so confused and practically stunned that all she understood from him was that she was about to lose her house. For the first time in years, she wanted to break down. She was having an anxiety attack from everything that was happening too fast. She wanted to ugly cry every emotion she has out of her system, but she found herself unable to shed even a single tear. She simply cannot feel her entire body as if she went numb. “Now that everything is clear, Miss Diwa, you have a month to take your things out of this apartment. My client also advised that you also hire a cleaner to disinfect the place. Have a nice day.” Her body started shaking that she
“I know people who can recommend us to some legit lawyers, but I know already that they will cost a lot. We can try some public ones but I don’t think that that is very advisable right now. What if they rig the system and bribe whoever public lawyer we get?” Sophia cannot stop herself from biting her finger. She did not mean to tell anyone about her problem, but nothing can really get past Jaylene. She hoped and prayed that she would not notice anything, but the woman was too sharp for her own. The moment she got to work, she already knew that something was off about her. She did try her best to change the subject, but her friend was someone she cannot really win against. The way she worries for her made her tell her everything. She did not want to stress her too. Everything happened just this morning and she told Jelly all about it, and after letting it all out, she felt better as it lessened all her burden at once. "Good thing today's a Saturday. I can't picture you alone in your
Breathing deeply, Sophia said the nth “thank you” to Miss Minchin which already made the sweet librarian laugh, and told her that one more “thank you” and she will be banned from entering the library for the rest of her stay in the university. That just finally made her laugh too. It took her a hot moment to sink everything in her and to understand that she was already having a mental breakdown. If it were not for Miss Minchin, she does not know if she would have calmed down. The kind librarian was ever patient with her, and now they are outside the university getting some ice cream. She thought about attending her classes, and she was supposed to insist on it, but Miss Minchin highly disagreed with her and made sure she was not to return to their department building. She was advised to take it easy today, and the sudden emergency university-wide faculty meeting that was called made it easier for her to actually leave the university. She does not know what it was for, but she did not
“Stop acting like a child, Navier! This is not playtime where you can simply do what you want! We’re talking life here and you just had to fucking ruin one—again! Is this what your so-called ‘love’ is? Is this really your way of saying you love me?! It’s so sad that you come from a loving family and you don’t know how to show love! God, Navier, you don’t even know what romance is and you expect me to just accept what you can give?!” Navier sighed, he really had to recall that again. He and Angela fought once again and just like the other times, he was the one sighing in defeat because he just caused trouble again. Instead of trashing his office like he always wanted to do, he took a sip of his coffee and massaged his temples. Yes, he just ruined another man’s life and even that was not a big deal to him, it was for Angela. Angela was the woman he loves and this was not exactly the first time he ever tried to "show her his life". He cannot even remember when the first one happened,
Sophia does not have a choice and this was not the time to take her precious seconds to think about having second thoughts. She badly needed help and there was no other person that could give her that help other than Navier Ortega. There was no room for her pride and her second thoughts in this situation. She was desperate. Navier Ortega is literally one of the richest persons in the country and meeting him like this would have been impossible if they did not encounter each other that night. She called that night "unfortunate", but maybe this was the sign from the Universe that everything really has its reasons for happening. That unfortunate night was still a blessing among other things. She was meant to save him because she would need help from a person like him. Yet, she cannot remove the risks upon accepting his help, but she was more than willing to swallow all those risks. If anyone finds out that she has contacted Navier Ortega for this kind of situation and it reaches her bo