Chapter 18

She hurriedly ran towards the door, her hand still covering her mouth in shock. She kept running towards the elevator even when the bodyguards were calling her. She just ignored them and hurriedly entered the lift when the door opened. When she slid in a taxi she thought of calling Luke's mother but it was almost midnight. She didn’t want to disturb her. She dialed Eunice's number instead. She sounded sleepy when she answered. In a surprisingly steady voice, she told the woman what she saw and she just listened to her without interrupting until she finished.
"See? I told you, tsk! " Eunice commented when she was done talking.
"Please help me Eunice. I don’t want to live with a pig like him,” she said in a slightly trembling voice.
She couldn’t erase the images of what she had seen at the condominium. Everything was vivid in her mind. The woman was straddling Luke and they were kissing passionately.
"I have no idea how long he has been cheating on me,” she murmured as if to herself. Her hand was on her chest. She didn't want to cry. Luke didn’t deserve her tears. She just wanted to be as far away from him as possible.
This is the end. I want out of this mess! She told herself.
"Of course I will help you. I told you that you can count on me. Okay just listen to everything I will tell you. You have to go home immediately. Get your passport! You have to be quick! You don’t want Luke to catch you. Then go straight to the airport. Just bring few stuff with you. I will book a flight for you tonight. Maybe you can go somewhere in Asia. What we need to do is get you out of the country. Once you reached the destination, we will make concrete plans. We’ll talk more later! But remember Issa, this is our secret. You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone that I helped you in this. I don’t want Luke’s family especially his mother to get mad at me,” Eunice said.
(A few hours ago)
Luke was actually about to come home from his dinner meeting when Ram, one of his college friends asked him to go to a certain place.
"I am over those kind of parties,” he told him.
"Darn it dude! This will be our first get –together after such a long time! Besides you haven’t even invited us about your wedding so you owe us! Come on! It won’t be an all-nighter. This is our welcome party for Carlos! He just got back home from Dubai. Just get you’re a*ss here dude! We will be waiting for you!”
(in the condo)
Luke’s friends persuaded him to sit on one of the two chairs with a blind fold on. They said that they had a surprise for him. He refused because he felt that a woman was probably involved just like before. But they reassured him that Paul had a gift for him and Carlos so he just sighed and sat down after Carlos did. When a sensual music started to play, his forehead creased. He felt someone sat on his lap and kissed him. He was taken aback so it took him a few seconds before he could react. He took hold of the woman’s arms and removed his blindfold. She looked familiar. He threw a glance to where Carlos was. Another woman was straddling him too. The two female were models. He also looked at Ram who was standing a few meters from them. An aspiring singer was in his arms. He won’t deny that he used to enjoy this kind of wild parties with his four friends, Ram, Evan, Paul and Carlos. Evan was the first one who got married but he never stopped joining them. That was one reason why a password was needed before anyone could enter the place where they have the private parties. They didn’t want any scandal. All of them were from well-off and influential families. They couldn’t afford to be caught especially his friends who were already married. They paid a lot of money to the women. He never used any of them though and his friends stopped persuading him. He just enjoyed watching and drinking a little. He didn’t need to pay women to release his body heat.
"Go Yanna and Luke!" Ram hollered. He was the one who planned this bachelor party (not a welcome party as he mentioned on the phone) for their friend Carlos.
"Stop!" he told the pretty woman who was more than tipsy.
He rose from the chair and put a distance between them. He was holding her away from him by her shoulders. His friends protested with what he did but he just glared at Ram who raised his arms as if to surrender.
"Look dude! We all know that you won’t go all the way. It was just a kiss and a lap dance! Actually this bachelor party is also for you though it is a little late,” he said before pulling the other female on Carlos’ lap.
Carlos had also removed his blindfold.
"Come on Chrissy, it’s time for you to straddle Luke!" Ram told the woman who he was pulling towards him.
"Don’t be a spoilsport Luke! Let our female guests experience how it is to sit on your lap!” Carlos said with a grin.
Luke gritted his teeth when his other friends made hooting sounds. His bodyguard Luis shook his head and headed towards the front door. It wasn’t the first time Luke brought him to these kind of parties. Luis didn’t even want to watch but Ram insisted he did tonight. He was even instructed by him not to tell Isabelle about it. When the bodyguard got out of the unit, Albert, Ram’s bodyguard and Gene, Carlos’ bodyguard looked at him curiously.
‘Bro why did you come out? Those women inside are so damn sexy! I wished Sir Ram will allow me inside too!” Albert said with a heavy sigh but Luis didn’t say anything.
"Well another female came minutes ago. She is lovelier and she didn’t look like a hooker,” said Carlo’s bodyguard.
Luis frowned when Albert gave a complete description of the woman. He hurriedly went back inside. He had to tell Luke that his wife saw what was happening inside the unit.
***
Isabelle was looking out the window. They would land in a few minutes. It had been three long years when she flew from the Philippines to Indonesia then to the US. She went back to attend Joyce’s wedding since she was the maid of honor. She was lucky that she was given a month paid leave by her boss who was her dad. She managed her father and stepmother’s green spas since the couple had to take care of their other small businesses. Her dad migrated to the States after he married an American. He didn’t have any children with his wife. Her stepmother Martha was nice. Her father told his wife about her and her mother. He confessed to her how regretful he was when he abandoned them. When he was financially stable, he started to look for them.
She owed Eunice a lot. She won’t forget the help she had given her to get away from Luke. She even gave her money because as she said, she couldn’t use Luke’s credit card because i he could easily trace her whereabouts if she would use it. She told the woman that she would pay her when she's able.
"No need Issa. I have plenty of money. I just wanted to help you. Remember to keep mum about this. Once you board on the plane, forget this ever happened. Forget everything we talked about including this conversation. My friend Lianne will meet you in Jakarta. She will take care of you for a while until you fly to the US. I will call her to ask about you," she told her.
She was able to chat with Joyce when she was in Indonesia. She was shocked when she was told that her father had been looking for her. According to her, she told Luke about it because he was the one who answered when she called her. Sadly, he didn’t tell her about the call. She wasn’t surprised why he didn’t mention anything to her. He wanted her for himself. He was really selfish. Joyce gave the phone number of her father and she called him after their chat. She was angry at him but she would listen to his explanation why he left her and her mother. Besides he would help her have a new life. After two days, her father followed her in Jakarta. From there, they flew to America.
***
She would be meeting Joyce the next day. The wedding would be in five days. Her best friend was going to have a bachelorette party the day after tomorrow and it was a must that she attended. She booked a hotel for her in the city. Since she arrived late in the afternoon, she was just planning to have a long warm bath to relax. She had a 14-hour flight and she felt really tired. After the bachelorette party, they would go to Sta. Teresita where the wedding would be held. She walked with confidence towards the reception desk of the fancy hotel. She liked the place. Joyce wanted her to be comfortable. Most of her friends called her Belle now even Joyce stopped calling her Issa. She wanted to erase all the bad memories of her past especially Luke. She had buried her love for him. There is no room for a Luke Contrero in her life now. The next thing she would fix was her name. She would check if their wedding wasn’t registered so she could change her name on her documents including her passport. She wanted to use her father's surname. She would be Belle dela Vega Dury.
She looked very different now. No more trace of the old Issa. Wherever she went everyone was throwing her a second glance. One woman even asked if she were a model. Gone was the naïve, unsophisticated and gullible Issa. She couldn’t help but smile.
The two female at the front desk whispered at each other upon checking her reservation.
"You have a reservation under the name of Belle Contrero ma’am?" one of them asked.
She smiled at them, "Yes that's me," she replied in a friendly voice.
The woman nodded, "Ma’am, I hope you don’t mind but are you related to the Contreros from Manila?" asked the other one.
She was taken aback. She removed her eyes from the woman. She didn’t expect such a question. She was thinking how to respond to her question while she looked at her beautifully manicured nails.
"Yes she is," a familiar male voice said behind her.
With a look of surprise, she raised her eyes to the women who was looking behind her back with their mouths slightly opened. She flinched when she felt a hand touched her back. It felt warm through the thin material of her top. She could feel the heat on her skin. Her throat turned dry all of a sudden. Her heart started beating fast. She had goosebumps when she felt his warm pleasant breath near her ear. She straightened her back and her eyes which were on the female staff, opened wide .
"Welcome back Mrs. Contrero," Luke whispered huskily.