REMEMBERING THE GRAVITY

Chapter 4: Voice in the Dark

It took her time to be comfortable in the room. Even though she was exhausted from the trip, she wasn't able to rest. Lying in the queen-sized bed, she felt as if she was going crazy with the dead silence. Even the wall clock in the room wasn't even making a sound.

In comparison with this room, the room in her apartment would probably be labeled a 'commoner' room certainly. The recurring color theme was white and gold. The curtains were damask and the shade of a lighter blue and with trimmings of silver. There were beautiful porcelain wares in a shelf located at the left side of her bed, next to a vanity mirror that was probably worth a million bucks.

In line with it, there was a huge two-door walk-in closet and an elegant bathroom. To her right, she can see another Victorian-style single sofa chair with a cushioned footrest and across it, the french door that she had intentionally opened slightly. The room was dim, with only the radiance of the moon passing the glass partition and white chiffon curtains lighting it barely.

"I bet Jen's already sharing kisses with that jock for sure," Lianne expressed to herself.

She touched her moist lips and closed her eyes remembering how it felt when the mysterious man kissed her. She anxiously wanted to know who he was. She wanted to meet him again, thus planning to go back to the library as soon as they will return in Fortville.

"Well, it would be really odd if I would see him here. He wouldn't follow me even here would he? And besides, he doesn't know that I have plans to have a vacation here anyway. So, it's really unlikely. Well uhm, not like I wanted him to follow me, but still..." Lianne pondered as she hid herself in the light blue rose-embroidered blanket.

She almost fell asleep when she heard a low voice calling out her name. At first, she thought it was just the wind outside, but she heard the voice clearly again but wasn't able to determine if it was a man or a woman's voice.

"My first night in this place and I'm hearing voices now, great!" Lianne teasingly said to herself.

She stood and walked out of the room and into the balcony to check out if there were people below calling her from the garden. She initially thought it was Jen or her other friends but strangely enough, when she leaned against the balustrade and peeked down, there was no one there. She was sure the voice was not just her imagination; however, for some reason, it made her heart beat fast and her skin grew clammy.

The whole mansion was enveloped with blue searchlights making it more marvelous, but it was nothing compared to the full moon shining brilliantly in the night sky. Staring at the stars, again, she remembered the words in the paper.

Find me in your dreams....

"What does he mean by that?" she expressed out loud.

The stars were heavenly beautiful. They were like diamonds shining brightly; so breathtakingly vast that she was unable to take her eyes off them for a while, until she briefly caught sight of a person, a man specifically, wearing a white shirt and black slacks standing right beside a huge marbled pergola a few meters from her balcony. It did look like he was facing directly at her.

Squinting her eyes, she was surprised to find out that it was the mysterious man from the library and in her apartment last night. She felt the sudden rush of blood in her veins then.

How?! How could he be here?!

Without thinking, she directly ran out of her room taking with her her robe sliding it in both her arms while running relentlessly in the second floor's hallway. She took off down the stairs of the east wing hurriedly, wanting to get there as soon as possible hoping he was still standing here.

Lianne was breathing heavily when she arrived at the entrance garden; however, upon reaching the pergola, he was nowhere in sight and her attempts to talk to him again were in vain.

Recalling the way he looked at her last night, she shivered. Oh, those enchanting, striking eyes that speak a message that she cannot decipher; a message that echoed within her heart and the questions that he can only answer.

"Who are you...? Please I want to know....." She voiced in dismay.

~ 0 ~

"It seems I'm not the only one who went out last night," Jen commented while sitting at an Adirondack chair beside Lianne. She was wearing a beach-patterned short, and a white tube top. Lianne, on the other hand, was wearing a two-piece swimsuit, in white and blue stripes. She was covering her sleep-deprived eyes with a black sunglass. Alona and Rachel, Jen's two cousins were sitting on their own chaise lounge sunbed, their eyes fixed on Lianne, with silly expressions on their faces.

It was eight in the morning, and the group were sunbathing in a secluded part of the enormous swimming pool area, just a few minutes of walk from the central mansion. There was an extension building built southwest of the mansion, intended as a bar and entertainment area, and at the same time, the pool area.

The building had a Mediterranean structure, mixed with Gothic arches and lovely Greek pillars. The pool area was surrounded by palm trees and the pool itself is shaped like a big letter 'S'.

Lianne, upon seeing the way her friends looked at her, questioned them confusingly. "What? What's up with those funny faces of yours?"

"By some way, you didn't have some mischievous activity last night Lianne did you?" Jen answered with a calculating look on her face.

"What!? How could you ask me that Jen?"

"Well, you look very sleepy right now and you barely touched your food also. You are even more tired-looking than me." She grinned in a goofy way.

"So?" Lianne replied back while sipping at her pineapple juice.

"Rachel here actually saw you running down the stairs very fast just wearing a robe and then went outside the east garden. Would you care to explain that event if you would deny you're not doing 'something' with 'someone', mmmhhh?" Jen teasingly addressed, twisting herself on the chair so she could face her friend.

"Oh, you saw that huh?" Lianne stated as she cleared a lump in her throat. Under her sunglasses, her eyes shifted warily.

"So, com'n Li! Tell us what happened? Is he handsome?" Alona asked curiously, her eyes shining with anticipation as she gazed at Lianne. She was sitting beside her, on the right side, wearing a skimpy pink bikini covered with a light gauzy material.

"Well..." Lianne followed while touching her neck with both her hands. "I did do that because of a guy, and yes Al, he is what you think he is; actually, more than that. For me, he is like a weird stalking 'prince'. BUT! Honestly, nothing happened between the two of us in the garden really. So, all of you quit asking me because you'll never juice up any other information, alright?" Lianne confessed while she folded her arms together on her chest as if hinting them she's not an open book.

Jen however understood her. She knew Lianne wouldn't open up sensitive issues like that with the rest of the gang.

"What?! That's all?" Alona shouted. "I thought you were going for it really. But, what do you mean 'stalking prince?' Is he stalking you all this time?"

"Alona! There's really nothing more to know. That's just it. I can actually see it in your eyes that you're excited by the thought of having a stalker! You silly girl!" Lianne exclaimed.

"You know her Alona, she is one hard-to-get girl," Jen defended.

Lianne winked at her best friend's direction, smiling at the same time. "Damn right you are."

"I think there's something fishy in here," Rachel abruptly announced, and stared at Lianne in an unsettling manner. "It looked to me like your in love," she coolly expressed.

Hearing the word made Lianne feel nervous for no apparent reason. Then, a flash of scene came in her mind quickly showing what happened in her apartment when he kissed her. The thought made her innocently blush. All three of them stared at her in an eager manner, waiting for her reply.

"Huh?! Your kiddin' Chel right? I hardly even know who the guy is, why would I be in love with him?" Lianne defended.

Rachel shifted and returned back to lie on her sunbed, then she announced, "You look like you do last night though."

"Really!? Aw!" Jen reacted exaggeratedly.

Lianne, in the other hand, became silent. She lazily lounged herself at the chair and adjusted her sunglasses.

'I don't know.... I really don't know,' she thought to herself while wondering where he might be right now.

~ 0 ~

"Hey, Li!" Alona called after a few minutes. "I couldn't help but ask if you have posed for a painting before? Not a nude painting but one with a proper set-up."

Lianne turned to face her and raised her eyebrows in confusion. "No, I haven't, why'd you ask?"

"Well, uhm, I remembered the co-owner telling me yesterday that there was a painting of a lady that looked astonishingly like you. It is kept in the basement. She said if we have time, we should go and check it out."

"I do think now would be the best time," Jen replied.

"Yes! Why don't we go there right now? Aren't you curious Li?" Alona asked in enthusiasm.

"I think so," was all Lianne's answer, but deep inside her, what she did want to do is to look for him in the whole of the resort.