The Lotus And The Billionaire

Chapter 31: Present

Everything that transpired after what we did inside his car almost seemed surreal to me, as if I was kept in a trance. Somehow, my rationale had vanished along with the sea breeze that brushed against my skin.

A smile crept upon my lips as I gazed across the waters that reflected the lights engulfing the city. My mouth parted as the sight washed away my worries as I was hit by a wave of overwhelming emotions. Strange, isn’t it? To feel calm, yet also experience unrest.

It’s just that that’s how I feel right now…

I love the sea, the ocean. I loved seeing the waves hit the cemented breakwater of the port, the way the sea breeze that came along with them felt against my bare skin.

I feel cold.

“How do you feel?” Alvarez asked as he slid his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder.

Oh, there’s the warmth I need.

Is this how we’re supposed to be around each other now…?

When did Alvarez and I agree that we’re allowed to act this way toward each other? How did we end up in this situation again? I can’t quite recall how it led to this.

But there’s one thing I’m quite sure of. It’s that I couldn’t care less about all of these thoughts right now. It doesn’t matter if I’m experiencing this with Alvarez. He was stirring all these emotions up, yet I couldn’t find it in me to push him away.

Somehow, I found peace here.

Singapore’s port witnessed how I looked back at Alvarez and pulled him in for a chaste kiss, one I have never given him during the past months. One that didn’t have any tint of aggressiveness. It was a token of gratitude I ought to give him after showing me this.

Others may find this bizarre. After all, he could have taken me to a resort and shown me the exact same thing. Or perhaps, like any show-off type of person would, he would rent a whole place just for me to be able to gaze at such a wonderful sight. That was the type of man Alvarez was.

But this felt different to me…

After a week of having to suffer with work, we’re doing things normal teenage couples would do, something I never experienced. And, of course, he was showing me something he knew I would absolutely love. There’s something about this moment I’d never forget.

This will come to an end once we’ve returned to his penthouse. We’ll go back to teasing each other, the shouting, the aggressive turn of conversations. It’ll return as if these events never happened.

And so I’ll savor this exact moment and pretend I never despised this man I’m kissing.

“Thank you…” I muttered as I pulled away from the kiss, smiling.

Alvarez slowly opened his eyes to look at me, his lips threatening to curve up into a smile. That’s…a genuine one. It was nothing compared to how other people smiled, as it barely showed, but I know its difference from his insincere and annoying grins.

“What for?” he asked as he rested his forehead on mine.

“For bringing me here. For going out of your way to take me out when you could have just taken a rest.”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he sighed. “I’m trying to make you feel something you deserve. After all, I owe you.”

Right. He owes me. But still…

I nuzzled my face on his neck, trying to feel his warmth. The breeze felt so cold as if it’d have frozen me if I hadn’t sought heat. Something’s telling me Alvarez will give it to me. Maybe…

However, Alvarez was sort of…a source of heat. He shone too brightly, aggressive and much too fiery, almost enough to burn me alive. I never liked it. In fact, I hated it. Yet here I am, wondering why I’m burying my face in his skin just to feel it.

Will we ever recover from this, though?

—————

After that night, we had one more day to tour Singapore. Alvarez slept throughout the morning out of exhaustion. I figured he’d sleep the entire day and scheduled for his meals to be brought to the hotel room, but to my surprise, I found him panicking in the living room.

He was wide awake and was looking for me. I felt bad, but I remembered placing a note on the bedside table that I’d be out with the bodyguards because I felt like taking a look at the souvenirs and shops. I…kind of went on a splurge to make myself feel better.

“You seriously had me all worried! You were neither in my bed nor yours, so how was I supposed to find out?” He exhaled as he sat on the sofa to close his eyes.

“I left a note on the bedside table! It’s not my fault you didn’t even try to look!”

“You should have left a text message instead! Who even leaves notes?!”

“I totally forgot about that, okay?! You're overreacting!”

“My wife was nowhere to be found when I woke up! You call this overreacting? Jesus, I was concerned!”

I never liked acting like a brat or a little girl in front of anyone. But when he’s acting like that, raising his voice, I couldn’t help but pout. As I’ve said, I dislike talking too loud as it makes me feel like I’m being reprimanded. I mean, that’s exactly what he’s doing…

I let out a sigh as I walked towards my bedroom to check on the things I’d bought. These are the only consolations I could have after that conversation with Alvarez.

Fuck, I knew we’d be like this as soon as last night ended.

“Diaz, we’re still talking–!”

I shoved a paper bag in his face, annoyed. “There, I bought that for you! Now, shut up and go!”

“Are you…” He stared at me, concerned, as he stood by the door. He was holding the paper bag in such an awkward way that I had to look away.

“What? Go. I’ll look at what I bought.”

He sighed and sat on my bed, right in front of me. He was looking up at me, his forehead immediately forming a crease as he tried to reach for my face. “Are you crying?”

“What?”

Oh.

I touched my cheeks and found out there were tears streaming down my cheeks. I couldn’t understand why. I just wiped them with my hand and tried to stop.

What…?

Perhaps it was because I was brimming with joy as I bought a few things for everyone, only to come home to shout about things that don’t even matter. I’m disappointed, not really feeling down. So, why…?

Or am I crying out of fury?

Alvarez gently placed the paper bag on the bed and stood up to face me. “Look, I’m sorry. I was just really worried that I couldn’t find you the moment I woke up.”

“I know. Sorry…”

“You should have woken me up if you wanted to go out, you idiot.”

I frowned at what he said. “Did you seriously expect me to wake you up when you were deprived of sleep for a week?”

“Stop exaggerating,” he warned as he flicked my forehead. “Next time, be more careful. Or just wait for me to wake up so we can go together.”

“Are you trying to tie me to yourself?”

He sighed, dismayed. “What I’m saying is, don’t go off on your own. At least not while things are still dangerous. Some hotshots have their eyes on us, remember that. Besides, who knows what that Leviste youngster might do?”

“Oh, Zenon.” I almost forgot about him.

“Yes, him. Now, steer clear out of trouble, Diaz.”

I hate it when he’s telling me what to do. Even then, I couldn’t just say no because he was right. Ah, I absolutely loathe that he’s right, as well.

“Fine…” I breathed as I shoved his hands away from my waist as I began to check the paper bags I’d brought with me.

“Did they check these things already?” Alvarez asked as he held my wrists to stop me from touching them.

I shot him a glare. “Yes. Now, let go.”

He shrugged and let my hands go as he watched me open them one by one. I just bought a few potential decorations we could add to the penthouse; bags, clothes, souvenirs, and more. I mostly bought things for myself, but I also picked out a lot of stuff for my parents and Alvarez.

“Hey, am I allowed to give presents to the guards?” I asked Alvarez as I separated what presents I was giving to each of them.

He nodded as he held the paper bag I gave him close to him as he lay on the couch. “Yeah, why not? Did you get them anything?”

“Yup. I told them to pick out what they wanted.”

“Oh, I was planning to do that.”

I looked at him with an impassive expression. “No, you weren’t.”

“Alright, you got me.” He chuckled, looking at the bag. “Anyway, can I open this now?”

“Do what you want.”

Actually, I have more in store for him, but I’ll give them to him once I’ve seen his reaction to the small merlion statue I bought him. I got one for each person I’m close to, but I just want to see how this guy would react to such a common gift.

To be honest, I expect he wouldn’t react or so much as smile at it. He knows I could have gotten something more special, after all.

Again, he proved me wrong.

“Cute. I’ll put this on my desk,” he told me as the sides of his lips rose up.

Huh.

I tilted my head to the side as I watched him stare at the merlion as if trying to engrave his name on it to make sure no one would be able to take it from him. I took a picture, smiling.

“What’s that?” he asked as he looked at me, wondering why I was laughing.

“You look like an idiot.”

“Excuse me?”

“Shut up.”

My lips curved up for a grin as I uploaded the picture to my i********: account again but in private this time. I had a separate account where I uploaded things I didn’t want others to see. I’d like to keep this one for myself.

Alvarez was still looking at me, waiting for me to explain why I was laughing. Instead of telling him, I handed the remaining paper bags to him, which he immediately accepted.

“You got these for me? Why?” he asked as he received them, trying to peek at the other bags. “Damn, you bought a lot. Got money to burn?”

“f**k off. Just open your gifts and stop minding my business.”

“You and your patience…” he mumbled, but I heard. “Sorry. I’ll shut up now.”

He really does apologize now. He’s been doing it a lot since we lived together. I guess I influenced him to change, even if it was just minimal ones, after all.

Even though I was busy segregating the other gifts, I glanced at Alvarez as he opened the presents in glee. He doesn’t really smile, but I know he likes them. It was obvious by the way he carefully handled everything.

Ah, how did I know…? I recall seeing him that way for the first time since the day I laid my eyes on him, but the memory seemed to be somewhat blurry.

It was a rainy afternoon on his birthday. He was alone because no one remembered his special day. Except me and my grandfather. He accepted our one little gift with a small smile plastered on his face. I think his parents knew, but they were out of the country at the time and could only give the poor boy money to get what he wanted.

Alvarez…doesn’t receive gifts from just anyone. He’s picky. And that’s probably why he was good at appreciating such things.

“Diaz,” he called.

“Hmm?”

“Wanna go out? Just enjoy the remaining time, I guess.”

“Yeah. Wait for me.”

No.

I’m not going to break that one simple rule we agreed on.

Neither will he.

It’s fine. This is fine.