CHAPTER 78:
FEAR OF HEIGHTS
Liam’s P.O.V.
“Oh my God, Liam! I didn’t know you were this kind of jealous, huh? It’s nothing! It was actually Lorenz, remember him? He’s our gay best friend, and I just found out earlier that he was indeed a real man. I couldn’t believe it. I was so shocked!” Diane’s eyes rounded more and her lips ideally curved while she was telling her side of the story.
Yeah, right! So, I guessed I got jealous over nothing.
Not taking my eyes off her, I nodded. “I remembered Lorenz, and yeah, I knew that he had always been a straight guy. That’s why I wondered why he acted so soft and feminine when the three of you were together, especially when you interviewed me for your thesis defense months ago.”
Then, I chuckled. “The poor guy was even wearing makeup! But wait, could it be that Lorenz liked you, that’s why he pretended to be gay and make friends with you?” I removed the smile on my lips while creasing my eyebrows. It was a jealous boyfriend’s instinct, but it could be possible.
She quickly shook her head. “Nah! Wrong assumption, lover boy. Hmm, my heartthrob CEO here was envious to the core! Anyway, I accidentally saw him earlier at Moonbucks after you dropped me off. Then, I wondered why he doesn’t wear any makeup at all.” She gulped at first before she continued.
“Thus, after asking him, Lorenz admitted to me that he pretended to be gay because he loved Karen so much and he just wanted to be with her… so don’t be paranoid, okay? I told him that I would help him with Karen. To his great delight, he suddenly hugged me. And that was what happened, my jealous boyfriend!” She stopped explaining, until…
“Oh, I know what you’re thinking, Liam Arthur! That whoever hugged me here, you are going to fire him real soon. Don’t worry, I only belonged to you so might as well stop your nonsense thoughts!” Diane teased me. She seemed to read what was on my mind, but I couldn’t care anymore about it when I heard her last sentence.
“Really?” I asked her. I held her hand, and we started walking towards the middle part of the helipad.
“Of course,” she replied with a smile and sparks in her eyes.
“Then, prove it to me.” I pointed my left cheek and signaled her to kiss me, but what Diane did was cupped my face and kissed me on the lips instead.
“Was it enough, Liam Arthur? Or do you want something more?” Diane was fascinating me, and it was making me feel so weak.
“Later, let’s stay in my condo before I drive you home. We won’t be getting enough on the appetizers and main course for sure.” I poked her cute nose.
I already thought of all the possible men who would dare touch my beloved girlfriend here only to find out that it was just Lorenz. It felt like a thorn had been pulled out of my chest. I just slyly smiled to myself. I just couldn’t believe that I would be this jealous. Well, this was only one thing from the long list love could do.
“Excuse me, sir. The jet is now ready,” said Eric, my personal pilot, when he approached us. Diane felt uneasy as she stepped away from me after seeing Eric. She was truly convicted not to let others know about our relationship.
While making a slight nod, I motioned Eric to be in the jet first. “Thanks, Eric! I can always count on you.” I knew how to fly a jet, and I even have an active license, but I wanted Diane and me to enjoy these precious moments more.
“Huh? Where are you going, Liam? Do you have an urgent meeting somewhere?” Diane asked as confusion flashed with the way how she looked at me. Most of the time, she was so naive, but I had to understand it. That was why I couldn’t blame her if Leandro easily deceived her into his office trap this morning.
“The right question should be… where are we going? Let’s go!” I eagerly seized Diane’s hand and pulled her to the course of my jet where only five people could fit, including the pilot. I supported her waist and hips for her to climb up properly. “Careful, sweetie!”
When we were already inside my jet and Diane was done choosing her seat, I immediately sat beside her and placed my hand over her shoulder to make her feel at ease. Then, I gave a ‘go’ signal to Eric to fly my HA-420 jet.
“Hmm… wait, Liam! W-Where are we going?” Diane worriedly asked as we slowly ascended from the helipad.
“You’ll see when we get there, sweetie.” I placed the green folder and grabbed my jet laptop from one of the vacant seats. Then, I pretended to be busy.
“But, Liam… I still have a lot to work on. Good for you that you have a laptop here, how about me?” Diane argued.
“It’s okay! I’m the boss, remember?” I carefully stroked her hair and tucked in some of her hair strands that covered her face behind her ears.
“You’re the boss, yes, but I’m just a mere employee here, and Miss Shey will surely look for me. My working hours had just started, and I was already missing? What would she think of me? Also, the deadline for my balance sheet is tomorrow,” Diane contended unambiguously.
Shey was their Department Manager. She was like an elder sister to me. In fact, she was my closest cousin from my father’s side. Shey was one of the major stockholders of EGC who didn’t want to accept the Vice President position. She was one of the people I always looked up to—a very humble person.
“Don’t worry, I already asked for her permission. I told her that I would take my girlfriend over on an aerial date first! He couldn’t stand my puppy eyes, so she immediately agreed to my request without any further questions,” and I showed Diane my irresistible puppy eyes before I continued.
“And it’s a Saturday tomorrow! Are you really going to report to work, sweetie? Don’t you want to stay with me and have some fun together? Anyway, Shey couldn’t say ‘no’ to me, so your new deadline will be on Monday!” I winked at her.
“Huh? So, d-does it mean… Miss Shey k-knew about the two of us?” Diane’s facial expression sank faster like a coin in the pond as she asked. She didn’t even mind spending time with me at our pad.
“Don’t worry, okay? Shey is like an older sister to me. She’s my second cousin, and obviously, even Eric also knows about our relationship. Right, Eric?” I exclaimed, and my pilot just gave us a thumb’s up.
Then, I glanced at Diane again. “You know why? Because I never let someone join me when I’m here in my private jet. I never flew with any woman before. It was only you who I wanted to fly with, Diane… now and for the rest of my life.” I looked at her sincerely, trying to read what her beautiful and round eyes were expressing.
“I would also love to do these things with you, but—” Diane was still opposing.
“No buts, no ifs, Diane. I already planned everything on just short notice, and we’re now getting closer to our destination. I’ll assure you that you will like it, and everything will be worth it.” I told her enthusiastically.
“I—I am afraid of heights, Liam! You might have planned everything, b-but I surely couldn’t look on w-what you wanted me to see…” Diane revealed another fear.
I looked at her intently and saw that her face was getting very pale at all. Her face suddenly got drained of vivid colors. She looked as white as swede, and even her red lips were almost white and bare. But in my eyes, she was still gorgeous. I set my laptop aside and just focused on her.
Diane was also trembling in panic, but I placed her head on my shoulder and said, “Just lean on me, breathe, and close your eyes, sweetie. I’m just here, so you just have to relax, okay?” I lovingly kissed her on the forehead while filling the gaps between her fingers.
“Trust me, you will defeat your fear later on, and we won’t be going back to EGC without you looking at what was waiting for us below. Like your severe fear in the dark, together, we will conquer your fear of heights too.” I guaranteed her.
“Okay, I’ll try.” Diane just nodded at me before she hugged my waist. Soon after, I realized that she had already fallen asleep on my chest.
A few minutes later, I already saw the heart-shaped aerial view of Bonito Island in Batangas. As we got closer to its better angle, that was when I gently patted Diane for her to wake up.