“Good morning.” Camilla said walking up to Miguel who was sitting at the lounge in her mansion reading a newspaper, he has a cup of coffee on the table in front of him which he sipped every now and then.
He usually spend the night in her mansion whenever she is not at his, even when they don’t feel like sleeping together in a room, they can always stay in any other room still in the same house. This happens in the times when Camilla felt like sleeping alone because of the guilt she feels in her heart because of her daughter Lora. She would want to stay by herself so that Miguel would not see how much she was hurting because of her grief. If it were up to Miguel he would not leave her side ever because of the love he feel for her and would have married her a long time ago if she had let him.
“Morning love.” He replied lifting his eyes briefly from the newspaper with a smile on his face. Camilla gave him a quick kiss on the lips and pulled out a chair from under the table where Miguel is sitting and sat down facing him. She loves Miguel too a lot and was always drawn to him by his cuteness and manly nature. She sometimes wonder if she was truly living such a lovable life with Miguel who is so handsome and tall like one of those super movie stars but she often held her emotions back because of her guilt, she would punish herself because she misses her daughter a lot, if only Lucio would grant her access to her daughter, most of the times she would be afraid to even talk to her over the phone because she was afraid of what Lucio would do to her if he found out that she kept in touch with her Lora.
“Looking gorgeous as always.” Miguel said placing the newspaper in his hands on the table, he picked up his cup of coffee from the table with his gaze fixed on her. He is marveled at how elegant and beautiful she looked, her facial expression seemed like one who had won a lottery, no one would ever believe she had cried most part of the night or that she is going through an ordeal in her life, in fact anyone looking at her would think she has no worries and this is what he loves best about her. He wished that he could make all her worries go away though, the thought and took a sip of the coffee in his hands.
“Thank you.” She replied, her lips curved in a smile, Miguel has been a comforter to her and she has come to love him, he understands her better than her ex-husband Lucio and had loved her even better, despite everything she has, she would have been very miserable if not for him, since the day she told him all she had been through, he had made sure she is never alone and she is grateful for that.
She picked up an empty cup from a tray on the table, poured a cup of coffee for herself from the coffee pot on the table and then took a sip. “Ooh nice.” She said looking briefly at Miguel and then back on the cup of coffee in her hands.
Miguel usually make them coffee in the morning, he prefer making one by himself and he is very good at it. “Nice right?” he asked with that smack on his lip that says “my coffee is the best”. He added, winking at her.
“Yea, very nice.” She replied smiling at him, she then picked up the news paper Miguel was reading earlier putting her cup of coffee down on the table, her gaze on him.
“What’s in today’s paper?” she asked Miguel who smiled at her without saying a word and then took a sip from the cup of coffee in his hands, his eyes lit in admiration of her.
“Let’s see.” She said looking back at the news paper in her hands ignoring the look in Miguel’s eyes as she knew what the look in his eyes meant and she was not ready to go down that road with him right now. She already dressed and prepared to leave for work for the day.
“Are you not going to the office?” she asked after looking at the headlines on the news paper, picking up her cup of coffee from the table, trying to make him stop staring at her in that manner as she knew what he might do if she let him.
“I am going my dear, just waiting to see your beautiful face before I leave.” He replied and they both smiled at each other. “or would you want something else?” Miguel asked, leaning forward and peering into her eyes, trying to tease her, he took note of the way she gazed at him from the corner of her eyes when she had the newspaper in her hands but now she just lowered her face after he tried to tease her, peering down at her cup of coffee which was in her hands, her lips pressed together as if she was suddenly lost in thought.
“Are you okay?” Miguel asked after a brief moment still gazing at her and wondering why her mood that was bright a while ago suddenly changed into this, like she was brooding about something. “Tell me Camilla, is something wrong, you just changed from smiling just now to this,” he added, still peering at her, he guessed he knew why she suddenly changed but wanted to hear her say it just in case he guessed wrong.
Camilla lifted her gaze from her cup of coffee and shot a glance at Miguel. “I am okay, Miguel.” She replied and took a sip of coffee from her cup. “Why do you ask?” she asked without looking at him, guessing that he could already read her thought.
“It’s nothing.” Miguel said shrugging his shoulders, his eyes still fixed on her as he continued. “It’s just that last night I came by your room...” He paused and took a sip from his cup, he did not want to go further since the expression on her face now revealed she knew where he is headed. He did not mean to bring that up anyway but her reaction earlier made him to recall about last night.
He had gone by her room last night when he came back from the office, he was about knocking on her door when he heard her sobbing from inside, he paused knowing what the reason might be. He sat down by the door until he could no longer hear her sobbing, that’s when he stood up and went to another room knowing she most have fallen asleep and may not want to be disturbed like she had done some nights before.
She had cried a lot last night because of the pain of not being able to be with her daughter on her school graduation. “Well am okay, I am fine now Miguel.” Camilla said after a brief silence putting down her cup of coffee and standing up. “I’ll be going first Miguel, I have a meeting with some client.” She said and walked out of the lounge. She would not want the thought of last night to ruin her business today, besides she has some photo shoot with a client and would want to look as radiant as she used to look in her magazine sections, anyone looking at her at that moment would not know that she has a thing she was going through and she learnt that most people idolize her and would want to live her life.
Miguel sat there peering after her as she walks away,wishing he never said that, he should not have brought up last night’s incident especially since he knew about her engagement today, he should have known better he thought. He bit his lower lip, he should not have let her know he heard her crying last night or better still not mention it, as she is so sensitive when it comes to her daughter, Lora.
Camilla who is a billionaire looks so powerful and cheerful outside that no one would know she had such an awful past. People complement her as a successful woman but to her she had failed at being a mother and she can only be at peace when she gets her daughter back.
Miguel folded his palm into a fist, he wished he can make all her pains go away, and it hurts him whenever he sees her in that pitiful state. He is the only one who knows of her hurt and it hurts him because he can do nothing about it, feeling upset for making her leave the way she did, he stood up and left the lounge as well, he need to find a way to get his mind away from the thought Camilla’s worries as the moment, knowing that if he continue to dwell on that, he would not be able to achieve anything that he had planned to achieve today.
***
Michael opened his eyes slowly still lying on his stomach on the bed, he could feel the heat of the sun rays streaming into his apartment from the window that was slightly open and groaned softly.
“What time is it?” He grumbled and swept his hands over the bed in search of his cell phone. “Where is it?” He grumbled again, and then lifted his head up a little beat still searching for the cell phone, that’s when he saw it on the floor beside the bed.
He rolled on his side and picked up the phone. “Jesus! It’s past 11am.” He exclaimed when he looked at the time on his cell phone, he woke up very late today for the first time in a long while. “Fuck.” He cursed and made a rambling noise as he sat down almost immediately on the bed, he’s late for class.
“Oh my God!” he exclaimed again holding his head with both hands, as he stood half way up, he feels light headed and a sharp pain at the back of his neck, he then sat down again and lay back down on the bed his head facing the roof. Suddenly the event of last night flashed through his mind.
“Shit.” He cursed and looked around, there was no sign of any other person in the apartment. He slowly he got out of his bed and walked towards the bathroom, he waited at the door and listened if he would hear any sound, he heard none, then he slowly opened the bathroom door.
“She’s gone, Brenda’s gone.” He said, then turned and learned against the wall, closed his eyes for a brief moment, and opened it again. How come he never noticed her living, he is not a heavy sleeper he thought, and looked around the apartment again, that’s when he saw a cup of coffee on the small dining table in the apartment and a note beside it.
His apartment is an all in one apartment, it has a small kitchen at the side and a bathroom, and it is mainly built for students and those who could not afford much. He doesn’t have much in it, just a bed at a corner, a dining table close to the kitchen area, a wardrobe, a chair and a small reading table where he kept his laptop, there’s also a small book shelve by the side of the reading table.
He walked up to the dining table, his right palm at the back of his neck as he could still feel a little pain down there, the pain may be from his sleeping position or maybe from the hangover he thought, he picked up the note and it read. “I had the craziest night of my life handsome PTO.” He smiled and turned the back of the note to see her phone number written on it.
“Ooh mine,” Michael said and smiled to himself, the pain in his head suddenly disappeared. He picked up the cup of coffee and took a sip. “I will skip class today, for this day is marvelous.” He said out loud smiling from the corner of his lips.