“IF you need anything, just knock on my door,” Xander told me when we reached my hotel room. He pointed out to the room across from mine.
After twenty hours of flight, we landed at JFK Airport. We had dinner first at the restaurant airport before riding a cab to our hotel. It was winter season in the States. The whole city was still covered with snow.
"Thank you, Sir."
"Just Xander, Charity," he reminded me.
I cleared my throat. "Xander…" Shit. I couldn't believe we were already on a first name basis.
"Better." He gave me a satisfied smile. “See you later, Charity. Rest well, okay?"
My eyes followed Xander as he left my room. After arranging my luggage, I changed clothes and settled myself on the bed. I raised my left hand and stared at the engagement ring on my finger.
"Damn. If only everything was real, I bet I would be the happiest woman on Earth right now." I whispered to myself before sleep took me in.
"How's your sleep, Charity?" Xander asked when I saw each other the morning after. We went to the restaurant of the hotel to have breakfast together.
"Good." I answered just as the waiter came back with our food. I ordered French toast, egg's benedict and fresh orange juice for breakfast. On Xander's plate was sausage, waffles and a cup of coffee.
I couldn't help but stare at Xander as we ate. Damn. He looked handsome in his brown suit jacket. His hair was still slightly disheveled. The tip of his nose and cheek was flushed because of the cold weather.
"I already talked to my lawyer, Charity," Xander said. He smiled after he took a sip from his coffee. "Our wedding will be held tomorrow afternoon."
"Do I need to wear a proper dress for tomorrow?" I didn't have any white dress with me.
"Just a simple one will do. Let's just look for a dress after the conference."
The conference would be held at the function room of the hotel.
I was about to say something when I saw Austin enter the restaurant and was now walking towards us. I noticed freckles of snow on his coat.
"Austin." Xander greeted his cousin. Xander told me that Austin arrived here a day ahead of us.
Austin nodded at Xander before he looked at me. "Hi, Charity," he said, taking a vacant chair beside Xander. Our table was for four people.
"Sir Austin." I acknowledged him with a small smile.
"Just Austin, Charity. You'll be Xander's wife soon." He gave me a small smile.
I stared at him for a moment. It was the first time I saw him smile. He always has a brooding aura every time I see him in the office. He's really different from Xander.
But I remembered Sandy told me that despite her boss' snobbish personality, he has a kind heart.
"Quit looking at Charity with that face, Austin. You're scaring her," Xander said, which snapped me out of my reverie.
Austin slightly raised his brow at me. "Am I scaring you?"
I shook my head. "No. Of course not."
"See?" Austin took Xander's coffee and sipped from it. "She's not scared. Stop being so possessive, Xander."
I blinked. Three times. Possessive? Xander was being possessive of me?
I glanced at Xander. He was frowning at his cousin. "I already talked to my lawyer. Make yourself free tomorrow afternoon. We need a witness for our wedding. And stop drinking my coffee."
Austin reciprocated Xander's frown before turning at me. "Are you really sure you wanted to help my cousin, Charity? You know, you can still back out."
"Stop poisoning Charity's mind, Austin."
Austin smirked. "What? I'm just trying to talk some sense into her." He looked at me and winked which made me chuckle. I didn't know he could be funny like this.
I excused myself to the restroom and left them bickering on the table. But on my way back, I felt like my feet stopped moving when I saw a familiar man seated on the far corner of the restaurant.
Luke. I even blinked my eyes a couple of times to make sure that what I was seeing was real. Shit! It was really my cousin Luke! What was he doing here? How could he be in New York? Of all the cities in the world?
Instead of returning to our table, I dragged myself back to the restroom. I took out my phone from my coat's pocket and dialed my brother's number.
I chewed on my lower lip as I waited for him to answer my call. What if Luke wasn't the only one here? Shit!
I almost jumped in nervousness when I heard his familiar voice on the other line.
“I'm here in our villa in Santorini,” my brother answered me when I asked her where he was. "I just got back here from Italy."
I bit on my lower lip. “How about Luke, Conrad? Are you with him?"
"Nah. He’s in New York. He went there last week."
Shit. He was the one I saw outside the restaurant.
"New York?" I repeated. "What's he doing there?"
"He has a business conference he needs to attend. Uncle Giovan sent there."
Shit. Was it the same business conference Xander and Austin would be attending?
"Oh… how long would he be in New York?" I tried my voice to be as casual as possible. I didn't want Conrad to notice that I was already close to panicking.
"A month, I think. He told me he wanted to stay there for a while."
Luke's father has a vacation house here in New York.
"Why are you asking, Charity?"
"Oh. I just wanted to talk to him. I miss him, too, you know."
I heard Conrad chuckle from the other line. "Just call him, Charity. He has his own phone, you know."
"Yeah. I will."
I shut my eyes tightly for a moment as I ended the call. I looked at myself in the mirror. If Luke was going to attend the business conference this afternoon, then there's a big chance that we'll see each other. I couldn't risk being seen by him. Not now.
I took a deep breath as I left the restroom. I carefully surveyed the restaurant and looked at the direction where I saw Luke earlier. I heaved a sigh of relief when I didn't see him.
“Charity, are you alright?” Xander said when I returned to our table.
My eyes landed on the vacant chair beside him. "Where's Austin?" I asked when I noticed Austin was gone.
"He already went back to his room. Are you sure you're fine? You look perplexed."
I bit my lower lip and placed my hand on my forehead. "I… suddenly don't feel good, Xander. Can I go back to my room now?"
"Of course." He immediately stood up from his seat. "Let's go. Maybe you're still tired from our flight." He held me in the arm as he guided me to the elevator.
"Do you want something? I'll ask for room service."
I bit my lower lip and shook my head. "I just wanted to rest. I'm sorry, Sir—I mean, Xander. I don't think I'll be able to come with you to the conference."
I couldn’t risk the chance of Luke seeing her. He couldn't see me here.
"It's okay, Charity." He smiled at me. "Just stay in your room and get a proper rest. Call me if you need anything."
I only managed to smile at him as I opened the door to my unit.