"GOOD morning Papa!" Joaquin's cheerful greeting to his father that morning.
"It's good to see you today. Come on and eat and we have a lot to talk about," he told him.
It was a Saturday and because there was no work in the office, Joaquin woke up late than his usual five o'clock in the morning.
"Let me guess, it's about marriage, right?" he asked Joaquin Sr. with a wide smile.
That was when his father stared straight into his eyes. "You're not getting any younger son, do you think I don't know what you do to women?"
He shrugged then started eating breakfast. "Papa, I'm just being generous to them," he joked, winking at the old man.
"Get married," Joaquin Sr. replied rather briefly to him.
He stared at his father with amusement. "Papa the way you speak seems like it's so easy what you're asking me to do," he reasoned.
His father nodded. "I know, that's why I want you to marry someone our family has known for a very long time. I know you'll refuse so I chose the type that I know will fit your taste," he continued.
Joaquin's eyebrows immediately met at what he heard. "What do you mean? Are you asking me to marry the daughter of one of your friends?" in Joaquin's tone was intense disbelief.
"Exactly, I'm doing this to stop all your bullshit with women. Do you think I don't know that you treat women as if you're just changing clothes? That's not right, what if you get one of those women pregnant? Do you want our family name to be drag down just because of all your nonsense?"
"Papa that won't happen because I practice safe sex," he replied shaking his head with a smile.
He really couldn’t help but feel intense amusement for his father.
He knew how much he wanted him to have a family of his own. His father is right, he's at the right age and he's getting older. But what will he do if despite the many women who have gone through his life he feels nothing but lust?
It was always just sex running through his mind. And they agree to that, in exchange for money.
That's right, many of the women who have been his girlfriend or even those he has slept with are fond of money and anything that can afford it. But all in all, he knew that once in his life he had met someone who was the most different.
None other than Venus.
At the thought of the woman, Joaquin quickly became curious about how probably she was doing now?
Funny though but he knew that name wasn’t her real name. He didn't even have an idea of what she looked like because he had been able to claim her twice in one night but still she didn't remove her mask.
But in spite of all that, he could not forget how in such a very sweet way she handed everything over to him. How she repeatedly mentions his name as he claims her.
The shape of Venus's lips, how he kissed her soft and smooth skin, and above all even the most sensitive and hidden parts of her body, there were times every night before he goes to sleep that scene is still coming back to his mind.
The memory of Venus also did not allow him to sleep for several nights. But just like the woman wanted to happen and just as he promised to her before they slept together, he will not go looking for her.
That's what Venus wants. And just in case they meet again, he knows for a fact that he won't be able to recognize her either because of the mask she was wearing that night as he claimed her.
"Joaquin," that voice of his father cut through his deep thought.
"Papa," he said.
"Are you listening to what I'm telling you? Your mind seems to be flying somewhere else?"
He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm just wondering if I'll be in the office today since I don't have anything to do here at home right now," he reasoned.
He can't admit to his father that a woman is the stuff of his mind.
And the more he can't let him know that once in his life he had sex with a woman he didn't really know without any protection.
He knew Venus was not a bad woman and he believed everything she said. He actually proved them all. But everything that happened to them was undeniably and purely body heat. There was nothing special feeling other than the pity he felt for her when he saw her crying and begging.
"So I'm talking here and you're not listening," it was in the tone of his father the disappointment for him.
"No, of course not. I'm listening, but Papa it wouldn't be fair for my part what you wanted to happen. Well actually not only for me but also for the woman you want me to marry," he explained.
"You haven't even asked who she is and you can already say that," Joaquin Sr. said shaking his head then reached for the cup of coffee and drank.
That was when Joaquin felt even more amused by his father. He's like a child sulking at him.
The truth is that his father was dominant especially when he was at his younger age. But as time went on, his behavior gradually changed, especially when he took over their company.
At the thought, Venus entered Joaquin's mind again.
It was his twenty-fifth birthday when Joaquin Sr. officially transferred their company to him. That night his friends set up a surprise party for him and he didn’t expect about Venus.
"Please Papa, don't ask me for something that won't be fair. I follow everything you want but don't do it with my future and my whole life," at this point Joaquin suddenly became serious.
What he said was true. Despite being a playboy he is still trying to be a good son. He obeyed his father as much as he could, especially if it would not hurt him. But marriage is a different matter.
Yes, and he is a certified playboy and he admitted about that matter. But despite all that, he still wants to get married out of love. With the woman, he would like to see when he wakes up in the morning and before he goes to bed at night. The kind that he would want to protect for the rest of his life. And most of all, a type of woman will love him and not his money.