Chapter 10 D-Day and Spending the Night With Him

Final touches and I’m all ready. I began to feel antsy as it’s already 7:30 pm and James isn’t here yet. It was until a honk interrupted me and I instantly gather my things and head downstairs. James is wearing a navy-blue tuxedo, and trousers, hair combed to the back, he looks so dashing and innocent. He is standing by his black Bugatti in all his glory. I laughed at how people would stare at him like he is some celebrity.

“Fancy. Love the car.”

He turned to my direction and a smile slowly crept to his face staring at me.

“I know you’d look good on that dress.”

It’s a fiery red dress, open at the back to my waist that I am pretty sure I could catch a cold for my bare back, spaghetti strap that only supports the fabric, and a heart-shaped neckline that almost… yeah almost covers my not so boastful chest. When I tried it last night, I was having a hard time contemplating whether to wear it or not. It’s too revealing and slightly uncomfortable. But I have no choice but to wear it.

“You owe me for wearing this dress, James. I don’t think I will be able to go to the office on Monday, it’s too revealing.”

A big sigh escaped from James' mouth smiling at me. “Don’t worry. It looks good on you.”

Driving to the venue with this dress isn’t what I expected to be. My back is sticking to the leather seat, and my thigh is sure showcasing its flesh making me shiver from the cold from the air-conditioning unit. The ride isn’t that long since the hotel venue is just a few blocks from my apartment but the parking lot is a little far from the location. We walked for a minute with James covering my back with his coat since it’s chilly at night. And according to him, people don’t have to see my back at this rate.

We arrived at the venue with me mesmerized by how it turned out to be. Fancy decorations, blinding lights, and nicely dressed employees. I chuckled at how these people seem unrecognizable. I saw Elizabeth on the counter talking to one of the reception employees clearly flirting her way up. Goodness.

The venue is at the left hall connecting the open area of the lawn stretching almost to the back of the hotel decorated with floor lamps. Tables and chairs were settled neatly giving a very cozy yet elegant ambiance in it.

James ushered me to the registration area with his hands at my waist. I want to shrug it off but the overwhelming feeling of having someone beside you wearing something revealing, I am indeed in need of a little care from prying eyes.

We proceed to our designated table with our names on it and what surprised me is that we are situated at the center with Mr. Dawson at the right side table casually lounging on his dark pants, suit, and tie. Part of me wanted to come over and say ‘hi’ to him but I realized, this is a party and work-related stuff should be set aside. Let the man talk to some real humans without finances on their topics.

But when Mr. Dawson pulled out his calling card, I snickered at how he can’t get away from work even outside the company.

James whispered something saying he has to greet some of his friends from other companies and he will be back in a minute. I nodded at him having no intention of keeping him at my side all throughout the night. I absentmindedly fumble on my phone hoping for someone to talk to through Facebook Messenger but all I got are invitations to family reunions. I surrendered and decided to just sit quietly and wait for James to be back.

The food looks so appetizing, gorging on some fruits I never even realized someone is already standing behind me.

“Ms. Hernandez.” A voice jerks me in surprise at how close the person was. My heart leaped out of my chest looking at Mr. Dawson behind me with his hands in his pocket. He came with no partner. Poor guy.

I scanned my eyes to James that is now busy talking, I diverted my gaze to my boss waiting for me to respond to him.

“Good evening, sir.” I formally greeted and stood in respect.

“Are you comfortable with your dress, Ms. Hernandez?” he asked bluntly while casually sipping on his wine glass.

“What? Uh, yes.” Flabbergasted by his question, I began to feel uncomfortable on my own skin.

“Are you sure? ‘cause I really think you’re not.”

What is he up to again? His words slowly getting on my nerves but I have to act cool in front of these people. I just can’t make a scene with Mr. Dawson especially if we are already in between hot issues.

“I would certainly won’t wear this if I’m not comfortable.” I simply responded with a slight of annoyance in my tone. I can see he is raising his eyebrows but with a ghost smile on his mouth. He is just clearly messing up with me.

“Where’s your date?” He asked casually as if we’re just friends who happened to bump along at a party. So random. Why is he talking to me? I want to tell him not to talk to me even just for tonight. A large group of people is already looking at us, probably thinking about what to add to the fire of the issue. But I just can’t, this is my boss.

“Uhh, he’s over there talking to his friends.” I answered maintaining a good distance from him and pointing in James’ direction who is now busy talking to his friends but his attention is to a woman his age laughing and clearly, they’re flirting to each other.

“Uh sure, just talking.”

He knows his way to annoy me, and he always gets me every time. I glanced at him and almost forgot he is only four years older and it’s normal of him to sometimes act childish. Be the bigger man now, Betty.

“Aren’t you going to talk some of your friends, sir?” There I said. Hoping he would understand the cue I am giving.

“Oh no, I don’t want to talk about business tonight, Ms. Hernandez.”

True enough this man hasn’t seen the light from working 24/7. Let’s give him a break.

 The party commenced with Mr. Dawson giving the congratulatory message and wishes the company good luck. There are a few extra activities like jazz live band, eating and then dancing to soft music. James and I didn’t do well in dancing, we were just ended up laughing about how it turned out. We were having so much fun until Mr. Dawson called me in the middle of the celebration and asked me to go to the office. So sudden and out of the blue. He sounds in a hurry and his voice so deep and hoarse. Is he sick? No way. Is he drunk? Not possible. But I just saw him thirty minutes ago talking with his friends.

“James, I got to go now. I have to go to the office.”

“What? But everybody is here. Are you okay? Want me to drop you there?”

So tempted to let James drive me to the office but something is pulling me back. Part of me saying, this should never be mentioned to anyone else. I am thinking it would only add fire to the issue between me and Mr. Dawson. Or I don’t want everybody to misunderstand my relationship with my boss. I mean, there’s no apparent definition of it, everything is new to me, everything is pure work but being in the spotlight and in heat of the issue, the most decent thing to do is to keep everything low with my boss.

“Uh, no. I’m okay. I forgot something in my office.”

James rose an eyebrow to my reason and he looks like he is not buying it. But he decided to leave it alone and nodded to me patting my back in a friendly gesture.

“Be careful on your way there. Call me if you need me to drive you home.” He took off his coat revealing his white undershirt covering the taut of his muscles as he moves, I absentmindedly stared at it, my hormones shooting up in the sky. Goodness, gracious.

“Use this. You don’t want to flash your back to all the people out there.” He smiled and put the coat on my shoulder covering my back with his gigantic coat. He waved me goodbye not leaving his sight until I finally hailed a cab and hopped in safely.

I arrived at the office at past midnight. I stood at the main lobby for good two seconds contemplating whether is it a good idea for me to be here alone with my boss? What if he is in danger and in need of help? Series of questions are running through my head as my feet moved in accord to the elevator. Okay, we are already here and there’s no going back.

The whole building is dark and the only light that illuminates through it is the streetlight and moonlight outside. Towering glass windows serves as my main source of light as I wander through the 10th floor. The light from our office emits light to the corridor revealing Mr. Dawson at the couch at the center of the room with his coat on the floor laying messily. I know something is up. I am sensing bad is about to happen.

I opened the door widely and I can see Mr. Dawson’s eyes shoot open. Red, Droopy eyes met mine. That made me lose my footing and my grip on the door handle tightened.

“Are you okay, sir?”

His breathing is shallow and he is sweating bullets. He began to loosen his tie and started to unbutton his shirt. He doesn’t look so well, I can tell. I disregard the malicious image on my mind and halfway ran in his direction. He wanted to say something but words caught in his mouth as his shallow breathing worsen.

Panic attack. I know this situation. I also have my series of panic attacks whenever I feel anxious and overthink too much. “I can’t b—breathe.”

I loosened his tie completely and unbuttoned two more of his buttons. He is gasping for air and his eyes began to tear. He stopped my hand in mid-air from buttoning his shirt shaking his head. I slapped his hand and successfully unbuttoned his shirt. Oh my goodness. He is all sweaty and I know I shouldn’t think this way, but this guy is sexy. I only realized this, this guy has something to boast.

His skin glistens from the sweat and I just can’t simply take my eyes off of it. But before I will embarrass myself, I diverted my eyes to the air conditioning unit and decided to turn it on. His breathing began to shallow as the air hits his face. But his sweat keeps on going as if he just ran a mile of the race.

“Just breathe, sir. Think of something that makes you happy. Try to divert your attention.” I advise as I ransack my mind where to find a towel or something to wipe the sweat off. I thought of something I can use as an alternative and headed to his bathroom connected to his office and swooped the pile of tissue.

I shrugged the coat from my shoulder preparing to be in action to stabilize this man in from of me. He is closing his eyes, his chest heaving up and down.

“What happened to you?” I whispered wiping off the sweat and combing his hair back out of his face. Seeing a full close view, a lot of realizations swept me off.  A beauty mark at the top of his eyebrows, long lashes, pointed nose, prominent cheekbones, and few stubbles on his chin. Well, he looks not that bad.

“I saw him.” He calmly said with his eyes closed, rugged breathing with few bubbles of sweat on his forehead.

“Who did you see?”

“My father.”

“What about it?”

“I don’t want to see him.”

“Why don’t you want to see him?”

“Why are you asking me a lot of questions?”

See? This man sometimes can be a prick, if he isn’t sick at all then I already went back to the party and leave him all alone here. He is already looking at me while I’m busy wiping his face with a tissue. I was focused on my task that I didn’t notice he is already looking at me with an annoyed face.

“Well—I am just trying to keep the conversation alive, sir. It looks like you’re looking for someone to talk to.”

“Then stop giving me that look. You’re glaring at me for good two minutes, now.”

“What? I’m not glaring at you.”

“You’ve grown feisty now. Please get me a new shirt.” He pointed at the room connected to his office that happened to be his walk-in closet. It’s a small room that can fit three to five shirts, his spare shoes, and belts.

“I don’t feel good, Ms. Hernandez.”

“I will call Robert to drive you home, sir.”

“No. I don’t want to go home. I want to stay here for a bit.”

This time, he is so calm, innocent, with no clear evidence of a frown on his face. It took me a few minutes to decide what shirt to give him and almost laughed at myself staring at the all-black shirt. I mean, why took so long to decide when they all look the same.

“My father is the worst man on earth.” He began recalling his memories. He is opening up with me so I just sat still and never move a muscle, afraid for him to build up his walls again. I turned to look at him. He is staring at nothingness. Reminiscing his childhood memories.

“He may look harmless but he is the most disgusting and horrible man, I’ve ever known.” His voice is now going back to normal. He is sitting still on the couch with disheveled hair, crumpled shirt making him look like a normal person. Away from Mr. Dawson, I see every day.

“Business is the most important thing in his life. In our family, yes. So important that if it means, he has to sell his own son, he would do it without blinking an eye.”

I snapped my head to his direction from what I heard. He is about to tell the darkest part of his life. And I am honored to be here for him telling the whole story himself.

“I was sold off to an old businessman when I was 18 years old. Unimaginable things were done to me to keep their business alive. I nearly killed myself after two years when I was forced to do inhumane acts to that man. It lasted for three more years of being a sacrificial lamb. Until I can no longer do it, I was then forced to marry his daughter. I bet you already met her. Jessica.”

I stared at him with so many images and thoughts going on in my head. How can a father do this to his son? Only a monster can do this.

“What about your Mom?” I asked clutching the tissue too tightly. He heaved a sigh putting his head on the couch and closed his eyes.

“I grew up with no Mom, Ms. Hernandez. She left me with my father when I was still a child.” That left me speechless. So many skeletons in his closet. And he is showing them to me. One by one. I don’t know how to react, to say or to comfort him. I am not a good listener and get bored instantly but this made me all ears on his story.

You can’t hate someone for being so rude and manipulative just for being that way. Sometimes, you have to hear their story first before making a final judgment. It’s so hard to believe that the man behind the success of this company has also a lot of troubles and battles.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I saw my father at the party. All the memories came back to me. All at once. He is looking at me with fiery eyes and he is mad at me for something. I don’t know what I would do. I don’t want to be sold off to someone once again.” A sudden change of the way he talks. He is clutching his head and he is mumbling words I can’t understand. He began to rock back and forth, and the most bizarre thing is… he is crying like a child.

I put my arms around him and shushed him to calm down. My goodness, he is shaking.

“Come on now, you’re okay. Please calm down. Breathe. Just breathe.”

“No… No… I don’t want to be like him. I don’t want to, please father. I don’t want to.. Please… please…” he cried like someone wants to take him away. He is clutching my arms I felt his fingers dug on my skin. I could care less, my attention now is how to calm him down.

If I could only call an ambulance.

“Hush, now. Your father is not here, Mr. Dawson. Everything’s okay.” He began thrashing and I tried to control him. Tears began to fell from my eyes and I also sob as much as him. We were now on the floor, he is balling his eyes out clutching my arm like a child afraid to let go.

“Please… don’t leave me.” His words came full of urgency. His breathing shallowed as he wipes his tears from his eyes.

“Okay, I won’t leave you.” I responded as I stared at the window outside. Fireworks boomed coming from the party. Mr. Dawson falls fast asleep with me feeling numb on my thigh and arms. I also felt tired from this whole scenario, I fell asleep with my head on my palm, legs crossed with Mr. Dawson on my right shoulder huddled with his knees up to his chest.

I woke up with the numb feeling shooting on my back. I groaned at the foreign feeling wincing in pain. Mr. Dawson is still on my shoulder sleeping and I winced more when my cheek hits his forehead. Feverish and weak, he is mumbling under his breath. I slowly lifted his head and managed to get one of the throw pillows and settled his back on the carpeted floor. He somewhat looked peaceful compared to earlier.

I limped my way to the bathroom and found hidden gems. I mean, his stash of undergarments. Okay, I’ll take that back.

I found handkerchief and run water to it. He slightly flinched when I put the wet fabric on his forehead.

“What am I going to do?” I paced back and forth in the office barefooted with my dress swaying as I round the area.

He doesn’t want me to bring him to the hospital. But his life is at stake. I must do something. I can endure his wrath tomorrow if it means he will be saved.

“What to do? What to do?” I looked at my watch and it says, 2:00 am. I also found sixteen missed calls from James and one chat head from Elizabeth saying, “I am worried sick. Why would you go to the office alone?! Call me.”

I never made no time to answer them and called his driver instead.

“Robert, can you pick us up here in the office?”

“Right now, Ma’am?”

I feel sorry for calling him at this hour and sleep is still clear from his voice.

“Yes.”

He instantly obliged and promised to be here in five minutes.