Chapter 11 Shadows at Daylight- His Point Of View

TOM’s POV

The sun is hitting my back making me wince in pain. But it instantly went away as someone probably pulled the curtain making the room dark once again. I can smell coffee and bacon wafting through my nostrils along with the rumbling on my stomach.

I am in my room and still in awe how the hell did I get here? Wait a minute, what time is it?! My eyes darted to the clock on my bedside table and almost panicked when I saw it’s already eight in the morning.

“Don’t worry, It’s Saturday.”

A woman’s voice echoed from the other side of the room. There was Ms. Hernandez sitting casually on my couch with a newspaper in her hand.

“How did you get in here?” I started peeling off the blanket out of my body but stopped with her panic voice.

“I don’t want to do that, sir.”

I stopped in mid-air when I realized I wasn’t really wearing anything. As in anything. I can see the ghost of laughter in her mouth. This woman must’ve been playing with me the entire time.

“Do you remember what happened last night, sir?” She asked and got off her feet to get the food tray and placed it carefully at the edge of the bed.

“Stop thinking too much, Mr. Dawson. Have some breakfast first and I’ll tell you what happened.” She added and padded her way out of the room as if she owned the house. She wearing her dress from the party with my Christmas red wool blanket on her shoulders.

The more I move, the more my head ached. I remembered seeing my father at the party. Going to the company alone and calling Ms. Hernandez. Then I don’t remember what happened next.

I saw her in my kitchen washing my dishes from last night. How in the hell did she get in here?

“Tell me, what happened.”

She jumped in surprise, a small curse escaped from her mouth. This woman has no control over her temper sometimes. I love how she reacted every time I annoy her, so priceless. You can see the fire in her eyes and the gritting of her teeth when she is mad at something. And the blank expression she pulled off when I try to scold her for her reports? So entertaining. That’s why I really love picking on her.

“You called in the middle of the party. I saw you… you’re in the middle of a panic attack.”

She is wringing her fingers. Does it bother her that much? Pulling the kitchen stool, she settled herself up sitting adjacent to me.

“I also have my series of panic attacks. It all started when my now ex-boyfriend left me for some other girl. I wasn’t myself anymore since then. It feels like a part of me will be forever broken. When I saw you last night having a panic attack, I really didn’t know what to do. And then after that, you were burning with fever. I called Robert to bring you here since you didn’t want me to bring you to the hospital.”

She looks tired and sleepy. She must have been attending to me the whole night. Bottles of medicine on my countertop and a wet cloth on the bedside table. It’s a lot to be grateful for.

“Thank you, Ms. Hernandez.” My only response because I don’t know what to say to her. She took care of me when no one supposed to do. I have been living myself with my own standard, that’s why people tend to leave me whenever they got the chance to.

“It’s not a problem.”

We both fell in a long stretch of silence with her casually combing her hair with her fingers and I crossing my arms over my chest. I usually do this whenever I feel uncomfortable with something.

“May I ask, what happened after you saw your father?” she asked with full questions brewing in her eyes. Did I mention I saw my father at the party last night?

Oh right, I remember now. I told her a little background of my father. I personally don’t like to tell my story to just anybody but I don’t know what made me open up my sick life to her. Odd.

“It was nothing, Ms. Hernandez. I think I was all caught up with work these past few days, my unconscious state got all scrambled up.”

“What do you mean, sir?”

Should I tell her?

No. I don’t like how she is looking at me with pity in her eyes.

“My father died seven years ago, Ms. Hernandez.”

She is now staring at me unwavering, but I can tell she is in shock by the way her eyes twitch and her mouth parted slightly. Not until a lone tear escaped from her eye that she instantly wiped out with the back of her hand.

“He died from a lung condition. Call me a bitter child, but I was happier when he died Ms. Hernandez. It was two years after I married Jessica. I immediately cut off ties with her and her family. Hell, it was the best time of my life. It was like hitting two birds in one stone. Does that makes me a bad person, Ms. Hernandez?”

Ms. Hernandez casually wiped her tears that are already streaming down on her face. Absentmindedly picking her fingernails while staring at me intently. Gazing at me, urging me to go on.

“I cut off ties with them, build my own empire with my name on it, and tried to forget those dark memories that ever existed. Not long after, Jessica’s father died due to a car accident. It was the time I finally said to myself, fate must’ve been on my side all this time. Jessica doesn’t want to divorce but I don’t like to be part of their family. A sick family. They already tainted my name. Their business fell. Bankruptcy was written all over their faces, but I am no vile like them. I still helped them get on their feet. In fact, I let them invest in my company but that’s it. Nothing more.”

Telling my story is like riding a time machine to my past. Overwhelming feeling rush through me that I starting to feel like I should let it all out. When I look at Betty, she is all ears like absorbing all my past like a sponge and taking it all in. Mixed emotions are written all over her, the urge to ask more questions and the fact that I am all exposed to her from my childhood memories.

“Our past doesn’t define us, Mr. Dawson. I would tell you’re living your life well, those memories were just your shadows. You shouldn’t be bothered by it. Yes, it haunts us every night, so as shadows use to scare us when we were still young.”

My first time to be comforted instead of being judged. People used to say, I might be the reason why my father died, divorce Jessica to take over the company. But what they don’t know I was all out to get away from that family.

“Thank you. You are not like the others.”

We fell into a long stretch of silence, but she suddenly held my hands in a reassuring way. So warm, comforting and I finally at ease talking with my past.

“You’re okay. More than okay, Mr. Dawson. Don’t let those people affect your future. I am starting to like you. With how you handle your pain. I wish I could do that too.”

“I should probably go home now, Mr. Dawson.” She said in one breathe, gathering her things in one scoop.

“No, please. I—I mean, okay. See you at the office on Monday.”

I saw how her eyebrows twitched in confusion about why I wouldn’t want her to leave. I also have a hard time analyzing why I said it. It feels so odd yet nice to have another person in the house.

“Yeah, see you on Monday.”

She folded the blanket nicely showing her bare back and I never realized how it suits her. I was busy annoying her last night that I forgot to compliment her on how good she looks with her dress.

“I’ll let Robert to drive you home.”

“Thank you.” She smiled gathering her things and holding up her heels on her right hand.

“See you on Monday, Mr. Dawson.”

“Take this with you. It’s cold outside. You don’t want to catch a cold, do you?”

I handed her the blanket that she instantly obliged to put over her bareback and shoulders. She is smiling like she can’t believe I can be considerate too.

“Wipe that smirk out of your face, Ms. Hernandez.” I playfully pushed her out of the house with her laughing when she almost tripped over the gutter.

Robert snickered at the sight of us being playful with each other. I don’t know what got into me, but there’s something with Ms. Hernandez that I can’t make out. Is it her ability to make me laugh? She can be a menace, nice, kind, and annoying sometimes but those qualities are what made her unique. She isn’t like other people who tend to get nice because they only have to. She is different.

The car drove off out of my sight and I am left alone in this house. Again.

My phone rang showing the name of my mortal enemy.

“What do you want?”

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know what are you talking about?”

“Stop lying you jerk. I know it was you who called to her to go to the office last night.”

“Give me a break, James. I don’t want to argue with you.”

I hastily ended the call. I literally don’t want to get involved with their family. Not again.

I loathe them in every single bone in my body.