CHAPTER 1: Ruined Vacation

— LIA —

AS I LOST my posture and calmness, I started hitting the door so that I could escape.

“I said, stop the car!” I shouted from the top of my lungs.

The driver, for the first time, turned to me and looked. “Shut up, conniving woman. You’re gonna pay for what you did to the family,” he said with a cold voice before turning his head to focus on the road.

Confused and still panicking, I screamed, “What the hell are you saying? Stop this goddamn car! Now!”

Of course, he didn’t stop the car. He pretended not to hear my screams.

I continued hitting and kicking the door and the window with anything that I could use. I also started kicking the driver. I scratched his face, thinking that I can stop him from driving.

How did everything come down to this? I was just having my relaxing time earlier.

Relaxing in a sandy shore under the gentle light of the sun made my body filled with contentment and joy. After months of drowning myself in her profiling job, I finally have a time to spend time with myself and temporarily cut the reality that I still have a lot of work to do after a month of vacation.

I let out a relieved sigh and proceeded on drinking her fresh caña. Wondering my eyes around the place, I can see a lot of people of different ages playing under the sun and splashing water from the beach.

“This is life. Running and playing in a beach, not investigating and talking to criminals inside an office," I thought to myself.

Although I might seem to hate my job, it’s my passion. It’s just there are a lot of times that my job can be draining and toxic that I ended up throwing hate words to it. However, in the end, I will still go back to her profiling job that I love the most.

After some time of watching the other beachgoers, I suddenly felt like there is a pair of eyes looking at my. I can feel that someone is staring at me from afar. Being a person with a strong gut feeling and curiosity, I looked around to see where those eyes are coming from.

From a distance, a set of eyes covered with sunglasses caught my attention.

It was a man. From the built of it, he seems to be in his late 20s or early 30s. He’s tall, maybe a 6-footer. He has a tan skin and blond hair – maybe also a tourist. His blue cargo shorts blended well to his body.

And his biceps? Oh boy, I want to be headlocked with those.

My eyes lingered on his half-naked body. He has the body of a model. Although I can’t see his because of the sunglasses he is wearing, the half part of his face that is uncovered is enough for me to say that he is a well good-looking man.

I unconsciously licked my drying lips while staring at him.

He’s kind of far from where I am sitting. I smiled at him without being sure if he is really staring at me or I’m just being delusional. My smile stayed for a few seconds. I thought he’s going to smile back. However, he turned his back to me and started walking away.

Before my eye left him, I saw him pulled his phone from his pocket and called someone.

Disappointed, I stood up and get my things. Maybe it will be better for me to go home now.

I put on my oversized maroon shirt and my leather shorts. While finishing my drink, I started walking away from the shore, with the unknown hot man still occupying my mind.

“13.75’s the total, miss,” the cashier told me after scanning all of the items that I bought. While getting my purse, I felt like someone stood behind me. I didn’t mind it at first. However, after giving my payment to the cashier, I felt like the person behind me was staring at me.

I looked at my back, and to my shock, it was the hot man at the beach a while ago!

Now that he’s much closer, I can see a lot of details in this body. His clean face, maybe a newly shaved one, is perfect. He has a sharp jaw and a pointed nose. Like earlier, he is still wearing sunglasses and I can’t take a good look of his eye. I wonder what color they are.

My eyes dropped down to his body. I was disappointed when I saw that he was not half-naked like before. If ever, I was thinking of taking a closer look of his well-defined abs, and maybe touch them, if he permits. His biceps are bulging from the sleeves of his shirt. They look hot and delicious, like they’re asking me to taste them and–

“Ma’am, here’s your change.”

The voice of the female cashier turned me back to reality. I was almost fantasizing this man over here that I forgot about what I was doing. Oh, God. Am I whipped?

I extended my arm to the cashier to get my change and receipt. After that, I carried the eco-bag with my things in it.

For the last time, I looked at the man and smiled at him. I think this will be the last time I will saw him. Spain is a somehow a huge country. Finding him alone here will be difficult. What more if he is also a tourist? The chance of meeting him again goes down to less than 5%.

I want him to at least smile back at me. I’m sure it will make my day, and the next days that will come.

But, like earlier, his face didn’t even move an inch.

My heart dropped at the fact that I won’t be able to see him again, and here we are, not having a decent interaction.

Pouting, I stopped for a taxi to reach the hotel where I’m currently staying. My bad mood was evident on my face. I’m sure that the taxi driver was looking at me with furrowed eyebrows because my eyebrows are furrowed, too.

“Where are we going, Señora?” the driver asked me with a hint of irritation in his voice. His tone added to the bad mood I am feeling today. Can he just ask me nicely and not irritate me more?

I answered the driver without looking at him. My eyes are looking outside of the taxi. My mind is still thinking about the man I like that doesn’t even smile back at me.

How hard is it for him to smile back? If smiling is expensive, I will not wonder why he didn’t smile back, but smiling is free!

At the back of my mind, I'm wishing that destiny will give me another chance to meet him. I will make sure that I will make the most out of that interaction.

I sighed and looked at the buildings we passed while travelling back to the hotel. However, after some minutes of looking outside, I noticed that the buildings outside are different from what I am usually seeing when I travel from the store to hotel.

This is a different route!

Panicking, I turned my face to the taxi drive and asked, “This is a different route, señor.”

The driver is still looking at the road. He didn’t even bother to look at me from the rearview mirror. “This is the shorter route, Señora,” he said in a monotone voice.

Annoyed, I answered him. “I don’t want the shorter route. Drive back now to the normal route to the hotel,” I demanded.

Instead of driving back to the usual route, the driver sped up the taxi. The acceleration was so sudden that my back hit the seat at huge force. My panic rose and I started screaming at him.

“Slow down! You’re gonna get us killed! Just stop this car and I will book another taxi!” I shouted, my panic being evident on every word I said.

The driver is still silent. As I lost my posture and calmness, I started hitting the door so that I could go out.

“I said, stop the car!” I shouted from the top of my lungs.

The driver, for the first time, turned to me and looked. “Shut up, conniving woman. You’re gonna pay for what you did to the family,” he said with a cold voice.

Confused and still panicking, I screamed, “What the hell are you saying? Stop this goddamn car! Now!”

Of course, he didn’t stop the car. I continued hitting and kicking the door and the window with anything that I could use. I also started kicking the driver. I scratched his face, thinking that I can stop him from driving.

The driver hurriedly used one of his hands to block my hands. My left hand reached for eyes and I tried to pierce them, while my right hand reach for the steering wheel.

Forcing myself to control the car, I kicked his crotch. However, the kick was unsuccessful that my foot ended up striking his belly.

The driver lost his grip on the steering wheel. I grabbed that opportunity to control the car and make a u-turn while using my elbow to strike his face.

When I successfully placed the car on the opposite route, I clicked on auto-pilot and punched the face of the driver while trying to find the button to unlock the door.

"Damn you!" he exclaimed before covering my mouth and nose with a handkerchief.

Chloroform!

Before he could cover everything, I opened my mouth and bit his hand.

He screamed because of pain. I clicked a certain button while kicking the door of the driver's seat.

Seeing the light, I hurriedly ran, not minding the ocean of cars driving in my surroundings. 

On my way to reach the other side of the rode, I felt a hard thing hit my neck and arm. Then, everything went black.

My whole body is aching, especially my neck. I can’t open my eyes fully. The light hurts my eyes that I have to keep it close. I tried moving my arms, and then my legs. Thankfully, I can still move.

After some minutes of trying to open my eyes, I finally was able to see the whole place I’m in.

It was a place new to me – very unfamiliar. The elegant structure of the walls screams wealth. The whole room is huge, and I’m sure that it’s much bigger that my whole house back in my country.

Even if it is difficult, I managed to stand up. The bed where I was lying earlier is also huge, probably a king size one. The whole room is in neutral colors, mostly black and white. I walked towards the large drawer and opened it. Surprisingly, there’s nothing inside. It is as if no one is using this room.

While looking around the room, I suddenly realized that I don’t know where I am right now. I rushed to the door, tried to open it. However, it was locked from the outside. I tried kicking it, thinking that I might be able to destroy it. But knowing the structure of this room, I’m sure that this door is made from a dense and strong material that kicking it with force for multiple times will not do any damage.

Next, I rushed to the window I saw on the other side of the room. I looked down, thinking that I can escape if I will try to jump down.

My blood almost stopped circulating when I saw how high I am from the ground. Just imagining me jumping from that height makes my whole body hurts. I can already feel how broken my bones will be once I did that.

I shook my head at the thought. I might be able to escape this room if I will jump, but I’m sure that I will die immediately when I reached the ground.

I was about to close the window when I heard a clicking sound. I looked at my back and I saw the door slowly opening.

My hands flew to my mouth when I saw who entered the room.

“So, my conniving ex-girlfriend is already awake,” a deep baritone sound scattered across the whole room.

My eyes widened when I realized who this person is. It was the man from the beach earlier!

“Who are you? Why am I here? This kidnapping! I can sue you for this!” I shouted at him.

“Besides, what ex-girlfriend? I don’t even know who you are!” I added. I am very upset at him. He kidnapped me, and now, he is saying that I am his ex-girlfriend. Is he insane?

“Now, you’re denying that you were my ex-girlfriend. Why? Feeling pure just because you married another rich guy?” he asked, making me more confused.

He was not my ex-boyfriend. I didn’t even have a boyfriend in my whole life! I don’t have a husband!

And I am not feeling pure! I. AM. PURE!

“Let’s see if you can still deny that fact,” he said and threw a frame to me.

My eyes widened when I saw the picture in the frame. In the picture, there was a guy – the man in front of me. But, there was a lady beside him. She is wearing an elegant black dress that I’m sure I will not wear in my whole life.

And… this lady. She looks like me!