Chapter 25: The Attack

Dave and Rica were on their way to the engagement party. Rica was nervous. She's going to face a lot of people today and she didn't know what to expect. Dave touched Rica's hand.

"Relax. I am here." said Dave

Rica pulled her hand away from Dave and tried to take a deep breath.

"Mr. Lopez."

"Mr. Lopez? I thought we're back to Dave?" teased Dave. "After today, Baby will be better."

Rica's eyes was getting wider in shock and frustration.

"OK, I get it. Dave will do for now." said Dave, laughing.

"Seriously, you can still joke around? You don't feel nervous at all?" asked Rica.

"I feel anxious that something might go wrong. You know how events like this go. There's always something that can go wrong. But more than that, I am excited to finally have this engagement party." said Dave. "I've been waiting for this…for a very long time."

Rica saw something in Dave's eyes, something close to sadness…loneliness?

"Did your Uncle get surprised?" asked Dave

"Yes, he could not believe it and talked me out of marriage. He said I don't need to go through with this again. But then, he knew why I am doing this and had to concede eventually." said Rica. "I told him to just rest and don't go to the party anymore. But he won't listen."

"I'm sure he doesn't want to miss his favourite niece's engagement party." said Dave.

"I am his ONLY niece." said Rica

Dave touched Rica's hair, brushing them gently with his fingers..

"Everything that happened… all the joy and sadness, all the pain and smiles… I hope one day we can look back and realize that everything happened so that we can make a beautiful story… someday… someday we will look back and be happy."

And for the first time, Rica felt a sense of peace despite the racing of her heart. Can it really end like that? Can this still be a beautiful story?

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A lot of people attended the party, dignitaries, celebrities and CEOs. Nobody wants to be left out. Rica's nervousness subsided after sometime. Meeting and greeting people is never her expertise but she was actually getting the hang of it.

When the time came to start the program, Rica and Dave went on the stage. Dave gave a speech about how glad he was that everybody came out to greet them on this special day and how the engagement will surely strengthen the already strong relationship between SkyRock and FlyAir. Everybody cheered for them.

It was Rica's turn to give a speech when she noticed a group of people going up the stage. Some of them were familiar to her. Is that Robbie's Dad and Robbie?!

Dave saw the confusion in Rica's eyes and followed where she was looking. This was definitely not part of the program. Who are these people and why are they on the stage? Dave grabbed Rica's arm and pulled her behind him in a protective gesture.

"Whatever happens, stay behind me. And whatever happens, don't speak. Let me do the talking." said Dave.

Robbie grabbed a microphone. How can this party not have enough security. Dave specifically instructed that the tightest security be put to make sure everything goes well.

"Hi Everyone, You might be surprised why I am on stage today. I am Robert Walford, the son of Jaime Walford of Atlas corporation."

Everyone started to whisper and talk.

Dave gave Rica a confused look.

"Isn't he your best friend?"

Rica nodded.

"Atlas is a consumer goods company, isn't it?"

Rica also nodded

"You might be wondering what Atlas is doing in this party. Atlas is selling food, cosmetics and hair care products while the two companies who arranged this party are both in the aeronautics industry. There is no connection at all right? But that's where I need to correct most of you. Unlike FlyAir and SkyRock's business connection, Miss Spencer and I have a deeper connection than just business."

Rica had to hold on to Dave's arm. She was feeling her legs getting weaker. What is Robbie doing?

"Rica is my best friend and I have every intention to protect her from being used as a business prey. That is why Atlas will be investing in FlyAir in whatever amount FlyAir needs in order to make sure that it will survive for the next years to come. We are also offering FlyAir partnership, a long term partnership. We will be opening a large scale business on the airline industry in the next years to come and FlyAir is what we need in order to succeed there. As such, Atlas is offering FlyAir the same contract that binds Rica into marrying Mr. David Lopez."

Rica feels like throwing up any time. She felt hard to breathe. This can not be happening… not in front of all these people!

Robbie went beside Dave and left the microphone on the stand.

"You can't bind her to you." said Robbie towards Dave. "She is now free to choose who she really wants to be with."

Rica wanted to get between Dave and Robbie to prevent the two getting into a fight but Dave blocked her way and made her stay behind him.

"Tie her? Do you think she's a child? She's a matured woman who knows what she wants and what she needs. She decided to be with me." said Dave

"Then let her go. Let's see whom she goes with." said Robbie

Rica grabbed a microphone which surprised the two men.

"What a surprise, right? I've known Robbie for a long time but I never expected this. We don't have the details yet of what Robbie has just mentioned in front of you and I think it is inappropriate to discuss this in front of you all. This… should have been discussed in a closed door meeting." said Rica.

Rica looked at Robbie, giving Robbie a warning look.

"For now…" Rica turned to the audience. "Nothing has changed. I am still engaged to Mr. Lopez."

Robbie went back to the microphone.

"Oh Rica, I forgot to mention that the proposal was sent to FlyAir this morning. And about the proposal, it doesn't end there." said Robbie. "If you approve of Atlas' proposal, that means you are approving of marriage to me too."

Everyone was confused and it became really noisy inside the venue.

Dave immediately grabbed a microphone. This has to stop.

"Everyone. I am glad that you are all here to see this development. Rest assured that this will be dealt with in all professional manner. For now, FlyAir will take the proposal from Atlas back on the table. As many of you knows, I am supportive of FlyAir's best interest. Samuel is a good man and SkyRock owes him a lot. FlyAir must study this new proposal thoroughly. But as for SkyRock, we had not changed our position. We will remain as FlyAir's ally. We will continue to support FlyAir. And being the lead in the airline industry, FlyAir has minimal risk and greater advantage if they partner with SkyRock. SkyRock, I promise, will make sure FlyAir will be on top with us."

With that, Dave grabbed Rica's arm and left the stage. The two of them left the venue together.

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Dave dragged Rica until they went to a fire exit away from all prying eyes. Dave pinned Rica to the wall with his arms on sides. Dave was looking down. Rica almost can't see his face but his breathing was heavy and she can see Dave's arms shaking. His hands were clenched.

He is angry.

He is really angry.

Dave punched the wall on Rica's side. Rica had to close her eyes on the impact. Her heart was beating fast. She's afraid…she's afraid…

Dave grabbed Rica's face and kissed her roughly. Rica's shock paralyzed her for a moment before she tried to push him away. But Dave was too strong. Rica pushed and pushed until Rica can't fight anymore. Slowly, ever so slowly, Dave's kiss got gentler but still passionate. And then it gentled even more until it became a sweet kiss inviting her to join him.

Rica's mind, heart and body can't fight anymore. Everything she tried to fight off in her heart was all crashing down on her. Rica's lips opened and let Dave in. And Dave, ever so gently, deepened his kiss.

The kiss was like the sweetest thing Dave had ever tasted. He pulled away and looked down at Rica.

Rica was still shocked with what just happened. Her knees are weak, but she was still standing.

Dave slowly lifted his face and Rica doesn't know what to make of what she's seeing.

Dave's face was full of tears. And she can see sorrow, his face was full of agony. He was looking at her intently and she can feel pain, strong pain in her heart, pain that was not hers. She can feel Dave's pain as if it was her own.

Rica slowly lifted her hand and touched Dave's face. Dave cried even more. He closed his eyes tight. Rica didn't even notice her own tears falling.

"I feel like my heart is going to burst." said Dave "I just…can't hold it anymore." said Dave

Rica felt piercing pain in her own chest.What is happening with Dave…

"I will not survive it if I ever lose you again. I have never, in the past three years, stopped missing you and wishing I can go find you and be with you, Rica. How I wish I could turn back time so that I can ask you why you had to leave? What I did wrong? I know I caused you pain but why? Why did you have to leave when I finally realized that I love you? And that I could never live without you…" said Dave in between tears and breathless crying.

"You…"

Are her ears tricking her? Is Dave saying… Is he saying he loves her? Loved her the past three years? Missed her? The pain of the past years rained on Rica heavily as Dave's words squeezed her chest.

"You…loved me?" Rica shook her head.

That is not true. Dave… he did not love her. Three years ago, he only tried to like her because of the contract. And now… what does he want? She can just accept Robbie's proposal. SkyRock will be free. They don't need FlyAir anyway. So why is Dave still doing this to her?

"You loved me?! " Rica said almost shouting . "How can you even say that? How can you say that when you tore my heart not once, not twice. You tore my heart countless times. Three years ago... you made my heart jump with joy making me hope for something, and then you'll crush it the next day. It was a roller coaster ride of emotions and pain. You… You broke me, Dave."

Dave's heart was tearing with each word Rica said..

"You love me? All you thought of was how to convince Uncle to sign the contract even without marrying me. All you thought bout was how not to hurt your girlfriend? Did you ever think of not hurting me? When Di and I got into an accident, didn't you come running to her side when she woke up? " Rica pushed Dave way from her.

"So stop. Stop saying those words. Stop lying to me! Don't say that….that you loved me. Because you're making me feel all the pain that I thought I have already forgotten. You just don't know how much I tried to forget you. You have no right to break me like this again." Rica was losing her strength. She leaned on the wall.

Dave wants to explain everything. He wants Rica to hear his every word. He wants her to believe him.

"You know I tried to forget you… I tried and when I thought I already forgot you, here you are making me all confused again, making me lose my mind." Rica closed her eyes. Is there a way to stop the pain?

Dave put his arms around Rica. Rica does not have the energy to fight anymore.

"I have never tried to forget you, Rica. I have always known I won't be able to." said Dave "But I can't leave SkyRock.I had to stay here and be the man everyone needs me to be…But also I can't let you go. What do I do?"

Rica closed her eyes. Dave words… no matter how much she tells herself to not believe them… her heart is absorbing them rekindling that hope inside her.

Then Dave released Rica.

"I won't tie you down. I will prove everything I said to you. If I need to wait, I'll wait. If you need freedom to choose, I'll give that to you. But please, give me a chance." said Dave.

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Rica can't eat and sleep. Dave's words keep echoing in her mind. Gene was worried. Pictures of the engagement party were also already in the news. Gene brought food to Rica's room.

"Here, eat this soup. If you don't eat anything, you'll get weak. It's hard to take care of two sick people." said Gene.

Rica hugged her mother.

"Mom, remember how you used to say Dave loves me?" said Rica

Gene sat on Rica's bed.

"Yes?"

"Why did you think that he does?"

Gene took a deep breath. Something happened for sure. Rica would usually brush away conversations about Dave. But now that Rica is opening this up herself, Gene was going to say everything she had been keeping for three years.

"Well, the first time he came to me, he wanted me and you to meet. He was really worried for you. He heard your nightmares about me and he knows you need me. So he looked for me. His eyes, while he was talking about you, I saw his eyes full of fondness of you. And when he said you need me, I saw the depth of his concern for you." said Gene

Indeed, it was Dave who brought her Mom back into her life. Rica only now realized how much effort Dave did just to bring Gene back.

"When you got into that accident, he was in shock. I heard a nurse had to attend to him immediately after he saw you brought in the hospital. They said it was a panic attack. It seems he could not accept what happened to you. Every day he would stay by your room, watching you from the glass outside. He does not go in. I think he really could not accept that you are in the brink of death. He was blaming himself… If it wasn't because of him… you wouldn't have been in that accident. He would always talk to the nurses and the doctors about your condition, you know. I saw him. And any times, I've seen him just standing there looking at you. For a man, tears are precious. My heart was in pain for him whenever I see him crying like that just looking at you." continued Gene.

Rica's heart was a mess. She's hearing this for the first time. Why did she close her ears before? Can she hold on to her mother's words? Can she really trust Dave?

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Belle was waiting at the airport. Carl was taking so long. She's going crazy. Dave was again all over the news. And it looks like he found himself a competitor on getting Rica's heart.

Carl's flight was delayed and so she's been waiting for him for five hours now. When she saw Carl, she swore she could jump with joy.

"You took your time." said Belle.

"I am so sorry for being late. I wanted to get back here ASAP but the weather was bad." said Carl.

"Have you seen the news?" asked Belle.

"Yes, I did. And that Robbie guy destroyed everything Dave was planning." said Carl

"Exactly. And that's where we need to enter the picture right?" said Belle

"Yes, I've prepared everything the past weeks for this back up plan in case something goes wrong. I never actually expected that we'll need it. But now that we have it, it's time to get involved." said Carl, smiling.

Belle noticed a familiar face behind Carl. Hopefully everything turns out well.

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Rica needed to go back to work. She went out of her house and was surprised to see Dave's Mom.

"Auntie…" said Rica

"Can we talk?" asked Dave's Mom.

They went to a café. When Rica met Auntie a month back in a party, she learned Auntie was not happy about her coming back.

"I was there in the engagement party…." said Dave's Mom. "I wanted to shut up but I just can't sit and do nothing. If you have already moved on from my son, if you don't love him anymore, if you are already in love with that Robbie guy, then just accept their proposal and leave SkyRock alone. Leave Dave alone. He had already been through a lot because of you." Auntie's voice was breaking and tears were forming in her eyes

"As a mother, I only want what's best for my child. I can't see him hurt anymore. You've already hurt him too much. You've done a lot of damage already. He…from the time you left him, he had been very lonely. He decided to live with us again. But I see him at night…"

Dave's Mom took a deep breath as her voice trembled.

"And he… my son… just cries in his room. And I know he's thinking of you. I know because I heard him calling your name. That day… three years ago…when he brought you home, I told you that he's fond of you. I should've said the truth then. I think he was already in love with you even at that time. But you left him. You left him with a broken heart. So please. If you can't make him happy, then just cut all connections you have with him."

Rica felt confused. She feels angry that Dave's Mom only saw her son's pain. Nobody in Dave's family saw her own pain… how hard it was for her too…

But she also felt something close to joy. This meant… Dave really did love her.

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Rica went to the hospital. Her mind was blank, her heart was numb from all the emotions she had subjected it to…

"I don't know what to say. I saw everything and I was left speechless." said Uncle Sam "I…think it's a good thing too that this happened. You now have the freedom to choose. FlyAir will no longer be an excuse to being tied up with Dave. Unless, of course, you want to."

Rica sigh. "How are you Uncle? "

"Treatments are doing well. The doctor said I'm responding well."

"Mom also said the good news this morning. That's like my ray of sunshine now. In all of this, knowing you'll get better drives me on, Uncle."

Rica hugged Uncle Sam

"I don't want you to end up like your father, Rica. I really pray that you won't. But I'm afraid you're going that path if I don't warn you.

Rica was confused. She pulled away from her Uncle.

"You father and mother married for business. While your Mom loved your Dad, Your Dad tried to push away his emotions because he doesn't believe in love anymore. You know why?" asked Uncle Sam

Rica shook her head.

"Because his first love married someone else for money. And since then, your Dad will put high walls to guard his heart against love. He hurt the people who care about him the most. And he hurt himself too. When he realized how he loves your Mom, you're Mom already gave up. She was done. Until his death, he wasn't able to admit his real feelings. He was never happy. And it was a tragedy."

"Uncle…Why were you telling me this now?" asked Rica

"Because I know that you're guarding your heart too much. A human must open up his heart to be really human. And falling in love, no matter how painful it is, is beautiful. I don't want you to end up as lonely as how your Dad ended up to be." said Sam

Rica took a deep breath.

"Just get better all right, Uncle? Everything will be fine." said Rica

Just then, Gene entered the room.

Rica took her bag.

"I need to go out Uncle." said Rica. "Mom, will you be all right here?"

"Yes. I'll take care of Samuel." Said Gene

Rica kissed her Uncle's cheek, hugged Gene and then left.

"She's so busy nowadays." said Samuel

"It's because she's confused and could not make up her mind yet." said Gene. "Are you sure you don't want her to know yet that the doctor said it wasn't caner after all?"

"As much as I don't want to see Rica worried about me, I think she needs this situation to really understand what she really wants to happen in her life." said Samuel "I want my niece to be happy, Gene. But Rica has tendencies of depriving herself of that happiness if nobody will push her to get it. Let's make her worry for a while more."

Gene nodded.

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Rica went to meet Robbie in a restaurant. When she saw Robbie, she was angry… extremely angry.

Robbie sat in front of Rica

"I'm sorry." was Robbie's first words. "I did not mean to surprise you, but I just want everyone to know ."

"For what? You could've told me via mail or you could've answered my calls to tell me that you wanted to help me. You didn't need to go on stage and make a national issue like this one!" said Rica, infuriated.

"I know I got over board. I am sorry. But to challenge a company like SkyRock, a small step like sending a mail is not going to suffice. I didn't do that to embarrass you, you know I don't want publicity and I hate being on paper. But I want that Dave guy to know that you have other people to go to aside from him. And I want him to know that he can't tie you up like that." said Robbie. "And that's the best way I can show that to his face."

Rica was confused, She knows Robbie was doing this to help her. But her heart was not calm knowing that Dave was shamed by the scene Robbie did.

"This is the ego thing, huh? You said you love me and I was going to marry someone else. That hit your ego and you wanted to show that you are the better man." said Rica

"That's crap, Rica. You know that I love you more than my ego. Why would I confess to you over and over if I still care about my ego?" said Robbie.

Rica sighed.

"I am serious. I want to marry you Rica. I want to help FlyAir because I want you to be happy. You can say that my timing is off again, but I won't stop saying these things…until you say yes." said Robbie

"What if I don't, Robbie? What if I continue to be tied to SkyRock?" asked Rica

"He hurt you, he broke your heart before and he can hurt you again now. He doesn't deserve the attention you're giving him. Accepting my proposal is the right thing to do." said Robbie "Unless…you're still in love with him?"

Rica looked out the window. She doesn't know what to say. Robbie is very close to her. She can't lie to him.

Robbie's hands clenched. He knows Rica too well…

And Rica…

Rica…

His Rica is still in love with David Lopez.

"I don't know what to feel anymore Robbie." said Rica. "I guess…first love never dies."