Pt.6: 37: The Unknown Voice

"I want to cut those hands from touching what's mine." With gritted teeth, Skylar mumbled under her breath, controlling herself from committing a crime in the late afternoon.

Vincencio sent the couple out of the restaurant, where Skylar watched her husband from their table like a hawk since Monica had tried to flirt with him again. She wanted to bolt there and yank Monica's hand away from him, but after witnessing Vincencio graciously remove Monica's hand from his arms, Skylar grinned. She felt relieved and went to the railings after they left. She calmed down by inhaling the air's freshness. However, Skylar's aura flared up again when she recalled the incident earlier, which Vincencio noticed.

"I know my wife is hot, but what troubles her beautiful mind?" Vincencio asked sweetly as he wrapped his arms around her waist, making her lean.

"I hate her flirting with you. I want to show her that I owned you—which you're mine, but I learned something." Skylar admitted what annoyed her, but there was something else too.

"And what is it?" He wondered as he leaned his chin over her shoulder.

"I heard that she has a pair of dead fish eyes, and it's true. She lost her usual self." She answered with a sigh. "You've fallen badly."

"Wifey, you sounded like you knew her too." He guessed, making Skylar smile.

"Because I do," she responded.

"Don't tell me she's …" He was about to guess when Skylar cut him off.

"Yes, she's an old friend, but also Gregory's mistress in those old days." Skylar sadly smiled, making Vincencio kiss his wife's head.

"But the way you bared your fangs at her earlier, it sounded more." He guessed, which made Skylar turn and face him.

"And that more is something you'll learn soon," Skylar confirmed his guess while feeling his heartbeat against his chest.

"Why do I have the feeling that whatever this secret is, it's the real core of every secret you have?" Vincencio wondered amusingly before kissing her temple.

"Because it is, Vince. Once you learn them, don't let me go. Don't be afraid of me," she said, very raw, while staring deeply into his eyes, looking for assurance.

"I should be the one who's saying that, but you know, I won't. You're my life, my heart, my everything. Remember that." Vincencio smiled sweetly and leaned his temple against hers, feeling each other's warmth and genuine love.

"Thank you, Hubby." Skylar thanked him, but when she rested her head over his chest, Skylar's eyes turned grim, and she thought. "I'll ensure everyone will pay for the peace I've been hoping for."

***

The couple enjoyed the rest of their free time in a peaceful ambiance with a beautiful city view when Skylar sensed strange vibes. Her narrowed eyes carefully scanned the bustling city beneath the hotel's skyscraper. As her eyes narrowed, strangely, her view became clearer, and she found someone. Surrounded by cars' horns and a crowd on the street, her gaze fell on someone, him, staring back at her.

"Who are you?" Skylar thought, carefully watching the mysterious man staring back at her, from deep brown eyes turning into a pair of glowing red eyes. "Red eyes…vampire…"

She knew then the man wasn't a human. However, she can't divert her eyes elsewhere, captivated. The more she stared at the mysterious man's eyes, the more her body turned cold, and she began hearing a familiar voice from a blurry distant memory and whispered a message directly addressed to her.

'Time is ticking, my dear. It's time to wake up before he finds you.'

"What? Who's he?" she asked in confusion.

'Wake up and you'll know, my dear—'

"WAIT!" she shouted as the mysterious man began fading like smoke.

'Wake up.'

"WIFEY, WAKE UP!" Vincencio's worried voice woke up Skylar from having a nightmare. "You're dreaming."

"What? What happened?" Skylar asked confusedly while looking around and sitting beside Vincencio in the car's backseat on the way home.

"You suddenly collapse in my arms while enjoying the city view. Luckily, your hotel's doctor was around the restaurant when he heard me. He said, "It's over fatigue." He answered as he pulled Skylar into his arms, inhaling her scent again.

"He loves my scent…" Skylar thought but didn't complain and just reacted flatly. "Oh…"

"Don't 'oh' me, Mrs. Saison-Monsour. You scared me to death," he said firmly while he cupped her face, squeezing gently, making her frown. She didn't like her face being squeezed like a kid.

"True, he almost strangled your hotel's doctor with his bare hand." Jake teased, making Vincencio sigh and let go of his wife's face.

"You do?" Skylar reacted playfully, but seeing his glare, she softened and apologetically admitted her workaholic side. "I'm sorry, Hubby. You have a workaholic wife."

"That's why I want you to get home as early as possible, and if you intend to do all-nighters, don't work on the following day, please." He sighed and hoped that his wife would listen to his request.

"I can't—" She was about to reason, but Vincencio's glare made her change her mind and suggest like she was making a deal with him. "…but can I work from home instead?"

"Workaholic." Vincencio sighed and rolled his eyes in disbelief before adding, "You bargain too much, you know."

"Well, it's better than burning your kitchen." She winked, making Vincencio glare more before groaning in defeat. He loves his kitchen, but he loves his wife more than his life.

"Er, fine." He gave up, making Skylar scoot closer to his arms, grinning before he firmly requested something from Medina. "Med, please do me a favor and arrange that work schedule for our workaholic CEO in case she does her overtime again. Or else, I might end up locking her up in our house if she forced herself to go to the company after doing overtime in a row."

"Noted." Amused, Medina agreed, but Skylar was lost in her thoughts.

"But that dream...felt so real?" Skylar thought deeply while resting securely in her husband's arms.

***

Their life as a married couple was always filled with warmness and friendly bickering. It was their way of showing acceptance and understanding, which differed from what they showed at work. Vincencio followed his boss diligently and focused on work, while Skylar was always the intimidating boss until Vincencio's assigned project took place.

"What do you think about this, Mr. Sterling? Does this stucco color go for your resort's exterior walls?"

"It'll work, but I like white-blue for the entire wall since I don't want a full white color."

"Like a pale blue?"

"Blue that's closer to white, like out of a hundred percent white, there's five or ten percent of blue mixed in it. Something like that."

"Ah, okay, I get it. We could go with that." 

Vincencio kept talking with Gregory with professionalism but in a friendly manner. His approach makes his client relaxed, voicing his idea for his resort. As for Skylar, she didn't interject; instead, she walked beside them and listened attentively to their conversations. She only gave advice or input on the side whenever they asked her opinion. She let them decide on the changes until Gregory's phone rang.

"Oh, excuse me, I have to answer this. It's a new VIP client." Gregory smiled as he excused himself.

"Go on, I'll check around." Vincencio smiled, letting Gregory pick up his call before he turned to his wife. "So, tell me, wifey, what's made you quiet during our talks?"

"It's your project, and I'm just observing how he'll work with you. It's nice that he finally shares what he likes about this resort. This somehow will work," Skylar said while smiling at him.

"I'm glad too. There's warmness in him but also a distant sorrow." Vincencio commented on what he noticed, causing a little intrigue in Skylar.

"Meaning?" Skylar wondered.

"I know it was not about you and your past with him, but something worries him." He answered what he noticed, making Skylar consider it.

"Hm, if you want to be friends with him, I don't mind. He just has to keep his wife away from you." She responded with a little warning, making Vincencio chuckle.

"Fair enough," he said, kissing her head before adding, "Anyway, you go and roam around; I need to inform the designer what he told me."

"Diligent as always." Skylar smiled amusingly as she watched Vincencio jog toward their designer before she roamed around to check the resort's area that needed to be updated.

Skylar likes the movement of her team for this project. Everyone was doing their job while Gregory's employees made time to help around. It was a nice view—unity—until she bumped into Gregory, who just finished the call.

"Mrs. Saison-Monsour, like the resort's updates?" Gregory asked politely, making Skylar smile thinly.

"Should I be asking you that?" Skylar asked in return as they walked to the shore.

"True, and I like it. Also, I took your advice, and my men were great about these updates and even requested to leave some historical areas to add features of the resort." He responded, filled with excitement. "They also suggested adding a photo-message mural to capture and showcase the memories of our customers during their stay here."

"That's a nice idea. You could showcase that since it's your family heritage and for the customers to reminisce once they come back here." She agreed and saw Vincencio around the restaurant, speaking with the resort's chef.

"I know, and I'm excited to see our regular customers' reaction when they see that." He chuckled as he enjoyed the woman's company.

"Keep that spirit. You'll make this resort bloom again in due time." She assured him and patted his shoulder before walking ahead of him.

"Thank you…" He thanked him but trailed off. Skylar noticed.

"What?" she asked but didn't look back. She just walked toward the restaurant.

"I know you said it before, but are you sure you don't remember me or even my wife?" he wondered, which slightly made Skylar slow down.

"I do, and everything that happened to me is sad," Skylar thought before responding with an apologetic tone and annoyance when it comes to his wife. "I don't. I also want to apologize for my behavior that night. I don't like the way she indirectly flirts with my husband. Honestly, I want to strangle her whenever she tries."

"You're not the first one who said that." Gregory chuckled, but there was sadness in his eyes.

"And you're not mad? She's flirting in front of you," she asked with an annoyed tone.

"I know. I've seen and clarified the rumors about her." He sadly replied and looked over the ocean, thinking deeply.

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously, although she already knew the answer.

"Rumors about her cheating, that she's a whore, and saying that I'm oblivious or too kind for her." He answered flatly before adding, "Honestly, I knew it ever since the news about my ex's death. She changed a lot after that. She was not radiant, and her turmoil got worse. But I could swear she loves me…"

"Turmoil? That's new," she thought before asking after sensing something. "But?"

"I don't know how to share this, but since you look like my ex, I'll tell you something she didn't know about me and Monica." Gregory sadly opened, looking at the waves, making it suspenseful before adding. "Please, don't tell anything about this to Monica. She doesn't know my worries over her untold side."

"You can trust me; my lips are sealed." Skylar smiled with assurance, making Gregory smile in relief.

Skylar carefully watched him step a little closer to the shore, where the waves were almost touching his slippers. She knew that he was readying himself to share something unspeakable from a long time ago. Skylar braced herself and masked her intrigue with a friendly curiosity.

"I hope this will be something useful for later," Skylar thought, letting Gregory take his time before sharing them with her.

"Back in the day, Skylar and I were simply friends during school years and got into a relationship before graduating college. It was a nice relationship, but sadly, I don't do long distance, so we broke up and I continued my studies abroad while she joined military training." Gregory began sharing their story, and Skylar remembered them. "When I got back, of course, I reconnected with her, and feelings were mutual, but we didn't jump into a relationship again. However, it was there."

"Then what happened?" she wondered.

"Before I got engaged or became official again with Skylar, I had a one-night stand with her. I don't know her name since it was a one-night drunken sex. But during our frequent meet-ups at the same bar, we became friends, drinking buddies with no sex involved. It was a nice friendship, and I got into a relationship." Gregory continued with a half smile, remembering the past.

"Does she know about your one-night stand with Monica?" Skylar curiously asked without overstepping the boundaries.