Chapter 33
“Well, I’ll try my luck on you.”
Not even convinced, I let him do what he wanted to happen. Based on the length of time we’ve been playing, he’s fought really hard. It’s like he doesn’t learn anything from what I teach. Seriously, where else do you find a dealer teaching the player how to play? I think our position in life has been reversed. The student is teaching the professor… well, to gamble.
Tsk. Of course, he will lose again because, instead of looking at the cards, he was staring at me with those penetrating eyes.
What does he really want to happen now? Why is he here? I’m not convinced that he’s here because he just wants to play with me. It’s not that, I know. And what I wonder is, how did he know I was here?
We started playing again. His first card is the king of hearts.
“You know what? Forget about the money. If I win, you’re coming home with me.”
I just looked at him and shook my head, confident that he wouldn’t win. But it was as if he was really lucky.
Another card was drawn for him. I was merely surprised to see an ace of hearts. It is a blackjack. I saw him smirk while looking at me. “Guess you’re coming home with me,” he said jokingly.
“I never agree.” I gave him a triple of his bet. “I am not coming with you, sir.” I saw how the smile disappeared from his lips.
I walked away from the table after I fixed everything in its place. I heard Ismael calling me, but I ended up going into the female comfort room to change my clothes because I wanted to go home.
I was surprised when I saw him outside the quarters waiting for me. And what’s even more surprising is that he’s not holding anything. Did he just leave his briefcase on the table? What the fuck?
I walked past him to say goodbye to Mr. Vargas, telling him I was going home. He agreed, and he took me out of the office.
“You won’t be here for three days, right? Starting tonight until Sunday,” he confirmed.
“Yes, Mr. Vargas, but I will come back on Monday at the same time to fulfill my duty.”
He nodded and smiled. “Alright, see you then. I’ll send your paycheck later this week. Just wait for it in your account.”
I smiled and thanked him. I was about to leave when I saw Ismael in front of me again. Will he really not stop bothering me?
“Let’s go now, Miss Alvandra. I’ll take you home,” he grumbled. I’m really annoyed.
“Can you stop? I don’t want to go with you!” I yelled before walking past him again when I suddenly heard Mr. Vargas’ voice.
“Mr. Mondalla, is that you?” I turned to Mr. Vargas, who is now amazed at what he sees. “I’ve been inviting you so many times here. What brought you here?” He questioned.
I saw how Mr. Vargas looked at me. He seems to know the answer.
“I’ve been declining since I don’t know how to play,” replied Ismael, who didn’t seem to convince Mr. Vargas.
“Don’t fool me! I know you’re best at math. Counting cards is easy for you. I won’t be surprised if my casino loses if you play,” he laughed jokingly, making me gape. He probably doesn’t know that Ismael and I just finished playing, and he lost six million against him.
“Honestly, I already-” I didn’t let Ismael finish speaking because I squeezed his hand.
“He’s here to take me home, Mr. Vargas. We’re going home. Bye,” I interjected before grabbing Ismael’s hand and taking him away from there. I need to stop him from saying something to my boss that will probably reduce my salary. Imagine losing six million to this professor.
We left the casino. Of course, I didn’t forget Ismael’s brief case. I threw it at him, who quickly caught it with one hand because one hand was holding me.
In fairness, I was nervous there at the moment. What will be the reaction of Mr. Vargas when he finds out what I did? Will he fire me? But based on what he told Ismael, he will not be surprised if he loses. Well, he lost six million.
“Get in.”
My attention returned to Ismael, and that’s when I noticed that his car had been waiting in front of us.
I frowned and remembered the fight between us again. I took my hand from him and shook my head. “No, I told you, I’m not coming with you.”
“Stop messing with me and do what I say.” The tone of his speech was serious, as if it were carving fear into my heart. He opened the door and pulled my hand into his car. He sat in the driver’s seat and started driving.
Every breath I take is heavy, but I can’t speak. I don’t know why he followed me again. This is so unfair.
I noticed that we were taking a different path, so I turned to him. I muster up the courage to complain. “This is not the way to my home.”
“We’re not going there,” he answered quickly while looking at the road.
“I need to go home. I need to feed the cat.”
“I already did. I saw your cat outside your house, asking for help. What kind of mother are you to leave him without food?” There is a trace of annoyance in his tone. When it comes to cats, he is sensitive. I’m the fool who punished the cat because of this man’s name.
I just sighed and folded my arms. I just looked out the window. I just realized that it’s morning. “Then, where are you going to take me?”
“Did you forget about our agreement?”
I frowned and turned to him again. “Agreement?”
“About the camping,” he answered simply. I turned my gaze to the window again.
“I know. I did not forget. In fact, I already filed my leave with Mr. Vargas about this, so I won’t be there in the casino for three days.” And that’s right, because I can catch up on sleep since I’ve been awake for a few days. One of the reasons I can’t attend Ismael’s class is because I prefer to sleep more.
I sat up when I saw where the car we were riding had stopped. At the Island Motel Bar.
“W-what are we going to do here?” I asked in alarm. He went out the door to open it for me.
“I told you, I’ll bring you to my penthouse.” I noticed the adjacent hotel where he often took me. It turns out to be very high when viewed from the outside.
“This is not the perfect day to go there, Ismael,” I said firmly, saying that I was also affected. Because I mentioned his name, it caused a strange feeling in my heart.
“This is the perfect day, Miss Alvandra. Believe me. This place is much closer to the university than your house. You can sleep here for a couple of hours before we go to Marcus,” he explained.
“No, I’ll just sleep on the trip.”
He sighed and stared at me for a long time. It seems like he’s trying to figure out what should be done with someone like me.
“You’re really stubborn. I don’t know why I like you.”
I was surprised when he hugged me, but not to prove what he said but to carry me like a sack.
“I-Ismael! Let me go! What are you doing?!” I shouted at him as I fumbled for him to put me down.
“Hey! Take me down! Aren’t you ashamed? People are staring at us!”
I tried to tap his shoulders, but still, he didn’t listen to me. No matter what I said, he didn’t budge. I just saw that we were entering his hotel. Even in the elevator, he didn’t let go of me. He is increasingly causing my blood to flow to my head due to the manner in which he is holding me. Now, I am fully annoyed.
“Fuck! Ismael! Take me down!” I yelled.
“No, I won’t. After you slapped me that hard the last time and ran your mouth so rudely towards me, I am now within my limits. We need to talk.”
“And in your penthouse?” I asked sarcastically, with a hint of annoyance.This content belongs to Nô/velDra/ma.Org .
“Yes, in my penthouse, so you can’t escape from me.”
The elevator rang, signaling that we were at the top of the building. The beauty of the location, as it welcomed me, surprised me greatly. Is this even real?
So big and so beautiful. Pure glass. Is he the only one living here? What the eff?
He threw me on the bed. Luckily, it was soft, so I didn’t get hurt. He moved away from me to undress. I immediately winced. “You want to talk about what? About sex? I know this is all you want! You want to be together again; that’s why you brought me here!” I shouted.
He turns to me, looking so annoyed. His forehead was creased. “What are you talking about?”
Ismael walks towards me as if he is just bringing his work of art body closer to me so that I can see it better. “I told you, I brought you here to sleep, so sleep because we will talk later.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Then why are you undressing?”
“Because I’m going to change clothes?” He answered sarcastically before taking a glass and pouring red wine. He sipped it in front of me. And I didn’t know that I would get drunk while watching him consume it. His Adam’s apple moves as if seducing me.
When he looked back at me, I immediately averted my eyes. “What’s going on in your mind? How did you think that I’m approaching you because I’m just chasing your body?”
I gulped. He’s scary when he becomes so serious like this. All the words sink into my bones.
“There are a lot of women who’re sexier than you. Soft-spoken, conservative, delicate-but here I am, head over heels for someone who couldn’t even respect me, who loves to throw baseless speculations and hurt my ego.” He has a face like thunder. And I’m struck by his lightning too.
I just gulped because not a single word came out of my rough mouth. Those words of his struck my heart. It’s like even he couldn’t accept his feelings, so he just drank alcohol. Me too, I can’t accept that he’s been telling me he likes me when I know all the truth that he has someone else.
Baseless speculations?
Am I wrong when I see him with another girl? What is his explanation, then? My eyes clearly see how he also opened the door for that girl. How he smiles. Even the way he looked at that woman was full of care. Is he referring to her being sexier than me? Soft-spoken? Conservative and delicate? Why isn’t her he brought here, if that’s his type? Why does he say he likes me even though he really has someone else?
I feel hurt. Because of these questions in my head that I can’t even talk about with him since I don’t want to get hurt, I am hurt even more because it is not resolved. I am so afraid to question my rights toward him because, first of all, I don’t have any. I have no right over him. We are nothing.
“Now, you say, is it just your body that I’m after?”