And now, here she was, stranded in a place she did not know.
She let her gaze roam around the whole area again. It was very quiet. She looked at her watch again. It was almost four o’clock; only one hour remained before it would grow dark.
She was just about to murmur a prayer when she heard the sound of an approaching vehicle.
She quickly got out of the car. The sound she heard was coming from ahead. She could not see it because the end of the road curved.
I hope it’s Grandpa’s men arriving, she murmured.
The road was almost one-way; if either vehicle did not pull over toward the grass, whoever met another vehicle would surely be unable to pass.
From the curve appeared a large pickup truck, and perhaps when its driver saw her blocking the road, it stopped while still some distance away.
A few moments passed before she saw the driver get out.
He slowly walked toward her, as if he had all the time in the world and there was no need to hurry.
He was wearing faded jeans and a polo shirt in a color that matched the denim. The sleeves were rolled up to the elbows. He wore a buri hat. A typical provincial man.
This big man was now near her, and in her opinion, her 5’4” height was dwarfed beside him.
She could not see his face very well because of the hat he was wearing, but his thighs and arms were muscular.
“Hello,” she greeted. “I think I’ve already counted years here waiting for someone to arrive.”
Even though she was nervous, she tried to give her friendliest smile. As far as she knew, people from the province were kind and helpful to strangers, especially to women like her.
The same old helpless trick could work anywhere, as long as the person she met was not a bad person.
“Did your car break down?” he asked in a full, solid voice, his eyes only passing over her before immediately focusing on the car.
“There was smoke and then just stopped all of a sudden. I don’t know anything about cars.”
The man smiled, and she swallowed.
“What if I hadn’t come? Then you would have spent the whole night here.”
She wanted to hold her breath. That was the sexiest smile she had ever seen! Why, her knight in shining armor was even more handsome than Lancelot!
Oh well, not the English way. The promdi way. Even so, still handsome.
Sun-browned skin, a sharp nose in a very male way. And his lips were… were… She released the breath she had been holding and swallowed.
She must be crazy! She had given this stranger the descriptions she used for the male characters in her novels. And never in her wildest imaginings had she thought she would meet someone like the pocketbook heroes she wrote.
She looked at him again while he bent over the car and examined the problem.
All male and ruggedly handsome. He was probably thirty-one or thirty-two years old. Could he already be married?
“Your fan belt snapped and the carburetor dried out,” the man said, straightening from his bent position and looking at her.
“Do you know how to fix it?”
“You need to buy a new fan belt in town, but it will already be closed by the time we get there. Tomorrow, then. I’m going there in the morning anyway. I’ll buy one for you.”
“Is the town far from here?”
“Five kilometers from here,” he answered, making it clear there was nothing to be done but for her car to sleep in this forest. “Why did you come here anyway? Where are you headed? This is private property.”
“Private? Where does this road lead?”
The man did not answer and stared at her from head to toe. He examined her whole appearance as if she were from another planet.
The man was probably wondering what she was doing on this mountain wearing a short denim skirt, a white hanging blouse, and two-inch high-heeled sandals.
She cleared her throat, but the man did not stop looking at her.
He did not care if what he was doing was obvious. He stood as if he owned the ground he was standing on.
She had met many arrogant and conceited men, but this one was different. There was great self-confidence in the way he moved, spoke, and stood… And he was very masculine in every way, enough to shame even a bull if placed beside him.
What was more irritating was the smile in his eyes while he stared at her.
“Can you stop looking at me?”
“Why?” His eyebrow rose.
“Why?” The young woman rolled her eyes upward. Then she turned her gaze back to the man. “Because I feel like you’re staring at me as if you think I’m meat for sale and you’re checking whether I’m first class!”
The man’s eyebrow rose, his eyes still laughing as he looked at her. “You’re beautiful and you look first class, so I’m staring at you. Not because you look like meat for sale.”
Oh dear! The young woman crossed her arms and looked around again. Was that what passed for a compliment around here?
“You said this is private property. Is this Hacienda Kristine?”
To her surprise, the smile in his eyes disappeared at once. He suddenly became formal.
“If that’s where you’re headed, you entered the wrong road, miss. You should have turned right instead of left here.”
“Oh…!”
“Who are you going to see at Hacienda Kristine? Are you a guest there?”
“If they received my mom’s long distance call, they’re expecting me there now. I’m going to see Leon Fortalejo.”
“This is your first time coming here, so you got lost? What business do you have with Leon Fortalejo?” There was authority in the man’s voice, as if he were ordering Emerald to answer everything he asked. How was she supposed to answer that?
“I’m a writer. A romance novelist. If you know what I mean.”
“I know what you mean,” he answered quickly. “But that doesn’t answer my question.”
“I want to vacation here… to work on my next novel,” she said, seeing the man’s face gradually brighten.
“I’ll take you to the entrance of the hacienda. Tomorrow morning, have someone bring you here to get your car.” He started walking. “Come on,” he added without looking back.
“J-just a minute! I have things with me.”
The man stopped walking and turned. Then he stepped back toward her car, took her suitcase and portable typewriter from inside, and carried them to the pickup truck. He placed her things in the back, opened the passenger’s seat, went around to the driver’s seat, and climbed in.
For several seconds, Emerald stared at the open door of the truck. No matter what she did, she probably could not climb into that truck unless she removed the skirt she was wearing. Or else crawled like a snake toward the seat.
The man lightly bumped his head against the headrest before getting down again and going around to her side. Without saying a word, he held her by the waist and lifted her into the air as if she were a bunch of bananas.
The young woman closed her eyes as she drew in a breath. When she opened her eyes, she was already inside the truck.
The man started the ignition, and the vehicle moved. He steered it far to the side so it would not hit her car.
“I like what you’re wearing,” the man said after a few seconds. “I can thoroughly run my eyes over your beautiful legs. But that kind of outfit isn’t right for someone traveling like you.” He did not hide the smile that appeared on his lips.
Emerald covered her mouth before she could say something improper. This man had helped her. There was no reason for her to let herself be carried away by what he was saying.
With the man’s continued glances at her legs, she felt as if her breathing wanted to tighten inside the truck. Now she wanted to regret not wearing denim pants.
Even though she wanted to get angry at his shameless staring, she could not do it. She was hoping she would reach the hacienda safely.
“How long will you be vacationing at Hacienda Kristine?”
“W-what did you say?”
“Will you be staying here long?” the man repeated.
“I don’t know. It depends.”
“Depends on what? On whether you finish your story?”
“It depends on how Leon Fortalejo receives me,” she said, accompanying it with a shrug.
She noticed the truck slowing down. Although the man’s eyes were focused on the road, she knew he was aware of what she was doing.
“What do you mean? Who invited you to the hacienda? Was it Nathaniel? Are you two friends?” She noticed the change in his tone on the last thing he said.
“It’s… Leon Fortalejo himself.”
The man said nothing after that.
“I’m Emerald, by the way,” she thought to introduce herself because they had been talking all this time and they did not even know each other’s names. “What’s your name?”
“Emerald…” the man murmured her name as if he were tasting honey on his tongue. “Emerald what?”
“Kristine Emerald Fortalejo,” she said with a shrug.
At the same time, the man suddenly stepped on the brake, and if she had not been holding on to the dashboard, she would have slammed into the windshield.
“Why…?” she asked him. She felt slightly chilled by the look he threw at her.
Why is he angry? She pressed herself slightly into the corner of the seat. Was the person she had thought was her knight in shining armor sane?
Then she noticed his smile, but the anger in his eyes was still there.
“Welcome to Paso de Blas, Kristine Emerald Fortalejo!” He spoke her name in a firm, deliberate way, then started the vehicle again.
Why did it suddenly seem hot inside the truck, and why did she feel suffocated? And why was it that even though the man was no longer speaking, his body seemed to be giving off the anger she had seen in his eyes?
She looked again at the endless trees and was beginning to think he might not take her to the hacienda when she saw a large arch ahead. HACIENDA KRISTINE was written at the top of the arch. The young woman breathed freely.
Had what she had done been very obvious and had the man heard it?
He let out a soft laugh.
“Do you think the people here eat humans, Miss Fortalejo?” he asked before stopping the vehicle and getting out of the truck, setting her things down on the ground.
She also opened the door to get down. And once again, the problem she had getting in earlier was also her problem now in getting down.
With her pencil-cut denim skirt and high-heeled sandals… Would she slide down or jump? She would be out of her mind if she did that.
She was about to remove the sandals she was wearing so she could just jump when the man went around in front of her. From what she saw in his eyes, she knew he was laughing at her. Her pride rose when he was about to reach for her.
“No need. I can get down by myself,” she refused firmly.
“Suit yourself. I’m just reminding you that this is only the entrance of the hacienda. From here to the villa, it’s still almost a kilometer away. And if you jump and sprain yourself, it would be one hell of a walk, lady.”
Oh, so the brute knows how to speak English! After staring at him, she turned her gaze toward the hacienda.
What he said was true. She could not even see the shadow of Villa Kristine.
“But… but why are you only taking me this far?”
“Ask the people at the villa that. So, what now? Are you going to jump, or do you need my help?”
She looked at the man helplessly. His eyes darkened even more under her gaze.
He immediately raised his hands and placed them at her waist again. On instinct, she held on to his shoulders. Unlike earlier when she climbed up, he had lifted her from behind. But now she was facing him, and their bodies and faces were almost touching.
She could smell the musk scent. Did people here wear cologne?
For heaven’s sake, Emerald, even cologne mattered to you!
After a few moments, her feet touched the ground, but the man still did not let go of her waist.
She could feel the heat of his palms on her skin because her hanging blouse had already ridden up. She did not know whether she should breathe or not.
She looked up at him and could not understand what his eyes were implying.
“Do you know that a high-grade emerald stone is even more valuable than a diamond?” He was speaking so softly that his breath brushed against her face.
She remained staring at him stupidly. What was she supposed to say? And oh, dear! Why was she acting so stupidly like one of the heroines in her novels? She only created those heroines; she was not one of them.
Why had her throat suddenly gone dry because of their closeness?
“And if you are the kind of emerald that is high grade, then I’m very lucky. You are worth the long wait.”
“I-I hope you’ll explain what you mean,” she said softly. “And please, your hold is tightening on… me,” she added, looking down to emphasize what she said.
The man gave her one assessing look before letting her go and climbing into the truck. She quickly followed to the driver’s seat.
“What is your name, by the way?”
“De Silva… Marco de Silva,” he said, and again there was a look she could not understand.
“Thank you, Marco.” She smiled at him. “Oh, that’s right! You said you would buy a fan belt in town tomorrow. How much is it?”
“Tomorrow, Emerald,” he answered, starting the truck’s ignition.
And before the young woman could move, it had already started forward. Marco slightly lifted his hat as if saluting.
Until the truck disappeared from her sight, Emerald did not leave the spot.
Cultural Notes:
- A hacienda is a large landed estate, farm, or ranch originating in the Spanish colonial era. In a story setting, owning a hacienda places a character among the landed elite or the upper-middle to upper class.
- “Promdi” is a Filipino slang term that means “from the province”. It was originally a derogatory term used to describe someone from a rural area as unsophisticated.
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