~~~ CHAPTER 44 - BRUTE ~~~

"We have a delivery for Señorita Althea Ruiz."

I paused and wrinkled my brows. What on earth was going on? Why were there men and women in pink tee shirts coming in the lobby of the institution and bringing bundles and bundles and bundles of roses of different colors and of different sizes?

"May we know if she's around?" I overheard one of the men asking the receptionist.

Doing some recording for the institution's files, I was actually in the desk together with the receptionist.

The sweet receptionist, who had become my friend recently, turned to me and gave me a quizzical but excited look.

"Huh?" I asked her confusedly.

"These roses are for you," she said to me, giggling and reiterating what the man said.

Huh?

I stood up and faced the people carrying the flowers. I was sure they noticed my befuddled look.

"This is Miss Ruiz," the receptionist introduced me to them.

"Oh, hi! Good morning, Señorita Ruiz. We have flowers delivered for you. So where shall we arrange them?"

What? Someone was sending me flowers?

My brain rushed to process everything and then I thought of Javier.

Of course, it would be Javier!

Who else would send me flowers? He was like the only man who showered me flowers since my high school days. This must be his way of compensating all the months that we hadn't seen each other.

But wasn't it overkilled? Did he really have to send a lot of flowers? And all had to be roses?

"Arrange? Oh!" I grasped my mouth with my palm.

I couldn't think of an exact place in the institution where the roses should be arranged. I was in complete shock. It was the receptionist who saved me by telling them that they could just have the flower arrangement in the lobby. The men and women, who I believed to be florists, would just have to decide where they would place the flowers in the lobby then.

Okay, alright, I was relieved. However, I was even more shocked when bunches of roses still kept coming in! How many were these roses? Hundreds? No, I didn't think so! Thousands? Yes, perhaps.

The florists immediately worked their way in the arrangement. Roses of different colors --- red, white, orange, pink, yellow --- were placed in bundles near the sofa, on the floor, on the side tables. All red roses were beautifully arranged on the desk. Some long-stemmed roses of red and pink were organized in careful detail along the wall so as not to distract the people coming in and out of the center. The flowers were just so glorious to see that my head was spinning round and round.

My companions in the institution, especially the girls ran to the lobby when they heard about the flowers. They were obviously thrilled.

The florists were doing their careful arrangement when the Institution Manager arrived. He was shocked with the presence of the roses in the lobby. He immediately approached the receptionist.

"Are these flowers donated?" he asked, wondering.

The receptionist laughed at the manager's ignorance. "No, sir. They are delivered for Miss Ruiz!"

Okay. The manager's eyes widened as he stared at me. After a few seconds, he gasped, "Wow, I didn't know a man as powerful as Mr. Sarmiento is this romantic! You are very lucky, Miss Ruiz!"

What? Nigel?

No, no, no! They were very impossible to be coming from Nigel. If the manager only knew..

Nigel had never sent me even a single flower ever since.

Then, my phone rang. I grabbed it up from the table where I was working on with the records as I excused from the manager.

"Hello?" I greeted with a questioning tone for the caller's number wasn't registered in my phone.

"Hello," there was that voice from the other line. My heart jumped. "Althea," he added.

Oh, who could not recognize this husky voice? Who could not recognize the caller when there was only one person who called me by my real name, always Althea, never Thea?

"N-Nigel?"

"Yeah, princess. You seem surprised I've called."

"H-How did you know my number?" I never recalled giving him my number.

"Never mind asking. You don't know what a Sarmiento can do," he said, chuckling.

Arrogant! He could have just told me he asked it from mom...

But, did he really ask it from mom?

"So, have you received them?" he asked. Excitement was very apparent in his voice.

"Received what?"

"The roses?"

What?

"You sent these roses?" I said, super shocked as I eyed the florists who were busy doing the arrangement. If I was shocked a while ago when the flowers arrived, I was super, super shocked this time. "I... I thought... I thought they came from---"

"F-ck!" he muttered surprisingly, cutting me off... then, he became silent... silent for a considerable number of seconds.

"N-Nigel? Hello? Nigel," I called him out.

Did he end the call already?

"Nigel," I muttered, feeling so helpless.

Brute! He had just really hang up from me? He was sending me flowers and he was hanging up from me? Was he even serious?

"Nigel," I muttered again.

"Althea..." he answered finally, sounding so lonely.

"Brute!" I interjected when I learned that he was still in the other line. I thought he was going to end the call already. I'd die if he was going to.

"Yeah, brute," he echoed, almost silently.

"Yeah, you're a brute," I repeated.

"Yeah, a brute to you," he echoed again.

"Yeah, and the brute is sending me flowers!" I said sarcastically.

"Yeah, and you thought it was some other guy who's sending you flowers," he also said, sounding irritated.

"Well, have you forgotten that you never sent me flowers ever since the world began, even a single piece?"

There was silence again in the other line.

I waited for him to talk.

"When I say I change for you, I mean it, Althea," he then stated seriously.

I almost sobbed. I didn't know why. Was it because of my irritation that he almost ended the call or because of the seriousness when he said his last words?

He continued, "And don't you forget that it's only the brute who owns the biggest flower plantation in the continent. It's only the brute who can send you thousands or even millions of flowers, princess."

I was stunned. It was like a slap to me. Yes, how could I forget? The Sarmientos owned the biggest flower plantation, not just in the whole country, but in the whole continent. Just the flowers and they were already earning millions... or billions...

"Well, who would really expect? It was just..." I didn't know what to say anymore. I wanted to sob hard.

"Hey..." he muttered softly. "Your voice's shaking. Are you crying? Are you really angry now?"

Trying to prevent the sobbing sound to come out from my mouth, I pouted.

"Princess..."

"Yeah, you just annoy me. I thought you were gonna end the call."

"No, I wasn't gonna do it. I was just not expecting when you said the roses come from someone else... and I'm hurt... Well, I think I'm to be blamed for it anyway," he explained.

"S-sorry," I uttered slowly.

"No, I'm sorry, princess."

"Okay, let's forget I said it," I pleaded.

There was a short pause from both of us.

"S-so, do you like them?" He changed the topic.

I wasn't able to answer. Looking at all the flowers, I noticed that the sobbing sound eventually came out of my mouth. I was just so overwhelmed with their beauty that the word 'like' was not even appropriate for them. These roses were everything to me from now on because they symbolized that he actually cared.

I decided to get out from the receptionist's desk and walked towards the center of the lobby. I wanted to know how it was to feel when you were surrounded by bunches of flowers sent by that special someone.

And the feeling was amazing. I wanted to cry..

"They're the best," I quipped. "You should see how beautifully they are arranged now."

"Though I want to see it myself, can't go there today. I'm at the airport right now."

"Airport?"

"I'll be out of the country for two weeks. It's actually unexpected. There was just a change of schedule. It's something that money can't even prevent. Wish I were there with you, princess."

So he was leaving... He was always this on-the-go.

"I'll be missing you," he stated so sweetly to my ears.

I'm actually missing you right now, Nigel Joaquin. I wanted to say.

"Do you know how many roses are there?" he asked.

How many?

"Now, you're making me guess," I said, giving a quick look at the roses surrounding me, "or do I have to count them one by one? Do I really have to?"

"It's five thousand pieces," he answered it anyway.

What? There were actually five thousand pieces!

"Nigel, you're overkilling it! Why do you have to send me five thousand roses?"

"Five thousand is my estimation of the number of days that I missed sending you flowers, starting from the time that you started living with us in the palacio. I should have done that years before, you know. I've really wasted a lot of time, Althea. Now, I'm making it all up to you. Starting tomorrow, you'll receive a piece of rose from me on the daily."

"Nigel..." There, he just made me speechless.

"Sorry if I haven't sent a note together with the roses. It's just I want to hear your voice so I decided to just call. I missed your voice."

"It's okay," I said, wanting to tell him that I missed his voice as well and I was really glad he called.

"I love you," he said.

He always told me these three words lately even if I was never replying him. My heart went drumming that familiar beat.

"Okay, I already said it... and it's boarding time now. You can hang up now," Nigel said.

"Huh?"

"I won't be hanging up on you, princess, so you hang up first."

Oh!

"Bye, princess," he said very, very sweetly, like it was sugar-coated.

"B-bye."

And I did press the end key... without even saying 'thank you' for the flowers. Why did I even forget it? I groaned at my stupidity.

After the call, I heard the excited shrieks of the girls. They were even more excited than me.

"Was it the CEO?" they asked almost the same question.

Blushing hard, I nodded.

They even shrieked more.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Truly, it happened. Everyday, there was a delivery --- a single piece of long-stemmed red rose.

Just a piece day after day.

It was enough for me to be convinced that he was true to his words.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

My internship in the capital ended before Nigel returned from abroad.

During our last day, my co-interns and I had a night out. I invited Kara and Serge to be with us. Anyway, with Kara's constant visit to the institution, she made friends with my colleagues.

We had dinner first at a restaurant and, then, later had a few drinks in a bar. We talked about our forthcoming graduation and everyone got excited thinking about the most awaited day of a student's life.

"I won't allow you to be absent during that day, Kara," I told her.

"Of course," she said, "and I also don't like you to miss mine."

Yeah, she was also graduating. Both teary-eyed, we hugged each other.

"I have something to tell," Kara announced cheerfully to everyone in the table after we separated from our embrace. She glanced at Serge at her right side.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Serge and I are already engaged!" she broadcasted happily as she showed off to everyone her hand with the ring.

Why hadn't I noticed it?

"Oh, my God!" I squealed as I went back hugging her. "Oh, my God!" I was facing Serge now and he was smiling.

"Congrats!" my co-interns felicitated them.

So happy for her, I couldn't help but shed tears of joy for my very good friend.

Finally, my friend found her match to forever.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

We were all lively at the bar. So thankful that we made the whole-year intership, some of us laughed and chatted at our table while the others went to dance. I was watching Kara and Serge dancing to a disco beat and I couldn't help but smile. They both looked good together.

Suddenly, my phone rang. I dug it promptly from my handbag. The Brute flashed the screen. Well, that was just how I entered him in my contacts.

"Hello, princess," it wasn't too recognizable because of the loud sound in the background but I still managed to hear it.

"Hey, what's up?" I greeted him. Oh, I missed this voice. I stood up and excused from my companions to find a silent spot where I could talk to him more privately and conveniently without the loud thumping sound in the house.

He was talking as I was trying to find a place and I wasn't able to hear even a word of it. My feet brought me to a narrow passageway, probably a way to the comfort room.

"Hey," I repeated when I found a suitable place where I couldn't be distracted.

"Where are you?" he immediately asked.

"Uhm... at a bar," I hesitated but I said it anyway.

"The sound tells it," he muttered. "Who are you with?"

Why did he sound like a possessive boyfriend?

"My fellow interns. Kara's also with me."

There was no response from the other line.

"Nigel?"

"Are there guys with you?"

"You seem like interrogating me," I mumbled as I leaned my back on the wall.

There was a sound of a sigh.

"Princess..."

"Yes, there are guys. There's Serge, Kara's fiancé, and two other guys from my team."

He groaned --- the sound of an exhausted man. "The two other guys, your co-interns, do they have an interest on you?"

I smiled to myself.

I knew this. Jealous mode.

I raised a brow. "What if they have?"

He groaned even louder with a "F-ck!" in the end.

Too amused with his reaction, I chuckled. "I'm just kidding."

"Oh, the brat is playing with my heart. You're gonna pay for this when I come back," he said with a kind of voice so thick with some emotion that I couldn't fathom.

I finally let out the laugh that I was preventing. "You're so funny, Nigel Joaquin," I said teasingly. "How do you think I shall pay?"

"It's something that your virgin mind couldn't even imagine," he declared, his dangerous tone kind of stuck in my ear.

What?

The brute!

If he could only see the red color in my cheeks right now...

"You're really a pervert!"

This time, he was the one chuckling. This sex-craved pervert!

"Ha, ha, ha..." I faked a laugh to go with his chuckle.

He burst out laughing as he heard me. Oh, the sound of his laughter brought tingles in me.

"No, it's you who's thinking of something perverty, princess!" He was still laughing. Then, his tone shifted into a serious note, "What I mean to say is... I'm not gonna hurt you ever... anymore..."

I silenced myself. Wow, Nigel Joaquin!

"But I'm pretty sure that I can badly hurt these f-cking guys hitting on you! I swear!"

"Seriously? Like how?" I challenged him. I wanted to know how violent he could become apart from beating guys.

"I'll wring their necks until they'll fully surrender and acknowledge that you only belong to me."

I gripped my phone harder. He was really impossible. He would do that for me? Was he crazy?

"Really?" I asked sarcastically. "And who are you to do that to any of my suitors?"

This time, after hearing me say those words, he stopped laughing...like really stopped... because I hadn't heard his voice anymore.

Oh, I just spoiled the fun.

"Nigel Joaquin, are you still there?" I asked later, pacing on the floor.

"What am I really to you, Althea?" he asked back. It was a serious question which I hadn't expected to hear.

I didn't answer instead gulped something in my throat.

"What am I to you?" he asked again.

I pressed my lips together. Could I still say you're my fiancé, Nigel?

"I don't know," I said instead and closed my eyes.

But he answered quickly, "I will patiently wait for that day when you'll finally figure out what I am to you, Althea."

I opened my eyes because I felt the sincerity in his tone.

"How about me? What am I to you?" I couldn't let this question slip. I wanted to know how I would label our kind of relationship.

"For me, you're my girlfriend, my fiancée, my soon-to-be bride. But, more than these terms, Althea, I'd like you to know that you're mine. You're my past, present and future. You're my everything," he said instantly, like there was no need for him to think of what he was going to say.

Wow! My heart did the weird beating again.

"I love you," he concluded.

I love you, too, Nigel Joaquin. My God, I couldn't help it anymore. I was already tired of these denials.

The heck! Why shouldn't I say it? I even bravely said these words to him when he was still denying his feelings. This time that he was admitting it to me, why shouldn't I say it?

"I... yeah... I l-love..." There was again the thumping of my heart, the loudest and fastest beating I ever felt. I paused and paced around the narrow spot. No, I couldn't wait anymore for him to come back so I could tell him this face to face... I wanted to say the words now... in spite of the great distance separating us.

"Yes, princess?"

"Nigel..." I looked up the ceiling. "Do you promise to quit sleeping with other women?"

Well, I needed to be sure of everything before I would say the magic words.

I heard him chuckle. "I've been celibate ever since I decided to be truthful of my feelings for you, princess."

Wow. Whenever was that?

"A-are you sure?"

"There's only one woman I've been meaning to share bed with. There's only one. You can count on me that I'll stick to my word," he said slowly that I thought I would collapse right there on the tiled floor.

Oh, there was too much heat in my face! His voice sounded so near to my ear that I could actually feel he was there with me, his mouth ready to pounce on my neck.

"Oh, who could that woman be?" I teased, trying to disregard the heat I was feeling.

"It's my one and only brat," he immediately answered.

"Brute!" I exclaimed.

He laughed again. "Brat and brute. Don't they almost sound the same? We are really made for each other, princess."

Yeah, we really are.

I smiled sheepishly. "Uhm... Nigel?"

"Yeah?"

"Yes, I... I..." I was about to say the words I longed to say to him when a hand gripped my left shoulder. The owner of that hand was standing at my back. I turned around and I couldn't believe whom I saw!

"D-Dylan? Dylan Fernandez!" I said, open-mouthed.

Nigel's voice was calling my name in the phone but, somehow, I just happened to disregard him and, eventually, pressed the end key.

"Long time no see, Thea." The guy in front of me showed me his signature smile... but this time, I couldn't call it angelic anymore. For me, it was a traitor's smile.

There was only one thing in my mind now --- to stay away from this man who once acted to be my friend but later on betrayed the innocent me.

I didn't speak anything, instead I pushed his hand away from my shoulder. Really hoping to get rid of him so fast, I started leaving him.

Dylan grabbed my hand. "Hey, Thea! It's been a while and you're walking away!"

Oh, I had seen him in his drunk state before. Now, I couldn't be mistaken. He was drunk right this very moment. "Get your hands off me!" I yelled at him. I had never felt so panic-stricken with someone and I didn't like what I was feeling at the moment.

He grinned at me and I didn't find it attractive at all.

"Aren't friends supposed to catch up after not seeing each other for years?" he asked, pushing my back against the wall.

God! This was indeed the real Dylan!

Nigel always imprisoned my tiny body just like this with my back pressed to the wall, but Nigel in his harsh state still would give me shivers and excitement. Right now, with Dylan, I was panic-stricken!

I needed help!

God, I needed help!

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

A/N

Dylan Fernandez is back!!! Still remember the guy?

By the way, you probably see it by now that I'm already adding casts to this book. Oh yeah, can't help it... I've been using Selena Gomez' and Gui Fedrizzi's pics in most of the chapters, so why not? Anyway, some of you ask for the name of the guy in the pics. Okay, everyone, let me introduce you to Gui Fedrizzi, that's the guy. Who is he? Well, you can actually see his face placarded in a famous signature store because he's no less than the face of Guess... :D

That's it!

Early update!!! Yay!!!

I think, I'll be changing my updating schedule from now on. Would it be okay with you if I'll update every Wednesday instead of Saturday?

VOTE, COMMENT, SHARE, FOLLOW.

Lovelotz,
(sapphiregirl22) ~_^