Luke is currently on the phone while talking to his parents. “Make sure you find Naomi no matter how long it will take. The companies’ sales are stable but we do not know how long these sales will hold on. We all know Naomi is the most influential when it comes to promoting our magazines” his mother said on the other line.
Luke scratched his nape in stress. “Just let me take my time. I am working with the company’s papers here. Monitor the mails I send in the company’s system” he replied. The company is doing well but there is no assurance that it will remain successful in the next few months. Luke noticed in his message requests the statement Amber sent.
It is one of the numerous messages he received stating that they know where Naomi is located. It took him a lot of fraudulent experiences from the people who claimed to see Naomi. After all, the frauds all came for the money he is offering as a reward. He shrugged and replied to Amber’s message of claim, “You have to give me three reasonable evidences before I accept your claims”.
Amber sat down in the interns’ office’s couch while sipping a cold coffee drink. “You are quite investigative, Mr. Luke Fuerte” she replied and immediately sent the photos of Naomi’s medical records from the OB’s records office.
Luke viewed the photos and still became hesitant to believe. “You can’t show me that. What if it is made up?” he asked and waited for more evidences. Amber raised her lip in a smirk; she still has two cards to play. She answered Luke’s question, “How about I tell you the things relating Doc JL Tiueco and Naomi Nievez?”. Luke seemed to be interested the moment he read Amber’s message.
Amber is the first one to message Luke with JL’s name involved. He stood up in disbelief and immediately scheduled for the meetup. Luke planned to see Amber in the coffee shop near the hospital where Amber and JL are working. Luke came with a mask covering half of his face. His bland looking emotion greeted Amber who is carrying the cup of her cold coffee drink.
Amber went near him, “I bet you are Mr. Lukas Fuerte” she initiated the conversation. “I am” he simply replied as an introduction. “I thought I have one more card to play. Why did you plan to see me promptly? Aren’t you having trust issues?” she questioned. Luke smirked, “Let’s go straight to the topic. I do not want my time wasted here” he answered.
Amber chuckled, “I will start it with a sentiment. I was a die - hard aspiring surgeon who take someone like Doc JL Tiueco as an inspiration. And then, I confessed to him the moment I had the chance to be an intern. I got to assist in few of his surgeries until Naomi Nievez came out of the blue”.
Luke’s eyes widened. He interrupted, “Wait, so you mean, you already saw Naomi here? And she is really involved with JL Tiueco?” he asked since he cannot believe what Amber said. She slowly nodded and continued what she is saying, “At first, I thought they are only ex - lovers. She came in the hospital wearing a mask and her identity is always hidden by Doc JL”.
Luke leaned back with a weird chuckle. Amber continued to the climax, “But you know what hurts the most? The fact that Naomi is pregnant and they got married”. Luke felt like his heart is being trampled; his chest kept on pounding and everything makes sense. Every question he has in his mind from the moment Naomi ran away got answered in just a snap.
“N-Naomi is pregnant and is also married?” he asked to confirm. Amber slowly nodded, “We are on the same boat here, Mr. Luke Fuerte”. Luke remained quiet while feeling the tension in his heart. He truly loved Naomi and he knows that he has a fault. Still, his pride and anger devoured him, making him blame JL of the misery he is experiencing now.
With fist clenched he requested, “Tell me where JL Tiueco lives. I have to settle things with him”. Amber rode his car and led the way. They reached the condo unit of Lorenzia with JL’s car in the place’s parking lot. “Great timing. His car is here” Amber said while buckling off the seatbelt. They both went to the unit’s floor with Amber’s assistance.
The elevator’s door tinged; Luke took quick wide steps with anger in his eyes. Amber pointed the door of the unit where JL is staying. Luke calmly knocked and waited for someone to open the door. Lorenzia’s eye peeped on the door’s peephole. He saw one familiar face accompanying Luke in a mask. She faced Fonsi and signaled him to act innocent.
She opened the locked door and greeted the two. Lorenzia clung to Fonsi’s arm and watched Luke slowly take off his face mask. “It’s been a long time, Lorenzia and traitor friend” he said. Fonsi chuckled, “I did not expect you to pay us a visit. What brings you here?” he asked. Luke scoffed, “Don’t play innocent. I know that you know who am I finding” he answered.
Lorenzia smiled, “You know all too well that Naomi betrayed us also. Which means, I have cut ties with her for a long time now. Why are you finding her here?” she asked. Luke looked away, “If Naomi is not here, then where is JL?” he asked back. Lorenzia’s eyes focused on Amber whose arms are crossed. She answered, “Why don’t you ask this intern surgeon beside you? I thought she is JL’s girlfriend?”.
“You have no business left to fix here. Might as well leave” Fonsi coldly said when the two failed to utter more words to defend themselves. Amber stood in her stance, “But why is Doc JL’s car parked outside?” she asked. Fonsi answered, “I am sorry, you failed to know that the car parked outside is a shared family car” he alibied. Luke glanced badly at Amber who was embarrassed.
“Excuse us. We need to leave now” Luke said and made Amber follow him downstairs to where his car is parked. He lit a cigarette stick he pulled out from his pocket and asked, “Just tell me if you need the d*mn f*cking million worth of dollars. You made all these stories up, right?”. Amber shook her head, “I am telling you the truth!” she answered.
He kept accusing her, “I get it now. JL commanded you to do this to me. Am I right?”. Amber chuckled, “Fine, believe me or not, I don’t care anymore. It will be your loss anyway. I am just trying to help” she answered. For a second thought, Luke asked, “Why are you trying to be my accomplice? What will be your benefit here?”.
Amber crossed her arms, “I can have the chance to be in a relationship with Doc JL” she confidently answered. Luke laughed hard, “Do you think JL Tiueco will love you if he knows that you teamed up with me to break him and Naomi apart for the second time?” he asked as if he is talking to someone pathetic. Amber felt degraded, “Do you think I am that dumb? Of course, I will play safe. Use me as your spy” she replied.
Luke blew his cigarette. “Fine, do what you want. Just make me believe that you are capable of revealing what is the catch between my fiancé and JL Tiueco” he said and left her alone in the condo unit’s parking space. She thought carefully on where will JL and Naomi go in the middle of her pregnancy.
Amber walked with few thoughts in her mind; JL will come back because of his job and the moment he comes back; she will plot another plan to catch him without any notice. She will take every risky action she can do to make JL her property.
JL laid a carpet in the sand; he made her sit down in the soft sandy platform while they enjoy the fresh fruit produced by the people in the island. They watched the sun go down; the sky turned orange ‘til it turned grey. They held hands and leaned onto each other’s heads while savoring the moment. “I wish we can always be like this” she whispered while tightening her grip on JL’s hand.
“I am wishing for that too” he replied. They did not care of the time the moment they stepped in that island. He carried her back to their room when sleep took her. He turned on his phone with floods of message notifications from Lorenzia and Fonsi. To cut the chase, he dialed Fonsi’s phone number knowing that Lorenzia will just scold him for being unattended.
“What happened?” he asked directly. Fonsi shrugged, “Just like what we expected, Luke really showed up. You won’t believe who guided him to go here in the condo unit” he replied. “Who?” JL simply asked. He heard the deep sigh Fonsi breathed. He answered, “Amber Boromeo, the intern in the hospital where you are working”.
JL gasped upon hearing Fonsi’s words. “Did it hit you hard or did you hit her hard resulting her to help Luke find you and Naomi?” he asked once more. “I did not expect her to search and reach this far. Can you limit her search resources also?” he requested. Fonsi nodded on the other line, “I will try my best. I can’t promise anything since we both do not know how much resource she is holding now” he answered.
JL replied, “I got it. Just don’t make her trace us”. The call ended with Lorenzia blabbering how nerve wracking the situation that happened earlier. He dropped the call when he became tired of Lorenzia’s noises. He laid down beside the sleeping Naomi while his eyes are focused on the waters’ small waves touching the moonlight.
The next day came with JL still holding the camera. She posed for her monthly pregnancy photoshoot that will soon be compiled. JL enjoyed what he is doing; it went week by week until Naomi’s womb got really huge now.
JL operated the new weighing scale he bought earlier. She carefully stepped on the scale and glanced at the meter. “I can’t see it now. My own belly is blocking the scale” she annoyingly said. JL chuckled while holding her hand, “Just stay still and I will look at it for you” he replied. He knelt down and took a glance at the meter line that is still unstable.
The number scale stopped at number seventy - eight. JL observed that her weight increased drastically. He got her off the scale and said, “You just gained three kilograms heavier than last month” he lied to make her less insecure. Naomi glared at him badly, “You really suck at lying. Tell me the truth about my weight” she replied.
JL scratched the back of his head, “You gained twelve kilograms heavier” he honestly said. Naomi sat down while caressing her baby bump. “These kids are getting bigger and bigger now. I think they are about to go outside now” she uttered.
He hugged his wife tightly as if it is making him recharged from the draining issues they are facing. He buried his head in her neck as if it was a safe place for him to hide. All he wants for now is Naomi and his future kids’ safety. He felt Naomi’s hug; she asked, “Why are you clinging so hard?”. JL answered, “I can’t help but to do it. Everything feels alright with just a simple hug and the feeling of your warmth in my body”. Three more months before Naomi can give birth but the question is, can they still hold on in hiding now that Luke gained a tool to find them?