Through Your Eyes — Chapter 17

SEAN'S POV

I got nervous when I realized I could no longer hold the truth. This was my purpose of seeing and getting close to her, so I must break it to her gently. I promised to a man so dear to me, so, the time had come that I must honor my words. Even if I already broke it a long time ago.

"She was one of those people I met in Sama. It all started when my curiosity gripped me once again. Somewhere in the outskirt of the island, there was a mysterious place where nobody was allowed to enter. The whole perimeter was fenced, and the gate was always closed. One time, I peeped into its hole, and  I saw a beautiful lady walking towards the gate. I did not run away. I even told her the truth about why I was standing there when she spoke behind the barrier. I did not realize that she saw me through her security camera."

"Then?" Red replied, and I got amused at how she easily got intrigued with my story.

"She told me to meet her at the secret entrance by the shore."

"Then?"

"I went there after sunset, and she was there, waiting for me. She then brought me somewhere I could not figure out because it was dark. After a short introduction, I learned that she was lonely and alone, hungry for a companion. She refused to tell me anything about herself, aside from her name. I respected her for that."

"What were you talking about then?"

"We didn't talk much, and I could not explain why I did not insist. Perhaps, I was so drawn to her mystery."

"If you did not talk much, what were you doing then?"

I chuckled at her somewhat pure innocence before I replied. "Of course, we did nothing else but made love the whole time."

I saw her winced a little before she looked away and spoke again. That was a sensitive and personal topic that I shouldn't have brought up.

"But why did you seem to say that you lost her?" she asked, after being overwhelmed by my confession.

"The last time I went to Sama Island, she no longer met me at the shore. I took a vacation so that I could wait for her every night, but she did not appear anymore."

"What happens to the people you send to look for her?"

"Zero progress, so I let them stop. I realized I was spending time on someone who could never be mine. After all, I knew about it from the start. Perhaps, it's my attraction to her mysteries that made me misconstrue it as love."

"Do you think she's a human being?" Red's eyes darted sharply at me, her expressions scared.

"She's real to my touch." I laughed, assuring her I didn't make love with a ghost. I could still remember that her breasts were soft and full, and her love nest was warm and dripping. Yet, she was just a part of a dream, in an unreal world.

Red and I sat on a bench after a long walk around the park. She easily got lost in her thoughts, perhaps pondering about my revelation. While still holding her hand, my thoughts also went back to the real reason why I was there in Sama Island.

"Here's the investigation result, sir," Philip, my private investigator, said as he handed me a few sheets of paper and some old photos.

I gave him a quick stare before I looked down on the paper. I didn't find him suspicious, and his sincere expression told me he was doing his job seriously.

"Mr. Albert Nelson had taken fifteen flights toward Sama Island and that coincided his fifteen yearly off-ship vacations, five years before his death. As per my investigation, he stayed with a woman named Bianca Rivera. Some reliable sources told me that the couple had a daughter, and her name is Calla Rivera."

I looked at the blurred, old photo of the family. Their daughter seemed to look at me with her beautiful eyes, while her hair hung loosely over her shoulders. She looked like in her early twenties, and her tucked-in blouse under her jeans accentuated her perfect shape.

"Are you sure she is his daughter?" I asked. I could never afford to make a mistake. A single error would ruin the whole legacy my old man worked so hard for.

"That is still under investigation, sir. I'm still working on the access to all her records."

I nodded, but my mind started to analyze the high probability of her being Albert's daughter. He was legally married to Juliet, and their relationship was out of the society's norm, so Calla should be using her mother's maiden name.

"Okay, go ahead, Philip. And please go deeper."

The following morning, I was aboard my private plane. The moment I landed at the airport, I instructed my hired driver to bring me directly towards that remote part of the island where Bianca Rivera lived. Philip gave me detailed instructions as to the location of her place and some minor details about her. After a few minutes, the car pulled in front of a fenced, white-painted Bungalow house. I did not waste a second. I stepped out of the car right away and pressed the doorbell outside the gate. Soon, a woman in her early fifties opened up for me.

"How can I help you, sir?" the woman asked, but her eyes scanned me from head to toe. She was not Bianca; I was sure of that. Her features in the photo were still vivid in my memory.

"Good morning, madame. May I talk to Miss Bianca Rivera, please?"

"Come in, come in," the woman said, as her hand ushered me inside the house.

"Thank you, madame. You have a beautiful house," I commented as I looked around the neatly-decorated living room. My eyes then fell on a sleek, wooden ship replica on top of one of the shelves. It only confirmed that I was in the right house. Albert Nelson was a ship captain, and replicas of the ship wouldn't surprise anyone if he knew his profession.

"I'm not Bianca. I'm her housekeeper, although I am also her cousin."

I stood up and extended a hand to her. "Nice to meet you, madame, but I am here to see Miss Bianca. If you don't mind, may I know where can I find her, please?"

"She seldom comes home, young man. She's already living in the city, five years before her common-law husband died."

I felt frustrated to know that while I spent a fortune to come to this place, Miss Bianca was just living close to me in the big city. The housekeeper wasn't taking precautions at all. She gave me Bianca's address, as well as her contact numbers. Due to her kindness, I asked her to buy breakfast for us but let her keep the big change. My extended stay had a purpose. After I would establish a rapport with her, I would then ask about Calla Rivera.