The Stars Trilogy (58 page)

Her name was Celine Antoinette Lavega, second child and only daughter of the Philippine’s leading media mogul, Theodore Lavega. A freakin’ heiress!

There were a lot of pictures of her while attending galas, charity events and product launches. Celine was a well-known socialite in her country, the princess of the Lavega clan.

He spent a few minutes staring at her glamorous pictures. She was luminous, a young woman vastly admired in her country not only for her beauty but for her philanthropic works, as well.

She was a perfect woman for some well-meaning man.

He shut his laptop closed and strode angrily toward the balcony of his bedroom. He stared out into the open sea. It was near midnight and the moon was up, reflecting its grey rays on the water like a glittering carpet of white crystals.

He was still smarting from the fact that she deliberately kept it all from him. All along, despite his uncontrollable desire for her, despite the fact that she had shown him courage and loyalty in the jungle, at the back of his mind he was still thinking she was some gold-digger out to better her life with him. He was now very ashamed of his thoughts. It was him who had judged her from the beginning. Him and his paranoid, pragmatic mind. He felt like the lowest heel.

He went back inside and lay in his bed. He tried to sleep but he couldn’t. He was dead beat physically. He had trekked for six hours earlier and he should be dead to the world now but his mind was wide awake and fully occupied by Celine.

He wished she was beside him right now...

Dammit. Had he gotten used to sleeping with her so soon? Was that even possible? They were in the mountains for only a week.

He’d never slept with a woman in the same room. Not even with his ex-wives. He always had his own room for sleeping. But in the cramped interior of that Cirrus, he and Celine had slept, always in each other’s arms. Everyday for a week. And his sleep were deep, dreamless ones. He’d awakened each morning relaxed and totally rested.

He stared at Kelsey’s phone for the nth time. He sighed and dropped the phone again. What would he tell her?
How are you? Are you thinking of me? I can’t sleep. I want you beside me. I want you. I miss you already.

He wondered what was she doing right this minute. Was she thinking of him, too? Well, she should! She loved him. She said so. She should share his misery.

He hated what he was feeling. It was weakness. Wanting a woman this bad was a huge disadvantage. He banged his fists on the mattress and growled angrily. Cussing didn’t help anymore.

He got up and went to the bar and poured himself some wine. He needed to sleep. His body was bone tired. He had to rest. When the wine didn’t help, he drank whiskey.

Finally after the third shot, his body gave way to sleep.

Celine shut off the TV after watching the news. Today, it was all about Dare in almost all channels worldwide. Not a single mention of her. Not even a tiny reference to her. Nada.

She rested her head on the bathtub’s edge.

She knew it was an irrational feeling. She was sure, Dare wanted to protect her from the media so he avoided mentioning her in his interviews. But after seeing Gabby in a video footage, she was attacked by the green-eyed monster again. Gabby was in his villa in Phuket while she was billeted in a five-star hotel in Bangkok. Her parents brought her there straight from Surat Thani.

It was so unfair! She was the one who should be with Dare right now, not Gabrielle. And he promised to call her but he hadn’t yet.

There was a soft knock on the door. “Celine?”

“Come in,
Yaya
.”

Yaya
Thelma came into the suite. The old woman was her nanny. She was also her brother’s nanny before she was born. Yaya Thelma was a widow without children and she’d been taking care of her like her very own since she was a baby. She considered her nanny as her second mother.

“
Hija,
you will catch pneumonia. Get out of the tub now. You’ve been soaking there for an hour already.”

“
Yaya
, he hasn’t called me yet.”

Yaya
Thelma sat beside the tub and started massaging her scalp. Her nanny knew about her Darelusions, too. In fact, from the beginning, it was only
Yaya
Thelma who truly believed she’d fulfill her destiny with Dare. Of course, her nanny could have just been humoring her, spoiled brat that she was.

“Maybe he’s still busy.

“Yes, I know, but his wife is with him right now.”

“I thought you told me they were getting divorced?”

“She was contesting the divorce. She wanted to get back with Dare. ”

“Well, if Dare doesn’t want her back, she can’t do anything.”

“But why hasn’t he called me? It’s been two days,
Yaya
. I miss him so much.” Her voice broke and she couldn’t help her tears.

“Shhh, don’t cry
hija
. Be patient. He will call. Just wait.”

Yaya
Thelma helped her with her bath. She rubbed her back with a wet cloth. She welcomed the loving care because she didn’t have the energy to move much after she left Dare.  

He didn’t even say anything that she could hold on to. Anything that will give her hope that what happened between them in the mountains meant something to him, at least. Despite Dare’s warped views on relationships and marriage, she was still hoping that he will have a change of heart after the intimacies they’d shared in the mountains.

But he let her go. Just like that.

He said he’d call her soon. What did it mean? Did it even mean anything at all or he was just patronizing her and it was actually a subtle goodbye?

God, she was so tired. Thinking about her situation with Dare was draining. She was glad her family gave her some respite for now. They didn’t ask her questions.

But she could sense their anger and disappointment. She’d lied to them. She broke their trust. Big time. They were just being patient. Her family loved her to bits, she knew that, and she felt so guilty for causing them to worry, for giving them cause to grieve.

Oh Dare, is it all gonna end like this? After everything we’ve been through? I had so much faith in us. But it seems now that my faith was not enough. My love was not strong enough to melt the steel surrounding your heart. I’m so tired, Dare. So tired.

Her father decided they should take a week’s  vacation together before returning to the Philippines. Jordan was also meeting some Singaporean businessmen to talk about Vega Multi-Media’s expansion in Singapore so it was a perfect timing for them to detour to the Merlion City.

Celine called Kelsey before they took off from Thailand.

“Oh honey, I wish we could spend more time together. Are you still going back to the States?”

She sighed. “My parents won’t allow me at this point, Kels. And I don’t want to cause them any more distress. But...I will talk to them. We’ll see.”

“I understand. Your job will always be waiting for you whenever you’re ready to come back, okay? My, you have accomplished so much while I was gone! You could be Dare’s secretary forever if you want!” Then Kelsey laughed. “I’m sorry, I forgot you don’t need to work at all.”

“No, no, I really want to go back...but...”

“Would you like to talk to Dare?”

Her heart lurched. She nearly blurted ‘yes’. “No! I mean...how is he?”

“He’s in his room. It’s been pretty chaotic here since he arrived. Business meetings, interviews, you know. He’s going nuts actually. I could bring the phone to him if you want. Or...why don’t you just call him, my dear? You’ve saved his number, right?”

“I...I don’t think that’s a good idea at this point.”

“But why?”

“Is Gabby still there?”

“Oh, please, don’t tell me you’re worried about her? She’s gone! Dare asked her to leave yesterday. That woman is an attention whore.”

Kelsey’s apparent dislike for Gabrielle made her feel better. That was good news.

“He hasn’t called me either.”

“Well...I’ll tell him to call you...”

“No! Please, don’t do that, Kels.”

Kelsey sighed. “Did you guys quarrel or something?”

“No...we’re just...I mean...” She sighed.

She didn’t know how to explain it to Kelsey either. Now that they were back in the real world, the intimacy she’d shared with Dare in the mountains was obscured by the glaring light of reality. He was a huge celebrity and she was still Celine, a regular person who was in love with him. But despite loving him for years, she couldn’t afford to sacrifice her last ounce of dignity by going after him  like a desperate woman. She won’t ever want him to think that he had some obligation toward her just because she gave him her virginity. She’d done desperate things in the name of her love for Dare but chasing after him now was just beyond her principles. She’d given him everything she could. She had nothing more to spare.

The ball was his court now. It was his decision to make.

“I think we both need a break, you know, after what happened. We’ll talk again, for sure. Okay, I have to go now, Kels.”

“Okay, my dear. Keep in touch okay? Please? I’ll call you every chance I got.”

“Okay, thank you, Kels. You’re the best.”

“You know what, hunny, I think, you’re even better.”

She smiled. “No way!”

“You can do something for Dare that I can’t. That’s for sure!” Kelsey said in a teasing tone.

She blushed. Oh Lordy, did Kelsey know already?

“What I mean is, I can never survive a week with him in a jungle! I would be hysterical.”

“Oh.”

“Okay, I’ll call you soon! Take care, darling. Bye-bye!”

“Bye, Kels.”

Dare decided to really get busy or he would go crazy. After reassuring his friends that he was fine, they all flew back to the States. His lawyers followed suit.

Now he can work on his movie.

He was so glad he hired Rocky. The younger man sure knew the business of film-making in Asia. Without wasting time, Rocky immediately arranged for some Filipino actors to meet with them in Thailand for auditions. He had learned that the Philippines had an active film industry and that he was quite famous in that country, as well. Celine’s country.

He tried not to think so much about her but he failed. Kelsey told him that Celine went with her family to Singapore and would stay there for a week or two. He ignored that info. To mind it would make him feel worse.

Everyday was a battle of need inside him— the need to be with her and the need to restore his old self, solitary and impenetrable. The battle was getting ferocious every passing hour and he was a mess inside.

Work was his only escape. He would finish what he came for in Thailand.

He’d found his Cambodian boy right away, a handsome Filipino child actor. Rocky also recommended a Filipino to play the Cambodian’s adult self, an actor named Coco Martin. He’d checked Coco’s mug shots and he liked his very Asian features which could pass for a pure Cambodian. The actor could really act, too. He was impressed by Coco’s Indie films and was looking forward to meeting the actor soon for the script reading with him and Ben.

All in all, he was happy with they way his movie was taking shape. But the rest of his celebrity life was simply hellish. Dead or alive, the rags couldn’t get enough of his shit.

Five days after his rescue, he was still hot in the news. The paparazzi hadn’t stopped snooping on his ass. They were camped near his property, ready for anything they might get on him. Cruz had to double his security contingent.

To pacify the media, he had to appear again in a live interview with Larry King. But he was not prepared for one of Larry’s questions. It was not included in the list they had presented to him prior to the interview.

“Dare, there are rumors circulating that you were not alone in that plane when it crashed. Would you like to clarify on that?”

Shit. This was Larry King, live on CNN. He may not be face to face with the veteran media personality but the whole world was watching. Lying blatantly to his millions of audience was simply not his thing.

“Ahh...I’ll answer that later, Larry, when I’m ready.”

“So, it’s true? You were not alone. You had a passenger. A man or a woman? There are talks  it was a woman.”

“I’d answer that in a separate interview, thank you, Larry,” he said as calmly as he could but he was pissed at the  man’s line of questioning. That was definitely an ambush.

When the interview was over, he talked to Kelsey. “How in hell did it get out?!” he shouted at her furiously.

“I really don’t know, Dare.”

He speared her with a withering glare. “I thought you took care of everyone here at the villa?”

Kelsey flared up, too. “I did! I swear I did, but the paparazzi are everywhere! Maybe someone at the governor’s place leaked the info! Who knows? We were all really more concerned with your safety than the fucking media!”

He sighed harshly and combed his hair with his fingers. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh for God’s sake, why don’t you just call her?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You want to see her so badly.”

He grunted and shook his head.

“I’ve known your ex-wives. I know you. You never looked at them they way you looked at Celine.”

“And how...did I look at her?” he demanded, peeved at being read so easily.

“Like she would disappear if you blink your eyes. Like she’s a gift you’re so excited to unwrap. Every time she’s around, she becomes the only person in the room for you.”

He snorted. “Ridiculous.” Shit! Was he that transparent?

“Oh and when she walks into the room, you simply light up. You know, like a Christmas tree? Oh worse, like the fourth of July.”

“What?! You shut up now, Kels, I’m warning you.”

“Come on, save yourself all the misery, you stubborn fool. I know you miss her. Call her.”

“What for? What will I say...?”

“You don’t want to see her again?”

He turned away from her. “No. She is...She’s got fairy tales in her eyes. You know me, Kels. I kill women’s dreams.”