Chapter Nine
WYATT
Veronica clung onto me like she was clinging for dear life. I held her as her whole body shook while she cried. This vulnerable side of her was new to me. I had only seen the fierce and fearless Veronica Cordova. It took me quite awhile to digest that this woman in my arms was the same daredevil who'd pull off fearless stunts before.
"Come on, I'll take you home. It'll be okay. Walang pwedeng manakit sa'yo hangga't nandito ako." I promised her.
Lalong humigpit ang yakap niya sa akin. A sense of protectiveness toward her washed over me. I never thought she could be this fragile. I felt like I had a porcelain doll in my arms and I was afraid to break her.
Binigyan ko ng isang libong piso ang tinderang tumulong sa kanya. The vendor send it was too much and wanted to give it back to her but I insisted. She deserved that because she made sure this warrioress was safe. I took the shaking Veronica to my car, opening the door for her and gently guiding her in. Then I went to the driver's side and drove off.
It was a quiet drive back to Sybarite. I pulled up in front of the door to the house and my chauffeur stood there, waiting on us. I got out of my car and raced to the passenger's seat before anyone could open the door for Veronica. I opened the door for her and offered my hand out to her to which she took.
The ferocious glimmer in her eyes were gone and her face looked softer that usual. A woman of warmth and emotion rather than the warrioress I was used to seeing. She walked in with her arms around mine.
"Boss, saan ka gali-" Nakangiting sumalubong sa amin si Donny. Then his eyes lowered to my arm, the one where she was holding onto. He pressed his lips together as if it would ruin the moment.
"Do you want to rest? Ihahatid na kita sa kwarto mo." I asked her as we walked in.
"No..." She shook her head, lalong humigpit ang hawak niya sa braso ko. "Don't leave me."
I stopped and shifted to face her. "Hey, it's okay. You're safe here."
"I... I was so scared, Wyatt. Akala ko sasaksakin niya talaga ako. I felt the tip of the knife poking against me." Her eyes began to water again.
I cupped her small face, her wide doll-like eyes looking back at me. I wouldn't lie, they were enchanting. I couldn't help imagining that pretty innocent face on my magazine. It would be something new. Her beauty was refreshing and very distinct, something you don't see in covers, billboards, and TV a lot. Not even movie stars could be this alluring and mystifying at the same time. Her beauty was in a league of its own.
"It'll be okay. Ipinapangako ko sa'yo walang makakapanakit sa'yo hangga't nandito ako." I carefully said.
The anxiousness in her face disappeared. It softened back up again. It felt quite good to have Veronica find comfort and trust in my words. Never in my wildest dream did I think this would happen.
"Now, tell me, what will it take for me to make you feel better?" I asked.
"Well, when I don't feel okay Mama and I would sit on a movie." She quietly said, biting her bottom lip. I suddenly remembered kissing those lips at a dark, smelly alley. Despite the place we were at at that time, I could distinctly recall how soft those lips were. It was the softest I'd ever kissed and I'd kissed a couple of dozen women in the past.
I smiled. "Okay, we'll watch a movie."
She cracked a sweet smile, too. Wow! This was the first time Veronica had ever smiled to me. A real, genuine one. Does this make us friends now?
We went to the theater room. The TV took up the whole wall on the front and there were 5 rows of red lazy boy recliner chairs, each row had 8 seats. From the door a stair led down, cutting in the middle of the row of seats and acting as an aisle. I had it done to make it look like a real cinema would, a luxurious one. I had her pick a movie for us and she slowly loosened up. She happened to pick a romance movie. I had never sat down to a cheesy romantic movie with a woman before, I could never stand it. But here I was bending backwards to this warrioress' every whim.
"Um, Wyatt..." We sat on the 5th row, next to each other. Her face were illuminated only by the light coming from the big screen.
"Yeah?"
"Can you get Stretch for me?"
"Who?" My brows crumpled with confusion.
"My stuffed ostrich, his names is Stretch. It's in my bed." She said, I could hear the embarassment in her tone. "She makes me feel better."
"Fine." I sighed. "Do you need anything else?"
She shook her head, her dark eyes shining through the long thick lashes. "Nothing. Just Stretch."
I stood up from my seat and exited the theater room. I went to her room and Stretch was indeed sitting on top of her neatly done bed. She had only inhabited this place for one day and it already smelled like her. Like honey and vanilla. Damn! How I wanted to stay here and just breathe in her scent. Her luggage and her back were beside her bed. I grabbed and Stretch and looked down to see the stuffed ostrich staring back at me. She looked worn out. She must've had this for years now.
"Hello, Stretch." I couldn't help a chuckle. It was as if I was looking at Veronica's innocence and soft spot through her stuffed animal. The feisty warrioress was slowly warming up to me, huh? "You're going to get your Mommy to be nicer to me, won't you? You're going to help me get the perfect photoshoot."
I moved the ostrich's head up and down.
"Good. We're going to get along just fine, Stretch." I grinned like the crazy bastard I was.
And I exited her room and got us some chips and popcorn before heading back to the theater. Veronica was still huddled in her seat, the chair now reclined. I sat back to mine and gave her Stretch.
"Thank you." She hugged the stuffed animal like a little girl would and just clutched on her.
"How long have you had? Mukhang lumang-luma na." I asked.
"I was around eight years old when I had Stretch. We were at six flags in California and my brothers and sister and Dad were all getting on this cool rides I couldn't get in because I didn't meet the height limit. Mama and I were only riding the rides for little kids and I felt so left out. I was so upset that I cried." She let out a cackle, her eyes shone with nostalgia even though they were still fixed to the screen. "So they took me to this toy store to make it up and they bought Stretch for me. Mama said I shouldn't cry because stretch couldn't get on any rides too at kapag daw sumama akong sumakay sa mga rides kina Dad iiyak naman si Stretch. So I stayed with Stretch and we were contented with riding the kiddie rides. Since then, she became my comfort stuffed ostrich. I could never outgrow her."
"Seems like you have a tight family." I popped a popcorn in my mouth.
"Super." And then her smile faded. "Am I doing the right thing?"
I stiffened. No. Don't fucking have second thoughts about posing for Sybarite. God forbid.
"Of course, you are." I immediately answered and start blabbering. "I mean, you have to prove them wrong. Nandito ka na rin naman, hindi ba? You didn't make it this far to back out. This is your chance to make them understand what you're fighting for. Remember, this isn't about you or your family, this is about what you stand for."
She let out a sigh. "But would it really make that much of a difference?"
"Where's that Veronica Cordova I know? Would it really matter to you? You have to take small and big wins as victories. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you're putting it together and making a monster out of it. It's like a lego piece, every little piece looks insignificant but everybody just gets wowed when you put the final piece of a lego statue. Small and big wins you stack on top of each other and before you know, you have a piece of art." I said, giving her a little pep talk.
She shifted to her seat, to face me with Stretch still in her arms. "Well, would it matter to you? Would you care for the article or just the pictures?"
I paused for awhile, looking for the right words to say. I didn't want to lie to Veronica. I may be a lot of things but I would never lie to a woman or deceit them. Every woman who had modeled for me knew what they were getting themselves into and were thoroughly explained the job they were about to do. "We've had wonderful journalists and writers working for our magazine. It just depends on the men who reads it, I guess. But men are naturally visual creatures. They see what looks good and they look at it. There's the real world and the fantasy world and I'm giving them the fantasy. I think the problem is you know the right dirt to dig but you don't know what tools to use."
"You really don't care about the women you use in your magazine, do you? You're profiting from selling pictures of nude women and sex." She frowned, the warrioress coming out.
"Those women knew what they were getting themselves into. You can't impose your morality on someone else, Veronica. You're either a slave to your own version morality or you're a master to it. And these women are mastering it. They know how you use it and there's nothing wrong with that. They are not being mistreated in any way. They're able to express their sexuality and make money out of it. It's a win-win. I do sell sex and it's selling like hotcakes, I tell you. You want to know why? Because it's primal. It's basic, like food. Every human wants it in any shape or form. The only people who don't like sexual positivity are the ones who fear it. Are you afraid of it, Veronica?"
"I-I'm not." Her voice squeaked a little. "I'm not against sexual liberation but I'm against your magazine portraying women as sexual objects. There's a huge difference between sexual liberation and sexual objectifation. Sure, sex sells but it sells mainly to men. You don't know the abuse women go through. I have to work 8 hours a day and 5 days a week with women and children who'd been abused. Hindi mo maiintindihan yun kasi lalaki ka, kasi hindi mo napagdaaanan at hinding-hindi mo mapapagdaanan iyon." Her voice shook with so much passion in them.
"I've experienced it first-hand." My gaze lowered, the memories sending shivers to my spine. It was one of the things I'd buried at the back of my mind. "You think, us, men don't go through abuse? I lost my virginity before I even know what sex was. I was really young. I was 10."
Then suddenly everything went quiet. I could feel her stares as if waiting for me to say something more and when I didn't she spoke.
"I'm... I'm so sorry." She quietly said. "I didn't know..."
I shrugged my shoulders and took a sip from the water bottle next to me. I had never told a soul about this but now it was bugging me, it weighing me down. It felt like a bad tooth you know you shouldn't touch and once you do, it bothers you. "It was my step-mom. She was genuinely nice to me, the only person that was ever nice to me while I was growing up. I've had a rough childhood and she earned my trust."
"Wyatt..." There was apology in her tone.
"I think I've had enough of this movie. Dina's going to be here any minute now." I said, changing the topic. I stood up from my seat and went for the exit. I shouldn't have told her about that. It was stupid. She didn't need to know. What for? I didn't want anyone's pity or sympathy.
I was about to go to my study but my gut instict told me there was something off. There was just something off in the house I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. The house seemed void of any noise. The house was naturally quiet without Sybarite parties but now it was eerily quiet. Where was Donny? Where's my butler? Where were the helps?
I looked around and couldn't find a single soul. Then I went to the living room. Phoenix Cordova was sitting on my designer leathered couch chair that had cost me $12,000.
"Hello, Wyatt." He said, with legs crossed mafia-style. I knew shit was about to go down from there. "How are you?"
"Paano ka nakapasok dito?"
"I have my ways."
My brows furrowed. "Ano'ng ginagawa mo dito?"
"I know what happened earlier. Some punk had threatened my daughter with a knife. He's already in jail now. I'm having her followed by my securities. I actually came here to swallow my pride and beg you to cancel the contract my daughter has signed and give her back to me." He said and then got up from his seat. I stiffened when he reached inside his coat thinking it was a gun again. I was ready to raise my hand to surrender when he took out a paper. A rectangular paper. A check? "But then I decided to take a moral shortcut and just write you a check. This is for all the trouble. I hope this would suffice the penalty for the cancelled contract."
I looked at the paper and it clearly said 50 million pesos. We make 300,000 dollars a month for every issue and this was more than enough for an issue. But tough luck for this guy, I wasn't after the money, I was after the publicity this would make.
"I can't accept that." I shook my head. "Go take your money with you and leave. Where are my helps?"
"I'll double the amount." He said.
"I'm sorry. Only Veronica can decide if she wants the contract cancelled." I said and looked around for my securities. "Where's Ben and Paulo when you need them? Donny?! Where the hell are you?"
"Hindi ko ibabalik sa'yo ang mga kasama mo hangga't hindi mo binibigay ang anak ko."
"Now you're holding them hostage?" My eyes widened.
"Give me back my daughter and I will give back your helps."
"Dad, what are you doing?" Veronica's voice screeched into the entire room.
"Ronnie, honey..." His face softened as he looked at her. "I know what happened earlier. Please, go back home."
"No!" She shook her head. "I'm staying here!"
"Ronnie, listen to me! Just this once!" He said in a firm, authorative tone.
"I want to stay here."
"Why do you want to stay in this whore house, you're not a whore." Her father shook his head.
"Oh my God, Dad! Please, just make me make my own decision. I know what I'm doing." She said. "Does Mama know about this? I'm going to call Mama!"
"No! Don't do that, young lady!" His voice boomed.
"I will call Mama if you don't let go of Wyatt's helps. Where are they?"
"They're outside, in the backyard. I had my men take them out." He said and sighed. "Please, Ronnie, umuwi ka na. Your nephews miss you already."
"I'm sorry, Dad." She shook her head.
"You're going to be the hard headed brat that you are, huh?" He said in a sad tone.
"Dad, please respetuhin mo naman ang desisyon ko. I'm no longer a baby. You can't do this. Matanda na ako kaya hayaan mo na akong magdesisyon sa sarili ko! You want me to leave the house, didn't you? Ikaw din nagpa-cut ng credit at debit card ko. I'm not depending on you anymore." Veronica said with a tone of frustration.
"Sige, panindigan mo ang katigasan ng ulo mo pero huwag na huwag kang gagapang pabalik sa akin, Veronica." Phoenix's jaw clenched, he let out a tired sigh and then he took out his phone from his pocket. He spoke to the phone. "We're leaving."
Bago siya lumabas ay lumapit siya sa akin at binulungan ako. "If you touch my daughter, ipapakidnap kita at gigilingin kita ng buhay. I won't leave a trace and they won't recognize you at all. And also, you have weak securities. Get competent ones because if anything bad happens to her, you're dead."
This man meant every word he said. I knew he would be capable of doing such things if it involves his daughters. We stood quietly as a group of well-built men, huge me, started walking inside.
Ronnie finally shed a tear the moment her father left. I took her in my arms and she hugged me back as if it was the most natural thing to do.
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