Valentine's Miracle

by Celia Crown

  She turns around and sighs; the contemplation on her face is heavy as my eyes involuntarily move down to her body. Victoria hasn’t grown at all since I last saw her; she’s still the same girl that I know her as, and it doesn’t sit right with me.

  This means that she has been living that unhealthy lifestyle for the past seven years without anyone telling her to stop.

  I bite my tongue to stop myself. Her life is none of my concern; she can do whatever the hell she wants.

  No, she can’t, the voice in my head sneers.

  She looks over at the mirror, fixing her hair that’s curled loosely while it hangs over her white blouse. Her black tight skirt wraps her ass too tightly while exposing her creamy legs straightened by a pair of black heels.

  It’s casual business attire, but it’s doing things to my body. I’m reacting too much, and I have to force my eyes to the window by her head. The view of the city is filled with layers of snow, and it’s still snowing.

  We were not expecting it to be this cold, but when we left the airport, we almost froze to death. Luck was on our side when a taxi pulled up to us, and the journey to the hotel wasn’t too affected by the afternoon traffic.

  “Ready?” she asks, holding her phone in her hand.

  I nod before I could stop myself. The smile on her pink lips makes the gesture easier to swallow as my pride fights with my heart. I’ll let this slide for today; it must be the slight time shift on the airplane that’s messing with me.

  I’m a bit too lenient with her, and that won’t do. It’s my job to be the professional bodyguard that I’m hired for, and my goal is to protect her, and it’s not my place to be friendly with her.

  It won’t be a problem. I have a reputation for being the unfriendliest security guard in the company, and I take pride in that title. It warns people not to play with fire, or I’m going to toss them into an incinerator to disintegrate them into ashes.

  The door closes behind me, and I snatch the keycard from her hand. I don’t trust that she won’t lose our only way back, and it’s going to be a pain in the ass to call the front desk and wait for them to fix the problem.

  “It’s not my first time at a hotel,” she remarks with a small wrinkle on her nose. The elevator starts to come up as indicated by the numbers.

  I know that she’s talking about the times she has to attend meetings and events like these for the sake of finding a new employer. Sebastian had filled me in, and I reluctantly heard all of it because he wouldn’t leave me alone, but it’s a good thing since it saved me a lot of time doing research on her.

  There is a rule that we have to research our clients, so there is less of a chance that this contract goes sour. It’s a lot of reading and researching on the internet, but the paycheck is worth all the hassle of infuriating clients.

  We have access to databases that do tread on the line of privacy issues, but the clients have to sign an agreement to allow us to go digging and anything anyone finds is open in the air. There were one or two bad eggs in the basket and they used the information they found to blackmail their clients, and they were subsequently fired with criminal charges on their asses.

  The floor we stop at is the fifth where we are immediately greeted by two women behind a table. The laminated passes lay out on the table while the woman with a clipboard asks for our names.

  Victoria gives it to her, and we’re presented with passes to the event. The blue thread hanging from my neck is annoying, but it’ll have to do when the excitement on her face erases any traces of irritation in me.

  Even after so long, she still has these subconscious effects on me. She’s truly a frightening existence in my life that I have tried getting rid of. It’s hard, and I don’t think it was ever gone as I had presumed; it was only buried under a mountain of denial.

  It worked for some time, but every little thing triggers my memories of her. When the wounds were still raw, I wished that lightning would strike me so I can forget about her and the heartache that she caused because she wouldn’t admit it.

  Today’s event is basically a sales competition to see who can get the most investors into their product. Victoria’s head keeps going back and forth; she’s unable to decide where to look while looking at everything at the same time.

  She starts at the first table by the entrance, and it’s a bunch of technology pieces that can piece together on its own as demonstrated by a boisterous man in glasses. His partner also puffs out her chest in pride when Victoria is clearly taken back by their invention.

  They were saying passive-aggressive things when they found out that she wasn’t an investor. When their nasty mouths open again, I make sure she’s looking somewhere else first before I glare so hard at them that they wilt under my gaze.

  The rest of the afternoon is the same thing. Her interest in new products and people seeking to get her to drop her money in their product, but an incident sets me on the edge of my skin.

  “Ah, Miss. Valentina!” A woman comes up to Victoria with a smile as if she had been looking for us.

  “I’m sorry,” Victoria says with a sheepish smile. “You are?”

  “I’m Gloria Cassidy. I’m the CFO of Ingrid Tech.”

  The wise words of Sebastian, “Never trust a woman with two first names.”

  The moment she came up to Victoria and pretended to be friendly with her, I just had this feeling of unease in my stomach that this woman is a tiger woman who will not take defeat easily. It’s confirmed by her title as CFO; that position is not easy to attain in a male-dominated world of business.

  “It’s nice to meet you. Forgive me for being frank, but can I help you?” Victoria asks, straight to the point and cautious of the overly-welcoming façade.

  At least Victoria had changed something about her when we weren’t on speaking terms. It seems that there are still a lot of things I’m unaware of her despite having to hear Sebastian’s animated stories about his sleepovers at her place.

  It’s hard to take him seriously when he has damn sleepovers as if he’s still twelve.

  “Our CEO, Mr. Zimmerman, would like to meet you.” The woman also doesn’t linger on pleasantries.

  “What for?” Victoria has never been interested in working with technology.

  “We would like to discuss your future avenue.” She keeps on the smile, and it’s turning her into a snake in my eyes. “You are interested in a new path for the future other than the government, if am I not mistaken?”

  “No, you’re not,” Victoria says, nodding to agree with her. “I don’t know where you have heard about it, but I’m thinking about it. However, I am not interested in technology.”

  “You do not have to worry about that,” the woman says as she claps her hand. “Ingrid Tech started out with numbers, and I believe that is your area of expertise.”

  “I solve equations with more than ones and zeros.” Victoria is still not interested, no matter how much the woman sells her on the benefits of working at Ingrid Tech.

  I’ll have to look up that company to see what they’re all about. I haven’t heard that name yet, so it’s most likely not a powerhouse in the world, but it could be a business that’s worth millions. This could be the possibility of them using Victoria to boost up their company and turn it into a multibillion-dollar company that can compete with the other ones that are on television.

  “Numbers are the same as long as you get the proper training,” the woman remarks.

  That is a direct jab at Victoria’s intelligence, and I’m glaring at her before I know it. The itch under my skin grows when she smiles at me; the daring look on the woman’s face makes me angrier.

  “Businessmen are serial killers too, as long as you get the proper training.” Victoria raises an eyebrow at the brief flash of shock going across the woman’s face.

  As expected, Victoria Valentina is not a woman to be messed with. Victoria looks vulnerable and sometimes could be mistaken for a gullible little girl for her size, but her brillia
nce comes from the ability to look at things in ways that trigger people.

  She sees numbers as her friend and her strength while average people can’t stand a list of numbers more than the digits of a phone number. She’s been seen as a freak in school and children in our old neighborhood didn’t want to play with her because she can find their hiding spots based on probabilities.

  The woman clears her throat; an awkward silence stretches uncomfortably as people around us try to listen to the conversation.

  “Here is my card; don’t be a stranger,” the woman says as she presents a business card to Victoria.

  She takes it out of politeness, and I take it from her small hand, crushing it between my fingers right in front of the woman’s face. The CFO woman appears to want to say something, but then she remembers where she is and who is around, so she keeps her mouth shut with a smile.

  I wouldn't give a shit if I offended her. My natural instinct is to keep her away from Victoria; I am concerned about the way that snake woman tries to get Victoria into her company despite the poorly restrained disdain in her voice as if she is too good to be recruiting a mathematician.

  The woman with two first names might make more money and have a more powerful position, but she doesn’t have the acknowledgment and fame that Victoria had secured with her own hard work.

  “She’s not interested.”

  “Outsiders are not permitted here,” the woman shoots back with a slight frown at the corner of her red-painted lips.

  Victoria puts her hand on my arm; the motion is familiar as my body relaxes under her touch. A wave of electric humming travels up my spine and settles at the base of my neck as I resist the purring sound from my throat.

  “Silas is not an outsider, Ms. Cassidy,” Victoria utters, a hint of tightness in her voice. “He is one of the best in Risk Security. I am sure you have heard of it; your bosses have used their services before as they are very important individuals.”

  Before the woman’s nod can finish, Victoria finishes with a smile. The insulted expression on the woman’s face stays.

  “Well, you wouldn’t know how amazing Silas and his friends are. After all, you have never used their service before, have you now?”

  The hateful stare and the tightness that brings a pale line on her lips shift to a contorted blankness. “Do call us if you are interested, but I cannot guarantee your call will be answered as we are very busy individuals.”

  That woman just wants to have the last words, and it’s fine by Victoria as she waves the woman off.

  Victoria shrugs her small shoulders, hand dropping from my arm while glancing up at me. The absolute pureness when she looks at me triggers another level of reminiscence in my heart.

  This week is either going to have me dead or stepping into another dimension of being able to be the new Silas rather than retorting back to the young boy that loves her too much with a foot in obsession and another in an abyss pool of possession.

  I was young, and I was stupid, and I won’t make that mistake again.

  Victoria beams, sunny and beautiful. “Let’s have a snack. I’m hungry!”

  It’s going to take every drop of patience and restraint to make it happen, but it’ll be worth it at the end. I won’t have to see her again, and we’ll go back to where we were before in our lives, separate and interconnected by the ever-nosy Sebastian.

  The food at the convention isn’t acceptable. They’re finger foods that can be seen as worse than those at the grand hall with rich people and their raw seafood.

  Victoria had mentioned on the way to the hotel that she had been sick from the oysters, and she would never eat raw food again. She should have never trusted the food from public places where there are a lot of people. That’s a breeding ground for microorganisms from spit in the air and open-mouth breathers.

  We end up leaving the hotel and going to a local restaurant that has calm music and fake green veins wrapped around the hanging lights.

  “It’s a neighboring color of your eyes!” Victoria points out with awe in her gleaming brown eyes.

  I scowl at her. Showing emotions is tough, and it’s harder when it’s for Victoria. She doesn’t take it as an offensive gesture when she merely brushes off the rolling aggression in my body.

  I’m not mad about her. It hasn’t been aimed at her for a long time, and I just noticed it, but I don’t recall when I had started to direct that anger at myself. I’m blaming this whole emotional turmoil on me because I’m the one who can’t deal with Victoria and her nonchalant behavior.

  She’s acting as if we’re still friends—as if that day didn’t happen.

  Our food comes, and I didn’t realize she had ordered for me. My plate is filled with food that I prefer, and my heart gives a squeeze, in pain or in affection, I honestly can’t tell when I stare at her.

  “Stop,” I ground out, my jaws ache from how hard I’m clenching them.

  She cocks her head; those long curls fall over her shoulder. I have to put a stop to this; it’s not good for me and for her too. It feels as if my life depends on this, and it is because she is going to destroy that little part of my soul I have left.

  “Whatever you’re doing,” I pause, not sure how I can phrase this. “It needs to stop.”

  Even now, I am not capable of hurting her. Never intentionally, and it’s always me that’s taking the brunt of the punishment that I have put on myself because I was a coward and a damn fool in love.

  I still am. That truth is undeniable, and it’s even more difficult to ignore when my heart shudders as I look at her.

  “What am I doing?” she asks.

  This trick that she does is not going to fly on my watch. She wants me to steer the conversation, and she will adjust what she wants to say, so she gets what she wants. She’s sly and cunning, and it’s what makes her the Victoria that my heart is fond of.

  “This,” I say as I motion down at the food. The food that I would choose at this hipster menu and peaceful restaurant.

  “I brought you food,” she slowly articulates, still not catching up.

  She brought the airplane tickets, booked the hotel room, the room service, and this food. She has done too much that I didn’t ask for, but she is always like this because it's better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.

  That motto sticks with her till now.

  “Just stop,” I breathe. “I’m not here to entertain you. My job—”

  “Is to protect me,” she finishes with a smile. “That doesn’t mean I can’t be nice.”

  “There is a difference between nice and having ulterior motives,” I comment plainly, and she doesn’t deny that accusation.

  “I just want to get acquainted with you.” She takes the glass of water to her lips.

  I know what she’s doing. It’s been obvious as she’s never been the queen of subtly; Victoria doesn’t beat around the bush too much.

  “We can’t be friends,” I hiss out, another devastating squeeze to my lungs hurts when I breathe. “I have stopped being that to you a long time ago, and I plan on keeping it that way.”

  “Why?” she questions calmly, a flicker of hurt crosses her eyes, and she’s sheltering her feelings again. It’s quicker and more ruthless than my unhealthy defense mechanism when it has to deal with Victoria Valentina.

  “I hate you.”

  It doesn’t feel as good as I would have imagined saying it, and it’s painful to me when a bitter film settles on my tongue. The confession throws her a wrench of disbelief and harrowing understanding, and her brown eyes close for a moment in defeat.

  The fight leaves her, and regret tumbles through my veins, burning with an acidic rawness that disrupts the natural regularity of my heart.

  I force myself to put this matter to an end once and for all. “We can’t go back to before, and I don’t want to.”

  “Is that what you want?”

  “Yes.”

  She smiles, and it’s breaking my heart.
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br />   Chapter Five

  Victoria

  Last night was interesting, to say the least.

  The rest of the event returned to normal, and we were able to get a few more hours before everyone had to leave. Silas and I never breached that sensitive topic again, and he unwillingly stays by me when I could tell that he wanted to be somewhere else.

  Probably away from me.

  Getting another room for him was out of the question, as the rooms were all booked for the event. Some of the people who wanted to reside in the hotel had to find other ones, but that didn’t stop the woman on the phone mentioning people shacking up each other to save cost and getting easier access to the convention floor.

  Today is the second day out of the seven days. The event is for influencers to gather around, flex their ability to have millions of followers, and the ultimate goal is the same; get people to invest and prove that they will have money return.

  This convention isn’t catered towards one particular interest; it’s an open space for creativity to be known and I like the idea of being able to meet new people who put hard work into their passion. Those are the type of people who I want to surround myself with.

  I have no desire to be tied down to those who only want to use others for their own gain without putting forward their efforts too. It’s a two-way street; there have to be sacrifices and gains in any situation.

  Maybe that’s why I had trouble making friends when I was in college. Everyone wanted to party and do as many risky things as possible, but I just wanted to study and get my degree so I can get away from the wild animals that roam around campus.

  That’s putting it lightly. I once walked out of a lecture hall with students dressed up as meat varieties on one side and vegetables on the other. I knew immediately that it’s a war on environmental health and the consumption choices of people.