Chapter One


A day before Jessica was to celebrate her 16th wedding anniversary, she found herself alone and stranded in a hotel room in Baguio watching the news about a freak accident that caused a massive landslide on Kennon Road.

The incident happened while she was about to board a bus back to Manila. The landslide was so severe as to render the roads unsafe. An emergency cleanup was already taking place, but everyone was predicting that it would take at least a week before the roads became passable again. In the meantime, traffic to and from Baguio was completely cut-off.

Jessica, watching the news immediately called her husband Ted, who insisted on driving the eight hour distance to rescue her.

"But Ted what about the landslide?" she kept repeating though he hardly heard her. Really, she thought exasperated, Ted can be so annoying sometimes. She was able to pacify him after she promised not to go out of the hotel because "you know, Jess, I worry about you. You're such a fragile little thing. Honey, just sit tight in your room and wait for my next call, okay? Promise you won't go out tonight? I miss you already."

Of course she missed him and she promised and she felt guilty about not being there to share their anniversary with him. But this last, she didn't say out loud. He already sounded so worried she didn't want to add to his burden by reminding him of the occasion.

It was her fault after all. She shouldn't have gone and left him. Why didn't she listen to her instinct and and told Angela that she was not going? Her contribution wasn't that of a big deal after all. Well, she was one of the speakers but she could have asked Angela to just read her presentation. It was all cut and dried anyway. Angela knew the business. And the topic was not strange to her. Why didn't she listen to the voice telling her not to go?

Ted called at exactly six o'clock that night. He sounded morose yet a little upbeat. There was a possibility that the roads were going to be cleared the following morning. He was already packing his things, anticipating the long ride ahead of him. "I'll see you before lunch maybe," he said, with that familiar teasing note in his voice.

Jessica put the phone down with a sigh. She glanced at the clock. 6:30. She called the restaurant and ordered some food, and on a whim, a bottle of her favorite red wine. At 7:30, she was bored and had nothing to do except take a shower and prepare for bed. She glanced out her bedroom window, the one that overlooked Burnham Park, and was gazing at the flicker of lights that bounced off the lake when there was a sudden rap on her bedroom door.

Puzzled, she cautiously opened the door and saw, behind the small crack, the smiling face of her friend
Angela.

"Why are you not dressed? I told you you're coming with me to the party," Angela said, advancing into the room. She was wearing a strapless black dress that crisscrossed on her back light a gladiator's strap. She looked tiny and beautiful and delicate at the same time.

"I can't," Jessica groaned. "I promised Ted I won't go out tonight. He's driving over tomorrow to get me."

"What about the landslide?" Angela asked, sounding very surprised. "Didn't he hear what the local engineering department is saying? It would take at least a week before they can clear the road. What is he going to do? Pole vault to get here?"

"It's not funny, Angela," Jessica said, hiding her twitching lips.

"I don't mean to be funny. But Ted can be so impulsive sometimes it's irritating."

"You know Ted."

"Oh, yes. I know, Ted," Angela said dryly. "He's my cousin remember? But Jess, you have to attend the party. Everyone will be expecting you to be there. You're one of the guests, for Christ's sake!"

"I don't think anyone will care if I attended the party or not. I hardly spoke to anyone since I arrived. I'm the unknown guest speaker. I'm only here by your recognizance," the last words sounded a tiniest bit bitter by Jessica didn't care.

"Jess," Angela said soothingly, "you know that's not true."

"Of course it's true, Ange," Jessica sighed, running a hand through her long hair. "I did embarrass myself out there, didn't I? I wasn't prepared enough. And you know crowds scare the hell out of me. I don't know why you picked me to speak on this subject anyway."

"Because you're the only person I know who loves flowers the way you do. And no, you did not embarrass yourself out there today. You were great and you spoke with authority. You only went crazy when that idiot Arnold asked you about pollen Bs.
What the hell is that anyway?"

"I don't know and I don't care. I just want to get home to my husband and the kids. You know, this is the only time I will be spending an anniversary away from Ted. I'm supposed to be on my way home celebrating it with him. It doesn't seem right somehow. That I could be away from him and be doing something else."

"Come on," Angela said, taking her hand. "Go and get dressed. If this self-pity continues you'll be crying yourself to sleep tonight. You're coming with me to the party whether you like it or not. You are going to pretend that you are enjoying yourself. And no buts either. I'll give you a black eye if you refuse to do as I say. So, hop to it, girl."

The place they went to was unexpected. It was a hotel but the restaurant where the party was held was in an underground dungeon. The place smelled musty when they entered. The decor, complete with pillars and alcoves, was straight out of a scene from a Roman orgy. Women lounged about couches in their skimpiest dress while the men wore togas and nasty-looking hairpieces.

"Isn't it a bit late for a masquerade ball?" Jessica asked, looking wide-eyed at a couple seated behind a darkened corner. "Ange, I'm not sure we should even be here. This party looks...wild."

Angela stared at the same couple that caught Jessica's attention and giggled.

"I forgot about this. It was Cherie's idea, the mayor's wife. Former wife actually since the annulment. This is her victory party."

"Victory party?"

"Fifteen years of marriage, two children and more than a P100 million in alimony. Not bad, huh?"

"I don't know, Ange. I think I'd better get back to my hotel. This crowd is too...," Jessica stopped, lost for words.

"Nonsense. You're already here. Come on, I'll introduce you around."

They got separated as the night wore on. Jessica, hiding in semi-darkness behind one of the pillars, was beginning to feel too conspicuous with her lack of social skills. She felt gauche and young, too young perhaps for a mother of two and a wife with 16 years of experience behind her. The women in the room sparkled in this cool sophistication, their language which was peppered with off-colored slang. Their dress and the manner in which they carried the simplest fabric made her feel drab and colorless. She felt about as feminine and delicate as a plant relic without a name.

The sound of intimate laughter suddenly intruded into her silence. Husky giggles mingled with the soft music; a man's whisper suddenly became more urgent. Hearing their voices, Jessica panicked. She skirted around the post intending to run when she was suddenly dragged from behind. A hand caught her wrist in a tight clamp; it pulled her along a darkened corner, behind thick curtains into a leather covered seat that gave a tiny squeak when she landed on top of it.

She could hear soft breathing; she could hear the air between her ears as the fear accelerated; she could hear the pounding of her own heart. She opened her mouth to scream when the hand holding hers loosened its grip and fingertips, callused and cautious, touched as light as a butterfly's wing the tip of her breast. Jessica froze, the scream dying strangled down her throat. The hand exploring her breast felt warm, alien; the body pressing her down the seat solid and heavy. The entire pulsing universe now centered on that alien pressure on her chest. The heat lingered; the air was suddenly foggy and thick.

Jessica was conscious of a man's body leaning heavily onto hers; of his hand, of his warm breath fanning her cheek. She forgot to draw air. She lay quiet and unmoving against him, afraid, terrified...waiting. When he moved, she was unprepared for the sudden pressure of his mouth which possessed her lips in an open and luscious kiss. She clutched at the hair tickling her neck intending to pull his head away but the pressure of his mouth became harder and hotter. Jessica slowly sagged unresisting on the seat, her body sliding deeper into the shadows, an unrecognizable part of her, separate, mindless. Hands stripped her of her clothes. Cool air settled on her nakedness light as down but the coolness was suddenly replaced by warmth of his hands gliding softly, insistently down her naked length.

Jessica's eyelids remained shut even when she felt him settling fully between her thighs. He took her without hesitation and she let him, conscious of the sound of their bodies gliding and moving with a quiet swooshing noise on the surface of warm and wet leather. A strangled groan escaped from her lips, more like laughter regurgitating from some unknown source inside her. The end came with a moaning sound from his throat. Jessica's nails tightened on his back as her torso arched like a graceful dancer against him; then her body went entirely limp, pressing back onto the seat with a noiseless sigh.


They remained entangled in the aftermath without speaking, his body still splayed against hers, his fingers oddly tender on her hip. Jessica, still stunned by what just happened, was reluctant to break the silence. She was afraid of what he might say, afraid of even meeting his eyes in the gloom. She was imagining the worst when the sound of gentle snoring suddenly caught her stunned ears. Perfect. The man assaults her, makes love to her, and falls asleep. Perfect.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 14.08.2009

Alle Rechte vorbehalten