Chapter 23

"Welcome Sein! We were just talking about you!" Ivanna smiled at him.

"So I've heard." He put on a poker face so it was difficult to comprehend his thoughts at that moment.

"How much did you hear?" I asked.

"Only the last line and I just wanted to say please come downstairs there is someone to meet you." With that, he scrambled out of the room.

I wanted to talk to him and ask him who was there for me but he was so in a rush that I didn't even get a chance. Was he embarrassed or maybe, he probably thought I was a complete weirdo. I just hoped that he'll speak to me after this.

I turned and glared at Ivanna who was innocently unpacking her necessities for a bath.

"It was all because of you."

"What was because of me?" she asked, too innocently.

"You know it, Ivanna."

"I know what, Sofia?"

"Don't play around the bull." (I've just changed the phrase:P)

"Who's the bull?"

"Are you going to accept it or not?" I sighed frustrated with her mindless responses. She could be annoying when she wanted to. Twisting the words and dragging an interrogation was her favorite part, I guess.

"Nope. And don't you have someone waiting for you?" Wow! Smooth, very smooth. She just turned the topic around.

Who might be visiting me right now? I already made it clear to all my acquaintances and friends that I'd be on a holiday and I doubted if anyone knew our destination. Maybe, I should've stopped Sein and enquired first.

"But, who might be visiting now?"

"I don't know,' I replied when Ivanna asked me the same question.

"I guess we can call the receptionist?"

"Right." I quickly jumped over to the other side of the bed where there was a telephone placed on a bed side table. There were numbers displayed on a card stuck on the table which clearly mentioned whom to call in the time of need.

I searched for the required one and dialled the number in rush.

"hola , señora , ¿en qué puedo ayudarle?" the receptionist's voice came through. (Hello ma'am, how may I help you?"

"Estoy llamando desde la habitación reservada bajo el nombre de Sofía . ¿Puede por favor compruebe que me visitó ?"  (I'm calling from the room booked under the name of Sofia. Can you please check who visited me?)

"Un minuto." After the silence of a minute came the reply which jumbled my brain cells, "Alice Beckham."

"Thank you," I said breathlessly and immediately cut the call. I put down the receiver hastily and fumbled with my fingers as to what Alice was doing here.

"Who is it?" Ivanna asked carelessly.

"Alice." The two syllables made her stop doing whatever she was doing. This was very sudden for we expected to talk with her after the trip. Couldn't she leave us for to days? I just wished my trip not to get ruined because of some senseless bitch.

"What does she want now?" Ivanna asked incredulously.

"I wish I knew."

"I'm going down. Coming with me?" I asked Ivanna.

"Sure, but wait. Can you bring her to the garden behind our rooms where there are some giant trees, too?"

"What is the need of that, Ivanna?" I'd probably sit by the eating area where I could at least plop some food in my grumbling stomach rather than in a garden. I couldn't possibly munch the grass.

"What if she talks to you some thing about Samuel. Like, you don't have anything other than that to talk to." She shrugged. She was right, we definitely didn't have matters like celebrity gossip or daily chores to discuss. There is doe where there is amity and not enmity.

"So what if she says something that is useful for us? Like to open her truth?"

Though to hope something like that to happen was senseless, what she had said had sense. Who knows, if my day was good, Alice might speak truth.

"Can I ask you something Ivanna?" I softly spoke.

She tenderly placed her small palm on my shoulder and said, "What is it?"

I recollected my memory when Samuel called me desperate, desperate for his love. "Do you think that I'm desperate for Samuel's love and I'm doing all this for him?"

"No, you're not. Wherever that thought had come from, it is just absurd. You are just thrashing it in his face that you are innocent. Okay?"

She squeezed my shoulder which gave me a sense of comfort. I just wanted an assurance that I wasn't and I'm not desperate for his false love.  "So, let's get going eh?"

"Done."

Ivanna took her mobile because apparently she was going to record our conversation and she also gave some tips as to how I should extract answers from Alice. What kind of questions I pose would be beneficial to get required answers. She also asked me to rile her up. The chances were--in frustration she might spill the beans.

I prayed silently that this wasn't the conversation wherein cat fights emerge and we fight like completely retarded ladies, ripping out hair, pulling our clothes and stomping with our heels. Only a polite conversation was all I wished for.

We descended down the stairs slowly, step by step, still discussing where should Ivanna stand and where should I position myself so that camera wouldn't be visible to Alice. Ivanna downloaded a special app so that the sound clarity would turn out perfect.

"Okay, good luck!" Ivanna patted my back and escaped into the garden from the door constructed beside the wall where the steps ended.

I started advancing towards the reception area where Alice was tapping her foot, in impatience.

"Bridget," she muttered, in an emotionless tone.

"It's Sofia,"  said bitterly. She gave a nod of acknowledgement.

"What are you here for?" I asked.

"To talk to you, of course."

"Shall we sit in the lobby and talk?"

"No, we'll go to garden," I said quickly, too quickly must I add. Her eyes narrowed infinitesimally and before she got more suspicious, I said, "I don't want any disturbances from other people and garden is the most silent place."

She pondered for a second and seemed satisfied with my lame answer. She silently followed my path towards the garden. We went near the tree where there was a single bench placed. This was the first time I stepped into garden. In actual, my room's window overlooked garden so I and Ivanna could plan the bench and tree for better shot.

As planned I sat under the tree at the right but I couldn't see Ivanna anywhere.

"So....?" Alice started and I whipped my head immediately in her direction. Wherever Ivanna was,  I just hoped she was recording us.

"You should start Alice since you have approached me," I said in a cold tone.

"How are you, Sofia?" she asked examining her perfectly manicured fingers.

"Put the pleasantries aside Alice, just talk about what you've come here for!"

"Pretty straight forward, aren't ya?" She chuckled.

"You know it."

"I've been deeply wondering about your forbidden love with Samuel and the questions he was asking me now a days."

I remained silent for a minute at least. She didn't have anything to cover her up? She was the best drama female the world has ever produced. I'm dumbfounded that she actually wondered about Samuel's questions. After all, lies stayed at the tip of her tongue.

"What about that Alice?"

"Don't beat around the bush, darling. We both know the reason for that is your increasing conversations with him." That is obvious even for a kid, duh.

"So...?" I maintained the nonchalance in my tone.

Hearing my answer, her fists clenched tightly and she gritted her teeth. I actually could hear the sounds of her teeth gritting. "Just I came here to warn you that he is mine and on't dig deep into the past. Move on."

"Oh, really? Move on? I've moved on, maybe not your fiance."

"Don't play innocent Bridget. I've parted you both five years back, parting you again will not be a great puzzle for me."

"Because Samuel is a fool?" I asked, bitterly.

"He isn't a fool. He is just full of sense and that is why he chose me over you."

"We both know he chose you because of the false photos you gave him," I said through the clenched teeth. I wanted to smack her face right then. But I knew, it's backfire. I felt we were going somewhere, somewhere close to truth and I again, wished that Ivanna was taping this accurately with full sound and picture clarity.

"So...?" Now it was her turn to show nonchalance. I refrained myself from searching a strong stone and hitting her with it. It was hard. As hard as passing maths exam wherein finding 'x' is the most difficult part.

"Why did you do it?"

"What... photoshop your pictures?" She roared in laughter.

"Oh my, my dear Bridget. We both know I wanted him and I did the right thing to earn his trust on my and diminish his trust on you. It was easy for he believed in me and will forever believe in me if not you are coming in my way. So, I warn you. Stay. away. from. him." She emphasized the last sentence in a tough voice to show how serious she was. But she was still a fool.

A fool to fall in his charms, my trap and a fool to believe I need Samuel. "You know what Alice,  don't care about Samuel. Maybe, you should put a leash on him. It was him who came to me always and not the other way around."

"Whatever, Bridget, we both know you desire him. So just stay away."

"It's Sofia and go to hell." I dismissed her with a wave of my hand.

She got up with a humph, flipped her hair in the most dramatic way and left the garden after giving me a nasty look. Once I was sure that she was out of the garden and possibly out of the resort I called out, "Ivanna!"

"Here!" She came towards me in a short sprint from her designated tree.

"Did you record?"

"Yes!" She said enthusiastically and we replayed the video again and again. My heart swelled in happiness for I'm going to be free, free from the accusations of being guilty.

Once Samuel looks at this, I'd be waiting to kick him out of the country. And finally, he'll know who was desperate.

*********

HELLO, EVERYONE!

A great thanks who actually made an effort to check my new book!

Finally! I'm done! After this there will be three chapters or mostly four and then sequel on Sofia's new love life! How exciting is that! I planned a whole new life for her without a past or an ounce of past.

VOTE AND COMMENT:)

Until next time: