The CEO's Painted Skin

Thelma"s eyes grow bigger upon seeing the shopping bags lined up in front of her.

"Where do all these shopping bags came from?" she eyed each bags with amazement. She immediately inspected the fancy bags, the contents inside were even more expensive looking. Living in a poor condition in the village all her life and only owning cheap clothes, she knew the huge difference between cheap and expensive clothes when she saw one.

"A gift from a friend, Mother," Catherine said casually.

Thelma stared at her daughter in silence, she has lots of question for Catherine. Earlier, she had caught a glimpse of the sleek black car outside their house before she closes the door.

"Who are those guys?" Thelma wanted to know who are those stranger.

"My boyfriend and his bodyguard...Mother," said Catherine.

"Huh? You already got a boyfriend? Since when? Who is he?" Thelma"s questions for her daughter came pouring in.

"Since last week? I think?" Catherine"s brows furrowed. Her mind is a bit muddled right now. Heck, she didn"t even want to count the days and nights she spent with John. Maybe she just wants to forget that terrible night and everything that comes with it.

Thelma sighed with her daughter"s baffling answer. "Huh? You didn"t know when was the time you had started the relations.h.i.+p with that guy? Where did you meet him? You have no plans to introduce him to me?" she asked, fis.h.i.+ng for more information.

"What"s the use, Mother? We have broken up," she lied.

"Broken up? Yet he personally drove you here in the middle of the night? Are you kidding me?" disbelief clouded Thelma"s eyes.

Catherine groaned not liking her mother"s interrogation. "Mother, we will migrate to the city tomorrow morning. We have to sleep early. We still got some things to worry about," she ignored and dismissed her mother"s further questioning.

"Seriously, you will just abandon your boyfriend like that? Did he know that we will move to the city tomorrow?"

"No. He doesn"t have to know. I didn"t tell him. Besides he was a big mistake in the first place. Our entire relations.h.i.+p is a big mistake!" she was getting tired and frustrated explaining everything to her mother.

"At least you could have said goodbye. Is he married?" said Thelma, she was getting suspicious about the real character of the guy that her daughter was involved with.

Catherine sighed. "Mother, don"t worry I will text him tomorrow. He is not married, he is single," she answered in a crisp voice. She turned around and headed to her room.

Thelma released a sigh of relief.

Catherine yawned feeling sleepy. She entered her room, spread the mattress in the wooden floor and prepared herself to sleep. Her new iPhone ring with a new message. She checked it, a text message coming from John.

"Are you sleeping now?"

She replied..."Yes"

"Miss you!"

She smiled at his message. "Miss you too! Wanna cuddle?" she typed, wanting to tease him.

"Very much. I will send Ramon to fetch you right now?"

She typed..."No thanks. I was just joking"

"Okay. I want you to come with me tomorrow night, we will go to this nice secluded beach nearby."

Catherine suddenly became sad. By tomorrow night they will be arriving in the city, a thousand miles away from him, never to see him again.

"Okay. I will be there," she texted him back. She doesn"t want to lie...but she has to.

"Sweet dreams my dear Catherine, I love you!" he texted.

"Goodnight John, I love you too!" she texted back. She smiled to herself, warm feelings enveloped her senses after typing I love you to him.

Catherine placed the iPhone above the cabinet and shut her eyes to sleep. There are many things to do tomorrow. Although her mother has already packed most of their clothes and belongings still they have to hurry up, she wanted to arrive in the city before nightfall and more importantly before John can detect she was running away from him.

She had trouble sleeping that night but nevertheless, she woke up early the next morning at exactly 4:00 AM with the help of her iPhone alarm clock. After eating their breakfast they start packing everything.

They took a quick bath in the lake nearby together with her mother and her two younger siblings. Catherine"s eyes roamed around the lake, the atmosphere around her was refres.h.i.+ng, rejuvenating and serene, the sun was not rising yet on the horizon. Two towering mountains coc.o.o.ned the lake on its cradle. Two cows and three goats were munching on the green gra.s.s a few meters from the lake. On the south, rows of corn plants were standing still ready for harvest. On the west, tomatoes, ampalaya, and other vegetable plants occupies the s.p.a.ce. The east and west side of the field around the lake was recently plowed ready for planting. Birds were flying up above the trees that scattered around the lake. She loves the sound of their chirping. This is her favorite place in the entire village and she"s going to miss it very much! During the earlier times, she would do her laundry in this lake together with her childhood friends. Now they were all grown up. Three of her friends married too young after graduating from high school and remained residing in the village with their new family, the other two were also married but already working in the city. She was the only one left behind, single and dirt poor.

Done with their bathing, Catherine and her family went back to their house for last minute packing. They left all the things that were worn, old and c.u.mbersome. She wants to travel light. When everything is ready for their departure, she padlocked their nipa hut. Caroline, her twin sister already got her own spare key.

They hired a tricycle to bring them to the bus station. Before the rest of their neighbors woke up they were already gone.

After three hours they already boarded the bus heading for Cavite city.

Catherine"s iPhone ring...she received a message from John saying "Good morning"

She bit her lower lip. d.a.m.n! she was missing him already!

She texted him back with "Good morning. Eat lot"s of breakfast."

By noon she received another text from him, telling her to eat lunch and that he missed her and he was excited to see her tonight...

She replied by texting him to eat his lunch as well and sent him a total of fifteen heart emoji.

Catherine"s heart was feeling heavy. It"s like a hundred needles were piercing her heart from all directions. Getting away from him is even more difficult than she already antic.i.p.ated.

She typed and poured her emotion into the message..."I love you so much, John," for the last time and click send.

Then she replaced the sim card that John inserted on the iPhone last night with the new sim card she brought on the bus station earlier. She kept John"s sim card in her wallet.

Catherine breathed in relief. She finally severed her connection with John! Success!

Finally, she can move on and start a new life in the city. She was feeling a bit excited with the prospect of finding a new job as soon as possible, next find a hospital for Jacob and make his health and condition better. That is what the plan is all about. John was just a sudden little distraction that nearly hampers all her plans. Once they arrive in the city, she will start to create new memories and new beginnings for her and her entire family.

She believed that one day she will be able to forget everything that happened to her in their village. Someday, she hopes and wish with all her heart that she can make a big difference in her family"s lives by uplifting their dirt poor condition.

And to forget John entirely and embrace the future. With those thoughts in mind, she smiled a little trying to cheer herself up.

She did the right thing. She made the right decision. And that is all that really matters to her at this point in time.