ETHAN CARTER
I arrived in the Philippines the next day tired and exhausted. Nina had already sent me Mr Buchan's address and at the moment I was staying at Shangri-La Boracay hotel.
I gotta hand it to the old man, he had exquisite taste. This was one of the best hotels in the Philippines.
A glamorous view of the lagoon, had that neighborly charm not forgetting the decor of the hotel itself. It was a real beauty if I said so myself.
I only rested for two to three hours before I freshened up and went downstairs to the lobby.
If my Intel wasn't wrong, Mr Buchan at this moment was at the lobby flirting with a couple of maids before his four pm massage. I entered the elevator pressing the ground floor button.
Alongside me was a woman dressed in a skimpy bikini and when she smiled at me, I smiled back knowing full well she was sending me messages.
Normally, I would have taken her back to my hotel, tangle in my sheets until I was tired but I had to remember that I was with Crystal.
And although I thought of Crystal in a platonic way, I wouldn't cheat on her. I wasn't that type of man.
I wanted to be like my dad. Loyal and faithful to the end. Although I never met the guy, mom never hesitated to tell me stories about him.
He was an architect, a simple man with so many dreams for his family. Unfortunately when mom was three months pregnant, he succumbed to cancer and although my mother doesn't like to talk about it, it must have been so tough for her.
Pregnant and alone, dealing with grief all by herself.
The elevator dinged bringing me out of my reverie. Once they parted, I spotted Mr Buchan just down in the lobby dressed in trunks and a Hawaiian shirt.
He seemed to entertain the numerous girls surrounding him and I found the whole thing ridiculous.
He was sixty years old, turning seventy and he had time to flirt with young ladies while his family was back home? Not the kind of man I liked be associated with but I had to talk to him.
I approached him, standing behind him while he bragged about his yachts and casinos.
"Mr Buchan", I cleared my throat and the old guy turned around faster than I could say one.
His grey brows furrowed in surprise, his mouth agape before he changed his expression to a neutral one.
"Ethan Carter! To what do I owe the pleasure?" He gushed.
"Can we talk?" I asked, looking at the tons of girls behind him,"privately?"
"You can say what you want infront of these beauties. I promise they don't bite"
And the said beauties giggled like little kids behind him.
"Fine then. Regarding the land in Cebu, am here to tell you that we will not be bargaining about the price. Our offer still remains. Three million nothing more", I said sternly and the old man shooed the ladies away.
Afterwards he lured me into the bar so that we could talk more calmly.
Except drunk or not, I was not going to be swayed into upping the price of a small piece of land.
"Ethan, Ethan. I've always liked you and that's why I know you will make the right decision. I know how badly you want my piece of land and really I want to sell it to you too but on my own terms",he said cynically and I took a gulp of the brandy infront of me.
"You already settled for three million. What changed your mind?" I asked.
"A lot of companies want that land, Ethan. It belonged to my forefathers and selling it to you at such a low price didn't seem fair"
Such a low price? Three million was a low price?
"Mr Buchan. I offered you three times more than what other companies were offering you and you seem to take advantage of that. I've come to a decision"
"What decision?" He asked curiously.
"Mecha Builders is no longer interested in buying your piece of land so the deal's off", I took a note from my wallet placing it on the bar counter for the drink I had.
Hardly had I taken a step when Mr Buchan rose up from his seat quickly. I didn't even know he had the strength to jump that fast.
"But I thought you needed that land",he cried.
"We did but there alot of people willing to sell to us. Mecha Builders is famous all over the world, who wouldn't want to be part of us?"
"You know other companies will want that piece of land too",he warned.
"Ooh I know but do you think they'll offer you the same amount like me. Plus once word goes around that Mecha Builders isn't interested in your land, I bet you'll be selling that land for a measly hundred dollars", I smirked.
"It's three million or the deal's off, Mr Buchan. Take it or leave it"
I could see the scowl on his face once he realized I was dead serious about turning down the deal. With a strained huff, he said,
"Three million it is"
"Nice doing business with you, Mr Buchan", I smirked taking out the folder from my jacket.
It was a new contract drawn to ensure that Mr Buchan's land solely belonged to Mecha Builders. Once he signed the documents there was no going back, I would write him a cheque and the deal would be done and dusted.
"You knew I would accept your offer, didn't you?" He asked taking my pen and signing the document.
"Let's just say I had my own ways of convincing you to sign that document", I stated handing him the cheque.
"You are good, Ethan Carter. I have to admit you are really good at what you do",he said before walking away.
Finally, I could put everything behind me and have a good time enjoying the scenery here.
I asked the bartender for another scotch on the rocks, tucking the folder safely inside my coat.
The rim of the glass had barely reached my lips when my phone buzzed in my pants.
I took it out to see Crystal's name on the screen.
Swiping to the green call button, I picked up the phone.
"Ethan?" Crystal cried and I sat up.
"Crystal, what's wrong? Why do you sound like you are crying?"
"Your new maid. S-she hurt me. Ethan I want her gone! I want you to fire her!" She screeched.
"Whoa...whoa. Calm down and tell me what happened"
"Did you not hear me? Ethan I had to go to the hospital so that I could stitch up the nasty cut on my arm. She could have killed me"
What?
"Crystal, I don't think she's capable of-"
"Are you defending her? I'm hurt. She pushed me and y-you are not even listening!"
"Crystal I didn't- she hung up?"
She hung up on me? What the heck was going on? I got out of the bar in haste planning to take the first flight back home.
xXxXxXxX
Sixteen hours, forty four minutes later I was alighting my plane.
Jai was standing against one of my cars.
"Welcome back, man" he greeted and I patted him on the shoulder hopping in the car.
"Where to? Home?" He asked.
I had a whole lot of questions, like how Crystal was hurt by Aliya under his nose. Mila was also at home, how could she have not interfered and stopped Aliya.
"Crystal's apartment", I said lowly.
Half an hour later, I was checking in Fulton Hotel going up to Crystal's apartment.
I was tired from the jetlag, tired of moving from one place to the next without rest.
Most of all, I was mad and I was trying real hard not to snap.
I knocked on Crystal's door not really sure if I should have barged right in or do the gentlemany thing and waited for her to open the door.
What if she wasn't even at home?
She did say she went to the hospital.
The door opened and an exhausted Crystal stood by the doorway. Her right arm was bandaged and she had a small cut just below her eye.
"Ethan?"
"I came as fast as I could", I commented feeling her run into my chest.
"Ooh Ethan",she cried and I patted her hair confused as to what happened.
Surely Aliya couldn't have done this. I didn't want to assume things but Crystal looked brutally assaulted.
And Aliya had a thing for assaulting people. I mean she did assault me with coffee then wasabi.
I entered her apartment and once she was calm, she narrated everything starting from how she had went to my house to see if I was back to how Aliya attacked her.
"I only told her that she was trespassing because I know you and you like your space. You don't hire maids, Ethan so it was a surprise to see her in your house", Crystal cried.
"Was Mila there?"I asked.
She nodded her head sideways,"She was off to the market. I thanked God she came just in time to stop her from hurting me"
I was so confused. Tired and angry. I thought Aliya and I were finally starting to be on the same page but with the stunt she pulled, I just don't know if I would let her continue her stay at my house.
"Am so sorry, Crystal", I touched her cheek softly.
"It's not your fault"
"It is my fault. I should have told you about my whereabouts maybe then Aliya wouldn't have attacked you. Don't worry I'll settle everything",, I said seriously standing up and heading for the door.
"I'm sorry I cut your trip short",she muttered and I smiled a bit saying,
"Nothing is more important than your safety"
And I left. Minutes later I was seated in the back seat of my car pondering over what Crystal said.
"Why didn't you stop Aliya from hurting Crystal?" I asked Jai.
"I wasn't there when it happened but one thing I know is that Aliya wouldn't hurt anyone",Jai said as a matter of fact.
I scoffed. What did he know about Aliya? She had merely stayed at my house for a week and she was already stirring trouble.
"I suppose Crystal hurt herself then. Is that what you are trying to say?"
"I didn't say that but there's always two sides to a story and before you rush into things, you might want to listen to both sides",he suggested and I stayed mute till we got home.
I didn't want to say anything to him because I would have said something I would regret later. Crystal would never lie to me and what?
Was I supposed to believe a woman I barely knew more than my girlfriend?
Jai parked the car just by the driveway and I exited the car walking inside the house.
"Ethan..you are back",Mila was the first to greet me.
I took my jacket off hanging it on the rack.
"Not now, Mila. Where's Aliya?" I growled.
"Ethan I suggest you calm down a bit before-"
"Where's Aliya, Mila?" I asked again walking into the living room.
"Aliya! Aliya Maria Fernanda Torres, you better show yourself", I shouted.
"Am here",her voice came from behind, all meek and innocence.
I glanced at the glass coffee table infront of me, it was broken. Even if they had discarded the broken pieces of glass, the coffee table was still broken.
God, did she actually slam Crystal on this very coffee table?
"I-"she went to speak but I held my palm up to silence her.
"Don't just don't! Do you have any idea what you did? Ofcourse you didn't, because you do everything without thinking. You do everything because you, Aliya are jealous of what people have and you don't.
What? How could you possibly explain this? You could have killed her! Do you know she has a cut just below her eye? What if the glass actually got in her eye and she ended up having one blind eye?
Or did you intend that? Did you intend to actually blind her? I gave you a second chance but you do not deserve any chances. Second chances are for people who actually deserve it.
This job, was meant to help you but now? I think I might as well fire you and demand my money back right now!"
"Ethan, atleast calm down",Mila spoke behind me and I turned around to stare at her.
"Calm down? Mila, I haven't rested till I left and when I thought I was about to rest, my girlfriend called me and you know what she told me? That my new maid wanted to kill her.
Aliya should know what she did was wrong! She should know that my house is not the same as the streets she lived where she can just act out of anger and attack people!
She should apologize. She will apologize to Crystal!"
I turned around to face Aliya, only to find her face downcast and tears falling to the ground where she stood.
She raised her face, her eyes glistening with tears,
"Am sorry",she choked.
I stared at her intently, "Well sorry won't fix anything. Get out of my sight before I do something I might regret!"
I spat and she scampered away to the kitchen or whatever place she went to, I couldn't care less.
