His Punishment (3 page)

Lyn almost
choked from her iced tea, and stared at me blankly.

“What are you
gonna do now?” she asked.

“Nothing. I was
given the option to drop all my subjects and to re-enroll in my block, but
then, what’s the point? We’re taking the same subjects anyway. And I’m used to
my classmates hating me for nothing, so I’d just stay and not go into the
hassle of a drop-add subject.” I was trying to sound as if I actually weighed
the pros and the cons.

“Are you sure
that’s just it?” my best friend can smell something fishy about that decision.
Her instinct tells her that she is right. She won’t be called my best friend if
she can’t deduce a simple arithmetic like this.

“Okay, it’s
going to be my last term here, and after that it’s goodbye James forever. So I
just thought it won’t be that bad if I allow myself to look at him for my last
three months in school. Please?” I pleaded at Lyn who I know will be the first
and only one to object.

She kept silent,
eyeing me like a specimen in the microscope. She continued chewing the salmon
sashimi in her mouth.

“Please Hon. I
won’t do anything! I promise.” I asked with my hands clasped with each other.

“Okay, but make
sure you won’t act stupidly infatuated with that jerk again right there.” She
said in between her teeth.

“Yes I promise.”
I raised my right hand as if taking an oath.

“Something’s
telling me this is scary.” Lyn was bothered.

“No! Trust me. I
won’t put myself in the same situation I was at, three years back.” I touched
her arm as if trying to reassure her that her blessing was right.

“Make sure you
can keep your promise.” Lyn tried to sound threatening.

“I promise that
I will keep my promise. Come on, let’s get dessert.” I said happily.

“You go ahead.
I’ll just finish my Salmon.”

“Okay, I’ll go
get some ice cream.” I said as I stood up and carefully placed my table napkin
down on my seat.

On the way to
the ice cream bar, I saw some sansrival on the dessert table beside all the
other delectable cakes. I got a plate and went back to where my favorite
dessert was, surprised to have found something else, or rather someone.

He turned his
head after he got his slice and saw me. Then he stared with a very dark
expression on his face.

I looked down as
if scared to face him any longer.

“Tara.” he
called to me. He spoke my name without any emotion. No anger, no sweetness. No
whatever.

I looked up when
I heard him call me.

“Yes James?” I
asked bewilderedly. He’s talking to me. I can’t believe it.

“I will let this
one pass, but I’m reminding you, STAY AWAY.” He said, still without a readable
expression on his face.

“But I’m not
foll…” I wasn’t able to finish my sentence ‘cause he already left me with an
empty plate and now loss of appetite for my favorite cake.

Two weeks have
passed since the first day of their classes and nothing bad has happened to
Tara yet. She was honestly threatened by the way their last conversation ended
when they were accidentally at the same restaurant.

It’s like when
he told her for the first time to stay away from him. Now he’s reminding her to
do the same. It sounded to Tara that he is actually going to do something bad
to her if she doesn’t stop. But honestly, she never had any intentions on
bugging him again, “stalking” as he clearly emphasized.

It’s a Friday.
The day did not start well for her. When she got out of the house, she saw her
dad’s car blocking hers. She called for the driver to move it so she can leave,
but then their driver found that the tire is flat so he had to change it first.
No wonder her dad used her mom’s.

It was okay
since she usually got up early for school because she didn’t want to come
rushing to class. She drove cautiously to school as she always had.

Tara was uneasy
when she arrived because somebody occupied her slot at the parking lot, which
by the way is inside Transpacific Condominium, since they have a unit there
rented by a group of professors from the nearby exclusive girls’ school. Her
parents love acquiring real estate properties for investment and this is one of
those.

She called for
security to check whose car that was and asked him to summon the driver to get
it out of her parking slot. It took fifteen minutes before the apologetic
driver came down. She is a calm person so she did not get mad though she is
already ten minutes late for class.

She hurriedly
crossed the street after getting out of parking then ran to her classroom. Good
thing the classroom for Business to Business Marketing was just on the second
floor of the building.

Tiptoeing, she
entered the classroom so as to not disturb her classmates, who she noticed are
busy doing something. The professor is still not around or perhaps just went
out for a while.

After five
minutes, just as she has settled herself in her seat, the professor entered the
room and called her name.

“Tara,” he went
to her seat.

“I see you are
late, so I will be taking note of that.” He said disappointed as she was never
late for any of her classes before. “I will be having a seminar for the entire
week next week and so I am giving you an assignment while I am away.”

She just looked
at him intently.

“It’s a paired
assignment. And since you’re late and Mr. Aguilar is not around, you are the
only two people left without partners. So I am pairing the two of you up for
this assignment,” he continued.

Oh No!
She was half happy but half worried. She doesn’t know how she will do this
assignment.

“Please get Mr.
Aguilar’s number from one of his friends and contact him so you two could meet
up and start brainstorming on your project.” He never gave his student a chance
to speak.

She was still in
awe as he continued informing her. She didn’t know what to do. He said it was
just her and James without partners so there is no way she could get another
partner.

“The assignment
is quite simple Tara. You just have to incorporate business to business
marketing in it. I asked everyone to choose two companies in different
industries and have proposals on how to do business with each company. Of
course, there will be research and it would be best if you have contacts in
each business so the interviews and documents will be handed to you easily. I
believe you have a resort business ran by your family, right?” he asked her.

“Yes, sir.” she
answered.

“That’s good.
Now you just have to find another business in a different industry that could
cater to some of your business’ needs that the other business is offering.
Also, your business should be beneficial to them too, so in return you have to
think of what you can offer to the other business as well. It’s like an
X-deal.” He said making it sound so plain and simple. Yes the project was not
complicated at all, but the partnership was very difficult for her.

He looked at
some of the papers he is holding and handed one to her.

“These are the
guidelines on what I want you to achieve in this project, the outline is also
there so you just have to follow it and then I want a business proposal coming
from each business for the other company you have chosen.” He was looking at
her intently waiting for a response.

“Okay sir”, was
all she could mutter. She was still in shock that being late for the first time
meant a lot.

“Good, so I will
have your reports and proposals on Friday in my Pigeon Box. I will be coming
back from the conference by Friday afternoon, so the deadline will be 3:00 pm
Friday next week. Good luck,” he said smiling.

That good
luck is something I really need most for this. Especially, now that I don’t
know how to approach my partner. Partner… hmmmm, that sounded good. Shame. What
am I thinking! That guy hates me with a vengeance!

“Christian…” she
walked towards him who was busy discussing with Matt about their assigned
project.

“Hi!” he looked
up.

“Uhm, as you
heard, James and I are paired by sir, so is it okay to ask for his mobile
number?” she was a bit hesitant but didn’t have any choice.

“Yeah, here.” he
gave her his mobile phone where James’ contact info is already flashing.

“Okay. Thank
you.” She said and copied the number quickly.

“You’re welcome
Tara. Good luck!” he smiled at her.

I know what
that smile is for! He’s wishing me luck that this silly guy would take my calls
or even answer my messages.

She went back to
her seat and sent James a message.

HI JAMES…

That’s what all
she could type. She didn’t know what to say next.

…MR. TORRES GAVE
US A PAIRED ASSIGN. AND HE PAIRED US SINCE WE WER BOTH OUT WHEN HE ANNOUNCED
IT…

She reread it
three times before she decided it’s okay and formal enough.

….WE HAVE TO
SUBMIT D WRITTEN REPORTS AND PROPOSALS BY 3PM NEXT FRI. I M WONDERING, WHEN R U
AVAILABLE TO MEET?

She reread it
like five times but she can’t decide. She wanted to ask Christian if this
message is okay and if James won’t get annoyed about it, but of course she
didn’t.

After five more
minutes of staring at her text message, she finally sent it to him. Hoping for
him to reply soon so they can start the assignment and finish it. The sooner
the better.

It’s impossible
for him to answer so soon so she just stashed her mobile phone inside her bag
and scribbled on her notebook, pretending she is busy. But actually her
thoughts started wandering off. She didn’t know what will happen with this
stupid paired up assignment.

When the class
ended at 9:30, her notes looked more like an abstract painting, full of circles
and squares and stars and hearts and all the shapes there could possibly be in
geometry, she never wrote a single word as her sane mind left her since she
texted him and he still did not reply.

She saw
Christian standing up and getting his things and started walking to the door.
She hurriedly came after him.

“Uhm, Christian,
do you know if James will come to our afternoon classes?” she asked before he
completely walked out.

“Oh Tara, he
won’t, he is on vacation with Rhea at the moment. They went to the beach. I
think they are already there now. It’s almost an hour and a half plane ride.”
He turned around and informed her.

She felt sad.
Rhea. Beach. Vacation.

“And Tara, I
think they won’t be home until Wednesday. But please don’t tell our professors,
James bribed his Uncle to write him a medical slip for excuse.” He knew he had
to tell her because the report is due two days after James’ expected arrival.

“Where did they
go?” she wasn’t able to control herself to ask. Not that she was interested.
Well actually, she is.

Christian looked
doubtful to answer but he remembered the project so he decided to tell her
half-heartedly.

“Samal Beach
Resort in Davao.”

“What? Oh no.
I’m not sure if they have already restored the cellular sites there. Last time,
Wi-Fi was down and mobile network had no service. It was broken down by the
storm last summer. And since it’s on the island, the service operators are
having a difficult time to restore the signals. How will I contact him?” she
was panicking as she blurted out.

“How do you
know?!” he asked surprised.

“Oh Christian,
Samal Beach Resort is our family’s business.”

***

“Oh baby, I
never thought you’d book such a sweet escape like this!” Rhea’s arms are
wrapped around James’ torso as they were lying in bed. They just arrived at the
resort.

This place is
amazing. It is so cool. It had every water sport that I wanted to do. I booked
this at the start of classes when Rhea continuously bugged me of quality time
before I graduate.

“Baby can we go
skinny dipping?” she smiled so wickedly.

I know what
she’s thinking and I like it.

“Of course baby,
we can do anything you like while we’re here. But not tonight, it says on their
website that there is an acoustic band playing every Friday night and I want us
to watch it.” He pulled her closer to him playing with her soft tiny curls
falling down her cheeks.

He adores his girlfriend,
she was sexy. Her curves are at the right places and she fit him perfectly. She
is not tall at all. When standing together, the top of her head just reached
below his chin. He is fond of girls smaller than him.

“I’m so happy
baby. This is the first time we left our classes to have a vacation, just you
and me. This is like the best graduation gift ever!” she smiles and gives him
tiny kisses on the cheeks then on the forehead then on the nose and finally on
the lips.

The kiss is
starting to be passionate and full of desire. But before they get carried away,
James pulled back slowly.

“Baby, I need to
call Christian to ask about my first class. Let’s save the best for tonight,”
he winked then let her go from his embrace.

He stood up from
the bed and grabbed his phone and went to the balcony of their room. He
switched on his phone.
No wonder I did not receive any calls or messages, I
forgot to turn it on.

It had been five
minutes before James gave up finding a signal.

“Baby . . .”
James went inside and found Rhea sleeping. He decided to go to the front desk
without bothering to wake up Rhea from her nap and ask for a little help with
his signal.

“I’m sorry for
the inconvenience sir, but the restoration of cell service on the island had
been very difficult. The last storm broke down all the cell sites nearby. Even
our internet service has not been restored and its almost one month and a half
already.” The lady on the front desk apologized.

“How did you
even get my booking?” he asked frowning.

“We go to the
city everyday sir, we make all transactions in the business center there. If
there is anything you would want me to transmit sir, I could do so for you.”
The girl in the reception was very accommodating.

“What time do
you go to the city? Do you use the same boat we used to be transported here?”
he asked as if trying to estimate the travel time that will be spent to go back
to the main island.

“No sir, we use
the resort’s private speed boat, it shortens travel time to half. Our staff
leaves at nine in the morning and another one at three in the afternoon,” the
receptionist continues, “but if you need to do something in the city sir, we
can transport you at this time.”

“No it’s okay. I
think I will just ride with your three pm schedule. Is that okay?” he smiled at
her offer.

“Yes sir that
would be no problem at all. I will have the room boy call you from your villa
before the staff leaves.”

“Okay. Thank you
Ms. Anne.” He read the receptionist’s ID tag and walked back to their villa.

James told Rhea
about the connection problems in the resort and surprisingly, Rhea did not
freak out. She was even happy at the thought that they are somewhat on a
deserted island and no one could disturb them.

They had lunch
at their villa. They had a good view from the balcony and their feet were
playing in the sand as they ate. They were laughing and talking naughty. Rhea
could not stop giggling in delight as James responded to all her flirty moves.

The door bell
rang and made James jump up a bit. He went to the door and looked at his watch
before frowning.
It’s not three o’clock yet.

“Hello sir
James,” a staff from the resort greeted him.

“The trip to the
city has been moved earlier as we are expecting a VIP to arrive. We are
expected to leave in ten minutes. Are you still going with us?” the staff
continued to speak when he saw James just nodded at him.

“Yes, yes. I
will just get my phone and tell my girl friend. I will be at the lobby in five
minutes.” He looked at his watch while answering.

“Okay sir, we
will wait for you.” He bent his head a bit as a sign of respect and
acknowledgment before he turned and walked back to the lounge.

James didn’t
even bother to lock the door as he knew he would be out of it again in a matter
of a couple minutes.

“Baby, I must go
to the city now, the trip had been scheduled earlier as they are expecting a
VIP to arrive. Would you like to come?” He kissed Rhea while grabbing his
mobile phone and wallet.

“No baby, I
think I’ll just stay. I want to take a nap so I will be recharged for tonight.”
She smiled wickedly and stood up to hug him before he headed for the door. She
touched his chest and caressed it a little.