His Punishment (4 page)

James groaned as
he felt his hot girlfriend skimming through his body. He smiled at the thought
of what she said then kissed her again before he left.

They arrived at
the dock in less than 20 minutes. He checked his signal once they disembarked
the boat and he finally had one. He immediately called his mom to tell her that
they are okay and not send a search rescue as his mom is very panicky when he
doesn’t keep in touch. He is no momma’s boy, but he doesn’t like it when his
mom worries too much because she has some heart ailments.

“Sir, would you
like to ride with us? We could drop you at the city proper. The business center
is there.” The hotel staff asked him as he ended the conversation with his
mother.

“No, I think I
could stay here. I’ve got signal already.” He said when he checked his phone
again.

“Okay sir, we
will be back in thirty minutes. The airport is just a fifteen minute drive from
here. You could stay at one of our lounges here and order some snacks.” He
pointed him to the direction.

“Oh thank you
but I think I will just rest in one of those cozy huts.” He looked at the huts
lined near the pool.

He loves nature.
He loves outdoor life. He wanted to take a nap as well for tonight. He slipped
his phone back to his short pants and didn’t bother checking for any of his
messages. For him, what’s important is that his mom knows he’s alright. In less
than five minutes that he is lying in the hut, he fell asleep.

James woke up
half an hour later. The staff from the resort is still not back. He walked to
the dock to check for the boat and it’s still there. Clearly, the staff’s trip
to the airport took longer. Davao is almost like Manila already. The traffic is
not as heavy, but definitely not as light as in other provinces.

He got his phone
from his pocket and started skimming through his messages. He had a couple
unread messages from Christian. He did not bother to read them as he reminded
himself that he is on a vacation with Rhea and he wants to give her his full
attention.

Then he saw a
message from an unknown number. He opened it and started reading.

HI JAMES. MR.
TORRES GAVE US A PAIRED ASSIGN AND HE PAIRED US SINCE WE WER BOTH OUT WHEN HE
ANNOUNCED IT. WE HAVE TO SUBMIT D WRITTEN REPORTS AND PROPOSALS BY 3PM NEXT
FRI. I M WONDERING, WHEN R U AVAILABLE TO MEET?

Who is this?
Stupidly texting me and not saying who he is.

He replied WHO
IS THIS?

Then he thought
how he is going to do that assignment when he is here at the island with no
signal and no modes of communication. Now that startled him. After three
minutes of no reply, he decided to call the sender of the message.

No answer.

He called again
but still no answer.

Idiot! Pick
up the phone!

He called again,
finally he heard a voice.

“James,” the
girl from the other line said.

“Who’s this?” he
asked clueless.

“Let’s just talk
later.” then the girl disconnected the call.

“Wait!” to no
avail, the girl was gone.

He called her
again intending to let her know that he is in an island with no communication
and that they must talk now before the VIP arrives and they set off for the
Island.

“I told you we
will just talk later!” the girl exclaimed.

He moved the
phone away from his ear and looked at it. The other line is still ringing but
he heard the voice of the girl.

“James!” the
girl said again, now catching his attention.

He looked up and
saw the afternoon sun beaming at his eyes and could not figure the girl’s face.
He stood up so the sun won’t hurt his eyes then looked from where the voice
came from.

“TARA!” he said
in shock when he recognized it was her.

“I’ve been
trying to get a hold of you since Mr. Torres told me that we are paired for the
assignment. But Christian told me you are here and I know there are no signals
in the island, so I came instead.” She tried to explain before he starts
assuming things.

“I TOLD YOU TO
STOP STALKING ME!” he exclaimed, clearly her explanation ending useless.

“I am not
stalking you. Did you not hear a single word I said? We were paired up by Mr .
. .” she was cut mid-sentence by his second accusation.

“You’re making
this up as an excuse. I feel you volunteered to be my partner! And I’m sure you
loved it that you weren’t able to contact me earlier so you had the excuse to
come follow me here!” he’s still mad.

“Just shut up
James! I am no longer interested in you and I’m just here for the stupid paired
assignment. I will be back in Manila by Sunday so we have two days to work this
thing and wrap up on Wednesday when you get back!” her voice is evidently
starting to get angry as she sees James isn’t grasping the true situation.

“You liar! I
don’t know how you knew I’m here. But clearly, I bet you knew I’m with Rhea and
you want to sabotage our vacation!” she shook her head in dismay as James
continues condemning her.

“Think whatever
you like James! But for now I need you to come up with a company to cater to a
resort business and vice versa. You have less than twenty minutes to do that!”
she knew she sounded very demanding.

“Shut up! I
won’t do anything that you say! I’m going back to the resort in a couple
minutes when the VIP arrives and I don’t know if they have any seats left for
you to ride with us. So let’s just talk when you get to the island!” he felt
happy he thought he was ditching her.

She just grinned
sheepishly.

“I’m telling you
James. You got less than twenty minutes to think and come up with the other
company that we need. We have sooo little time. I don’t want to mess up your
getaway with Ms. Cheerleader by staying here ‘til Tuesday just because you took
a long time deciding which company!” she loves the feeling that she is on top
of the situation.

“Don’t you order
me with anything you little bitch!” he can feel that she is getting the better
side of him.

“How dare you
call me bitch! Asshole!” she retorted.

“Ms. Tara.” the
staff from the hotel approached them.

“Yes?” she
turned.

“We could leave
anytime now. Are you both ready?” the staff said once again.

“Okay, let’s
go.” She said and started walking. She knew she left James with a confused
look.

“Wait!” James
screamed at them. “The VIP has not arrived yet. Are we not waiting for them
anymore?”

Tara grinned one
more time at James and shook her head before she continued walking to the dock
where the boat was.

“Sir, Ms. Tara
Salvador is Samal Beach Resort’s Marketing Manager, daughter of the owner.” The
staff explained to him.

“Tara is VIP?”
James said with his mouth open.

While on the
boat, James could still not believe he made himself look like a complete fool
in front of Tara at the island. He could have never guessed that the resort he
was just praising a few hours ago was his stalker’s property.

After about
fifteen minutes, the speed boat docked at the island. Tara was being helped by
the resort’s staff when James jumped out of the boat and down to the water. A
big splash washed over Tara’s hair and face as James’ is a six-foot one inch
guy and hitting the water with his jump really did create a small wave.

He looked at
Tara, “Sorry.” But his look isn’t apologetic at all. She saw him smirk as he
continued walking ashore.

I really hate
this guy! What made me have a crush on him for the longest time!

Tara did not see
James when she went to the lobby to get her keys to the Villa. Tara doesn’t have
a regular villa that she keeps. She loves to be placed in a random villa, just
like their guests to check on the facilities and make sure everything is
working well.

“We were able to
buy the radios for the resort Anne, perhaps five units will do?” Tara said to
the manager of the resort and asked Don, the staff who accompanied her to the
mall to buy the radios to hand over the radios to Anne.

Anne received
the equipment and thanked Tara.

“Please set up
everything that must be done for it to be used starting today. I will be taking
two units home in Manila on Sunday when I leave, one for the Business Center
and one at home so you can contact us in case of emergencies.” Tara explained.

Tara was given
the assignment to handle Samal Beach Resort by her parents as this is their
first resort that was established. It is already running smoothly and Tara is
still not a graduate of Marketing so her parents gave her this one to handle as
a training ground, before she gets to handle one of their biggest resorts in
Boracay Island after she finishes school.

“Would you like
to eat Ms. Tara?” Don asked her.

“Okay Don, a
half club sandwich and coconut milk shake will do. Can you send it to my
villa?”

“Yes Miss.” Don
said.

Tara hates being
called ma’am, she feels like she is detaching herself too much from her staff.
It makes her feel awkward that it’s like building big a wall between their
statuses so she prefers being called miss.

“By the way,
which villa did you check me in to?” she asked Anne.

“Oh Miss, the
villas are fully booked for the weekend, the only two villas open are the
honeymoon suites at the north.” Anne answered back.

“That’s too big,
I’m just alone. How about the hotel?” she asked again.

At the back of
the thirty villas, there is a five-story hotel with one hundred rooms.

“The hotel just
started renovation last week. It’s closed.”

“What? But I
arranged that the renovation be started as soon as I left. It has been more
than a month since then! How come nobody told me about this?” Tara said, her
voice starting to raise.

“But Miss, we
already informed Madam Tanya about it. We thought you knew that the Davao City
Resort needed more attention than ours so the renovation there was started
first before ours.” she explains.

Okay there’s
nothing I could do if they already told mom. But how come she didn’t tell me.
Oh well, it’s okay, our resort in the city needed the renovation more than here
in the island. Conferences, meetings and parties are held there, so it’s more
urgent.

“I will head to
my villa, Anne. Please send me the sandwich there. Thank you.” she took the
keys. . It says N200HS. It’s the room number.

She walked away
already and started to wear her Oakley when she forgot to ask something. She
turned back to the reception table.

“By the way what
room is Mr. James Aguilar checked in?” she asked when she approached the
check-in counter.

“Let me check
Miss…” Anne looked at the computer and then said, “N300HS Miss Tara.”

“Okay, thank
you.” she said then turned and walked to her villa.

Her villa from
how she remembers it is a big one. With Jacuzzi inside and a patio that is
directly planted on the beach, she can walk right into the sand if she does
sleep-walk and if she forgets to close the patio’s sliding door.

She was in front
of her villa when she checked the two other villas beside it. She remembered
Anne saying that there are only two available before she got here. So now
there’s just one vacant.
I wonder where the honeymooners are.

She checked her
keys again. N200HS.
What?
She checked again. It’s really N200HS!

Shit! It means
it’s sitting beside James and Rhea’s villa. Anne said they are checked in at
N300HS.

The band started
to play right after dinner. James and Rhea went to the bar to chill and get a
few shots before they start the night they planned.

They have been
going steady for the past three years already. They started dating when they
met during their freshman in college. People thought that they made a wonderful
match. The cheerleader and the basketball team captain. Isn’t that perfect?

James was very
attracted to Rhea when he first laid his eyes on her during their first game.
She is pretty. Though he heard rumors that she is a player, he didn’t listen to
them. They started dating after they we’re introduced and instantly hit it off.
James has proven to himself that Rhea’s personality is far from the gossips
being spread across the school. Though he admits that there are times that he
catches her a bit flirty with some of his teammates, he knows she never did
anything more than that.

He on the other
hand had a few girl friends before. He was never known to break girls’ hearts
nor ever had a record of cheating on them. He took all of his relationships
seriously. But sadly, his associations with his past girl friends always end
because of incompatibility.

The band was
playing good songs. They had two vocalists a girl and a boy. They played a
variety of songs by Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Jessie J, Jesse
McCartney, Kanye West, Chris Brown, Bruno Mars and a lot more.

James felt Rhea
touching his thighs as they were seated in the couch at the back part of the
bar which now is a bit secluded. Compared to the big space, it is relatively
safe to say there are a few people in the bar listening to the band.

He roamed his eyes
around finding a table of four boys drinking and laughing while eyeing the girl
vocalist of the band. The vocalist is an attractive girl who resembles Tara’s
features. There’s also a table of five people, boys and girls combined, another
table of two boys and four girls and three more tables with a couple each.

“Please write in
your requests and give them to the waiter if you guys want us to sing some of
your favorite songs for you.” James heard the guy vocalist call to the
listeners.

“Oh baby, can we
ask them to sing
‘Just the Way You Are’
by Bruno Mars?” Rhea said in her
tiny kitten voice. She is a sweet person most of the time, but she can also be
a bitch when she wanted to and James knows that.

There are times
they fight over silly things just like any other couple. It was natural. And
they kiss and make up once their heads cool off.

“Sure baby.” He
said nonchalantly, checking his pretty girl friend in her mini sleeveless dress
that hugs her curves.

“Just the Way
You Are” has been their favorite song as a couple. Almost everywhere they go
they hear it. And the lyrics are like meant for them. That’s how madly in love
they are with each other.

Just then, he
saw Tara enter the bar heading towards their table. She looked wicked in her
orange scoop neck body hugging shirt tucked inside her lemon yellow draw-string
shorts. She looked like she was glowing in the semi-lit room because of her
pearly white complexion.

“What is she
doing here?” Rhea hissed.

Rhea is not fond
of Tara at all. She knows her story and how she tried to grab James from her
before they became a couple. Though Tara stopped bugging James after they
became a couple, Rhea still hates her so much.

James wasn’t
able to tell Rhea about Tara being the VIP in this resort and that they were
paired by Mr. Torres in a project. He still doesn’t believe that it isn’t
Tara’s doing that they are paired for it.

“Hi James, hi
Rhea.” Tara said standing up in front of them her long straight hair lightly
swayed in the night breeze that enters the semi-covered gazebo.

“What are you
doing here stalker?” Rhea annoyingly asked.

Tara looked at
James as if asking why he didn’t tell her and James just shrugged.

“Well, as I see
that your boy friend did not tell you why, then I must say so myself. We were
paired by Mr. Torres on a project for our Business to Business Marketing
subject then Christian told me you were here and I had to come since the signal
in the resort is down. Deadline is less than a week from now, so I decided to
join your little rendezvous and get this over with so I could leave on Sunday
morning,” she explains.

“Well, number 1,
good you know that HE IS MY BOY FRIEND. Number 2, I don’t know who you got
fooled there that it was your prof that assigned the partnership. And number 3,
you are disturbing us but yes I would like this to be over real soon as well so
I could kiss you goodbye by Sunday.” Rhea says irritatingly then looking at
James.

“Sorry I forgot to
tell you baby.” James looked at Rhea and kissed her on the lips.

Tara turned her
eyes away from the kissing pair as she hears Rhea moaning lightly as they
deepen the kiss. She knew that Rhea is really trying hard to get her envious.

It’s not as if
she is jealous of what James is doing to her slut of a girl friend. She just
looked away because she can’t handle public display of affection. She finds it
disgusting.

“Tara, I think
let’s just do the brainstorming later after the band finishes. It’s our first
night here and I don’t want the moment ruined because of you.” James said
frustratingly.

“Okay, I will
meet you at the lobby. The band ends first set at eleven pm. I can’t wait for
you to finish the two sets with them. It will be one hour past midnight that
time and I don’t think we would want to be up too late.” Tara said coolly.

Bitch! This
bitch is trying my patience!
James thought.

“You know James
I am as pissed with the situation as you are. I really don’t want to be here
but I have to as I really want to finish this project soon enough than you
think. So unless you cooperate, I would be on your trail even after Sunday!” Tara
said as if reading James’ mind.

“Okay. Okay. I
will see you at eleven at the lobby.” He finally gave in as he deemed he really
didn’t have a choice not unless he wants her treading on his path.

“Good.” Tara
said and looked at Rhea before she stood up. She saw James whispering in Rhea’s
ears perhaps convincing her to let him meet with her so they can get rid of her
sooner.

“Is that Miss
Tara?” the girl from the band said through the microphone as she noticed her
standing across the room.

Tara looked at the
band and saw that it was Mitch. She just waved and started walking to the bar’s
exit when she saw that the couple is amenable to her proposition.

“Wait, Miss
Tara. Can you sing a couple songs with us? It has been a while!” Mitch the
vocalist said.

“Oh, not tonight
Mitch!” Tara says loudly so she can be heard as she is at the back.

“Please Miss
Tara, please?” Gary the guy vocalist said.

“Yeah, she will
sing with you!” Tara heard James.

A few
off-notes and a laugh won’t be bad.
James thought smiling like the devil
himself.

Tara saw the
other listeners looking at her.

“Okay!” Tara
said and walked slowly to the small stage.

“Okay guys, this
is Miss Tara, for those who don’t know her, she is . . .” Mitch was cut mid
sentence when Tara whispered something to her.

“Well, if you
don’t know who she is, that’s okay, it’s not as if she’s a celebrity.” Mitch
said trying to joke about the matter.

“So how are you
Miss Tara? Is that your boyfriend back there?” Gary smiled pointing at James.

“Oh, hell no.
He’s actually with his girlfriend.” Tara answered looking at Gary.

“Another couple,
so we got three here. Would you do a duet with me for the couples here Miss?”
Gary asked Tara again.

“Sure.” she
said.

“’Just the Way You Are’ is requested here.
Whose song is this?” Mitch asked the listeners.

She saw Rhea raise her hand happily.

“
Oh, it’s your friend and his cute girl
friend. Shall we do this?” Gary asked Tara.

Tara nodded and looked at James and Rhea
who are both intently watching her. She can figure that James can’t believe she
is still there standing with the band and agreeing that she would sing.

The band started playing the introduction
of the song in acoustic.

Oh, his eyes, his eyes make the stars look like they're
not shinin'
His hair, his hair falls perfectly without him tryin'
He's so beautiful
And I tell him everyday

Yeah, I know, I know when I
compliment him, he won't believe me
And it's so, it's so sad to think that he don't see what I see
But every time he asks me do I look okay?
I say

When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
'Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are

And when you smile
The whole world stops and stares for a while
'Cause, you're amazing
Just the way you are

I can’t
believe it’s her. Is it really her? My God! Her voice is like an angel’s. I
would like to record it and play it in my phone every time my day sucks. Her
voice is so calming, it soothes my nerves. I never imagined she can sing so
beautifully.
James thought to himself still struck from Tara’s voice.

Tara does sing.
She inherited that from her mom. She really jams with this band whenever she gets
the chance when they are all here in Samal. She is a natural singer. She did
not even have to take some voice lessons. She just gets better through practice.

Gary sang the
second part of the song and James can’t wait to hear Tara’s voice again.

I can’t
believe I like the way she sings. It could be the only thing that I would like
about her.
James shook his head at the thought. James is still staring at
her. Tara saw this when she glanced to check his face when he heard her. She is
pleased at what she saw. Open-mouthed James is staring at her and the ignored
Rhea is throwing fiery looks at her.

Tara started to
sing her part again and James could not sit still in the couch even while Rhea
was stroking his back sweetly.

The way you are
The way you are
Cause, you're amazing
Just the way you are

When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
'Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are

And when you smile
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
'Cause, you're amazing
Just the way you are, yeah

'Cause, you're amazing
Just the way you are, yeah

She finished the
song and James was in awe as well as the other listeners in the bar. She heard
applauses from them and some screams for her to sing one more song. The group
of guys at the table in front of the stage are whistling and looking at Tara,
asking her to sing one more song.

“That was
amazing Miss Tara. You should really join our band.” Mitch says in the middle
of the roaring crowd.

Tara just
laughed and she heard Gary say, “Why don’t we give the listeners another round.
One of your solos this time, Miss Tara?”

She looked
around. She found James staring at her and Rhea looks a little pissed that she
is not getting her boyfriend’s attention now.

“Okay, just one
last.” She says smiling as one of the girls from the co-ed group stands and
hands her a tissue. She guessed it was a request. She read the note aloud.

“My boyfriend
dumped me a few days back and I learned he never loved me at all. Please sing
‘Rolling in the Deep’ by Adele for me, please. Lovelots, Pia.” Tara said and
raised her head to look at Pia, the one who has requested the song. She smiled
at her. Just like her, they had boys undeserving of their love. She got hyped
and looked at the band. Then positioned herself back at the center of the
stage.

She looked at
James and she started her song as if talking to him directly.

There's a fire starting in
my heart

Reaching a fever pitch and
it's bring me out the dark

Finally I can see you
crystal clear

Go ahead and sell me out
and I'll lay your ship bare

See how I'll leave, with
every piece of you

Don't underestimate the
things that I will do

There's a fire starting in
my heart

Reaching a fever pitch and
it's bring me out the dark

Are those
words of threat? Why are her eyes blazing at me? How is it that her feelings
show with her songs?
James thought as he listened and looked intently at
Tara’s eyes. Her eyes we’re like a mirror to her heart. Then Tara looked away.

The scars of your love
remind me of us

They keep me thinking that
we almost had it all

The scars of your love,
they leave me breathless I can't help feeling

Then James saw
her looked at him again.
She’s mad at me. I can see. As if she feels I’m her
ex-boy friend or something!
James frowned at her.

We could have had it all

Rolling in the deep

You had my heart inside
your hand

And you played it to the
beat

Tara looks away
again.
Why is she singing calmly when she’s not looking at me? Her eyes are
so full of emotions. They are very expressive. Those round black eyeballs
inside the chinky frame. I’m starting to like it.
James shook his head
again.
What the hell am I thinking? How many shots of alcohol have I taken?

Tara’s eyes are
back at him again. With those same sizzling eyes she looks at James again. He
moves in his seat a little, and Tara is so pleased. She can sense that James is
uneasy now as they stare at each other.