FROM a deep sleep Lara awoke quickly when she heard the bedroom door open and close.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up," it was Joaquin who laughed softly.

She just nodded and then hugged herself. "Won't you let me leave yet?" Lara asked then glanced at the man sitting on the divan at the foot of the bed.

That's when she saw the man glancing at his wristwatch. "It's dangerous if I let you go now, if it's okay with you, you can spend the night here," he said kindly then smiled at her.

Lara was speechless at what the man said because he was right. It was late at night and it would not be nice and safe for a woman like her to go out and travel at such a time.

"I-It seems quiet outside?" that was what she commented when she noticed that the noise she had heard outside the room was gone. 

The man nodded. "Yes, wait, maybe you want to eat again, do you want me to get you some food? I haven't even been able to celebrate my birthday with you yet," he said in a lively tone with a strange touch of sincerity.

"I'm not hungry," was Lara's prompt reply then shook her head consecutively.

She saw the man staring at her. "Is that so? What if I ask you for a drink? Will that be okay with you?" he asked her.

That question quickly made Lara think. It also includes all the possibilities that could have occurred if she would accept that offer from the man. But in the end, she thought, if he wanted to do something bad, it should have been earlier. He should have drugged the food and drink he had given her earlier. But nothing like that happened so the young lady thinks that Joaquin is not like other men who take advantage of a woman’s weakness.

"All right, just think that it's my way of saying thank you because you're kind to me," she agreed then smiled sweetly at the man.

As she stared at Joaquin's face, she wasn't sure if she was just deceived by the drowsiness she was feeling or if it was true that when she saw the man seemed to stop breathing when she smiled at him. But that was only for a moment, so Lara chose to think the first one was more appropriate.

"Really? Meaning to say my birthday celebration has a continuation?"

Lara can't be mistaken, what she heard from Joaquin was real happiness.

Lara nodded consecutively while smiling. "Come on, then the truth is, I'm a little hungry. I hope there's still food left," she said before leaving the room.

Lara's feeling as if she had known Joaquin for a long time was undeniable. She was light-hearted with the young man as if he is not a stranger to her.

"Now tell me your story," Joaquin said as they eat together.

That was when Lara sighed and then started to tell the man how she got into this situation. As she spoke she saw in his face his intense pity for her.

After eating, Joaquin gave her a canned beer. She doesn't drink so she thought that was all she could ask for from the man.

"I love my father so much and I will do anything for him. It's the same reason why I can not allow anything bad to happen to him," she said as bitterness uncontrollably pierced her voice.

"You know what Venus, I admire you. And maybe I can relate to you as well because we are the same. I'll do everything that I can for my father. Because I love him so much. Your father is lucky because he's got you," it was in the tone of Joaquin's words that he said, and Lara couldn't deny the strange kind of thrill that caressed her heart because of that.

"He is not my biological father," she couldn't understand but she felt that she could say anything to the man. As if there was a small voice telling her she could trust him.

Joaquin's thick and perfect eyebrows rose. "What do you mean?"

That was when Lara reached for the beer in the can and drank. It was only her second but she has to admit that she is now a little dizzy.

"I mean," she began to tell the man the truth. "My life is pretty dramatic, and this is the first time I've opened up about it to a guy and someone that I don't know very well. Anyway, I don't think we'll ever meet again so it's okay maybe even if you tell it to others, they still won't recognize me," she said and then followed it by a rather strong laugh.

The man stared at her face. Lara could see the amusement in his eyes so even if he didn't speak, she seemed to know how he felt.

"I love the sound of your laugh," he said as he took his glass of wine and then drank from the rim of it she could see that his eyes did not leave her face.

"Now I can say you're a bit flirty too," Lara said laughing again then handing over another canned beer and then opening it. "oh, why are you looking?" she asked as Joaquin shift his gaze between her and the beer she was holding.

"Are you sure you can have another one?" Joaquin asked her referring to the beer.

*****

VENUS let out a soft laugh in response to her question before she opened her mouth to speak.

"Isn't it your birthday? It's our celebration, it's rare for a stranger like you to be so nice to someone like me, even if it's not my job," the woman replied with a kind smile afterward.

He honestly couldn’t understand what had happened to him before. He could not fully see her face because of the eye mask she was wearing but he could feel in the tone of her voice and even in the way she begged earlier that she was telling the truth.

And the fact that he seemed to want to protect her wasn’t just so simple that he couldn’t stop himself from intervening.

He wanted to see Venus' face even though it was obvious that she was really beautiful.

He liked the shape of her lip which became even more alluring to his eyes because of the red lipstick she was wearing. Venus's face is small, her eyebrows are perfectly arched, her nose is flawless and her chin has a cleft, which is also noticeable.

Venus's complexion is rosy white and very smooth and it matches her dark and wavy hair which is a little longer than the woman's shoulder.

"Did you know that you're so beautiful?" when he could not bear it that was what he said before he brought the glass of wine he was holding back to his mouth.

He saw the shy smile tear at Venus's beautiful lips.

"Thank you, the truth is that you're handsome too. Very handsome, actually," she said staring straight into his eyes afterward.

Joaquin thinks it's because of the beer that she drank, so Venus seems to suddenly become more courageous and straightforward. But even if he didn’t admit it to himself he knew he felt intense amusement because of that.

He likes this woman. Not only because he had been holding back from hugging and kissing her but also because of everything she had told him.

There was some feeling she aroused in his heart and he could not name or define what it was.

"Do you want us to dance?" that woman's question cut through Joaquin's deep thought.

After that, he just saw Venus stand up and approach the stereo then turn it on. A beautiful and melodious love song is right aired.

"Come on?" a few more moments and the woman faced him.

Her eyebrows met as he stared at it. "What?" he said as if he hadn't figured out what Venus meant yet, even though he knew what it meant.

"Earlier your friend forced me to dance, in front of a lot of men in this room. I can't do that, but because you're kind, I think I awe you a dance. The kind that I knew can give you," she said approached him then took him by the hand and pulled him upright.

That's when he fully understood what she meant so he smiled and nodded.

Joaquin's desire to kiss Venus's lips seemed to intensify when the woman hooked both hands around his neck while his hands were on her small waist.

For a few moments, they just stared at each other until perhaps the woman's neck felt weary as she looked up at him. She lowered her head and then pressed her cheek hard on his chest.

"You're handsome and very fragrant," she heard Venus whisper then followed what she said with a gentle laugh.

Joaquin wasn't sure if it was because of what the woman said so he seemed to have the courage to hold her chin and then raise her face. When their eyes met again, Venus's lips twitched once more, and then she spoke.

"You're not going to do something bad to me, are you?" she said, the corner of her lip lifted after that and that made the heat that Joaquin felt intensify even more.

He shook his head consecutively. "No, of course not. But I want to kiss you, that's how I feel and I've wanted to do this to you since earlier," he said, bringing his face close to hers afterward.

Then Venus's fragrant and beer-smelling breath crossed Joaquin's face. He knew that his restraint was close to the extreme but somehow he still tried to prolong it.

"You won't force me if I don't want to, will you?" she asked him again.

Joaquin agreed to that. "I don't have to do that," he said, squeezing her waist tightly and then finally pressing it completely to her body.

He also couldn't contain the amusement that made the corner of his lip rose when he heard the loud gasp that Venus let out because of what he did. He could also feel the trembling of her whole body.

"What do you mean?" she asked him again.

At that moment Joaquin teasingly ran his index finger on Venus's nose down to her lips which were as if encouraging him since earlier to take them.

"I can make you subdue using gentle persuasion, that you will keep on asking me for more," after saying that, Joaquin finally crossed the small distance between their lips.