I narrowed my eyes at Omar when his question rendered me speechless! We dated for only a couple of months, and it happened some years ago. “Did I?” I asked him. “Hmmm, should I take note that you have a photographic memory and can recall everything from the past?”

Omar shook his head and replied, “What happened between us is still vivid in my memory.”

I arched my straight brows towards him and smirked. “You’re such a liar, Mr. Alvarez.” Vivid, my foot! “You know what? If there’s one thing I couldn’t get over from our past, it’s when you asked me to kill my baby!” I shouted at him and I saw how Omar clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth but he couldn’t deny what I said. It was the truth, and nothing but the truth and he knew it in his heart!

“I can’t change what happened before, however, I can assure you that I am a better person now.” He responded although it wasn’t the best answer that I expected from him.

As a person who doubted every word that came out from his mouth, I could only shrug off my shoulder. “Whatever,” I replied. “Shall we continue now?” I asked him while pointing to my recorder and his seat. Omar nodded and sat down comfortably in front of me and his self-confidence nearly annoyed me!

“Yes, let’s get it done as soon as possible,” Omar replied sternly, and his expression told me that he wasn’t in the mood to play games.

After two hours of interviewing him, I let out a deep breath that I managed to complete the task. I thanked him for being accommodating and extended my hand for a handshake. However, Omar only stared at my hand, ignored it, and left to the kitchen. I raised my eyebrows at his sudden change of attitude and followed him.

“Hey, it’s rude!” I had no business to scold him and should ignore it or walked away, but his cold treatment annoyed me!

“What is? When I refused to shake with your hand?” Omar asked, and handed me a canned orange juice from DM.

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying! Did you have to do that?” I asked and he laughed. “What’s funny?” His laughter annoyed me, and I wanted to kick his groin badly.

“You are funny! Since you arrived in Isla Blanca, you tried to be cool, what happened?” He asked, and the way I looked into it, he considered my discomfort as something funny.

“I can tell that your imagination is wild,” I corrected him.

Omar stared at me and I couldn’t look away. “Am I just imagining things, Anna?” He asked.

I shook my head in refusal to acknowledge his question. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but since I’m done with my work, there’s no more reason for me to remain here. Thank you for your time, Mr. Alvarez.” I bid goodbye to my ex-boyfriend and returned to the living room where I put my bag.

I dialed Alejandro’s number but I couldn’t get through. I tried several times, but it seemed that he turned off his phone. But why? I told him that I had to return to the mainland in the afternoon.

“Any problem?” Omar followed me to the living room and inquired as soon as he noticed the way I stared at my phone.

“I can’t contact him,” I answered.

A wrinkle appeared on his forehead when he asked, “Who?”

“Alejandro. Is there any way that I can reach him aside from his phone?” The last time I checked my watch, it was already two in the afternoon and I had to get home before dinner because my mother expected me!

“Sorry, but he only has his phone,” Omar replied.

“Then, what am I going to do if I can’t reach him today?” I panicked at the thought that Alejandro wouldn’t be able to pick me from Isla Blanca.

“Don’t worry because the villa has plenty of rooms,” he replied.

“No, I have to go home!” I insisted.

“If you can swim back to the mainland, then go!” Omar yelled at me before he vanished from my sight.

When he was gone, I tried to contact Alejandro for the nth time, and when he remained to be out of the coverage area, I threw my phone into the chesterfield sofa and sat beside it. I put my hands on my head and tried to think of an alternative way to go home, but Omar’s voice when he told me to swim back to the mainland echoed on my head. How could a person be so mean?

It was around five in the afternoon when I gave up on my idea to go home and searched for Omar. I found him at the veranda while smoking a cigarette. “I think I may have to take your offer to stay here for the night,” I talked to him.

“You know that I don’t mind even if we’ll stay here forever,” he replied in a hushed voice.

“Will you please stop that?” His cheesy lines and all the stuff that he did while I was around irritated me.

“Why do you think we meet again?” Out of nowhere, Omar dropped a question that has been in my head since I discovered his true identity.

“Why? Do you want to tell me that we are destined to meet again? Or we are soul mates? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” I couldn’t stop but be sarcastic in my response.

“Come to think of it, Anna. Not everyone can have a chance like this, like ours!” Omar insisted that our meeting was meaningful.

I tried to ignore his theory but to be honest, our fateful encounter bothered me. “There’s no second chance for us, Omar,” I assured him.

“How did you know? We just met, and I can feel it from the way you look at me that you still like me. Am I right, Anna?”

Omar assumed that my feelings for him remained in my heart after several years. Hah, what a lunatic! “You’re crazy!”

“Yes, I’m crazy about you.” He delivered the words as if he hadn’t abandoned me in the past.

“Well, you can tell it to the Marines. Which room can I use for the night?” I changed the topic before we would go any further about our tragic past. Omar gestured to me to follow him, and I did. Then, he showed me the room I could use, and I voiced out my protest. “Why here?”

“Because it’s the closest to my room,” he replied without feeling any remorse that what he did was unacceptable.

“Are you kidding me? Let me transfer to a different room,” I told him, but he shook his head in denial.

“Are you still uncomfortable with me? Why?” Omar grinned when I couldn’t speak right away and stared at him.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked because his behavior confused me.

“Don’t make it obvious that you still have feelings for me,” he said, as he opened the door to let me in. “Go on, take a shower, or a rest. I will wake you up when dinner is ready,” he stated before he left.

Once inside the guest room, I wondered why he acted that way. Could it be that he hasn’t got over me? Well, that’s just impossible! However, I reminded myself that I wasn’t over him yet, and that’s harder!

The guest room also possessed the same style that’s similar to the rest of the villa – modern and sleek! I sprawled my body on the queen-sized bed and admired the gold chandelier from my position. Omar advised me to take a shower or a rest but I couldn’t do both when my head kept on wandering to what happened in the past. Silly me for being overdramatic when I only dated him for a couple of months. The only difference was I got myself pregnant in a short time. Omar must have assumed that I was the same, naïve girl he met years ago, but he got it wrong because that girl was gone!

The man was true to his words, and he knocked on the door at quarter to seven. When I opened it, I came face to face with his smiling face, and the same set of dimples that drawn me to him, had the same effect after several years.

“Yes?” I asked him.

“Dinner is ready,” he replied.

“Okay, I’ll be there in a minute,” I told him and closed the door to check my appearance in the mirror. But wait, why should I bother? I questioned my sanity in front of the huge mirror before I walked to the door. “Is that necessary?” I inquired after I noticed a set of candles on the table. Gosh, he didn’t have to bother with a candlelight dinner for me!

“Yes, because there’s no electricity here, and the generator’s broken.” He announced.

“What?” I’ve watched as my self-confidence crawled on the floor after his announcement.

“Hold on, did you expect that it’s going to be a romantic dinner?” He jested, and blood rushed to my cheeks and for the first time, I was grateful for my morena complexion because my embarrassment was less obvious to Omar’s eyes.

“Of course not!” I strongly denied his statement and pulled one of the chairs and sat down. I didn’t wait for Omar and ate first. It was rude but Omar’s presence tested my patience and I was scared that the mask I put on would fall off.

“Eat slowly and enjoy the food,” he cautioned me not to hurry up with my dinner.

“I’m hungry,” I lied, but I want to get away from him as soon as possible. I disliked the way he cared about my well-being because it appeared superficial to me and yet I couldn’t stop my heart to flutter whenever he’s so close to me. When I looked up to him, I caught him staring and I raised my brows in response. “What?”

“You look wonderful, Anna.” He said.

I rolled my eyes at him when he tried to flatter me with some flowery words. As if it would make my stomach churned in delight! Did he expect me to fall for his words…again? “I know, right?” I responded to him. “Quit staring or you will fall for me again,” I jested when I couldn’t think of anything else to put him in his place.

He grinned as he placed some bite-sized steak on my plate. “I already did,” he replied.

I chewed on my food soundly to distract myself from feeling good and giddy at the same time. “I’m done,” I wiped my mouth with the napkin and stood up.

“Don’t be rude, and sit down!” He ordered. “It’s rude to leave the table when I’m still eating,” he reminded me of my callousness.

For a moment, I stared at him in disbelief. “Rude?” I chuckled sarcastically and raised one of my brows at him. “Don’t lecture me about being rude if you don’t want to hear an earful,” I said and stormed off from the dining hall.

“Anna!” He called my name, but I couldn’t be bothered to turn around. “Why are you acting this way?” Omar asked when he managed to catch up with me.

“I’m not acting, Omar! Just leave me alone,” I asked him.

“But why?” He inquired and his expression was that of a confused young man I met some years ago in college.

“Because I’m not comfortable being with you!” I admitted the truth or he wouldn’t stop bothering me and I needed peace of mind.

“Are you still in love with me?” His question stunned me and I couldn’t open my mouth to respond to his inquiry.

I grinned and shook my head at the same time. “You’re only imagining things,” I told him.

“Am I?” He smirked as if he knew what’s inside my heart.

“Yes, you are!” I insisted.

“How long can you deny it, Anna?” he inquired.

“It’s none of your business, excuse me,” I said and walked away from him.