Silver Lining

Chapter 16 - Whirlpool of Darkness

Clara's POV

"How could I be so stupid?!" I slapped my hands at my face and brushed it back through my hair as I plopped myself down on the edge of my bed.

I couldn't forgive myself for my own stupidity and the shame I brought upon myself. My mind was in a twirl, I felt so lost like I was walking on a thread. I thought my life was already in a bad mess because of the job I was in and the damage that Sam left me, I thought everything would be better after this Vegas trip, I thought Luciano was the light at the end of the tunnel in my life, but I was so wrong... I should have known I was never entitled to such good things in life.

I pressed my palms against my face, then a surge of pent up emotions was released before I was even aware of it myself. Sobs punched through, ripping through every part of me as my heart yank in and out, over and over. My life crumbled in my fingertips, I was trapped in my own hollowness.

Suddenly I heard the door to the apartment opened, I knew it must be Dorris back from work. I didn't want her to see me in this state and start worrying about me again. She doesn't deserve to go through this with me, especially when I was the one who brought it upon myself. I quickly got up and went into the bathroom to get myself freshened up with a hot shower.

"Oh my god, Clara? I thought you were supposed to be back only tomorrow? What happened?" Dorris gave me a quizzical look at first and brood when she saw me walking out of the bathroom.

Oh no... I completely forgot about that, I had to quickly churn out a lie to do a cover up, "Oh... I realised I actually ordered my flight ticket a day earlier by mistake, and since I was pretty bored with Vegas already so I thought I should come back a day earlier to catch some break before I go back to work again."

"Now I see... Phew..." Dorris let out a sigh of relief after buying my story. "So how was your trip to Vegas? Oh and I remembered you wanted to tell me about something on the first night when we did a facetime, what was it about?" Dorris continued to question me while she unpacked the groceries from the grocery bag.

I really didn't want to be reminded anything about the Vegas Trip, it's like a whirlpool of darkness that is haunting me, but I know I couldn't avoid this conversation with Dorris. "Erm... Actually, my room was already checked in by Sam and you know who she is when I got there..." Before I could even continue on, Dorris banged her palms against the table top and cursed, "What?! How could he do that?! That son of the bitch!"

"But... There was this man, Luciano, who offered to help me out by letting me stay in the presidential suite which he was deployed to work a review on it," I continued to say as I clenched my fist uncontrollably when I mentioned Luciano's name. His name was like a ring of a nightmare to me now.

"Wait a minute...Luciano? Do you mean Luciano Carlos?" Dorris's brows furrowed like she was thinking hard about something.

"No... Not Luciano Carlos, he was Luciano Pablo," I replied to her question.

Dorris asked me once again, "You sure it's not Luciano Carlos? Because you'll be in luck if it's him. He is the owner of multiple Carlos Hotel around the world, also listed on Forbes's richest billionaire list."

I let out a scoff and said, "Pfft... Trust me, I wouldn't even be on that lucky list to know him. I assure you, it's Luciano Pablo."

"Either way, you're still in luck, after all, you get to stay in the presidential suite for free. You should really thank this guy," Dorris laid her hand on my shoulder as she tried reaffirming me.

This reminded me that Luciano might come after me to haunt me, after all, I did leak out personal information about myself to him. The overthinking of such possibility raced through my head, and the urge to stay safe away from him flamed strongly in me. I had to give a heads up to Dorris first, "Do me a favour, if anyone by the name of Luciano Pablo comes here, please tell him I'm not here."

Dorris brooded and asked me, "Why? I thought he was your saviour?"

"Well...Actually, I accidentally opened a bottle of a really expensive wine in the suite that cost a million dollar. So... He is probably going to come after me for that cost...?" I said as I pleaded frantically in my heart that Dorris would buy another lie of mine.

"What?! A million dollar for a wine?! Clara, this is insane!" Dorris exclaimed in panic. I felt guilty to set her up in this panic state, but I had no other choice. Dorris calmed herself down and continued, "Ok, even though this doesn't sound right for us to do, but... I ain't got a million dollar to bail us out of an expensive drink, I guess I will just have to play along with you too..."