Pleasure BOOK 2: VICTORIA ✓

Chapter 7

SIMOUN'S POV

I woke up the next morning with more of an appetite than I had experienced in weeks. My stomach rumbled so badly it made my head hurt. I reached over for the phone beside my bed and dialed the kitchen, then ordered a buf- fet of food. Pancakes and bacon with syrup on the side. Orange juice and champagne to make my own mimosas. Lox bagels with smoked salmon shavings and fresh fruit. Toast and butter with an assortment of jams. 

My mouth was watering by the time I hung up the phone.

 Ngayong araw ako mismo magbibigay ng speech, at talagang kailangan ko ng paghandaan iyon ngayon. I slid from bed and wrapped a robe around my body, resolving myself to a day of desk work. I pulled out my small cue cards and sat down, waiting for my breakfast as I reached for a pen. I had the smallest outline of a speech on these cards, and that outline only stemmed maybe 25 percent of the speech as a whole. But every time I went to go make notes on a new card, my mind got distracted.

Una, dahil sa amoy nyo. Pangalawa, ang amoy nya na naiwan sa kahabaan ko. Pagkatapos nun, iyong bilugan nyang mga mata. At least, I thought her eyes were hazel.  In the right tint of darkness, they could've been hazel, and that made my heart slam against my chest.

 Hazel like Amber's.

Nagsulat pa ako ng kaunti at nagdagdag ng ilan pang salita hanggang sa sumakit ang batok ko.
I reached behind and felt the smallest crescents left behind by her fingernails at the base of my neck. I didn't even know she had left those behind. I couldn't recall her gripping me that tightly. Then again, I had lost myself in her. 

The way I had lost myself in Amber.

I drew in a deep breath just before I heard the elevator stop at my floor. The doors opened and I looked over, watching as a kitchenhand delivered a massive rolling silver tray of food. He didn't even acknowledge that I was there. Kept his head down long enough to deliver the food before slipping silently back into the elevator. Had it not been for me sitting out in the main room, I wouldn't have even heard him come in.

 I needed a shower. Slipping my robe off, I headed toward the bathroom. But as the water heated up and steam filled the place, I hesitated. I still smelled that woman on my skin, and I'd know that smell anywhere.

Si Amber iyon.

Alam kong sya si Amber. Lahat ng mga ebidensya sinasabing siya si Amber. Her body was sort of like hers and her voice was sort of like hers and her kisses were sort of like hers. 

But that fruity smell? 

That was definitely Amber. 

Possible ba na magka-amoy si Victoria at Amber?Siguro parehas lang sila ng pabango?Or deodorant? But what were the possibilities? Was it some secret perfume only known to curvy, sexy, playful call girls?

 My gut told me there was more to it than that, and I never ignored my gut. I closed my eyes and conjured the two of them side by side. Amber 
with her flowing brown hair and hazel eyes and Victoria with her platinum- blonde hair and her blue eyes. Although their physical features were inherently different, their height was the same. They had the same cute little button nose, and the length of their legs were almost identical. And the slope of that neck. So seductive and lengthy. Even the hair length was exactly the same, save for maybe half an inch. 

 I finally stepped into the shower and began to clean myself up for the day. And the longer I stood there, the more convinced I became that Victoria really was Amber. But if they were the same, then why the hell was she pretending she didn't know me? And what the fuck was she doing all the way in Busan? Her boss told me she wasn't working any longer. Was she with another service?