Endless Love Read online

  Chapter 1

  He was going to tell her he loved her. Finally, he can tell her just how much he loves her.

  He woke up that morning feeling so alive and he knew he couldn't wait another day to keep it all inside him. He must speak to her, hold her in his arms, kiss her sweet lips... today. Because, at last, he got his life back.

  She wouldn't be able to say no to him. Not now that everything is perfect once again.

  He pulled up her driveway and fumbled with the door of his car. He angled his head up and watched as snow slowly fall down from the sky. He missed this. He missed all the whiteness and-oh, God, everything.

  Well, maybe except the chill in the air, he thought, as he stuffed his hands on the pockets of his black jeans. Only he knows that he's been far too cold during the months that followed the accident.

  The accident.

  No. He struggled to block that out of his mind. There was no place for it especially this morning, when he was about to profess his feelings to the most wonderful woman in the world.

  He smiled as he walked up to her aunt's Connecticut house and let himself remember the first he saw- meet her.

  She was running late. She promised her little brother and her little sister that she would be at their aunt's house by lunch.

  Oh, but that witch ruined her plans.

  The heartless woman called her at 5 in the morning. 5 in the morning! Can you imagine that?

  At first she was almost too afraid to answer her phone because who gets phone calls even before the sun has risen, right? It could only mean one thing. Somebody she loves got hurt or worse, died.

  She slowly stretched out her shaking hands to get the receiver.

  'Hello?'

  'Oh, Bernadette, is that you?' She almost said no when she recognized the high-pitched-nearly-hysterical voice. It was her boss, Faustine.

  'Faustine?'

  The woman on the other end sighed dramatically. 'Yes, it's Faustine. Is that you, Bernadette?' Her name was not Bernadette but she quickly resisted the urge to correct the older woman. She has already done that for the past seven months but Faustine never really cared enough to call her by her true name.

  'Uhm, yeah, I guess it's me Bernadette.' Note the sarcasm.

  'Oh, thank God! I've been trying to reach you for the past...' She trailed off, maybe to compute the time she spent finding out her number. 'Er, well, never mind that now.'

  Her brain could not even handle simple math, "Bernadette" thought to herself. Faustine babbled about this and that and she let her talk away without really listening until the words 'Can you finish all that by 11 AM, Bernadette?' registered in her sleep-fogged brain.

  'Do what?' she asked dumbly.

  'Everything I've just said.' Not really helpful, Faustine, she thought.

  'But it's my day off!'

  'I won't need you after you finished it all. If you're done before 11, I won't hold you up.'

  'But... but...' she spluttered.

  'See you in a few, Bernadette.' And that was that. She dragged her sleepy butt out of bed and went to went work.

  She finished arranging bolts of cloth (by texture), rejected clothes, and fashion showrooms at 9. But then, Faustine-ever false to her words-made her buy coffee and snacks for the arriving buyers to see Faustine's new line.

  So now, here she was, running in Grand Central with a big box of cake in her arms. The train to Conneticut is bound to leave in 5 minutes. She thought she was going to die with anxiousness when the cab she was riding got stuck in typical New York traffic. She regretted splurging her week's savings for the ride but she thought it would get-

  Bam!

  So lost in her thoughts, she didn't see the man on her way until it was too late. She crashed into him and they both fell down hard.

  'What the hell?!' She pushed herself off his chest. 'What the freaking hell?! Don't you look at where you're going?' She asked the man who was lying on his back in the middle of Grand Central.

  He didn't answer her. He was wearing a black Rayban wayfarer so she can't really read the expression on his face.

  A few casually dressed men helped him stand up but didn't leave his side. She wanted to ask him if he was going to apologize but decided against it. She's wasted enough time as it is. So she spun around and saw the box of cake turned upside down.

  'Oh no!' She cried out. She walked over to where it was thrown off during her collision with that weird, silent man.

  'Why? Why? What happened?' The man asked, his voice laced with a little alarm. So he talks, she thought darkly. 'Was somebody hurt when you bumped into me?'

  'YOU bumped into me," she corrected him. 'And no, nobody was hurt! Can't you see it for yourself? You ruined my c-cake!"

  Her voice caught at the last word and a tear rolled down her cheek.

  She saved her money to get the twins a birthday cake but now... now it was ruined. She was forced to ignore her rumbling stomach for several nights just to buy them this.

  She was sobbing harder now and a few people were looking in their direction.

  The man knelt beside her. 'You're crying because of a cake?'

  'Not just any cake,' she mumbled. 'It was my little brother and sister's birthday cake!' She carefully turned it and she peeked inside. Yeah, it was definitely ruined.

  'Did it get dirty?' The man inquired.

  'No, it's still inside the box.'

  'So you can still eat it?'

  'Yes.'

  'Then I don't see the problem here.'

  She gasped and then pushed him as hard as she could with her free hand. 'You horrible man!' she shouted. 'The problem is that Mickey Mouse now needs a nose job!'

  He brushed away the hands of the men who tried to help him get up. They were the same men who picked him up a while ago. 'You have no right to push me like that.' He said slowly, enunciating each word with a step towards her.

  She tilted her chin and said, "I'm not going to say sorry. That wouldn't have happened if you only looked at where you were going!'

  'I could have done that if I could still actually see.'

  He knew she gaped at him for a long time after he said those words. He didn't see it but that's what Tripp said. And he would always believe Tripp's words over any other man's.

  And his loyal bodyguard said she gaped for so long that she missed her train.

  Which was both a blessing and a disaster for him. If it weren't because of that incident, he would never know that a woman like Lorraine existed. On the other hand, she made it quite a hell for him when he offered to take her wherever she was going.

  She was too suspicious and mad at him to believe he was a good, decent guy.

  He knew she wasn't really that convinced that he wasn't a total psycho or anything but then she was just so desperate to reach Connecticut on time that she finally relented and even let him buy a new cake for her siblings.

  'Luc?'

  He looked up at the sound of his name and saw Lorraine standing in the doorway.

  Oh my God, she's so beautiful, he thought. All that glorious red hair flowing down her back, her green cat eyes and generous mouth smiling at him. She was perfect. Not to mention her hourglass, killer body.

  She tilted her head in that way he has imagined for thousands of times. 'What are you doing here?'

  He walked carefully, his eyes not leaving her face. 'I wanted to see- I mean visit you.'

  She grabbed his arm when he neared her and pulled him into the house. 'Why? Is something wrong?' she asked automatically and Luc shook his head no. 'Well, then why are you looking at me like that?'

  Oops, wrong thing to ask, she thought. 'Uhm, sorry. But it's just your eyes are staring directly into mine as if you can see me.' Oh my, what a wonderful pair of eyes. The most beautiful
set she has ever seen. She has never seen anything so blue. '

  He laughed, not without humor but with... life. 'I-' However before he could continue, two kids launched themselves at him.

  'Luc!' The twins shouted in unison.

  Luc staggered a bit when they hit him.

  'Oh, I'm sorry!' Lorraine quickly apologized. 'James! Jenny! Let Luc go!'

  Jenny wrapped her chubby 5-year-old arms protectively around Luc's left leg. 'But I don't want to, Rainie. He visited us.'

  Lorraine knew that Jenny was developing a hero worship for Luc since he's one of the two males she can look up to as a father figure.

  'That I did, pretty.' She watched as he deftly swung the little girl into his arms. Something has changed, she knew. Luc was more open and what was it again? Alive? Yes, alive.

  She stood there as the man she loved for God only knows how long played with her siblings and wished that whatever it is that has changed about Luc, he won't ever stop to need her.

  Chapter 2

  Luc, Tripp, Lorraine and her aunt, Nicole, were all sitting in the living room while the kids played outside. Tripp married Nicole three months ago after falling in love that first time when he and Luc brought Lorraine home to Connecticut.

  Lorraine was only too thrilled for her aunt.

  She didn't want Nicole to throw away her life just because she has to act as a guardian for her little siblings. And Tripp was a decent guy, who's in the prime of his life. He and Luc are of the same age---just thirty---three years older than Nicole and ten for Lorraine.

  The accident that took the lives of Lorraine's parents happened in Korea, six months after she turned eighteen. Her parents loved to ski so they went there on a wintry January but never came back. Nicole-being the closest relative they have-took them under her roof and cared for them.

  She hasn't been out for date since then that's why Lorraine was glad when Tripp came her way.

  'Lorraine?' her aunt's voice broke away her line of thoughts.

  She looked up and saw three pairs of eyes focused on her. Only two of them can see me, she said to herself and stared dead on at Luc.

  'Hmm, yes?' she directed the question to Nicole but her eyes were still on the gorgeous man sitting across from her.

  'Nothing. You just became unusually quiet.' Nicole answered.

  'I was woolgathering.' She smiled weakly at her and turned back to Luc. 'So how did you get here, Luc?'

  He opened his mouth but nothing came out. It wasn't everyday that Luc De la Vega becomes speechless and that made Lorraine a bit

  suspicious. Something is kind of wrong, she knew. And she needs to find out what soon.

  Finally after a minute or two, Luc answered her with 'I had someone drop me off.'

  'But your car is outside.' Tripp told him.

  'Uh, yes, I had someone drive me here and he... just left.'

  Lorraine wasn't buying that for one second. It just doesn't fit right.

  Luc has his own chauffeur and he always travels in his limousine. Tripp said he didn't bother riding his babe-magnet sports cars ever since he lost his sight. And as of the moment, a Lamborghini was parked on the driveway.

  Nicole touched her arm. 'Lorraine, why don't you come with me to the kitchen to check on dinner?'

  'Sure.' Together they stood up and left the guys.

  Tripp moved to the couch the girls vacated. 'You were lying about someone driving you up here, weren't you?'

  Luc stared at his best friend of more than twenty years. Tripp was almost as tall as himself but where Luc was crowned as a dark haired god, the other was given light blonde locks-making him a golden boy heartthrob. Nobody could resist the two of them when they roll.

  Also Tripp was the brother Luc never had and he knew that he could tell him everything. 'Yes,' he said quietly.

  The other man threw an arm on the back of the couch and sprawled lazily. 'Lorraine didn't believe you, you know.'

  'I know. I saw her face.'

  'You hesitated and that's what gave you away.' Tripp said then he stopped. His green eyes widened and he looked dumbfounded. 'You what?!'

  'I saw her face.' Luc said nonchalantly as brushed away an invisible lint from his shirt.

  Tripp stood up and walked towards him. 'You saw her face?' he repeated.

  Luc nodded. 'That's what I said.'

  'Wha- h-how? W-when?' Tripp spluttered. 'You can see again? And here you are acting as if it's not a big deal!'

  Luc straightened up and stared directly at Tripp. 'Yes, I can see again. I don't know how it happened but when I woke up this morning I can just see again.'

  'Then why the hell didn't you say something sooner? Have you seen a doctor?'

  'This is one of the reasons I didn't have a hard time letting you go as a body guard,' Luc murmured. 'You act more like a nanny most of the time.'

  'Don't use your smart mouth on me, you Spanish bastard!'

  They've known each other for far too long already for Luc to be insulted. 'Can you keep your voice down?'

  Tripp looked around and whispered, 'Do you plan to tell Lorraine?'

  He nodded and said, 'That's why I came here.'

  'Good.'

  'What do you mean "good"?' Luc studied his best friend. 'So now you're acting all fatherly towards Lorraine?'

  Tripp cocked his head to the side. 'Let me remind you, she's my wife's niece. I'm the only guy who can look after her.'

  That statement annoyed Luc-which was Tripp's original intention. '"Look after her?" She does not need someone to look after her when she's with me!'

  'I don't know about that,' Tripp whistled. 'I'm getting these flashbacks, you know, from the good ol' days. Just after we met her at the train station. You weren't exactly Mr. Compassionate to her.'

  With that sharp remark, he left the room and let Luc walk down Memory Lane. Alone.

  Tripp was right. I wasn't exactly "Mr. Compassionate" during the early days when I met Lorraine.

  During the car ride to Connecticut after the incident in Grand Central, I did pretty stupid things. I was feeling very antisocial since I lost my sight just a month before that time.

  I remember Lorraine clearing her throat while I was enveloped in darkness. She was sitting beside, I knew, because I could feel the heat of her body.

  'Do you have a name?' She asked slowly.

  'Yes.'

  'Care to tell me what?'

  'No.'

  'Okay. So you're rich, huh?'

  'Yes.'

  'This is your car?'

  'Yes.'

  'Wow. Do you have a wife?'

  'No.'

  'Are you like one of those business men who fly in and out of the country most of the time?'

  'Yes.'