12 Chapter 12: Turmoil

Rica felt cold air brush her hand when Dave suddenly released it. She immediately felt lonely.

Those people just a few steps from them are Dave's friends. They look like a picture of a luxury product endorsement. The guy looks like a model. His looks seems to be a mix of more than one ethnicity. The woman beside him was tall and slender. Her short hair makes her look sophisticated. Another woman approached the tall one. Ah, this one was really beautiful. Her face was like an angel. Her long wavy hair suits her. She was not that tall, but really pretty…someone you would not ignore even if she's among a mass of people.

Rica looked at Dave. Dave was looking at his friends quite shocked. Why does she feel something was wrong? Rica noticed that Dave was looking at a specific person, and she tried to check who it was. When she followed his line of sight, she saw him looking at the long hair woman. Something within Rica didn't feel right. Her heart started beating faster.

Who is this beautiful woman and why is Dave looking at her with so much emotion?

"Hey Dave!" called the tall woman "Where were you? We were waiting for hours. Did you not have your phone with you? We were calling you."

"I left my phone in the room. What are you doing here?" asked Dave a bit irritated.

"Shouldn't you be a bit more welcoming? It's almost five months since we last saw each other and here you are looking irritated." said the pretty one.

"I tried to tell them this is a company event but they insisted on being here." said the model type guy. "You know I don't have energy to argue with these two once they team up against me."

"We're doing a corporate team activity here. I will not be able to focus on my team if I have to take care of my friends." said Dave.

Carl noticed the girl standing just beside Dave. She's a very cute girl despite being on the tall side. Her face looked like… a doll. Ah wait…Can she be…

"Are you Rica? Rica Spencer?" asked Carl

Dave's attention went to Carl. He almost forgot that Rica was just beside him.

"Yes, I am. You are Boss' friends? Nice meeting you." said Rica

"Oh, so this is Rica." said Belle

Dave immediately stood between Rica and his friends.

"Rica, please go back to your room. Tell everybody I'll be there later." said Dave.

"Why are you asking her to leave?" asked Di.

Dave felt cold sweat flow on his face.

"She seems to be close to you. You two even went here together to greet us." said Di.

Di went beside Rica.

"Hi, I am Diana Harper. They call me Di. It's good to meet you. These two are the best friends Dave ever had. This guy is Carl and this is my good friend Belle." said Di.

Di's voice sounded very modulated. It reminded Rica of a news anchor.

"Nice meeting you all. This is the first time I am meeting Boss' friends." said Rica

"I am glad to meet you, Rica." said Carl smiling.

Carl was like a Prince, his smile can melt a maiden's heart.

"It's good to finally put a face on the name." said Belle

"Now that we are all acquainted, why don't we all have dinner together?" asked Di

Everyone's eyes went to Di.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I told you, I have a responsibility with my team. This is supposed to be a team activity." said Dave

"I don't think Luis minds that we join you. He even insisted earlier that we have dinner with your team." said Belle

Dave looked at Carl and Carl nodded in agreement. Luis was doing decisions without asking him first! It's probably because of how Belle and Di looked. Luis has that weakness.

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During dinner, Carl couldn't help but look at Rica. If there's anything Dave said accurately, it was that Rica Spencer is very pretty. And she does this effortlessly. The way she laughs was contagious. Carl saw Luis looking at Rica and then at Dave and then at Rica again. Does the Luis know there's something between the two? Carl also noticed Dave looking at Rica with that concerned eyes. Carl couldn't blame his friend. This was an odd situation. In the end, one of the women will surely get hurt. It's either Di runs away crying or Rica would.

Di and Belle were taking a while and everyone was already hungry. But when the two arrived, everyone pretended that the women were just on time. How can they show how hungry they were to such beauties.

"You took a very long time. Everybody were already hungry." said Dave.

"Boss, don't be too rough on them." said Luis

"You looked the hungriest earlier so don't pretend to be a gentleman." said Dave

"We'll make it up to all of you. Dessert is on us." said Belle

Everyone looked happy with that.

Di saw Rica and Dave sitting across each other. Carl was already sitting beside Dave but Di patted Carl's shoulder and asked him if she can take that seat instead. Carl stood up and got another seat.

Rica saw Di sit beside Dave. Di touched Dave's arm while whispering something on Dave's ear. There was something intimate about Di's gesture that made Rica's heart squeeze. That's how close they are? Looking at Belle, she doesn't look to be really intimate in her gestures towards Dave. So what's with Di?

Rica tried not to mind how close Di and Dave were. But it's hard not to notice. Di took some food and put it on Dave's bowl. It looked so natural as if Di had been doing that for a long time. Though Dave looked uncomfortable, Di had that smile as if there's nothing odd.

Luis whispered on Rica's ear.

"You're not eating? People will think there's something wrong. Is anything wrong?" asked Luis

"Huh? No. Nothing." said Rica

Dave heard Rica's reaction to what Luis said to her.

"What is it?" asked Dave

"I don't think Rica likes the food. Should we order more?" asked Luis

"It's because she hasn't tried anything yet." said Dave. Dave took a scoop of the dish in front of him and stood up reaching for Rica's bowl across the table.

Belle's brow went up.

"Oh no, don't do those gestures in front of Di, Dave. Please don't make the situation any harder than it already is." thought Belle.

Carl was like watching a movie that was about to reach its climax. This will definitely look ugly and though he doesn't want to get involved, he had no choice on the matter.

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That night, everyone decided to walk along the beach. Rica's mind went back to the way Di was acting towards Dave. Even after dinner, Di would always hook her arm with Dave's. Although Dave will try to push Di away, Di still succeeds in the end. While everybody was walking, Di and Dave were inseparable. This was making Rica really anxious.

"If you keep frowning, I will start to think that there's something wrong." said Carl

"Huh? Umm, Sorry. " said Rica "Carl, can I ask you something?"

"Sure" answered Carl.

"Has Dave and Di been really this close?" asked Rica

Carl tried not to sigh. Rica caught on fast.

"Hmm, Yes. They were really close." said Carl

"I wish I can be that close to him too." said Rica "Oh! I mean…I mean I really think that being good friends with Boss Dave is really a good thing considering that FlyAir and SkyRock are in the same industry." said Rica

Carl chuckled.

"You don't have to worry. I know everything so you don't have to cover it up." said Carl

"You know everything? Dave tells you everything?" asked Rica

"Pretty much." said Carl "Don't look so surprised. We've been friends for a long time. Belle, Dave and I were friends since high school."

"And Di?" asked Rica

"Ahh Di? Hmm….We met her in college." said Carl "Which had also been a long time."

"He met her later, but she looks like she's the closest to him among all of you." said Rica

Carl knows he was not in any position to tell Rica anything. Seeing Dave walking with his ex-girlfriend, Carl felt bad for Rica. Rica is Dave's Fiancee now. And yet she could not stand beside her man.

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Dave couldn't sleep. He went out to get some fresh air but saw Di outside waiting for him.

"I figured you'll go out. It will be impossible for you to sleep, right?" said Di "I also can't sleep."

Dave sat on a chair nearby. Di sat on the chair beside Dave.

"How long will you try to ignore me?" asked Di.

"You were around me the whole afternoon. How is that called ignoring?"

"Yeah, you didn't want me to look like a fool in front of everyone so you paid a bit of attention to me. But I know you didn't want to."

"We've talked about this already. You know that we can't be like before anymore, Di." said Dave

"Only because you wanted to break up?" asked Di "I never agreed to that. For me, we're still together."

"I've already explained it, we can't keep being what we were. I might need to marry someone else. And I can't keep you with me. I don't want to be unfair to you."

"Then why? Why did you have to be so cruel?" asked Di who couldn't keep her tears from flowing.

"You…you broke up with me while I was in New York. You broke up saying you need to do it for SkyRock and for your Dad. But you didn't give me a chance to talk with you. You shut down all communication with me." said Di.

"And that's why you're here." Said Dave

"I want to talk things through with you. There could still be other solutions. I can wait. If you need a year to settle everything, I am fine with that. You know… even if you end up marrying her… I can wait until you divorce her. But please don't say that we are breaking up. Don't say that we are done." said Di.

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Rica went out because she couldn't sleep. The image of Di and Dave keeps popping in her head. She was walking near the pool when she heard people talking and went to check who they were. It's already late. When Rica saw Dave and Di, she felt her heart in pain. What was it with Di that she feels this way? Why are they still talking at this hour? Rica felt frustrated. Why is she so petty? But most of all, Rica is frustrated over herself. Why is she jealous over Dave's friend?

Rica took a deep breath.

She decided to walk away.

"Only because you wanted to break up? I never agreed. For me we're still together."

Rica had to stop where she was. What…are they talking about? What's with a break up?

"I've already explained, we can't keep being what we were. I might need to marry someone else." said Dave.

Rica felt her knees glued to the ground. She couldn't take any step.

Di…was Dave's girlfriend?

All the other words her ear heard did not register in her mind anymore.

Di is…the woman Dave loves?

And then Rica felt someone grabbing her hand and pulling her behind a wall. It was dark but she could see the shadows of the person's features.

"Carl." said Rica, her voice so soft she thought Carl did not hear her.

"If you just stood there, they will see you." said Carl. "You looked like you were stuck there."

Rica could not get a word out.

Carl couldn't believe Dave would be this careless! Talking to your ex-girlfriend about your break up while your Fiancée was just around the same resort was just wrong.

Rica could hear everything. The way Di tries to convince Dave to not break up with her, to still look for a solution other than marriage with FlyAir's heir. Di even offered to wait for Dave to divorce Rica.

Rica's heart was breaking with what she was hearing. What if Dave agrees? What if his feelings for his ex girlfriend changes his mind over their engagement?

Carl covered Rica's ears. Rica was startled. But she couldn't move.

"Carl."

"Hush. They should not know you're here. And you should not hear them too. This is between Dave and Di." said Carl. "Let them sort out their own problem."

Carl sighed. This is the least he could do to stop the pain he's seeing in Rica's eyes. In the moonlight, Rica looked really pretty especially this close, her eyes glittering. Carl could see their depths…he could see her hurt. Carl can only use so much self-control and finally gave up by taking a few steps away from Rica. This girl…has an ability to make a man lose his mind.

"Besides, you'll only hurt yourself if you keep listening." said Carl.

Carl's close presence with Rica made her a bit distracted. By the time she remembered Dave and Di, she could no longer hear them talking. When she peeked at where Di and Dave were. She could only see Di.

Dave already left.

Rica took a deep breath. Did Dave decide to end the engagement?

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The next day everybody was preparing the things to take home. Everything was being loaded to the cars.

"So Rica, will you be going back with Boss?" asked Luis

"I'm going back with Dave." said Di.

Dave was getting stressed this early in the morning. It did not help that he didn't get any sleep last night because of what he and Di talked about.

Di held Dave's arm.

"We have some catching up to do." said Di, smiling.

Rica's heart was subjected to pain again. Learning that Dave and Di were lovers made her realize that she wasn't just a crazy pathetic woman yesterday. There was a reason why she felt so hurt by Dave and Di's closeness. It's the tragedy of having a strong instinct. And this morning just adds up to her already suffering heart.

"Oh, but my car is full. How will Rica get home?" asked Luis

"How did you come here Rica? I heard you went here separately." asked Di.

"Oh… umm… One of FlyAir's drivers brought me here." said Rica "But he already left."

There's no need to hide who she really is.

"Oh… FlyAir?" asked Di

"Yes… umm… My Uncle's driver brought me here." said Rica.

"Umm… well…will he come back?" asked Di.

Carl's eyes narrowed. As Rica's Fiance, Dave has to take Rica home of course!

"No the driver won't come back, but that's fine. Carl is going to take me back. It's fine, right Carl?" asked Rica, her face looked uncertain.

Dave was taken aback with what Rica said. Since when did Rica become close with Carl? Dave wanted to take Rica home and he had already planned for it before his 'friends' arrived. He is Rica's fiance. It is his responsibility.

"Of course it's fine with me." said Carl. "I'll be happy to take you home, Rica."

Dave clenched his hand. Carl is being friendly… too friendly.

Rica did not even look at Dave and immediately went inside Carl's car. That made Dave feel really bad. Why was his heart squeezing at the sight of Rica riding Carl's car.

Di noticed Dave looking intensely at Rica the entire time. He looks like he's trying to control himself against something. Di felt Dave's hand clenching to a fist through the arm she's holding. Why was Dave being like this?

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Di couldn't bare it anymore.

"Can you drive slower please and a little calmer. You've been driving really rough!" said Di.

Dave didn't talk and just kept on driving.

"If you're just driving me away, you don't have to scare me like this. You're going to get us both killed, you know." said Di.

Dave ignored Di.

"This isn't about me, isn't it?" asked Di "That girl, Rica. She's FlyAir's heir. She's the one you will be forced to marry."

Dave had to stop his car by the side of the road.

"Rica has nothing to do with us. She's honoring her Uncle's request. And she is helping me give SkyRock a fighting chance." said Dave.

"She has everything to do with us. Dave, she broke us up!" said Di.

"She did nothing to break us. She didn't know that I had a girlfriend when the condition was given by her Uncle. I broke us up, I decided to end our relationship so that I can protect my family and everyone who depends on me. I was the one who hurt you, Di. Not Rica." said Dave.

"Right you decided to breakup with me because of those people… That means your feelings for me had not changed."

"Di… Please…"

"And that also means you do not have feelings for that girl. You know what…I must be crazy. Little girls like that is not your type. Why would I think that she can tear us apart." said Di.

It's better for Di to think this way. Rica is not just a little girl. She's capable of attracting men. She's a beautiful woman. But Di doesn't need to know that.

However, that's also the thing that gets to Dave's nerves. Rica is attractive. He knows Carl won't do anything to Rica. Carl is well aware that Rica is his Fiancee. But why is he worried?

"I will take you to your house. It's getting dark." said Dave.

"Until when do you think you can avoid talking to me?" asked Di

"We already talked Di. Nothing had changed."

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Carl couldn't bear the silence anymore. Rica had been in a trace and Carl couldn't read what was on her mind. She's been expressionless for hours.

"Is it…really ok?" asked Carl

"Huh?"

"That they are together now, when you already know what's between them?" asked Carl

"If it isn't OK, what can I do?" asked Rica taking a deep sigh.

"You could have clung to him. You could've asked Dave to take you home even if Di already said she'll go with Dave." said Carl. "Other women would have done that. They would have claimed what's theirs."

Rica took a deep breath. She's been holding back her emotions. But Carl won't let her be.

"It's because he isn't mine…. not yet. Dave and I made a deal. To treat each other like real Fiancées would. But I also said that if Uncle signs the contract before we get married, I won't hold on to him. Even if they broke up for the engagement, even if he promised me that he'll be my Fiancée, I can't hold on to him. I can't take away his freedom to be with the woman he loves." said Rica.

This girl is either a martyr or is just deeply in love with Dave. Martyrs were women of the past. Does this mean Rica is crazily in love with Dave to the point of sacrificing herself? Carl felt a tiny twitch in his heart. A loyal and selfless girl like Rica deserves to be happy with a person who will take care of her.

"If you keep saying that, you'll never win against Di." said Carl. "Di is not an easy opponent. She's been with Dave for the longest time."

"I'm not going to compete with her."

"Really? Well sorry to say but you're going to lose easily."

Rica's heart was already breaking. Preparing is futile.

"It can only be one, Rica. You either fight for Dave or you let him go."

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Dave stopped his car in front of Rica's house. He looked for Rica's window and saw that the light was on.

"She's home." thought Dave. Relief washed over Dave.

Dave dialed Rica's number on his phone.

Rica immediately on a chair when she reached her room. She just felt drained after the talk she had with Carl. When her phone rang, she wanted to ignore it and wanted to turn her phone off. But when she saw Dave's name, she wasn't able to stop her fingers from answering the call.

"What is it?" asked Rica sounding really tired and a bit irritated.

"Umm…I just wanted to check if Carl was able to get you home." said Dave.

"I'm home now. Carl took good care of me." said Rica.

"Took good care of her? What does she mean by that?" thought Dave.

"He's my friend from high school….I mean Carl." said Dave.

"Seems to be a nice person." said Rica.

Rica suddenly stopped talking.

"You still there?" asked Dave.

"Yes"

"You…don't have any questions for me? I mean…If you have questions, whatever they are, you can ask them."

"No. Umm. I have to sleep now. Good night." said Rica and then she immediately hung up.

"Hello? Rica?" Dave was at his limit. What happened? Why is she like this since this morning? She pushed him away to Di. She even volunteered to ride with Carl. And now, she sounded like she didn't want to talk to him.

There's definitely something wrong.

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Rica couldn't sleep. It's already eleven in the evening, but her mind still won't stop thinking. And then she heard a knock on her window. That's weird. She tried to ignore it but the knock happened again. She slowly went to check what could be making the noise. When she opened her curtain, she almost shrieked when she saw Dave who was on a branch of the tree beside her room.

"Dave, how did you get there?" asked Rica

"Just please let me in."

Rica helped Dave get inside her room through the window.

"Are you crazy?" asked Rica, her voice full of anger. "You went up a tree to get to my room, are you out of your mind?"

"I just wanted to check if that tree can really reach your room." said Dave. "You know… just to make sure that criminals are not going to use it."

"Now that you confirmed that it does reach my room, it's time to go home. It's late." said Rica.

"I just got here. You want me to leave already?"

"You shouldn't have gone here at this hour." said Rica. "Go home, Dave."

But Dave lain on Rica's bed instead. Rica's eyes widened.

"Ah…so relaxing." said Dave.

"You can't lie on my bed! Don't relax here. Go home and go relax on your own bed!" said Rica.

"You should tone your voice down. What if people caught me here? Where your American Dad's family won't mind a scandal, I'm sure your Korean mother's side will." said Dave

Rica made a sigh of frustration. Though she grew up in the US and her mother left them when she was seven, her upbringing was strictly conservative. Her Dad's family was on the religious side while her mother's relatives would still get in touch with them from time to time. Her relatives from her mother's side were very Korean in culture and in values. A scandal will be the death of her.

The irritating thing is, Dave seems to know everything.

"Fine, what do you want? What did you go here for? Tell me so that you can already go home." asked Rica

"Why are you itching to get rid of me? I thought you like my presence. You even followed me to the resort right?" asked Dave

"No…Right now I don't want to see you at all." said Rica

Dave sat up.

"And that's what I want to understand. Why were you so cold to me today?"

"Cold? I am cold?"

Rica is fuming.

"Is it really so pleasing to walk arm in arm with your long lost friend from New York? You did a lot of that with her." said Rica, sounding really angry. "You wouldn't even look at me since she came."

Of course the part of not looking at Rica since Di came was not true. But Dave was guilty of the first offense. He knew Rica would notice. Heck even the people in his team did. But Di just attached herself to him completely.

"She was my girlfriend" said Dave "of eight years."

Rica sat down the other side of the bed, her back facing Dave.

So he came clean…He's being honest. He did not deny it. He did not make up a story to cover things up. But why did it hurt more to hear the truth straight from him?

"I broke up with her when she was still in New York. She wanted us to talk about it so she came back to San Francisco."

"And were you able to talk earlier? Did you decide to get back together?" asked Rica. "Are you here to tell me about it?"

Rica's voice came out stronger that she intended.

"She knows I'll do everything to save SkyRock." said Dave

"But you…You still love her right? Was it … right to break up with her?" asked Rica.

Tears now started falling from Rica's eyes uncontrollably. Why does this always happen when Dave was around. The tears that she didn't want to show just kept flowing down.

"I told you, it's not fair if I keep her by my side…"

"But is this fair? You are hurting the woman you love, hurting yourself…and hurting me?" asked Rica

Dave moved beside Rica. Rica tried to hide her face but Dave was faster than her. He reached for Rica's face and turned it to him.

"I don't want to hurt you, Rica. If I can just solve this by not hurting anyone, I would." said Dave.

"But you're already hurting me now." said Rica.

Dave's heart was breaking with each tear Rica cries. He dried her tears with his fingers ever so gently.

Looking at her this close made Dave see how beautiful Rica really is… She has gentle eyes… Her nose so cute he wanted to pinch it. And her lips…

When their eyes met, a moment seemed to be frozen in time. Dave reached for Rica and got closer, so close that he can smell Rica's perfume, so close that he can feel Rica's breath. Slowly, Dave leaned closer, and closer still until their lips meet. Everything seemed to be spinning slowly around them…while their hearts were beating fast.

Rica felt like everything was melting inside her. Dave's mind went blank and all he could feel was his heart racing with Rica's warmth and scent. Dave reached his arms around Rica and pulled her closer to him. He could not get enough of Rica's warmth.

Then somebody knocked on Rica's door. Dave and Rica snapped back to reality and quickly stood up away from each other.

"That would be Uncle." said Rica, still breathless.

"Rica, are you home?" asked Uncle Sam from outside the room

"Yes Uncle, sleeping now." answered Rica.

"Good night then." said Uncle Sam

Rica felt relieved when she heard Uncle Sam's footsteps going away from her room.

Dave was going crazy. What just happened? What did he just do? Did he just kiss Rica?

When he saw Rica's blushing cheeks and swollen lips, he couldn't deny the truth. He actually felt like he wanted to touch her blushing cheek again and pull her back in his arms.

"I...I need to leave." said Dave. "You need to lock your window. Just to be sure you're safe."

"Nobody tried to enter that except you." said Rica

That's Dave's point exactly. Rica has to protect herself form him.