His Last Name

A voice so gentle yet deep, obviously belonging to a man, called out her name. A voice belonging to only one male who she did not expect to be in the lobby again.

''Vincent.'' She responded, her voice calling out his name in a soft tone. Her eyes found his figure behind the counter of the bar in corner of the lobby.

For a moment, Calla just wondered if it was really a coincidence that they would be together in the lobby again. She absolutely had no idea that he would be here, and Vincent was probably the same. He couldn't have known that she would be coming as well.

''I didn't expect you to come again…'' He said with a wide smile.

''…..'' Well…She was the same.

'I should seat somewhere…' Calla took her gaze back, feeling a little conscious of standing so stupidly in a spot, and doing nothing but watching another.

The same as the previous night, she sat on the same cream couch. Her eyes going over to the beautiful night and twinkling scenery beyond the glass window.

The sight still remained beautiful and awe-strucking.

''I brought water if you want to drink…'' Vincent came over with a tray in his grasp. When Calla turned away from the glass window, he was setting down his cocktail drink and her water before settling his bottom on the same couch as the previous night.

His smiling eyes peered into her eyes.

Calla almost wanted to avoid the intensity behind them, but his voice stopped her. ''How was your day, Calla?'' He asked, relaxing his body into the couch.

How was her day?

Calla got a little distracted by the sudden question. If she were to describe her day honestly….

''It was great.'' Calla voiced out her honest thought. From the lack of harassment, to the animals, Calla just felt that her day was actually great. Nothing out of the sort happened, and she was thankful for it.

''Great…Huh...'' He stared at her in a thoughtful manner. An uncertain, faint smile graced his lips. ''Well…I'm glad about that.''

''…..'' Was there something she was missing? Why should he be glad that her day was fine?

As though Vincent understood her inner thoughts, Vincent finally revealed in a solemn voice. ''Calla….To be honest I don't want to involve you in this…but you are already involved even if you did nothing. If it were up to me, I would have wanted you to be in the dark, but I'm just someone who forcefully barged into your life.''

''...'' Though not understanding why he was saying this, Calla couldn't help but nod in her heart at his last words. Vincent was indeed someone that she was unprepared for in her life.

''You deserve to know this….'' Leaning forward with his hands clasped together, hanging in the air with each of his elbow resting on his knees. The atmosphere suddenly turned heavy. ''The field trip for your department….was not the university's original idea….the trip was sponsored by someone….by a student.'' Choosing his words carefully, Vincent kept his eyes on Calla, seeming to be watching her every move…her response to his words. He was a bit worried that once he said the name of the student, Calla wouldn't take the news very well.

Contrary to his worries, Calla kept her calm. She had already guessed that something was off with the sudden field trip for her department.

''Is it….Rose Collins?'' Calla assumed, voicing out her guess. It was not coincidental that after Rose's appearance, the university would suddenly come up with a field trip for her department. Also....Other than herself, Rose's family was the only one she could think of with vast wealth to sponsor a field trip to New York city.

'She must be the one behind her department's field trip…' Calla guessed that the field trip for the commercial department was also Rose Collins's handiwork. Perhaps the Collins family had some connections to the Mackay's family. Other than that, Calla couldn't think of how the university gained some connections to have a trip to the Mackay's corporation.

''I guess you had your suspicions….'' Vincent was a bit surprised that Calla's guess was really accurate. But….thinking about her background, he suddenly felt it was understandable for her to have an accurate guess. Compared to the schemes in the high society and wealthy families like theirs, what Rose Collins did was actually nothing to ponder so hard about.

''She was the sponsor of my department's field trip.'' Vincent continued, feeling a bit guilty for telling a little lie. Rose wasn't the only sponsor for his department's field trip. For the university to have access to the MacKay's corporation was definitely his doing. Though the one in New York city was the branch headquarters.

But…he was surprised that Rose Collins had the money to sponsor two field trips, when her family's situation wasn't so good.

As for the source of her money…Vincent still had it under investigation.

''I believe her goal was to bring you to this city.'' Vincent gave an invisible pat on his back for making such a decision of following Calla. If he didn't come, who knows what the scheming Rose Collins would do to his fragile Calla.

''…..'' Well…the goal was very visible from the start. Other than bringing herself to this city, Calla couldn't guess what other goal Rose Collins had in mind with the field trips.

Now the next question was why?

Why did Rose Collins want her in this city?

To expose her?

No…everyone in the high society already had a negative opinion of herself.

Her husband?

Her husband was someone deeply in love with her dead twin sister. Even if Rose Collins bore little resemblance, Calla was confident that her husband wasn't someone like that. From the start of their marriage, He told her that Iris was forever his love and wife.

What does Rose Collins want then? Calla pondered deeply to the reason why Rose Collins would want her back in this city. Dwelling deep in her thoughts, she missed the set of eyes that remained stagnant on her masked face.

''You have nothing to worry about, Calla.'' Following the momentary silence, Vincent's voice pulled Calla from her wandering thoughts. Her honey brown eyes naturally found his. Though his sky-blue eyes were smiling now…unlike before.

''I am right here.''

''…..Hm.'' Calla hummed in response. Though it wasn't the first time of hearing those set of words, her heart felt warm with the sincere assurance. If Vincent didn't care, he wouldn't have gone out of his way to investigate about the field trip.

Speaking of the field trip….

''Vincent, how did you know that Rose Collins was behind the field trip?'' Calla asked, thinking that it wasn't easy for Vincent to get his hands on that kind of information. If his family was based in New York city, Calla knew that it was would be a piece of cake for him to get his hands on the information. However, Syracuse was different.

Unlike New York city where information was easy to gain access, it would be harder in Syracuse as the city wasn't populous and industrialized as New York city.

'He must have paid a lot of money for the information…' Calla thought, feeling a little guilty. If it weren't for her, Vincent wouldn't have bothered to investigate about the field trips.

''….My family has some connections here, Calla.'' Vincent lied without blinking. Well…his words weren't technically a lie, but they weren't exactly the whole truth.

''Oh…'' Calla felt his words were plausible. Having connections here was a good thing for his family and the business.

'I don't even know his last name…' She suddenly realized something important. Staring at Vincent, who had already sat upright a while back, Calla just understood that she had no idea of Vincent's last name…his family's name.

'And he calls me his friend when I don't even know something simple…' Calla felt embarrassed just thinking about it. Parting her lips, she was about to ask, but Vincent beat her into speaking.

''What do you want to do after visiting the Bronx zoo?'' His question diverted her attention from his last name, making her to ponder about rest of her time in New York city.

Roaming about the city was the last thing to do on her mind, especially when she was trying to avoid coming in contact with certain people.

''My department will be returning to the university in two days' time. I want us to have a nice memory together, Calla. That's what friends do.''

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