Liliana had never felt so weak, and so mute. Lili made an effort to head to her door, only to find herself hunching over the flowerbed next to her door, as she emptied the contents of her stomach. Once she was done, Liliana dizzily made her way into her home, and rushed to her shower.
She cried and sobbed as she rubbed her skin roughly. The hot water burned but Lili wanted to feel clean. She grabbed onto her hair and cried and screamed. Liliana was caught off guard and never expected that behavior from Carlos.
Liliana wasn't sure for how long she remained in the shower. But when she eventually managed to get out, Liliana laid in bed, her knees up to her chest, and her tears spilled quietly into her pillow.
Lost and ashamed, Lili turned on her gospel playlist, and hoped it would bring her enough peace to fall asleep. But the moment she felt herself going under, she was reminded of Carlos's hands on her, and she felt sick all over again. Liliana wasn't sure who she could talk to. Lili had been preyed on by men in the past, but none of them had ever reached that extent, and now that she was here, Lili was afraid of what others would think.
She feared telling her parents because yes they loved her, but she hated the idea of telling them that her naïve nature caused her to be a victim. And she couldn't turn to Chamille because she could easily say 'I told you so'. So in summary, Liliana couldn't confide in anyone.
As Liliana sniffled and tried to dry her tears, she decided to open her schedule and see the flights she had for this week. To say she was surprised to find she would be flying all of Mr. Cavalier's trip for the entire week would be an understatement. Liliana wasn't sure she couldn't handle that stress.
Before she headed back to bed, Liliana called her mom.
Lili kept the conversation short and avoided telling her about what transpired between her and Carlos earlier that evening. And when she went to sleep, she prayed that she wouldn't dream of what occurred.
The next day, Lili was up bright and early. She had to fly to and from California with Mr. Cavalier. When Liliana opened the door, she was grateful that it was not Carlos who picked her up. And this time, when she arrived on the plane, she made sure she was at the door when Mr. Cavalier arrived.
She greeted him as usual, and he ignored her as usual. Because it wasn't too long a flight, Frantz remained in his seat, but he made sure Liliana did not disturb him. Liliana was to attend the meeting with him, and then fly back home. When they reached the airport, once again he left without a word, and Lili had to face Carlos again.
"Hello beautiful." Carlos greeted, and Liliana sent him a tight-lipped smile as she entered the car, though she felt her heart trembling in her chest. She didn't want to be alone with him, but he was her assigned driver.
"How was your day?" Carlos asked,.
"It was okay." Liliana replied, trying to appear calm.
"Want to elaborate on that?" Carlos demanded, and Lili shrugged as she said, "there's nothing much to say."
"I see." Carlos stated, then he drove her home in silence.
When they reached Liliana's home, she prepared herself to exit the car, but Carlos stopped her as he placed a heavy hand on her arm and asked, "is this about last night?" And in response, Liliana simply gulped but said, nothing, "Lili I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cross the line, it’s just after kissing you at the airport, I couldn't wait to do it again. I got a little excited, and I am so sorry." Carlos apologized, his tone and eyes sincere.
"Okay." Lilliana nodded, then she tried to exit the car again.
"Say you forgive me." Carlos begged, his hand landing on her thigh again.
"Carlos-"
"Please?" He begged, his tone sorry, his fingers squeezing her thigh again.
"Okay, okay I forgive you." Liliana replied, and then she exit the car. She would say anything to get away from him.
He sent her an air kiss, and Lili was grateful that he remained in the car.
The next day, Liliana had to fly with Mr. Cavalier to Texas. By now she was used to him avoiding her, so she simply saw to her job, and excitedly looked forward to her day off tomorrow. That evening when she landed home, Carlos met her at the airport with a bouquet of red roses and a box of chocolate.
He embraced her lovingly, and Lili wasn't sure of what to make of his behavior. They had a simple conversation, and Carlos dropped her home, kissing her hand as he said, goodnight. Though Lili didn't trust him entirely, she began to believe that maybe he truly made a mistake.
As soon as Lili entered her house, she received a call from Jenna.
Liliana-
"Hey Jenna." I greeted as I picked up the phone.
"Hey Lili, how are you?" Jenna replied,.
"I am okay thank you. How are you?" I asked, in return.
"I'm good... you're going to hate me." Jenna stated, and my heart and face dropped.
"Oh no, Jenna no." I denied, already knowing what she was going to say.
"I know, I'm sorry, but Mr. Cavalier has an urgent flight to Quebec tomorrow, and Chamille can't fly internationally." Jenna begged, and I sighed as I said, "Jenna come on, you really can't find someone else to fly him? It's not Rome, I'm sure he won't notice the difference between hosts. Well at least not much." I tried to reason. I was tired.
"Alright, you're right. I'll try to see if I can find someone. Have a good night." Jenna replied,.
"Good night." With that final exchange, I ended the call, hoping Jenna would find someone else to fly with Mr. Cavalier.
His silence over the past few days had been draining. Mr. Cavalier was just being mean at this point. I apologized, and yet he ignored me. I figured if he was that angry with my behavior, he would've fired me by now, but instead he was keeping me around and purposely being rude and ignorant towards me.
Oh well. I just hoped whoever flew with him tomorrow had better luck.
After calling my mom and getting settled for the night, I headed to bed, but my sleep would soon be cut short when there was a heavy knock on my door.
I opened it to find a heavy, tall, bald man staring me down.
"Yes?" I stated, sleepily.
"Mr. Cavalier requests you for his trip today." The man spoke, his foreign accent heavy.
"I'm sorry, there must be a mix up, Jenna told me she would find someone else." I replied, confused and still sleepy.
"I have orders miss. We must go." The man stated, his tone urgent.
"Listen here buddy," I pointed to him, "today is my day off, and I am not going anywhere." I placed my foot down.
I wasn't going to be bullied. Today was my day off, and there's no way I'd be working, especially not with Mr. Cavalier.
Okay, so maybe I would be working.
One scowl from the big man, and I was scurrying to get ready. We were on the road in less than thirty minutes. When we arrived at the airport, I still couldn't believe that I was in uniform, prepping the plane for Mr. Cavalier's arrival. The man was infuriating. What was the point of having me work his flight, when he ignored me the entire time? But I could feel him observing me every time I was in his line of sight. And I hated that he always got under my skin, even when he did nothing.
He didn't speak.
He never spoke.
I knew that he was able to speak, but whenever I was around it seemed that I was the only one speaking. He didn't seem to enjoy my presence, but then again that wouldn't be true given that he requested for me to host, on my day off.
His eyes were not friendly, his jaw and lips that never smiled told me to always be on guard. I could always feel his eyes on me, and I know its him, or else my heart wouldn't be acting the way it was.
I definitely thought I lost my job since the first day I met him, apparently my clothing did not measure to his standards. Knee length skirt, jacket that fit me well enough to not suffocate my chest, and comfortable low heels. I kept my hair in bun, and my makeup was simple.
If I wasn't fired for my clothing, then I would've thought that it was for spilling wine on his shirt. If not for that then maybe because while in Rome, he made advances towards me and I walked away from him, rejecting him... multiple times.
And if not that, then definitely when he caught me kissing someone on the job.
And yet, here I was, patting down the wrinkles on my skirt, as his car approached the Jet.
I was rather angry. In fact my blood was boiling. It was my day off. I wasn't even on call. I told Jenna that I wouldn't come in today and that he'd have to find someone else.
Apparently this man didn't take "No" for an answer.
He had his personal body guard arrive at my door, and I wouldn't be too surprised as to how he got my address. The scary man was ready to drag me from my house, I was driven to his private Aircraft and now I had to play hostess.
When he stepped out of the car, his eyes looked up to me.
Had he smiled or even acknowledged my presence, maybe I would be free to assume that he was happy to see me.