Chapter 3

Memories of the past events in her former workplace still hunts Nathalia sometimes during her sleep.

For three months, she will observe those uncomfortable stares that her boss will give to her and his subtle touches that make her want to vomit in disgust. For the last three months she is working there, she is able to tolerate those things for the sake of her work, and with use all of the excuses she can use to somehow avoid those occurrences. However one day, more work is given to her and unspokenly forces her to have overtime.

She knows that her former boss has some silly stance which she finds harassing and disrespectful, but never did she think that he has an evil plan. The sun sets and it becomes dark as night falls. Her boss calls her inside of his office where she sees a bottle of wine and two glasses placed on the table; one is already filled with glass while the other one has not been used yet. There is also an ashtray beside the bottle, full of cigarette butts, a lighter, and another pack of unlighted cigarettes on the table between the two brown leather sofas.

With a pounding heart, she ensures to keep a safe distance between the two of them before she speaks, “you call for me, sir?”

“Indeed I did. Ms. Sanchez.” Her boss says while sitting on the sofa beside the table with an ashtray on it. He lit a cigarette as he instructed her to sit on the other vacant sofa. He then poured a red wine on the empty glass before offering it to her, expecting her to have a drink with him.

“Sorry sir, but I do not drink” she says in an excuse. He looks at her for a while before he drops the glass in front of her that the glass makes a clunking sound once it reaches the floor while the wine spills over the floor, almost drenching her feet. He then stands up in front of her, he leans his arms between her over the sofa as he tries to kiss her. When she tries to resist, he holds her chin and forces her but she is able to knee him on his guts and shove him away before she hurriedly runs out of his office. She grabs her bag from the top of her table, runs towards the elevator, and evacuates the building.

The next day, she submitted her resignation and immediately quit from the company.

——————-

Jewelries are nothing but a showcasing of money. A luxury. However, as soon as the next applicant enters the door of the meeting room, it is the eye-catching black narrow braid silk thread necklace with a circle pendant made of resin which catches Donavan’s attention. The necklace is obviously not worth a million but it is a handmade product that shows one’s sincerity. Inside of the clear resin are dried flowers where small words are formed using gold glitters: it says, ‘Yours Only’.

His heart pounds as he recognizes that necklace. His secretary, Gina, comes inside and places the woman’s CV on the top of his table and with immense urge to look into it, he immediately opens the file to see that the woman’s name is Nathalia Sanchez. The name is very much familiar to him. The same name is similar to someone he knows, but the difference is that the woman in front of him is already married and has a child, or maybe he is just mistaken. Maybe they only look similar, after all fifteen years is too long that the woman he knows may have already lost the necklace and the woman in front of him may have found it instead. Nonetheless, he is not mistaken that it is the same necklace as it is the only one in the world because he is the one who made it himself. He spends many days studying how to perfectly braid the silk thread and mix the resin to make a great design like that. At first, as a thirteen years old child, he makes multiple failed attempts but he succeeds in the end.

He looks at the woman again. She has a pleasant heart-shaped face, gorgeous hazel eyes with perfect eyebrows, nice nose matched with plump lips, high cheekbones, cute dimples, and she has a black shiny straight hair that falls up to her shoulders.

He hears her greetings which pulls him out of his thoughts.

He clears his throat before he speaks, “Please sit down, Ms. Nathalia Sanchez. As I hope you know, I am Donavan Montenegro, the CEO of this company” he finishes as he motions her to sit on the chair in front of his table.

“It is nice to meet you, sir,” Nathalia says with a smile.

“Nice to meet you as well. Your CV is very impressive, you have done well in your academics.” Donavan compliments Nathalia after going through her CV.

Nathalia’s eyes smile with her lips out of happiness and self pride. To be praised by one of the most known businessmen, it is a great honor.

Donavan looks at her for a while before his eyes go down to her neck where her necklace lays. He could not erase his curiosity about the identity of the woman, more specifically about her connection to the woman he knew fifteen years ago.

Taking a deep breath, he sighs before he has the courage to finally speak about something which will likely cross his boundary as a professional. “I have only one question which I will need your honesty, though I know that it is an irrelevant question. But I need to know.”

Nathalia only stares at him while she waits for him to ask the question.

“Where did you get that handmade silk thread necklace that you are wearing?” He asks which makes Nathalia furrows her eyebrows in confusion. Indeed his question is irrelevant to the job she is there for. She looks into his eyes which is intently looking at her; it is evident that he is in deep need to know her answer but Nathalia wonders how that is any of his business.

Unconsciously, Nathalia's hand goes to her neck and holds her necklace as if to keep it in safety. For many years, she has been keeping it to herself in safety, never removing it just like she has promise.

Having someone look at it with desire or interest makes her feel like she is a thief or something. His eyes and question makes Nathalia feel like she has snatched the necklace from someone else even though it is really hers. It is a precious gift that her childhood friend gave her as a reminder about the love that he has for her and since then she has pledged to him and to herself that she will never remove it and will take care of it with everything she has. It is a symbol of his promise to her that he will marry her when the right time comes, but one question lingers on her mind, ‘where is he now?’

Donavan creases his forehead when he sees how she holds onto the necklace and how she suddenly fazes out. Clearing his voice to gain back her attention, he says “Ms. Sanches?”

Blinking many times, she came back to reality and said, “yes sir, sorry! This necklace was given to me by my old friend when I was ten years old.” She answers without catching her breath. After he listens to her reply, his face is erased from any expression.

His gaze is unfathomable; no one can explain what he is thinking as he abruptly picks up the phone on his desk. He press a number to call someone and Nathalia can vividly hear his voice as he speaks, “Olivia, come here”