Secret Doors

Portia’s P. O. V:

I walked down the helipad’s stairs and the staff escorted me back to my hotel room. I sit Mr. Eve on the chair and lose my hair from its bun. I sit in front of Mr. Eve and stare at him for a while. “I guess we are alone for now, Mr. Eve,” I exclaimed as I thought about Levi. I removed my pieces of jewelry and look at our promise ring before removing it. “I’ll hold on to your promises like your mom did to your father,” I murmured as if Levi was just here.

After removing my pieces of jewelry and clothes I put on my robe and prepare my bath. I also grab some champagne from the fridge and put it near the tub I also played some classical music on my phone. I soaked myself in the tub and feel the relaxing water on my body. Tears fell down my cheeks, I don’t even know why I’m feeling like this. Maybe, just maybe I am feeling afraid of him not coming back to me.

I clear my thoughts as I drink the champagne in the glass. I put another shot and relax at the sound of the classical music. I’m in deep thoughts when my phone rings. I hurriedly dry my hand and grab my phone. It was Levi…

“Hey! Have dinner and don’t forget to take a rest early it’s been a tiring day.” He said at the other line. I giggled as soon as I heard his voice. “I’m just gonna take shower then eat. How about you?” I asked him and I’m blushing right now. “I will have a dinner meeting in five minutes so I sneak in and calls you.” He answered. “Aww. Okay, Take care and don’t get yourself overworked okay?” I told him, worried about him.

“Yes, I will. You too. I need to hang up now. I may be busy the whole night and I may not be able to call you.” He said. “It’s fine I understand,” I answered. And we both hang up. He’s so busy that he has to hang up so quickly. I received a message from him.

‘Please bare me for being busy. Open your door after 5 minutes.’

He said feeling sorry for hanging up the call. I replied to him.

‘I understand. Please take care for me.’

I wore my robe and go to the door. When I heard a knock. “Mr. Everett wants to give this to you madam.” The room service staff gave me a box of cake and a full course meal. It’s a blueberry cheesecake with a note.

‘Take care, Brat.’

Eh? What’s with the Brat thing? I took a photo of my meal and sends it to him. He didn’t reply, maybe he was in a meeting. I bring a slice of cake with me to the tub and continue taking a bath. After the shower, I ate my dinner with Mr. Eve Bear. I opened my messages and found a bunch of emails from different people.

My friends and colleagues have been chatting with me but I didn’t notice it because Levi and I didn’t use the phone for three days. One message got my attention aside from office work. It’s from Erin.

‘Hey, How are you? It’s been days now. I hope you are okay.’ – Erin

How sweet of him still remembers to check on me. It was a message from yesterday, I scrolled up from our threads to find I’d he has more than one message gladly it’s only one message. I replied to him.

‘Hey, Erin, I’m doing good. How were things going on with you? I got a little busy.’ – Portia.

I got a quick reply.

‘I’m doing good, Glad you answered. I have a meeting with my friend. I’ll call you later.’

He replied. How boring everyone around me seems to have a meeting. I lay on my bed and just play games on my phone then look at the photos I had with Levi. ‘Hey, man why am I missing you so badly?’ I said to myself. I hug Mr. Eve and look through social media to keep me informed. I have been in a social media detox since my first day here.

I saw bunches of posts from my old classmates about family bonding and about parents’ stuff it feels awkward to look around social media these days. My classmate who used to make fun of me for being single is now pregnant with her second child. Surely she’s gonna make fun of me again like I’m some kind of a joke to her because she is a happily married woman with kids. I rolled my eyes at the thought of it again but leaving the group chat won’t make things easy they will surely point out how weak I am again.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Argghh!” I exclaimed and buried myself in the pillow. “Why is it a big deal that I am a single woman?” I ask Mr. Eve as if he’s going to answer me. I opened my phone again and start to turn off notifications about the group chat. I just wanted to breathe out for a while. I’m going back to city tomorrow for work and school so I have to feel fresh not only physically but also mentally. Gladly something took my attention, Levi message me so I opened it quickly.

‘Done eating dinner? I’m done with my meeting.’ – Levi

‘Yes thank you for the dinner. How was your meeting?’ – I respond quickly.

‘Everything is good. It’s a friend of mine so as expected this meeting run smoothly. But it is tiring.’ – Levi

‘I’m glad to know that everything went smooth on your transaction. Take a rest already when you go home.’ I replied to him.

‘Yes, I will. You too take a rest now you still have to travel back to the city tomorrow.’ – Levi

‘I will take care, Levi.’ I replied to him. I didn’t bother him anymore as I can feel how much tired he is. It’s already eleven o’clock in the evening. After exiting our conversation, I saw a message from Erin. It was 5 minutes ago.

‘I’m done with my meeting. Still up?’ – Erin.

‘Yes, so how was it?’ – I responded to him.

‘It’s a deal as expected.’ – Erin.

Erin replies to me then he calls me. “Hello?” I pick up the phone. “Hey, It’s been some time since I heard your voice. How are you?” He said at the other line. How thoughtful he is. “I’m great. I’ve been a little busy this past few days.” I answered him trying to avoid the topic of what happened a few days ago. I wanted to respect Levi’s decision of keeping this relationship lowkey.

“You must be tired. By the way, I just call to check on you. So when will you come back to the city?” Erin asked me not digging deep into my whereabouts anymore. That’s so respectful of him, I know I choose a great friend. “Tomorrow I will be back in the city,” I told him. “That’s great, let’s meet at the school if you have time.” He said looking forward to meeting me.

“Sure. Just tell me when you have time too.” I answered. “Anyway, I still have to drive home. Let’s talk tomorrow when you are already home.” He excuses himself to me. “Oh, yes sure let’s talk tomorrow. Be careful on your way home Erin.” I said to him and we both hang up the phone.

I put my phone on the top of the bedside table and hug Mr. Eve. ‘We will have a long day ahead tomorrow Mr. Eve, let’s take a rest.’ I said to Mr. Eve and kiss the top of his head.