An Interview With a Playboy Chapter 12

Jennafei was dumbfounded over where Dex had brought her. He drove his car across a dark picnic site and turned off his engine somewhere in the middle of that place. Only the light coming from the moon and his car were lighting the surroundings.

“Is this what you call romantic? It is eerie,” she hissed at Dex. She donned a red dress and a pair of stiletto heels that night, expecting him to bring her to a cozy and expensive restaurant. That’s why she erupted when she saw where he stopped the car.

He crooned and got off the car. Dex opened the trunk of the car and took something. It is a big plastic bag from a convenience store that be brought on the hood of his car. Jennafei watched him, bewildered. Dex took out bottles of soft drinks, juice drinks and pack of junk foods. Afterwards, he sat on top of the hood and gave her a sign to come out of the car.

There are going to eat junk foods on the hood of his car in this creepy dark place while she was in her dress and stiletto? She walked roughly  out from the car.

“Is this the romantic date you were talking about?” She confronted Dex, hands on her hips.

He grinned and tapped the hood of the car, beckoning her to sit. “According to romantic fools, stargazing is romantic.” He opened two cans of soft drinks. He sipped from one can.

“Stargazing?” She lifted her head to the sky and amazed at the number of stars over the wide view of the horizon. It was beautiful. “But why at this kind of place? There might be ghosts here.” She perceived the place. It was quiet and cold.

“Don’t be afraid. I am here.”

How ironic. It was Dex who was s.h.i.+elding her now from fear when she used to be so afraid of him. Starting when he defended her at the library, she no longer felt afraid of him. And when she saw how he treated her family, she also learned to trust Dex. It all happened in just five days of being with him.

Dex stepped down and pulled her by her arm. He held her waist and carried her up his car. Jennafei was alreadu sitting on the car but he’s still not removing his hands from her waist. They stared at each other for seconds. When Dex smiled, she felt like her heart was dislocated. He was already sitting beside her on the car but she was still stupefied.

What was happening to her? She did not know why she was suddenly being affected this way by Dex. Like earlier when they were eating snacks at the school cafeteria, he accidentally touched her hand when they both picked a m.u.f.fin at the same time. It was like she was electrified the moment their skins touched. She felt very conscious every time he stared at her. Jennafei was not liking what was happening to herself.

She was only able to move when Dex pa.s.sed her a bottle of soft drinks. She heard him opened a foil pack of junk food. He gave it to her. She started eating while she stared over the starry sky.

He’s right. Stargazing between couples in love was really romantic. It was a shame that Melvin and her were not able to do this before. Funny how she experienced this with a person with a heart of stone, someone who could never appreciate the thought of that romantic setup just because he did not know how to be romantically in love. She can’t understand why did she need to feel regret over that thought.

“Weird but I like it here. Stargazing isn’t really as cheesy as I thought,” Dex said as he took some chips from the pack Jennafei was holding.

“I just don’t understand why do we need to go here just to ask you a single question. She took the tape recorder from her bag.

“Okay then, make it two.” He moved over to lean on the winds.h.i.+eld of the car. He lifted his hands and lifted them under his head as he looked at the sky. He was like lying under the sky in his position.

She smiled. “Really?” She also moved back from her seat after removing her stilettos. After he answered these two questions, there will only be two questions left to complete the whole interview.

“Yeah.”

“First question. What are your hobbies? Interests?”

Dex first gave a cough before he answered. “Basketball of course. I also like motocross, formula car racing, jey-skiing, wakeboarding, kayakig, rock climbing, trekking, skidiving. Golf, too. I like all sorts of sports and adventurous trips.”

“Don’t you like music, movies, dancing, arts and other stuff apart from sports?”

“I like rock music but I don’t sing. I dont dance. About movies, I like action, war, adventure, suspense and sci-fi. I don’t dig arts. I’m not an artistic person. Other stuff? I like to travel. I like going to the States to watch the NBA live and to other countries which have good mountains to climb and skydiving sites.”

“You travel alone?”

“Mostly, yes. But sometimes with Red or Kim.”

“Who’s Kim?” she rapidly asked with her forehead creased.

His brow jerked upward. “Is that question included in the interview?”

She rolled her eyes. Why did she have to ask who that Kim was, afterall? When she was sure that she must be one of his girlfriends. But she have speculation that the girl was special because Dex had specifically mentioned her. She did not like the annoyance that abruptly sprang from her chest.

“Second question now,” he said afraid he drank from the tin can.

“What are your dreams?”

“Dreams?”

“Goal in life? Ambitions?”

He gazed at the sky and took time answering. “Nothing.”

“What?” Jennafei exclamed. “You don’t have any dreams in life?”

“I got everything and I can get everything I want. There is no reason for me to dream anymore.”

She cannot believe what Dex had answered. But well, yeah. If her dream was to travel other countries, for Dex, it was just a siple thing that he can do whenever he wanted because he can buy how many numbers of tickets he wanted or even an airplane. If Jennafei’s dream was to finish her studies and to have G.o.d credentials to get a good job, for Dex, diploma and honors meant nothing because he didn’t have to apply for job to earn money. If Jennafei dreamed to become rich, for Dex, he no longer have to work hard for he was born with a golden spoon at his mouth.

But he could not possibly have it all. Only G.o.d has everything.

“I don’t believe that you don’t have a dream. Every person, even billionares like you, still have something they are dreaming for. Not everything can be achieved by money and power. There will be things that you really wanted but you can’t ever achieve. You were just afraid to admit it because it could mar your ego and power.”

His face was expressionless again. Jennafei can’t read what was feeling or thinging again. He sis not speak for a long time. “You can’t question my answer. That’s my answer so that’s what you will write on your newspaper.”

Jennafei gave a sigh and clicked the Stop b.u.t.ton of the recorder. She knew that she was right. She knew that inspite of his wealth and power, there is still something lacking in Dex’s life.

“Are you happy with your life? Are you contented?” she asked in a small voice while she watched Dex viewing the stars.

“You can only ask me two questions today. You asked them already. Our interview session is up. Now is the time to stargaze, rest your back on the winds.h.i.+eld.”

When Jennafei thought that he will not really answer her question, she just decided to abide him. She took away the recorder in her bad and put down the pack of chips and and soda on the roof of the car. She slumped her back on the winds.h.i.+eld. She straightened her legs. She smiled when she realized the position was quite relaxing. So it felt this good to lie under the skies twinkled with stars. She closed her eyes and inhaled the cold evening breeze.

She hugged herself from the chill of the night. She didn’t know for how long did she closed her eyes, smiling. Jennafei was surprised when she felt a thing covering her like a comforter.

She suddenly opened her eyes. It was a jacket. The exact jacket Dex was wearing earlier. If she was surprised about his act of covering her with his jacket, she was more surprised over the sudden closeness between the two of them. Suddenly, he was beside her. Their shoulders were touching. Their faces were a fer inches away from each other. She could not help but swallow hard as she met his dark eyes. She wanted to move away but she could not or maybe she did not really want to.

What Jennafei was only able to do was  to hold back her eyes. She made an effort to stare at the sky. “B-beautiful,” she complimented the stars, from the lack of topic.

“Yeah… beautiful,” she heard him whisper.

Through her peripheral vision, she could see him still staring at her. Obviously, he was not referring to the sky. Jennafei felt her face redden. She blushed ever more when she thought that Dex seemed to be hugging her using the jacket he was wearing earlier hugging her now.

“Tell me about your crazy wish,” he quietly asked.

She sighed. “Tell me yours first.” She did not have any plan to tell him her crazy wish but she was cusrious of what his crazy wish might be like ‑‑– a petty, crazy thing he wanted to experience.

Jennafei felt Dex move as he faced the sky. They were silent for a long while. She even thought that he might already be sleeping. She smiled. She did not know exactly why she felt as if she was enjoying the moment so much. They were laying down together under the sea of stars. Who would have thought that they will ever be together in a moment like this? In such a romantic way?

“To kiss a very special girl under the moonlight and stars while lying down on a car hood,” Dex whispered thereupon.

She felt her whole face flush. Jennafei was not stupid to not understand what he was trying to imply. She felt, that all the hair in her body stood up from his words. Her body seemed to have frozen. She was afraid to move and face Dex. She was afraid of what she was feeling differently. It was as if she wanted him that close, as if she wanted him to kiss her. She must be going crzy.

Maybe that was exactly why he called it a “crazy wish.” That was indeed crazy.

She fely his hand touch her cheek. Slowly, he turned her face to him. She met his dark eyes and saw longing and hint of uncertainty in his stare when he looked down her lips. It was as if he was begging for her to let him kiss her, to let him get his crazy wish. She did not take back her stare  or tried moving away her face from him. That should already be enough sign for Dex her permission for him to kiss her. As his lips went down to hers, she closed her eyes in total submission.

She was startled when suddenly, the quiet was interrupted by a loud ring of a cell phone. She moved to get up from reclining on the winds.h.i.+eld and felt around from the jacket that was covering her. She was the overflowing regret in his face when she gave him over the phone.

He first gave a violent breath before he accepted the call. “What?” he snapped. That was her first time seeing him angry. “You don’t care.” He snorted a couple of times. “Just go back to the States,” low but firmly said. That was it then he turned off the phone.

She had a feeling that it was his father who called. Even if she wanted to ask, she just sealed her lips from his change of mood.

End of Chapter 12