The Trip

"Do you think I will let anyone insult you like that?" Did he really say that? Does he care for me that much?

"Why are you speechless? It's natural for me to protect since I'm your husband. Do you think you can hide something from me?" He asked, still smiling.

"How did you know about it?"

"From your security guards."

"But they promised they won't tell anyone about it."

"Haha! I was the one who hired them and I am also the one paying for them. Who do you think their loyalty goes to?"

I feel embarrassed. I felt guilty for the past days knowing that I'm hiding something from him. It turns out he knows everything that I did, all the places I and Nancy have been to.

"Are you mad?"

"Of course not. Why would I be? I was actually touched.

"Haha! I don't know how your ex-husband treated you and how you fell in love with him but what I'm doing is just normal. All men do their best to make sure the woman they love is always happy and safe."

"He was nice to me at first, but he changed after we got married. I told you about it before."

"I never believed you then. There are always two sides of the story, you know. But the way he trated you in the department store was a clear proof that he doesn't have feelings for you. Anyway, I believe you now."

"Don't you want to know the details of the things I and Nancy did for the past days?"

"I don't need to know about them. As I've said, I trust you. And I think I already know about them even you won't tell me anything."

"I shouldn't trust the guards." I said pouting.

"Haha! They are just doing their job. They should make sure that you are always safe."

I was. He is correct. I don't have any rights to complain since it is part of their job and besides, it resulted to something good.

"You didn't answer my question yet. Where should we go this weekend? This is our first time going on a trip as a family. I want to plan everything."

"Athena enjoyed it when we went to an amusement park. We don't need to go to another city. We can visit the amusement park downtown again. I'm sure she would love it."

"How could you suggest something so simple? Are you looking down on me?"

"I told you we can go anywhere. I don't care about the place as long as we are together."

"I'll take care of everything then. I have five days to fix everything."

"Where will we go? I will tell mom and Nancy so they can also prepare."

"No nee. I will have everything taken care of. I'm the CEO of an entertainment company, remember?"

...

The next was was a normal one for me. The posts about me on the Internet are now totally deleted and Liberty Group became a hot topic instead. There were some former employees of the company who shared their bad experiences while working for the company.

"I was dismissed by the company without any reason. They did that even though I spent five years working for the company. I even worked overtime without any complaints because I thought I was helping the company my managers didn't see my effort and sacrifices."

"I got an accident while working in the kitchen. The floor was very slippery and I slipped. Normally, companies should help their employees in this situation, but they made me sign an agreement that I won't file a complaint against the company and I was fired in exchange to my hospital bills. Since my bill was expensive, I didn't have a choice but accept their offer."

"I was a former secretary of the CEO. He fired me just because I forgot a name of one of her flings. How can I remember all of their names when there were too many? He should be grateful to me since I didn't tell anyone about his secrets."

Those are just some of the posts under the topic Liberty Group. Is Colin behind this? How could Ericka and Geoff fix this problem? I though he was very nice to all his employees but it turned out, he is hiding a lot of things. Flings? So, it means he had met a lot of women aside from me and Ericka. Actually, this news don't matter to me now. I'm now so happy with my husband. I also don't regret meeting Geoff anymore. I have Athena because of him.

Nancy and my mom tried to discuss this with me but I avoided talking about it. This is none of my business. My focus should be my current situation. I feel sorry for Geoff a little but I think he deserves this one for all the bad things he has done to me.

...

The days passed by so fast. We spent the next days like nothing happened. Nancy and I also stopped planning on what we would do next. Colin also never mentioned about the trip anymore. Good thins I never talked about it with mom and Nancy. I guess he was very busy that he totally forgot about it.

On Friday afternoon, while I and my mom were busy preparing for dinner, the guards came up the apartment to tell us to pack some things for our trip.

"Sir Colin told us to help you with your luggage. He said you don't need to bring a lot of things since you can buy what you need in the airport."

"Did he tell you where we will go? And why the airport? He was only planning to go to the beach last time." I asked one of the guards. How can we know what to prepare if we don't know where we are going. And by the mentioned of the word airport, it means we will go somewhere far.

"We are not told about this information, ma'am. Sir Colin just asked us to help you but we don't exactly know where you are headed to."

Reluctantly, all of us started packing. We are not sure whether we have to prepare something for swimming or what if we go to a big city? I packed all clothes that will be needed by Athena. This is her first trip and I want her to have the clothes that she needs wherever we are going. While packing, I tried to call Colin many times but he didn't answer. I also sent him a message but he didn't reply.

After preparing Athena's bag, I started choosing my clothes. I was just staring at my closet when Nancy knocked on the door. "The guards said we have to leave soon. You have to get whatever you need as fast as you can. Don't think too much on what you will bring. We don't have enough time."

"What did you bring with you?"

"I just packed one swimwear and some dresses. I only prepared something light. I guess we won't be going to other countries since we don't have passports."

"Ah, right. We will probably go somewhere domestic." With this in mind, I just grabbed some shorts and dresses and sneakers. I put everything in my backpack and prepared to leave.

As I went out from the room, one the guards took my bag and lead everyone of us in the apartment building lobby. We waited for them for a while then we took the car.

"Where are we heading?" My mom keeps asking but no one can give her a specific answer. All of us remained quiet at the back seat of the car. Athena is now sleeping and Nancy as usual is busy with her laptop.

"Do you know where we will meet my husband?" I asked one of the guards.

"We will meet him in the airport, ma'am. He is not waiting for us there."

He is not busy then. How could he not answer my calls nor reply to my messages? And didn't he tell me about his plans? Then, I remember how I also kept a secret from him. I don't have a right to feel bad about what he did since I also kept secrets from him.

We reached the airport after about an hour of travelling. Colin opened the car door. He was waiting for us by the entrance of the departure guests in the airport. After we alighted the car, he handed a small booklet to each of us. He gave me two booklets, the other one is Athena's. We were all surprised to see what they are. They are actually our passports.

"When did you apply for our passports?" I asked him in disbelief.

"I told you, I'm a CEO. I can do anything I want."

"Where are we going, then? We didn't bring a lot of things with us."

"You told me Athena likes to go to an amusement park. We will go to Disneyland. We will go to Japan."