Take My Breath Away

Debbie squeezed Carlos' hands while listening attentively to each word he said.

"Decar..." she repeated the brand name.

Carlos kissed her on the lips and then gently stroked the tear stains on her face with his thumb. "Decar is the combination of Debbie and Carlos," he said tenderly.

'Decar...Debbie and Carlos... What a good name!'

Staring at him in a daze, Debbie cupped his face with her hands as if in a gentle gesture, only to pinch his cheeks so hard. Carlos was startled. "What's wrong?"

In a serious voice, she asked, "Did it hurt?"

He shook his head. "No."

"No? So I'm just daydreaming! Everything here is not real, right? What a good dream! I hope I'll never wake up," she said, pouting.

Carlos rolled his eyes at her.

As Debbie was still in a confused state, he led her to another room that was specially furnished for her—a gym.

There had been a gym in this villa previously but he had it renovated for her sake.

As Debbie was good at running, he had purchased a few new treadmills with different functions. He also had added other equipment, suitable for women.

The last room they visited was a spacious dancing and yoga studio. On one side of the room was a French window facing a lawn. The other three walls were covered with floor to ceiling mirrors, giving the room an illusion of even bigger space.

A few pieces of hammocks and swing straps for doing anti-gravity yoga dangled from the ceiling. Beautiful yoga mats and yoga balls completed the list of accessories. It was a fully furnished yoga studio that would rival any professional clubs around.

Just a feel of the studio would excite even those who didn't have interest in yoga.

Observing their reflections in the mirror, Carlos noticed the pleased look in Debbie's eyes. Affectionately, he pulled her into his arms and said, "Just hold on a little longer. After you finish your studies abroad and come back, we will settle down here. This will be our home forever. Okay?"

'Our home forever...' Debbie felt touched.

Through the French window, she gazed at the lawn outside and indulged in a bit of fantasy. She pictured herself walking hand in hand with Carlos on the lawn under the sunlight, probably with one or two kids and a cat or a dog playing around. A happy smile crept across her face as she thought about such a warm scene.

Then, they headed to the three-storey villa. When they arrived at the gate, Carlos grabbed her hand and pressed her finger on the fingerprint lock to collect and identify her data.

Now, she realized this three-storey villa was the place where they would live, while the two-storey building they had just visited would be for recreational purposes. Carlos had chosen that building and renovated it into a music studio, a lipstick lab, a gym and a yoga room, because there was a large swimming pool in front of it. Since Debbie was fanatical about swimming, that building would be the best choice.

After unlocking the gate, Debbie eagerly pushed it open. But barely had she set a foot in when out of the blue an "attacker" charged at them. "Be careful!" she shouted. On reflex, she lifted her right leg and was about to kick hard, only for Carlos to push her aside. He caught the "attacker" in his arms, leaving Debbie astounded.

When she realized clearly that the "attacker" was a dog, she rolled her eyes.

Wiggling its tail, the dog barked at Debbie, but it was not threatening.

Carlos pointed at the white hairy dog which was now sitting docilely beside him, and said mischievously, "This is a Canadian Eskimo Dog, also called a sled dog. It's fun and very good at taking instructions, so I thought you'd have a great companion, especially for your morning or night runs. Would you like to take it to the manor for a walk? Its speed will surprise you, I promise."

But Debbie was not impressed. She had never been fond of dogs or any pets for that matter. All her touching feelings vanished into thin air now. With her lips pursed, she said rather snappishly, "Well, maybe I'd like to, but not now, please! And no matter how fast it runs, I'll be faster! Anyway, are you sure that you haven't been fooled by anyone? The damn dog looks like a Samoyed rather than an Eskimo dog."

She said that with an obvious attitude.

When Carlos didn't answer, she added, "Didn't you see how it dashed toward us when we opened the door?"

Carlos chuckled under his breath. "Well, why not give this damn thing a name?"

"Give it a name? Haven't you already kept it for some time?" 'It seems quite close to Carlos. I thought it was a pet that he had kept for long, ' she thought.

"No. It was brought here a few days before you went to the Southon Village. I've seen it only once."

"I see. Then why did you want to keep a dog all of a sudden?" Debbie squatted down and reached out her hand. She wanted to touch its head. It was actually cute, with white and silky fur.

However, as if knowing what Debbie was going to do, the dog suddenly stood up and walked away. It stared at her with wary eyes from a distance away.

Debbie pouted once more and snorted. "Humph! It's a silly dog, just as I thought at first!"

As she finished, the dog instantly barked at her again. 'This dog is not silly but quite clever! It knew I was rebuking it!' Debbie murmured in her mind.

Carlos was amused by the exchange between Debbie and the dog. It was so funny that he chuckled. "Whenever I'm not here with you, you can play with it. To tame it, you need to give it strict training and get a leash on it."

Debbie frowned. "What? It's so troublesome. Not the kind of pet I can manage!"

Caressing her hair, Carlos assured her with a smile, "The dog needs regular exercise. Almost daily. Just take it along as you exercise too."

'To exercise for what?' Debbie turned around and stared at him. "I bet the last sentence is the whole point you're driving at, right?" Her face flushed red when she remembered him teasing that she couldn't keep pace with him in bed.

To confirm the suspicion, he was smiling when her curious eyes met his. "Yes. You're a smart girl!"

"Humph!" Debbie snorted. She was angry but couldn't find a way to retort. 'It's not that I am weak, but you bang like a stallion on steroids!' Debbie wanted to say, but she decided otherwise.

"Okay, babe, I think I've got a name for your dog. Just call it Hum," she said, trying to steer the conversation to something different.

Carlos rolled his eyes resignedly. "Well...okay, as you please."

From now on, Debbie had one more companion named Hum.

In the afternoon, Carlos left for his work while Debbie stayed in the manor and continued to look around their new home.

After he left, Debbie went to their bedroom. As she opened the door, she was surprised to see many packing bags that filled the table and the floor. Since the place was full and a little disorganized, she chose to sort out what was in those bags. She found that most of them were cosmetics and skin care products!.

She recognized some of the parking bags. They were cosmetics that she bought in Shinning International Plaza last time, in order to get the free trip to Maldives.

But for the other skin care products, she didn't know who had bought them and why they were so many. 'Are they all bought by Carlos?' unable to hold her curiosity, she called Carlos for an answer.

She was shocked to know that some of the skin care products were given to her by the parents of the naughty boy, who had been brought to the villa by Megan the other day.

"And some of those items were flown in past week from Paris, by Mom. She strictly instructed me not to tell you until you walked into your new house. They are her house-warming bash for you. There's a cabinet next to your dressing table where you can place your cosmetics. If the cabinet is not large enough, just tell me and I'll change it to a larger one." Carlos told her on the other end.

'Oh, my goodness! This... This is too extravagant for me!' Debbie exclaimed in her mind. The number of pleasant surprises Carlos had pulled on Debbie in one day were just far too many.

After ending the call, she looked at the cabinet. It was a customized wooden cabinet with gliding glass doors. On the upper part of the cabinet, the shelves were divided into small compartments which would be convenient to store different items.

Humming in joy, Debbie didn't unwrap any of these packages. She simply stuffed them into the cabinet.

But when her mind ran back to the biting levels of poverty she had recently seen first hand in Southon Village, she began to wish they could return all the items for a refund. Up to last scent, she would spend the money on improving living conditions in the village.

Overwhelmed by comparison on the welcoming but poor villagers over there in Southon Village, she dejectedly slumped into bed, badly in need of a rest.

When she woke up, it was already dark outside. Carlos hadn't come back yet for he had a lot of work to finish before Spring Festival. She would have dinner on her own.

When she came downstairs, she found that the chef and his beautiful female assistant were busy at work in the kitchen. In a few minutes, mouth-watering dinner was served.