FLASHBACK....
EIGHT YEARS AGO.....
"Tara, what are you doing here?"Hardin asked the teenage Tara hiding in one of the school labs.
"I forgot to do the assignment the teacher gave me....I'm trying to hide from him so he won't find me"Tara replied.
"Let me help you....."Hardin tried to say but she cut him off.
"No...you'll just get into trouble because of me..."Tara replied.
"But Tara, you can't be skipping classes... that's bad"Hardin said.
"Don't worry HC, I have an idea, I won't skip classes and I won't be meeting the teacher like this..."Tara replied.
"I'll just give myself a new makeover, he won't recognize me easily"Tara added.... putting a wig on her head.
"Who are you trying to fool, you might be able to convince him but me, even with this fake makeover of yours....I'll always recognize you"Hardin said.
"Are you trying to mock me, even my own dad who knows me so well would never..."Tara jokingly replied.
"Then I guess...I know you better in my own way, silly girl"Hardin said before patting her head.
END OF FLASHBACK...
CURRENT TIME
HARDIN
It seems I'm the only one who's holding onto those precious memories of ours from the past. Tara, you forgot.....but I still remember it all like it was just yesterday.
Tracing her location was nothing for my comrades still back in the military, all they needed was just her phone number.
"We'd do anything to help you Captain, you helped us a lot....well be honored to return the favor"
Guess being nice does pay off.....but why does my kindness towards you mean nothing at all! You still treat me however you want.... whenever you want..
But I'll always choose to let it slide and understand you.....even if it pains.
That dominant and wild spirit of yours, the confidence you have, that blooming arrogance that makes you outstanding from the other women...seem to be drifting us farther apart, even though it's what brought us together in the first place.
"Hardin I'm sorry.... truly sorry"
"Please talk to me"
The same lines I've been hearing for the past hours.....and I'm so sick of it, can't she think of something new!
~~~~~~
"HC,open the door, I know you can hear me" Tara knocked on Hardin's door for the tenth time in a row.
The past times....Hardin just kept on slamming the door at her face.
Mere days into cohabitation.....and they were already fighting, how about if it extended to months or years!
"Tell me what I should do to make up for my mistake.....I feel so heartbroken when you treat me like this"Tara sadly said.
She was at the doorstep....and Hardin was just close by the door as well.....inside his room... listening carefully to everything she said.
"I ordered so much take out, will you let me eat it all by myself?"Tara continued to knock on the door.
Her phone rung at that moment, Archie was the one calling....she answered it..... unknowingly putting it on speaker mode.
"Archie?"Tara asked in a sad voice.
"Tara, are you free? Let's hang out tonight"Archie replied.
Inside his room, the moment Hardin heard that, he opened the door and snatched Tara's phone away, hanging up the call.
"My phone!"Tara exclaimed.
She least expected that.
"Weren't you going on about ordering too much take out? I'm now hungry"Hardin brushed off the conversation about Archie before it could even start.
He was jealous!
One call from him she answered but the twenty times he called....she never answered.
Hardin walked over to the dining table and sat himself down, hands crossed against his broad chest.... waiting for Tara to serve him...
"A....alright, alright..."Tara feeling guilty had no choice but to do it.
"Tara Montesino, were you seriously going to hang out at this late hour?"Hardin asked... while she served him.
It was close to ten in the evening.
"Archie and I always hang out, you were mad at me, I'd have gone anyway"Tara replied.
"Ignoring every warning I gave you about going to public places without me?"Hardin asked.
Her words just kept on making him more angry than he already was, and the worst part was, she couldn't see it.
"Archie's a good guy, he'd protect me just like you... I know him well"Tara replied.
"He's my close friend....just like you" she added.
So she just saw him as a close friend too...
Archie this...Archie that.....Hardin had enough of the guy already.
"So, you go around kissing all your male close friends? Just like you did with me?"Hardin asked...his gaze fixed intensely on her..... curious to see her reaction and hear her answer.
Tara could feel his gaze oh her...there was no way she could escape this man ever again....not in this lifetime.
"T.....That's not true"she answered, deliberately hiding her eyes away from him.
The conversation she was trying so hard to avoid, she fell into his trap.
Hardin got up from his seat and stood close to her.... turning her to face him.... holding her face with his fingers.... forcing her eyes to meet his gaze.
"If it isn't true, then why did you kiss me?"He asked calmly.
"It was my mistake and I'm willing to compensate you for it Hardin"Tara replied.
She still couldn't bring herself to tell him the real reason... especially with him staring at her like that.
"Compensation?.. How exactly?"Hardin asked... tracing his finger on her delicate lips....he was dying to kiss her again.
Tara was nervous.....this man could do anything at any moment.
"Take out! I ordered your favorite"Tara escaped from his grasp.
A close call...
"That's my compensation"she said.
Hardin simply sat back down and begun to eat.
"So, does this count?"Tara continued to ask.
"You wish, you're not off the hook yet"Hardin replied.
"Such a bully, after making me do all this labour!"Tara pouted.... sitting across him.
She hoped to use her tricks on him, but Hardin wasn't going to fall for it for the second time.
"Little princess, keep working harder....maybe then, I'll reconsider"Hardin replied.
"What more does he want?"Tara angrily asked herself.
Hardin was clearly getting on her nerves yet she couldn't do anything about it.
"Hardin Cruz, you never change....you still hold grudges"Tara mocked him.
"No. You breached the contract, do I have to remind you?"Hardin didn't back down either.
"Spare me this once, it's my fault I know.....but Archie has nothing to do with this, give me back my phone"Tara said, but Hardin didn't heed any of her words.....
There was no way he was going to give it back to her so she could call Archie again.
He didn't trust Archie so easily like Tara trusted him, it wasn't about jealousy anymore, it was his gut feeling....
"Have it your way, keep it..."Tara gave up.
She could never win an argument against him.
~~~~~~~~~
"Please sir, I beg of you..... please let me go"a young woman cried and begged desperately for Archie to let go of her.
"Why? You're not going to leave my side Tara.....do you hear me!!"Archie said, tightening the ropes he'd tied on her arms and legs.
"You're mine"
His obsession had completely gone out of control, he forced a group of young women to dress up like Tara.... imitating everything about her.
The woman before him was the third one tonight, the other two were mercilessly killed in a fit of anger..... after Tara abruptly hang up the phone....
"Sir please, my name isn't Tara...I just came here for the money" the woman continued to plead with him.
"Shhh! Be quiet.... can't you see, can't you feel my love for you Tara....or do you just want to abandon me too like the rest"Archie said.
"Everything I've done is for you and yet you still want to leave me!"Archie took out a sharp knife... and placed it on the woman's neck.
"Sir I'm sorry.....I'll do whatever you ask, I won't leave, please don't kill me" the woman begged the mad man in front of her.
"If I can't have you, then no one else can"Archie said, before he split her throat... without a second thought.
How many more people had to die by his hand just so he could get what he wanted...
Tonight was supposed to be his chance to get her, but once again...she slipped away from him... Hardin saved her life again without even knowing it.
THE NEXT DAY..
TARA'S HOME...
Tara's room
Tara was woken up by the sound of her phone ringing..
Her dad was calling.....
She wondered when and how Hardin gave it back....did he wait when she was asleep and and snuck into her room?
"Yes dad"she said as soon as she picked up.
"How is my princess? I'm still worried about you every time you don't sleep home or come to work"her dad replied.
It was like he was the only one worried about her safety aside from Hardin.
"Dad I'm fine, thank you for worrying about me"Tara sadly said.
"Who else would worry so much about you but your father...you know I love you so much"her dad replied.
"I know that bodyguard of yours also cared a lot about you.....but he's not better than your old man"her dad added.
"Dad, are you jealous?"Tara jokingly asked.
"You spend more time with him than your own family....but your old man is too proud to be jealous"her dad replied.
"Dad, if you're acting like that.....how will you act when I get married and start my own family in the future"Tara said.
"We'll see about that when the right time comes....but for now, keep being my little princess"her dad replied.
"Ok dad, I have to hang up now....I'll drop by the office later....bye"Tara said before she hung up.
She kept on feeling guilty about lying to her father.....how would he react if the truth about C&T's owner came out publicly, would he also grow distant from her like her mom?
Her brother Corey's death anniversary was around the corner, that day would bring nothing but only painful memories for her....the worst part was....that same day was her birthday...