She Will Be Loved (GirlxGirl)

10. Jordan II

"You were excellent in the meeting, Sir!" Soomi's voice was filled with awe and respect. "I'm pretty confident that we're gonna get this book deal. The way you pitched to the client was magnificent."

She stopped to look at me, her brown eyes filled with concern. "Sir? You okay?" She tapped me lightly on my shoulder and I jolted back from my train of thoughts. "Are you alright?" She looked at me intently and patiently waited for my reply.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm alright." I tried to keep my tone as believable as possible. She could not know what was going on in my mind. Nobody could. "What were you saying?"

"Only how brilliant you were in today's meeting!"

"Oh. Thank you." I gave a light nod of appreciation.

Soomi's eyes lost the sparkle in them on noticing the awkward ambience around me. She picked up some important files and headed to exit my room. But before closing the door, she threw a last long look at me, only to say the words that stung me in my heart, "Congratulations on your engagement, Sir."

I spun in my chair to look outside the big window. Congratulations on your engagement, Sir. I pushed the thought aside and instead focussed on the things happening outside my world's bubble.

The roads were filled with hundreds of cars, all struck in traffic. The line would move once in a while, but it was like watching snails move. Yet, there was a sense of hurrying in those streets. People moved on the pavements, too busy to notice the beautiful sunny day.

Congratulations on your engagement, Sir. The words ringed in my ear, once again. I closed my eyes shut and took in a deep breath. Why did she have to say that? Am I so good at hiding my emotions that nobody ever senses what's wrong?

Although, that is exactly what I wanted but deep down in my heart, I knew that that is not what I needed. I needed someone to realise the misery I was going through. I needed someone to help me, to save me.

Engagement, more like enforcement.

But it wasn't Soomi's fault. Why was I being angry at her? She's just my secretary. How can I expect her to read my mind? It's wrong. She is not to be blamed. I am.

Am I? I guess so.

It was now clear in my head that the problem with Macy was the engagement. What exactly the problem was, I did not know. But it had to be linked with the engagement. She was a changed person since I asked her to marry me. I don't know why because if she did have a problem, she would have said no. But she didn't. She said yes.

Yes. I remember how that word had made me feel. I was the happiest of mortals. I could not believe that it was really happening. The only thought that had crossed through my mind after hearing that word was I'm gonna marry the girl of my dreams. And now, 'yes' is a nightmare. Time does change everything.

I reached into the right pocket of my pants and took out my phone. As the screen turned on, two ancient faces smiled at me. It had been a long time since I had seen her smile like this. It was ancient because it was almost a year and a half old. Since then, we had mentally aged so much. We were young and carefree. And now, everything had changed.

Macy had clicked this picture on the day of our first date. My arm was wrapped around Macy's shoulder as we both had looked into the camera. She looked so happy. We both looked so happy. We had connected right away. We kept on talking about books, about us, about anything and everything. I never wanted that time to end. It was so special. Crazy, how times had changed.

I opened my list of contacts and scrolled down until the name 'Macy ❤' popped on the screen. I had been debating since the morning if I should simply ask her what's wrong. After all, communication is the key to every relationship and some heart-to-heart talk would have definitely been our saving grace right now.

My thumb hovered over her name. I bit my lip as my eyes kept sneaking glances at the previous contact. Letting out a sigh, I tapped on the familiar name and placed the phone to my ear.

She picked up after two rings. A small smile spread over my face as I heard her sweet, high pitched voice speak on the other end of the line.

"Hello, brother-in-law."

"Hello, Lilly."

"What has led you to remember me? Planning any secret dates for my sister?"

"No, no. I need your help."

"Uhm. Okay. Go on."

"I don't know how to say this-"

"Then don't." She let out a low laugh. "Sorry, sorry. Just kidding. Please continue."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and continued, "Your sister.... Your sister..."

"What? What is wrong with Macy?" Her voice sounded scared and urgent.

"Nothing. Nothing. What I meant to say is...... Your sister.... has.... changed."

"What do you mean? Every one changes. Nobody is ever constant."

"Not like that. It's since the engagement. She's behaving very weirdly. As if..... As if she is not happy with this decision."

"Rubbish! She loves you. That's why she said yes in the first place. Or else she wouldn't have."

"I know. I know. But could you just check on her? Maybe, ask her if anything is bothering her."

"Are you sure it's not just your paranoia, Jordan?"

"It might be. I don't know. But please, for my sake. Just ask her. Lilly, please."

"Okay. Okay. I'll see to it. Don't worry. I'm sure it's not that big of a problem that you're making it to be. I'll talk to her, alright? Just chill."

"Thank you."

I kept my phone on the table, faced up. I waited patiently for Lilly's reply. After some time, Soomi entered my room to remind me of the next meeting. I sighed and picked up my phone to put it inside my pocket.

That's when it buzzed in my hand. As the screen lit up, I saw the notification, which was a message from Lilly. "She agreed to meet with me this evening. Don't worry. Everything's gonna be okay."

My shoulders relaxed as I breathed out a sigh of relief. Macy's mysterious amber eyes stared at me from the background.

And soon enough, I would find out the secrets that she hid behind them.

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Author's Note

We meet the infamous sister, finally! It was about time.