Royally Kissed | ✓

56; the psychological warfare

—fiftysix—

the psychological warfare

ON THE SECOND day from the time both Paige and Arthur confessed their feelings for each other, Cain had told her that Jude wasn't talking any longer. Either that or he was sleeping for the rest of the day. By the tone of his voice over the phone, she knew that she had to see Jude against all odds.

But it was a tough case to deal with in the first place, given that her grandmother wouldn't allow her to, with Lola and Arthur being around, and the media being abuzz once they'd catch wind of who she was going to visit at the hospital. In a grander scheme of things, there was really nothing wrong about it.

But like Owen said, what could be good for her could appear wrong to others. Yes, it was Arthur's father whom she needed to see, and yes, he might need everyone's emotional support; but the paparazzi was disgustingly filthy for so many reasons. They'd bend the truth and didn't care if they'd overstep the line. They liked to see something that they thought would make the public gasp in horror or just push them to speak ill of some celebrity they didn't even personally know, judging them through what they saw on TV and pictures alone.

And the fact that she was going to get married to a Callaghan and yet she'd be visiting her ex's father–seemed like a good recipe for nonsensical disaster to those who were hungry for damaging, slandering content even to personalities who didn't deserve false accusations.

So that mid-afternoon after having received Cain's call, she asked Aoife to come to Manor and bring her a far more casual clothes to change into and told Malcolm to pick Aoife up from Wellton Estates.

When several knocks soon thudded against the door, Paige immediately paced towards it and peeled it open, revealing a rather surprised Aoife, with her blonde hair flourishing haphazardly, with a stoical, uncaring Malcolm standing beside her. She twitched her lips in amusement and beckoned them to come inside, then flipping the door shut softly behind her.

"Thanks, Aoife," she said, slanting an awkward but grateful smile at her.

"Anytime, Paige," the maid returned just as bashful, pulling out her oversized jacket and sweatpants for Paige to use. These kind of clothes were non-existent in her wardrobe so she had to ask Aoife for it, given that her old ones were pretty much thrown out or had been given away. "You know that this is the only thing I can do for you after everything."

Paige silently took the clothes from her, pulling up a tight smile. After what Arthur had told her, she understood why Aoife and him were so close, and the latter confirmed her theory when she confronted her about it.

Aoife was Mr West's maid while his own brother worked for him as his personal driver. It made sense now, especially the bit she remembered where she found out Robin's father was Jude and Aoife excused herself out. They knew each other then because Aoife, too, kept Arthur's real background as if it were her own.

Shaking her head, she pivoted on her heels but stopped at the last second and clasped her fingers around Aoife's arm. "Hey, it's okay. Jude needs us and that's the only thing that matters right now."

Aoife nodded, her mouth curling up somewhat reluctantly. "Yeah. You're right. Now, you go change. We'll wait for you."

But few decided moments later, Paige suddenly froze in her seat as Mstislav halted the car at the parking lot of Bradbury Medical Center, her brain setting off its Arthur-related trigger.

"Are you okay?" Slender hand wound around her, a concerned-looking Aoife leaning sideways in her direction.

She blinked, mouth randomly opening and closing. "Yeah, I–uh, I'm not sure if I'm ready to see him," she whispered, cautiously looking at Malcolm. She trusted him enough, though, because he'd told her that whatever private meetings, transaction his client had to deal with, it was already out of his business. Not caring was actually his prime concern for most things. It just felt automatic to her to whisper because it was Arthur whom she really meant.