Next chapter! Let's get into some stuff finally! lol
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Greg
I shivered from the cold January air as the taxi pulled away. I looked up at the palace and blew out a long breath. Being so far away for so long had made it difficult to keep in touch with everything that was going on around here.
I’d mostly kept in touch with Chad, who also hadn’t really been home as much either. Suffice it to say, I was running in here blind. I knew it was unfair of me to hope that Christine would be welcoming on my return, especially since she refused to speak to me in addition to Chad refusing to tell me any details about what she’d been up to. All I had to go on was what I’d heard from news and magazines, which tended to be pretty dry these days. All I knew was she was dating this pretty-boy from her school, and the stories pretty much ended there.
I knew one thing for sure though. My entire trip, I’d missed her. I’d missed her more than anyone else and thought about her often as I traveled. I couldn’t wait to see her the moment I’d landed, and before I knew it, I’d found myself here on her doorstep. Her and that idiot couldn’t be that close though, and she and I had history. Maybe if I could just convince her that we were meant to be, she’d come back to me.
I made my way toward the entrance, suitcase dragging behind me, giving the guards a polite nod as I passed into the foyer. It was at that moment that I saw her. Her golden hair had grown even longer, flowing down just past her mid-back. Long legs stretched out below her knee-length blue dress, matching her sparkling eyes staring at the man whose arms she was embraced in.
I felt the heat of jealously bubbling up in my stomach as her pretty-boy boyfriend leaned down and kissed those beautiful pink lips that were once mine to taste. I swallowed the swear about to erupt from me as I caught glimpse of a sparkling glimmer on her left hand.
I felt light headed and in that moment fought the urge to fall to my knees in defeat. The woman I loved was engaged…to another man. She was giggling as he pulled away. She moved and glanced in my direction, her eyes widening in shock. “Greg?”
Christine
I wanted to disappear right then and there. What the hell was he doing here? “Greg?” I repeated when he didn’t say anything. He was staring at the both of us, almost as if he were in some type of trance. He shook his head and managed a smile before walking toward us and extending his hand out to me. I stared at it for a moment before looking back to his face, cocking my eyebrow. He blinked, his expression unchanging as he waited for me to take his hand. I slowly placed my hand in his and he pulled me against him in a tight hug, pushing a surprised gasp from my lips.
“Greg, what are you doing here?” I voiced the question buzzing in my head.
“I’m home. I thought it would be nice to come visit everyone. I heard Ian and Lana are here too.”
“Y-yes, they’re just upstairs. They’re resting after the long drive here.” I stammered, still in shock from his sudden appearance and the surprising hug. What was he playing at? Did he think he could just come back and we’d suddenly be friends again?
“Good, good.” He paused for a moment before glancing at Micah and extending his hand once more. I had almost completely forgotten my fiancé standing right behind me.
“Oh, um, Micah, this is Greg. Greg, Micah.” I introduced, feeling the awkward tension build as Micah recognized the name.
“It’s a pleasure,” Micah said politely, but I watched as the squeezing handshake commenced. I shook my head and rolled my eyes at the competition they both seemed to be having as they stared hard at each other.
“Well, erm, we’ll have to catch up later.” I said quickly, needing to escape this situation as soon as possible. “Micah and I are heading out to dinner, aren’t we honey?” I said and Micah nodded, finally turning away from Greg, releasing his hand.
“Your ring, babe. Don’t forget your ring.” Micah reminded me and I nodded, pulling it off and tucking it into my purse. We’d been keeping the engagement a secret for a couple months from the press until the charity banquet just before Valentine’s Day. It had been a hassle, but it was worth it. If the press felt there wasn’t a story, they asked less questions. The second they heard of this engagement, all hell was going to break loose.
“It was nice to see you, Greg.” I managed in a flat tone, before heading outside with Micah. When we were finally in the car, Micah turned to me looking concerned.
“Are you okay? You look pale.”
“I’m fine…just a little shocked that he’s here.”
Micah nodded, but still looked worried. He started driving before asking. “Do you-…do you still have feelings for him?”
I paused before answering, really wondering how I could answer this question without it sounding bad. “I think I’ll always feel something there Micah, but that’s over and done with. Okay?” I hoped I sounded assuring. Micah smiled at me, taking my hand and kissing it gently. “I love you.” I added and his smile grew.
“I love you too, babe.”
Dinner was normal at first, both of us chatting about our days. Micah finally started asking about Greg. I knew he was still worried about it. “I know you said he ended things, but do you think he might still have feelings for you?”
“If he did I don’t think he would’ve left things the way he did. Or he would’ve at least tried harder to contact me when he was away. I’m sure it’s just as over for him. You don’t need to worry about him. He moved on a long time ago.” I said, taking a deep breath to try and dislodge the heavy feeling that settled on my chest whenever thinking of Greg.
“He was just, staring at you, before he walked over.” Micah said, distastefully. “I don’t like the way he was checking you out.”
“Oh, you and your possessiveness. I’m sure he was just a little surprised to run into me so quickly. I know I was a bit frozen when I caught sight of him.”
“It’s just a bit of bad timing. You know, right before we’re about to announce our engagement he just shows up out of the blue? I don’t like it.”
“Stop thinking about it, Micah. Just think about how wonderful our beautiful wedding is going to be.”
“And how beautiful you’re going to look on our wedding night?” He winked at me and I playfully smacked his arm.
“You’re incorrigible.” I shook my head at him, before taking a sip of wine. Micah didn’t need to worry about Greg. Greg didn’t care about me that way anymore. He’d made that decision a long time ago. There was nothing to be nervous about.
Greg
“She’s engaged?” I basically shouted at Ian who shushed me. Guili, sitting beside her mother, had her head cocked in my direction, wondering if she was supposed to know who I was or not.
“What did you expect, Greg? For her to just be sitting her twiddling her thumbs, waiting for you to realize you were an idiot?” Ian snapped and I let out a harsh sigh.
“I didn’t think she’d be engaged! And what did you want me to do Ian? Run those forsaken stables the rest of my life? I was dying in the mediocrity of my own life!”
“Was Christine included in this mediocrity?” Lana asked, also a bit angry.
“No…no of course not. Everything just made me…confused.” I tried to explain, without much luck. “Because I was so unhappy, I just felt I needed a clean slate.”
“Well, she did one too. Micah loves her, Greg. Don’t go screwing up her emotions again. You don’t realize how broken she was after you left.” She warned me.
“I love her Lana. I still love her.”
“And she’s moved on. You have to learn to live with that.” She stood up and took her daughter’s hand. “Come on Guili, let’s get something to eat.”
I turned to Ian, feeling completely helpless. “I don’t know what to tell you, mate. Lana’s right. You hurt my sister pretty bad when you left. If you tell her you love her, you’re going to confuse the happy relationship she has now. She has a chance to move on. Give her that.”
“I can’t just give up. She’s the one I’m supposed to be with. I know it.” I said, unable to stop my pacing.
Ian ran his hand through his hair and let out a sigh. “Fine. Okay. But don’t tell Lana.”
“Really?” I stopped in my tracks, extremely confused that Ian was going along with this.
“I know Christine. She’s going along with Micah because he came along and helped her get over you. But I know she’s never felt that way about him that she does about you. Lana’s told me this a hundred times, but I think she’s afraid of you hurting her again.”
“I wouldn’t. I couldn’t!” I reassured Ian and he nodded.
“I know. Because otherwise I would rearrange your face.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less. What are we going to do then?”
“We’ll have to be extremely secretive about this. No one else can know, or else the entire thing will be compromised. If Fiore even catches wind she’ll tell Lana and Christine.”
“Noted.”
“Also, you’re going to have to romance Christine, get her alone as much as possible before the announcement of their engagement.”
“Ian, you told me that’s in two weeks.” I said and he nodded, patting me on the back.
“We better get to work then.”
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Yay! I'm sure you're all happy to know Ian and Lana have big parts in this story too, lol. What do you all think? Vote and comment please!! <3