It feels only like moments ago that I had just closed my eyes...now I was being wakened up. "We made it?" I asked groggily as my eyes opened. Jack yawns and then nods his head. "Please unbuckle your seat belts as we have already landed. Thank you for boarding China-Airlines! Enjoy your afternoon!" Jack helps me by carrying both of our luggage as we exit the plane. Many flight attendants bowed as we passed them; they recognized me since I boarded the flight. Chelsie follows behind Jack hands-free with her luggage being carried by the bodyguard. I'm not sure where I'm going as I walk through the terminal, then I see them.
You wouldn't have missed my parents here in this airport, nope. My mother stands next to my father wearing a pale green dress, she has on white gloves and a large strand of pearls around her neck. My father was more casual in his attire, a blue polo shirt with some brown pants and black suede shoes. Behind my parents were 3 bodyguards and just 5 meters away I see Jack's parents. Li Hua's face lit up when she saw me; father's remained neutral. "Oh Abelle! My baby, there you are!" Li Hua starts to cry as she throws her arms around me. I look to my left and see Chan Peng start to tear up too when she sees Jack. I look at my father who has a scowl on his face. Was he mad about me? "She's only been gone for about a week, dear," my father tells my mother as she lets go of me. I hear someone cough and see Chelsie standing a few feet away from us.
She was holding onto her luggage, her eyes wandering around the airport unsure of what to do as Jack and I console with our families. Chelsie glances at my mother who smiles back kindly, but when her eyes reached Chan Teng and Ting Buo she looked away quickly. It seems like Jack's parents don't really like Chelsie that much. "Oh mother...this is Chelsie. She came with Jack to--" Li Hua clicks her tongue at me. "Yes, yes. I know who she is Abelle. She's the fiancee of James Chan, am I right Ms. Fu?" Chelsie nods her head at my mother without speaking. "Let's get going then, enough people are already staring at us. This is ridiculous," Ting Buo says to Chan Teng and they walked away. My parents follow them as they walked through the airport. Chelsie walks next to me in silence. My mother doesn't look back to check on me as she walks; she knows now that I am safe and in China.
I sit on an armchair facing the window, peering down below to where Jack and Chelsie stood outside talking to each other. As much as I wanted to spy on them, my parents were still bugging me with questions and scoldings. "Why would you just go off on your own like that?" my father asks me, strolling around the room. I look away from the window and stare at my father's impatient look. "I didn't go off on my own. I had company." Li Hua shakes her head and takes a sip from her teacup. "You are in very big trouble young lady! You made such a fool of yourself in these past few days. You not only brought unwanted attention on the family, but also broke up many social relations that I had." I glared at my mother who continues without stopping, "Chan Teng sent me a letter saying how upset she was over on her son always visiting you. Where ever you go on your own somewhere Abelle, James seems to be accompanying you. You must remember the difference between his status and yours Abelle! I don't think there is much to worry now that James proposed to Chelsie two nights ago." I look away from my mother's irritated expression and focused back outside the window. Jack has one hand on Chelsie's shoulder as they spoke to each other.
What could they be discussing I wonder.... "Li Abelle, listen to what your mother is saying!" I turn around quickly to see my father hold up a finger in the air. "Don't let your mind wander off to another world now, we need you to stay in this world. Did you hear what your mother said to you?" I blinked and felt my throat dry up as I saw how angry my parents were with me. "What...did she say?" I asked a minute later. Li Hua lets out an exasperated sigh and nods her head at my father. "You tell her." Li Shan clears his throat and then takes a step forward so I am directly looking up at his face. "Although you are now an adult Abelle, some of the decisions you are making now aren't approved by us. Your mother and I have decided to strain you and James from ever seeing each other until you're married to Jack or James is married to Chelsie." I swear, my world just stopped spinning right there. Seeing my stunned silence, Li Shan says in a kinder tone, "It's for the best Abelle. We wouldn't want the public making assumptions that you and James are in some kind of scandal. Why is it that you always keep running off with that man? Isn't Jack Ting a fine man for you to marry?" Below the window, I see Chelsie embrace Jack then walks away from him towards a waiting limousine. Jack waits until the limo is out of sight before going back inside the mansion. "I just don't really know Jack that well...." I mutter. My father looks at my mother for help, and she answers. "Being engaged with him is a perfect time for you two to know more about each other! Have you consoled with him yet on a few topics of discussion?" I bite my lip, thinking on how to explain this to my mother.
"Abelle?" my father pressed on. "I just don't understand anymore......James and I are close friends, if I want to eat lunch with him that's none of your business! If you're worried about this being a scandal, trust me, if James loves Chelsie as much as he does in his proposal then he will marry her in the end. You don't have to worry......worry about me distracting James...or..." My parents glanced at each other, sharing a similar face expression. "We're not worried about this causing a scandal......it's James's social position in this country. He's the son of the most wealthiest CEO in the nation, and he will soon be the heir to it all once he gets married! Chan Teng despises the way that you're always ending up in the tabloids with her son. It puts not only the Chan's family name at stake but also for their company as well. We wouldn't want Chan Enterprises to break apart because of some rumors and troubled minds do we?" I make a grunting sound before answering, "Yes I understand." Li Shan nods his head approvingly and says, "You should worry more about your head injury for now. Get some rest, your mother and I need to discuss on what we're going to do next for you in your soon-to-be wedding." I quickly get out of my seat from the armchair and race out of the room down the hall. I can't believe what I just been told........this is completely not fair! I stop at the top of the staircase and see Jack slowly walk past the staircase to go inside the kitchen. James's words from our last meeting enter my mind, "I'll give you a clearer answer....when you return to Beijing."
Dinner was really quiet. The Ting family and mine sat in the dining room to eat, while Jack and I had our food outside on the deck. "So.....I told your mother and mine that the wedding's going to be stalled for a while," Jack speaks up. I look up from my plate of fish and vegetables at Jack's face; he seemed to be a bit disoriented. "Oh....you didn't tell them--" "No I didn't tell them the exact truth." I look back down at my plate and felt just really...disheveled. "They wanted me to talk with them privately. They asked how I felt about the upcoming wedding...that's when I told them that you and I weren't ready yet." Jack gives me a moment to let all the words sink in. If you think I feel relieved, I'm not. The wedding is only stalled (who knows how long), it's not cancelled! Our engagement isn't stalled either, why couldn't Jack tell them the whole truth? "How did they react?" Jack leans back in his seat and sighs. "I don't know how your parents felt, I couldn't read their expressions. My mother was disappointed in me...my father didn't even listen after that." Now it seems like both of us are in trouble. Actually, I'm the main one who caused all of this. "My mother," I began, "really wanted me to get engaged to you. I'm not sure why though....but what makes her think that we both match?"
Realizing how rude I sounded in my question I shook my head and blurted out, "Just forget about that. I don't know what I'm saying anymore...." Jack looks away from me and murmurs something I can't hear. "Jack?" He turns around with a scowl, which surprises me. "Are you really that naïve?" I dropped open my mouth in shock. Why was he giving me this kind of attitude? "By the surprised look on your face, you're probably wondering why I'm asking. I'll have you know Abelle that your mother wasn't the one that started up this engagement. I did. Yes, I hand-picked you like a flower in a field full of different kinds. Why did I do that?" I gulp and tried to tell the inside of me to calm down. My heart was racing and I could feel its fast pulse in my ears. Jack picked me to be his fiancee. He picked me to be future wife. He picked me because......... Jack laughs which makes the table between us wobble a bit. "I chose you to be my fiancee because I heard from my mother that you were a charming lady and very attractive..of course you're a model for that. I haven't met you personally but there was this one time that I thought I saw you. It was one of Jina Chan's birthday parties, I'm positive I saw you there."
Oh great Jina Chan? The last birthday party i ever attended of Jina's was when she turned 12. After that party, she had complained of me being such a brat that I decided I would never go to any of her parties ever again, it didn't matter if I was invited or not. "I don't remember you at all," I say plainly. Jack gives me a secretive smile before saying, "Why would you remember? I wasn't there to spot you out, but I do remember seeing a little girl prancing around with her friend. I'm sure it was you and James then." I feel my cheeks grow hot and the stirring of butterflies in my stomach. Okay, this has got to stop. "Jack! Where are going with this? We should talk more about important stuff now....don't include James in any of this." Jack nods his head and turns his head away so that he's facing a bush of roses. "What happened to the ring?" I see Jack's eyebrows go up for a second. He doesn't answer so I kick him under the table. Noticing the attention, Jack mutters, "My mother has it." "Oh." Jack glares at me and says, "What? You wanted that precious diamond ring? I thought you didn't want to marry me.... Maybe you are one of those women who seek out fortunes from their man." I can't believe he's accusing me of being a gold digger! "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" I shout as I stand up from my seat. "Where in the right of your mind states that I'm a gold digger?!? WHERE? Because although fortune is important in a marriage, love has to matter too!"
Jack shrugs and plays along with a sarcastic tone going, "Oh I don't know. It's just that your family isn't that as wealthy as mine. Now before you get super offended, I'm not saying your family is poor! But now that your father isn't a CEO of any business...." I grip the edges of the table and sneered at Jack, "How dare you insult my father, a man that's worked so hard in his life to get to where he is now. We may have lost our company, but the Lis have never lost their pride!" Jack sucks in a breath and nods his head slowly. "Well why else would your mother be so excited to have me as her son-in-law?" My hands shake on the table, then I take a deep breath and let go. I'm not running away this time. "Maybe it's not because of your wealth power, if it was based on that I could be marrying someone else more richer than your father's company! I think it's based on personal reasons and status." I push my chair back up against the table and leave the deck.
I hear some chattering from the dining room where my parents ate their dinner. I walk up the stairs, almost tripping myself over on each step. "Abelle!" I ignore the voice calling me below and make my way up to the top of the stairs and down the hall. I stop in front of Jack's room, where I use to sleep. I hear Jack's panting behind me. "If you want to sleep, you can take a bedroom across from mine." I ignore Jack as I move away from his bedroom door and down a few doors to another open bedroom. While standing in the doorway of the room I looked back to see Jack's hopeless expression on his face. "No matter what ever reason you say Abelle, we all the know the answer in the end. It's the same for all wealthy families, there's nothing you can do about it." I step through the doorway of my bedroom and then closed the door shut. Then I let myself fall down to the floor. My shoulders shake as I hiccuped and the first tears slid down my cheek. There's nothing you can do about it.
"Are you sure you're alright?" I look up at the mirror and see Liu standing behind me with a worried expression on her face. "Yes, don't I look alright to you?" Liu laughs and pokes fun at me. "Well at least your wound isn't so big anymore, you don't need to wear that old white patch..." I pat down my hair with my manicured hands and then took one last look in the mirror before standing up. I have a photo-shoot today to show off a perfume product. "You're gonna have to appear on a talk show with a host soon Abelle..." Liu says quietly. "I know what you mean Liu. I can't just run away forever from the paparazzi when I can. If I don't appear out to the public, they may think I'm hiding something." I am hiding something, my mind told me inside. "Look," Liu says, "they're also trying to attack Shu on the spot. He was the one who took you to Taiwan when you left Beijing. I'm just--" I give Liu a quick peck on the cheek. She scowls at me as I go on, "You don't need to worry about this Liu. I'll make sure to keep Shu out of all of this. For now, I need to rethink about my situation with James and what I need to do with Jack and my parents." Liu doesn't say a word, so I turn to leave the dressing room.
It may seem on the outside to a stranger that I completely dissed my best friend, but that's not the case. On the inside of my bold, and beautiful complexion, I'm actually quite nervous on how everything is going to go. I stopped talking to Jack ever since that dinner conversation from the night before. My parents seem to call me every two hours to ask how I'm doing and where I am; they want to make sure I didn't run away from them again. It's also been quite a while since I contacted James or Chelsie. Not that I want to contact Chelsie, but I haven't seen her in the tabloids lately. If she is officially engaged to James now, why isn't she appearing on any talk shows or on the front cover of every magazine with the headline: CHELSIE FU SPOTTED WITH DIAMOND RING! I appear in front of the set where the photographers are still fixing their cameras when they spot me. One of them gives me a smile and a few answer with kind comments saying, "You look beautiful Abelle," "Glad to see that you're okay," and "You haven't changed a bit." I hold up a tiny purple sequined bottle with a smile on my face; the cameras start flashing. After the photo shoot, a woman comes up in a bright red suit. She greets me with a wide smile and we shake hands. "Li Abelle, you are such a remarkable woman. The works you do in your profession are very inspiring, I was wondering if you did any other works not related to "Vogue China"?" I nod my head and laughed, "Well I do attend some fashion shows during spring and fall seasons, and also some random photo shoots to advertise products....but I really haven't signed up for an actual model agency yet. I'm thinking about committing myself to a label, though I'll have to give it some thought later on." The woman nods her head and says, "Oh I completely understand Li Abelle, it was nice to meet you. I might see you sometime again later this year." Before I can say anymore, the woman walks away from me in her black peep-toe heels. The woman does seem familiar to me somehow,...I just can't remember.
It's been a long 3 days since I last spoke to Jack or my family. I'm not angry at Jack, really. What he said did make my heart inside, but it was true. Arranged engagements and weddings all planned by your parents is not something that one can laugh about it. I really don't find Jack at all appealing to me as a husband in every sort of way possible. I don't know how he could find love for me....like he mentioned two nights before. He picked me because I was beautiful. He chose me because of my looks! Most young girls would be delighted to be chosen by their "prince" because of their charming looks..sadly that's not the case for me. It just kind of disturbs me....when James says I'm beautiful, that's fine by me. But that's because James always talked about how attractive I was since we were kids; he even says I'm pretty without makeup. I'm a fashion model. I have to remind myself everyday of that phrase. It was just a simple path I chose when I was younger....I could have been a singer, an actress, a professional dancer, or anything else that includes the drama or arts. I had no intentions of entering the business world, not since my father had gotten sick. Father and mother probably want to have more wealth than they do now, and I must be part of that plan.
"Look at her. She's just a mess." Liu points at the screen showing Liu being followed by a crowd of reporters, all of them wanting to know more details about Liu's relationship with James and of Chan Enterprises. "Don't be so mean Liu, she's not that bad," I say in defense. Liu snorts and takes a bite out of her sandwich. "Chelsie Fu, oh Chelsie Fu. What's so special about her family? Her father is just a known songwriter...does Chan Enterprises need a songwriter?" I didn't say anything but just stared at the screen with Chelsie ignoring the media. Liu knew she was right. She leans back on the couch with a smirk on her face. "Well.....James does know how to play the piano and violin. He's almost like a musical prodigy. Maybe having a fiancee whose father is a songwriter..." Liu turns her head to glare at me. "Don't doubt yourself Abelle. Your parents are important people too. Has China forgotten that Li Company use to rise in wealth alongside with James's stock company?" I shake my head and Liu gives me a pat on the shoulder. "People just choose to remember the bad, and forget about the good. Abelle, you need to change that around. Think about it carefully, if you marry James...not only would you be happy but so would your parents! They would have connections with the Chan family and your family name will rise in power again." I pick up the remote and clicked the mute button; I didn't want to hear Chelsie speak. "Liu, I'm not going to marry James because of gaining wealth and power in the business world. Even if James does love me back, we can't get married right away. We have to go through a boyfriend-girlfriend stage first and then--" "You get married!" Liu laughs as she sees my annoyed look. My best friend....why couldn't she understand the life I lived?
"Even if James did love me back....he can't drop his engagement with Chelsie right away. The press will be onto us and Chan Enterprises like hungry lions! I'm afraid to risk it all in front of the media and my family, Liu. This isn't going to be easy." Liu yawns and gets up from her seat to go into the kitchen. "Of course it's not going to be easy. Hey, are you going to spend New Years with me?" Liu comes back with a cup of tea and stops in front of the TV. "New Years?" I ask. Liu giggles. "I know it's only like two weeks away, but come on! When was the last time we spent a New Years Eve together? College? Though, I won't mind if you can't come that night. It's not so bad to have Shu snuggling with me in bed." I roll my eyes at that comment, but I was thinking hard. New Years Eve....I don't know if I can risk it with Liu. Every big event or holiday that comes by every year, I spend it with my family. "Unless nothing comes up on that night, then I guess I could come," I reply. Liu picks up the remote and changes the channel to a comedian in front of a crowd. "Well," Liu says as she turns the volume up, "I don't know if you can guarantee that." You know what? She's right again.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jack looks out across the river from Victoria Harbour to see the Hong Kong skyline. We're having a small vacation together, thought it's not much of a vacation when you have bodyguards around you and Jack had to bring work with him. Jack looks back to see me sitting on a stone bench, the bodyguards not far away stand in the shade of the trees. "You like it here?" I squinted in the bright glare of the sunlight at him. "It's alright....." Jack chuckles and turns back around to face the skyline. "You know that this trip was paid by my parents right?" I look down at my hands in my lap, not sure of what to say next. "Of course, I didn't object when they told me about going to Hong Kong." We don't speak for another five minutes, then Jack walks up to me and whispers in my ear, "Today we were suppose to get married. You know that right?" I nod my head silently but say nothing. Today is December 20, two days before was the day I had to pick out my wedding dress. Jack nudges me to stand up and I do. "Let's try to enjoy ourselves here, okay?" "Yeah." He puts his arm around mine and we start walking down the pathway together. It's all a show really, to fool the public's eyes that we were still happy together. Before leaving with Jack my mother had strictly told me to keep my image clean when I was with him. 'I don't care if you don't like what's happening now, just act like a couple with him,' were my mother's words.
I see tourists taking photos of the scenery around them, then they spot us. Some waved and a few lifted their cameras to take a few shots of us. Jack ignored them, but I gave the tourists a small smile before the bodyguards covered us from all sides. A cold breeze flies by making me shiver. I should have wore a thicker coat. Jack glances down at me and says, "Let's go back to our hotel. You'll be warmer there." Ten minutes later of walking in the cold, we appear in front of the parked BMW. One of the bodyguards remain by my side as the others left to file into the parked black SUVs near Jack's car. Jack leaves me standing where I am as he jingles out his keys from his coat's pocket. I'm not trying to be nosy or anything, but when I read a few stuff about Jack's relationship with Chelsie online....they were really close. When Chelsie was cold, she at least got to wear Jack's coat. Here I am shivering with no one's big coat to warm me up. Jack opens up the passenger door and I get in. He says nothing about me getting into the backseat with the bodyguard. If Jack really loved me at all, he wouldn't be acting like this.
The body guards leave Jack and I alone once we get into our own hotel room. "I'm going to finish some work off of my laptop in the bedroom. How about you enjoy yourself to some food and watch some TV while I make a few calls?" I sighed and made my way to the kitchen. I poured myself a cup of tea and sat in front of the TV. Nothing interesting going on around here. The weather is cold, getting colder next week, and next month.... I see more news about Chan Enterprises, their view on business. I'm really not so sure about why the company is in competition with another far away. Somehow, I've fallen asleep on the sofa and when I woke up the next time around it was already 7pm. My stomach growls and the thought of dinner enters my mind. I look around, noticing how dark it was...the only light source coming from underneath the bedroom where Jack was. I slowly stand up and hobble my way towards the bedroom door. Seems like Jack was just typing away in there, he could have at least told me that it was time to eat! I grab the doorknob and turned it. Creaking open the door I see Jack still typing away on his laptop. He has alot of documents spread out all over the bed sheets. He stops typing and looks up at me.
"I didn't hear you knock." I swing open the door all the way. "I didn't know I had to." Jack shakes his head and continues typing. I sit on the edge of the bed, careful not to knock down any of the papers. "So Jack...when are we going to eat?" Jack stops to look down at his watch, then he replies, "How about two more hours?" My stomach growls in return. "Or...we could order food from room service. I'll just have a bowl of dim sum please." I watch Jack work in front of his laptop, this was a side I never had seen of him before. I have been to his office a couple of times, but this was a first for me to see him work so diligently. "Come on Jack, let's order together." I say cheerfully. Jack mumbles something, I'm guessing a no. I still have a week left here in Hong Kong to spend with Jack. I don't want our nights to be like this for the rest of time we have here. Today we were suppose to get married. I look back at Jack's face, and see his tired expression staring at the laptop screen. Maybe he was deeply stressed because of work and feeling hurt inside since I denied him. "Jack, are you upset?" He doesn't answer and I repeat my question again. Jack sets his laptop beside him and frowns at me. "Am I upset? I'm just really peeved right now Abelle. I need time to think...can you go order us some food from room service now?" I hop off off the bed, letting a few papers fall to the bedroom floor much to Jack's delight. I then slam the door and walked briskly towards the phone connected to the wall in the kitchen. He'll have to answer me sometime. He will.
Well his answer didn't come right away. After room service came in to deliver the food, Jack came out of his bedroom immediately to take his dim sum, then he went straight back into his room. I continue to watch television, with gossip all about how Jack and I were on a "Romantic Getaway" in Hong Kong. I think the word they're looking for should be "devastating". Another hour goes by and I'm starting to wonder if Jack will ever come out of his room. There's only one way to find out. I walk up to the bedroom door and knocked. There was no answer. I put my ear against the door and hear nothing; no typing noises or Jack grunting on the other side. I swing open the door and almost fell to the floor in shock. Jack had his head bent a little over his laptop, he seemed to be napping. I knew he was tired. Just to be nice, I pick up Jack's large coat hanging from the closet and wrapped it around Jack's shoulders so he could be warm. He doesn't stir at my touch nor notice the big hanging sleeves that touched his face. I know it's none of my business of what Jack is doing but I can't help but stare at Jack's screen. His email was pulled up with alot of messages sent from his co-workers and assistants back at the company.
On the side of his inbox bar, I noticed that he created a file folder for every person that he contacted with through his email like Chan Peng, Ting Buo, Jina Chan, James Chan, and Chelsie Fu. A little spark of curiosity spurred inside of me, all of Jack's messages with Chelsie were just a click away. I look back at Jack and see that he was still asleep. My hand hovered over where the mouse was...I am very close, very close. Then I stop and pull my hand away from the mouse and the laptop itself. No, I can't do this. I shouldn't be looking at Jack's email. It doesn't matter who he connects with....I feel really guilty. I walk towards the other side of the room where my closet was with my clothes in it. I take out a night gown and clean underwear then marched myself over to the open bathroom door. I have to focus my mind somewhere else, showering in the bathroom will help me forget about what I saw. Feeling the hot water on my skin makes me feel warm and happy. I hum a small tune all the while as I rubbed soap on my arms and legs. In my mind I picture James standing in the same bathroom with me. We were humming the same tune together, our voices matched perfectly. James takes a step forward closer to where I stand in the shower, he smiles at me with a glimmer in his eye.
I want to open my mouth and say something, but no words come out. I reach out a hand wanting to touch his neck. But then the picture of him fades and I'm back alone in the bathroom. It wasn't real, there could be no way fro James to appear in Hong Kong at the exact hotel room where I stayed in. Well he did appear at Hong Kong one time during the fall fashion show, I reminded myself. I blink again, and see a figure of James standing near the bathroom sink. Another blink and he's gone. "Please answer me James. Please answer me very soon, I want to hear your voice."
I come out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a dark violet nightgown and some slippers. With a towel wrapped around my head, I come out of the bathroom and find the bed to be empty. Jack was gone. The laptop was turned off and placed on a glass table on the other side of the room. The papers that were once spread over the bed sheets were know in a large pile alongside with the laptop. The only thing that seemed to be left of Jack's work space was the big coat on the floor and the wrinkled bed covers that sensed movement only moments ago. "Jack?" I call out. I go out in the hallway and see nothing but darkness. The TV was turned off and so were all the other lights. Where could he be? I tell myself not to be worried and turned to walk back into the bedroom. I dry my hair for 30 minutes in the bathroom and then hear someone walk back into the hotel room. "Jack, is that you?" "Yeah."
Jack appears in the bedroom looking more relaxed. I let out a sigh of relief. "I was wondering where you ran off to. You had me worry." Jack scoffs at me. "You were worried? I was only gone for like 40 minutes. I went to check on the bodyguards, they were getting ready to go to bed. When you disappeared that night at the reception Abelle, I was more than worried. I was about to have a panic attack when I couldn't find you at your apartment or anywhere else in China." Jack takes off his sweater that he wore and flings it onto an armchair. "It's 10:30pm," I say. Jack yawns. "Yeah? What about the time...you still want to go somewhere?" I shake my head and then say, "It's suppose to be our wedding night." Jack raises his eyebrows at me and says nothing. I crawl into the bed covers and got myself comfortable. "I just thought we could have done something special tonight, but it's late." "Sure is." He looks at me for another second before going inside the bathroom to shower. Less than 15 minutes later he comes out of the bathroom wearing a plain white shirt and some grey pants. My eyes are already closed, but I could still feel his warmth next to me as he climbs into bed. The bed creaks, making a few noises..then all is silent. "Hey Abelle," Jack whispers. "What?" I mumble. "I apologize for being rude...earlier this day."
I turn myself around and smile cautiously at Jack. "It's in the past," I say. Jack doesn't say anything else, so I close my eyes and prepared myself to drift off into sleep. "Abelle,...why can't we be together?" My eyes snapped open once again the dark. "I don't understand why you would rather seek out James than me. What makes him better than me in personal qualities?" I lift my head up from the pillow and stared at Jack who waited for my answer. "I don't love you because....because, I just can't. You know it too, even if I do marry you in the end Jack...I still won't be happy. We'll have an unsuccessful marriage; what's the point of even getting married if we know the truth in the end? I know you still love Chelsie." Jack snorts. "Don't mention her name to me anymore Abelle." I lean in my face near Jack's. "I know you do. You just can't forget about her." Jack shakes his head. "No, I've already forgotten about her Abelle, believe me." The more Jack denies it, the more obvious the answer is. "Fine, goodnight then." "Goodnight." I do something that surprises Jack, even myself. Just this once, I give Jack a soft kiss on the lips for only a second. Jack grabs me by the shoulders but I push him away. "That was for our suppose-to-be wedding," I said. Jack sighs but I could tell he was smiling in the dark. "Works for me."
I thought I had fixed my relationship with Jack from last night. I guess I was wrong. We ate breakfast separately, since Jack needed to do his work in the bedroom. Now we're on a walk down a street with many boutiques on each side. "Hey let's go into that shop!" I pointed towards a small shop window that had jewelry displayed on it. Jack sighs. "Why do we need to go in there? You already have alot of jewelry." We continue walking with large crowds of people surrounding us in the shopping area. I really need to talk to Jack, but not here in the open where anyone can hear us. I let go of Jack's arm and started to walk faster. "Hey Abelle!" Jack exclaims. I don't turn back to look at him as I rounded myself around open spaces between the moving mass of bodies. "Abelle, get back here!" Finally I round a corner and go inside a small coffee shop. Jack enters the same shop with me with a scowl on his face. I nodded my head at the menu and walked towards an empty booth near the window. Jack shakes his head and pulls out his wallet. Three minutes later, he comes back with a receipt. "Is coffee and some cakes good enough for you?" "Works for me," I say. Jack slides his wallet back into the pocket of his suit. Then he taps his fingers on the table in front of us, silence once again takes over.
A waitress comes by setting a plate of cream cakes and two cups of coffee. "Thank you," I say to the waitress, Jack just nods his head at her. I watch Jack stare at his coffee cup for the next few minutes. We were both lost in words to say. "So, what do you think is going to be in store for us?" Jack looks up from his coffee and murmurs, "I don't know." I take a bite out of one of the cream cakes. Mmm, chocolate filled. "Tell me about Chelsie then. How'd you two meet?" Jack stares out of the window blinking. I'm about to nudge him under the table when he spoke, "It was a coincidence." "Huh?" Jack takes a long sip from his cup of coffee and answers, "I first met Chelsie at a concert with a friend. We didn't think of each other much then." I nodded my head, understanding what Jack was saying. Deep inside my body, my heart was pounding! Finally, I'm getting some answers! "So how did you two hook up?" Jack cocks his head at me and answers, "You really want to know huh? I'll only tell if you promise me one thing." The excited feeling inside of me starts to fade away as I consider what Jack just said. What if that promise was to marry him in the end? A promise is a promise they say....but treaties and pinky swears can be broken and lied about..... Seeing me in an uncomfortable position, Jack chuckles.
"You're worried about me marrying you? Oh please Abelle...that's not an option." I glare at him as he playfully nudges my feet under the table. "Doesn't matter if that 'one thing' involves me marrying you. In the end we may still have to be engaged and go along with it. Speak." Jack gives me an amused look on his face. "Starting to act tough now huh? So I guess it doesn't matter that you love James anymore right?" I let out a sigh and said to Jack, "He still hasn't given me a clear answer yet. But if he doesn't love me....I won't pressure him to. I'll probably feel heartbroken inside, but that's just love then. Though, even if I do get rejected, that doesn't mean I have to run back to you!" Jack raises his eyebrows at me in surprise. "You really do put alot of faith in love don't you?" "What's your point?" I hissed through my clenched teeth. Jack takes a bite out of his cream cake and mutters something under his breath. "You want to know that bad about me and her Abelle? Why not just search us up on the web...it's faster..." I kick Jack under the table, hard. "Listen, I want to hear this from your point of view. Or do I have to ask Chelsie when I see her the next time around?" Jack winces a little and I feel sorry for him. "Fine I'll tell you then. Promise to tell no one, not even my parents." "I promise."
Jack takes a deep breath and tells me his side of the whole story. "So like I said before. I met Chelsie at a concert with a friend. My friend introduced me to her and we started chatting alot. Then we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses before parting. It was pretty simple, there were no any romantic feelings then." I nod my head and urged Jack to keep going. "So one day....I stopped exchanging messages with Chelsie. We were both pretty busy with our lives. After taking over my father's company, a week later my mother tells me that she arranged a date for me. I was pretty depressed since I wasn't looking for love then." Jack takes a sip from his coffee and continues. "So I'm arranged to have this date with a young woman I've never met before. While getting to the location of where the date was being held, I ran into Chelsie on my way. She asked me to take her to somewhere..I'm guessing her father's studio. So I drove Chelsie there and continued on my way towards my destination. I make it to my date on time, and the lady I met was pretty nice. It was fin..we went to the movie theater, shopped a little, I took her to an amusement park and--" Jack stops talking as he sees my bored expression.
"Get to the good part." Jack rolls his eyes at me before saying, "Even though it was a fun date, I found out some things that I didn't like about my date. I rejected her after it was all over, my parents were pretty upset over that. I started hanging out with Chelsie more after the awkward breakup. She was kind and I saw her as more of a friend. It didn't matter then I guess, Chelsie already had a boyfriend. One day, she came home crying and she called me about her recent breakup. I was confused at first....Chelsie and I were good friends, but not that much to the point where I could console her about a situation. I played it cool though, you know...bought her a drink and I took her out to the city where we did some window shopping. She felt better by the end of the day." "Where's the good part?!?" I stressed out. Jack glares at me and I close my mouth. "After that day of hanging out with Chelsie, she started to contact me more than ever. We were really communicating well for the next couple of months. I heard a rumor from the outside that my parents were planning to rearrange a girl for me to marry. Chelsie heard about the rumor too, and I knew it made her feel upset. That's when Chelsie confessed to me that she didn't want me to go marry someone else. I remember laughing when I heard her answer, I thought the girl was joking. That's when I knew.....she had feelings for me. And after a while thinking about it....I did have feelings for her. So that's when we started to hit it off." I grinned widely at Jack who seemed to be lost in his own mind as he continued speaking, "It was a rough start in the beginning, but it went pretty well for the rest of that year. My parents started to like Chelsie more and more, everything was going great. I really loved Chelsie and she loved me back. At least I thought she did."
"What happened?" I asked quietly, though I knew the answer inside of my head. "She cheated on you right?" Jack lets out a sigh and bends his head down low. He doesn't speak for the next few seconds then answers, "It was kind of like that. I thought...I thought I could trust her. Turns out I was wrong......." I grab Jack's arm and looked at him in the eye. He seemed to react very emotionally to the conversation. "What did you hear that Chelsie do?" Jack sniffs and turns his head away. He mumbles one word that leaves me frozen. "Scandal."
-------------*End of Part 9*------------------