“Amber, baby, no, you have it all wrong. No, I didn’t know what I was doing the night we got married, but now I’m sober. I know exactly what I want.”
“I know what I want too, and that’s a divorce.”
Amber stormed out of the room and out the front door. She didn’t bother to say goodbye to anyone.
She saw the limousine driver.
“I need you to get me out of here now.”
Jason ran behind her. “Amber, wait. We can talk about this. You’re overreacting.”
Amber looked at the limousine driver. “I know he’s paying you, but whatever he’s paying you, I’ll pay double. Just get me out of here, please.”
Jason said, “Take her home. I’ll find another way home.”
“Just what I thought. You’re not even going to fight for me. Well, Jason Lewis, you got what you wanted. I’m out of here.”
She shut the limousine door and waited for the driver to pull away. Tears she had bottled up released, and there was a floodgate of tears streaming down her face.
The fairy tale was over. It was now time for her to return to her regular, boring life. In her haste, she’d forgotten that she didn’t have a key to Jason’s place.
She opened the window separating the back seat from the driver. “Instead of taking me to Jason’s address, I need you to take me to 544 Ember Lane. It’s also in Malibu,” Amber instructed.
“Yes, ma’am,” he responded.
Amber leaned back in the limousine and cried all the way home.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jason couldn’t believe Amber would walk out on him like that. He was left to deal with the aftermath. Everyone was asking him questions about Amber’s disappearance. He lied and said she’d gotten sick, and she had insisted that he stay and give her gratitude to the people who had shown up.
Charlotte looked at him with pity in her eyes because she knew the real reason for Amber’s departure.
“Do you need us to drop you off?” Charlotte asked.
“Yes. But I don’t want to inconvenience you,” Jason stated.
“After the driver drops us off, he can drop you off. Is that cool?” Sean asked.
“Works for me.”
An hour and a half later, Jason walked through his front door. The alarm chirped, so he quickly went to disengage it.
“Amber,” he called out but got no response.
He rushed up the stairs. He opened the bedroom door. There was not a pillow out of place. The bed hadn’t been slept in. He went from room to room, searching for Amber. She was nowhere to be found.
He threw his tuxedo jacket on the bed and plopped down next to it. Maybe he should have insisted that he go with her. He’d thought that if she had some time to cool off, he would be able to talk to her without the hostility. He’d never thought she wouldn’t be home. Where could she be?
He picked up his cell phone and dialed her number. She didn’t answer the first time, so he called it again. This time his call went straight to voice mail. A few seconds later, he received an incoming text message from Amber. I’m at home. Please stop calling.
Jason threw the phone on the bed.
This wasn’t how the night was supposed to end. Instead of him declaring his love for her, he was sitting here alone and not sure of what his next move would be.
The calculating Jason wouldn’t allow her to just walk away. He didn’t bother to change clothes. He grabbed his car keys and sped to her place.
“Amber, I know you hear me. Open up,” Jason said as he banged on the door.
“If you don’t stop banging on my door like a maniac, I’m not going have to call the cops, my neighbors will.”
“At this point, I don’t care,” Jason said. “I need to talk to you. This is all a misunderstanding.”
“Jason, you’re right. This thing, what we had, was a misunderstanding from the jump,” Amber said from the other side of the door.
“Amber, look, sweetheart. Why don’t we talk about this face-to-face? I’m sure if you hear me out, we can clear up a few things.”
“Things are awfully clear from where I stand. I’m going to say this one last time. Get off my property or I will be calling the police.”
“You’re not going to call because you don’t want bad press,” Jason noted as he leaned on the door.
“Oh, you think you know me,” Amber snapped.
“I know you well enough to know that you do not like negative publicity, and calling the police will bring just that.”
Jason had that knowledge to his advantage. Maybe if he could keep her talking, she would calm down enough and let him in. He needed to see her face. She needed to see his face as he shared his feelings.
Since she wouldn’t open the door, he would have to do it now. “Amber, I love you.”
Amber was silent.
Jason repeated himself. “Did you hear me? Amber, I said I love you.”
“No, you don’t,” she responded.
Jason’s emotions turned to anger. “How can you tell me how I feel about you? I know how I feel.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me before? You’re afraid that my dad will find a loophole in the contract he signed, so you’re trying to cover all your bases by making up with me.”
“Your dad has nothing to do with this,” Jason snapped. Jason needed to rein in his anger.
“You’re right. You are the problem. And just like a mistake on a screenplay, I eliminate the problem by erasing it.”
“What are you saying?” Jason asked.
“Monday morning, I will start the process of erasing this chapter from my life. You can stay out here all night if you want to, but I’m going to bed. Goodbye Jason.”
“Amber!”
Amber didn’t respond. Jason knocked on the door again and said, “Amber!”
Jason ran his hand through his hair. He saw one of her neighbor’s porch lights come on. Jason had never been this frustrated. He was usually in control and rarely lost his cool. Amber had him looking like a stalker.
“Is everything okay over there?” one of Amber’s male neighbors asked.
“Everything’s fine. I was just leaving,” Jason said as he hung his head low and dragged himself back to his car.
He got in the car and slowly drove away. The distance between his place and Amber’s wasn’t far, but it felt like the longest ride of his life.
* * * * *
Amber tossed and turned the entire night. She dozed off a few times but could never go into a deep sleep. When she finally did doze off, her cell phone rang.
“Mom, do you know what time it is?” Amber asked.
“Time for you to explain to me why you left without saying goodbye to us or your guests that were gracious enough to attend a celebration honoring you.”
Amber listened as her mom berated her.
“I really don’t want to talk about this,” Amber said.
“Jason really came through last night. He informed everyone you were sick, but I know there’s more to the story.”
“Mom, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Fine. Whatever it is? Fix it.”
They ended their call. Amber went to look for her iPad. It dawned on her that some of her important items were still at Jason’s. She needed her stuff, but she would wait until he wasn’t there. If she saw him now, she didn’t know how she would react. She was still upset at him over lying about his feelings. Love. How could he claim to love her, say he wanted to stay married, when he never wanted to be married in the first place?
The same way you came to love him, her subconscious said to her.
Amber knew she was going crazy because she was sitting there talking to herself.
She went through her medicine cabinet and found an old bottle of sleeping pills. She took out two
and put them in her mouth. She washed them down with water out of the bathroom faucet.
Amber lay on the bed with the hopes of finally falling asleep. Right before she dozed off, she received an incoming text message. It was from a friend of hers who was working on a documentary. It was odd for her to contact Amber so early in the morning.
Amber dialed Cassie’s number. “Cassie, you wanted to speak with me?”
Amber listened to Cassie speak about her movie project. “I know this is last minute, but I have called everyone I could think to avoid calling you, because I knew you just got married.”
“Just tell me what you need,” Amber said.
“You mentioned wanting production credit, since you’re trying to build a name for your production company.”
“Right. But I wasn’t going to take an active role in your project.”
“Although this is a documentary, I still need a writer, and I need someone with your experience on camera to help interview some of the people in the village I want to visit.”
“I have no problem helping out,” Amber said.
“The plane leaves Monday afternoon. We’ll be shooting footage for the next two weeks and then returning to the States.”
“My passport is ready. Email me the details, and you have yourself a new team member.”
This project couldn’t have come at a better time. She needed some distance from Los Angeles. Maybe the distance would help her deal with breaking up with Jason. Amber had to laugh aloud. They had to be in a real relationship to break up. Amber needed a drink, but then again, not, because drinking had led her to her current dilemma.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“No, you need to delete that and start over, because that’s not a good representation of C & J Management,” Jason snapped.
“Jason, can I have a word with you?” Charlotte asked. She was standing in the doorway.
“Felicia, what are you standing there for? Work on the press release and then let me approve it before you send it out.” Jason stared at her.
“Jason, chill. I’m going to work on it, okay?” Felicia responded.
Jason tapped his watch. “Today.”
Felicia stopped near the doorway and said to Charlotte. “You’d better talk to him, or else I won’t be held liable for what I do.”
“Whose name is on the door?” Jason yelled.
Felicia mumbled under her breath and left.
Charlotte shut Jason’s office door.
“Jason, you’ve been a bear all week. People are starting to complain. I’m about to be out on maternity leave, and I can’t have you speaking to our employees like you just spoke to Felicia.”
Jason held his head down in shame. “I’m sorry, Charlotte. It’s Amber. I’ve been reaching out to her and have gotten no responses. When I got back to the house Monday, all of her stuff was gone. I went by her house last night and nothing. No response.”
Charlotte sat down. “I know where Amber is.”
“What? How long have you known, and why haven’t you said anything to me about it?”
“Amber made me promise not to tell you. So I’m going to leave my email up and you can glance at it. That way I’ve kept my promise.”
“Char, I can’t believe you’re keeping secrets from me. Especially since you know how I feel about Amber.”
“I’m trying to stay neutral.”
“Your allegiance should be to me, not Amber.” Jason didn’t know if he should be mad or glad that Charlotte was sharing the information with him.
He took her phone and read the email.
His face turned red out of frustration. “She’s left the country. I can’t believe this. And she didn’t have the decency to tell me anything.”
Charlotte reached across the desk and placed her hand on top of Jason’s. “Calm down. She’s just as confused about things as you are. She needed some space. She probably thought getting away would help give her some clarity.”
“But what about me? I’ve been here about to lose my mind worrying about her. Wondering if she would hear me out.”
“Why don’t you go pack your suitcase and go after her?” Charlotte suggested.
“She wanted her space. I’m giving it to her. I’m Jason Lewis, and I don’t run behind any woman.”
“See, that’s it right there,” Charlotte noted. “You need to get rid of your ego.”
“She made it perfectly clear that she doesn’t want me, Charlotte. What am I supposed to do?” Jason felt perplexed.
“Pack your stuff. I’ll find out what hotel she’s staying at and will even make your travel arrangements for you. Go get your wife.”
“But what if she doesn’t want me? I mean really doesn’t want me?” Jason looked at Charlotte with big puppy dog eyes.
“It’s a chance you have to take. You say you love her. Love is about taking chances.”
Jason thought about it. Charlotte was right. He did love Amber. He vowed at that moment to do anything he could to get Amber to trust and believe in his love for her. “Looks like I’ll be going to the Solomon Islands.”
* * * * *
Amber had travelled over six thousand miles away from Los Angeles, but yet the distance wasn’t enough to keep her mind off Jason like she thought it would. How could she, when friends and family emailed her pictures they’d taken at the reception?
She vowed to ignore them, but she looked at every picture she was sent. Jason and she looked so happy. If she hadn’t known any better, she would think they were actually in love. She knew at that time she hadn’t been acting. She’d truly felt happy, but now sadness filled her spirit.
No wonder her mom had told her it wasn’t polite to eavesdrop. It wasn’t like she’d been trying to. She’d only wanted to make sure it was Jason and Charlotte before she interrupted. Amber berated herself because she shouldn’t have expected more from Jason. He never pretended to be someone he wasn’t.
She was used to guys using her to get to her father, but this time she’d held out hope Jason wasn’t like the rest. That he wanted to be with her for the woman she’d become. Amber ha gotten caught up in the fairy tale.
She couldn’t help but remember how sincere he’d sounded when he said he loved her. There had been desperation in his voice, but she didn’t know if that desperation came from his true feelings for her or the mere fact her dad might discontinue his alliance with C & J Management when he found out Jason hurt her.
But in order for Jason to hurt her, she had to have feelings for him. She’d tried to keep her feelings under wraps, but there was no denying that she was in love with Jason.
If she admitted the truth to herself, she had fallen in love with Jason during their first meeting at C & J Management, long before the trip to Las Vegas.
There was something about him that placed a spark inside of her. Although her body ached for Jason’s touch, there was more between them than the sex. He understood her. He didn’t think she was weird, compared to some of the other guys she’d dated.
As a writer, she might not have done things the way a normal person would. She observed her surroundings and soaked in information, and she wasn’t always the one to do a lot of talking. Jason made her feel safe and secure to be herself. She didn’t have to put up any pretenses with him or be afraid he would judge her for her quirky ways.
She frowned because their conversations would be what she missed the most. Even when she called him about business, they always found a way to talk about something personal. She usually knew the answers to the questions she asked him, but used them as an excuse to hear his voice.
Amber looked out the window of her hotel room. She had a breathtaking view of the South Pacific Ocean. She’d been there only a week but had fallen in love with the island and the people. She had a bad track record as of late of falling in love too quickly, it seemed.
Chapter Thirty
Jason had no idea what he would say when he saw Amber, but he knew he had to see her. Although he was seated in first class, the leg room wasn’t as spacious as a domestic flight. He couldn’t wait to land after the nearly thirteen-hour flight, so he could stretch his legs.
“Welcome to Australia. From here, you will catch a connecting flight to the beautiful Solomon Islands,” the flight attendant said over the intercom as they neared.
The plane landed, and Jason, along with some of the other passengers, rushed to catch a smaller plane to their destination.
Jason shouldn’t have complained about his earlier plane, because these seats were even smaller. But he wouldn’t complain anymore. He would do whatever it took to get to Amber.
His attempts to reach Amber resulted in no responses. He wasn’t sure if she had cell phone access on the island. He would soon find out himself once they landed.
Jason closed his eyes and said a prayer. The smaller plane seemed to hit every bump in the sky. The turbulence had Jason’s nerves on edge. He didn’t relax until the plane landed at the international airport at Honiara.
Once there, he was greeted by English-speaking natives with British accents. This was Jason’s first time in the region. He’d discovered during research on the island that some people spoke Creole, another form of English, so he was glad that he could understand the people he’d come in contact with thus far.
The cab driver was friendly. He assisted Jason with his luggage and started talking to him as soon as Jason got in the back of his cab.
“You’re from Britain?” the cab driver asked as he pulled away from the curb.
“No, the US.”
“Oh, you’re American. I should know that by how you talk,” the cab driver said.
“Are you a native of the island?” Jason asked.
The driver smiled. “Yes, but not in the capital. My family mostly lives in the province of Rennell and Bellona.”
“This is a beautiful island,” Jason said as the driver drove through the busy and crowded streets.
Rules of Love Page 11