by Jerilee Kaye
Jill: I guess something’s got to give sometimes. But don’t worry. After your coming out to society thingy, I’m sure hundreds of eligible bachelors would be pining for your hand. Hang on, okay?
Adrienne: I love you guys. Now, I have to go.
She didn’t really have to go. But she wanted some time to herself. She went to bed and hugged her pillows. She closed her eyes and didn’t suppress the tears that came.
In a way, she was asking herself why she let him go. But then again, if she didn’t, and later he met his fiancée, who may be his real destiny, then she would have to give him up eventually.
So maybe…just maybe…it’s better this way.
***
Friday night the whole banquet in Starck Hotel Paris was in full swing. Everything was perfect. The ballroom glimmered in its full soiree decorations.
Adrienne stood on the mezzanine floor of the ballroom and looked on as the guests came pouring in. Her mother asked her not to come down and meet the guests just yet. She said she wanted her to wait at the gazebo on the second-floor garden and they will come and get her.
No announcements, huh!
But her heart had been so numb over the bad news she heard about Justin that she couldn’t care about anything else anymore.
Everybody was wearing lavish clothes and Adrienne couldn’t help feeling mortified as she looked at the people below her. And an hour from now, they would all meet her…put her under the microscope to see if she’s worthy to be one of them.
Well, she knew she dressed the part well at least. She was wearing the white Versace gown that has a crossover-keyhole neckline and back with asymmetrical straps. The floor length skirt flowed over her perfect curves, and the slit on the thigh reveals a little glimpse of her long legs under the gown. Her hair was braided behind her and left little tendrils around her face. Her makeup was nude over her cheek and smoky on the area of her eyes, making her look like angelic and tough at the same time.
“You look lovely, my dear,” her mother said to her. “Justin will not be able to take his eyes off you.”
Adrienne took a deep breath. “Mom…” she started. “I hate him.” There! She finally said it. No need to pretend otherwise.
Her mother blinked back at her. “What? I thought you two were hitting it off.”
She shook her head. “We didn’t get along from day one, Mom. And besides, I told you I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. I was just looking to befriend your friends.”
“Sweetheart,” her mother began. “Okay…I know how we can fix this.”
“Mom, there’s nothing to fix,” Adrienne argued.
Tears welled up in her mother’s eyes. “No, sweetheart. You don’t understand. I haven’t been completely honest with you.” She took a deep breath. “Well…I wasn’t just setting you up with Justin. I was hoping you would really fall for him…enough to get… married one day.”
Adrienne’s eyes widened. “What?”
Her mother sighed. “I know. It’s terrible. I couldn’t tell you. I made that arrangement a long time ago. When you were a baby and I just got back from Paris. My father…made me promise to return you to this family and form a strong bond with Christine’s family. She was my oldest friend. Our families were always keen on becoming related to one another someday. She had a boy. I had a girl.
“Our fathers were like brothers. Your grandfather invested in Christine’s father’s business venture, which gave them a lot of fortune. They were keen to merge this family not just because of money…but also because of gratitude and friendship. So, we sort of…arranged for you to marry Christine’s son.” Her mother squeezed her hands.
“Mom!” Adrienne couldn’t help the feelings that overwhelmed her. “How could you have agreed to that arrangement when all these years I was missing?”
“I know, sweetheart. It’s wrong. But all these years, I never told anybody outside of this family that you were really missing… stolen by your father. We wanted to keep this a secret because… we didn’t want anybody to take advantage of the situation or sensationalize it and drive your father further into hiding.
“We silently searched for you. Even Christine didn’t know. I always just told her that you were in the States with your Dad. And I actually forgot about the arrangement until Christine reminded me about it a couple of weeks back. They said that Justin seemed to be ready to get into a serious relationship. Maybe it’s time to introduce you to each other.
“Christine lived in the States. I didn’t see her often. It was easy to make an excuse to everybody, including her, why you were not with us. To be honest with you…I had forgotten about the agreement. My focus had always been about finding you. When Christine sent me a message, reminding me about it…and to start introducing you and Justin…I meant to tell her the truth. But Jin… Jin called me and told me that he had a lead on you. So…I held it off for a while.”
Adrienne couldn’t believe her ears. How could this happen to her? She was a casualty of an arranged marriage herself. Now she found herself a subject of one. And to a hopeless ass-wipe!
“Mom, please…I can’t even stand Christine’s son.” she protested.
“Okay…I’m sorry. I know…there’s absolutely no reason that would justify what I did. I promise you, I have no plans of forcing it. Your grandfather forced me to Pierre, employed all means to ensure I married him. But I didn’t regret it because he was a lovely man. And I fell in love with him after a few dates. So, I was hoping after spending some time with Justin, you two would hit it off and you won’t find this terrible anymore. And if you really couldn’t stand it…I had no intention of forcing it.”
“He’s terrible, Mom!” Adrienne argued. “Mama, my ex-boyfriend is going to marry the girl who was arranged for him. That’s why we broke up. Until now, I was still heartbroken about it. I promised to wait for him as long as I could. Or until I know for sure that he’s already accepted his fate. Please do not do this to me. I beg you.” She was almost teary when she said those words to her mother.
Her mother looked at her ruefully. She cupped her hands around her face. Then she nodded.
“Okay.” she said. “I love you. I will break the arrangement with Christine. It will break her heart and she may not talk to me in a few months, maybe years, but she will get over it. My father is long gone, he couldn’t do anything about it. He seemed so keen about planning the future of this family. I messed up your life because of him.”
Her mother took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, Adrienne. I shouldn’t have left you with your father. I should have been brave enough to face my father…instead of leaving you to your Dad. I did this to you. And I will not mess up your life even more by forcing you to marry some guy you do not want. After all these years, the one thing that I realized is that your happiness is more important to me than anything else.” Her mother smiled at her apologetically. “I realized this when I got you back. I know the pain I went through when I lost you. And I am not going to lose you again. So if you say you won’t marry Christine’s son, then so be it.”
She smiled at her mother. “Thank you, Mom.”
“But maybe it’s too late to back out on making Justin your escort for tonight. But after this soiree, I swear to you, you won’t have to see him again.”
Adrienne was still disappointed she had to spend some time with N-1-9-8-9. But if it’s an assurance that he would disappear from her life forever, then one night won’t be that bad.
“Okay, Mom, I guess I can live with that. Besides, Jin can just rescue me anytime I feel the urge to vomit.”
Her mother smiled. “Okay, now go to the garden. Justin will fetch you when it’s time.”
The second floor of the hotel led to a small garden. There was a small gazebo and a wishing fountain in the center. It was filled with lights and the trees had lighted LEDs to look as if fireflies infested them. The garden was indeed magical especially at nighttime.
She stood inside the gazebo and enjoyed the spectacular view
in front of her. In the sky, there was a lovers’ moon and she couldn’t help the tears that peered in her eyes.
She missed Justin. She felt like he was just right there. Every single day. Every single hour. When she walked, she felt like he was walking beside her. When she slept at night, she imagined being locked in his arms.
She wished that love was enough. She wished that life was not complicated. She wished that the world wasn’t crazy and her life didn’t come with complexities and obstacles. She wished everything was just…easy.
She couldn’t believe what her mother just told her. She couldn’t believe she agreed to marry her off to some guy she didn’t know, and hadn’t met before.
And Justin the Neanderthal? The hairs on her arms actually started to rise in disgust.
But she was thankful that she didn’t have to try so hard to convince her mother to let her go…unlike her Justin, who was forced to embrace his own destiny. How she wished that Justin’s fight had been easy, and that he had succeeded in fighting for her.
She stared at the moon again, then she closed her eyes and thought about Justin Adams…her Justin.
I wish you all the happiness in the world. I wish you all the smiles, laughter and love that you deserve. I wish…that finally… all your prayers will be answered…that the miracles you hoped for would be given to you.
She wished those things with all her heart. It killed her a little each day when she thought about not seeing him again, not feeling the warmth of his skin against hers, not hear him say he loved her…not see the wicked, mischievous look on his face whenever he said his usual line to her…words she wished she could hear him say again…if only for the last time.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. She gently wiped them with her fingers. Her escort would come soon and she didn’t want to be caught crying. Not by him. Not by the insensitive, stupid jerk who was probably heaven’s curse to all women.
Suddenly, she felt like she was no longer alone. She felt that somebody was standing behind her. And she realized in horror that Justin the Neanderthal had already come for her, finding her in a private moment, seeing the tears she didn’t want to show anybody else.
She realized, too, that he stood close to her… too close he was almost touching her.
But before Adrienne could turn around to face him, she felt his breath against her ear. And then in a soothing voice, he whispered, “You’re a fox.”
34. Sufletul pereche
Romanian for Soul Mate
Adrienne quickly spun around and found herself staring at a pair of crystal blue eyes. She blinked back at him, all the muscles and bones in her body froze, including her voice.
He looked as handsome as ever, dressed in a black tux. His hair was still a little disheveled but it only added to the charm of his devilishly handsome face. His eyes though, weren’t dancing, like they used to. They had a shadow of circles under them, as if he hadn’t been sleeping properly in days.
Adrienne realized that she hadn’t been breathing in a long time. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking for sure that he would disappear once she opened her eyes. But when she did, he was still there, looking back at her curiously.
“Justin…” she whispered.
He didn’t speak. He looked as dumbfounded as she was. Then he took a deep breath and instead of uttering a word, he reached to pull her waist and in a second, he crushed her to his arms and his lips devoured hers into one hungry kiss.
Adrienne didn’t think. Her arms wound around his neck and she kissed him with the same intensity as he was kissing her. She poured all her love in that kiss. She knew that she promised to let him go, but right now, she felt that after suffering for weeks, and yearning to feel his existence again, she deserved this moment of insanity…this stolen piece of heaven.
When the kiss ended, they were both breathless. She was sure her dress was slightly crumpled, her hair probably disheveled and her makeup could be ruined, but she didn’t care. Right now, all that mattered was this moment, and this man in front of her.
He leaned his forehead against hers. “Honey….” he whispered in a hoarse voice.
“Justin…what are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” he asked. “I thought you were in New York.”
She pulled away from him, to look into his eyes. “Justin…” she started. She didn’t even know where to begin telling him what happened to her while they were apart. “Something…big happened to me. I found out that my mom wasn’t really my mom. She’s my stepmom. And now…I found my real Mom. She lived here in Paris all throughout these years. I’ve been living with my new family for two weeks. I have a stepdad and a brother. Kim is not my sister, Justin!”
She knew they didn’t have a lot of time to talk. Justin the Neanderthal just might walk in on them any minute now, and once Justin met him and he opened his mouth, she was ninety-nine percent sure the Neanderthal would get the beating he deserved for the way he’d been treating her since he met her.
Justin looked at her with a confused expression on his face, absorbing everything that she just said, trying to make sense of what little information she could provide him.
“Justin…are you okay?” she asked.
He blinked back to reality and looked at her with narrowed eyes.
“Honey…” she said.
“Adrienne…” He took a deep breath. “Your mother...your real mother…” he said. “What’s her name?”
“Ariana,” Adrienne replied. “Ariana Blanc-Starck.”
Justin released her and took a step back from her. Adrienne suddenly felt cold once the warmth of Justin’s body left hers. He continued looking at her with that dazed expression on his face, which made her curious and nervous at the same time.
“Justin…” she whispered. “Could you please say something? You’re scaring me.”
Justin closed his eyes for a moment. He took a deep breath. And then when he looked at her again, his eyes were suddenly teary.
“Honey…why are you crying?” she asked.
He shook his head. And then suddenly, he smiled. Then he chuckled. And then he just laughed. Adrienne stared at him as if he just completely lost his mind.
Justin wounded his arms around her waist, lifted her off her feet and spun her around while he laughed his heart out. He laughed as if he hadn’t been doing that for weeks.
“Justin, what’s going on?” Adrienne asked.
He settled her back on her feet. He shook his head. “Nothing, honey,” he said. “I think…I’ve just been given the miracle I was asking for.” And then his face descended towards hers and he gave her another head-spinning, sanity-disturbing kiss.
“Justin…” Adrienne whispered after the kiss. “I know we have a lot to talk about. But you should go. I should be going down to the party. My escort will come any minute to get me. And it’s not advisable for you to actually meet him.”
He raised a brow at her. “Why not?”
She sighed. “Because I don’t want to you to go to jail for assault or…worse, murder.”
Adrienne didn’t expect it, but Justin actually laughed again. “He’s that bad, huh? Damn! He’s good,” he said under his breath.
Adrienne blinked back at him. “What did you say?”
Justin shook his head again. Instead he asked, “Did your mother tell you that you’re arranged to be married to this guy?”
Adrienne nodded. “Was. She’s going to call it off.”
Justin stared at her with a sober expression on his face. “And what if your fiancé doesn’t allow her to call off the engagement?”
“He doesn’t have a choice. And besides, he hates me as much as I hate him.”
Justin shook his head. “He doesn’t hate you, honey. In fact… he is head over heels in love with you, he wants to marry you right now.” Adrienne stared back at him, her eyes widened. Then Justin added, “I don’t think your fiancé will come any minute and interrupt our moment, Adrienne.”
“Why
?” She asked in almost a whisper, her knees getting weaker by the second.
“Because…he’s already here.” Justin replied in a soft voice, his face full of affection as he said those words.
“Justin…” Tears welled up in Adrienne’s eyes. “How…”
He smiled at her ruefully. “The guy you met…isn’t your real fiancé, Adrienne,” he said. “I am.”
“You? Your mother is…”
“Christine Adams,” Justin supplied for her.
“You’re my mother’s best friend’s son? But how? I met a guy, his name is Justin, too. And he’s the most despicable creature to ever walk the face of the Earth.”
Justin smiled at her. “Yes. Because I paid him to act that way.”
“What?”
“I didn’t want to go through with this engagement. There was no way in hell I would marry the girl my parents chose for me. I already knew who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
“My father asked me to meet this girl and make her fall in love with me. I didn’t want to. So I asked somebody else to pose as me and… make sure she would hate him so she would back out of this engagement herself. Once I was sure she hated the idea of marrying me, I could meet her as myself and give her an even worse time than what the other Justin did.”
“You paid somebody to pose as you? Didn’t you realize that somebody might realize that he’s an impostor?” Adrienne couldn’t believe what Justin did.
“I counted on that, too,” he replied. “I hoped her parents found out what I did and think the worst things about me, and never trust the fate of their priceless daughter in my hands. After all… what kind of a lunatic treats a girl that way?”
“Justin! That guy was a whack job!”
“He’s not. He just happens to be a very good actor,” he said.
“Meeting that guy was like eating my own vomit! It felt absolutely disgusting! And you did that to me?” Adrienne asked, almost in a daze.
“I’m sorry, honey. I had no idea it was you! I hadn’t met my fiancée. I didn’t have a picture of her. I wasn’t interested. All I knew was her mother’s name and which family she belonged to. How was I supposed to know you have this whole family mystery that may make you end up as my designated fiancée?”