Some Enchanted Evening 6

"Yes, I’ll be there at 7pm. Pick me up at home. I’m actually out of town right now." Jade answered hurriedly, her phone in between her cheek and shoulder.

"What do you mean? Where are you?" the male voice at the other end asked. "Well... I’m researching for a new storyline…" she answered in a small voice.

"A new storyline, huh? Well, tell me all about it when you get back, okay?" he said. "Yup, sure. I miss you…" I said longingly.

"What was that again? Sorry, they’re holding a party here in the office for Micah’s wedding. You should really be here." He laughed while obviously trying to juggle his phone and his coworker’s jeering comments.

"Oh, nothing. Okay, I’ll see you at 7pm tonight. Bye, enjoy yourself," I answered in disappointment. "Okay, see you at 7!" he said and hung up the phone.

I stared at my phone for a few seconds. Benedict and I had been "dating" for the past 2 months. Our relationship was purely a hoax of course. She knew that this would soon end. She knew that in 3 weeks time she would have to wake up to the real world.

She knew that no matter how much time they spent together. No matter how many gifts he’s sent her. No matter how close they were and how much they knew about each other, it was all just a figment of her imagination.

You see dear reader, for the whole time that they’ve been together; it was only too obvious that they were in love with different people.

She was in love with him from the beginning. That’s why she wanted her father to pay for this relationship. And he… well, she was sure he was still in love with the woman from his past.

So there was nothing she could do but stare at him from a distance. No matter how close they would be, she couldn’t let her heart get broken every day staring at someone who couldn’t stare back.

She developed ways for the past few months to ignore the future and all her dreads. She would go out everyday, looking for adventure. She listed down all of the things that she would never get to do again in a month’s time.

In the first week, she decided it was time to start the novel she’d always wanted to write. So she would go her favorite place in the library and cuddle up with her laptop early in the morning. She finished 6 chapters since she started.

In the second week, she decided to just go out of town and forget about everything. This was the start of all the trips she would be having for the next few weeks.

She travelled to a small town near a lake where they used to go when she was growing up. She had always wanted to go there without thinking of having to go back home. She spent her time swimming in the water from dawn to sunset, getting her feet all wrinkled up.

In the third week, she worked a little bit harder to do something she hadn’t experienced before. She decided it was finally time to learn wakeboarding. It had been a dream of hers since she was 6 and she’d watch her sister’s older boyfriends show off on the weekends.

And that’s how she got through 2 months of trying to live a lie. She knew that if she didn’t get away at least once a week, she would be too guilty to continue with this whole charade with Benedict, and it would be too late to back out from their deal.

It had been hard on Benedict too. He instantly had to change his schedule just to be with her everyday. With her constant badgering and sometimes childish tantrums, she knew she could be a lot to handle at times. She couldn’t believe that he’d stuck with this deal for so long.

So she took a deep breath and proceeded on her way. It had been 2 hours since she started hiking. Her face was blotchy and her muscles were weak. Yet she knew this was something she needed to do. It was on her list.

Twenty minutes later, she finally reached the top of the hill. She almost fell over when she accidentally stepped on some twine, but she just managed to fall flat on her back. She stayed in that position for a few seconds before realizing it was almost sunset.

She got a small knife from her backpack and saw the tree she had been looking at since she reached the foot of the hill. It was small and it had a robust number of leaves left as a symbol of the summer. She proceeded with what she was about to do, making sure that she wouldn’t leave a nasty bruise on her hands.

After 10 minutes, she stood up and admired her work. She packed up her things and got ready for the long hike downhill.

That evening, she looked at herself in the mirror before smiling a satisfied smile on her appearance. As she stepped into the living room, she could hear her parents’ voices and Benedict in a solid discussion about work and probably politics.

"Well, Jade seems to be ready. We’d better get going Mr. & Mrs. Larson. Or else we’ll be late for the play." Benedict said with a smile, reaching out for my hand.

I stared at his outstretched arm and carefully placed my hand on his palm. "Bye mom. Bye dad." I said before letting him guide me out of the door.

He drove us to the Theater where a musical version of "Midsummer Night’s Dream" was shown. The lobby was already packed with people and we almost couldn’t move towards the entrance without stepping on someone’s foot. It became a laughing matter to find out how many times we would say "I’m sorry" to a stranger.

Finally we reached the entrance where a man was making sure that all our phones were turned off. Suddenly, my phone rang and I quickly got it out of my bag before I managed to embarrass myself with everyone looking sternly at me.

"Yes, yes, this is Jade. Who is this?" I asked while trying to cover my other ear to hear the caller properly. "Jade, it’s me…" the voice was choppy. "Please make your voice louder." I said trying to understand what the caller was saying. "Jade, it’s Meg." The voice said from the other end of the line.

"Meg! It’s you! Oh, I miss you so much. What’s up?" I asked excitedly. The last time my sister and her family visited was last Christmas and it was only for two days.

"Well, Raoul is going to London this week in business. And his parents were missing the kids so much that I had to let them babysit for a while. Since I’ve got nothing to do here, I was thinking of going home for the week. Do you think that would be okay?" She asked excitedly.

I turned around to see Benedict sitting on a couch waiting for me to finish the call. This was going to be the hardest week I had to deal with since I started this relationship.

"Sure thing, sis. Mom and dad would be so excited to find out your coming home. Can’t wait to see you." I tried to sound as excited as she was. "Great! I’ll see you on Saturday. Bye!" She said.

I turned around and walked silently towards Benedict who had no idea who the caller was. "What was that all about?" he asked curiously. "Umm, that was Meg… "I said testing how he would react. The change on his expression was abrupt, but it quickly disappeared. His eyes were the only things telling me how he really felt.

"She said she’s coming home this week. And she’s staying with us. I hope its okay with you…" I said, uncertainly. "Well, it would be a delight to see Meg again." He answered.

And it took all my strength to smile and not tell him how much I loved him.

__________________________________________________
I'd like to say sorry to those who have been waiting for the 6th part of my story. I have been trying to find inspiration to write it, and I guess all I need is a little push. Please tell me what you think. It's almost finished so tell me how you want it to end. Thanks!