?ALL THE WRONG REASONS ?
?EPISODE TEN?
When Adrienne woke up the next day, her head rested
comfortably against Justin’s shoulder. She got home at
around two and he c@m£ to her ap@rtment thirty minutes
after, dressed in a white shi-t and a pair of Calvin Klein
pajamas.
He pretended to look pissed, but once she pu-ll-ed him to
be-d and k!$$£d him, he caved in. Then, they fell asleep.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Justin said. “You have a d@t£
in two hours.”
Her eyes wi-de-ned. “Two hours? Justin…it’s ten in the
morning! We’re going out in broad daylight?”
He raised a brow. “Yeah, why not?”
“You know we can’t! No one knows we’re seeing each
other. The minute we get ph0togra-phed together, someb©dy
could post about it on social media and it will definitely
reach Jill! And she alre-ady warned me…this is a friendsh!p
ender.”
Justin sighed. “So what’s your plan, Miss Miller? You
will never introduce me to them at all?”
“I haven’t even broken up with Troy yet!” She threw
her head back against her pillow.
Justin propped up on an elbow so he could look at her.
“Adrienne…no one has ever been ashamed of me before.”
She shook her head. “I’m not ashamed of you. God! If
circu-mtances were different… if I didn’t have a b©yfri£nd…
I would be proud to be seen with you.”
“Can I ask you something?” He looked gravely serious.
She nervously nodded.
“Do you even have plans of breaking up with Troy?”
She gazed at him and smiled slowly. “Of course.”
Justin stared at her for a moment, searching her eyes.
Then finally, he gave her a crooked smile. “Then that’s good
enough for now.” Then he leaned forward and k!$$£d her on
thel-ips thor0ûghly.
“Justin… now, can I ask you something?” Her heart
pounded in her che-st.
“Anything.”
“Why do you put up with this? I know you hated being
kept a secret. You can have a pick of any woman…”
She wasn’t able to finish that s£ntence because
Justin’sl-ips were on hers, cutting her off.
When he pu-ll-ed away from her, he gazed into her eyes
gently. Then he said, “Because the only woman I want,
Adrienne, is in this be-d with me.”
She smiled at him. She thought she would die right
then and there. He didn’t say he was in love with her too,
but that was close enough.
“Now, dress up. I’ll pick you up after an hour and
half,” Justin said, standing up from the be-d.
She raised a brow at him. “Justin…”
He silenced her with a k!ssagain. “Don’t you trust me,
honey?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Great. I’ll see you later.” He stood up from the be-d,
gr@bb£d his shi-t on the floor and wore it. Before he exited
her room, he turned back to her and grinned, “You’re a fox!”
After showering, she wore a pair of skinny jeans and a
sleeveless t©p. Her mobile phone rang. It was Justin.
“Hey.”
“You don’t look warm enough,” he said.
She turned around and saw him standing in his room,
looking at her throu-gh the glas-s window.
“I have a coat.”
“Still not good enough. Wear a sweater un-der your
coat.”
“It’s not even snowing outside and it’s almost noon!”
He grinned at her. “Didn’t you promise me last night
that I will be the one to name the terms?”
She laughed. “All right.”
“And wear a pair of boots, too, okay?”
“Okay, fine.” When she hung up, she scanned throu-gh
her closet and found a blue knitted sweater. Then she took a
black shawl and placed it around her n£¢k. She wore her
black knee-length boots.
She couldn’t help wondering about Justin’s plans. She
wanted to wear one of her hooded jackets so that if they
walk the streets, she could less£n the risk of recognition.
She figured he must be getting tired of hiding all the
time. The previous night, he didn’t hide the fact that he was
not happy to see another guy introducing himself to her. It
made her feel happy to know that he felt jealous and
unafraid to show it. But it also broke her to realize that she
couldn’t give him what he wanted. Until she faced Troy and
officially broke up with him. Until she comes up with a plan
on how to confess her situation to her friends, who she
couldn’t lose no matter what.
She took out her phone and decided to s£nd Troy a
message: We nee-d to talk. In person. When you have a day
off, let me know. I could come to see you.
She hoped that Troy was smart enough to s-en-se that
something was wrong.
Come on! Who are we kidding?
Justin acted more like a b©yfri£ndthan Troy ever had.
Troy must be dense if the thought this relationsh!pwas
going somewhere.
Her doorbell rang. She gr@bb£d her purse and opened
the door. Justin looked at her for a moment.
“I look okay?” she asked, uncertainty all over her
voice.
His eyes glittered and he pu-ll-ed her to him. “You look
more than okay. You’re a fox!”
She laughed and closed the door behind her.
“So what’s your plan, Mr. Adams? Just make sure I’m
in for a big surprise!” she tea-sed.
Justin laughed as they entered the elevator. “You have
no idea, honey!”
In Justin’s heavily tinted Ferrari, no one could see her
even in broad daylight. She still wondered where he would
take her. She still worried that someb©dy could recognize
him. Why did he have to be quite famous in this state? Why
did he have to be the City’s most wanted?
Adrienne realized that they reached the airport and
Justin used a pri-vate entrance.
“Where are we going?”
He just grinned at her.
Finally, he st©pped the engine in what seemed to be a
pri-vate parking lot.
He got out of the car and rounded it to open the door
for her. He took her hand in his. She noticed there were
people around, and a guy followed them, carrying a small
traveling bag with him.
Adrienne stared at Justin nervously.
“Justin…I’m getting really freaked out,” she
whispered.
He laughed. “Your problem has always been that you
didn’t want to be seen with me. You’re always scared that
someb©dy you know would run into us when we’re together
in New York. I, on the other hand, wanted to be free to go
around town with you in my arms. I want to drink coffee
with you in the local coffee shop, or watch movies with you,
go around shopping with you, and be free to hold you, hvg
you, k!ssyou, without you worrying that your friends would
kill you if they found out. I want to go on a whole day d@t£
with you…without you worrying about anything at all.”
Adrienne bit herl-ip. She felt happy, and guilty and
sorry all at the same time. She squee-zed Justin’s hand.
The door in front of them opened. Adrienne was
surprised to see the runway. She saw a pri-vate plane from a distance. She almost g@sped when she saw the markings on
the b©dy of the plane, “Adams Industries.”
She stared up at him. “Justin…”
He grinned at her. “I’m taking you somewhere no one
knows either of us. And both of our problems are solved.”
Her heart melted. If she wasn’t in love with him
alre-ady, then she would have fallen…right then and there.
The flight stewards greeted them warmly.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Adams.” To her, they said,
“Welcome aboard, Miss Miller.”
She was stunned that they knew their name. But then
again, they would have the flight manifesto beforehand.
Justin must have arranged this after she said yes to him.
The interior of the plane looked luxurious and clas-sy. It
had long leather couches, an eight-seater dining set, all in
rich combinations of gold and cream colors. She sat on the
sofa and Justin sat down beside her.
“Your plane?”
Justin shrugged. “My family’s.”
“So when you go back to Chicago, this is what you
use?”
“Yes. Are you hungry?”
She nodded.
“We’ll have lunch after take-off.”
“Where are we going, Justin?”
His eyes glittered. “Somewhere we’re sure no one
knows either of us.”
She rolled her eyes. “Where is that?”
“Alaska.”
Her jaw dropped. It took a while for her to recover. She
heard someb©dy asking them to fasten their seatbelts.
“Justin… it’s a couple of hours flight.”
“Seven.”
“When do you plan to get back?”
“Monday.”
“I work on Monday!”
“I’m sure you can take a day off.”
“What… what will I tell my friends?”
He leaned back on his seat. “Aren’t you a creative
writer for blus-h?”
She nodded.
“So do what you do best. Be creative!” He grinned.
She gro-an ed. She leaned back on her seat. She kept
silent all throu-ghout take off. Finally, the plane climbe-d high
in the air, and the pilot informed them that they can
unfasten their seatbelts.
Justin quic-kly got off his seat and went to her. He
un-buckled her belt, and to her surprise, lifted her off her
seat and brou-ght her to the sofa, so she could sit on his l@p.
“Are you mad?”
She pouted at him and then she pinched his side. He
laughed and hvgged her to him.
“Justin, I didn’t bring any clothes.”
“I know. I couldn’t tell you what to pack. Otherwise,
knowing you, we’d still be at your place right now arguing
about this trip. So I figured I’d just kidnap you.”
“So what am I going to do?”
“We’ll st©p by a mall as soon as we land there. You
can go shopping for your weekend nee-ds.”
“And wear those clothes without washing them? No
way!” She sounded so abhorred that Justin couldn’t help
laughing ha-rd .
“No, silly. We’re checking into a h0tel. You can s£nd
your new clothes for rush laundry. I’ll pay for the premium.
I’m sure they’ll get them to you in an hour or two.”
A flight attendant informed them that their lunch
awaited them. Adrienne pu-ll-ed away and stood up. She
reached her hand out and pu-ll-ed him up on his feet.
After lunch, Justin led her to another section of the
plane. Adrienne was surprised to see that it was actually a
small room. It had a double-sized be-d a small coffee table
and two one-seater chairs.
Justin opened the small door to his left. “Bathroom’s
here if you wanna freshen up.”
The bathroom was small, but oddly big enough,
considering they were travelling inside a plane. It had a
shower, a toilet and a sink. She found a new set of
toothbrushes by the sink. She brushed her teeth and
splashed water on her face.
As she stared at her reflection, she realized that she
had glitter in her eyes. Her blus-h seemed permanent and
she couldn’t st©p grinning.
Justin Adams sure knew how to make a girl swoon!
Her official b©yfri£ndmay be a troll and sure lacked a
ro-mantic bone, but her unofficial b©yfri£ndsure made up for
everything that was missing in her love (and S-x) life.
Justin just l@ylazily in be-d when she c@m£ out of the
bathroom. She re-moved her boots and used one of the new
sli-ppers she found un-der the be-d.
Justin stood up and k!$$£d herl-ips. Then he went to
the bathroom. Adrienne looked around the room. It was
small but the luxurious furniture was cleverly arranged to
make it look big enough. It was cozy and almost felt like
home. She noticed some pictures hanging on one of the
walls.
She looked at a family portrait of Justin and his
parents. His father had the same jet-black hair as him. His
mother appeared dark blonde. His mother seemed young,
and every bit sophisticated and beautiful. Justin’s father on
the other hand…looked exactly like him. Only about twenty
years older.
Suddenly, she felt Justin’s arms around her w@!st as he
nuzzled her n£¢k.
“You look like your Dad,” she said.
He rested his chin on her shoulder. “Everyb©dy says
that.”
Adrienne laughed. “Everyb©dy’s right. Your mother is
beautiful. Your parents look very young in this picture.”
“They are. They got married when my Dad was
twenty-five and my mother was twenty-three.”
“Whoa! That’s young. They must have been really in
love when they got married.”
Justin fell quiet for a little while. Then she heard him
take a de-ep breath as he pu-ll-ed her closer to him.
She turned around to face him. “Are you okay?” she
asked, noticing his quiet reaction.
He nodded. “Aren’t you tired?” he asked. “We’ve got
five and a half hours left. You might want to sleep first.”
“I could use a nap.” She pu-ll-ed him towards the be-d.
“Come, lie down with me.”
They quietly l@yin be-d. Adrienne wondered why Justin’s
mood changed when she mentioned his family and how in
love his parents were when they got married. She wondered
why that seemed to bother him.
She looked up and found him staring at the ceiling,
lost in his thoughts.
“Justin,” she called. “Did I say something wrong?”
He looked down at her and shook his head. “I’m sorry.
I just remembered something my parents…asked me to do.”
He looked at her de-eply.
“What? Some sort of errand?” she asked brightly,
hoping to change his mood.
“More like some sort of obligation,” he sighed.
“And you haven’t done it yet?” she asked, propping up
on her elbow so she could stare at him.
He pushed back a lock of hair away from her face. “I…
forgot about it.”
“So? Can’t you go back and do it then?”
He shook his head. “No. I can’t go back now.”
Adrienne drew her brows together. Justin didn’t seem
like he wanted to elaborate on the subject. And she knew
better than to pressure him to tell her about his family
affairs.
“I’m sure it’s not yet too late. You can still tell them
you’d get to it as soon as you can.”
He shook his head. “It’s too late,” he whispered.
“Why?”
Justin drew a heavy breath. “Because I don’t wanna do
it anymore.”
She was about to ask more but he pu-ll-ed her n£¢k and
closed the distance between them. Hisl-ips found hers and
he k!$$£d her pas-sionately, as if he was pouring out his soul
in that k!ss.
Tbc