All the wrong reasons Episode 13

🌸ALL THE WRONG REASONS🌸
🌹 EPISODE THIRTEEN 🌹

Over the week, Adrienne finalized the contract with
ABW. True to his word, Jin s£nt the signed contract to her
within one hour of her s£nding it to him.
Jada sounded plea-sed. She was even surprised that
Adrienne managed to get the contract without a discount.
“I just offered a page feature, that’s all.”
“Wow! You must be charming!” Jada said. Adrienne
didn’t know whether she meant it or she was just being
sarcastic.
She told the news to Jill as well.
“What did he look like?” Jill asked. “I re-ad in a blog
that the heir of Starck h0teliers is an absolute stunner!”
Adrienne narrowed her eyes at her best friend. “What
blog is this?”
Jill bit her l!pand shyly admitted, “The one that…blogs
about steaming h0t bachelors with…bright futures ahead of
them.”
Adrienne raised a brow. “You mean with hvge bank
accounts and unlimited credit card limits?”
Jill giggled. “It isn’t bad to dream about one of those
kinds once in a while, you know.”
She raised a brow at Jill. “Is Justin Adams on that list?”
Jill grinned. “t©pnotcher!” She went over to her desk
and typed something on her keyboard. Then Jill g@sped.
After a while, a n@ûghty grin spre-ad across her face. “Well,
hello, competition!”
Jill turned her monitor towards Adrienne and she saw
a picture of Jin Starck staring back at her. He had a boyish smile on his face and his eyes were a bluer shade of green.
“You have his number?” Jill asked.
She frowned at her friend. “Confidentiality agreements
in my contract preclude me from giving you any of our
clients’ contact numbers, Jill. No matter how much you beg
me, you won’t get it.”
Jill pouted. “You’re such a bore!”
Just then, her eyes drifted to something behind
Adrienne and she fell quiet. Adrienne turned and saw Justin
walking in the halls. He looked in their direction, and his
mouth slightly curved.
Jill g@sped. “Did he just smile at me?”
Adrienne turned to her friend guiltily. She shrugged.
“One of these days, I am totally going to start a
conversation with him! I may not get to have him, but it’s
good enough just to talk to him. Even just a little chit-chat.
Do you think that will work?”
Adrienne shrugged and turned away from her. Guilt
ate her insides and slowly bore a hole throu-gh her.
She walked back to her office. She thought she’d give
Troy a call. He didn’t answer her last text message. She
really nee-ded to talk to him. And fast! The sooner she
breaks up with him, the sooner she can get her mind
straight about admitting to her friends what she’s been up
to these last few months!
She hated lying to Jill and Yuan, especially with
something big about her life. And this is not just big. She:
Losing her vir-ginity to the City’s so-called rakehell on a one-
night stand and then later falling in love with him! This is
bigger than big!
She didn’t know if they could forgive her if they found
out. Hell! They wouldn’t even forgive her if they found out
that he lived across her ap@rtment and she didn’t tell them.
When she tried Troy’s number, she only got a
voicemail. He must be out of coverage or his phone may be
off.
She went to see Garry for the layout of the article she
wrote. She was surprised to see Justin there.
She didn’t greet him. She pretended that she didn’t
notice he was there at all. She told Garry everything she
nee-ded for him to do. She tried to muster all her confidence.
She felt so nervous and excited at Justin’s pres£nce. He sat
on a couch, wearing those pitch black shades of his, but she
had no doubt that he was staring at her.
Her knees shook a little when she turned on her heel
and left the room. She saw Jill and some of the girls chatting
in the corridor. She st©pped by to join them. After a few
minutes, Justin pas-sed by them. They all fell silent. When
she looked up, he had an eyebrow up and he gazed in their
direction.
When he was gone, the girls sighed.
“My God! He looked at us!” Meena, the girl from
Circulation, said.
“He is just bloody h0t!” another girl said.
“He doesn’t even have to be the heir of Adams
Industries. I’d take him any day even if he was poor!”
Adrienne smiled when she went back to her office.
The other girls were drooling over him when she knew his
eyes were on her. Sometimes, she still thought she’d just
been dreaming. And she just hasn’t woken up yet.
After fifteen minutes, she received a text message
from him.
Justin: You’re a fox! Let’s go out tonight? Let’s break
this rule of yours a little and go somewhere. I promise,
minimum risk of being named.
Adrienne heaved a frustrated sigh. Justin said that he
can wait, but she knows that his patience just may run out
one of these days. And she also bec@m£ aware that no
matter how ha-rd they tried to hide, one of these days, Jill
and Yuan just might run into them in the streets, or in her
ap@rtment and she would be in de-ep $h!t, big time!
That evening, she got re-ady for her d@t£ with Justin.
She wore a pair of white skin-ti-ght p@n-ts, and cropped black
sleeveless t©p. She tied her hair in a pony, and she put on
light makeup.
She smiled at her reflection. Each day that pas-sed by,
she saw more in herself what Justin has been saying to her
at least once a day. She’s a fox. She felt more confident.
She grew up always being overshadowed by a prettier
and smarter older sister. But she didn’t care about that
anymore. She had started to appreciate herself and how
amazing she could be, once she let go of her inhibitions.
The doorbell rang.
He c@m£ early. Fifteen minutes. Normally, he’s exactly
on time, which she loved, because he doesn’t pressure her
to hurry up and he’s not ma-king her wait either.
She got her tiny purse and headed for the door.
When she opened it, she was shocked to see Troy and
Kimberly standing in front of her.
“$h!t!” she muttered.
“What’s that, sweetie?” Troy asked.
She stared at him. She remembered that he didn’t
curse at all. “I said ‘$h!t! Holy $h!t!’”
An eyebrow sh0t up. He was about to say something,
when Kimberly cut in. “Expecting someb©dy else?”
God! Was she right!
“No. I just didn’t expect to see you,” she said. “Come
in. I was just on my way out. I was supposed to dine in this
place I will feature in our next issue.”
They went inside her ap@rtment. Immediately, they
looked around, as if examining it for safety violations.
“Nice place,” Kimberly said and Adrienne almost
cl@pped at the fact that she threw a compliment her way.
Kimberly lost weight. She was wearing a Sk-irt that
goes all the way to her knees and a long-sleeved blouse.
Her blond hair looked blonder. Adrienne had to admit that she looked prettier than the last time they saw each other.
But still, so prim, so proper. So angelic.
“What are you wearing?” Troy asked staring at her
from head to feet.
“Yes, I’m fine too, Troy. It’s so nice to see you!” She
smiled sarcastically. “Yes, you can sit down for a moment
and I will go get something to drink.” She motioned for them
to sit on the sofa.
She took de-ep breaths as she took out two cans of
Pepsi from her fridge.
“Bad news, Kimmy. I don’t have diet,” she said.
“You never nee-ded to diet,” Troy said.
Good! He can say something nice to me for once.
“It’s okay. I never nee-ded diet, either,” Kimberly said.
“Sorry, to drop in without warning. You were heading out to
do that…” she trailed off. “That work you do.”
Adrienne nodded. “I will write a feature for this place
on Sixth Avenue.”
“Exciting job!” Kimberly beamed too enthusiastically.
But she knew her better. Kimberly never had much affection
for her. She always tried to put her down to lift herself up.
And Adrienne got so accustomed to it. There was no use in
trying. No use in fighting.
“What about you guys, what are you doing here? This
is so unexpected.”
“Well, we have a medical conference here for a week.
We decided to surprise you,” Troy said.
And I was shocked!
“So thoughtful of you!” she said instead, smiling. She
caught a glimpse of the time on her wall clock. Exactly
eight. Justin has synchronized his watch with hers, which
she thought was quite sweet, but that’s not the point here.
She knew that he would knock at her door any second.
“$h!t!” she murmured.
Troy stared at her, raising a brow again.
She smiled. “Let me just go to the lobby to check
whether my boss left me the pas-ses I was supposed to get
tonight. Be back in a sec.”
She dashed for the door, not giving them a chance to
argue, praying that Troy would not follow her.
When she opened the door, Justin was just about to
ring her doorbell. She pushed him gently and closed the
door behind her.
“quic-k! Inside your ap@rtment,” she hissed.
He quic-kly fished his keys without asking and then
they went inside.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She screamed in frustration. “Kimberly! And Troy! In
my ap@rtment!”
Justin didn’t say anything.
“My God! What did I do today to deserve this ordeal?”
she asked desperately.
“Troy… the current and official b©yfri£nd?” Justin
asked quietly.
“Troy, the ghost of a b©yfri£nd, and Kimberly, the
ghost of a sister, yes!”
Justin took a de-ep breath. Then he said, “All right. Go
out there. I’ll just call some of my friends tonight then.”
She stared at him. She couldn’t make out any
expression on his face.
“I don’t want to go out there, Justin. I really don’t.”
“She’s your sister. You can’t do anything about that.
The b©yfri£nd… you could ditch anytime…actually, should
have ditched a long time ago…but still, for now, you have to
go throu-gh with this.” He oddly tried to encourage her.
“Are you sure it’s okay with you?” she asked.
He smiled. “Positive. If you can’t endure it, give me a
call. I’ll think of something.”
She smiled and reached up to k!sshim on thel-ips. “I’d
probably do that, just to see what you could come up with.”
He laughed.
She headed for the door. “You look great, by the way,”
he told her.
She looked down at herself. “It’s a waste now, isn’t it?
I didn’t dress up for them.”
He went closer to her and pu-ll-ed her w@!st. “Just make
sure you mean that.”
“Mean what?” she asked.
“You dressed up for me. Not for him,” He smiled
sheepishly.
She giggled. “I mean it. I was supposed to go out with
you, remember? If I were meeting him, I would have worn a
pair of trou-sers, long-sleeved, ruffled blouse, and a pair of
eyeglas-ses.”
He k!$$£d her again before she went out of his
ap@rtment. She took some time, took de-ep breaths and then
opened her front door.
Troy and Kim still sat on the sofa.
My God! They were like the king and queen of good
conduct and behavior!
She found them right where she left them.
She remembered that many times in her life she
actually felt intimid@t£d by Kim because of Troy. Because
she thought that the only way that she could keep Troy is to
be like Kim.
But now she couldn’t say for sure why she wasted
three years of her life, trying to be something and someone
she wasn’t. When she could have been herself all along.
Free-spirited. Fun. And according to Justin, foxy!
“Want to go have dinner instead, guys?” she asked
them.
“What happened to the work you nee-d to do?” Troy
asked.
“My boss couldn’t get me the pas-ses. I called her up
and told her that I could do that tomorrow.”
Kim just smiled.
“But you have to change your outfit, sweetheart,” Troy
said. “You can’t go out in that!”
She looked down at herself and raised a brow at him.
“Oh jeez, Troy! Grow up!” Kim said. “It doesn’t show
much flesh! Come on, I’m starving.”
Troy didn’t argue. Like he regarded Kimberly as his
teacher. Ma’am, yes, ma’am.
They all went to Casa Mexicana.
Troy and Kimberly talked about their convention and
their escapades at med school. It seemed that they have
been members of the same clubs and they belonged to the
same crowd. Adrienne sat there wondering how many hours
a day Kim and Troy spent with each other.
That thought should have eaten her alive, left her
reeling with jealousy. But since Justin c@m£ into her life, she
felt happy about herself. And she no longer felt that tinge of
insecurity. That awful feeling inside her that she couldn’t
keep Troy because she wasn’t good enough had totally
disappeared.
When their orders c@m£ and when their drinks got
refilled, Adrienne noticed that the waiter kept looking at her.
She felt self-conscious. Like she felt there was something
wrong with her face.
“Excuse me. What’s your problem?” Troy asked the
waiter. He also noticed the number of times he stared at
Adrienne.
“Troy, plea-se,” Adrienne pleaded. She didn’t want to
cause a scene.
“I’m sorry,” the waiter said.
“No. Tell me. Why were you staring at my girl?” Troy
asked…a little too aggressively this time.
The waiter looked apologetic. “Sorry, sir. I just thought
you’re a lucky guy. Your girlfriend is very beautiful.”
Trying to avoid a scene, Adrienne smiled at the waiter.
“Thanks, sweetie. Now, could you get me my margarita?”
He nodded. “I’m sorry. Right away, madam.”
Adrienne turned to Kim and Troy. “So, back to the pep
squads you do at med school.”
Luckily, Troy decided to let it go. Kimberly engaged
them again in a t©pic about a √vl√ar cancer and Adrienne
just plainly lost her appetite. She fiddled with her fork and
wondered when she would get Troy alone to finally break up
with him.
It has to be tonight! So tomorrow…
She smiled. Tomorrow, she can tell Justin that they no
longer nee-ded to hide. He might nee-d him to come with her
when she tells Jill and Yuan about them. She couldn’t forget
the last time when they laughed in her face when she
attem-pted to come clean about Justin.
Her phone beeped and she was thankful.
Justin: How are you holding up?
Her: I’m still surviving. But God! I miss you!
Justin: I’m at the Oxygen, with Mike and James. We’re
waiting for my cousin, Gian’s twin, Ian. Vacation from
college.
Her: At least your night sounds more fun.
Justin: I’m not with you, where is the fun in that?
She smiled and she was certain she started blu-shing.
“Everything okay, sweetheart?” Troy asked her.
She nodded. “It’s just Jill. Another one of her
escapades.”
Troy raised a brow. She thought he didn’t believe her.
She just smiled at him nonchalantly.
She figured, tonight when they drop her off at her
building, she would talk to Troy alone. It will be quic-k and
easy.
But when they got out of the restaurant, Troy said he
would get a cab for them and he would go back to their
h0tel alone. Adrienne looked at them in confusion.
“I’m staying with you tonight, Adrienne.” Kimberly
stated suddenly.
“What?”
Kimberly shrugged. “Dad suggested I spend the night
with you. I figured, why not?”
$h!t!
“Yes, Adrienne. It would make your parents really
happy to see both of you together. You haven’t seen each
other in a while, right? And Kimberly could use some girl
talk for a change.” Troy grinned and Kimberly giggled.
Adrienne, on the other hand, found none of it to be
amusing.
But her parents…yes, her parents would be happy to
know that she and Kim had some sister bonding time. They
never do that. It would warm her parents to know that she’s
trying to spend time with her sister.
“Okay,” she said to them.
“Yay!” Kim reached out and hvgged Adrienne.
Adrienne actually smiled and hvgged her back. “You’re the
best sister!” Kim said sweetly. Adrienne wanted to cry
because it was probably the first time she felt Kim show
some affection for her. Maybe not seeing each other often
made her realize she wasn’t a bad sister after all.
Then Adrienne turned to Troy. “Can we talk?” she
asked.
“I’m tired, Yen.”
“I won’t take much time,” she insisted.
“I’m picking up Kim early tomorrow. We start at eight
and you know I hate to be late for anything. I’ll see you
when we get back. Kim and I have two days off. We can talk
for forty-eight hours if you want, sweetheart.”
“But Troy, there’s something I really nee-d to tell you.”
“It can wait, Yen.”
He hailed a cab, not giving her a chance to argue.
“No, Troy, it can’t. We really nee-d to talk.”
Kim got into the cab.
“Come on, Adrienne. The cabby’s waiting. Hurry up!”
Kim said impatiently.
“Go. We’ll talk later,” Troy said. Then without warning,
he bent down and k!$$£d herl-ips.
Her first thought was: Bad k!ss£r!
Her second thought was: $h!t! I’m never cheating on
Justin!
God, what is wrong with me?
She doesn’t feel guilty about slee-ping with Justin
behind Troy’s back, but she feels terrible about being k!$$£d
by Troy behind Justin’s back. Troy is the official b©yfri£nd.
Justin was…well, he is Justin… and she’s in love with him.
She didn’t k!ssTroy back. She gently pushed him away
and willed herself not to vomit in front of him and Kim.
“Good night, Troy,” she said and went inside the cab.
They rode the cab in silence. Kim was looking out the
window, enjoying the scenery before her. And Adrienne
really didn’t know what to say to her.
As soon as they entered her ap@rtment, Kim turned to
her, “So which room do I stay in?”
Adrienne showed her the guestroom.
“All right…good night,” Kim said.
“Wait! Didn’t you say, we should… bond?”
Kim actually laughed. “Come on, Yenny! We don’t
have to pretend we actually get along when we’re alone,”
she said. “Let’s just tell Mom and Dad that we spent almost
the whole night catching up, then I had an early start the
next day. Get the program?”
Then she closed the door behind her.
Adrienne stared at the door for a long while. Then she
thought to herself, Nah! We weren’t really close anyway!
She took a shower and brushed her teeth about three
times to make sure there was no more trace of Troy in her.
The thought of k!ss!ngsomeb©dy else besides Justin made
her want to puke.
When she left her room to get a glas-s of water, she
found Kimberly on her living room watching Medical
Detectives.
“I thought you were slee-ping.”
“And I thought I didn’t have to talk to you for the rest
of the night,” Kim said flatly.
Adrienne gr!pp£dher glas-s ti-ghtly. She prevented
herself from throwing it at Kim’s beautiful face.
“You’re actually in my ap@rtment, Kimmy,” she said
coldly.
Instead of feeling ashamed, Kim just smiled sweetly at
her. “And I’m helping you score points with Mom. You’re
welcome!” Kim turned back to the TV.
Adrienne closed her eyes. In her head, she took a firm
hold of Kim’s hair, pu-ll-ed it so ha-rd and then slammed her
face on the coffee table.
When she opened her eyes, Kim was still there. Still in
one piece.
Adrienne walked to her be-droom without another
word.
“You should change your television set!” Kim called to
her. “It’s not good for your eyes to watch on such a small
screen.”
Adrienne smiled at her acidly and then slammed the
door behind her.
She looked throu-gh her window and found that Justin
wasn’t home yet.
She s£nt him a message: Kim is at my place! Really
trying my best not to murder her!
Justin: If you can wait up, I would do it for you. 🙂
Seriously, what did she do this time?
She replied: Just being herself. Apparently, her staying
over was gaining me points with our mother. So she thought
she’s actually doing me a favor!
Justin: I’m coming home with my cousin. Want to
come to my place? I could introduce you to each other.
Her: I would love to! But the thing is, Kim seems to be
camping in my living room, watching TV, which she said by
the way was too small for her taste! Anyway, I can’t go out.
Kim can smell things from within a mile away! It’s safer if I
stay here. You know…until…
She trailed off purposefully, hoping Justin would get
what she meant.
Justin: Okay. Sweet dreams. I’ll miss you tonight. It’s
been a while since I sle-pt alone. 😉 And by the way, I have a
surprise for you. See you tomorrow, hon.
When she woke up the next day, Troy was alre-ady in
her ap@rtment. He and Kimberly drank coffee in the living
room.
“We have an early start,” Troy said, smiling at her.
“We were about to leave. Guess you two stayed up late with
your girl chit-chats, huh.”
Kimberly win-ked and smiled at her sweetly. “I wish we
could have stayed up longer. But we have this early morning
thing.”
Liar!!!
Why was she lying? Am I the only one privileged to
see what a real bit-ch she was?
“After the conference, my parents have invited both of
you to join us to a weekend at a resort here. Your parents
may come too,” Troy said.
“Oh my God! That’s so lovely!” Kim skrie-ked but
Adrienne knew she was being overenthusiastic.
Troy went to Adrienne. “We nee-d to talk, sweetheart.”
He gave her a bright smile. And then he leaned down and
k!$$£d her. At least he attem-pted to. Adrienne averted her
face so that Troy’sl-ips just landed on her cheekbone.
“I guess I’ll see you,” she murmured. “Text me when
and where we’re going.”
When they left, she hoped that Troy got her subtle
messages. He didn’t give her a chance to break up with him.
For all it’s worth, she wanted to make this as clean as
possible. If they can end up being friends, it would be better.
That could help her mother forgive her.
She took a shower. Then she put on a pair of jeans
and mini tee. She dried her hair, took her keys and rang
Justin’s doorbell. She nee-ded to clear her head. She nee-ded
to plan how to breakup with Troy and she nee-ded to execute
that plan well.
She rang the bell twice.
No answer. She tried again.
Finally, the door opened. She had prepared herself to
fly into in his arms. She missed him so much. Last night was
the first night she spent without him in many weeks. And
she was happy when he said he would miss her too.
But what she saw made her st©p. we-t blonde hair.
Perfect skin. Blue eyes. Barbie doll in the flesh. And she’s
wearing one of Justin’s robes.
“Excuse me, can I help you?” she asked.
God, even her voice was a perfect pitch!
Adrienne bit herl-ip. She didn’t know what to say. She
couldn’t find her voice. She looked like she wore nothing but
Justin’s robe and she still managed to stun Adrienne with
her beauty. And she’s not even a man!
“Who is that?” She heard Justin say from inside the
room. When the girl didn’t answer, he went towards the
door. He was t©pless, with only a towel wra-pped around his
w@!st. He looked like he just gotten out of a shower.
No! It looked like ‘they’ had just gotten out of the
shower.
Adrienne took a de-ep breath and summoned all the
strength she had left in her b©dy just so she could raise her
chin and say something.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were busy,” she
snapped. Then she quic-kly spun around.
“Honey, wait!” Justin shouted and ran after her. But
Adrienne was quic-k enough to slam the door in his face,
refusing to give him a chance to either spin lies for her to
believe, or break it to her gently that they never had a commitment in the first place, they weren’t exclusive, so
he’s free to scre-w someb©dy else.
She had a b©yfri£nd. He had waited for her to break it
up with him. Maybe his patience finally ran out and he went
after what he deserved: A girl as perfect as the one standing
in his living room.