🌸 ALL THE WRONG REASONS🌸
🌹 EPISODE FOURTEEN 🌹
“Adrienne, this isn’t what you think. Could you open the
door and talk to me?” Justin said on the other side of the
door.
She didn’t answer. She turned on her stereo so loud so
she couldn’t hear his voice. She knew that she should find
the strength. It was the first night she spent without him in
more than a month. The first night that she was not with
him. And he did what he normally does.
She felt like she cheated on him when Troy k!$$ÂŁd her!
That same night, Justin had shagged someb©dy else in his
room. In the be-d where she had sle-pt in on many nights.
She went to her room, locked her windows and closed
the blinds. She threw herself in her be-d and cried. She felt
pain in her che-st…ha-rd , pinching pain. Her stomach began
to tie itself in knots. She let the tears fall freely as she
hvgged her pillow.
What did she expect? Guys like Justin Adams did not
want to commit…were never known to commit. Did she
really expect pla-yboys like him to be loyal and faithful to
only one girl? Of course not! She got her hopes too high
without realizing it.
She loved him…so much! And it did hurt. Yes, she had
made him the guy on the sidelines, but he was also the guy
she loved. And he knew she had a b©yfri£ndfrom the start.
How could he bring a girl home the way he brou-ght
her home? And God, she was perfect! She was a hundred
times prettier than Kimberly! How could she compete with
that? And maybe, Justin couldn’t resist, either.
He kept calling her. He left messages on her
answering machine. He s£nt her text messages. She didn’t listen or re-ad a single message. She didn’t nee-d his
excuses. The evidence had stood in his ap@rtment. Nothing
could be as clear as that.
Sure, a stranger couldn’t just come to his place and
use his bathroom, right? And use his robe? And he certainly
wouldn’t walk around in a towel around the house if there
was a complete stranger with you…unless you two have just
spent the night ban-ging each other’s br@ins out.
That thought twisted a knot inside her che-st and she
thought that her heart broke some more.
The thing that they had…it was good for both of
them… for a while. From the start, it never spelled ever
after. There were some things that you just take for the
moment until they end. After that…it was over. You just
have to thank your stars that it ever happened. Remember
the good things that it taught you. Because some things
don’t give you bad memories at all until they are over.
She fell asleep. When she woke up, it was alre-ady six
in the evening. Her house remained quiet. She erased the
fifty voice messages in her answering machine without
listening to them. She erased all the text messages that she
received from Justin without re-ading them.
Then she packed a bagful of clothes and snuck out of
her ap@rtment, hoping she wouldn’t run into Justin in the
hallway, elevator or in the lobby.
She hailed a cab and went to Yuan’s house.
When he opened the door, he was shocked to see her
expression. “What the fv¢k is wrong with you, girl?”
She shook her head. “Can I crash over here for a week
or so? I don’t want to be alone in my ap@rtment.”
“What happened?”
She shook her head.
“Nothing. I just nee-d time to clear my head and think.
I’m seeing Kim and Troy this weekend. I have been planning
to break up with Troy for a long time.”
Well, that wasn’t exactly a lie.
Yuan didn’t ask any more. He just nodded.
She was trying her best not to cry. If she looked so
overdramatic he would grill her for the details.
Jill c@mÂŁ over and sle-pt over that night, as well. Her
phone kept ringing. Justin was tireless in his pursuit but she
wanted to think straight. And she couldn’t get the image of
that girl out of her head.
“Are you gonna get that?” Yuan asked her. “Must be
Troy.”
She shrugged and then turned her phone off.
“By the way, I have a scoop,” Jill said suddenly, trying
to get Adrienne’s mind off her problem.
Adrienne looked at her, thankful for the distraction.
“Justin has a new car,” Jill said. “We saw him driving it
from the office today. He was heading out of the building
and he rode a sleek br@nd-new yellow Porsche.”
“He’s rich,” Yuan remarked. “That’s not much of a
news. He can change cars every single day if he wants.”
“I know that,” Jill agreed. “But I’m not really sure if it’s
his. If it is, then something is going on.”
“Why?”
“Because the plate says I-E-N-N-E.”
Adrienne’s head sh0t up and she stared at Jill.
“What?”
“It could stand for anything,” Yuan theorized.
“Probably a different language. He’s multi-lingual anyway.”
“Or!” Jill raised her voice. “It could also be a nickname
for a girl.”
Yuan raised a brow. “What kind of a name is that?”
Jill pointed at Adrienne. “Adrienne’s nickname is Yen,
but it could also be spelled as I-E-N-N-E.”
“That must be pronounced as ee-yen,” Yuan said.
“It would be sweet if he’s suddenly named one of his
cars with a girl’s nick, right?”
Adrienne turned away from her friends. Tears rolled
down her cheeks once more. She hoped that her friends wouldn’t notice.
It could all be lies! It could mean anything! That car
could even belong to the girl I found in his ap@rtment this
morning.
But didn’t he tell her that he has a surprise for her?
What if that was the surprise he was talking about?
What if his new car’s plate meant… my name?
But still…
Why the hell did he have another girl in his
ap@rtment?
* * *
She tried to concentrate on her work the next day. She
sure knew she looked like hell. She had worn her eyeglas-ses
again to hide her red swollen eyes that said she stayed up
all night, crying.
Even Jada knew she felt horrible. She didn’t say
anything. But to her surprise, she wasn’t the bit-ch from hell
that she used to be.
Oh! She does have a heart after all!
She was staring at the blank page on her screen when
she realized that Justin was standing in front of her.
She looked up at him nervously.
For a handsome guy, who looked so pla-yful and
carefree, Justin looked like $h!t, as well. He hadn’t shaved
and it looked like he didn’t sleep at all.
“What are you doing here?” she asked him crossly,
but trying to keep her voice down so no one could hear.
He shook his head. “Honey, don’t do this. plea-se…
listen to me first.” He sounded almost like he begged her.
She shook her head. Right now, everything was just
plain confusing for her. She and Justin started out wrong.
Their four-month relationsh!pseemed to be built on pas-sion,
but never entirely on trust. It was a good thing. But that mean it was right. Because if it was right, then they
shouldn’t have to keep it a secret.
She wasn’t being fair to him either. She couldn’t keep
stringing him along and ma-king him wait on the sidelines
while she couldn’t bring herself to break up with Troy. As
much as she felt hurt with the fact that Justin brou-ght
another woman home, she also hated the fact she had no
right to demand for his faithfulness. She didn’t even exactly
give him hers. She’s still with Troy, wasn’t she?
“I nee-d to clear my head. I nee-d to think about what I
nee-d to do. The thing we have…let’s just be thankful it
lasted that long. It was just supposed to be a one-night
stand anyway. I can’t tie you down. And I have too much
excess baggage.” She took a de-ep breath and tried so ha-rd
not to cry. “I can’t keep on lying to my friends and cheating
on my b©yfri£nd. I’m not some loose woman who pla-ys
around. I made my mistake. I have to make things right this
time. I’m not being fair to anyone. And it’s time I become
fair to you.”
She didn’t know where she got the courage to say
those words, without even blinking.
She stared at him. His eyes were narrowed a little and
for a moment, she thought she couldn’t contain the cold
fury she saw there. She felt almost scared.
“So, just like that?” he asked coldly. “You couldn’t
break up with Troy for the longest time! And you’re giving
me up just like that? Without even giving me a chance to
explain?”
No! I don’t want to give you up!
She wanted to scream that to him.
“You didn’t have to explain. You don’t owe me an
explanation.”
Justin balled his fists and gave her table a frustrated
punch. “Okay!” he said. “I sle-pt with her! I ban-ged another
woman. What can I say? I was in…heat! I would fv¢k
anything that wears a Sk-irt! And she happened to be there! Willing! And easy! So I took her back to our be-droom and
scre-wed her br@ins out!” He gave her a stone-cold stare. “Is
that what you wanted to hear?!”
Adrienne stood up from her seat and without warning
sl@pped Justin on the face. Tears were rolling down her
cheeks. Every word he said felt like knives stabbing throu-gh
her, shredding her, tearing her ap@rt.
When Justin looked at her again, his eyes were shining
with tears.
“I thought you trusted me, Adrienne… thought better
of me,” he said in a cold and frustrated voice. He shook his
head. “I guess you still believed my reputation more than
you believed me.” He took one last de-ep breath and said,
“See you around, Miss Miller.” And then he left.
Adrienne sat back on her seat and this time, she really
cried. She didn’t hold back.
The other day, she was contemplating on breaking up
with Troy. How did things go the wrong way and she broke
up with Justin instead? The guy she actually loved.
She took a tissue and wiped the tears from her cheeks
and her eyes. Then she gathered her bag and went out of
her office. She was thankful that most of her officemates
had gone to lunch. No one saw Justin come to her office and
no one heard them fight. Jill sat in a meeting in Jada’s office,
so she couldn’t ask Adrienne why Justin Adams just went to
her office. Knowing her, she would ask for every single
detail.
She got out of the building with no p@rticular
destination in mind. She didn’t want to go home. She didn’t
want to risk running into Justin. He must be so pissed at her.
She was still angry at him, too, for the words he said to her.
He said his piece, and he could have just provided her with
a clear explanation. Instead, he said words that made it
difficult for her to know what happened for real.
She was a big mess and she couldn’t even turn to her
friends for advice. She could never consult her sister on anything. And Troy was definitely not on the options list.
Twenty minutes later, she was sitting in a bar in a
h0tel, drinking daiquiri. Yes, maybe in this case, liquor helps!
The lady bartender was looking at her wearily.
“You okay, sweetheart?” she asked.
Adrienne looked up at her. “I’ve been better.”
“Boy trouble?”
Adrienne let out a sarcastic laugh. “Boys troubles.”
The bartender smiled. “Then consider yourself luckier
than the rest of us.” Then she turned to serve another
customer a drink.
“Now this is the last place I expect to see you at this
time of the day.” someb©dy said beside her.
She turned to her left and saw a familiar guy sitting
beside her. He motioned for the bartender to give him a
beer. The bartender smiled at him wi-dely, obviously flir-ting.
Adrienne gro-an ed. That was the last thing she
nee-ded.
“So what’s up, Miss Miller?” Jin Starck asked taking a
gulp of his beer.
Adrienne shook her head. “Nothing.”
“You could have fooled me!” he said lightly, trying to
make her smile.
“I don’t discuss my personal problems with my clients,
Mr. Starck,” she said.
He smiled. “Do you see me wearing my suit?”
Adrienne took a second to look at what he was
wearing. He wore a dark green long-sleeved shi-t over his
jeans. His hair was again disheveled. He didn’t look like the
tycoon she met at the h0tel a week ago.
“Guess you’re not. But why would I tell you all my
troubles?”
“Because I happen to be an unbiased stranger.” He
grinned. “Don’t worry. Nothing you say to me gets out of
this bar. And I totally won’t judge you after this.”
Well, she was desperate to talk to someb©dy. And
right now, nob©dy she knew would forgive her if she told
them the truth.
Adrienne took her drink straight up. Then she
motioned for the bartender to give her another drink. “Okay.
I must be crazy for telling you this.”
Jin smiled. “You look more desperate to me than crazy,
to be honest.”
“You’re right.” She took a de-ep breath. And then
finally, she talked…about the first time how she met Justin,
how she ended up in his ap@rtment, and how they were
keeping a secret from everyb©dy for the last four months.
She told Jin that she had a b©yfri£ndand why she was
with him in the first place. She told him why she couldn’t tell
her friends. She told him almost everything…except for the
details of her S-x life of course, and the names of everyb©dy
involved, in case Jin Starck happened to know any of them.
“So this guy that you were with at the bar the night I
met you…the one who picked you up at the h0tel… that’s
the official b©yfri£nd? Or the mistress?”
Adrienne raised a brow at him. She laughed at his
choice of word.
Mistress!
“He’s the unofficial b©yfri£nd,” she replied.
“But he sounded like he’s also the one you want to be
with.”
Adrienne nodded. “I love him.” Tears rolled down her
cheeks. She wiped them off with her f!ngersand then asked
the lady to give her another drink.
“Now, I un-derstand,” Jin said.
“un-derstand what?”
“That night I met you, I watched you afterwards,
trying to figure out where I’ve seen you before. I was curious
why your b©yfri£ndsat in the bar and you were at one of
the tables with your friends. Now, I know. He’s your secret,
other b©yfri£nd.”
“Pretty much.”
“How’d you break up?”
So she told him about the girl she found in his
ap@rtment.
“She is so beautiful!” she said. “How could he say that
he didn’t scre-w her after I found her in his ap@rtment
wearing his robe?”
“He’s a pretty boy, Adrienne. I’m sure he’s got girls
falling over his feet. His concept of beautiful just might be
different from yours.”
“He’s a pla-yer! A rakehell!” she said. “At least that’s
what his reputation said.”
“And you believe that?” Jin asked. Adrienne looked up
at him. Jin sighed. “Let me guess. This guy…rich, smart, heir
to some throne someday. Girls just follow him everywhere
and he can take a pick wherever whenever? Never had a
steady relationsh!p. Never committed to anyb©dy?”
Adrienne nodded. “Sadly so.”
“Welcome to my world!” Jin said and Adrienne looked
up at him thoughtfully.
Yeah, he was right. He’s exactly another version of
Justin Adams.
“But not all of us are heartless, Adrienne. Not all guys
who are like that think with their… excuse my French…
d!¢ks! Just because he doesn’t commit to a girl doesn’t
mean he’s just after the S-x. Maybe he’s waiting for the
right one to come. Maybe that was you. You got a chance to
see what he was really like, and you still believed what
others thought about him.”
Adrienne stared back at Jin and tears welled up in her
eyes.
He’s right!
Oh God! Justin didn’t scre-w that girl! But what was she
doing in his ap@rtment?
“So…I should…call him?”
Jin raised a brow at her. “Are you single? Have you
broken up with your official b©yfri£nd? Have you come clean
to all your friends?”
She bit herl-ip. “No. No. And no.”
“Then no,” Jin said. “If you’re going after a guy you
hurt and insulted, make sure you have something to offer in
return. And right now, after all that you said to me, I can tell,
he only wants one thing from you.” He took a gulp of his
beer. “I think you know what that is, cherie.”
Adrienne covered her face with her hands. “God! I just
want to call my b©yfri£ndnow and break up with him!
Maybe I should. Just rip off the bandage.”
“Doesn’t always work. Not in your case,” he said. “You
were with him for all the wrong reasons. You were trying to
plea-se your mother. Now, be br@ve enough to do the right
thing this time. If you can end up as friends, then that just
might cushion the b!ow for your Mom.”
Adrienne drank another daiquiri. Her world seemed to
be spinning now. She turned back to Jin. “You’re too wise for
a twenty-three year old.”
He smiled. “I was raised by a wonderful woman. Too
bad for you…the woman who raised you sounds like a
horrible person who didn’t care about your feelings.”
Adrienne wanted to cry at that, because she actually
believed that Jin felt sorry for her.
“She was horrible!” she murmured. “She loved my
sister but she never loved me. My sister hated me too. My
father… was helpless to defend me most times.” Then she
laughed. “I lost the one person who made me feel like I
mattered at all. I scre-wed it up, big time!”
She felt Jin put his arm around her shoulders and hvg
her. Adrienne cried on his shoulder, unable to st©p now. She
was thankful that she spoke to Jin. He was so comfortable to
talk to. She felt like she’s known him all her life. She felt like
right now, with him, there was someb©dy on her side.
“How on earth are you so mature and wise?” she
asked in spite of her tears.
Jin heaved a sigh. “Of course, if the world wasn’t
mad…if we were in the ideal world…it would be you giving
me advice, Adrienne. Not the other way around.” Adrienne
knew her world was alre-ady spinning. And before she
pas-sed out, she thought she heard a little sadness in Jin’s
voice.