All the wrong reasons Episode 17

🌸ALL THE WRONG REASONS🌸
🌹EPISODE SEVENTEEN🌹

Adrienne took out a pair of two-piece suit from the bag
she brou-ght with her when she first went to her friends’
room. Now that she’d relieved herself of Troy’s chains, and
Kimberly had just shown her that she is not entirely prudent
like she appeared to be, Adrienne thought that there’s no
harm in wearing a perfectly decent two-piece suit. If her
parents arrived in the evening and if her mother lectured
her on the virtues of being prudent, she must remember to
point out that her favorite daughter did more than wear a
piece of revea-ling clothing.
When she finished dressing, she was happy to see
that her suit highlighted her flat tummy, her curves and her
long legs. Jill lent her a pair of very sheer white capri p@n-ts.
The outfit looked decent, but showed a hint of her bikini
un-derneath. She felt S-xy and stylish. She thought that if
she was still with Justin, she knew exactly what he would
say to her.
Her phone rang. It was her father.
“Sweetheart,” he started. “We can’t make it. Your
mother and I both have emergency surgeries. We just can’t
get out of this. Troy’s parents decided not to go too. We
figured you kids can have some fun without us.”
“All right, Dad,” she answered.
Kim is alre-ady having more fun than I am.
“Take care, okay?”
She looked at Jill and Yuan. “One problem out of the
way. My parents aren’t coming anymore.”
“Good. At least you didn’t have to pretend to be civil
to Troy and Kim in front of them.”
They went down to the restaurant to have dinner. She
chose a table in a secluded corner outside. She sat with her
back on the crowd. If Kimberly, Troy or Justin walked in, she
didn’t want to see any of them.
Fortunately, none of them showed up and she was
able to eat a full meal in peace. All Jill and Yuan talked about
were their latest d@t£s and escapades. They also planned a
night out the following week, where they would go bar
hopping.
“The best way to meet guys!” Jill said.
“Both straight or not,” Yuan agreed.
After dinner, they hung out by the beach front. Yuan
got them some beers.
“All right, Adrienne, whatever pain you feel, let’s talk
about it. Now. With spirits! Don’t go Miss Prude on me,
darling.” Yuan handed her a bottle of beer.
She took a gulp. It was very cold, thus, she didn’t
mind the strong taste.
“Will you ever forgive Kim?” Jill asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m aware that she hated
me, but I never expected her to sleep with my b©yfri£nd,
either. I mean, sure, Troy is ba-rely a b©yfri£nd, but still, if
she had the decency, she wouldn’t do it with him. Or at
least wait until we break up before she did something like
that. It’s disgusting!”
“Have you ever thought about seeing someb©dy else
aside from Troy?” Jill asked.
She stared at them. Has the time to be honest finally
come? She did promise herself she would come clean to her
friends once she broke up with Troy. Well, she and Troy are
history now!
She nodded. “Yes, of course. My relationsh!pwith Troy
was absolutely less than perfect and I did… feel the nee-d to
be with someone who lights up my fire.”
“During those dry spells, didn’t it even cross your
mind to explore… you know… other horizons? Or were you just… so resigned to the fact that you’re gonna marry a
vegetable?” Yuan tried to put it mildly. But Adrienne knew
that what he really meant was, ‘Didn’t you even think about
slee-ping with someb©dy else while you were with Troy?’
She sighed and took a gulp of her bear, for liquid
courage. Then she replied, “Yes. Yes…I did.”
I sle-pt with someb©dy else. I cheated on Troy. She
wanted to add those s£ntences but the words never c@m£
out.
“Why did you wait this long to break up with that
loser?” Jill asked.
“Troy was the only guy she went out with,” Yuan told
Jill. “Could you blame her for not having anyb©dy else to
compare him to? She wouldn’t know that Troy was the
sorriest excuse for a b©yfri£ndbecause she didn’t know any
better.”
Adrienne took a de-ep breath again and mustered all
the courage she could. “Actually…I know that. I was able to
compare my relationsh!pwith Troy with someone who
was…” She took a de-ep breath. “Pure perfection. The
relationsh!pwas an absolute bliss.” Again, she felt her heart
break a hundred more times.
Her friends blinked back at her. “What?”
“Sometimes, I couldn’t believe what I was doing. Like
one time, I went to Gypsys. I dressed up in this very S-xy
outfit that Jacob picked for me. I went to that bar like a vixen
in search for my latest prey. And…sometimes, I still think I
just imagined it. Like it was a dream.”
“Adrienne, what the fv¢k are you talking about?” Yuan
asked.
She smiled at them bitterly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you
earlier, guys. I hope you can forgive me.”
“What?”
“There was someb©dy else. Troy was the official
b©yfri£nd. But he wasn’t the guy I was in love with. There
was someone else. I know what you’re saying about sharing pas-sion and intim-acy with a guy. And you’re right. It was
perfect. It was pure bliss.”
Yuan and Jill went silent for a moment. Adrienne
looked at them and realized that they weren’t even looking
at her. They were staring at someb©dy behind her.
She turned around and found Troy staring down at her.
She stood up and faced him. “What do you want?” she
asked.
“What did you just say?” he asked angrily. “There was
someb©dy else?”
“That’s beside the point, Troy. We were done a long
time ago, you know that!”
“Adrienne…we can still fix this!”
“We were nothing before, Troy! You were… a ghost of
a b©yfri£nd! You were not even a friend most of the time!
Where did you think our relationsh!pwas going? And then
you scre-wed my sister? That just made it so impossible for
me to even think good thoughts about you!”
Troy’s face turned red. He took de-ep breaths. Then
without warning, he took hold of her wrist and pu-ll-ed her to
him.
“Let me go!” Adrienne said, yanking her arm away.
“We lacked intimacy! That’s why it went downhill for
us!” he said. “But it didn’t have to be like that, Adrienne. I
planned this weekend so we could finally cross that line!”
“And you decided to be inti-mate with my sister as
well? That’s beyond thinkable!”
“It’s you I love, Adrienne! Kim was a mistake! She
was… she was always there! And I always missed you. It
killed me to have to be so far away from you. It’s you I really
want! What Kim and I had was just S-x. And it won’t happen
again!”
Adrienne shook her head. “But I don’t love you, Troy.
There had been nothing between us for a long time. It didn’t
matter whether you were scre-wing my sister behind my
back. I was going to break up with you anyway.”
“Because there was someone else?” he asked in a
grave tone. “Who was he?”
“It doesn’t matter, Troy. It’s not about him. It’s about
you. I don’t love you.”
Adrienne saw the anger in Troy’s face turn to fury.
Then without warning, he took her by the forearm and
pu-ll-ed her away, this time with so much more f0rç£.
“Damn it, Troy! Let me go!” she cried, struggling to
pu-ll away from him.
He started dragging her, not listening to her plea-s.
“Troy, plea-se, let her go!” Jill said.
“Let her go or we’re calling security!” Yuan said.
“You two stay out of this!” Troy fired back at them.
He turned to Adrienne and gr@bb£d her other forearm.
He was bruising her arms now.
“I waited for so long and got nothing! And someb©dy
else got to enjoy your b©dy, you slut!”
His face had gotten within only a few inches away
from hers and he smelled of beer. Adrienne realized that
Troy was drun!k! She panicked when she realized that he was
leaning forward to k!ssher on thel-ips. She struggled but he
was too strong for her.
She could hear Yuan and Jill screaming. With all her
might, she launched a sl@p on Troy’s face that made him fall
back.
“You bit-ch!” he roared. And before she could see what
was coming, she felt a sharp pain on her cheek, so strong
that it made her fall to the ground.
Yuan launched a punch at Troy, but he jabbe-d him in
the ribs and he, too, fell to the ground.
Jill screamed again. “Help! Help us!”
Adrienne started to get up. She saw what could be the
scariest thing she had seen in her entire life: Troy’s face,
filled with fury, as he started for her again.
Just when he was about a meter away from her,
somehow he got pu-ll-ed back. The next thing she saw was Troy, on the ground being beaten up.
There were two other guys. They had pu-ll-ed on Troy’s
as-sailant to st©p him.
“$h!t man, st©p it!” one blonde guy said. “You could
kill the guy! He’s down alre-ady.”
It took her a moment to realize that it was Justin. He
had mounted Troy and punched him to the core. His face
was red and Adrienne realized that she had never seen him
raging like this before. When he finally st©pped attacking
Troy, his friends had to hold him back to make sure that he
didn’t go for him again. Troy sat up from the ground, holding
his jaw in pain, and looked like he didn’t know what had hit
him or why.
Justin bent to pick up his shades that fell to the sand.
“What the fv¢k?” Troy shouted at him, when he found
the voice to speak. “What’s your freaking problem? Mind
your own damn business!”
Justin didn’t answer. He turned to Adrienne. The
minute their eyes met, she knew he saw the terror on her
face. She had turned pale. He went to her.
“Justin,” she whispered.
He didn’t say anything. Instead, he put an arm around
her w@!st and tilted her chin up to see the damage that
Troy’s sl@p did to her. Troy had hit her ha-rder on her lower
li-p, and it had started bleeding lightly.
“Oh, honey…” he said very softly. Amidst all the terror
that she had just gone throu-gh, Adrienne wanted to break
down and cry. Not because of the fear she just felt, but
because of the gentleness in Justin’s voice. And because she
heard him call her honey again.
Justin bent down to t©uçh herl-ips with his, on the p@rt
that it was bleeding. She realized that he su-cked the blood
that was coming out of it.
“What the fv¢k…” Troy cursed when he saw what
Justin did.
Justin turned to him again. Fury and rage returned to
his face.
“Didn’t your mother tell you not to raise your hand to
a girl, Troy?” Justin asked coldly. Justin still obviously fumed.
He re-leased Adrienne and started for Troy again. “And guess
what? You picked the wrong girl to mess with, as-s-hole!”
Then he punched him on the jaw one more time. Troy fell to
the ground again.
“Justin, plea-se?” Adrienne pleaded softly. He looked at
her and nodded slightly.
He went to her again and seeing how terrified she
was, he enclosed her in his embr@ce, as if telling her that
everything was going to be okay. She could feel safe with
him now.
“I’m sorry, honey. I’m sorry, I didn’t come soon
enough,” he said to her as he ca-ressed her head. “I wouldn’t
have let him hurt you.”
She shook her head, as tears rolled down her cheeks.
She didn’t know whether it c@m£ out of relief, or because of
the fear she felt, or because she was so happy being in his
arms again.
She felt him k!ssher temple. She closed her eyes and
prayed that it wasn’t a dream. That he was here for real.
That she was back in his arms again.
“Justin, man…” one of his friends called him. “Can we
have a word?”
Justin nodded and pu-ll-ed away slightly from Adrienne.
He stared at her for a moment and then k!$$£d her
forehead. “Wait a second, hon.”
She nodded and Justin went to talk to his friends.
Yuan and Jill went to her in obvious awe. She realized
that the moment of revelation had come. Fifteen minutes
ago, she considered being honest with them. She planned to
take it slow, and offer explanations…to break it to them
gently. But now, they were staring at her as if they had just
been bit-ch-sl@pped with the truth.
Troy had gone to sit on the sand. Kim had magically
appeared at his side. Adrienne turned to Yuan and Jill again.
She felt lost for words now. She knew that there’s
nothing she could say that would make them not hate her at
all.
Finally, Jill was able to find her voice. “‘Honey?’ Justin
Adams just called you ‘honey?’”
She opened her mouth to say something in her
defense but no words c@m£ out.
“What is going on, Yen?” Yuan asked. “I mean, clearly,
Justin Adams c@m£ here to rescue you from your lunatic ex.
That p@rt we get. But…him hvgging you, k!ss!ngyou, and
calling you honey, with so much familiarity…it makes no
s-en-se!”
“And you were right. His eyes are blue. That wasn’t a
guess, was it? You knew that before. I remembered you
saying crystal blue. The exact color of his eyes. We ba-rely
see him without the shades. But it looks like you’ve looked
into his eyes more often than anyone else.” Jill shook her
head.
“Adrienne…were you the girl that Justin was referring
to in the interview?” Yuan asked. “The one that he said he
was involved with?”
Adrienne whimpered. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Then she nodded slightly.
“Oh my God!” Jill breathed.
Yuan threw his hands in the air. “I can’t believe this!”
“I tried to tell you before,” Adrienne said. “But you
laughed at me. You thought I was joking.”
“Then you should have sl@pped both of us and told us
you were serious!” Yuan said in a frustrated voice.
“I was about to tell you before Troy c@m£ to us,”
Adrienne said in a quiet voice. “And I will tell you everything.
I’ll explain everything from the beginning. But I can’t do that
now, not after what just happened. I hope you can
un-derstand me and give me some time to sort things out.”
They didn’t say anything. They stared at the figure
standing behind her. Justin reappeared at her side and
wra-pped an arm around her w@!st.
“Hey, Jill, Yuan,” he greeted them casually. Finally, he
met them. And this was not the way Adrienne imagined
introducing Justin to her friends.
Jill and Yuan nodded at him, but they still gave
Adrienne a cold, murderous look.
Justin turned to Adrienne. “We better get you inside,
honey,” he told her. “You’re cold, and we nee-d to attend to
that wound.”
Adrienne nodded. She turned to her friends. “I’ll talk
to you guys, later. I’m really sorry.”
Justin put an arm around her shoulders and walked
her back towards the h0tel silently.
She felt too shaken and too confused. But she was
also happy. In her mind, she kept asking if he was real. If
this was real. Did he really walk with her? Are his arms really
around her once again?
When they entered the elevator she said, “Justin, I
can’t go back to my room. I’m sharing it with Kim, and I
can’t stand to be in the same room as her now. I just can’t.”
Justin stared at her for a moment. “I never said we’re
going to your room,” he said. His voice was serious and a
little cold. The look that he gave her was distant. “You and I
nee-d to talk, too. And I’m not taking no for an answer this
time.”
Her heart pounded in her che-st. Justin stood next to
her, but didn’t t©uçh her. It seemed like forever before the
elevator st©pped on his floor.
Justin led her to his room. He rented the suite, with a
king-sized be-d and a big balcony. The room she shared with
Kim was even smaller than Justin’s living room.
He closed the door behind him. She stared at him
nervously. He looked back at her.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“For what?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Rescuing me from Troy. I realized Yuan
couldn’t do much to him.”
“I would have done more to him had you not pleaded
with me to st©p,” he stated coldly.
“Justin, you could get into trouble for that. What if Troy
sues you for damages? You gave him the beating of his life.”
Justin shook his head. “I don’t care. He shouldn’t have
t©uçhed you! He deserved what he got.”
Tears were shining on Adrienne’s eyes as she looked
up at him. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’m so glad you’re
here!”
He didn’t move. He just kept looking at her, studying
her, waiting for her to say something. In his eyes, she could
still see how de-eply she hurt him. How small she made him
feel.
“Oh God, Justin, I’m so sorry,” she whispered. Tears
rolled down her cheeks.
“For what?” he asked.
“For…not listening to you. For not giving you a chance
to explain.” She continued weeping.
He raised a brow at her. “And?”
“For…lying about you to my friends. For ma-king you
feel like I’m ashamed of you…of what we had.”
When he still kept silent, she stared back at him,
wondering what was going on in his mind. “Go on,” he
urged.
She smiled bitterly. “For not fighting for you. For giving
you up. For not believing in you in spite of all the things you
showed me. For not trusting you…even though I should
know better. For thinking… that you were cheating on me.”
“Do you still think I sle-pt with her?” he asked in a
steady voice.
Adrienne looked down on her feet, feeling ashamed of
herself. She shook her head. “No.”
She felt Justin tilt her chin up so she could look at him.
“Do you still think I would cheat on you?”
She bit herl-ip. “Would you?”
Justin gro-an ed. Suddenly, he snatched her by her
w@!st and crushed her into his arms. “You are unbelievable!
You drive me crazy sometimes.” His voice was gentle, his
arms ti-ght and warm around her. Then he pu-ll-ed away and
looked into her eyes. “I know you lived your life around
inconsiderate people who did nothing but crush your spirit
and made you feel that everything that you are, and
everything that you do… is mediocre.
They’re wrong, Adrienne! I am here in front of you,
and I’m telling you now… that you’re the most beautiful
woman in my eyes. You’re amazing. You’re beautiful, inside
and out. And I am absolutely, undoubtedly crazy about you.
And no! I would never ever cheat on you.”
Adrienne smiled in spite of her tears. She couldn’t
believe that she heard these words from Justin. That finally
he spelled it loud and clear that he’s crazy about her.
Justin looked into her eyes and wiped the tears from
her cheeks. “So now… Troy is history?”
She nodded.
“Sure? You told him it’s over? Finito?”
“I did,” she replied. “I wished I said it to him before I
found him in between Kimberly’s legs though. But
nevertheless, I told him.”
Justin raised a brow at her. “He was slee-ping with your
sister?” he asked, obviously finding that ha-rd to believe.
“Yup. I wish they just told me, you know. I didn’t nee-d
to see the evidence.” She let out a little shiver.
Justin grinned. “So, the position of current and official
b©yfri£ndis finally open?” he asked, his eyes dancing.
She smiled at him, her heart pounding inside her
che-st.
“Yes,” she replied.
“If you don’t mind, Miss Miller, I would like to apply.”
She grinned at him. “Well, I’ll have to see if you pas-s
the audition first,” she tea-sed.
Justin’s eyes gleamed and he smiled at her
mischievously. Adrienne realized then how n@ûghty and
kinky she sounded.
Justin pu-ll-ed her to him just a little r0ûghly. She
skrie-ked. “Justin, wait! I didn’t mean…” she started
protesting.
He lifted her off her feet, his hands cu-pping her th!ghs,
ma-king her wra-p her legs around his w@!st and he started
carrying her to the couch.
“Don’t worry, Miss Miller. I know exactly what you
mean!” Her laughter died in her throat as he crushed hisl-ips
to hers as soon as she landed on the soft cushions. A few
minutes later, she was screaming his name as he took her
to the edge of oblivion, and soon after he met her at the
gates of Nirvana.