? ALL THE WRONG REASONS?
? EPISODE EIGHTEEN ?
Adrienne l@yon the couch, resting her head on Justin’s
shoulder. She smiled contentedly. True, her life was still less
than perfect. Her friends fumed at her, her mother would
soon do the same when she found out that she broke up
with Troy. Her relationsh!pwith Kim was worse than before.
But somehow, she still felt this surge of happiness within
her. She felt that everything would turn out just fine. And
she knew why. She was back in Justin’s arms. He said he
was crazy about her. And she felt the same way. Tonight, he
just bec@m£ her official b©yfri£nd.
Justin gave her a squee-ze and she felt him k!ssher
forehead. They savored being in each other’s embr@ce
again.
“How did you know I nee-ded help?” she asked.
“I sat in the bar and watched you. I saw him come up
to you. I didn’t know you were fighting, until I saw you sl@p
him. That’s when I made a run for it. But I didn’t get there
fast enough. He hit you first.”
“Thank you!” she said again. “Thank God you were
there! And by some good coincidence you c@m£ to this
resort.”
“I knew you’d be here,” he admitted sheepishly.
“What?”
He took a de-ep breath. “I ran into Jill this morning. I
asked her why she was rushing. She said you guys were
coming here. Lucky for me, she was so excited about it, she
even mentioned the h0tel you were staying in and who
c@m£ with you.” He paused for a while. “I don’t know…I
just…” He sighed. “I wanted to see you with your friends
and your b©yfri£nd. I wanted to see if you’re happy… so I could convince myself that you don’t nee-d me in your life
anymore… so I could finally work on getting you out of my
mind, out of my system.”
Adrienne shook her head. “I wasn’t happy, Justin. I
was… miserable! You acted like you didn’t know me at all,
like I was nothing to you. And you don’t want anything to do
with me.” A tear slid down her cheek. “And I know I
deserved it. Because in spite of everything you said to me,
everything that you did for me…I still didn’t trust you. I
didn’t believe that you would never hurt me.”
“I tried explaining to you who she was, Adrienne. Her
name is Julianne. She’s Gian’s twin. I told you I had a cousin
who visited. Her nickname is Ian. That must have confused
you. You must have as-sumed Gian had an identical twin.”
Adrienne nodded sheepishly.
“I did explain it to you. In your voicemails, in my text
messages. You must have deleted them without re-ading
them or listening to them…” He took a de-ep breath. “At that
time, I thought maybe you just wanted to end what we
had.”
Adrienne stared up at him guiltily. She knew she
couldn’t say anything that would make it enough for him to
know how sorry she was. She reached up and k!$$£d hisl-ips.
He k!$$£d her back. She felt Justin smile against herl-ips.
“God, I missed k!ss!ngyou.”
“God! Justin, I was so stupid!”
He leaned forward to k!ssher on the forehead. “I’m
sorry, too, honey. I should have told you the night before. I
should have told you…”
“You didn’t have to, Justin. You didn’t owe me that. You
didn’t have to tell me everything that you do.”
“But I wanted to,” he said. “I was quite excited to
show you my new car, actually. I had a plate especially
made…”
“Ienne,” she whispered.
He nodded. “I wanted to see how you would react
when you saw it. I know you would be furious at me, as I’m
defying your request to keep us a secret. But it was my little
way of showing that we…belong together.”
“And when Jill told me about it, I thought it belonged
to the girl I found in your ap@rtment.”
He shook his head. “It meant you.”
She pu-ll-ed his face to hers and k!$$£d him again.
When he de-epened the k!ss, she felt a sting on herl-ip.
“Ouch!” She giggled. She had forgotten about the
wound that Troy gave her. In her excitement to make love to
Justin again, she didn’t even feel any pain when he crushed
hisl-ips to hers.
“I’m sorry, honey. I forgot.”
She nodded. “It’s okay. I forgot it, too.”
“Come on, let’s go freshen up.”
“Justin, I have to go back to Yuan’s and Jill’s room. I
was sharing a room with Kimberly. And I just can’t bear to
see her right now.”
He raised a brow at her. “Who said you were going to
stay with Yuan and Jill? You’re staying the night here with
me, honey.”
“But Jill and Yuan are mad at me.”
“If you go back to your room will it make a difference?
They alre-ady know about us. I’m sure they would have
guessed that you’re spending the night with me.”
“They won’t. They still believe I’m a vir-gin.” Adrienne
rolled her eyes.
Justin grinned. “Then when you stay the night with
me, they won’t think that about you tomorrow morning. I’m
the most wanted rakehell in town, remember?”
She pinched his side. “You are so conceited!”
He laughed.
“Did you have dinner alre-ady?”
“ba-rely—I didn’t have the appetite,” she replied.
Justin called room service. Then he gathered her in his
arms and carried her to the bathroom.
“I can walk, you know,” she said, staring up at him.
“Pretend you can’t, so your new b©yfri£ndwill feel
he’s such a hero.” He win-ked at her.
“New b©yfri£nd? Did I say you pas-sed the audition?”
He grinned. “Considering you screamed my name
thrice, I think I just earned the right to claim that position.”
Adrienne’s face turned red and she pinched Justin’s
arm again.
“Ouch! Adrienne! Do you want me to drop you?” he
asked, laughing.
“Don’t you dare!”
He settled her down on the shower. He helped her
re-move the remaining pieces of her clothing and did the
same to his. Then he gave her a mischievous smile and
before Adrienne could ask what he was up to, he turned on
the shower and Adrienne skrie-ked as the cold water hit her
skin. He laughed and hvgged her to him.
When she looked up at him, he looked like a pla-yful
little boy. His crystal blue eyes were dancing. She realized
he was exactly like this in Alaska. This was Justin…
unrestrained.
“I missed you so much.” She leaned forward and
k!$$£d him on thel-ips.
“Really? What did you miss most about me?” he
asked.
She smiled. “Your eyes.”
“My eyes?” he echoed.
She nodded. “You always keep them hidden behind
those shades of yours. Your face looks expressionless,
sometimes, even cold. But your eyes are frequently dancing
with laughter. I love the way you can be so serious and yet
your eyes are very warm.”
“Really? You were the first one who’s noticed that.”
“Maybe I was the first one who looked at them very
closely.” She smiled.
“Indeed, you are.”
“You know… I was especially curious about the color
of your eyes. I have…” She remembered the novel that she
started writing after she moved into her ap@rtment. She
realized that she hadn’t thought it since she met Justin.
“What?” he asked.
She blu-shed and turned away. But Justin knew her
better.
He tilted her chin up. “What is it?”
She felt embarras-sed to admit this. But she realized
that she promised to trust him. And she should…no matter
how small or embarras-sing it could be.
“Well, you were a popular guy. My friends talk about
you all the time. I thought you were cute and all, but I never
fantasized about you. I just didn’t un-derstand why some
girls would lose their breaths at the sight of you. And then…I
discovered that you were my next-door neighbor. I grew
fascinated by you. I decided to see what the fuss was about.
I was… watching you sometimes…trying to see what you
were like.”
She stared back at him. She was watching if his
expression would show signs of panic. She was scared that
he would be screaming ‘Stalker Alert! Stalker Alert!’ inside
his head. But when she looked into his eyes, they were
dancing again.
She smiled shyly. “I started writing a novel. And…I
drew out the character after you.”
He raised a brow. “Really? What type of novel?”
She shrugged. “Historical r0m@nç£. You were a rogue
knight. For sure you were a rakehell.” She giggled.
He asked. “Was there a red-haired damsel in
distress?”
She stared back at him. His eyes were sparkling. She
nodded shyly.
“And how did that turn out?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I didn’t finish it yet.”
“Why?” he asked.
“I met you. And I haven’t written a single word on it
again.”
“How do you think that will end?” he asked. She
smiled because she felt that he actually seemed interested.
“I haven’t thought about it yet,” she said. “But I sure
hope it would end in happily ever after.”
He stared at her for a while and he sighed. Something
crossed his face. A thought, an expression. But he pu-ll-ed her
to him too fast, she wasn’t able to decipher it.
“I’m sure he would do everything he can to make sure
it ends that way.” He hvgged her to him ti-ghtly, keeping her
warm against the cold water pouring over their skin.
After the bath, Justin k!$$£d her softly on thel-ips and
then went out to answer the door.
She put on a fresh bathrobe and then towel-dried her
hair.
When she went out, Justin had just finished setting the
food he ordered from room service.
She realized that she didn’t have clothes to wear.
“Oh my God. I’m gonna have to go to Kim’s room after
all.”
“Why?”
“I don’t have clothes to wear, Justin.”
He went to her and wra-pped his arms around her
w@!st. Then he smiled mischievously. “You don’t nee-d any
tonight.”
She giggled. “Jus-tinn!”
He laughed. “Here.” He handed her a bag. “I had room
service deliver a fresh pair of un-derwear from their souvenir
shop. They’re dry cleaned alre-ady.”
“Really? They do it that fast?”
“Considering I tripled the price, I’m sure they would do
magic.”
He handed her a white long-sleeve shi-t from his
closet. “I hope you don’t mind wearing something of mine
tonight.” He smiled. “I’ll call the shop again to have a
bathing suit delivered up. Then tomorrow, I will go to your
room to get the rest of your stuff.”
“Thank you.” She headed to the bathroom to dress up.
Justin studied her from head to toe when she emerged
from the bathroom wearing his shi-t.
“I look okay?”
He pu-ll-ed her into his arms and k!$$£d her. “You’re a
fox.”
She smiled and k!$$£d him back. She realized she
missed hearing that line.
She laughed and k!$$£d him back. Then he said, “I’m
happy that you made a character out of me. To be honest
with you, I was watching you whenever I can, as well. I knew
you from blus-h. You were snobbish. I was intrigued. And
whenever you sat out on your balcony, it fascinated me to
see you lost in your thoughts. I saw you talking on the
phone and I couldn’t make out the expression on your face.
But now that I know you, I realized that during those times,
you were talking to your ex-b©yfri£ndor your mother.”
“You can see my frustration from afar?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t see your happiness. That’s why
I was so surprised to see you at Gypsys. Looking the way
you did. And God! You looked so h0t!”
“And I thought you wouldn’t even recognize me, or
remember me afterwards.”
He laughed. “I was… short of stalking you whenever
you’re at home, to be honest. That’s why it was so hilarious
when you introduced yourself as Jamila McBride. I alre-ady
knew a lot about you when I approached you that night.”
“That night changed my life. It changed the way I
looked at things. I got to appreciate myself more now.” She
looked at him. “Thank you, Justin Adams. For stepping into
my life…when I wasn’t even asking you to.”
He smiled. “And thank you, Adrienne Miller. For looking
at me in a different light.” He leaned forward and k!$$£d her
li-ps gently. Then he said, “Come. Dinner’s getting cold.”
After dinner, they sat on the balcony and drank some
beer.
“Tell me again what happened with your sister?”
“I c@m£ here to clear my mind. And to break up with
Troy. When I couldn’t find him in his room, I went back to
mine and Kim’s room. I found him there all right. Between
Kim’s legs.”
Justin stared at her for a while. “Can your sister do any
worse?” He shook his head. “Are you sure you have the
same genes?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know what I ever did to her.”
“And this Troy character? What a loser! I don’t
un-derstand what else he was looking for. He’s got you. And
you…are perfect just as you are.”
“No, I’m not. For him, I would be a disgrace to his
family. His brother married a h0tsh0t lawyer, and he
somehow couldn’t accept the fact that he, on the other
hand, will be marrying a vanity writer.”
Justin shook his head. “Why? Did he expect his wife to
make a living for him?”
“It was all ego for him.”
Justin took a de-ep breath. “If a person…had the right
to choose who he marries, he should marry for love. It’s a
privilege to be able to choose your own happiness. Doesn’t
he realize that? Not everything is about money and prestige.
I would rather be penniless and married to the girl of my
dreams.”
Adrienne smiled. “Your parents must have been so in
love with each other for you to think that way, in spite of
who you are.”
Justin looked away from her. It was a while before he
spoke. “My father has always been Jac Adams. He inherited
my grandfather’s empire. But he was married to a woman that he was excited to go home to. A woman he felt content
to be with…who stirred his blood, affected his s-en-ses, and
challenged his intelligence.”
“I’m sure they’re happy.”
Justin smiled and nodded. “Very. Every day I see them,
they still look like they were newlyweds. My father adores
my mother from head to foot.”
“Your mother…what does she do?”
“She c@m£ from a good family, too. She didn’t work a
day in her life.”
“By good, you mean…wealthy, powerful, decent.”
Justin took a de-ep breath. He nodded. “Heiress to one
of four companies her family owned. But she didn’t have
any interest in managing it. How could she be interested in
mining?”
“So what happened to her family’s business then?”
Justin gave her a serious look and then in a quiet voice
he said, “It bec@m£ p@rt of Adams Industries.”
“Your father acquired it?”
Justin nodded. “During that time, my father’s family
business was the biggest in the industry. Acquiring my
mother’s company made it even bigger.”
“Your parents must be really lucky to find each other.”
Justin sighed. “I don’t believe in luck. You want it, you
go for it.” His voice bec@m£ firm and sober.
Adrienne smiled. “No wonder you’re br@nded as the
rebellious heir of Adams Industries.”
He grinned at her. He reached out for her hand. “I
have a feeling I will always be.”
“If your parents are so in love with each other, how
come you were an only child?” she asked.
“When Jeffrey died, my mother didn’t take it well.
After a few years, they tried having another baby, they
just…couldn’t.”
Adrienne squee-zed his hand. “You would have been a
wonderful brother. You’re a wonderful cousin.”
“I always wondered what Jeffrey would be like. Would
he be as stubborn as I am? Would he defy Mom and Dad?
Would he like the same things that I do? Would he rather be
a businessman like I am now destined to be, or would he like
to be a lawyer or a doctor, instead?”
She reached out and squee-zed his hand again.
“You have a blessed life, Justin. You don’t know how
lucky you are. Maybe Jeffrey bec@m£ your guardian angel.
He would always look after you. Since you were the one who
lived, he made sure your life would be a blessed one.”
Justin stared at her eyes de-eply, and she thought she
saw a hint of tears in his eyes. He smiled and squee-zed her
hand back.
“I think you would have been better brothers than
Kimberly and I were sisters,” she added. “Our relationsh!pis
a pity, really. And worse, my parents didn’t do anything
about it. Somehow, I even think that the root of all this was
my mother. When we were young, Kim would always want
what was mine. No matter how cheap or shabby my little
toys were, if she saw that I am happy with it, she would
always try to get it from me. And my mother would always
take her side.” She looked at him. “I think Jeffrey would love
you more than his life. I think that he would always be there
for you. He would want what is best for you.”
Tears rolled down her face. Justin rose from his seat
and pu-ll-ed her up gently and enclosed her in his arms. Then
she lost it. She let him comfort her. She cried ha-rd and
hvgged him ti-ghtly. He didn’t say anything. He just allowed
her to cry. He ca-ressed her head while leaning a cheek
against her forehead. He let her pour it all out, but throu-gh
his embr@ce, he told her that he was there for her. That he
would catch her when she fell. That with him, she would
always be adored and appreciated.