all the wrong reasons Episode 32

?ALL THE WRONG REASONS?
?EPISODE THIRTY-TWO ?

Her mother was ecstatic when she got back.
“So, how did it go?”
Adrienne just smiled. She wanted to be honest, but she
didn’t really want to quash her mother’s hopes. Yes, her
stepmom still had that effect on her that she couldn’t help.
She just couldn’t stop plea-sing people.
“It’s…interesting. I haven’t met a guy like Justin
before.” She tried to sound enthusiastic. But it is true. That
guy was one of a kind.
Her mother’s eyes wi-dened. “Oh, sweetheart, I know.
He is adorable. His parents are so proud of him. Handsome
lad, too. I take it you would be having a date tonight again?”
“Mom, it’s not a date,” she said.
“But he asked you?” her mother insisted.
“Well…yeah, but…”
“Wonderful!” Her mother beamed.
“Mom…don’t get your hopes up. I said I will try to
make new friends. I’m not really up for finding a new
boyfriend.”
“You’ll never know. Justin is one of a kind.”
Adrienne laughed humorlessly. “I bet he is!” She didn’t
mean that in a good way. However, her mother was so
plea-sed, she just couldn’t break her heart too soon.
“Mom,” she began. “You know…my boyfriend’s name
was Justin, too.”
Her mother looked at her for a minute. Then she said,
“Ex-boyfriend. And I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know you still
love him. But I really hope you give yourself a chance to
meet other guys. If your boyfriend doesn’t come back to
you…I don’t want to see you miserable.”
“I’m giving myself a chance to make new friends,
Mom. That’s all I can promise you now.”
Her mother smiled. “Okay. I think once you spend
more time with Christine’s Justin, you two would hit it off
quic-kly. And you will soon forget about your ex-boyfriend,
Justin.”
Seriously doubt it!
Then she hu-gged her mom and went to her room.
She dialed Jin’s number.
“Hey, how’s my favorite sister doing?”
“Jin, I’m your only sister,” she reminded him.
“Oh! You’ll never know if we have extra siblings lying
around, you know,” he tea-sed. “So, what’s up?”
“I think Mom is trying to set me up with one of her
friends’ son.”
“Good luck with that,” he stated. “She tried with me.
Epic fail. She’s a R0m-n-ce novelist. She can’t help the
match-ma-king thing.”
“Now, I met one of her friend’s sons. He’s awful!”
“Really? Why’d you say that?”
“He’s egoistic and he’s a moron!” Adrienne gro-an ed.
“He even insulted me and made me pay for his coffee.”
“Wow! Douche!”
“Anyway, I don’t want to break Mom’s heart. I want to
show her that I at least tried. I did promise her that I would
try to be friends with her friends’ kids.”
“Okay, is this guy really that despicable you can’t
even be friends with him?”
“You haven’t met him, Jin. You would make him eat his
un-derwear if you did!”
Jin laughed. “Well, so what are you going to do?”
“The guy asked me to meet him at Rendezvous.”
Adrienne replied. “He wanted to keep up with the
appearances that we’re getting along just fine. Or at least
we tried, but it didn’t work out.”
“Why? Is he blind? Wasn’t he a little bit attra-cted to
you?”
“It doesn’t matter. Because I am not the least bit
attra-cted to him. I’m not looking for R0m-n-ce. My life is
complicated enough as it is now. I promised someb©dy I’d
wait for him. And until I’m sure he’s not coming back, I think
I’ll take my chances. And apparently, this guy only goes for
supermodels and hot heiresses and I didn’t make the cut.”
“Freaking crazy! Who’s this guy? I would like him to
meet my fist!” Jin said crossly. “Seriously, he said that to
you?”
Adrienne sighed. “Yes. But he’s not worth it. I just
nee-d to get throu-gh tonight and try not to kill myself.”
“All right. I’ll tell Tara to meet you there so you will
have company.”
“Hey! That’s a great idea. I seriously can’t be alone
with that guy.”
“It’s done, Yen,” Jin said. “Okay, I got to get back to
work.”
“See you later.”
That night, in spite of hating Justin J, the male who-re,
Adrienne refused to make him think she didn’t deserve to be
called Ariana Blanc’s daughter. So she dressed up in a
cla-ssy Christian Dior yellow co-cktail dress that ended above
her knees to show her flawless long legs. She tied her hair in
a bun and left some tendrils flowing around her face. She
went for a smoky-eyed look. Then she gr@bb£d her new
Hermes purse and sli-pped into a pair of yellow Jimmy Choos.
She smiled when she stared back at her reflection in
the mirror. She looked cla-ssy and posh all right. That
morning she wasn’t even wearing any makeup. Now, that
moron couldn’t bring her down or ridicule her at her family’s
expense. But she swore, she would never see him again.
Except during family gatherings where he would be on the
guest list and on those occasions, she would try her best to
ignore him.
Her mother was more than plea-sed with her look
when she waved goodbye to her and got inside their
chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce.
Tara met her at Rendezvous.
“Wow!” She beamed. “You look gorgeous!” She ki-ssed
her on the cheek.
They sat on the VIP lounge that has a view of the
dance floor. Mac arrived a few minutes later and joined
them.
“Jin told us you have a predicament,” Mac said.
Adrienne sighed. “Yep. I’m meeting Neanderthal 1-9-8-
9 here in a few minutes.”
“Seriously? Your mother really thought you should be
set up? Like hasn’t she seen her daughter yet?” Tara asked.
“It’s not just about setting me up with guys. She
thought she’s trying to help me get over my breakup with
my boyfriend and at the same time hooking me up with
someb©dy whose family is dear to her.”
“You just broke up with your boyfriend?”
Adrienne nodded. She was again reminded of the fact
that she hasn’t heard from Justin in about ten days and she
had no idea what he’d been doing. She hoped he was all
right and at least his mother was doing fine. She wanted to
hope that he’s managing to convince his family to let him go
so he could come back to her. Maybe now, when they find
out who she really was, they wouldn’t feel so bad about
Justin marrying someb©dy other than his designated
fiancée.
“It’s complicated,” she said. “He was previously
engaged. I didn’t know.”
“He didn’t tell you?” Tara asked.
“Like he cheated on his fiancée?” Mac asked.
“Not really. He was arranged to be married to some
girl he hasn’t met yet and then he met me. He didn’t want
to marry her anymore.”
“So, what happened? He still married her?”
Adrienne shook her head. “No. But I let him go.”
“Do you love him?”
Adrienne heaved a sigh. “Yes. In this life, even up to
the next life.”
“Did he let you go?” Tara asked.
Adrienne shook her head.
“Then why didn’t you fight for him?”
“Sometimes, I wonder the same thing,” she admitted.
“But his parents disowned him after he chose me. I couldn’t
let him go throu-gh that. His family seemed too important to
him. I can’t compete with that.”
“I hate it when parents do that,” Tara said. She
intertwined her fin-gers with Mac’s. “Fortunately for you, my
father adores you,” she said to him and ki-ssed his cheek.
They were interrupted by someb©dy who sat on the
empty chair opposite Adrienne.
“I hate falling in line,” Justin J. said. “Seriously! This
place should have like a barcode for people with face
value.”
Tara and Mac stared at Adrienne with raised brows.
“Yep. Meet N-1-9-8-9,” she said to them.
“What does the N stand for?” Justin J. asked.
“Noteworthy? Naturally hot?” He grinned at Adrienne. She
realized that he was no longer wearing those weird electric
blue contacts and his eyes were actually gray.
“Try the French word, nulle!” Tara said, raising a brow
at him. “It means cra-ppy in English!”
Justin looked at her for a second then at Adrienne.
“Seriously, who is this chick?”
“Careful there, chief,” Adrienne said with a warning on
her voice. “She actually owns the place and could have you
kicked out and banned for life.”
Tara smiled at him for a second then she switched it to
a look of warning.
Justin dismissed Tara and looked at Adrienne. “Glad to
see you dressed up for me, babe,” he said. “You can be pretty hot if you make an effort, you know.”
Adrienne saw Mac grip Tara’s hand ti-ghter, as if he,
too, was re-sisting the urge to put a shiner on N-1-9-8-9’s
face.
A waitress went to their table to take their order.
“I don’t usually drink, but what the hell, I think I nee-d
a daiquiri!” Adrienne said.
Tara ordered a margarita, and Mac said he wanted a
beer.
The waitress turned to Justin J. He was ogling at her,
literally staring at her big bo-obs and long legs. “Damn! Are
you on the menu?” he asked her.
The waitress just smiled at him coyly.
Justin J. li-cked his upperl-ip and said, “Could you give
me a bl-ow Job?”
Adrienne’s eyes wi-dened. “You pervert!” she said
crossly, unable to stop herself.
Justin J. stared back at Adrienne, raising a brow.
“What? I meant the shooter. You know? Irish liquor mixed
drink? Haven’t you heard about that before?”
Adrienne bit herl-ip in embarra-ssment. Tara turned
away from Justin J. so he wouldn’t see that she was
suppressing her laughter.
“I sure will,” the waitress said. Then she left. After a
few minutes, she was back with their orders.
“Anything else?” she asked them.
“Maybe when you get off work, you and I can have
some s-x on the Beach,” Justin J. said to her.
The waitress just giggled and then she left.
Adrienne glared at him. “What? Don’t tell me you
don’t know that s-x on the Beach is a mixed drink, either?”
he asked her, giving her an innocent look.
“You think you’re very funny, don’t you, you little
piece of Gorilla Fart?” she asked him angrily, trying to turn
his joke on him.
Mac and Tara actually laughed this time.
N-1-9-8-9 gave her a dazzling smile. “Ahhh… she is
smart,” he said. “And nope, I’m not funny. I just think I’m a
little too hot.”
Mac took a gulp of his beer. “Left fist or right fist,
Yenny. Just say the word and I’ll give it to him,” he offered.
Justin took his drink with him and stood up. “You are
such a bore. I’m gonna find myself a good time.” He stood
up and left. It was only then that Adrienne noticed what he
was wearing. Gold baggy pa-nts, over very ti-ght fitting black
shirt and again… suspenders.
Seriously? Gold?
Seriously? Suspenders?
When he left Tara stared at Adrienne. “What the hell
was that creature?” she asked. “Really? Your mother thought
you would hook up with that?”
“Yep.” Adrienne nodded. “I don’t think I could even be
friends with him.”
“You have to get out of this,” Tara said. “We’ll tell Jin!
We nee-d to convince Ariana that she could not do this to her
daughter.”
“Guys, don’t…tell every detail to Jin, okay?” Adrienne
said. “This guy is an ape, I know. But Jin is becoming
overprotective of me. If he finds out how this guy treated
me, he might just give him a swing of his fist. And I don’t
want to break our parents’ friendship because of that. I just
came here two weeks ago.”
“Yeah, we were wondering about that,” Mac revealed.
“Jin never mentioned you before. How come?”
Adrienne didn’t know whether Jin really want to
disclose the very small details about their family. “Well, Jin is
my half-brother. I’m not a Starck. I lived with my Dad ever
since I was a kid.”
“Oh, that’s why,” Tara said.
They spent the night talking, listening to the music
and watching the interesting patrons on the dance floor.
Adrienne thought she was actually having a great time. Tara and Mac didn’t leave her side. Maybe they’re just afraid
Neanderthal would come and hara-ss her when she’s alone.
She is after all wearing a Sk-irt! And he looked like a guy who
would hit on anything that is wearing one.
Adrienne saw Justin J. on the dance floor. He was dirty
dancing with a girl. She watched him grind his crotch to the
girl’s behind, like he was alre-ady humping her with clothes
on. The girl was happily twer-king her a-ss against him. Then
he gripped her to him, pu-lling her by the wai-stand nuzzled
her ne-ck. He was even casually tou-ching her bo-obs. And she
seemed to be liking it.
“Unbelievable!” Tara said behind Adrienne. Obviously,
she was watching him, too.
“Your mother is really thinking this a-ss-wipe is
boyfriend material? Are you seeing what he’s doing to that
girl?” Mac asked.
“Yeah. And he claims he has a lingerie model locked
up in his hotel room.”
“a-sshole!” Tara muttered. “If you don’t have a ride
home, we’re taking you. You cannot even hitch a ride home
with that guy!”
“I don’t intend to,” Adrienne said.
She looked at the dance floor with all the couples
dancing and she remembered the first night she met Justin
Adams. He didn’t grope her like N-1-9-8-9 did to that girl
he’s dancing with. Justin Flir-ted with her, yes. But he never
disrespected her or hara-ssed her. And he always knew the
smartest things to say. He was breathtaking and swoon-
worthy.
If Justin’s fiancée met him, Adrienne doubted she
would want to break off the engagement and let him go.
Who wouldn’t fall in love with him?
She stared at her phone again. Still no word from him.
And in a way, she felt glad. Because she knew that the
minute she heard from him, she would tell him everything
that’s going on in her life and that would make him turn around and take the next flight to Paris. She knew he would.
No doubt about that.
But he shouldn’t do that. He should be somewhere in
the States, trying to get to know his fiancée better. Trying to
see what his other future had in sto-re for him. And hopefully
after that, trying to convince his parents that it would never
work out between the two of them. Because after all his
efforts, after all the tries…his heart still belonged to her.
It was two in the morning when Tara and Mac decided
to drive Adrienne home. They took her to the pri-vate
entrance out to where Mac’s car was.
On the way out, they saw a couple ma-king out near
the door. When Adrienne looked, she saw Justin J. with a girl
wra-pped around him.
“Hey! You should take this somewhere pri-vate!” Mac
said crossly. “This is a high-end club. We don’t tolerate
public s-x here.”
Justin J., the Neanderthal looked up and saw Adrienne.
He released the girl.
“Are you re-ady to go?” he asked.
“Yes. But don’t bother yourself. My friends are taking
me home.”
“Oh, good,” he said and then put his arms around the
girl he was ma-king out with. Then he turned to Adrienne
again. “By the way, if your Mom asked, tell her we had a
great time.”
Adrienne rolled her eyes. “I’ll tell her what a pervert
you are!”
“Come on, babe,” he said. “You don’t really like me. So
why not just tell her we had a great time, but wrong
chemistry?” He smiled at her sweetly.
Adrienne took a de-ep breath. “You’re probably right.
Anyway, be safe.” And she turned towards Mac’s car.
“Oh my God! I hope your mother never insists that
you see that guy again!” Tara said when they got inside the
car.
“Despicable, isn’t he?” Adrienne sighed.
“He’s actually quite funny,” Mac observed.
“Really? Then maybe you have a better s-ense of
humor than me,” Adrienne said.
“Well, you’re not really willing to get together with
him. You wouldn’t want to like him regardless of whether
he’s great or not. So just laugh at his antics. He alre-ady
knows you’re not each other’s types.”
“He’s right. Because apparently, he only hooks up
with the easy ones,” Tara agreed. “Let it go, hon. If your
mother really wants you to meet boys, who come from rich
families, are good-looking and smart, we could help you
with that.”
“No thanks,” Adrienne said. “I sort of told my
boyfriend… I’ll wait for a while for him to set things right.”
“And you believed he would?” Mac asked.
Adrienne sighed. “He would,” she said. Then in a sad
voice, she added, “If he could.”

shebe u dey smile now??