C H A P T E R 3 4
?The best things happen unexpectedly.?
It took me some time before I snapped back to the present and looked around the dark van. The windows were tinted black and it felt like I was being kidnapped all over again.
I felt a presence next to me and turned my head to see a heavily built man. I hadn't seen the man before and didn't know who he was. He was probably the one who pulled me into the van.
Right in front of me was another person. I noticed it was a female. She was typing away something on her phone, barely acknowledging my presence.
Just as I was about to speak, or yell for help, she put her phone down and grinned down at me.
"Hi, you must be Julie James, am I right?" She asked. I was dumbfounded. She knew who I really was? But I didn't know her at all.
I hesitated before responding. "No."
She waved a hand in the air. "Don't bother lying to me, please. I very well know you are Julie James."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Amelia! Didn't Heather say anything about me?
" She asked, extending a hand to me. I stared at it before she sighed and grabbed mine.
"It's called a handshake." She explained, shaking my hand firmly before letting it drop limply at my side.
"Anyways, if she hasn't told you, I'll tell you.
I'm Amelia Harris, Tristan's little sister.
I know you know Tristan. I'm also Heather and Juliet's best friend. "
"Okay, but why did you pull me into this van?" I asked, looking at the man seated next to me. He was dressed in a black bodyguard suit and now that I really looked at him, he looked a little scary. "Why are you even here?"
"Well, when Heather reached the mansion and asked for you, your friend there what's-her-face told us you had gone to a local park about half an hour ago and you said you'd return in twenty minutes.
Heather, being the one to take care of things before it ruined anything told me to get you.
Were you trying to run away, little miss Julie James?
" She scrutinized me with her captivating eyes.
My hands started to feel clammy. I had indeed attempted to run away.
"N-no."
"Oh really? Then you just randomly decided to sprint out of the park opposite in the direction of your car?"
I sighed. "Fine. I did try to run away but I stopped. I didn't want to leave my friend alone there. I swear I'm not going to run away again." I really hoped that she believed me because if not, Heather was definitely going to give me an earful.
"You better not." Then she smiled at me. "God, Heather made me ditch this party I was invited to just to go after you. The food at the mansion better be good to make it up to me for that. I'm famished. It's almost dinner time. Let's go!"
She turned to her driver. "Frankie, drive to the Jenson mansion. And Timmy," She said, turning to look at the man sat next to me. "Call her driver and tell her that she's going with me."
She sat back before popping a pair of ear buds in her ears and blasting music on so loud that even I could hear it. She closed her eyes. "Wake me up when we get there."
I didn't know what to do. The man sat next to me stared straight ahead after making the call. So I just settled with looking out the tinted windows.
We were ushered in once the van pulled up in the driveway.
"Hi, Juliet," Heather smiled tightly at me, pulling me in for a hug which was a little too tight. "You had me waiting for you for a long time."
"Yeah, sorry about that. I just got lost in thought at the park." We pulled away and I could feel her suspicious eyes on me.
"Sure," she shrugged, sounding sarcastic.
Once we were out of earshot from everyone, Heather turned to me with furious eyes.
"Calm down, Heather. She didn't try to run away. I just saw her in the park, sitting alone." Amelia, whose presence I just noticed, said, putting a hand on Heather's shoulder. I was shocked. I had tried to run away. So why was she saving me from Heather's wrath? Why was she helping me?
"You sure you aren't lying?" Heather asked her with narrowed eyes.
Amelia put a hand over her heart. "You don't trust me? I'm hurt!"
She rolled her eyes. "Stop the drama. But if you say so, fine. But don't try and be smart, Julie. You can't get out of here even if you tried. I'll find you in a heartbeat."
I gulped and nodded. "I understand. And I didn't try to run away."
"You better," Heather said and walked off.
"Phew! She can be a little intense at times. And a little scary too," Amelia said, watching her retreating back.
"Yeah. Amelia, thanks for saving me." I turned to her with grateful eyes.
She shrugged. "No big deal, bestie."
Amelia seemed like a cheerful woman, always happy. She had short brunette hair with hypnotizing blue eyes, so captivating and gorgeous.
She was a lot taller than Heather and I. I think she was the tallest woman I'd met here.
"Come on, everybody must be waiting at the dinner table! I'm so hungry, I could eat a few cows."
I smiled at her although she didn't see it. Maybe she'd help me too, just in a lot more friendly and supporting way than Heather would.
Sure enough, everybody was already seated in their places at the dinner table.
Aromas of the many dishes that had been prepared for the guests wafted throughout the room making my stomach grumble.
I think I even heard Amelia's stomach grumble twice or thrice.
She didn't seem like she was embarrassed by it like I was.
We washed our hands and took seats beside each other. The room was filled with lively chatter and laughter between the people. It seemed a lot more crowded now. There were six people in addition to our usual five. There were Rachael and Rebecca, Antonio, Heather, Tristan and of course, Amelia.
Heather and Ethan were sat together, Mr. And Mrs. Jenson were sat together too.
I had Rebecca on my other side and Rachael next to her.
Antonio and Amelia were engaged in a conversation about cars and Olivia and Tristan were surprisingly talking to each other without Olivia making a face that would suggest she didn't like Tristan's company.
I think Tristan took me up on my advise and stopped pretending to be a perverted jerk.
He was a really sweet person and any girl would be the luckiest to have him.
I was feeling a little left out but that soon disappeared when food was laid out in front of me. I was glad no one was talking to me because I liked to eat my food in silence so as to savor its taste fully.
"Oh my God! This food is amazing!" Amelia exclaimed. "Who's your cook, Mrs. Jenson? I would like to marry him." She joked.
Mrs. Jenson laughed. "Keith cooked this along with the other cooks. I knew from the start that there was magic in his hands."
Amelia nodded. "I agree."
"He really does cook brilliantly. I even asked him to teach me and we make different dishes almost everyday," I added.
"You cook? Wow Juliet, this is amazing. I guess two years out of here did you good." Amelia said and I hesitated in answering her. The atmosphere suddenly turned tense and silence settled over everyone.
I looked over at Mr. and Mrs. Jenson and they looked a little hurt.
Amelia realized this and quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
"N-not that I mean that she did good by running away.
It was very wrong of her. I j-just meant that she got loads better by running away. ..no, shit that sounded wrong-"
"Oh, it wasn't any good. I was so stupid to run away!
My eighteen year old mind was messed up and I was such a spoilt brat!
It was so childish of me," I intercepted Amelia's terrible attempt to explain herself.
"Oh pass me that salt. No matter how much Keith is good at cooking, he always manages to get the quantity of salt wrong, at least for me," I lied.
Keith was an excellent cook and knew just the right quantity to be added.
Ethan passed me the salt, well aware of the subject change I was desperately trying to make.
"Really? It feels alright to me. I mean it tastes alright to me but I wouldn't know. I'm terrible at cooking and can't even tell if the salt's right in a dish," Rachael said.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah." And then Rachael launched herself into one of her many kitchen disasters.
I was happy the subject was changed swiftly. Beside me, Amelia looked sad with her head hung low. She didn't try and make conversations with anyone after that. I knew she didn't mean what she sounded like in her words. Mr. and Mrs. Jenson looked like they had forgotten the topic long ago.
I caught Amelia's gaze once and smiled reassuringly at her. "Guess you won't be doing all the saving after all," I whispered to her and she smiled back.
"Thank you."
"No big deal, bestie."
I had fallen into a peaceful, dreamless slumber when suddenly the sheets around me were snatched off leaving me in my shorts and tank top that exposed my arms and legs. The air was chilly and it instantly caused goosebumps to adorn my skin.
I blinked open my eyes, groaning when bright light came in my vision.
"What is it?" I asked to the ten figures towering over me.
"Happy twentieth birthday, Juliet!" Everyone exclaimed in unison.
By now I was fully awake. "Thank you." I said a few moments too late, a little disoriented from suddenly waking up and waiting for my vision to settle.
Instantly I was drowned in warm and tight hugs. I didn't even get time to see who was hugging me before I was pulled into another pair of arms. I did notice Ethan's hesitance though but he finally leaned down and gave me an awkward half hug and stepped back just as quickly.
I glanced at my bedside alarm clock and it was twelve-six in the morning.
All of them were present in my room to wish me a happy fake birthday, the surprising thing being that it was my real birthday as well.
After that all of them started to pour out of my room slowly.
Antonio ruffled my hair before going and Rachael hugged me once more.
I gave Rebecca a kiss on the cheek. I hadn't expected her to wish me at twelve but I was glad.
My parents kissed my forehead before they retreated back into their room. Ethan was already long gone.
Now it was only Olivia, Amelia and Heather in my room.
"I didn't wish you a happy birthday because it's not your birthday," Heather said with a blank face. "I already wished my real best friend right at twelve."
"Okay," I said awkwardly. Why was she telling me this?
"Well, it might interest you to know that Julie's real birthday is today too and I wished her a happy birthday for her real one, not her fake one," Olivia retorted, "right at twelve." I was starting to think she wasn't much fond of Heather.
Heather looked surprised for a moment before quickly composing herself. "Oh, I didn't know that."
"What?" Amelia squealed. "Today is your real birthday too?"
I nodded and suddenly Amelia had her arms wrapped around me for the second time.
"Happy birthday, Julie!" She said enthusiastically and I chuckled.
"Thank you."
Amelia quickly stepped back and nudged Heather's shoulder. "Go on. Wish her! It's her real birthday today."
Heather groaned but reluctantly looked my way. "Happy birthday, I guess."
"Thank you."
"Oh my God. Are you and Juliet, like, twins or something?" Amelia questioned, her big blue eyes staring at me in wonder. "You have similar names, identical looks and same birth date!"
"That's ridiculous!" Heather cut in. "Juliet doesn't have a twin sister."
"Are you sure?" Amelia asked. "What if she kept that thing from us?"
"Juliet would never do that. She would've told us. And it makes no sense either. Julie is a commoner. If she was Juliet's twin sister, why would she not be with us? Why would she work as a waiter in a small café? No offence, Julie."
"None taken," I shrugged.
"But-"
"Enough, Amelia. Julie and Juliet are not related. This is just a twisted coincidence. That's all that it is," Heather said. "Goodnight Julie."
With that she dragged a befuddled Amelia behind her.
"I'm really starting to hate Heather," Olivia mumbled.
"Let's just get some sleep." I suggested and Olivia complied.
Once again I was alone in my room. I couldn't help but think about Amelia's words. Could it be that we are twins?
But then Heather's words sounded in my head and any thought of I being Juliet's sister got dismissed.
I was not her sister.
Switching off the lights, I got under the sheets and let sleep take over me.
There was a light knock on my bedroom door. At first I wasn't sure if it was a knock but then it got louder and more incessant.
Popping an eye open, I looked at my alarm clock in disbelief as the number 4:12 in the morning stared back at me.
I was woken up four hours ago! Wasn't that enough for them? Why do they have to wake me up again? What now, they wanted to wish me because it was Juliet's time of birth?
Rolling on my side, I sluggishly dragged myself towards the door. At least they had the decency to knock this time.
Opening the door, I squinted in the dark hallway at the figure peering down at me.
Ethan.
"What are you doing here this early?" I asked, my voice sounding hoarse from sleep.
"I want to take you somewhere," I couldn't see his face due to the darkness.
"Where?" I asked in confusion.
"You'll know as soon as we get there."
"No," I said sternly. "I want to sleep."
"I was not giving you a choice. I'm telling you to come with me. Just put on a sweater and meet me in the parking space in five minutes. If you don't show up, I'll drag you there myself." With that, he turned around and started walking away.
I protested after him but he didn't listen. I debated whether to just lock myself in my room and go to sleep but then I remembered there was an extra set of keys to my room and he could drag me out there.
Sighing I pulled a wooly sweater out of the closet and put it on. Combing my hair a little, I left it down on my back because it was still a little cold. I brushed my teeth and exited my room. I was pretty sure I exceeded five minutes and he might be on his way to drag me out to the parking space.
The mansion was silent. The living room lights were still on but no one was around. Being the only one awake and alone in this big mansion was starting to scare me so I quickly ran out of there.
There was a car waiting for me in the driveway. I bent forward and sure enough Ethan was sat in the driver's seat with his head resting on the window. He had his eyes closed.
I quietly opened the car door and slid in next to him. He still didn't wake up. Great. He woke me up and demanded me to come down and now he was the one sleeping. I poked his cheek and his eyes immediately shot open. He glanced over at me.
"Don't ever do that again," He warned, starting up the car. I closed the car door.
"I'll think about it. So where are we going?"
"If you remember our childhood days, the days before we became...uh, sworn enemies then you would know where I'm taking you."
Uh oh. "I don't remember."
"Ow. I'm hurt." He said plainly.
I smiled at him. "You once said that I can't hurt you in any other way, other than physically."
He didn't reply and I leaned back in my seat, searching for clues as to where he was taking me.
"Wait!" I jolted upright. "Are you sure Heather would be okay with this?"
He looked confused for a moment. "Why wouldn't she be?"
"Well, with her being your girlfriend and all. What if she doesn't like this, you taking me out at four in the morning?"
"Oh, that. Don't worry. She trusts us both."
"How can you be so sure? No, take me back right now. I don't want any troubles with Heather."
"Relax. She won't eat you. And I told you it's fine with her. And anyways I'm not going to turn this car back around. We're almost there anyways."
"Okay, if you say so."
I turned around to stare out the window. I noticed that we were going away from the city. The road was starting to get grassy and buildings lessened as we drove away from the city.
I didn't know why Ethan had said that we were almost there because when we really did reach wherever that he wanted me to take, we reached there half an hour later.
I stepped out of the car, seeing nothing ahead. The darkness didn't help either. It was pitch black around and the only thing giving off light were the car's headlights.
"Where have you brought me?" I asked, walking forward.
"I'm surprised you don't remember." Ethan said quietly from behind me.
"Well..." I trailed off, wracking my brain for a suitable response. "It has been quite a while. And it would help if there was lighting around. I can barely see anything!"
"Be careful!" Ethan vociferated, grabbing my arm and pulling me back and into his chest.
I noticed I was about to step on a steep slope that would've sent me slipping into the unknown.
"Sorry," I breathed out.
Ethan guided me, not leaving my hand.
When we had walked a little further, I began to see specks to lighting and stood on my toes to get a better view.
I gasped as I saw what was actually there. We were on top of a precipice with the most stunning view in front of our eyes.
The whole city smiled up at me with it's twinkling lights. I was surprised so many people were up so early. It was only five in the morning. This was my usual wake up time back home and it felt different to be up at this hour now.
I could see the cars driving on the roads and I could see all the lights lit in apartments.
It literally felt like I was on top of the world.
"It's so beautiful," I whispered.
"Yes. You remember we both found out this place one day when the driver forgot the way back home from God knows what?"
"Yeah." I said, not knowing what else to say.
"And then we found this place and decided to come here together whenever we wanted to."
"Yeah. But why did you bring me here?"
Ethan shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought I should, now that today is your birthday."
"Thank you. I had almost forgotten about this place." I walked a bit further and sat down on a flat rock.
"Come, sit with me," I gestured for Ethan to come.
"We really shouldn't. There might be snakes here." He looked around to search for those creatures.
"Just for a little bit."
Ethan hesitated but finally sighed and walked over to where I was sitting.
"Sit down," I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him down as he was just standing there staring down at me.
Ethan looked around for snakes and insects but settled after some time. He still looked uncomfortable though and I resisted the urge to laugh at him.
"Have you ever being here without me?" I asked, staring at the city lights and the stars above.
"A few times after you ran away." He confessed, his eyes also trained on the view in front of us.
I nodded. "Oh."
"How did it feel like?" He whispered. I almost didn't hear him.
"Did what feel like?"
"You know, running away. From all of this. Your family. Your old life."
"Uh, it felt different. I-I wasn't used to such life. I missed my parents terribly at first and wanted to come back as soon as I left. But something stopped me. And then it was just a stupid but a nice change. If I wouldn't have liked it out there I would've came back a long time ago."
He nodded.
"Your little stunt now makes me want to try it too."
"What?" I snorted. "You sure you can survive without all your work?"
Ethan pretended to think about it. "No, I don't think so. Damn, it would be a bad idea." We both burst out laughing.
"Just what I thought. Don't try to run away. It would break your parents' heart," I said seriously.
"I won't," he promised, making me smile.
We were caught in a trance, staring at each other. It seemed as if we had been staring at each other for hours.
Very slowly, I wasn't even sure if he moved but we were suddenly leaning towards each other. Our breaths mingled together and I felt my heart starting to race.
His eyes flickered to my lips before he softly bit on his bottom lip. We were impossibly close by now and I didn't know what I was doing or what I should do.
Suddenly, as if he came back to his senses, he quickly withdrew his face from me. I gasped softly at his sudden movement. For a moment, I couldn't react.
What the hell just happened?
Ethan was avoiding eye contact with me and he seemed a little pissed off.
An awkward silence settled between us and I badly wanted to escape the situation. He wasn't helping either with him staring ahead at the sunrise.
Racking my brain for something to say, I came up with the only thing I was sure would break the ice between us.
"Oh my God! There's a snake, right there!" I shrieked.
The reaction was instantaneous. Ethan sprung up, grabbing my hand and pulling me up with him. He pushed me behind his back and started backing away.
"Where? Where?" He asked, frantically looking around for the serpent.
I burst out laughing at his face, which was priceless.
Catching up on my prank, Ethan huffed and stomped towards the car.
"You coming or am I going to have to leave you here? I wouldn't mind that actually," he said.
I rolled my eyes at him, took a last view of the sunrise and made my way back to him.