She turned to me and said, “When you see him later, do you intend to say hi?”
That was a strange question. “Why not?” I responded.
She shrugged. “Have you ever considered why they’re all in J City, but they lie to you about being in M Country?”
“Maybe they don’t want me to worry!”
“If that’s the case, what do you think their reaction would be when you appear out of the blue? I have an idea. Would you care to listen?”
“What do you have in mind?”
Stacey sat up straight and faced me. “You’ll see them tonight, but don’t go up to them first. Wait until tomorrow. I’m taking you somewhere to have the whole story sorted, and then we’ll deal with this calmly, alright?”
I was taken aback by what she said. It felt like she had overestimated the seriousness of the matter. I wanted to ask for more information but she silenced me. “Look, there they are!”
I looked in the direction she was pointing and saw two men, both about six feet tall, pushing a stroller as they talked.
There was some distance between us and them. I was a bit short-sighted anyway, so I could not make out exactly who they were but based on their silhouettes I could tell they were Nick and Jackson.
I really wanted to go over and talked to them, but Stacey stopped me. She urged me to call them on the phone first.
Alarmed, I took out of my phone. The screen showed some more missed calls from Ashton.
I had set my phone to silent mode after getting off the plane and since then I had not had the time to look at it.
“Didn’t you tell Mr. Fuller that you’re coming?” She said hesitantly after taking a peek at the number of missed calls on my phone screen.
I nodded. I looked through the contacts for Jackson’s phone and dialed his number.
Before long, the call went through to Jackson’s phone. From a distance, I watched him hesitate to pick it up. Nick muttered something to him, and after that, he answered the call.
“Scarlett, how’s it going?” Jackson answered the call.
I lowered my voice and said, “Hi, Jackson. Where are you? I’m coming to J City in a few days and I’m wondering if you’d like to visit as well. We can celebrate the new year together in J City. What do you think?”
There was silence at first, and then he said, “Hi, Scarlett. I’m afraid we can’t go. We’re still in M Country at the moment. It’s cold here. It’s not good for the baby, traveling back and forth. Maybe after the celebration, when it gets warmer. Then we can go back to see you.”
I watched as the man standing not far away fed me with lies. The feeling was unbearable. Why is he lying to me? If I had not come here and see them with my own eyes, I would think they were in M Country.
Pushing aside the disappointment, I asked, “What about Macy? How’s she doing these days?”
From afar, I saw Jackson exchange glances with Nick. There was a moment’s silence again, before he said, “She’s at home. I’m outside right now and, if you don’t mind, I have stuff to do. I’m hanging up. See you.”
Afterwards, he ended the call without waiting for me to finish what I had to say.
I was stunned for a while as I watched them walk further away, pushing the stroller ahead of them and talking between themselves.
If Stacey had not stopped me, I would have run up to them and demanded to know why he lied to me.
It was sometime later when I finally calmed down. I took a deep breath and turned to Stacey. “So, what did you find? Lay it on me.”
After everything that had happened, I was confident that I could accept whatever would come my way. I had lost my baby, my relationship with Ashton had hit the rocks, and the same had gone to Rebecca.
Things are actually going quite well!
She looked me straight in the eyes and pursed her lips. “I suggest you give Mr. Fuller a call first. There are about one hundred missed calls from him. He must be worried sick about you!”
I got annoyed. Ashton happened to be calling me again when I peeked at my phone. In cases like this one, a fight would most likely ensue if I take the call.
I chose to turn it off. Then I looked at Stacey and asked, “Is your place far away from here?”
She replied with a shrug, “It’s around here. I originally planned to return to my hometown for the new year. How’s this? Tomorrow, I shall take you to that place I’ve been talking about, and after you get that sorted out, I’ll make my way home. I heard that the Stovall family in K City is planning to add you to their family register. If things work out, you’ll have a lot on your plate.”
I was not one who liked to get to the root of whatever we were dealing with. Since she had made all the arrangements, I would not want to interfere. Ashton’s calls kept coming. I spoke to Stacey for the final time that night, “Alright. I’ll head back first. See you tomorrow!”
She nodded as she got out her car key from her handbag. “That’s that, then. I’ll pick you up tomorrow!”
“Right!”
After we separated, I went straight to the Glenwood residential area. It had been a rough day. I did not have the energy to go all the way to the villa at Peakville Estate.
There was no one there waiting for me. The emptiness would be unbearable if I stayed there alone.
When I got back, I received another call from Ashton’s phone. This time, I answered it. “What’s up?” I said.
“Scarlett, where are you?” Is that Joe?
He startled me. I asked, “What’s the matter? Is something wrong?”
“Scarlett, can you come to Joy Luck Boutique? Ashton needs a pickup. He’s had one pint too many. Jared and I can’t do anything to stop him. Can you come over and take him home?”
It was rather noisy on Joe’s side. From what I could hear, they must be at a bar.
I pressed my lips and, over the phone, turned down the man’s request. “You can wait for him to blackout, then bring him back. I’m not at home right now. I can’t go there!”
