82 Chapter 82 - Girls like you

"Baby, come sit near me." Jennifer's mother turned her head towards a stool near her asking Jennifer to come and sit with her. Jennifer came happily. She was also looking for a way to start the conversation and she was more than happy to see her mother trying to talk to her. At least she knew her mother wasn't mad at her. Though honestly, she expected her to be. She wanted her to be breathing fire down her throat when she came.

On the contrary, her mother was calm and happy to see her. This made Jennifer feel guilty. "So how have you been these past days?" Her mother asked. "Good. Good." Jennifer vigorously nodded as she snapped out of her thoughts. Mrs. Williams looked at Jennifer asking her to elaborate but Jennifer didn't know how to say that without bursting Adrian's secret. She had to very careful with the details she could tell. Adrian and the den were at stake.

"Sorry mom. I'm lying to you." Jennifer bit her bottom lip as she made a fake story in her mind. "These past days, I've been staying at a friend's house. The first night when I ran, that night I spent on the street but next morning, my friend took me in. I've been with him since then. He only convinced me to come home and talk to dad." Jennifer said. She wasn't able to make an eye contact with her mother.

She met her after so long and she was lying, straight to her face. "Jennifer, who is he?" this question of her mother filled Jennifer's heart with fear. Whose name could she take without bursting the secret. Thousands of names crossed her mind. Darius. Kurt. Adrian. James. Joseph. Oh yes! Joseph Strokes was perfect. He was rich and close to her. Plus, he would keep the secret.

"I mean, I just wanted to thank him for taking care of you all this time." Jennifer's mother said, a little perturbed when she noticed Jennifer didn't reply to her. "Oh mom. He is Joseph Strokes, the guy dad fixed my engagement with." Jennifer said laughing off the awkwardness between them. "He felt like this all was somehow his mistake. Like, he knew I wouldn't want to marry him and that's why he felt like he should apologize for agreeing to the marriage without asking for my consent. That is why he let me live in his house."

After Jennifer gave a full explanation of her stay away from home, Mrs. Williams was fully satisfied, knowing that her daughter had three meals a day. Took a bath everyday. Went to sleep on a bed everyday. They both had been talking for an hour now, when Mr. Williams returned from the company. He looked tired. "How long have you been talking to her? The doctor told you to take rest. You should listen to him. She is not going anywhere. Talk to her all you want but first sleep." He instantly tucked her into bed and motioned Jennifer to go outside the room so that her mother could rest.

Jennifer was also worried about her mother's health. Her voice was so frail that each word that she said stuck to Jennifer like a dagger. She couldn't help but feel guilty for her miserable state. It feels so bad when you hurt someone you love. Intentionally or unintentionally, the wounds caused by loved ones don't heal with time. They don't heal at all. Jennifer wasn't sure at what time would her mother forget the anguish she felt when Jennifer ran away. She wasn't sure if her mother would actually forgive her at all. Truthfully, she couldn't forgive herself. She hurt her. She lied to her. What worse could she do to her own mother. If somebody had done something like this to her, she would have never talked to him in a lifetime.

Jennifer's guilt was eating her insides, painfully when she saw her father emerge out of the hospital room. He walked towards her and said, "Go home. It's already late. You have to go to school tomorrow. I will not be coming home until your mom gets discharged. Have dinner and don't wait for us." He kissed Jennifer good night and sent her off in his car. Jennifer saw the city blur past as the car moved in the familiar direction once again. It felt awkward. Going home in her own car again. Jennifer began humming the beat of her favorite song to drown this pit of emotions in her stomach but it wasn't going to rest at all.

In the morning, Jennifer found Adrian in school. They had only one week for the competition and they needed to seat practicing so she decided to catch up with him today. Jennifer ran and held his hand. To her surprise, he looked at her annoyingly and yanked his hand away. "Stay away." He yelled and started walking away. Jennifer couldn't understand his strange behavior so decided to follow him.

"Yahh! Why are you following me?" he shouted again. Jennifer could see he was getting angry bit instead of backing off she took several steps towards him with a big smile plastered on her face. She knew this smile always melted his heart. Jennifer was again shocked at the reaction she got. He seemed confused.

Jennifer didn't know the reason behind his strange behavior but she knew that the dance competition was near so she decided to try a different approach. "So the dancer competition is a week away and we have to start practicing." She said. Adrian just hummed. "Where are we going to practice?" she said putting up with his cold reactions patiently. Maybe he is still not over what happened between them. Maybe he is regretting his decision of breaking up with me. Give him some time, Jennifer. Everything will be okay! Jennifer took a deep breath.

Adrian just glared at her before saying, "I have a name. Address me with that." And then walked away further. "Adrian, tell me where we are going to practice?" Jennifer was still trying to exercise patience. "Only my friends call me that. Girls like you call me Master Adrian." He huffed. Jennifer was now seriously hurt. What did he mean by girls like you? Was he going to pretend he didn't know her? Girls like you! What rubbish!