Reunited Page 3

  “Jake I am so sorry. I feel awful that I hurt you. But I did it because I loved you.”

  All of a sudden he snapped and his booming voice startled me.

  “You did it because you loved me Lauren? I would hate to see what you would do to me if you hated me! You ripped my heart out! Do you have any idea how long it took for me to be able to leave my apartment? I was devastated! I didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning! Finally, after two months, I was able to pick up the pieces. I became a different person. You’ll see on this trip that I am not the same person you dated all those years ago. That person was weak and not in control. This new Jake Hunter is in control of everything, all the time.”

  He had almost a chilling look in his eye when he said those words. My tears dried up and I was a bit taken aback.

  “So, how is your personal life? Are you married?” He spat out the words as he fixed his gaze on me, anger brimming all around.

  I didn’t know if I should answer his question but after hurting him the way I did, I wanted to be honest with him about everything.

  “No, I’m not married. I’m dating someone casually.” I saw a flicker of fire.

  “Were you ever married? Any kids?” His tone was harsh and unfeeling. This was not the Jake I remembered.

  “No to both. And what about you?” I tried to sound as warm as possible.

  “After you, I swore off women for a long time. And then I met Vivienne. We’ve been dating for about two years.”

  My stomach dropped into my toes.

  “She is a remarkable woman. She is very loving and supportive of me, she’s beautiful and my family loves her.” His tone was taunting and nasty.

  I looked at Jake when he said that last part and I could always tell when Jake was lying to me because his upper lip would twitch. His upper lip was twitching when he told me his family loved Vivienne. His lies were usually innocent, like the time he tried to surprise me for my 21st birthday and told me we were going to a popular sushi restaurant for dinner. My birthday is in February and it was freezing that night so I told him we could just skip the restaurant and stay in. He said it took almost a year to get the reservation so we really needed to go. His lip was twitching when he said that and I didn’t think anything of it at the time. He ended up flying me, Amy and a few of our friends to New York City on his family’s private jet for a night out on the town and we had an amazing time.

  “Oh, she sounds lovely. Your family loves her?”

  He looked directly into my eyes. “They do, especially mother.” His lip was twitching like crazy. He is lying to me.

  My heart sank. He was probably lying to me to get back at me. I bet there wasn’t even really a Vivienne. I wanted to see how far he would take the lie. I don’t know how I mustered the courage to ask the next question, but I just had to know.

  “And what about you, do you love her?”

  He eyes, laced with fire, held my gaze. My eyes frantically searched his, anxiously waiting for his answer.

  “There you guys are! I have been looking all over for you!” Amy’s chipper voice deflated our intense moment and snapped us back to reality. “It‘s time for dinner and everyone is there but you guys. We don’t want to keep everyone waiting. Come on!”

  I grabbed my empty drink glass and we all headed to the dining room. Right before we went inside Amy told Jake we were going to the ladies’ room.

  “So? What happened?”

  “Amy, I swear, I feel like this is all a dream. My head is swimming in so many different directions, it’s ridiculous.”

  “What did you guys talk about?”

  “We talked about what we’ve been doing the last 10 years and then he asked me if I was married.”

  Amy opened her mouth wide getting ready to add her two cents, when I cut her off.

  “I told him I wasn’t married but I was dating someone casually and then I asked him if he was married. He told me he wasn’t but he was seeing some wonderful girl named Vivienne for two years and his family loves her.”

  Amy instantly looked disappointed. “Well Lauren, I think if they’re not married, or at least engaged, then it can’t be serious with this girl. There’s no way.”

  I leaned in toward Amy and lowered my voice. “Amy I asked him if he loved this girl.”

  “Oh my gosh! How did you get the nerve to do that?”

  “I have no idea. But he didn’t answer me.” Disappointment was written all over my face.

  “I knew it! He still loves you! If he loved her he would have said so. You guys are going to live happily ever after! I’m so happy for you!” She reached out to give me a hug but I stopped her.

  “Hang on, hang on. It’s not that simple.”

  “What do you mean? He didn’t say that he loves her so that means he still loves you, end of story.”

  “No, there’s something different about him. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but he told me that he’s not the same person that I knew 10 years ago. He told me that he’s always in control.”

  “What’s wrong with that? I would love for a man to control me, at least in the bedroom anyway.” She laughed as she winked at me.

  “I don’t know. Something in him has changed.”

  “Well whatever it is Lauren, just go with it. Don’t let him get away this time.”

  CHAPTER 3

  We had name cards at our tables and I was seated with Amy, Jake, Adam, Jake’s fraternity brother Paul, Arianna Covington and a few other people. Arianna was probably the most arrogant person I had ever had the displeasure of meeting. She was the sole heir to the Covington Real Estate fortune. Her family, like Jake’s family, also had a building named after them on our university campus and she’d had a crush on Jake since freshman year. Their families were friends and back in college she always tried to bring that up in conversation as if that would make Jake like her more. I will never forget the time I went with Jake and his family on vacation for the first time and we stayed in a villa next to the Covington’s. The look on Arianna’s face when she saw me was priceless. She thought she could sink her claws into Jake, but he only had eyes for me.

  “Oh great, we’re stuck with that moron at our table.” Amy glared across the table at Arianna. She’d never liked her ever since she literally bumped into Amy the second week of classes freshman year. Amy was crossing the quad with an arm full of books, on her way to class, when Arianna bumped into her causing Amy to drop all of her books. Arianna just glanced at her and kept walking. She didn’t even apologize or offer to help her pick them up. When I saw what happened I rushed over to Amy to help her pick everything up:

  “Thank you so much. That girl is such a you know what. Does she think that she owns the campus or something? I can’t stand arrogant people like that. Anyways, thanks for helping me pick up my books. I’m Amy.”

  And that is how our friendship began. Amy has been my best friend ever since.

  Back at the dinner table Amy was shooting Arianna nasty glares.

  “Don’t let her get to you Amy, she’s not worth the energy.” I didn’t want that to ruin Amy’s night. “At least Paul is here. That’s good, right?” I tried to keep my comments to a whisper.

  “Right, Paul is good people.”

  Jake was looking our way and I could tell he wanted to talk. “So Amy, I see commercials for your product all the time. Congratulations on your success.” He sounded genuinely happy for her.

  “Thanks Jake, it’s been a crazy ride.”

  I could see Arianna seething with jealousy. We knew that Amy’s success ate her up inside. Our alumni newsletter ran a full page story on Amy’s success years ago and a local newspaper approached students from Amy’s class for a comment. Arianna happened to be one of the people they approached and her words about Amy were less than kind. She insinuated that Amy did not go to our school and that her product was a direct copy of another famous shapewear brand. Amy had a few choice words about Arianna at the time but she only shared those with me. I t
old her to forget Arianna and to focus on building her brand, which she did. Arianna was a nasty person and not really welcome at our table by me or Amy. Remembering the awful things she had said back then brought back my feelings of disgust for her so I had to rub Amy’s success in her face just a little bit more.

  “Arianna, did you see that Amy made Forbes’ list for the top 50 female entrepreneurs seven years in a row? That kind of exposure is priceless. Isn’t it just so amazing that we went to college with such a successful, smart, beautiful, self-made woman?”

  Amy choked on her water a little bit as she held back a laugh at my over the top description of her.

  “I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Amy whispered to me.

  Arianna flipped her hair over her shoulder, looking as if she could hardly be bothered to speak to me. “Hmmm, no I missed those editions. I remember some newspaper asked me about a girl I went to school with who created girdles. I don..” Amy stopped her right there, her eyes piercing a hole through Arianna’s eyes.

  “It’s shapewear, not a girdle.” The words were ground out through Amy’s clenched teeth.

  Arianna shot Amy a snide look, her lip curling up at the corner. “My apologies. Shapewear. Anyway, I didn’t remember you so I think I probably told them that. Congratulations on your success.” She sounded so insincere and rude but Amy didn’t say anything to her, she just let it go.

  “Witch!” Amy whispered the word to me and I could see out of the corner of my eye that she was wringing the napkin that was sitting on her lap.

  Jake was oblivious to the tension at the table. “I think it’s fantastic that you have accomplished so much in such a short amount of time Amy.” He turned his gaze to me. “And you too, Lauren.” His cold stare sent shivers down my spine.

  He held my gaze, making me squirm under his stare. He looks like he cannot stand me!

  “It’s fantastic that you were able to make partner so quickly Lauren. I’m sure it required a lot of hard work and late nights. What sacrifices you must have had to make. Was it worth it?” The fire in his eyes was like nothing I had ever seen and the nasty tone of his voice was downright painful. I was speechless. I felt so much resentment coming from Jake, I was dumbfounded. I could feel my eyes welling up and I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing that he hurt me.

  Amy could see that I was getting visibly upset and I felt her hand lightly pat my thigh as she chimed in.

  “Was it worth it? Well, that’s the million dollar question for sacrificing anything, isn’t it? I say if you have achieved your goals then sacrifice is always worth it.”

  “Even if you miss out on something…” Jake eyes shifted to me, “or someone that could have changed your life?”

  I shivered under his intense gaze.

  Out of the corner of my eye I could see Adam look from me to Jake.

  “Absolutely, and I will tell you why Jake.” Amy was on a roll and I was so happy she was there. “I believe that it is not possible to miss out on something or someone…if it was meant to be.”

  “Meant to be, huh?” He sounded so jaded.

  Amy was not fazed. “Yes, Jake. Meant to be, you know, destiny. If something is destined to be, it will happen no matter what obstacles are thrown into the mix. We can plan our lives until we are blue in the face, we can follow a perfect script, but plans get derailed all the time. We all know this at this table. I don’t think one person here can say that everything they planned in their lives has happened exactly as they planned it, right?” Amy looked around the table and everyone was nodding, even Arianna, although very reluctantly. “If something is meant to happen in your life, it will happen.” Amy looked at me and then looked at Jake and held his gaze. “Destiny is a powerful thing.”

  Everyone was silent for a minute digesting Amy’s words, and she was absolutely right, if something was meant to be it would happen. But it was really hard for me to apply that belief to me and Jake. It was clear to me that Jake didn’t want anything to do with me. My heart broke the day I left him all those years ago, and it was breaking all over again today.

  “I agree Amy, it is very powerful. I also think timing is a powerful thing. We might wonder why something didn’t work out at a particular time in our lives only to find out that the timing was off. And then later in life, we get a second chance at whatever or whomever, and timing is perfect and everything falls into place.” Adam boldly looked at me as the words rolled off his tongue.

  I glanced at Jake and his eyes narrowed and he set his jaw. I had never seen such a dark expression on his face. Is he jealous?? The Jake I used to know was never jealous. He always considered it a compliment to him if someone else was interested in me.

  Arianna seemed to be pleased that Jake and I weren’t getting along. She was literally pawing him at the table. She was seated right next to him and she flaunted their close proximity every chance she got.

  “Jake, I’m going to have to eat with my other hand if we keep bumping elbows like this. You just want to touch me any chance you get, don’t you?” Arianna batted her eyes at him and I rolled my eyes at Amy. Desperate much? Witch.

  Amy resorted to condescension as she spoke slowly to Arianna. “You know, Arianne, you could move your chair to the left and you would both have plenty of room.” I had to hold back my laughter at Amy’s sarcastic comment.

  Arianna glared at Amy. “You know my name is Arianna not Arianne. Everyone knows who I am.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder as she leaned all the way down to her plate to take a bite of her food.

  “Hmmm, that’s interesting Arianna. Did I get your name right? Anyway, that’s so interesting that you dip your face all the way down to your food. Dogs eat like that also.” Amy smirked at her as the words rolled off her tongue. Arianna’s face turned bright red as she glared at Amy, seething, but she didn’t dip her face down to her plate anymore during the evening.

  “Amy, you’re so bad,” I whispered.

  She winked at me as she whispered to me. “I’m not going to let her think she’s getting to either one of us.”

  Amy was so awesome, I loved her. The talk at the table turned to the festivities that were planned for the week. We were going to some amazing places and I hadn’t had a vacation in a while so I was excited to go. Our first stop was going to be Cozumel.

  “Jake, remember our trip to Cozumel a few years ago? It was so incredible.” Arianna’s words shocked me. Did they go on a trip together? Did he actually date this girl? Jake smiled and winked at Arianna and looked right at me.

  “I do remember that trip, we had a great time.” His dark eyes carefully watched my reaction as I tried to disguise the hurt I felt. Why is he trying to hurt me like this?

  I could have sworn I saw a slight look of remorse on his face as he watched my reaction to his words. I think he felt bad for hurting my feelings because he quickly cleared things up for me.

  “It was a nice surprise that our families were vacationing at the same place at the same time. My mother was thrilled to see your mom since they rarely see each other. It’s just too bad that your family was leaving the day after we arrived. We didn’t get to spend very much time with you guys.”

  I saw Arianna pout as Jake explained what really happened on their trip. I don’t think she wanted me to know the truth. What he did just then, clearing things up, was something the old Jake would have done. I felt a light flutter of butterflies in my stomach as I realized that the old Jake was still inside this hardened person somewhere. I just had to figure out how to get him to re-surface.

  “It’s been lovely to see you all, but I am exhausted. I think the wine may have gone to my head.” Arianna really knew how to pour on the sugar when she needed to. She turned a very demure smile toward Jake. “Jake, would you be a doll and walk me to my room?”

  My stomach churned as I watched her flirt so openly with him in front of me. He didn’t seem to mind the attention as he smiled at her. “Absolutely, I’ll get you all nice and tucked int
o bed.”

  He’s being awfully flirtatious. I bet Vivienne wouldn’t like to see this if there even is a Vivienne. If I was his girlfriend I certainly wouldn’t want him flirting so openly with another woman. His flirtatious behavior was confirming my belief that Vivienne was a fictitious person he’d made up to hurt me. Jake and Arianna left the table and I felt so confused and sad at the same time. This man definitely was not the man I fell in love with years ago. Amy and Paul could see that I was upset and they tried to lighten the mood.

  “Since we’re not lushes I guess we can stay and still enjoy each other’s company.” Paul didn’t say much but when he did it was always funny. Amy and I started giggling at the silly situation. Adam went to catch up with some friends, and Paul started talking about how long it took him to get there and that he almost missed his flight. He was from Alaska and we always thought it was so neat that he lived there. I think he still had a little crush on Amy.

  After dinner, everyone kind of milled around and was catching up with each other. Amy was off chatting with one of her old friends and Paul and I were talking when Jake returned.

  “Hey Buddy! I didn’t expect to see you back here tonight!’ Paul playfully punched Jake in the arm.

  “You know me Paul, always the gentleman, even when tempted.” His eyes smoldered as they fixed on me. My stomach flipped as I held his sexy gaze. I could feel the heat rising between my legs again and I wanted him to grab me and take me right there. But then I thought about the way he behaved with Arianna in front of me and it was like being hit in the face with a pail of cold water. I gave him a cool stare not wanting to be a part of his little game. I wasn’t going to put up with him looking like he wanted to devour me every minute. He had been openly flirting with Arianna all night but directing his lustful looks toward me. I turned away from him to talk to Paul and he sauntered off to go get a drink.

  “So how is work going Paul? I hear you opened your own law firm in Alaska.”