?WINGLESS AND BEAUTIFUL?
?EPISODE 36?
Friday night, Denise insisted that I sleep over. She said
we’d been best friends for more than a year but I had never
even met her family. I didn’t want to go but she was
begging, almost crying even.
She even spoke to Meredith
about it. And since I didn’t want Meredith to further inquire what the big deal was, why I could not sleep over Denise’s house.
I decided to be brave about it. After all, Denise and
Hunter weren’t really close. And she had a big house. If I
stayed in Denise’s bedroom, I should be okay.
When Chaise picked me up that night, he asked me
about it.
“So you’re going to spend the night under one roof with
Mr. Short Temper?”
“Huh?” I stared at him blankly.
“Hunter Vaughn. He lives with Denise, right?”
“Oh,” was all I could say. I didn’t want to talk about
Hunter, I didn’t even want to remember him. Because if I
did… I would only remember the last time he looked at me…
with contempt and disgust. I wanted to preserve Hunter’s
memory in my mind. The one that was gentle, sweet…
wonderful.
“If he so much as insults you, you would tell me, right?”
No.
But I nodded slightly.
“Mr. Smarty Pants thought he was above everybody
else,” he murmured as he started driving. We drove all the way in silence.
Chaise took me to Denise’s place. “I’ll pick you up
tomorrow.” He stared at me for a moment and then he looked down at my pendant again. He frowned slightly.
“He’s still in, huh.”
I bit my lip but did not respond. Right now… if the
choice was up to me, I’d get Hunter out of my heart and try
to move on. But sometimes, you can’t make decisions in
love. Your heart makes all those stupid decisions for you.
And I still loved Hunter no matter if he didn’t love me
anymore… no matter if he didn’t want anything to do with
me anymore.
I stared up at Chaise. “I need to go.”
He nodded slightly, and I went down from the car. I
walked towards Denise’s front door. Before I reached the
front steps, I stared up and saw Hunter. He was standing in
the balcony two floors above me. He was wearing nothing
but a pair of jeans, his abs were exposed to my view. He
was holding a bottle of what looked like beer in one hand.
He was looking down, watching me. His brow was raised,
and I thought he didn’t look too pleased. But I was used to
that by now. It was his constant reaction to me since he came back.
Hunter Vaughn was slowly entering my “Ignore List”. I
wished I could also ignore this throbbing pain inside my
chest every time I saw him, or even thought about him.
I took a deep breath and rang the bell. I looked back and
saw that Chaise had not yet gone away. He was waiting for
me to go inside the house. Of course, like a true guardian
angel, he was waiting for me to be safely inside.
Denise’s house was massive. The living room alone was
twice the size of my entire house. The ceilings were high
and they were adorned with beautiful crystal chandeliers.
“We already had dinner,” she said. “But I had something
prepared for you.”
She led me to the dining room. I saw a beautiful blonde
woman standing there, giving instructions to the maid.
“Mom! Alice is here,” she said to the woman.
Mrs. Wesley smiled at me. “Hello, dear. I have heard so
much about you. It’s good to finally meet you.” Denise’s
mother extended her hand to me. I shook it shyly. “Your
dinner is ready. I’m sorry, we already ate without you.”
“It’s okay. It’s quite late, I know. But my shift does not
finish until ten,” I said.
“Yes, Denise mentioned you work for Alibri.”
I nodded.
“I know Agnes Bailey. Nice woman. The shop is doing
well, I suppose.”
I nodded again. “It is, Ma’am.”
“Call me Susan,” she said.
“Okay… Susan.”
Susan smiled at me and I could see that the warmth on
her smile was genuine. Then she turned to Denise, “Join
Alice while she eats.”
We approached a ten-seater porcelain table with
luxurious green and cream cushioned chairs. The table was
set for two.
“I’m not going to eat dinner again, Mom,” Denise said.
“But I will have some dessert.”
“I know. The other plate was for Hunter. He didn’t eat
yet.”
My heart pounded in my chest at the mere mention of
his name. My knees already felt weak and I was sure that
my cheeks were turning pinkish.
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