Maskaradë
Albanian for Masquerade.
Adrienne kept herself busy by helping to organize her mother’s victory party, aka, ‘Adrienne’s Introduction to Society’. She didn’t like that bit, but her mother thought she deserved it. Her mother promised to do it subtly. No speeches, special mentions or any form of acknowledgement whatsoever.
Adrienne insisted on taking care of the venue, the decorations, the catering and the program. Her mother’s assistant, Maryse took care of all the invitations and RSVPs. Most of the people on the guest list were French and Adrienne couldn’t speak French to save her life.
Adrienne actually enjoyed what she did. For days, she was busy ensuring that every detail was in place, everything would be spotless and perfect.
“I could actually make you Head of Banquet Reservations and Events,” her stepfather said to her, finding her in the ballroom, choosing different table linens.
“Papa.” She smiled at him. She was hesitant to call him that. Pierre isn’t really her flesh and blood. But then again, he’s her mother’s great love, and her brother’s father. And he was great to her so far. So, every day, it got easier for her. “I used to review a lot of restaurants and event services in my previous job.”
“I can see you really know what you were talking about.” He smiled.
“Thank you.”
“You know you always have a place in this company, Adrienne,” her stepfather said. “When I married your mother, Starck Corp. acquired more than a dozen of your mother’s family’s hotel chains. This business is yours as much as it is Jin’s.”
She smiled at her stepfather, feeling how sincere he was in showing his affection towards her. If only, her stepmother was like this to her when she was growing up. “Thank you, Papa. But I have no idea how this works.”
“I can send you to a few courses here or in the States if you want. It would help you learn more about what we do, if you decide you want to be a part of this. Jin told me you have an inclination for writing. Well, you can write on your own time. You can do something here. It’s totally up to you.”
Adrienne found that thought really exciting. She really had to start planning her life now. She hadn’t heard from Justin and she knew…even if she didn’t want to think about it, there was also the possibility that he wouldn’t come back at all. What would she do if that happened? If finally, she came across a newspaper announcement that he was getting married? She had to be ready, too.
She wanted to start thinking about her future as well. Paris would be a good start for her. She couldn’t be in New York and not think about Justin. Going back to Boston to her father wasn’t an option.
She hadn’t forgiven her father yet. He called her once but she didn’t answer him. Her heart broke over that. But she wanted to be honest with him, the way he’d been so dishonest with her all her life. She wanted him to know how painful it still was for her. By spending time with her mother, she wanted to bring back all the years that were lost between them.
“I think we should start by sending me to French language classes,” Adrienne admitted to Pierre.
Pierre smiled. “You’re right. Whenever you’re ready, let me know.”
When she got home, Adrienne was surprised to see a box on the bed. The box said Versace. She opened it and found a white cocktail dress. It was beautiful and elegant. And Adrienne loved how it wasn’t screaming for attention. A matching silver Manolo Blahnik high-heeled open toe sandals also came with the box.
She sighed. She wasn’t really used to this. She knew her mother’s friends and colleagues would have high expectations of her. She wanted to live up to those expectations not for her own sake, but for her mother’s.
Jin called her that evening. He was still in Dubai and would only return on the day of the party.
“You have to be here. You have to do some escort duties for me, please.” She almost begged him. She really felt that she needed Jin to stay beside her, orient her on the norms of the French crème of the crop.
“I shall try. But I think Mom wants you be escorted by somebody else.”
“Justin the Neanderthal?” she asked.
Shit, no!
“This is just a warning. She seems so keen on making this guy her son-in-law. I haven’t spoken to her about it yet. But this guy does come from a pretty powerful family. And from what I heard, he’s the perfect package—whatever you girls mean by that!”
“Have you met him?”
“Oh no, no. I am not in the business of socializing with Mom’s friends unless they’re doing business with us.”
“Well, this guy feels like he’s the god of awesomeness!” Adrienne said sarcastically. Apparently, Jin has not yet spoken to his friends about N-1-9-8-9.
Jin laughed. “Don’t worry, Yen. If he makes a wrong move, party or no party, my fist is going to connect with his face.”
Adrienne sighed. “Just be here on that day, okay?”
“I sure will,” he said. “All right, got to go.”
“Jin…” Adrienne said softly. “Thank you…for everything. It’s the first time I actually felt I have a sibling.”
Jin took a deep breath. “I’ve known I have a sibling all my life. And you were taken away from us. Mom never really told anybody that we lost you. For years, she’s just been telling people, including her best friends that your father got custody of you and thus, you lived with him. But every day her heart broke because you weren’t with us.”
“I wish I could have known that when I was growing up. At least, I wouldn’t have felt like something was wrong with me.”
“Mom, Dad and I are thinking of filing a case against your Dad,” he said.
Adrienne felt a shot of panic. “Jin…is that really necessary?”
“Mom is very furious. She just doesn’t show it to you. She didn’t want you to worry too soon. You just came back into our lives.” Jin took a deep breath. “She wanted to raise you in Paris. She told your father that. He could visit you anytime and you could even live with him during school breaks. That was their agreement. She was furious that he chose to have you all for himself and erased her from your life.
“I get that. We celebrated your birthdays, even though you weren’t with us. Every day, she feared that she would come across the obituaries in the States with your name on it. She found relief each day that she hadn’t.”
“I know, my Dad was wrong. What he did was unforgiveable. But honestly, Jin. I also know that he did what he did because he was afraid of losing me, too. And I don’t want this to get bigger and messier than it already is.” She sighed. “My father knows it’s difficult for me to forgive him. His marriage to Marina is over. I haven’t been talking to him or answering his text messages. Maybe he’s suffered enough.”
Jin was silent for a few moments. Then he said, “Not for me. Not for Mom. It would never be enough compared to the pain and ordeal he made us go through for twenty-three years, Adrienne.”
“Let’s talk about this as a family. Don’t do anything yet, okay? If Mom tells you to push it, you tell me first, okay?”
Jin sighed. “Okay. Let’s wait until after the party.”
“Good. Now go back to work.”
Adrienne started a group chat with Yuan and Jill. She told them about the party. She invited them to her coming-out-to-society. She offered to pay for their flights, too.
Yuan: Sorry, Yen. I have a convention on the same day. I won’t be able to come. But send me pictures, okay?
Adrienne: Okay. Will do. Oh my God, I’m dreading that day! My Mom is setting me up with her friend’s son. And his name is Justin, too. But he is the exact opposite of my Justin!
Jill: Is he hot?
Adrienne: Maybe. Without his weird contact lenses, and absurd taste in fashion, I guess he can be cute. He has gray eyes and he’s a few inches shorter than Justin. Yeah, I guess he’s not bad looking, but he is such an asshole! I don’t know what my Mom was thinking!
Yuan: I guess setting up kids is quite common in rich people’s circles, huh? Welcome to Justin Adams’s world, sweetie! Now, at least you have more understanding about what he must feel. And you should be proud of yourself for being unselfish enough to let him go because you didn’t want to play tug-of-war with his folks.”
Jill: By the way, I saw Justin in the office this morning, Yen. You wanna hear about it?
Adrienne stared at her screen for a while. She didn’t know what to type. Of course, she was dying to know what’s going on with him. But what if she doesn’t like what she finds out? She knew it would break her heart even more.
Before she knew it, she was typing: Shoot!
She waited anxiously for Jill’s reply. After what seemed like an eternity, she heard a notification from her computer.
Jill: He gave notice to Jada that he will no longer be working part-time for Blush. He said it was because of family obligations and he said, he would be getting married soon and would be settling down in Chicago. I’m not going to lie to you, Yen. He didn’t look devastated. In fact, he was looking…chirpy. I’m sorry.
Adrienne stared at the screen for a whole five minutes. She read what Jill wrote to her. Justin announced that he was getting married and settling down in Chicago?
She looked at the calendar. Twenty days. She still had twenty days. That’s what Justin said to her. Twenty days and they’d fly to Italy.
But then… maybe he’s met his fiancée and maybe he did give it a try. He made no more effort to contact her after his last message to her. Maybe his fiancée didn’t turn out to be so bad after all.
Well, she wanted him to do this. She should have been ready for this ending. But then she realized, nothing could prepare anybody for the blinding pain the finality of a relationship would cause. Maybe she was in denial the whole time. Even if she did let him go, deep inside her heart, she really did believe he could convince his parents to set him free.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. She thought her heart couldn’t be more broken than it already was.
She started typing: It’s okay, Jill. I wanted him to be happy, remember? I will be fine.
Yuan: I’m sorry, Yen. We know someday, you will find your real happiness, too. Maybe it’s not your time yet. You have so many things to look forward to now. You had Justin before, but you didn’t have the love of a family. And now you do.
Jill: I guess something’s got to give sometimes. But don’t worry. After your coming out to society thingy, I’m sure hundreds of eligible bachelors would be pining for your hand. Hang on, okay?
Adrienne: I love you guys. Now, I have to go.
She didn’t really have to go. But she wanted some time to herself. She went to bed and hugged her pillows. She closed her eyes and didn’t suppress the tears that came.
In a way, she was asking herself why she let him go. But then again, if she didn’t, and later he met his fiancée, who may be his real destiny, then she would have to give him up eventually.
So maybe…just maybe…it’s better this way.
***
Friday night the whole banquet in Starck Hotel Paris was in full swing. Everything was perfect. The ballroom glimmered in its full soiree decorations.
Adrienne stood on the mezzanine floor of the ballroom and looked on as the guests came pouring in. Her mother asked her not to come down and meet the guests just yet. She said she wanted her to wait at the gazebo on the second-floor garden and they will come and get her.
No announcements, huh!
But her heart had been so numb over the bad news she heard about Justin that she couldn’t care about anything else anymore.
Everybody was wearing lavish clothes and Adrienne couldn’t help feeling mortified as she looked at the people below her. And an hour from now, they would all meet her…put her under the microscope to see if she’s worthy to be one of them.
Well, she knew she dressed the part well at least. She was wearing the white Versace gown that has a crossover-keyhole neckline and back with asymmetrical straps. The floor length skirt flowed over her perfect curves, and the slit on the thigh reveals a little glimpse of her long legs under the gown. Her hair was braided behind her and left little tendrils around her face. Her makeup was nude over her cheek and smoky on the area of her eyes, making her look like angelic and tough at the same time.
“You look lovely, my dear,” her mother said to her. “Justin will not be able to take his eyes off you.”
Adrienne took a deep breath. “Mom…” she started. “I hate him.” There! She finally said it. No need to pretend otherwise.
Her mother blinked back at her. “What? I thought you two were hitting it off.”
She shook her head. “We didn’t get along from day one, Mom. And besides, I told you I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. I was just looking to befriend your friends.”
“Sweetheart,” her mother began. “Okay…I know how we can fix this.”
“Mom, there’s nothing to fix,” Adrienne argued.
Tears welled up in her mother’s eyes. “No, sweetheart. You don’t understand. I haven’t been completely honest with you.” She took a deep breath. “Well…I wasn’t just setting you up with Justin. I was hoping you would really fall for him…enough to get… married one day.”
Adrienne’s eyes widened. “What?”
Her mother sighed. “I know. It’s terrible. I couldn’t tell you. I made that arrangement a long time ago. When you were a baby and I just got back from Paris. My father…made me promise to return you to this family and form a strong bond with Christine’s family. She was my oldest friend. Our families were always keen on becoming related to one another someday. She had a boy. I had a girl.
“Our fathers were like brothers. Your grandfather invested in Christine’s father’s business venture, which gave them a lot of fortune. They were keen to merge this family not just because of money…but also because of gratitude and friendship. So, we sort of…arranged for you to marry Christine’s son.” Her mother squeezed her hands.
“Mom!” Adrienne couldn’t help the feelings that overwhelmed her. “How could you have agreed to that arrangement when all these years I was missing?”
“I know, sweetheart. It’s wrong. But all these years, I never told anybody outside of this family that you were really missing… stolen by your father. We wanted to keep this a secret because… we didn’t want anybody to take advantage of the situation or sensationalize it and drive your father further into hiding.
“We silently searched for you. Even Christine didn’t know. I always just told her that you were in the States with your Dad. And I actually forgot about the arrangement until Christine reminded me about it a couple of weeks back. They said that Justin seemed to be ready to get into a serious relationship. Maybe it’s time to introduce you to each other.
“Christine lived in the States. I didn’t see her often. It was easy to make an excuse to everybody, including her, why you were not with us. To be honest with you…I had forgotten about the agreement. My focus had always been about finding you. When Christine sent me a message, reminding me about it…and to start introducing you and Justin…I meant to tell her the truth. But Jin… Jin called me and told me that he had a lead on you. So…I held it off for a while.”
Adrienne couldn’t believe her ears. How could this happen to her? She was a casualty of an arranged marriage herself. Now she found herself a subject of one. And to a hopeless ass-wipe!
“Mom, please…I can’t even stand Christine’s son.” she protested.
“Okay…I’m sorry. I know…there’s absolutely no reason that would justify what I did. I promise you, I have no plans of forcing it. Your grandfather forced me to Pierre, employed all means to ensure I married him. But I didn’t regret it because he was a lovely man. And I fell in love with him after a few dates. So, I was hoping after spending some time with Justin, you two would hit it off and you won’t find this terrible anymore. And if you really couldn’t stand it…I had no intention of forcing it.”
“He’s terrible, Mom!” Adrienne argued. “Mama, my ex-boyfriend is going to marry the girl who was arranged for him. That’s why we broke up. Until now, I was still heartbroken about it. I promised to wait for him as long as I could. Or until I know for sure that he’s already accepted his fate. Please do not do this to me. I beg you.” She was almost teary when she said those words to her mother.
Her mother looked at her ruefully. She cupped her hands around her face. Then she nodded.
“Okay.” she said. “I love you. I will break the arrangement with Christine. It will break her heart and she may not talk to me in a few months, maybe years, but she will get over it. My father is long gone, he couldn’t do anything about it. He seemed so keen about planning the future of this family. I messed up your life because of him.”
Her mother took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, Adrienne. I shouldn’t have left you with your father. I should have been brave enough to face my father…instead of leaving you to your Dad. I did this to you. And I will not mess up your life even more by forcing you to marry some guy you do not want. After all these years, the one thing that I realized is that your happiness is more important to me than anything else.” Her mother smiled at her apologetically. “I realized this when I got you back. I know the pain I went through when I lost you. And I am not going to lose you again. So if you say you won’t marry Christine’s son, then so be it.”
She smiled at her mother. “Thank you, Mom.”
“But maybe it’s too late to back out on making Justin your escort for tonight. But after this soiree, I swear to you, you won’t have to see him again.”
Adrienne was still disappointed she had to spend some time with N-1-9-8-9. But if it’s an assurance that he would disappear from her life forever, then one night won’t be that bad.
“Okay, Mom, I guess I can live with that. Besides, Jin can just rescue me anytime I feel the urge to vomit.”
Her mother smiled. “Okay, now go to the garden. Justin will fetch you when it’s time.”
The second floor of the hotel led to a small garden. There was a small gazebo and a wishing fountain in the center. It was filled with lights and the trees had lighted LEDs to look as if fireflies infested them. The garden was indeed magical especially at nighttime.
She stood inside the gazebo and enjoyed the spectacular view in front of her. In the sky, there was a lovers’ moon and she couldn’t help the tears that peered in her eyes.
She missed Justin. She felt like he was just right there. Every single day. Every single hour. When she walked, she felt like he was walking beside her. When she slept at night, she imagined being locked in his arms.
She wished that love was enough. She wished that life was not complicated. She wished that the world wasn’t crazy and her life didn’t come with complexities and obstacles. She wished everything was just…easy.
She couldn’t believe what her mother just told her. She couldn’t believe she agreed to marry her off to some guy she didn’t know, and hadn’t met before.
And Justin the Neanderthal? The hairs on her arms actually started to rise in disgust.
But she was thankful that she didn’t have to try so hard to convince her mother to let her go…unlike her Justin, who was forced to embrace his own destiny. How she wished that Justin’s fight had been easy, and that he had succeeded in fighting for her.
She stared at the moon again, then she closed her eyes and thought about Justin Adams…her Justin.
I wish you all the happiness in the world. I wish you all the smiles, laughter and love that you deserve. I wish…that finally… all your prayers will be answered…that the miracles you hoped for would be given to you.
She wished those things with all her heart. It killed her a little each day when she thought about not seeing him again, not feeling the warmth of his skin against hers, not hear him say he loved her…not see the wicked, mischievous look on his face whenever he said his usual line to her…words she wished she could hear him say again…if only for the last time.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. She gently wiped them with her fingers. Her escort would come soon and she didn’t want to be caught crying. Not by him. Not by the insensitive, stupid jerk who was probably heaven’s curse to all women.
Suddenly, she felt like she was no longer alone. She felt that somebody was standing behind her. And she realized in horror that Justin the Neanderthal had already come for her, finding her in a private moment, seeing the tears she didn’t want to show anybody else.
She realized, too, that he stood close to her… too close he was almost touching her.
But before Adrienne could turn around to face him, she felt his breath against her ear. And then in a soothing voice, he whispered, “You’re a fox.”