New Home for a Fresh Start
They proceeded to the airport in the morning and checked in. In a few minutes, they were airborne on their way to London.
After hours of staying in the skies, they finally arrived in London City and boarded a taxi to Croydon. Julia was exhausted from the long hours on the plane. It was her first time on a plane after flying in a helicopter. She was already having a hard time. On the flight, she kept throwing up occasionally. She could barely keep anything she ate on the plane down. She looked sick as they rode to Croydon after throwing up so much on the plane. She rested her head on Jason's shoulders as they sat in the back seat of the car while Peter sat in the co-drivers seat.
"Are you okay now?" Jason asked with concern, whispering into Julia's ears. She just nodded a 'yes'.
Jason and Peter were used to taking flights as it was the usual routine for them, but that was not the same for Julia. They soon arrived and checked into a hotel. Julia took a shower once inside the room and Jason ordered some food for her. Julia entered the hotel bedroom from the bathroom, to find Jason sitting on the sofa going through a newspaper and food on the table. She found something comfortable in her bag and put it on and went to sit behind the table.
"Have you eaten already?" Julia asked, in a very low voice but loud enough for Jason to hear her.
Jason shifted his gaze from the newspaper, hearing Julia's question, as her voice travelled to him in the quietness of the room. Without answering, he got up and walked towards the table and sat on the chair opposite her, staring at her. Julia lowered her head shyly, but Jason continued to stare at her with a blank expression for a while. Jason dished out some food onto his plate and handed the spoon to Julia to do the same.
Jason wasn't someone who talks much, but since the incident happened, he had become extra quiet with a cold expression which only gets colder. He was now like a bomb which could set off at any time with a wrong move. The news about him going around social media had quieted down but traces of it linger on.
Jason and Julia were getting to know each other and Jason was loosening up as the day went by, but this whole incident changed everything. Now Julia feels like Jason only pays attention to her because they are married, and it's more of a responsibility. She could feel his distance from her. Jason would cuddle her to sleep, but there was no expression of love. It's like he was doing it because he needed to. Julia ate her food slowly as she kept stealing glances at the handsome man before her who had become cold as ice.
The waiter came to clear the table and placed two glasses of fresh juice on the table. Jason picked up the glass of juice, gulped it down and picked up the newspaper from the sofa where he had left it.
"Get some rest. I am going to see Peter. I will be back," Jason said, sounding cold as usual as he exited the room.
Julia took her drink and sat on the sofa. She picked up the remote from the table and started browsing through the TV channels. She finally settled on a movie and placed the remote back on the table and picked up the glass of juice and sipped it while she watched the movie.
In Peter's room, Jason and Peter went through the newspaper and various ads, checking on various apartments and making calls to find out if they could secure one. Staying in the hotel was going to be expensive and hence they decided to search for an apartment instead. After making multiple calls and going through one ad after the other they finally found an apartment which was within their budget and also met their requirements.
"Sir, I found one. It's a two-bedroom apartment, very spacious and fully furnished from Ten Degrees," Peter announced.
"Call them," replied Jason, and Peter did as requested.
"They say we can come around and take a look," Peter said, after the call ended and Jason nodded.
They both exited the room and Jason went back to his room to inform Julia he was stepping out with Peter, and they might come back late, but he found her sleeping on the sofa. Jason picked the blanket from the bed and covered Julia with it and left her a note instead and exited the room after planting a kiss on her temple. His heart ached as he watched her. He didn't like how he was treating her now, but he felt there were more pressing issues than Julia's emotional reaction to his coldness.
Peter and Jason boarded a taxi to the location and met two people who took them on a tour of the apartment they had selected. Jason was satisfied with what he saw, so they quickly got to the paperwork, and he paid for the apartment. The man handed the key over to him, informing him they could move in anytime.
By the time Peter and Jason returned to the hotel, it was already late. They found a table for three and Peter sat there waiting while Jason went to get Julia. When Jason entered the room, Julia was just coming from the bathroom.
"We just got back. Let's have supper at the restaurant," Jason said and Julia nodded, following him out of the room after dressing up.
They all sat down at a table inside the restaurant and had their supper. While they were eating, the news channel was talking about the false heir to the Haward fortune. They mentioned Jason's name and repeated the trending story, but they didn't put his image up this time.
Peter looked at Jason, trying to read his mood upon seeing the news, as he knew what that meant. They had left Florida and had come to a new continent to start all over in a new environment, but it appears the news had also travelled that far. He was thankful they didn't show Jason's image this time.
Jason concentrated on his food, but in deep thought, he knew this was going to create a problem in his job search. The volume of the TV was low, so very few could hear what the reporter was saying and also very few people in the restaurant were paying attention to the news.
Jason, Julia and Peter were soon done with their meal and headed back for their rooms for the night after Jason had made the payment.
"Have a good night's sleep," Peter said, before walking down the hall towards his room.
"Hmm," replied Jason as he led the way up the stairs with Julia trailing behind him.
Julia had already taken her bath, so she changed her clothes as Jason went to take a shower. He returned to the room to find Julia already in bed. He quickly changed into his sleeping clothes and climbed into bed. He pulled Julia into his arms like he does every night. Even though the gesture appeared to be romantic, he was so cold it felt like he had pulled her into his arms because he had to. Well, yes, he had just done that because he had to, there was no feeling to it.
Before their current situation, the times Jason had hugged Julia or pulled her into his arms, were to comfort her, but now he was just doing it.
Julia rested her head on Jason's chest, her face inches away from him. His heartbeat was calm, but she could feel he was not okay. Jason had remained calm and made so many decisions, keeping everything together with little to no reaction to all that was happening. It was as if he knew this was going to happen and had already prepared for it, but how it impacted him was something he had hidden from them. His robotic behaviour makes it clear he was holding a lot in.
As Julia was worried about him, lost in her thoughts, Jason was making plans in his head on where to start his job search. He lowered his head to kiss Julia on her head as he remembered he hadn't done that yet, but he ended up brushing his lips against Julia's as she was also lifting her head to look at him.
They both froze in place with their lips slightly touching. Jason moved his hand and capped the side of her face in his palm and ended up kissing her lips. Julia remained still for a while before responding to his kisses. There was a brief feeling of emotion from him, but it just went away as quickly as it had been expressed.
Julia moved her hand to the back of Jason's neck, hoping she could get him to express more emotion, but he caught her hand and pulled away from her.
"Good night," Jason said, in a low voice, still holding her hand.
Julia nodded and placed her head back on his chest, feeling suffocated by his coldness. They both stayed awake for a while. While Jason's mind went back to finding a job, Julia was thinking about the kiss that just happened.
The next morning, at about 9 a.m., they checked out of the hotel after having their breakfast and headed for the new apartment.
Once they arrived, they moved their luggage into the apartment. The two bedrooms shared a wall, but one had an in-built bathroom, which Jason and Julia occupied and the other bedroom, which automatically was occupied by Peter, had its bathroom directly opposite.
Julia opened the bags and put their clothing into the closets. The room was very small in comparison to Jason's apartment in Florida, but it was okay.
Peter just placed his bag in his room and was downstairs with Jason, looking at what kind of job they could find where they were now. It was still morning and Jason wanted to follow the plan he had put in place.
"Sir, let's rest for today and start looking for a job tomorrow. You have not rested at all since this whole issue began," Peter suggested. "It is a new home for a fresh start. So, let's rest today and start tomorrow," he added.
Peter could equally see Jason was holding a lot in and was exhausted even though he was not showing it. He had suggested this so Jason could give himself a chance to relax for a while.
Jason looked at Peter in silence for a while and placed the newspaper back on the table. He wanted to put everything back on track but, hearing Peter's suggestion, he felt he was pushing them too much, so he decided to accept his suggestion.
"Okay, let's put the house in place then," Jason suggested, and they got to arrange things the way they preferred in the apartment.