Everything We Found
The very words Julia had wanted to hear from Jason some months or so ago, he was saying them now.
Julia reached out her hand and cupped the side of Jason's face. Jason held her hand and kissed her palm. Julia was greatly moved by his confession but she was not sure how to feel about it.
"Can I trust him? He abducted me. That is how I moved to his apartment. I have no reason to doubt he is responsible for what happened at the warehouse. Did he put me there just so he would tell me this?" Julia thought her hand still on the side of his face.
Using both hands, Julia wiped Jason's tears with her thumb and pulled him up to his feet. With Jason now standing Julia appears to be short. She led him to the sofa and they both sat down.
"Jason," Julia called his name and Jason lowered his head. "Please look at me," she requested and Jason lifted his head to look at her.
"I was first to fall in love with you and you hurt me so bad. You are a great man and I don't know what happened to you but I don't think you and I will work," Julia said.
"Julia, I am ready to learn," Jason said and Julia went silent for a while.
'Don't be fooled by Jason again, you may not be so lucky the next time' the words of Mrs Haward played in Juila's mind and she shut her eyes.
"Jason, I have heard you but we need to be honest with ourselves. Whatever happened to you, took a turn on you and it means you will continue to hurt me even if you didn't want to. It would be best if we stay away from each other for now. If we are meant to be, we will meet again," Julia said and Jason shut his eyes at the pain he felt due to her words.
"I understand," Jason respectfully acknowledged.
"I will take my leave now. Please don't quit your job because of me. I don't come downstairs. You would not run into me if you don't want to see my face anymore," Jason said sounding very calm but there was a trace of pain in his voice he could not fully hide.
He was up on his feet by the time he was done with his statement and he just headed for the door.
"Jason!" Julia called out to him and he stopped briefly and continued without turning to look at her.
He opened the door and pulled a sunshade from his breast pocket which he put on to cover his eyes which were red from tears. Julia also got up to her feet and followed him but he shut the door behind him before Julia could reach him. She stood behind the closed door just staring at it. Jason sat down behind the wheel and looked at the entrance door one more time before starting the engine and putting the car into motion.
All through his life he had never believed love existed. He knew he had treated Julia badly but now he wished he had said nothing to her. Maybe it will hurt less. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and he clutched his chest pressing his teeth together hoping it would go away.
He made a turn onto the main road and headed for his hotel. He closed and opened his eyes but he couldn't get the image of Julia out of his mind. He remembered the picture of her on his phone. He pulled his phone out of his pocket unlocking it with one hand and keeping the other hand on the wheel. He went to his gallery and pulled out the image. He looked at the image of Julia on his phone screen but suddenly felt another sharp pain in his chest making him drop the phone.
At Paradies Hotel, Peter was managing the place in the absence of Jason. He was with Jason when Veronica called to inform him about Julia. Peter had wanted to come with Jason but he asked him to stay back and manage the hotel. It was getting to noon and Jason was still not back and Julia had also not shown up at work. He was getting worried but not sure who to call. He eventually called Jason's phone which rang for a while but no answer. He continued his work at the hotel patiently waiting for Jason to return his call or return to the hotel.
Back at the Hawards' Fiona was in the bathroom speaking to Vera on her phone.
"Vera, they assigned a nurse to me. If she finds out I am not pregnant we are screwed," Fiona said on the phone in a panic.
"Calm down, and let's hope James gets you pregnant for real before she finds out," Vera teased.
"Vera that is not funny. I don't want to get pregnant by James," Fiona complained in frustration.
"Calm down. I will think of something and call you back. For now, keep taking the medication I gave you. It will make you look and act like a truly pregnant woman and also be fast in getting the information from James. We don't have much time on our side," Vera advised.
"Okay, I will go to him tonight," Fiona said and ended the call.
Fiona stepped out of the bathroom and came face to face with Mori startling her.
"Sorry Ms Fiona, I didn't mean to startle you. I brought you some soup but I realized you were on a call so I decided to wait," Mori said with a smile and Fiona turned white.
"You looked tensed again. Come sit down. Such reactions are normal with pregnancy," Mori said as she walked Fiona to her bed.
Fiona remained silent wondering if Mori heard anything upon hearing Mori say she heard her talking on the phone but she didn't know how to confirm if she heard anything or not.
Mori went to the table and carried the tray of soup which she gave to Fiona and watched her drink it smiling throughout. Mori massaged Fiona's feet for a while before leaving her room with the emptied soup bowl on the tray that she gave to Veronica. Mori went to see Mrs Haward after.
"Did she take the soup?" Mrs Haward asked sitting in what used to be Jason's office.
"Yes, she will lose the baby by nightfall. The medication will start working in a couple of hours," Mori reported.
"Great, once the pregnancy is gone, she will have no evidence against my son. Also, keep an eye on my son and make sure he doesn't go to her room or vice versa," Mrs Haward instructed.
"I will. Your son is currently out of the apartment. He said something about going to the office," reported Mori.
"Perfect, you are doing a great job," praised Mrs Haward and Mori turned to leave but stopped before she could open the door.
"Mori?" Mrs Haward called out seeing she had stopped.
"I heard Ms Fiona on the call with someone. I didn't get everything she was saying but I heard her say something like if something comes out she was screwed," reported Mori.
"Hmmm. You know keep an eye on her. Check her phones, everything and let's find out what she is up to," instructed Mrs Haward and Mori nodded before exiting the room.
At a different hotel, the presidential suite, Dr Andesh was with Mr Wellington.
"This is everything we found on her," Dr Andesh said handing a file over to Mr Wellington who was relaxing on the sofa.
"Perfect, " Mr Wellington said and opened the file and started going through it.
"Hmm, interesting, so James and Mirenda are not Hawards," Mr Wellington pointed out from the report.
"Yes. Matilda Haward and James' father, Juan Perez, were school sweethearts. However, Matilda's family never approved of their relationship because of Juan's dream to become a musician. The Hawards took an interest in their family because Matilda's mother saved Mr Johan Haward's life. He had a rear condition for which he ran into crisis. She was the one who called the ambulance when he passed out in front of the male washroom," Dr Andesh narrated.
"So as a reward, he married their daughter," Mr Wellington chipped in.
"Yes, and her name was perfect. You know the Hawards give all their females names that start with an M. So they maintain the traditional initials. Women write, M.H. and the men write J.H. However irrespective of how rich Mr Haward was, Matilda could not leave her boyfriend entirely," Dr Andesh reported.
"So, she married Mr Haward for his money and also kept Jaun?" Mr Wellington asked.
"Yes, and she got pregnant with James but Juan was attacked by Mr Haward's men when he tried to sneak into the family's condo upon Matilda's invite. Unfortunately, He died and he never got to meet his son," Dr Andesh narrated.
"Oh I see," responded Mr Wellington.
"There is more," Dr Andesh said and Mr Wellington lifted his head to listen.
"Matilda since channelled all her love towards James," Dr Andesh said.