Chapter 101: APOLOGIES
Monica turned to face Jake who indeed still had bruises on his face. She faced Felix and questioned him,
"And you are proud of that?"
"And why not? He deserved it", said Felix.
Monica blinked at him twice before she released a helpless sigh.
"Let’s go back now", Felix added and dragged her with him out of the restaurant. Unbeknownst to them, Jake had already sighted their figures and he glared at their backs until they both entered the car.
Inside the car, Felix ignited the engines of the car and drove towards the hotel.
"When are you going back to New York?" he suddenly asked her.
"Why do you want to know?" she questioned him back, making Felix glance at her before he focused back on the road ahead.
"What’s wrong if I want to know?" he asked.
Monica released another sigh before she parted her lips to speak,
"I’m not sure, that’s my manager’s decision".
"Hmm..." Felix hummed in response and didn’t ask anything anymore.
The drive to the hotel was long and silent, unlike the atmosphere when they were heading to the restaurant which was vibrant.
When both of them arrived, Felix tried following her to the room but unfortunately for him, she slammed the door right in his face.
"What is wrong with her", he asked himself as he scratched his head out of confusion.
Recalling her reaction when she spotted Jake back at the restaurant made his blood boil out of jealousy and anger.
"What’s so special about that idiot anyway?" he growled out of irritation.
Suddenly, his phone rang with a message from an unknown number.
Curious, he opened the message and read out the words,
’Monica is mine and I won’t let you or anyone take her away from me
It didn’t take Felix a long while before he realized who could have sent him the message.
"Moron", he scoffed before he opened the door next to Monica’s and walked inside. Earlier, he had instructed Jude to cancel his booking at the other hotel so that he would be closer to Monica.
The next morning, Monica left her hotel room to complete the other fashion shows she was expected to be in. Just like the previous day, fans had surrounded the whole building and getting to the car was harder as they tried to jump over the barricade that had been put in front of them with the intention of grabbing her.
Thankfully, the body guards were able to prevent that from happening and Monica was able to successfully get into the car with now scratch.
Her manager quickly followed and they both settled inside the car.
"So where is the next place that I have to be?" Monica asked her manager, Stella.
Stella opened the tablet in her hand and scrolled through a few lists before tapping on a particular one.
"You have a meeting with Charlotte Duboi, the owner of Veridian Luxe and that’s where we are heading to at the moment", Stella replied before she started typing on the tablet.
Monica’s heart skipped a beat after hearing Stella’s words. ’Jake will also be at the meeting’, she remembered.
"Hey, do you know where Jake is? I’ve been trying to reach out to him but he’s not answering", said Stella.
Monica subconsciously shook her head since she also didn’t know where he was. "I don’t know", she mumbled under her breath.
"Alright, I just hope he didn’t forget the meeting", said Stella.
The driver drove towards the art gallery where the meeting would be taking place and the two women stepped down from the car.
As they walked, Monica’s heart continued to beat loudly in her chest.
They walked inside the art gallery and found Charlotte Dubois, a middle aged woman who looked like a lady in her early twenties, surrounded by people in business suits as they spoke and joked about a few things.
"Mrs. Duboi", Monica called the elderly woman to get her attention and they pecked each other on the lips before she continued, "How are you doing?"
"I’m fine, thank you. How are you?" Mrs Dubois asked.
"I’m also good", Monica replied before she greeted the other people in the circle until she realized that Jake wasn’t at the meeting.
After taking a seat, Monica joined the group of people and discussed the new jewelry design until a voice suddenly interrupted them.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Duboi. I’m so sorry for being late, I had to do a few things before coming here", said Jake.
Monica’s heart skipped a beat when she heard his voice but she acted as if things were cool.
"That’s alright, Jake. You are not too late", Mrs. Duboi replied.
Monica slowly moved her neck to glance at Jake only to find him staring at her intently, his eyes holding a lot of unspoken words.
Quickly, she faced the other way so as to avoid his gaze.
"Monica, I didn’t see you there. I thought we would be coming together", said Jake and everyone’s attention moved towards Monica, awaiting her reply.
Feeling suffocated by everyone’s stare, Monica pulled up a smile before she responded, "But you never said such".
Jake chuckled and was about to remark but was interrupted by Mrs. Duboi who said,
"So now that you are here Jake, why don’t we continue from where we stopped?"
Everyone immediately agreed and the sketchers who were already at the meeting started drawing designs for their new launch until the meeting was adjourned and designs had been selected.
Everyone stood up and got ready to leave and so was Jake. When Monica noticed he was about to leave, she quickly stopped him,
"Jake wait!"
Jake halted his steps and waited for her to start speaking.
Mrs. Duboi and the sketchers had already left and Stella had gone along with them to discuss a few things.
Walking to stand in front of Jake, Monica stared into his eyes before she spoke,
"Jake, about what happened the other day, I would like to apologize".
Jake frowned at her statement, "Apologize for what?" he questioned her. "Are you and Felix together now?"
