This left Adrian and James guilty even more. "I'm done. I will be leaving now." Jennifer stood up instantly as she couldn't take anymore of the tension and embarrassment. "Wait." Adrian held Jennifer's hand to stop her. "You need to take medicine for your wound as well." Adrian said. He remembered how he had mistakenly punched her and noticed how painful it was for her to bend over as she treated her. Jennifer knew that her stomach was hurting but taking medicine from Adrian? Hell no. She didn't even say anything, just looked at him and left the room without another second wasted.
"She's really angry." James said the moment Jennifer left. "She should be. She has all the rights to be" Adrian talked to James for the first time. James looked at Adrian who was staring at the partly open door from which Jennifer had left the room. "It will be alright." He said to Adrian who was again descending into the quiet. "Will it?" Adrian said after a long time of pondering. "When she understands the reason, she will. She loves you, Adrian. Why else would it hurt her to be with you right now and still be there?" James was stuck on the lines Jennifer said.
They were rotating in his mind again and again, as if there was a secret meaning to decipher from it. Maybe there was. Maybe not. But somehow James thought that Jennifer was trying to say something she couldn't say openly. James was twisting and turning the sentences in his mind as he led the injured Adrian home. "I don't want to go home. Take me to the den." Adrian said. "Till when are you going to evade them?" James asked him.
Adrian hadn't gone to his home ever since he overheard them talking about Jennifer. He was too afraid they would ask him to execute their plan. Adrian's heart would not be able to take that damage, he knew it so he decided to stay at the den. "Till the time… I don't know." Adrian was also speechless at James' question. They were his parents, he had to go home someday. But when? Maybe he should wait until his father's company got sold out but then Crystal would create more trouble for him. Maybe he should go home and deny to work for them. That wasn't feasible as well. They had too much power over him. What should he do? This question was eating Adrian inside out.
"Wait, let's go to the forest clearing. I need to talk to you." Adrian said in a frustrated tone. James looked at Adrian and smiled. "Finally! You decide to tell me when you don't have any other way left. Now don't waste the time." James took the turn and entered the clearing with Adrian. He made him sit comfortably on a rock. He was injured so it took a lot of effort and mind to actually create a spot where he could sit without hissing in pain.
When James and Adrian were both seated James started the conversation by saying, "So, I just know that you are pushing Jennifer away for some reason and I know that you are purposely ignoring your father and Crystal. I told you I would wait until you told me the reason and from what I'm guessing the situation is going out of hand. Right?" Adrian nodded to James sentence. His best friend knew him too well to lie. He had also decided to give Adrian space, just like Jennifer. The only difference was that Adrian hadn't stabbed him in the back by cheating on him and then punching him in his stomach.
"Will you say anything or keep on staring at the grass?" James asked when he thought Adrian was wrapped around with his own thoughts taking control of his ability to think and reason. Adrian was interrupted in his thoughts that made some room for sentences. "So… umm… it's pretty bad and I should have asked for your advice earlier but I still hope that after you understand the situation you can come up with a solution because I'm desperate for it." Adrian was roaming around the point. He didn't know how to put it into words.
"Don't beat around the bush. Spit it!" James said. He was getting more and more worried by the minute. "Actually, that day I was getting ready to meet you all, at the den. Remember when we had our security meeting? That day. I got dressed and went out of the house but mid way I remembered that I forgot my phone at home so I went back. That's when I saw them…" Adrian couldn't speak anymore. Even the thought was disgusting.
"Them what?" James poked him to get more information out of him. "Dad and Crystal. They were talking about something. Something really bad and disgusting." Adrian mumbled these words staring at a twig as if trying to bring it to life. "Adrian look at me! What were they talking about?" James tried again. This time he turned Adrian's head his way deliberately to peer into his eyes that confirmed that he was definitely up for a lot of trouble.
"They were talking about how Rain's association was about to get sold because Jennifer's father had broken the contract which led to huge economic losses for them. Then Crystal suggested something." Adrian was about complete his sentence when James said, "My guess is that it was pretty bad. Huh?" Adrian acted like he was about puke. "It was disgusting and cheap and mean. She stupid and crazy." Adrian kept punching himself subconsciously. When he realized he had beaten himself up he looked at James who had a pity smile on his face.
"Judging from your actions, she came up with some plan to compensate losses in a really nasty way." James said. "She told my dad to tell me that I should make Jennifer fall in love with me, then I should help them win over the majority of shares and then break Jennifer's heart so that I have the money and they can engage me to the daughter of another businessman whose company they wanted to usurp." Adrian said and James gasped at the dirty mind Crystal had. How nasty can she be?
"So what's the problem? Just deny it." James said. "You really think I haven't given it a thought?" Adrian smirked.