Chapter 37 - Apologies.

I left Lizzy and went in search of Raymond, but on my way, I met Hale.

"Have you seen Beth?" Hale asked.

"Yes, she is in the car that I drove here." I replied.

"Did you see Raymond come this way?" I asked.

"Yes." He replied and nodded at the same time.

"I think he is with your J.J." He added and walked away, going towards the car that Lizzy was in.

What?

They are together?

How do I do this?

I hope Raymond would not try to hurt J.J.

I checked the first car, which was the one that J.J and Hale drove here and I saw J.J and Genevieve inside.

That fucking lier, Hale.

Why did he lie?

Does he think that this is funny?

And besides, he started all this in the first place.

No, it was he and Raymond, I don't even know what the fuck is going on between those two.

But they seem cool with each other.

J.J was shocked the moment he saw me and began to feel guilty, because he was laughing and holding hands with Genevieve.

I quickly walked away, but J.J followed me and I had to stop walking so that Raymond would not see us together.

"Hey, it's not what you think I promise." He said to me, when he got closer.

I was a bit confused, because I wasn't expecting him to come after me.

"I…..I...I don't understand." I said to him, as I ran my fingers through my hair and glanced around to see if I could see Raymond.

"What you just saw, we are just friends and I promise that nothing is going on between me and Gene." J.J said.

"Gene?" I asked and laughed softly.

He has even given her a short name.

Just then the Gene, Genevieve reached us and I am sure that she might have heard everything that I and J.J just said.

She actually wouldn't believe her ears if she did.

"Johnson what's going on?" Genevieve asked.

"Nothing serious, I just wanted to clear up something with her." J.J replied to Genevieve and forced a smile on his face.

"My Lady, is he troubling you?" Genevieve asked me.

"No." I replied and shook my head at the same time.

"Thank goodness she is here, you can ask her about it."

"No, nevermind." I said, shaking my head at the same time and pushed my hair behind my ears, as the cool breeze swept past us.

"What is it my Lady, Johnson?" Genevieve asked confusedly.

"Why are you calling her that, my Lady?" J.J asked Genevieve, he just wanted to change the topic all of a sudden.

"Oh, I think it's time for me to tell you the truth."Genevieve said and exhaled lightly.

"The old lady whom you met the other day, I mean the one that invited you to that party, was not my grandma, but hers." She added, as she turned her head down facing the ground, she seemed embarrassed.

"So, that wasn't your house?" J.J asked and giggled mockingly.

What is going on between these two?

I rolled my eyes and exhaled loudly at the same time.

"What is going on here?" I asked, because I was kind of lost.

J.J laughed softly and said,

"She told me the day that when we met, wait." He paused, cleared his throat and continued,

"She told me that it was her family that owns the house where the party was held that day and she was an only child."

"That the granny that invited me to the party was her grandma."

"What?" I asked , shocked.

Why are all these things happening to me in one day?

I exhaled loudly and cleared my throat before saying,

"You wanted to take my place?" That was all I asked her, I didn't say anything further.

And I still have my feelings for her too.

She was already embarrassed enough. I didn't want to disgrace her too, because in the process she might find out that I have feelings for J.J.

I don't want her to know, but who cares. He already knows and Lizzy had just made matters worse.

Without knowing what to say or do, I just walked away.

I continued my search for Raymond.

I checked the police car, but he still wasn't there.

I then walked into one of the gardens by the sides of the road.

Yeah!

I finally found him, he was sitting on one end of the bench inside the garden.

I walked up to him and joined him, sitting beside him.

"Hey." I said to him, but he didn't reply.

"I…. I…. I… Am sorry for what just happened back there." I apologized.

"I didn't ask her to say anything like that. I didn't kiss J.J. Yeah, it's true that I like him, but I am not sure if he likes me back." I said to him,

I wasn't completely honest with that, in fact I lied. J.J likes me back and we are both pretending not to like each other.

Raymond reached for my palm and slightly squeezed it and said,

"It's fine. I understand that Elizabeth doesn't like me, but still she is your best and like a sister to you and there is nothing I can do to change that."

"No, don't say that. It's J.J that she doesn't like, because he doesn't seem to notice me for many years." I said to Raymond.

"It's fine, I have forgiven you." He said, as he stared into my eyes.

"So tell me, what's going on between you too?" I asked curiously.

"Between I and who?" He asked.

"Between you and Lizzy." I replied.

"It's nothing serious, she just doesn't like me." He said.

"Why doesn't she like you?" I asked, but before he could say anything, I quickly added,

"There is something that you must have done for her to dislike and resent you this much."

"It was on the day you died, she said I caused everything and was to be blamed for it." Raymond said.

"How?" I asked.

He shrugged, shook his head and said at the same time,

"I don't know. She never told me."

Ugh!

That girl is so hard.

"How about we talk about all these issues later?" I asked.

He nodded and said,

"Sure."

"The four of us, or maybe the six of us." I said and smiled at him.

He smiled back, lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed the back of my palm which sent a cold to run down my spine.

"It's okay." He said.

He shifted his body closer to mine and called out my name,

"Eunice."

"Yes." I replied.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me the truth and nothing,but the truth." He said.

I raised up my head and began to look directly into his eyes and then asked,

"What truth?"

"Who do you love more?" He asked.

"Pardon?"

"Between I and J.J, who do you really want to be with?" He asked me again.

I cleared my throat and replied,

"I truly do not know."

"What do you mean by that?" He asked in a calm tone.

"I like the both of you." I replied to him.

"What?" He asked in disbelief, but before I could reply him, he asked another question,

"How can you like two guys?"

"I don't know, but I do." I replied and shrugged at the same time.

"Just be serious, you will have to choose between I and J.J." He said.

"Like now?" I asked him.

"Yes now." He replied and laughed softly.

"But I am still confused. I don't know who to choose." I said to him and drew my eyebrows together.

"It's fine. How about I give you some time to think about it?" He asked, concerned.

"Yes, that's what I need, sometime." I said to him and smiled at him.

"A month." He said.

"Yeah, a month." I said.

He nodded and smiled at me.

I exhaled loudly, cleared my throat and said,

"There is something that I have been meaning to ask you."

"What is it?" He asked.

"What really happened between you and Hale?" I asked out of curiosity.

"It's a very, very long story." He said.

"Tell me, I am curious. I want to hear about it." I said to him,

"It all began after he started having feelings for Elizabeth. You know, I never liked that girl from day one." He said.

"Yeah, I remember." I said and nodded at the same time.

"There was a time I even secretly started to resent you too." He said.

"Me?"

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you became best friends with her. You and Hale stopped talking to me just because of her." He said.

"I am sorry." I apologized.

"I know you are sorry, but your bond with her is unbreakable now." He said with a sad tone.

I didn't say anything, I just nodded.

"I've become a sadist ever since." He said.

"A sadist?" I asked and shifted back a bit.

"Yes, that was why I wanted to ruin their relationship." He said with an angry tone.

"Really?" I asked, shocked.

I couldn't believe my ears.

"Is that why you want to end my friendship with her?" I asked.

"Yes. I hate her with passion." He said to me,

"Wow!" That was all I was able to say.

"I have also been begging him to help me talk to you or to talk to his girlfriend about me, since she is the closest to you." He said bitterly.

"Really?" I asked surprisingly.

"Yes." He replied and shook his head at the same time.

"For how long now?" I asked

"For about five or six years now." He said.

"It's been long, but he has never talked to me about you before." I said to him,

Now I see reasons with him, the reason he was willing to destroy Hale's love life.

It's actually painful though, but I will make him forgive Hale.

Vengeance isn't the only way to seek justice.

"I am so sorry, I didn't know that something like this had even been going on behind my back for good six years." I apologized.

"It's okay. I know it's not your fault at all." He said to me and squeezed my palm slightly, smiling too.

"Thanks for understanding." I thanked him, smiling.

He nodded, smiling back at me without saying anything.

"Let's go meet the others before they leave us." I said and withdrew my hand from his slight grip,as I stood up and stood in front of him.

"Don't worry, you go first. I will be behind you." He said and smiled at me.

I nodded and left him.

I went in search of everyone else.

Lizzy saw me and started running towards me.

"My Lady." She said,as she reached where I was and joined me in walking.

I didn't say anything, I just continued walking, I didn't even look at her, I just laughed softly and continued walking.

I was going into the car that I was in before, I hope Lizzy and Hale are not inside.

I walked past the Police car that Genevieve and Raymond drove here with and the car that Hale and J.J was in without looking at either of them.

I got closer to the car, checked through the window and luckily and fortunately for me, the two love birds were not inside it.

I opened the car door and slid into the driver's seat, while Genevieve sat on the passenger's seat beside me.

"My Lady, please I am sorry for what I did. I was stupid and was just being greedy. I wanted to know how it feels to be treated like a noble." She confessed and apologized.

"Why did you do it?" I asked.

"I was just being stupid, I was kind of stupid. That was why I confessed, instead of him to find out about my true identity in an unexpected way." She said with teary eyes.

I didn't know what to do, if I should just forgive her or to forgive and punish her for what she did, but either way, I will have to forgive her.