Jeremy was unaware that Linda arrived earlier than him but decided to park at a curb by the office which had a clear view of the entrance allowing her to affectionately watch him from a distance much to Jackson's dismay, "Little miss, you must really like this boy?",
Linda examined Jeremy's movements carefully, "That is no secret, it is one of the reasons Sharon thought he would make a better husband. Well...'would' is the best way to describe it because I don't think she still feels the same.", her eyes remained glued to Jeremy.
Seeing how immersed Linda was in Jeremy, Jackson grew even more wary, "I still don't think he is a good person. You need to be careful, your uncle is not someone to be taken lightly",
Linda sighed, "I know exactly what you mean and I am grateful that you still worry about me.", Linda knew that Jackson meant well, as someone who's been part of their family since her mother was just a high schooler, he often acted more like a parent than a driver, and Linda appreciated it, especially in such situations.
Jackson turned his back to Linda, "But I don't understand. Why complicate things? Why don't you just tell him the truth?"
Without taking her eyes off Jeremy, she calmly replied "Mr. Jackson, this man lived his whole life believing I am the villain of his story, do you think he will suddenly have a different opinion about me?",
"I guess you are right little Ms King, but do you think when he finds out about your plan he'll be happy? In a way, he's a pawn of your games as well.," Jackson's words triggered a different reaction from Linda.
She turned to him with her eyes depicting an inch of worry then quickly snapped out of it, "I will cross the bridge when I get to it. For now, what matters is that Jeremy is saved from my uncle's palms and he comes to my side"
"Hmm, I hope this works out", Jackson turned his face to the front still unable to shake off his worries, while Linda turned her attention back to the beautiful art in front of her, "Me too, I hope I am not wrong about this... but if I am, I can also just snap him.", she said with a serious face sending goosebumps all over Jackson
Linda sighed heavily as she gazed at Jeremy scanning each face passing him. He truly reminded her of Tom, not only was he cute and naive, but his innocence made it hard for her to resist him. She would have stayed longer if it weren't for the lady who appeared in front of him evoking her jealousy and possessiveness, she had to cut the show short, "How dare she play with my Tom!", she suddenly shouted with annoyance in her voice causing Jackson to abruptly turn around to Linda's eyes burning in jealousy, he chucked, "Tom, huh?".
He found her reaction adorable, it reminded him of when she was young and how angry she got when the other grandchildren would cuddle up against her grandmother and she would refuse to eat afterward. Without wasting another second, Jackson started the car and moved closer to the gallery entrance. Linda was about to step out still in her crazy murderous mood when Jackson called her out "Little Ms. I would suggest a second for you to recollect yourself. Remember, you are the queen of this castle, you should never show when your feathers have been ruffled"
Linda took Jackson's words to heart and quickly restored her queen, icy face on, she then walked out of the car with poise turning heads around as soon as people caught a glimpse of her. Although she appeared calm outside, inside she was ready to burn that woman to the ground, especially when she called her ugly.
*********
Hearing Jeremy call her beautiful made her heart flutter, she was soon hit with the memory of that kiss on her cheek, causing her heart to beat out of control. Jeremy quickly evaded his shyness by grabbing Linda's hand and leading her to the security guard in front of them. However, unbeknown to him, this only made Linda even more shy.
When they got inside the gallery, they went their separate ways with Linda going to handle her business as a host and putting on her earpiece, while Jeremy walked around to admire the paintings in front of him. He was disappointed that the painting from earlier was no longer where he saw it, nonetheless, it was still a lovely exhibition, besides, the show was focused on Scarlet who happened to be a good artist. He walked around with his hands behind his back unaware of Linda stealing a few glimpses of him and admiring the glow in his face as he moved from painting to painting. She couldn't stop replaying the scene from outside the gallery.
"Why don't you just go and talk to him?", a voice came from her earpiece,
"Jackie, this is not a toy, you are only supposed to speak when you spot something unusual"
"But I do. You have been watching that man ever since you walked in, he is your fiance so why not just go over there and start a conversation,", Jackie teased
"If you keep being nosy I will set Freddy up with more cuter girls," Linda replied without making it obvious to the crowd that she was talking to herself,
"Fine....I will keep quiet, but, go speak to him before someone snatches him, half the women in there have been staring at him, fake fiance"
"You don't have to worry about that little Jackie, I am sure our Ms here won't let anyone steal her playmate" Kim finally spoke up,
What they said left a bitter taste in Linda's mouth forcing her to grit her teeth "Both of you shut up!",
"Uh-oh, she is pissed...see what you have done Kim!", they both chuckled then kept quiet because they knew Linda was not angry at them but annoyed at the women who kept hovering around her man like a swarm of bees being attracted to a flower. Despite seeing Jeremy's level of disinterest, she remained angry, 'Having a crush is so hard', she said to herself reaching for a glass of wine and a glass of Apple juice from the waitress in front of her before making her way to Jeremy whose heart was at peace as he looked at every art piece. He looked pleased to be there, the paintings reminded him of his younger days before he was forced to move to London with his father.
"It's nice to see someone with a genuine interest in art..." Linda commented behind him with the glass of juice
"What do you mean? Isn't everyone here interested in Art?", Jeremy replied with a smile on his face
She squinted her eyes, "Let me tell you a secret. Only a handful of people are here for the show, most of them are here to show off their pockets. Well, not that I am complaining...".
They clinked their glasses and then took a sip while examining the beautiful ocean painting in front of them. Silence shortly fell upon them making the encounter a bit awkward.
"So" Jeremy was about to ask about the painting from earlier when Linda interrupted him,
"Would you like to come to my office?"
Jeremy laughed awkwardly, "Okay, but won't they need you here?",
With her eyes assuring, "Don't worry, Nancy is here, she is very capable"
Upon hearing that Jeremy confidently followed Linda to her office, this also presented a good opportunity to ask her about the painting and he was going to bring it up as soon as he closed the door.
However, things took a different turn because the instant he closed the door, he was welcomed by Linda's warm lips pressed against his leaving his eyes wide open in shock at the sudden move from Linda.
'Has she already fallen for me?', he thought.