It has been a few days since Linda's peculiar meeting with Jin Ae and she still hasn't figured out the right thing to do. These past few days she thought of nothing but her conversation with her, the offer was quite huge and both options had serious consequences, fatal consequences. She can either expose the scandal about Jeremy's uncle and then get this huge evidence about her parent's death, at the expense of Jackie's safety or she could refuse, Jeremy continues to suffer and everyone is safe and the investigation can continue at the snail's pace. She loved both Jackie and Jeremy, she wanted nothing but to keep him safe, that's what she'd been trying to do all along, but she couldn't possibly sacrifice someone else to achieve that, an innocent dear friend for that matter.
She had to talk to Jackie, only she could help her decide and luckily for her, she was set to arrive on Wednesday evening. But despite all this, Linda still couldn't help but feel like she'd been put in an impossible situation. She sighed heavily staring at the silver ceiling in an exclusive boutique shop where she and Sello were waiting for Sharon to come out of the changing room.
Sello tossed her eyes to Linda recounting the number of times she'd heard those heavy sighs from her and she couldn't ignore it any longer. She also noticed how troubled she seemed these past few days, she knew Linda would just blame it on her job, but she knew better, this was beyond work and it was time to get to the bottom of it.
"Are we that boring?", she teased after the 5th sigh startling Linda. It was always Sello's tradition to take them shopping whenever she was around and then a brunch after.
She smiled at her aunt, and just as Sello suspected, she blamed it on her work, "It's just a very complicated client aunt...but is nothing I cannot handle..", she raised her eyes to the dressing room door, "What do you think it's taking so long, she's been in there for more than 15 minutes now.."
Her aunt shook her head also not having a clue, "Maybe she gained weight and she's still shocked by her own body."
They both giggled subtly but it was futile because Sharon already heard everything, "Ha ha, very funny you guys", she pouted as she stood gorgeously in front of them in a long sparkly red low-cut and side slit gown revealing most of her thigh and her deep cleavage.
She kept touching herself anxiously, "What do you think, I've never worn something so revealing before... Do you th-",
"Take it!",
"It's perfect",
They both said simultaneously making her blush.
"Wait, is that why you took so long, because of doubt? ", Sello asked in surprise. She found Sharon very gorgeous and most of all, she loved her authenticity and confidence. She never imagined she could be hiding such insecurities.
"Well... I have never worn anything so revealing before, but the moment I saw this dress... I-"
"You had to have it.. .", knowing the feeling herself, Linda completed her statement prompting Sharon to yell out, "Exactly!",
Both Sello and Linda smiled and assured her that she looked gorgeous and she finally smiled approvingly of herself.
They all tried out dresses, especially with the gala being just a few days away, they needed to get their outfits sorted.
After trying out more clothes from different stores, they decided to go get brunch from their favorite place and then off to wherever their mood led them. Linda vowed not to let Jeremy's situation steal any more happy moments from her, she had to get herself out of that loophole and be with everyone in that space.
Meanwhile, Jeremy was at his restaurant when her aunt showed up. She's been coming to the shop a lot lately and it made him happy because it meant that she no longer despised him. Besides, he loved cooking traditional Korean meals for her. Ironic how when they were at home they'd eat Western meals more than Korean food, but now they seem to eat more Korean than Western.
"Nephew, you know your mom's death day is coming up soon."., she said sipping her tea,
Jeremy breathed out, "That time already....",
Jin Ae said in a similar dreadful tone, "Yeah...so, we need to make sure we get all her favorite foods together for the ceremony."
"Yes, please let me know of anything else we may need to prepare so I can go get them tomorrow...", Jin Ae smiled and nodded. This would be the first time in a long time that they have the ceremony together. In fact, Jeremy wasn't even allowed to mention his mother's name in front of his stepmother, even to his father for that matter. It was like she never existed, but he refused to let her memory disappear like that, so he would secretly sneak out to a temple to pray for her. So this year was special for several reasons, for the first time, he can talk about her openly, and it's even nicer because it's someone who's known her for a long time. Despite it being a very emotional day, he was somehow excitedly looking forward to it... he finally gets the chance to cook for his mother. His face was radiating in joy contagious enough to even make Jin Ae smile. She decided to inform Jeremy of her next plan while he was in such bliss.
"I will be leaving immediately after the ceremony... so I really need to make sure the gallery--oh no please don't give me that look..", she remarked upon seeing the sad look that suddenly occupied her nephew's face, "You knew I would be leaving soon", she said sadly.
Jeremy's heart was heavy, he loved having a loving family around, someone who genuinely cared for him and didn't expect anything from him. Someone willing to talk about his mother. After having such warmth in his life, he couldn't bear to imagine how things would be after her.
"But aunt... I will have no one", he said suddenly sending a jolt of pain to his aunt's old heart,
She sighed and extended her hand to his, "Wrong. You have Linda..", then she smiled graciously.
But Jeremy's face darkened even more, things with Linda have been off lately and he felt like she's been ignoring him. Ever since Maggie, he felt like things never quite recovered,
"I think she's avoiding me because she thinks I'm still in love with Maggie..", he blurted out making Jin Ae choke on her tea.