Chapter 36: Jack Daniels

Julian

This was the second day, and Laura hadn't said anything about the flowers. Early this morning, I passed her room and the flowers were gone. I was so curious about it that I even checked the garbage at the back, using my keen sense of smell. —But I picked up nothing. I was relieved she hadn't trashed it, but I still felt pretty nervy. In fact, I had stomach aches thinking about Laura. I couldn't call it butterflies in my stomach again. They were aches. Now all I had to do, was to see Laura and see how she felt about my gesture. I eyed her door one last time from the end of the corridor before turning away to return to the work I had practically abandoned to James. "Good morning our king." The maids greeted me as I passed them and I nodded, acknowledging them. I got down to the main garden, when I halted my steps. Laura was coming in the opposite direction, which meant that we were in a collision path! My heart pumped and nervousness spread to my feet as I watched her approach me. She didn't halt or turn away. Her eyes were looking straight, in front of her. It had me wondering if she was looking at me or something else. I took my time to study her as we drew closer. She wore a gown, with her favourite wool cardigan on top. The gown was not tight, yet her curves were outlined underneath, given an illusion that made my stomach fold with need. With my heart still racing, I decided to use this chance to apologize to her face. I wouldn't hide behind flowers anymore. As she got closer, I took a deep breath to speak but the words abruptly died down in my throat as I realized she wasn't looking at me at all. It was like I had been blurred out of her vision, like an infected part. I wasn't in her focus. I cleared my throat, snapping out of the shock. "Laura, I—" My mouth hung open as she ignored me at point blank range. Not once did she glance in my direction as she waltzed past me and went straight to the stairs. My heart shattered. It hurt so bad, it felt like a deep cut that could never heal. This was the first time I had gotten this treatment. Especially from Laura. I clenched my fists so hard that my nails dug into my flesh, but even the pain was dull. All I could think of was why I was getting treated like that... But as the seconds passed, my pain turned into anger. Laura had gotten the flower, I was sure of that. Then why would she just— I shook my head and stopped the thoughts. It would be better if I acted like nothing happened. That was the only way I could remove this pain within. Time went by fast and all I did was move around the castle, pacing and thinking. When evening finally came, I was eager to move to the dinning but I found her chair empty. She didn't come down for dinner, she was completely avoiding me. When I passed the kitchen and saw her there, she wouldn't even look at my face. She always had a reason to leave, as if I was a pest, a plague to her. "Yeah, keep it lukewarm. I'm going upstairs, tell the maids to bring it there when it's ready." She instructed the chef before turning away. She had felt my presence at the door. She used the second exit at the back to leave. "Laura!" I called her name, but she completely ignored me. The chef minded his own business, but he could sense the awkward air between us. I glared at him. "What did she want?" I sounded gruff. He removed his hat, revealing greying hair. "She wanted her food delivered to her room, sire," he responded. I hissed and turned away. I had to do something, to get my mind off these things. If not I was going to lose it. I met James at the mini bar in the castle. Only higher officials went there to pass time. He had barely noticed me over the bottle of whiskey he was gurgling down. "Pass me what you are taking," I said as I sat down beside him. He was sure as hell surprised to see the king there because he wiped his face. "Oh! My king— I'm sorry! I didn't see you at all!" He was very uncomfortable. "I didn't know you would come here since you have your own personal wine bar!" I scoffed. "Well I'm here now, besides, drinking is better with friends." I grabbed his bottle of whiskey and a glass. "Whoa, Jack Daniels?" I held the bottle up and nodded. "You have good taste." I poured myself a glass and gurgled half the glass before dropping it. James looked at me awkwardly. He knew that I rarely spent time with him, unless it was pack matters. I felt the whiskey numbing my senses and I narrowed my eyes for better focus. "That's some tough shit, the guys at Jack sure know how to make a whiskey." I wiped my mouth and emptied the glass cup.x James stared at me the whole time, he had the air of realization around him. "I see what's going on..." he said. I held out the whiskey to him but he declined. "My bottle is already half full." He showed me. I gently lowered the bottle. "Your loss," I grunted. "Soooo, what's going on?" James twirled his fingers around the rim of his glass. "You never drink unless something is bugging you." "And how do you know that? The fuck—" I hiccuped. "Why do you care now?" James sighed. "You, my friend, are a wreck. We might not talk much, but I'm your Beta and we have that connection. I know when you are feeling shitty, or when you are sad or angry—or when you are hungry. It shows on your face, and the air around you," he explained. I laid off the whiskey and cocked my brows. "Well I'm sorry I don't talk to you." "Can you tell me why you are wasting yourself out here, Julian?" James probed. I must have been drunk, because I ignored him calling me by name. "You really want to know?" "Isn't that the reason you are drinking with someone? Drinking is better with friends," he pushed on. Huh, friends. I sat back and held my head with my arms. "Sure, I'm having a crisis. Laura is fucking avoiding me, I sent her an apology note but she won't even look at my face. It's damn frustrating!" His fingers from the glass. "I see, you want to reach her?" I nodded at him. He didn't seem at all surprised that I was still chasing after Laura and I appreciated the fact that he didn't ask me why. "Why don't you try getting her things she likes? What do you think she loves? Girls like it when men get them things, or do things that stand out—that type of shit." He sniffed. A bulb lit up in my head. Things she liked, things she loved. Apart from the dandelions, which I had learnt from her diary, I also found out she was a sucker for creamy doughnuts and ice cream. I remembered her hitting the fridge late at night for some ice cream in the early days of our marriage. "Thank you very much!" I rose up quickly and turned away. "Always my pleasure to serve you!" James said behind my back. I managed to sober myself up, thanks to my wolf. I went to the nearest bakery in disguise and bought creamy doughnuts and ice cream for her, a mini bucket of it for her. Vanilla and strawberry, just like she had written in the diary. Now was the part I was always super nervous about. Giving it to her. I thought I was determined, when I climbed up the stairs that night with the goods. I could almost picture her smile, the small dimple on her left cheek when she smiled receiving it. But here I was, at the door. I was unable to call out to her. I dropped the goods at the door and stared at it for a long time. I knocked once on the door and left as soon as I heard shuffling inside. The next day, I wasn't able to turn up for breakfast because of important work outside the castle. But I left one rule, because it was my chance to see her. Everyone was to come down to have dinner—that was the new rule I placed. Throughout the day, I was nervous thinking about dinner when I would see her. The day breezed away too quickly, and before I noticed it was already evening. I got back to the castle just in time for dinner and I walked into the dining room. A quick scan and I saw Laura seated near the end of the table. Her eyes never went up as I stood there. I looked again and I noticed that Sarah wasn't there. I beckoned one of the maids over with the wave of my arm and she came close. "Where's Sarah?" The other residents that were officials were present. "She's feeding the baby. She decided to have dinner upstairs," the maid responded. I nodded. It played to my advantage, she wouldn't be here when I tried talking to Laura. I took my seat at the end of the table, with Laura almost beside me at the edge. Her eyes were focused on the plates in front of us. James also sat there, and rubbed his hands together. The maids opened the covers and served us our food. There was soup, chicken, rice, minced meat and many other things on the table. Now, the sauce was beside me, I knew that it would be quite a stretch for Laura, so I decided to help her with it when she would reach for it. She held out her arm and reached for the bowl of sauce and I quickly reached for it and passed it to her, but her hands snaked away and reached for the soup instead. I stared at her, but she was very cold. Her eyes were icy as she ate her food. Well, I will try again. I just wanted to help her—to be gentle. Again, her hands reached for the chicken and I helped her but she wouldn't collect it. She glared at me and I swallowed. There was too much anger in those eyes. Everyone was watching us now, because it was quite obvious. That was how the rest of the evening was, me watching over her moves and she refusing my help when I offered it. At least not verbally, which would have hurt me. She eventually got fed up with my acts and left the dining room. I wiped my hands clean and followed her quickly. Everyone turned their head around as I passed them to the door. She looked back at me as she climbed the stairs and she squeezed her face in anger. "What do you want? Go away!" She stomped away. "Wait Laura, please!" I climbed after her. She didn't turn back at me once as she rushed to her room. I caught up with her just before she entered her room and placed my hand on the way. She looked up at me and I couldn't find my words. My heart was racing, staring down at her, being so close to her. "What is it? What do you want?" Her voice shook. Even with that strong heart, she wanted to fall apart. I clenched my jaws. "Laura, I'm— I'm sorry…”