He made sure he parked away from her as far as he could. He didn’t know what had gotten into him, but for him to be free and happy that he had finally gotten the revenge he had long been longing for, he felt a new stone of heaviness weighing down his chest. And when she drove out of the house the way she did, Jack knew even if he stopped himself from following her, he couldn't. He had to make sure she was safe first. He had thought that she was going to cry until she maybe passed out but how she acted was enough to tell him that she wasn’t okay, and she wasn't going to be okay until she cried to her satisfaction. At least he knew that about her, didn’t know?
And from where he stood, he could see the way she had begun to cry now, so terribly and so bad that he wanted to pluck his heart out of his chest. It got to the point that she began to scream at the pitch of her voice as she cried even harder. He began to take a few steps toward her, he knew he couldn’t control himself even if he wanted to, so stopping himself wasn’t even the option now. He had never felt a sense of guilt like he did now, and he imagined how he had felt when he watched the way Willa cried over her husband. If it were his sister, would he ever have done that to her?
She was banging her head on the railing now, and Jack knew he had to stop her before she harmed herself. And if that happened, he would never be able to forgive himself for doing what he did to her even though she was the one that caused everything. He rushed toward her and firmly hugged her from behind, holding her chest up so she couldn’t bang her head on the railing. She tried to fight him off as she cried even more bitterly now but he was far stronger than her, she had to let him have his way with her. She cried so hard, her whole body shaking as she shook him as well, but Jack held onto her without voicing a word out until she slowed down her cries and he turned her to give her the best hug he could muster, which he was certain might calm her down like Willa proclaimed his hugs did to her.
“My heart is paining me a lot; I don't know what to do.” Her lips trembled and her words came out as a muffled cry, all Jack did was hugged her even closer while she wrapped her hands around his waist and cried even harder. He wondered if she had recognized him to be the man that ha consoled her in Florida, or if she didn’t care about who gave her comfort anymore. But he thought she would be afraid to have someone hug her the way he did in this place that had no living soul?
“It’s fine, you’ll be alright someday.” That was all he could mutter as he felt the weight of what he had down trying to pull him down, but he knew he had to act as strong as he could to save face. He was afraid of her recognizing him that was why he wore a facing cap and a black shades so that even if she looked into his face, she won’t be able to know it was. And thankfully, it was so hard here that even the glow of the moon wasn’t enough to lit up everything.
She was silent for a while as she rested her head on his chest, her tears still pouring down as though a fountain. “You’re the one...” She muffled through cries and Jack gone pale, “You’re the man that hugged me on the rooftop in Florida, right?” She asked, but she still didn’t make any effort to look up to his face.
“Hmmm...” That was all he could say, because he had thought she knew it was him, Jack Roberts that promised to break and when he wanted to do that, he extended to crushing everything her heart ever held close.
She broke into tears and he felt the way she tightened her hold on him as he placed his chin on her head, “I loved him, but he broke me again. It has just been two months since he started working with me, became back from Spain a month ago, could you believe it? Everything had been a lie on his side, but I sincerely loved him.” She stopped to surge in her breath and due to how guilty he had felt, Jack wanted to go back to his car and never face her again in his life. Was this the innocence he had crushed? Was this the heart he had trampled on? How could he make up for what he did to her?
She kept on speaking, telling him all the things he knew even better than her and when she came to the part of what Jack had said to her, she nearly choked on her words that Jack had to shake her softly for her to have a hold of her breath. “I hate him, I hate him so much that it’s even hurting my heart. Why did he have to do this for me? If this were done on his sister, would he have appreciated it? If I were his sister or someone he was bloody related to, wouldn’t he make sure he avenged on me?” She sympathetically wiped at her tears but more gushed down, “I know that we’re fighting, but this was much more than a fight. He has broken me, and I have no faith left in this world anymore.”
He didn't voice a thing out, because he felt he didn't have the right to try to console her with his words. Wasn't he the one that broke her? He only rocked them without a word until he felt the way she had slackened on his chest and she was about to slip out of his hold when he felt a pang in his chest. What the hell was wrong with Anna? Did she passed out or worse, died? He immediately pulled her face away from his chest and when he stared at her face, she looked in pain but there was nothing shocking about her, she looked to be asleep.
“Anna...” He called out as softly as he had never heard his voice sounded.
“Mmm...” She mumbled sleepily, and Jack didn’t know when he released the breath he didn’t know he was holding. He carefully scooped her into his arms and took her to her car. He knew she was together with her phone; Henry had told him about her secretary Julia, he would call her and have them take her from here. But when he placed her at the back of the car and tried to walk out, she held his arm firmly. “I'm scared, will you please stay with me?” She didn’t even give him the chance to voice a word out when she began to cry, and the sound of her cries was enough to tell whoever was hearing her that she was in so much grief.
He sighed and sat carefully at the back of the car, resting her head on his arm as she entwined their fingers. He turned to look at the way she was sleeping even though not peacefully because after each three to four minutes she will break into tears as though a baby and then she will be silent. He felt terrible, what had he done to this beautiful soul? It was apparent that she got tired of resting her head on his arm because she squirmed and placed her head on his laps, adjusting herself on the car so she could enjoy the sleep.
At first, he wanted her to get comfortable before he peeled her off his body and contact Julia so she can be in safe hands. But when he stared at the way she was soundly sleeping; Jack knew at least she deserved this from him. Maybe he would let her be for a few more minutes before he called her. That might be because he wanted to have a better look of her eyes and reluctantly, he began to caress his thumb on her cheek. She had a soft skin and when his eyes wandered to her lips, he quickly took his eyes off there because if anything, he didn't even deserve to hold her the way he did now.
❦
The chilly wind of dawn was what woke Jack up and he realized he had slept off in Anna’s car with her on his laps. He gasped softly because he was afraid of waking her up and she would have to know who he was. And he was certain, that would anger her more than anything. To know that she had been played twice by him. He saw her bag and while checking it, he took her phone out and there, over a hundred missed calls from Julia and her mother. His bad, they must’ve been worried sick about her.
He sent Julia a text, glad that Anna didn't have her phone locked and acted as though it was Anna before he placed the phone back in the car. Meticulously, he slipped away from Anna and walked back to his car. He drove off and parked at a measurable distance where he could see her safely taken by her people and it hadn’t been closer to 45 minutes when a car drove past him and he sighed out of relief. She was safe at last, certainly, her heart was still soiling with pain, but she would at least grieve peacefully at home.
He didn’t have to wait until they were done with her before he can leave, because he wasn’t sure whether she can know his car or not, so he drove back home, not sure whether Mom noticed he didn’t sleep at home or not. He both hated and loved the way his Mother treated him as though he was still a teenager. Sometimes it gave him a feeling of protection but most of the times, he got annoyed. He parked his car after he had arrived home, still weighed down by the guilt that had been filling his heart slowly.
The moment he opened the door and walked through to the living room so he can get himself a juice and a snack before he went back to sleep, still the fact that he had spent the whole night with Anna wasn't leaving his mind. He walked into the living room and hadn’t noticed the people in it until he heard as someone cleared his throat and when he turned, it was his Father. Jack knew today would never be the day he wanted it to be.
“Where are you from?” That was the first question he asked him and instead of Jack to feel frightened by what his father had asked, he felt angry.
“What do you mean, Dad?” He asked, and when he turned around, he realized that Mom was there, and she was silently shaking her head at him in a begging gesture. That made him even more angry and miserable. “How can you ask your adult child where he comes from? I'm 26 years old in case you forgot, and I don't have any reason to tell you where I slept last night!” There, he had made another woman miserable for the whole of yesterday night, unknowingly to him, his Mother had cried herself the whole night yesterday as well, for a man that was meant to love and protect both her and her kids. Was this Karma already avenging on him for Anna?
The next thing he felt was a loud and striking slap on his left cheek and when he looked, instead of the one he expected, it was his mother. “What do you think you’ve done, Mom?” He asked, and she had her weary eyes glaring at him.
“Is this the right way to talk to your father?” She sounded angry, but he knew she was more afraid than she was angry at him. She was afraid of what his father would do to him, and she dreaded having another fight with him. What a pity!
“You’re the one always making him even worse than he is, Mom!” He yelled and stomped out of the house, aware of their eyes on his retreating back.