Chapter 44. Foundations
Lilly Bradley
"A real date..." His words had left me completely speechless, his dark eyes stared at me, waiting for me to say something else. What was happening? I cleared my throat and looked away from his, that electricity ran through me from head to toe, making me shiver in my place.
"I..." I began to search for the right words, but my attention went to Richard, who walked around the car and got into the passenger seat. The driver returned to his place and they waited for Jackson to say something. When I looked at him, he was still looking at me. "Yes." That was the only word that came out of my mouth. He widened his eyes a bit and smiled triumphantly. My heart beat wildly, I thought he could hear it.
"Perfect." He said before looking ahead. "To the restaurant on Fifth." The car started moving and I looked at the watch on my wrist. He placed his hand over it to stop me from looking. I glanced at him and he shook his head. "Don't worry about the time, you haven't had lunch, just like me."
"But I left at one and..." He kept looking at me. "Fine, we still have thirty minutes..."
"Forget the time." He repeated.
"Fine," but I couldn't stay quiet. "It's not right to go over my lunch break, I'm still an employee of the company. I don't usually take such liberties." He removed his hand from my watch and sighed.
"I'll take that liberty. I've given you an extra half hour for lunch, no one will notice."
"Jackson..." I whispered his name unintentionally, and I noticed his cheeks turning red. "Have you...?" I stopped my question when he put his index finger against my lips. When he moved it away, he nodded without making a sound, so I said nothing more. My phone started ringing insistently and he noticed.
"Someone's calling you." It wasn't a question or a doubt, it was a confirmation. I reached into my bag and found my phone. The screen showed the name "Oliver." "If you want to answer, you can." His words were a whisper beside me.
"No." I blocked his call, his messages, and all other notifications. After a silent ride, we finally arrived at the restaurant. Jackson got out on his side, and I slid across the seat to get out behind him. I saw surprise in his eyes when he saw me. He held the door open for me, and we went inside. I felt my heart racing like I was running a marathon. He pulled out the chair for me, and I thanked him. We were at the steakhouse, which I loved from the first time we came.
"By the way, before anything else..." He gave me his full attention. "I'll pay." Jackson furrowed his brow and shook his head.
"I'll pay. I invited you to lunch..."
"You've done it several times, let me pay at least this time." He debated for a moment, then nodded.
"Fine, you pay." They brought us the menu. I ignored the prices; I just wanted to eat in peace, to drown out the bad moment I had with Oliver, and that reminded me of something.
"Jackson," his eyes met mine from across the table. "I want to thank you for what you did, for defending me."
"It's nothing," he cleared his throat, a sign that he was uncomfortable.
"For me, yes."
"I know it might sound a bit cliché, or maybe something I shouldn't say, but I'm glad you didn't marry him. I imagined it would have been a total nightmare."
I sighed and nodded.
"When we were dating, it was never like that. The first few months of engagement... that's when it started to change." I paused as the waiter approached, placing glasses of water on the table. Once he left, I continued. "Thanks to my sister, Leah, I found out about his infidelity early." I noticed how his jaw tensed and he looked away for a moment.
"You must have been disappointed." I sighed again, leaning back in my chair.
"I was, but seeing him today reaffirms that I wasn't completely in love. Maybe I fell in love at the beginning, but the mistreatment I didn't see before, and now I think, how did I not notice? It just left me disappointed. But it didn't break my heart."
"How can you be sure?" he asked, curious.
"Have you ever been in love?" He tensed and cleared his throat.
"It was a teenage love." I raised my eyebrows in surprise.
"In high school?" He nodded.
"But it didn't end well. Everything was manipulated to fall into the trap of a supposed love, but it was just... a lie."
"I'm sorry," I felt bad for him.
"It was many years ago," he confessed, and I noticed he started to relax. "And since then, I've avoided any sentimental involvement. I think I was doing well until today." His eyes stayed on me.
"Until today?" I whispered the question, and he nodded slowly.
"Until today, for the first time in my life without my mother's help..." he smiled halfway, "I want to have a real date. A date with you." I noticed how he nervously fidgeted with the cloth napkin.
"Why with me, Jackson? You know you could have thousands of women at your feet. I've seen how women look at you as you pass by."
"They don't interest me," he replied.
"I'm not a woman from your circle or status, I don't know what you call it."
"Why do you think that matters to me?"
"Because of Maxine." He rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.
"What did she say? I want to know. Please..." he asked, somewhat annoyed.
"I don't want Maxine to get into trouble. I shouldn't have mentioned her."
"Tell me, Lilly. Please." I nodded.
"She said that in the world you and your brother grew up in, you were raised on foundations of great wealth," I noticed the vein in his neck stand out.
"Go on, please."
"Well, that you've gained a status through your businesses, that your mother arranges dates for you with daughters of important and wealthy people. So I doubted a bit, since we're not of your family's level, and yet your mother set up a date with my sister." I cleared my throat, "Well, I asked her what about feelings, about love, if those weren't foundations," he pressed his lips tightly, "She just vaguely replied that I wouldn't understand if I wasn't from an influential and wealthy family."
"And you... did you respond to her?" he asked.
"Yes," I smiled. "That here or in China, those foundations are strong and the ones that are most worthwhile."