Chapter 61. Strange and inexplicable
Jackson Johnson
The Johnson House
After a delicious lunch in the office lounge, everyone returned to their work. By the time my shift ended, Lilly had already left for home. I hadn’t realized the time and had stayed an hour past closing. My mother’s text messages bombarded me with questions about whether I was coming to her house, that she was waiting for me, and not to eat anything because she had made my favorite chicken. And here I was, parking the car in front of their house. I noticed Máxima’s car was there; I would have to apologize for my outburst this morning. But I still believed she had something to do with it, and I even thought I should thank her because if I hadn’t gone to the mansion, I wouldn’t have seen Lilly, and we wouldn’t have had our real date. The maid opened the door with a big smile.
"Mr. Johnson, everyone’s in the backyard."
"Thank you." I walked to the back of the house and saw the large table. I started walking while everyone remained unaware of my presence. I took off my blazer, and when my mother looked in my direction, she smiled.
"Jackson! You made it!" I greeted my mother.
"Good evening," I then greeted my father and Máxima. But there were two empty seats with their respective plates at the table. "And those empty plates? Are there guests?" I asked, intrigued, taking a seat in one of the two empty chairs.
"Jackson," I heard behind me and closed my eyes. It was Georgina Vans.
"Yes, it’s Georgina Vans," my mother said with a big smile on her lips. "We ran into her at the mall while shopping, and I invited her to dinner with us." I stood up just as Georgina approached to pull out the chair and sit next to me. "Where are you going?" my mother asked, confused.
"I’m leaving."
"Where to? You just got here, son," my father motioned for me to take a seat.
"I’d like to stay for dinner," I looked at Georgina, who was beginning to blush with annoyance, then at my parents. "But I have a date."
"What?" my parents said simultaneously, Máxima’s eyes widening just like theirs.
"Oh, I hadn’t told you," I feigned irony.
"And as always, it will only be one," Georgina muttered under her breath, placing her hands on the back of the chair. I smiled sarcastically as I turned my face toward her.
"Well, this will be our second date." Georgina looked in my direction, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Second? Who is she? Where is she from? What’s she like?" my father began to ask excitedly. But my mother smiled broadly because she knew it was Lilly.
"I’ll bring her to introduce her later." Everyone was still surprised, even my mother, who covered her mouth when she heard me say that. "In fact, my mother helped me with that first date. By the way, she was fascinated by your details, and we’ve arranged to meet in…" I pretended to glance at my watch briefly, "…exactly one hour."
"And why did you come?" Máxima asked excitedly. "You need to get ready. Are you going like that?"
"No, I’ll change first. I just wanted to stop by and say hello." I looked at Georgina, whose face was very red.
"Take a seat, Georgina," my father said chivalrously.
"I can’t. I received a call from my mother, asking me to go find her to look at some things…" she grabbed her purse, which I hadn’t noticed hanging on the back of the chair.
"Oh, well," my mother said, standing up. "I’ll escort you…"
"I’ll do it," I said in a helpful tone. "Shall we?" I asked Georgina, but I noticed the tension in her.
"Goodnight, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, Máxima, have a lovely evening…" she said before heading through the garden. I signaled to them that I would return. I walked behind a furious Georgina, who made abrupt movements to show me she was angry, crossing the threshold to reach the parking lot.
"Where's your car?" I asked. She didn't answer and kept walking toward the car, completely ignoring me. I stopped about two meters behind her while she struggled with the key. She muttered a few curses, and I didn't intend to keep listening. Just as I was about to leave and say goodnight out of politeness, she screamed my name furiously. I raised my eyebrows, not expecting it. She turned to me, threw her purse at her feet, and tossed the keys in my direction, though they didn't hit me. I could see her face, flushed with the anger she was holding back.
"What do you want, Georgina? The real question is, why do you keep getting involved with my family?"
"Why?" she asked in a pitiful whisper.
"Why?" I repeated her question, then crossed my arms and sighed. "Why do you keep clinging to someone who isn't interested in you? I couldn't make it any clearer."
"Why that English woman?" she said with disdain, and I felt a tightness in my chest. "She's not from a wealthy family, she has no heritage, no business. They just arrived in the city! She has NOTHING." She emphasized that last word with fury. "She doesn't have that grace, she knows nothing about the circle you move in." I clenched my jaw at the anger swirling inside me, realizing she had been investigating Lilly. I hadn't even done that! Why was she doing it? I closed the distance between us; she backed up until her back was against the driver's side door window.
"It's none of your business, Vans."
"It's my business because I love you." I raised my eyebrows and took a step back.
"What?" I stammered. "You think you love me? We've only had one date, for God's sake!"
"That was enough for me. I've fallen in love, Jackson. I'm in love!"
"No, you're not," I replied sarcastically.
"I am! I'm going to do everything I can to prove to you that I love you, that we're the perfect couple, that our families will make great business mergers, we'll have corporate connections, we'll be the envy of the world." I shook my head, stunned by everything she had said.
"I'm not interested in being anyone's envy." This was completely wrong. Investigating Lilly was a red flag that I had to keep her away from me, from her, and from my family. I turned to leave, took a couple of steps when she shouted again.
"I'm talking to you, Jackson!" Her voice broke as she yelled. "Why didn't you choose me?" I stopped then, sighed in exhaustion, turned back to her, and closed the distance between us.
"Do you want to know why I didn't choose you?" Her lower lip trembled. "Because you have no human touch. You might have all the beauty, but that... it fades. You might have the money, but that won't bring you real happiness. Corporate connections? I have them. I earned them on my own merit, without favors. I don't need to merge anything, nor my family with anyone." Her tears started to fall as she listened intently to my words. "One dinner was enough to see how you really behaved, your way of speaking about others is so vile and despicable that it made the rest of our date a total hell. Just one hour was enough to see the real Georgina. Do you want me to say more?" She shook her head with trembling hands, trying to stop more tears from falling down her reddened cheeks. "You'll find someone at your level, someone who wants what you want."
"Why her?" she whispered with more tears in her eyes. "Just... tell me, please..." It sounded like a plea.
"Why do you insist on wanting to suffer more than you already evidently are?"
"Just tell me..." she pleaded again. I ran a hand through my hair and looked around us, then finally looked at her.
"Fine, I'll tell you." I paused briefly. "Because she didn't need to impress me. She was just a strange and inexplicable coincidence that I don't intend to lose for anything in the world."