Chapter 74. Change of plans
Lilly Bradley
During the drive to the restaurant, Jackson remained silent, staring out the window lost in his own thoughts. The idea of having our third date today made me hesitant. The car stopped, and before getting out, I took his hand to get his attention. He turned to look at me.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, puzzled.
"Is something wrong with you?" I frowned. "You've been very quiet. I don't want to start imagining things like a movie in my head..."
"I'm fine. It's just been a very tense morning..."
"I know," I took a deep breath. "I'm going to cancel our third date and..." he quickly interrupted me.
"No, no, I want to have our third date. Besides, I'm not going to let everything else ruin it. We have plans, I want to keep our dates..." I pressed my lips together.
"Alright," I smiled.
"Are we okay? You and me?" I nodded. He lifted my hand (which was holding his) to kiss my knuckles. "Let's go have lunch." We got out of the car and entered the restaurant. Jackson ordered for both of us. After another silence, he spoke, "Where will our third date be?" I finished sipping my glass of water, looked at him, and smiled.
"It's a surprise," I said, winking.
"I'm curious. I want to dress appropriately for it." I leaned back in my chair.
"I'm not falling for it," he let out a laugh.
"You got me." I nodded triumphantly.
"You're doing well, there's no need to..." A man approached us, interrupting our conversation.
"Excuse me, Mr. Johnson." It seemed he was the manager of the place. "We've been informed that there's a group of reporters outside waiting for you." Jackson's face changed.
"What? Reporters? How come?" he asked, irritated.
"Yes, sir, they just arrived a few minutes ago."
"I'm not interested in talking to reporters."
"Of course, sir, I'll order them to leave." He turned and disappeared from the private room. I noticed the tension in Jackson.
"Do you want to leave?" He shook his head.
"We still have dessert left." He winked at me playfully. After finishing dessert and a short conversation, the manager returned.
"Excuse me again for the intrusion," Jackson looked at the man beside him. "Whenever you want to leave, you can take the other exit to avoid being bothered by the press. They insist on waiting for you."
Jackson let out a huff.
"Alright, thanks." The man disappeared. Jackson quickly typed on his cell phone. I thought he was sending a message to Richard. When he finished, he looked at me intently. "Sorry, we have to go."
"Sure, don't worry." We reached the car waiting for us at the back of the place. Jackson was very upset, quite angry. He made calls as we headed straight to the office. I received a message from Leah, asking if we could have dinner tonight. I didn't give her an answer at that moment as I heard Jackson curse. Now there were reporters outside the building too. He muttered something under his breath that I couldn't catch.
"Through the underground," he ordered Richard. Jackson called someone on his cell phone. "What the hell is going on? There are reporters everywhere. Since when did they start harassing me?" He listened carefully to the other side of the line as the car parked. "I don't care, the press conference is moved to tomorrow. And only those who are serious about their work are allowed. I don't know how you'll do it, but make them stop camping at my office." He then hung up. For a moment, he was lost in his thoughts. I was about to get out to give him space, but he stopped me. Our eyes met. "I'm sorry to say this, but tonight..." He looked ahead. The driver got out, and Richard along with him to give us privacy. He returned his gaze to me while holding my wrist. "...Can we cancel the third date?"
"Yes, of course. Is something wrong?" I asked, concerned.
"I just need..." He closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them, I saw more anger in his gaze. "I need you to stay away from me until I solve this issue."
"Away?" He nodded.
"It seems Máxima has leaked information. I don't want them to find out more and start harassing your family and you. If you stay away, I can handle things with..." I interrupted him.
"Arya?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. And with Máxima." He stroked my wrist with his thumb. "I don't want them to ruin what we have together."
"They won't. But if you think staying away from you is the solution, I'll do it. I want you to be okay..."
"Thank you," he pulled me in for a kiss. The kiss was demanding, hungry, and anxious. When we separated, I took a breath, and he rested his forehead against mine. "I promise to resume our three pending dates before the company's gala night."
"Alright, I'll wait..."
When we resumed our workday, I didn't see Jackson for the rest of the day. I had been biting my nail because of what he had asked me, staying away from him. I remembered Leah and her message. There had been days where we barely exchanged words at home; her work had her immersed, something normal for her when she was doing what she was passionate about. I quickly typed a response.
"Sure, let's have dinner. Should we meet at home? Or somewhere else?" I hit send, and she replied quickly.
"I'll pick you up, Dad lent me his car," she added a smiley face.
"Perfect, I'll wait for you at six-thirty," I responded.
"Perfect, see you then."
I looked at the clock and saw I had exactly one hour before Leah came to get me. I debated whether to tell Jackson about my dinner plans, but then I thought, "He has more important things to worry about than knowing I'm having dinner with my sister." So, I decided against it.
When it was time to leave, a man in a suit appeared at my office door, startling me since I hadn't seen him arrive.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, Miss Bradley."
"No, no, it's my fault. My mind was elsewhere. You just surprised me."
"Mr. Johnson instructed me to drive you home." Then I recognized him as Jackson's driver.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but that's not necessary," I said, noticing his surprised expression. "My sister is already here to pick me up and is waiting at the entrance."
"Very well, I'll inform Mr. Johnson that you have other transportation." He smiled without showing his teeth.
"Thank you, that's very kind." He disappeared, and I gathered the rest of my things and took the employee elevator down. Leah was waiting in the lobby, waving at me when she saw me.
"Ready?" I nodded with a smile, and we left. On the way to dinner, I noticed she seemed a bit uneasy, so I took a chance and asked.
"Is everything okay?" She nodded without looking in my direction, her eyes fixed on the city traffic. "And why did you invite me to dinner?" The car stopped at a red light, and she turned to face me.
"I want to talk... Can't I have dinner with my only sister like we did in London?" I smiled at her question.
"I miss doing that," I confessed.
"We should start doing it again." I pointed out that the light had turned green, and she drove on. A few minutes later, she parked the car at a street food place. I left my purse and phone in the car, and we walked to the tent.
"It's ramen," she said, making me smile. We went in and ordered ramen and two bottled waters.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" I asked after taking a sip from my water bottle.
"I'm seeing someone," she confessed.
"What?" I sounded very, very surprised. "You?"
"Yes, me," she said, irritated. "I wanted to tell you."
"Oh, wait, wait, with whom?" Leah blushed.
"With Jacob."
"What? Your boss? How is that possible?"
"Lilly, I'm not that messed up. I have my charm, believe it or not."
"No, I don't mean that. You have rules, you weren't interested in a relationship. We've only been here a month and..."
"You date Jackson. He's your boss and..."
"That's different."
"No, you want to see it as different, but it's the same. You had rules too, but you broke them with Oliver."
"First of all, I didn't know he was my boss's son. You know how that happened."
"But now, aren't you dating Jackson?"
I pressed my lips together, remembering what he had asked of me, to stay away until the situation was resolved.
"For now, no." She raised an eyebrow.
"What?" she asked, surprised. "It seemed like..."
"He's caught up in a situation. Now the press is involved, and the last thing he wants is for them to find out who I am, if I'm dating him, and start harassing us."
"Wow, that's considerate of him," Leah said, sounding a bit confused. "But... what situation?"
"I don't know exactly. But he wants me to stay away from him."
"Oh, Lilly." She took my hand in support.
"I'm fine. By the way, you have to tell me how you're dating your boss..." After she told me, without much detail, Leah seemed calm, smiling, and with a sparkle in her eyes I'd never seen before. Last night, Jacob had awkwardly and sincerely asked her out on their first date for Friday. Leah was really excited and still couldn't quite believe it. After a while of chatting, giving advice, joking, and laughing, we finished dinner and left. When we arrived at our neighborhood, we noticed a group of people, and I gasped.
"What's going on?" Leah asked, seeing the crowd in front of our building.
"Oh my God, they've found me." She stopped the car behind another, as they weren't letting anyone through, and we watched from our spot without being noticed.
"Who found you?" When I didn't answer, busy searching for my phone in my purse, she gasped again. "Oh God," I paused to look at her. "Is it the press?"
"Apparently, I need to talk to Jackson." I found my phone and my eyes widened at all the missed calls from Jackson. "Oh," was all I said before dialing him immediately. One ring and he answered.
"Where have you been? I've been calling you and you didn't answer. Do you know how worried I've been? I thought something had happened to you!"
"Calm down, I went to dinner with my sister and left my phone in my purse. What's going on? Why are there reporters at my place?" I heard Jackson curse on the other end of the line.
"Maxima and Arya have made the situation worse..."