Chapter 22: Chapter 22

There was no answer from Mabel. She made me wait quite a while. And I had never felt so close to going crazy just waiting for a woman's answer. She made me feel anxious.

"No," Mabel replied simply. "There's nothing else I want to talk about. I hang up now,"

"Wait,"

"What else?" Mabel asked, clearly not wanting to continue the conversation with me.

"I still have something to talk to you," I tried to find an excuse to keep on the phone with her.

Mabel fell silent again, making me wonder what she was doing. I signaled my men to make sure that Mabel was really home.

"Before you tell me what you want to say, I want to ask first. Did you invite Rainy to join the vacation? I'm not even in the mood for a vacation anymore,"

"Yeah, I invited her." I lied. I knew it was my grandfather who had taken Rainy, and started their conspiracy. But that was okay, because even this time I was willing to go. Ashton agreed to come along, so it would be easier for him to realize that he had lost Mabel completely.

"Now tell me what you want to say,"

"What I want to say is I will say it when I meet you,"

"What?"

I chuckled because Mabel definitely didn't understand what I was saying. I purposely made it sound complicated. "Let's meet again,"

"I can't," Mabel answered immediately. "If we meet and the result will still be the same, then what's the difference?"

"Still the same how?"

"You don't want to be with me. You always pushed me away from you. Even though you know it's hard for me, but you just don't care."

Mabel didn't give me a chance to speak, and without notice like before, she hung up.

After that I realized that I was acting like a teenager again. I didn't know why I suddenly had the idea of ​​asking Mabel to meet me when I couldn't give her certainty. She was right, I would end up hurting her again.

I threw my phone and returned to focus on the empty field in front of me. I rested my forehead on the steering wheel. I had been in the car for an hour without knowing the destination, and ended up in this wide field.

I smirked when I knew Ashton was coming. This will be fun, right? Rainy did her game well. But I still couldn't let my guard down, because she was after Mabel.

My phone rang again, and without seeing who the caller was I picked it up.

"So? We will all be united in this vacation?"

I automatically turned into serious mode when I heard Rainy's voice. She was the one who called me. "Wrong number,"

"Don't hang up, Adrian." Rainy asked scornfully. "You know it's me,"

I chuckled lightly. "I have no idea who you are,"

"Is that so?" Rainy sounded a little irritated, but then she turned things around by reminding me of Mabel. "I can't wait to go on vacation with Mabel in Bali. You know, there's you and Ashton too. It's going to be spicy,"

As if reading my mind, Rainy kept me from hanging up again. "By the way I became sad after seeing Ashton's injured face. Do you know who caused it?"

"Why? What do you want to do after finding out who caused it?" I started to like this game she made.

I managed to silence Rainy, but after that she answered me in a non-joking tone of voice. "You're the one who caused it, aren't you?"

I smirked in satisfaction with my achievement making her uncomfortable, then answered. "You know the answer, Rainy."

No matter how upset Rainy was because of my actions, she still couldn't do anything. I used her weakness as my weapon.

I expected Rainy to end the call after that, but no.

"Damn you, Adrian!" Rainy cursed me for a second before she finally ended the call.

I thought I would stop taking phone calls now, but apparently I was wrong. Right after Rainy, a call came in from my confidant. He told me that I had a guest waiting for me. Either way, I had to go home.

When I arrived in front of the mansion, I found a very strange black sedan. Who is my guest this time?

I walked quickly into the living room and stopped when I saw my old friend standing in a tuxedo. "Dan?"

Dan is the short name of Daniel.

"Yo, man! What took you so long?" Daniel smiled widely at me. "Women or work? Don't lie to me,"

I stared at Daniel who was standing in front of me with a confused look at my silence. A lot had changed from him physically and also the way he talked.

"You hated tuxedos, but look at you now." I chuckled as Daniel nudged my arm.

"I still hate using this," Daniel sighed then gave me a brotherly hug.

"Why didn't you notify me of your arrival?"

"I have troubled you too much," said Daniel with a chuckle. But then his next words made my jaw drop. "By the way, I'll stay here until your wedding day."

"Let me walk you to the guest room," I said, not wanting to continue the topic of marriage. I was pretty sure it was my grandfather who had invited Daniel.

"So her name is Mabel?" Daniel asked as we headed to the guest rooms. "I thought you'd end up with Selena,"

My heart fell to the ground when I heard those words. Daniel is my best friend since college, but then he had to move the country because of various business and family problems. I had introduced him to Selena when he visited me, and after that we barely kept in touch.

"Selena is dead,"

"Your jokes aren't funny at all, Adrian."

I stopped and turned my body completely to look at Daniel. "Do I look like I'm joking right now?"

I didn't allow Daniel's words of condolences to be spoken. I quickened my steps so that the conversation about Selena didn't get any more complicated for me. Luckily he had known me so well. He didn't say much and left the conversation as if it never happened. "Can't wait to surf in Bali,"

"My grandfather invited you?"

"Yeah, so you don't stupidly waste that woman called Mabel."

"Shit, Dan. And you believe in my grandfather's reasoning?" I shook my head. "There's more you don't even know,"

"Whatever you want to say, Adrian. By the way, what kind of woman is Mabel? Is she really that pretty and got bigger ass to grab?"

I glared at him warningly.

"So she's not pretty and doesn't have a big, round ass either?" Daniel chuckled after successfully pissing me off.

"Shut your mouth, Dan." I ordered with irritation hearing his words. I opened the door of one of the guest rooms when we arrived. "Get some rest,"

"I'm not that tired. How about we have a drink at the bar first?" offered Daniel.

"Dan," I warned him somewhat.

"All right, no. So where are we going? You can't let this guest of yours get bored. You know, the guest is king."

"Fine, let's have a drink at the bar." I gave in to his request.

That's how I ended up in the bar with Daniel mobbed by some bimbos. He had finished two bottles of alcohol and was still asking for more. I was wrong to have obeyed his will. In the midst of the crowd, I couldn't stop checking my phone. I needed an update on Mabel.

I leaned against the counter with my right hand holding a glass of alcohol. Like a whisper, I felt compelled to go and see Mabel. Under the influence, I couldn't help myself anymore. But then there was resistance inside of me to meet her. I was slowly getting a headache, though I was not usually that drunk.

There was only one name in my phone contacts that I had been dying to call. I told myself that I was not going to call her, considering I made it all clear before.

But, fuck it!

"What do you want?" answered a woman from across the line after three calls from me. The first thing I heard was a yell from her which made me move the phone slightly away from my ear.

"Whoa, you're so rude." I let out a chuckle when I finally calmed down and found a way to piss her off even more. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm alone here, what if I get kidnapped by the bimbos over there?"

I could hear Mabel taking deep breaths over the phone. "You will not be kidnapped,"

"I will!" I argued with her. "They're staring at me right now,"

"Where are you?" Mabel finally asked.

"At the bar," I replied with a grin, feeling my heart flutter when she finally asked me where I was. "Will you come pick me up?"

"There's no way you'd go there without bringing your car, Adrian. Stop acting like this," Mabel sounded so tired of talking to me, and I didn't like that.

"I can't drive a car,"

"For God's sake, Adrian!" Mabel yelled into the phone. "Are you drunk?"

"I don't know, Mabel. I've never had a hangover after drinking. And I can assure you I'm still very sober now,"

After my explanation, Mabel didn't budge. There was a fear in me that she wouldn't come to see me, so I immediately grimaced like I was in pain.

"Adrian? Are you all right?"

My heart warmed knowing Mabel was still on call and watching over me.

"My chest hurts, am I going to die soon?"

"Don't talk nonsense and stop drinking now! I know you must still have a glass of alcohol in your hand, right?"

I glanced at the glass of alcohol I was still holding and put it down. Though Mabel couldn't see it either, and wouldn't know if I was lying- I still didn't want to betray her like that.

"I'm not holding a glass of alcohol anymore," I told her with a slight cough.

"Send the address, and stay where you are. I'll be there!"

I became excited just because of those simple words from her. "I will always wait for you,"

My eyes were glued to the door as I couldn't lose a minute to see Mabel come.

"I'm not going home with you," said Daniel who appeared out of nowhere. I nodded in response to see there were two bimbos with him. He smirked then slipped into the crowd.

My eyes made their way back to the entrance. Mabel stood there and looked around. Her beautiful eyes finally found what they were looking for when they stopped at me. She quickly made her way. I couldn't stop myself from watching every step she took toward me. Even so she was still brave enough to hold my gaze.

Mabel was wearing a plain white sweater paired with long blue jeans. My eyes scanned her from top to bottom and a smile spreaded across my lips seeing her presence. She kept her word, so what I saw in front of me wasn't a dream.

"You reek of alcohol," were the first words Mabel said after being near me. She pulled my hand out of there, and I was like a puppy who would obey whatever she was going to do to me next.

"Hold on,"

I nodded silently beside her. Mabel tried to open her car door again after the first try, and the result was the same. "What is it?"

"The key is still inside!" Mabel slapped her forehead in resignation. "How could I be this careless?"

I hastily handed her my car key. "But I forget where I parked my car,"

"Adrian?"

"Hmmm?" I answered vaguely.

"Are you sure you're just drunk?" Mabel brought her face closer to mine. It made me unable to move. Then what I knew next was the back of her hand on my forehead. "You're burning,"

"No, I'm not."

"You have a fever," Mabel continued.