Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Suzan could not fathom what to feel with all the many emotions Jane was pulling.

In the morning Jane was acting too strange and for a minute she thought maybe Jane knew she was just acting to be her friend. But then she apologized and blamed it on stress. Now, Jane was crying. Telling her how and why her ex-boyfriend had broken her heart.

Suzan had tried to be sympathetic, but she was getting too uncomfortable to put up with it any longer. She was starting to feel guilty, which was one of the last things she wanted to feel.

"You had no idea how much I cried…" Jane was saying in-between sobs as she tried to clean her nose.

"Oh Jane, I am sorry you had to go through all this," Suzan said trying to sound as sincere as possible for the hundredth time in that hour.

"This was not the lunch I signed up for," she grumbled under her breath.

"Jane, don't you think we should go to the office?" Suzan asked, still trying to sound as compassionate as possible.

Jane agreed. Not because she wanted to but because she could not wait to tell Marcus about her latest achievement. She would have loved to tell Sophia or her parents, but none of them had been involved in her life recently. No one will see the achievement in what had just happened.

She had found one way to torture Suzan. She had been afraid she was going to break down crying and make a joke of herself but then she turned the table around. She enjoyed the way Suzan twisted and turned painfully as guilt strangled her on every side.

Jane maintained her grace and cool until she was alone in her office with Marcus. She was bubbling in excitement as she gave him the details of what is just the beginning of the misery Suzan is about to encounter.

As the day came to an end, Jane noticed she had been more friendly to Marcus and made a mental note to change it.

***

(8:30 pm that same day)

It was one of those beautiful nights when the sky is lit. The moon was full. Marcus was sitting at the edge of the pool, his legs in the water as he absorbed the beauty of the sky, sipping his warm cup of self-made herbal tea.

He heard the back door open and he turned to see Jane marching towards him with a glass and a bottle of Dalmore distillery. She stopped a few steps from where he was sitting and glared at him with an unusual face.

"Beautiful night yeah?" Marcus asked, smiling up at her.

Jane cringed. "I need to use the pool, you can leave now," she blurted.

Marcus glanced at her and looked away. He used his leg to playfully raise the water. "Why are you rude?" His voice was indifferent and he kept his eyes on the water.

Jane stood speechless for a minute, no one had ever asked her that. As a matter of fact, she did not think anybody has ever been asked that question.

"What do you mean?" She retorted.

Marcus glanced at her again. "Were you born that way?"

Jane stared at him as if he were some unfortunate beggar.

"What do you mean, no one is born rude."

"Okay, so why did you become rude?"

Jane was still standing, she used the foot of her slippers to hit the floor aimlessly. "It is a long story," he muttered.

"Well, I have my cup of tea, you have your bottle of wine, the sky is beautiful, the water is warm. I think we can enjoy it together." Marcus' eye smiled at her as he patted the space beside him for her to sit.

Jane sheepishly obeyed.

"You know I am not your friend right? I am only doing this in my resolution to be a better person."

"Of course, ma'am Jane, you are the Boss, I am just a poor good guy."

Jane pinned her lips together to suppress a smile.

"Okay, Jane, who broke you, who hurt you?"

Jane wasn't sure she could go that far. She did not want to go that far. "Umm… no one." It sounded like a question as if she was not sure of herself.

"You just decided to be a bitch?" Marcus was shocked.

"I am not a bitch!" Jane snapped.

"Yes ma'am Jane, forgive my lack of manners," Marcus said sarcastically.

His expression got serious but he did not look at her. "Seriously Jane, who hurt you?"

Jane sighed. "Cletus…"

Marcus did not shift or say a word. He just stared right ahead into nothing.

Jane took it as an invitation to continue. "He cheated on me with Ava, the girl at the club."

"I am sorry." Marcus apologized finally looking at her. "

Jane did not answer.

They stayed quiet for a while. Jane suddenly remembered she did not know anything about Marcus, her bodyguard apart from his name and his mother.

"What about you, are you in any relationship?" Her curiosity got the better part of her before she could stop it.

Marcus grinned. "Who is asking?"

Jane felt stupid and slightly embarrassed. "No one, forget I asked that question," she replied, trying to hide the red that colored her cheeks.

"No, not yet."

"Why not?" Marcus watched as Jane looked at him in disbelief, her eyes shining with thousands of questions she wanted to ask.

"Well, I was a player." Marcus saw Jane roll her eyes from the corner of his eyes and smiled. "But, after my partner's death, I-"

"Wait, you were married?" Jane's voice cracked as she said the last word.

Marcus glanced at her and grinned pleased. But after a second he frowned again.

"No, my work partner."

Jane sighed in relief, she did not know why though. She had no feelings for Marcus, that she was very sure of. She was also not interested in finding love, especially in the arms of her bodyguard, even though she could not deny the fact that he was hot. 'My hot bodyguard.' she mumbled to herself.

"Did you say something?"

Jane blinked back to reality to see Marcus staring at her confused. She noticed she was smiling and cleaned her face as if the act will clean the smile away. "N-no, I-" she had no idea why she was stammering. She stopped and smiled then tried again. "I was saying, I am so sorry, you know, about your partner."

"Oh, thanks."

They went quiet again. Jane had opened her bottle of Dalmore distillery and was sipping from the bottle.

"What do you have planned for tomorrow?" Marcus asked when he got bored of the silence.

Jane's smile stretched from ear to ear. "Something spectacular," she replied using her free hand to wave the air slowly.

"What is it?" Marcus asked. He could not help but get infected by her excitement.

"Wait till tomorrow."