Chapter 39: Chapter 39

Carol’s mouth remained open in shock as she processed Sebastian’s words. The almighty Sebastian had just apologized to her? Perhaps she was dreaming and was not lucid because it was too surprising for words. Sebastian took her silence to be that she was not satisfied with his apology and tried again.

“Look, I know that you do not believe me, but that’s the truth. You called at the wrong time, that was why I answered the way I did.”

“It’s fine. It’s fine.” Carol said hurriedly. She disliked it when people thought she was mad at them and since Sebastian had already apologized, then it was cool.

"Alright. From what just transpired, I’ll take a wide guess and say that you’ll rather not have come on this trip with me.” Sebastian said, moving away and starting to pack his stuff.

“Well, I did get to see Paris for the first time and I’ve always wanted to do so, so there’s that.”

“You’ve never been to Paris before?” Sebastian asked incredulously.

“Um, no. Why is that so surprising?”

“Well, I thought your family is well to do.”

“Why did you think so?”

“Ah-ha. The real Carol is coming back little by little.” Sebastian joked at the fact that she was beginning to pepper him with questions the way she usually did. Carol blushed and hid a smile.

“You’ve not answered the question.” She prompted.

“Well, I heard your dad owns a company or something of the sort.”

“Hmm. Even if we are rich, I may have gone to other places instead, so why must it be Paris?”

“Because you said you have always wanted to come here?”

“Oh. That’s true.” Carol said and they lapsed into silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Carol was thinking to herself that Sebastian might not be so bad if he loosened up as he had in the past few minutes. However, she guessed that he was just trying to be nice to her as a way of atoning for his behavior the other day. As for Sebastian, he was thinking to himself how it was nice listening and talking to Carol and hearing her laugh, even though it was just for some minutes. It reinforced his first opinion of her when he met her…that she would be a likable person once you got to know her. However, it also made his stance of not wanting to get too close to her seem more reasonable. He did not want to get too close to her or have her get too close or attached to him because it would not end well. At any moment now, he was sure that his uncle’s people would find Jessica and he did not want any problems when they did.

“What if Jessica really ran off as everyone says and you’re just here deluding yourself?” An inner voice asked him, but he shrugged it off. There was no way that Jessica ran away. There had been no indication that there was anything wrong or that she was planning such a thing that night, over seven months ago when he had last seen her. In fact, she had seemed very happy and content. Besides, he knew Jessica very well and knew that she would not just up and leave without an explanation, so he knew that something bad had happened to her. Even though the police had searched and investigated thoroughly, they did not find a body, something that gave Sebastian so much hope. However, they did not find her either, so it was possible that she had been kidnapped and was being held somewhere against her will. The thought caused chills to go down his spine as he wondered what they were doing to her and how she was being treated. Once he found her, he would make sure that everybody responsible paid dearly and faced the consequences of their actions, he swore to himself.

“What are you thinking about?” He heard Carol’s voice break into his circle of thoughts.

“Huh?”

“You had this spaced-out look on your face, as though you were pondering on something.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Sebastian lied, and then his face took on a serious expression. “Carol. I know we still have a long time to live together as husband and wife, so I think that it is best to be civil to each other so that it will not be a horrible experience and we will not part in an unfriendly manner.”

“Of course.” Carol agreed immediately, thinking to herself that he needed this pep talk more than she did, after all, he was the one who was always hostile while she went out of her way trying to be nice to him. Anyway, it was great that he was beginning to see a reason to change.

“However, I would also suggest that we keep our relationship strictly formal, except of course when we have to pretend to be the happy couple in front of my uncle or any other relevant person. It will not do for either or both of us to become too emotionally attached to the other when it is time for the divorce.” Sebastian said.

“Sure. No problem.”

“That is what I’ve been trying to do, but I didn’t realize that I came off as harsh and rude.”

“It’s alright, Sebastian. I understand.” Carol assured him, wondering why he was so concerned about it. Did he think she was falling in love with him? If so, he had better get off his high horse. Sure, hec6 was good-looking and rich, but his attitude left nothing to write home about, so he could keep his worries to himself. She wasn’t even attracted to him for crying out loud.

“Are you sure about that?” An inner voice asked her but she inwardly shushed it immediately.

“Alright. Do you want to watch some TV?”

“Sure.”

He nodded and put on the TV, after which he rang up some food for their dinner. They spent the rest of the night before going to bed in amicable silence, just watching TV and conversing lightly about inconsequential things. It was the most relaxed that Carol had ever seen him, and she had to admit that he was an interesting man. Finally, they went to sleep and the next morning, they were on their way back to Napa.