Chapter 48: Chapter 48

Getting drunk and engaging in drunken brawls had become Jake’s favourite past time lately and he wore the nasty bruises on his face. His dad had given him an earful, he'd even threatened to take away his position as CEO but Jake didn't actually give a fig about the business much less his life or anything else for that matter.

"Are you even listening? The new collection is behind schedule, the shareholders are displeased. All these for a woman with no face. Neither Ana nor I have met her, you didn't even invite us to your wedding."

" Can we talk about this another time?"

" Why you rascal… "

" Dear, let it rest for now."

Jake's stepmother placed a hand on his father's arm to calm him down. Jake looked away distastefully before he made for the front door making sure it shut behind him with a loud bang.

Losing his mom had hurt him a lot, but losing Van the way that he had left him on the verge of losing his sanity. As it is now, he found nothing worth living for and this hopelessness was slowly eating at his guts. To top it off, Van seemed to have disappeared into thin air and Rella won't give him her address or phone number.

He gulped his eighth tequila shot for the night just as his friends Stefan and Christian take the stools on either side of him. He wasn’t in the mood for another lecture especially coming from the two of them Jake knew he'd screwed up big time but there's no need for them to constantly remind him.

"What do you want?" he growled.

"The world hasn't ended yet you know?" Christian said as he signalled the waiter and ordered whiskey.

Jake scoffed, "of course you'd say that but you know nothing."

"I know nothing huh?" Christian gritted. "You wouldn't begin to know anything about being hurt when it's not the girl you love that took money from your filthy rich parents and disappeared without a trace." He downed his whiskey in a single gulp seething silently.

"Sorry about that." For Christian, that had always been a sensitive topic and Jake felt bad for accusing him of not knowing what it feels like to get hurt by the woman you love.

"The point is we get you Jake." Stefan told him. "It's not gonna be all sunshine and roses, trust there's going to be hiccups along the way but you need to take care so you don't break down completely. Just take a look at Cindy and I, I believe we've braved our challenges of being opposites forced into a marriage we didn't want and now we're doing okay. "

"Boy are you in for a nasty surprise. " Christian muttered under his breath. The two had no idea what he was about so they ignored him.

"Easy for you to say but I don't think that Van will ever forgive me when she insists on hiding from me." Jake said.

"Then let her hide." Stefan suggested. "Give her the space she needs even though you don't want to, even though you heart is screaming at you to find her and be with her, that's the least you can do for her. She's probably overwhelmed by everything that's happened and needs time to let it sink."

"Stefan is right, the two of you need space right now, her especially." Christian concurred.

Jake knew that they were both right. And so from then on he buried himself in his work all the while counting down hours and days until he would see the love of his life again. The hope that she might still give him a chance propelled him forward.