Chapter 199 - Im back (1/2)

Andy looked at her, waiting for her answer.

She squirmed and tried to change the topic but he did not budge. He refused to let her go until she answered the question. She did come here to relax and to deal with her own feeling. He did give her time to think this deeply and now, he did not want her to run anymore.

”Stop running away from your feeling,” he said.

She ran her eyes away from looking at his face.

”You are going to be late for the boat if you still did not answer my question,” he reminded with a chuckle.

She looked at her watch and gasped. Her widened eyes looked at him, now with puppy-eyed to make him give in to her. She still was not ready for this. Not now, not ever.

”You have to face your own feeling, Ryn. Stop hiding from it. Whether you like it or not, you cannot escape it,” he coaxed.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Why she had to face her own feeling?

”Ryn, you do know how this refusal to face your own feeling makes you under so much stress?” he stressed, refused to give in.

”I... still like him but... I'm scared...” she choked out, the one giving in to his question.

He smiled. He knew she was still liking that man even though how much that man hurt her. He just wanted her to face her real feeling so she could decide what was best for her.

”You're worried he will hurt you again,” he asked.

She nodded.

He smiled. ”How does he think about you know? You can see his feeling now, right?”

”He said he loves me but... And he said he wants to marry me now,” she choked out.

”What do you think? Do you want to marry him?” He hadn't met his future 'brother-in-law' but based on what he knew, this man was a hardworking man and very responsible. Also what he knew was this man, apart from the 'scandal' told by Jennifer, the singer, had no relationship prior to it. Even his relationship with Ryn was hidden perfectly and no one other than him and their family knew about it. It was a best kept secret of the century.

”I... I don't know...” she choked out, trying not to show her frustration about her own feeling and vulnerability.

”If you think he will hurt you again, you can tell me and I can make him disappear,” he shrugged. He could always help to deal with her problem whenever she needed it.

”No... Don't do anything to him, please,” her eyes widened in horror. She understood what kind of help he would give and it would not end well to those he worked on. He did not want to hurt Jeremy.

He smiled seeing her panicky reaction. Even if she denied her feeling, just looking at this reaction showed how deep her feeling toward Jeremy.

”Let's go. I'll send you to the jetty,” he said, standing up.

She felt like her energy depleted after the outburst and refused to get up. She looked at him unhappily.

”Why? Do you want me to carry you princess way?” he cocked an eyebrow when he saw her still not moving.

She gasped. She did not want him to carry her princess style. It was not a princess style like in a fairytale stories. His style of princess style carrying was pulling her by her legs and turned her upside down. He would then grasp her shirt and pants to carry her, not sliding his hands underneath her.

It would make her in so much pain because he would shake her like a rag in his way of a joke.

”Then?”

She quickly got up and grabbed her bag. She followed him out of the house and handed the key house to her even though she rarely locked the door. This place was too peaceful for the need to lock the house, unlike her real house.

When they arrived at the jetty, some of them were already there. Their face was down, holding onto their emotion tightly. They did not want to cry in front of her. They wanted to send her off with a smile on their face so she would not be sad.

She hugged each one of them for the longest time before Andy faked a cough to remind her about the boat. She waved for the last time and got into the boat with a heavy heart. If she could choose what she really wanted to do now, she wanted to stay here long, preferable forever. In here she did not have to face all the things that stress her.

She wiped the stubborn tears from her cheeks and sniffed. She must not cry. She must not let the sadness overwhelm her. One day she would return to them and that time she would not bring along her problem. She would spend the time there just having fun with them.

Another flight and another taxi ride before she finally arrived at her home. She looked at the door quietly. She was not ready to rejoin the real world. She was still not ready!

After the confession with Andy, she was still unable to gather her thought. She was feeling sad, muddle and plain exhausted. She kept pushing herself to move and even communicate with the taxi driver. Other than a necessity, she put on her cap and sunglasses, even the mask, so others would not disturb her. Even the earphones were plucked to her ears all the time even though it was not playing any song. She just wanted to be alone and not disturbed by anyone. She had no mood to talk with anyone about anything.

Once she gathered her thought, she unlocked the door and entered the house. It was just as she remembered before she left. She sighed a bit.

”I'm back.”

She put the clothes from her bag into the dirty laundry basket before went into her bedroom. She took the other things from her bag onto the bed and reached for her phone. Now, as she was finally returned to the real world, she needed to face everything that she had been running from.

The first thing she did was connecting back her phone. Messages after messages and miscalls after miscalls hit her, filling the display of the phone. Instead of checking who had been contacting her, she dialled his numbers.

She did not have to wait for long. After two rings, he answered.

She lied on the bed with the phone at her right ear. She stared at the ceiling.

”Hello.”

”Hmm...”

”I've arrived,” she told him.

”Good. Go tell him your decision,” he said cheerfully.

”No...” she gasped in horror.