Chapter 4

“Are you out of your mind?!” Amanda came rushing to Andy, screaming. “Why do you have to do that? What if something happened to you? It hasn‘t been 24 hours since you‘ve arrived here, Andy! Why are you so desperate to do things on your own?”

“You‘re overreacting! Nothing happened to me. Besides, Ben was with me.” Andy headed straight to the fridge and took out a bottle of water.

“Where did you get the confidence to act like this? Did you ever care about what I’ll feel?”

“What about me? Did you even think about what I’ll feel?”

“You are living under my roof, Andy! So as long as you’re here, you have to follow my rules!” Amanda veered to the study room.

In just split seconds, Andy threw the bottle of water and it hit the vase on the kitchen counter. The vase fell down; a loud crash and shattered pieces of the vase caught the couple’s attention. “How dare you!” Amanda said, furious. Tears fell down her face and in a soft voice she said, “I don’t know what’s going on with you, Andy. I just hope you’ll find more reasons to confide in me. If you want to do things on your own, you’re free to leave.”

“Amanda! Why are you saying that? He’s also my guest.” Carter interfered. “You okay, Andy?” he asked.

Without a single word, Andy left. Carter ran after him but was halted by his wife’s words. “Just let him go. He’ll come back when he’s fine. I’m going to bed, I’m exhausted,” Amanda said. “But what if he doesn’t? We promised your parents we’ll keep an eye on him.”

“And we failed to do so. He’s new to this place. What if something bad happens to him? What if he got lost?”

“But it didn’t happen and he was able to get back safe and sound. Don’t you think you’re being over the top, Amanda?”

“You don’t know anything about him.”

“Don’t blame Andy. It’s my fault. I encouraged him. I called Ben and found out that he’s still handling the project in the mountain lodge. They met and went there.”

“In the middle of the night and while he’s still suffering from jetlag? I hope you’re being considerate. And why didn’t you tell me about this earlier? He’s my brother, you should have told me.”

“Right, he’s your brother after all but it seems like he doesn’t have a say in what's going on with his life. He’s old enough to do things on his own. He’s not a kid anymore; he can make his decisions now. Why are you so worried about him?”

“I can’t help it. I couldn’t fight the urge to stop doing what I’m doing.”

“I guess you have a valid reason to say that. But are you sure he’ll come back?”

“I’m sure he will.”

*****

Andy was sitting inside a cafe when he caught sight of a familiar face. “She looks upset, maybe I should talk to her. Ah, never mind. I don‘t even know how to deal with my own problems.”

“Is this seat taken?” she asked. Andy was startled and he spilled his coffee.

“I‘m so sorry, I should have been more careful!”

“Nah, it‘s fine. It‘s not that hot though.” Andy said while wiping the spilled coffee on the table with tissue. A moment of silence and awkwardness. They sit and look at each other for a while. The silence was loud.

“H-hi?” Andy tried to be friendly.

“Hi.” she smiled. “It’s nice to see you here. Are you living in the neighborhood?”

“I think so. My feet led me here when I was running earlier.”

“But you don’t look like you’re out for a run. Something happened?”

“Long story and it’s not my cup of tea to open up with a stranger.” Andy sipped his coffee.

“You know my face, so I don’t think I’m still a stranger to you. Are you embarrassed to tell me you run away from home? Probably from someone who cares so much about you?” she teased. “I’ll just get my coffee.” She flicked her hair as she left.

Andy stared at her back. “Can I really trust her? What if she will just laugh at me? What if she thinks that I’m such a loser? I tried to open up with someone before but they ended up laughing at me, telling me that I’m a coward and a cry baby. Am I not allowed to express my emotions?”

He kept on staring at her until she caught him from a distance. She got her coffee and sat back down in front of Andy. “Couldn’t take your eyes off of me, stranger?” she asked.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare.” Andy answered. The café became busy; people were going in and out. Memories from last night were still vivid in Andy’s mind. He prefers to apologize first but he couldn’t do it when he wanted to do something for the first time.

“Why are you always sorry? You know, for some people, sorry is an expensive word. You don’t have to say it if you don’t really mean it. If you keep saying it like it’s a habit, the word becomes useless.” She put her cup of coffee in front of her, not realizing that her name was written on it.

“Jewel” Andy uttered.

“What? Where is that from?”

“Jewel—is that your name?” Andy pointed at the cup.

“Oh? Please don’t say it out loud.”

“Why? If that’s your name then you should be proud of it.”

“I’m not proud of anything about me or anything connected to my family. If being proud means not having your freedom, no, I’ve never been proud of it.”

“Seems like it’s not only me who has family issues here. Should we talk about it?”

Jewel looked straight in Andy’s eyes. “Are you being real here?”

“Well, I’m trying my best. I know it’s hard to open up with someone you barely know but I understand how difficult it could be. So, I was thinking maybe we could open up with each other. They say you shouldn't let your emotions bottled up inside or it will consume you.”

“Wow! Now you’re talking. Alright, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. I’ve got nothing to lose anyway.”

“I’m not telling you to trust me right away, but I want you to feel that you can trust me. I want to trust you. Everywhere I go, you’re always there. You’re like a distraction to everything. So, I want to ask, can I trust you?”

“Let’s see how it goes then. Trust must be earned, let’s both work hard for it. Before anything else, I want to ask a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“What’s your name?” she asked.

Andy laughed. “That’s your question? Nothing else?”

“Yeah, if we’re going to open up with each other, we should at least know the basic information about each other. Am I making sense?”

“Alright then, I’m Andy. It’s my first time to travel alone, most of the time I’m traveling with my best friend Sebastian. The crowd in the airport was overwhelming, good thing you were there. You saved me.”

“It’s nothing. But why are you traveling alone? Did your best friend ditch you?”

“No, why would you say that? He’s just busy sorting out things in their company and he’s also taking care of his dad.”

“Why? What happened to his dad?”

“Stop being nosy. It’s your turn now. What’s the deal with you?”

“You already know my name but I can’t tell you details about me in public. It’s nearly dawn now; do you have somewhere to go?”

“Are you trying to ditch me now? I usually don’t open up so easily but you made it easier somehow. I’ll stay here for a while, but I can't go back yet.”

“I’m not ditching you. If you don’t want to go back, would you like to come with me? It would be nice to have some company while I drive; my eyes are heavy, I don’t want to fall asleep and cause an accident.”

“Thank you for the offer but I can’t.” Andy hesitated.

“You can stay in our guest room, it’s empty. And I’ll tell you everything you wanted to know about me. No lies, just truths.”

“Well, if you insist. I think it’s only fair since I’ve told you things about me.”

“Thank you for accepting.”

*****

Jewel switched on the radio but could only hear the static of the stations she was searching for. She switched it off and focused on the road instead. The roads were a bit slippery and it was foggy. She drove gently to avoid crashing into other cars since it’s almost zero visibility.

“Are you sure you can drive like this? I can barely see anything.” Andy asked with concern.

“Don’t worry, I’m used to this. I’ll make sure to arrive at our destination safely. Can you drive?” Jewel said while focusing on the road.

“Not really, I’m not confident. I get anxious seeing the road and I start to panic. Growing up, I’ve been suffering from panic attacks. I can’t even sit in the front seat.”

“But you’re sitting here just fine. How often do you experience it?”

“I’ve experienced it a lot growing up. I don’t know but I’m just comfortable right now. It must be because you’re making me feel that I could trust you.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Depends if you want it that way. Anyway, it’s your turn now so we can call it even.”

“We have plenty of time. You can ask me anything.”

“Just tell me, I’m not really good at asking questions. I might mess up.”

“If you say so. Hmm… So, my name is Jewel. I came from a massive family. I have four older brothers, I’m the youngest. I also ran away from home.”

“Of all the places, why Switzerland?” Andy asked. Jewel glanced at him. She hit the break as soon as they reached a massive gate made of iron. “Switzerland is my birth place. I’m just coming back to my roots to escape the reality of my existence.”

“Why did you run away? You seemed to have everything. A beautiful face, intelligence, and wealth.”

“So, you think I’m beautiful?” Jewel asked, still driving.

“I’m just stating the obvious.” Andy smiled at her. She chuckled.

“You know, sometimes you have to distance yourself for a bit to know who truly cares about you.” They way Jewel said the words ached Andy’s heart; her words are on point.

“I know that’s why I’m not coming back yet.” Andy said.

“You can stay here as long as you want. No strings attached, I’ll let you go anytime.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, why did you run away?”

“I could ask you the same, Andy.”

“Well, I had an argument with my sister. I don’t want to admit that she’s right about me somehow. She will shove it to my face so I left before I say something which will hurt her.”

“Don’t you think she’s hurting right now?” Jewel asked. She stopped the car and switched off the engine. “We’re here now.”

Andy remained at his seat. “You’re right, she’s hurting right now and so am I.”

“She will forgive you, she will understand. Don’t worry.” Jewel was about to get out of the car when Andy held her forearm. “I’m not done with my questions yet, can we stay here for a while?”

“Sure, it’s only fair. What do you want to ask now?”

“Why did you run away? Is it because of your family too?”

“It’s because of my father. He wants me to marry someone I barely know, someone from my brothers’ circle. I’ve been hiding ever since I found out about it. If I’ll marry someday, I want to marry because of love; not because of power or wealth. I want to marry because he loves me and because I love him.”

“Don’t you love him?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know what love is. How would you know if it’s love?” Jewel sounded upset. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound desperate.”

“I thought your apology was expensive. Don’t be sorry, you’re just being real. I can’t explain what love is, the truth is, I’ve never been in love so I don’t actually know how it feels.”

“One thing I know about love is it’s complicated. What do you think, Andy?”

“That’s ninety percent.” He said.

“What happened to the ten percent?”

“It’s for you to figure it out.”

Jewel smiled but it faded away as soon as she got out of the car. The snow was falling gently. The mansion seemed eerie from a distance but the lights surrounding it made it stand out. The sun was hiding underneath a gloomy sky but Andy was convinced that it’s going to show up in the morning. He followed her lead inside the massive mansion, not feeling anxious this time.

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