Page 26
Story: His Ring, Her Rules
I don’t know why, but I followed her and stood close behind her as she put the dishes in the washbasin. When she turned around, I saw that she had chocolate syrup on the tips of her lips.
I instantly leaned forward because her lips looked so good.
What are you up to, Jaxon?! You said you wouldn’t kiss her!
One more time. I thought.
No, you shouldn’t do this.
I had already kissed her before I realized it, and my heart skipped a beat. I could tell she was astonished since she didn’t answer right away, but then she kissed me back just as passionately.
I kissed her deeper and twisted my fingers in her hair. Our tongues danced together, and she tasted like chocolate and strawberries. At first, the kiss was gradual, but then I wanted to kiss her right away. I sucked on her lips and bit them, but I stopped before I lost control.
I carefully pulled away and opened my eyes to discover that she was still gasping for air.
After a few seconds, she opened her eyes, and we gazed at each other while still breathing heavily.
“Umm…” I attempted to say something, “There was chocolate syrup on the top of your lips.”
She tried not to chuckle, but her eyes sparkled with delight. “I was going to…clean it.”
What a fantastic way to make oneself seem bad! I smacked my head on the wall in my mind.
“Oh… okay…I will be in the study,” I said, and then I quickly turned around and went so she wouldn’t notice how red my face was getting.
I can’t even remember the last time I was embarrassed.
What are you doing to me?
Someone knocked on the door of my study, and as predicted, Clara came in.
“Jaxon, can you come with me for a minute?” she said.
“I’m busy.”
“Busy, busy, busy,” she remarked as she walked to the desk. “Jaxon, you need to learn how to make time for people. Your business could cost you some of the best times in your life.”
I gazed at her. Where does she get these conversations?
“So, Mrs. Dante, what big moment am I missing right now?” I inquired as I leaned back in my chair.
“I’ll show you, but you have to come with me,” she said with a pout. How could I say no to that?
“Fine,” I said, and then I got up. I saw her smile—or was it a smirk?
What is she doing?
She led me to her room, and before unlocking the door, she moved aside and told me to walk inside.
I gave her a dubious look and opened the door. When I went inside, I saw Kena sitting on her bed, nonchalantly looking through his phone.
He looked up, and his eyes became bigger, too. Before we could figure out what was going on, we heard the door click, and we were both stuck in the room.
“Open this door right now!” I yelled to her, but all I heard was her laugh.
“This door won’t open until you two work out what’s wrong. By the way, I’m going shopping. I’ll be back in an hour or two. Since no one else is home, you’re stuck in there until I get back.”
“Clara, come back!” I cried, but all I could hear was her laughter before I heard her footsteps moving down the stairs.
She will pay for this!
I looked back at Kena, who was now partly reclining on the bed, and continued looking through his phone like nothing had occurred.
I snapped, “You are with her in this, right?”
He put down his phone and added, “I’m not with her. She just called me here and told me to wait in her room.”
He lay down on the bed like he owned it.
“Get out of bed; it’s not yours.”
“Oh, right,” he answered with a laugh. “It’s my friend’s bed, and she doesn’t mind.”
“So, she’s your friend now?” I crossed my arms.
“Of course she is. At least she doesn’t treat me the way my other friend has been treating me for so many years,” you could see he was saddened by the way he said it.
“What’s wrong with you, Kena?”
He sprang up and went up to me. “What’s your problem, Jaxon?!” I simply narrowed my eyes at him.
He asked, “What did I do to you?” “You’ve been ignoring me for years, and even then, I tried to fix our friendship, but you don’t even try. Why are you ignoring me? I’ve known you since the day I was born, and then suddenly, because Julia died, you started to avoid me. What did I do? She was my best friend too, and her death broke me too, but I never ignored you. Just because you loved her romantically doesn’t mean you were more broken than anyone else!”
I couldn’t think of anything to say.
He pushed my shoulder and cried, “I needed you…when she died…I was also sad…I needed my other best friend, but when I came to you, you sent me back saying you didn’t want to talk to anyone. I waited…I gave you some time, but you never even asked me once if I was okay or not.”
His tears made my eyes moist, too. Why do I keep making people weep these days?
“You think you were the only one who was hurt by her death? No, I was there too. I thought of her as my sister, and losing her was hard for me, but I never pushed you away.
That day when I became CEO, you came so late to the party, Jaxon. I was waiting for you. I wanted you to be there when Dad told everyone I was the new CEO.
And what about when you became CEO? I was there early because I wanted to watch my closest friend, my brother, take over his father’s firm.
Why am I so dumb? I wanted to beat my head against the wall!
After Julia died, I really walled myself off from the world. All I did was study, and when I became CEO, I worked all the time and didn’t care about anything else.
Kena’s words made me see how badly I messed up everything.
I didn’t know what to reply when Kena said, “Kena…I…I.”
Hey Kena, I’m sorry .No.
Sorry, I didn’t pay attention to you. No way.
“I’m so sorry, Kena,” I said, and by now I was crying. “I didn’t know I was wrong—”
“That’s your problem, Jaxon! You never see when you’re wrong.”
“Please forgive me. I don’t know what to say to you. You tried to fix our friendship, but I was too stupid to let you in. I’m sorry—”
“Let it be,” he murmured as he turned back and perched on the side of the bed. “Your apology won’t change anything. Everything is already ruined.”
“No, it’s not.”
I sat next to him and didn’t say anything for a long.
I eventually said, “Do you want to go out for drinks tonight?”
I told him, “We can hang out again like we used to and try to fix our friendship. That’s the least I can do.” He just stared at me.
I assumed he would say no and dispute more. He had the right to yell at me, but he agreed to me faster than I thought. “But you are paying for the drinks.”
I chuckled a little as he said, “Of course.”
Then he hugged me, and I hugged him back, understanding how much I missed our friendship.
“Jaxon, you’re such an arsehole,” he murmured as he pulled away from the embrace.
“Trust me, Vivian has told me that a thousand times.”
“She’s correct.”
“But right now,” I continued as I lay on the bed, “I need to do something about her.”
“What are you going to do? I swear I’ll kill you if you give her a divorce!”
“Whoa, whoa,” I responded, sitting up straight. “Where did this divorce thing come from?”
He rolled his eyes and said, “You’re so dumb that you can do anything.”
“But what are you going to do about her?” he questioned.
I grabbed my temples in exasperation and said, “I don’t know… I’m scared… I’m scared that if I fall in love with her, what happened to Julia will happen to her too.”
I instantly leaned forward because her lips looked so good.
What are you up to, Jaxon?! You said you wouldn’t kiss her!
One more time. I thought.
No, you shouldn’t do this.
I had already kissed her before I realized it, and my heart skipped a beat. I could tell she was astonished since she didn’t answer right away, but then she kissed me back just as passionately.
I kissed her deeper and twisted my fingers in her hair. Our tongues danced together, and she tasted like chocolate and strawberries. At first, the kiss was gradual, but then I wanted to kiss her right away. I sucked on her lips and bit them, but I stopped before I lost control.
I carefully pulled away and opened my eyes to discover that she was still gasping for air.
After a few seconds, she opened her eyes, and we gazed at each other while still breathing heavily.
“Umm…” I attempted to say something, “There was chocolate syrup on the top of your lips.”
She tried not to chuckle, but her eyes sparkled with delight. “I was going to…clean it.”
What a fantastic way to make oneself seem bad! I smacked my head on the wall in my mind.
“Oh… okay…I will be in the study,” I said, and then I quickly turned around and went so she wouldn’t notice how red my face was getting.
I can’t even remember the last time I was embarrassed.
What are you doing to me?
Someone knocked on the door of my study, and as predicted, Clara came in.
“Jaxon, can you come with me for a minute?” she said.
“I’m busy.”
“Busy, busy, busy,” she remarked as she walked to the desk. “Jaxon, you need to learn how to make time for people. Your business could cost you some of the best times in your life.”
I gazed at her. Where does she get these conversations?
“So, Mrs. Dante, what big moment am I missing right now?” I inquired as I leaned back in my chair.
“I’ll show you, but you have to come with me,” she said with a pout. How could I say no to that?
“Fine,” I said, and then I got up. I saw her smile—or was it a smirk?
What is she doing?
She led me to her room, and before unlocking the door, she moved aside and told me to walk inside.
I gave her a dubious look and opened the door. When I went inside, I saw Kena sitting on her bed, nonchalantly looking through his phone.
He looked up, and his eyes became bigger, too. Before we could figure out what was going on, we heard the door click, and we were both stuck in the room.
“Open this door right now!” I yelled to her, but all I heard was her laugh.
“This door won’t open until you two work out what’s wrong. By the way, I’m going shopping. I’ll be back in an hour or two. Since no one else is home, you’re stuck in there until I get back.”
“Clara, come back!” I cried, but all I could hear was her laughter before I heard her footsteps moving down the stairs.
She will pay for this!
I looked back at Kena, who was now partly reclining on the bed, and continued looking through his phone like nothing had occurred.
I snapped, “You are with her in this, right?”
He put down his phone and added, “I’m not with her. She just called me here and told me to wait in her room.”
He lay down on the bed like he owned it.
“Get out of bed; it’s not yours.”
“Oh, right,” he answered with a laugh. “It’s my friend’s bed, and she doesn’t mind.”
“So, she’s your friend now?” I crossed my arms.
“Of course she is. At least she doesn’t treat me the way my other friend has been treating me for so many years,” you could see he was saddened by the way he said it.
“What’s wrong with you, Kena?”
He sprang up and went up to me. “What’s your problem, Jaxon?!” I simply narrowed my eyes at him.
He asked, “What did I do to you?” “You’ve been ignoring me for years, and even then, I tried to fix our friendship, but you don’t even try. Why are you ignoring me? I’ve known you since the day I was born, and then suddenly, because Julia died, you started to avoid me. What did I do? She was my best friend too, and her death broke me too, but I never ignored you. Just because you loved her romantically doesn’t mean you were more broken than anyone else!”
I couldn’t think of anything to say.
He pushed my shoulder and cried, “I needed you…when she died…I was also sad…I needed my other best friend, but when I came to you, you sent me back saying you didn’t want to talk to anyone. I waited…I gave you some time, but you never even asked me once if I was okay or not.”
His tears made my eyes moist, too. Why do I keep making people weep these days?
“You think you were the only one who was hurt by her death? No, I was there too. I thought of her as my sister, and losing her was hard for me, but I never pushed you away.
That day when I became CEO, you came so late to the party, Jaxon. I was waiting for you. I wanted you to be there when Dad told everyone I was the new CEO.
And what about when you became CEO? I was there early because I wanted to watch my closest friend, my brother, take over his father’s firm.
Why am I so dumb? I wanted to beat my head against the wall!
After Julia died, I really walled myself off from the world. All I did was study, and when I became CEO, I worked all the time and didn’t care about anything else.
Kena’s words made me see how badly I messed up everything.
I didn’t know what to reply when Kena said, “Kena…I…I.”
Hey Kena, I’m sorry .No.
Sorry, I didn’t pay attention to you. No way.
“I’m so sorry, Kena,” I said, and by now I was crying. “I didn’t know I was wrong—”
“That’s your problem, Jaxon! You never see when you’re wrong.”
“Please forgive me. I don’t know what to say to you. You tried to fix our friendship, but I was too stupid to let you in. I’m sorry—”
“Let it be,” he murmured as he turned back and perched on the side of the bed. “Your apology won’t change anything. Everything is already ruined.”
“No, it’s not.”
I sat next to him and didn’t say anything for a long.
I eventually said, “Do you want to go out for drinks tonight?”
I told him, “We can hang out again like we used to and try to fix our friendship. That’s the least I can do.” He just stared at me.
I assumed he would say no and dispute more. He had the right to yell at me, but he agreed to me faster than I thought. “But you are paying for the drinks.”
I chuckled a little as he said, “Of course.”
Then he hugged me, and I hugged him back, understanding how much I missed our friendship.
“Jaxon, you’re such an arsehole,” he murmured as he pulled away from the embrace.
“Trust me, Vivian has told me that a thousand times.”
“She’s correct.”
“But right now,” I continued as I lay on the bed, “I need to do something about her.”
“What are you going to do? I swear I’ll kill you if you give her a divorce!”
“Whoa, whoa,” I responded, sitting up straight. “Where did this divorce thing come from?”
He rolled his eyes and said, “You’re so dumb that you can do anything.”
“But what are you going to do about her?” he questioned.
I grabbed my temples in exasperation and said, “I don’t know… I’m scared… I’m scared that if I fall in love with her, what happened to Julia will happen to her too.”