Chapter 21: Opening Pandora''s Box


    "Okay, you go," Liza said. Her voice strong, never wavering as she silently epted the challenge


    posed by Jonathan''s eyes. "Are you sure about it?" Jonathan asked, "I won''t be asking you about your


    favorite color." He warned. Liza''s determination wavered a bit. She knew that his questions would be


    rted to their past and their future. It would be like opening the Pandora box'' Did she want to go down


    thatne, again?'' Liza asked herself. She was tired of her and Jonathan''s weird rtionship, they were


    civil for a moment, friends even and at that moment she felt like she was back with the Jonathan she


    had once loved but then she remembered all those months of pain and her walls locked her in again,


    far away from the potential threat to her heart. She didn''t want to risk the barrier that she had built but


    she was tired of all the skirting around and her hot and cold behavior with Jonathan. Maintaining her


    coldposure took a lot of energy out of her and she wasn''t sure about till when she would be able to


    hold it up. So with a bit of apprehension, she nodded her head.


    Jonathan sighed. He hadn''t expected Liza to agree to his challenge. He had only asked her teasingly if


    she wanted to y ''20 questions'' but when Liza had taken it as a challenge and had epted it, he


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    realized that it could be an opportunity to get a look into Liza''s mind. He was aware that this game was


    going to hurt a lot and that he would have to dig back into his past sins and ept them all over again.


    It would be like getting branded with a hot iron rod and he wouldn''t'' be able to even cry about it


    because it was his fault in the first ce and he would have to suffer through the consequences of


    deeds. He gulped as he took in the space between them and realized that this game could push them


    so far that they would be out of each other''s life forever or it could bring them a step closer.


    Jonathan gulped, running a hand through his hair. "Were you happy before I came?" he asked. Liza


    was startled with his question, she had expected him to ask her about their past and not about how she


    was after she had left him. she thought for a moment. ''Had she been happy before Jonathan came


    back?'' , Liza asked herself. She had wonderful people in her life. Carson was just as warm as he had


    been before he had left the house and even more protective than he had been after he found out about


    Jonathan. Then there was Alex and Alice. Alex had been an awesome friend. He had supported her,


    cheered for her, and been there for her whenever she had one of her breakdowns. And then there was


    Alice, although Liza hadn''t met Alice during those years they had kept in touch and she had been the


    one who had encouraged Liza to go out on dates, to have fun. Liza had a job that she loved. She was


    independent and confident, something she had always wanted to be. So even if there were bittersweet


    memories attached to the past few years r and even though her heart was chipped, she had been


    happy during the past four years.


    "Yes, I was very happy before you came. I had so many reasons to be happy about and so many


    people to be happy for" Liza said her voice strong, never showing even a hint of hesitation. Jonathan


    didn''t know what he wanted to hear, but he was relieved that Liza hadn''t spent thest four years


    moping and in a haze as he had. After Liza had left he had spent a few months locked up in his room


    with his business slowly crumbling to the ground, it was only when his mother had asked him to stop


    being a coward and to ept the consequences of his deed if he ever hoped to see Liza again, when


    he had started working. After that, he had be almost like a machine. He was smiling for the


    cameras and crying in the confines of his room.


    "Okay, my turn, "Liza said bringing him out of his thoughts. Jonathan braced himself for the question,


    "Why did you sign the deal with Leslie. You weren''t interested in it before you came to the wedding.


    Then what changed?" Jonathan thought for a moment. It was true that he hadn''t been interested in it


    before the wedding but after seeing Liza he couldn''t let the opportunity slip through his hands, so he


    had immediately called his assistant and asked him to have hiswyer draw up a contract. After seeing


    Liza and finding out that she worked in Leslie''s Company he had all but jumped into the deal,


    abandoning all the inhibitions he had before, about the deal. "Because of you," he said, looking straight


    into her brown eyes.


    "Because of me?" Liza repeated, she had half expected to say something along the lines ''that the deal


    was good'' or ''that he wanted to check out thepetition before taking over the book publishing


    industry'' but Jonathan''s answer had been straight forward. Honestly, Liza knew that she had yed


    some part in Jonathan''s decision to ept the deal, the moment Leslie had insisted that she help


    Jonathan. However, she hadn''t expected Jonathan to be so honest about it. The Jonathan she had


    known before would have made a million excuses, he would have never let anybody know that they


    hold some power over him but confessing that he had made a deal which could cost him half of his


    business was something which showed just that, it showed how much power she held over him, how


    much he was willing to do for her.


    Jonathan looked at Liza as she processed his answer. He knew that she hadn''t expected him to speak


    the reason out loud, but there was no reason for Jonathan to hold back. The past months, even if Liza


    had kept him away from her, building a chilling ice wall barrier between them, he had seen the person


    he had loved through fissures and at this point even if he got to see that person through tiny cracks,


    even if the barrier never broke down for his whole life, he would still be beside her just to get a glimpse


    of the girl he loves. So instead of making up some stupid excuse about it being profitable or something


    like that, he had allowed Liza to see his real reason because he knew from hisst mistake that hiding


    anything would never do any good to their rtionship.


    Jonathan cleared his throat as he gathered courage from every grain of his being, knowing that the


    answer to this question had the potential to burn him all over, to cause him unimaginable pain. He


    looked at her trying to focus on her hair, her nose, her lips, anywhere other than her eyes, and said


    "Okay, my turn. Do you still hate me?"