《Like Oil and Water - Love and Hate at the Same Time》


 Like Oil and Water (1)

    Prologue


    Jaden loved the way the exotic birds in the garden chirped and sang all day, and sometimes he wondered what went on in the bird world. He would have loved to ask one of the birds if they ever had meetings where they discussed business and money. He smiled at his musings as he made his way from the bathroom and into his closet where his steward had prepared his outfit for the day. He took a long look at the neat custom designed suit, shook his head and thought to himself "I feel like doing something totally different today; something that is not like the routine I''m so used to." He walked through the closet looking for the perfect outfit for the day. There was something different about the day, but he could not quite place what it was, and so he shoved it aside and thought about the meeting he was attending in less than an hour. He wished the meeting would be short, so he could attend to other matters that needed his attention. He took out a flannel shirt, wore a pair of jeans, and decided he was going to wear a pair of Chelsea boots in place of sneakers. "Perks of being rich, you can wear anything to a meeting and no one would question your choice of outfit." He mused as he prepared for the day. That feeling came to him again; it felt like his mind was trying to bring something to his notice, or remind him about something, and each time he tried to think about what it could be about, he was blank. There was a light knock on the door:


    "Mister Jaden Keybridge, are you up sire?" His steward called from outside the door. He was the only one in the house that referred to him as Mr. Jaden Keybridge, and no matter how many times he told him to just call him Jaden, it just did not work.


    "Yes Matthew, please come in." Jaden answered.


    "May I get the chauffeur to prepare any of your automobiles?" the steward asked.


    "Oh yes! The grey Ferrari; I feel different today, and I want to take a break from my daily routine." Jaden answered.


    "That is a brilliant thing to do Mister Jaden Keybridge, however, the Ferrari Sir?" asked Matthew the steward.


    "You know what? If I''m going to do everything different today, I should just forget the cars at home, and use the bus." Jaden said excitedly.


    "The bus sire? I do not think it is a safe idea, Mister Jaden Keybridge." The steward added.


    "Relax Matthew, it''s only been a few decades since I used the bus, and I doubt if much has changed since then." Jaden assured.


    "Perhaps, I should tag along with the sire." The steward said.


    "No, that won''t be necessary. The venue is just around the block. Thank you, I''ll be fine." Jaden said to dismiss Matthew.


    "Very well then, you have my number on the speed dial." Matthew said.


    Jaden stepped out of the house, and took a deep breath; savoring the different scents from the flowers, plants, and trees around the lawn. "A full day''s supply of fresh air! Today seems so different." Jaden mused as he stepped out onto the walkway.


    Lorence picked her backpack and hurriedly walked out of her apartment; she got down the flight of stairs and reached the door at the same time a young man got to the door. He held the door open for her to walk through, but she refused to move.


    "Would you hold the door open for me if I were a man?" Lorence asked the man who had an expression of confusion written all over his face.


    "I don''t understand; isn''t this the right thing to do as a gentleman to anyone?" The man asked.


    "But would you do it to another man? That''s the question." Lorence said.


    "Well, while I can give you a straightforward answer, I won''t, because your question is based on a stereotypical assumption. Have a nice day." The man said and walked through, leaving Lorence behind. "Scum!" Lorence muttered as she shut the door behind her and stepped out. She did not like the fact that some men would look at a woman lustfully and pretend to do something nice just because the woman fit the description of the type of woman they could lust after. It irked her when men preyed on the vulnerability of women and wrapped it in the disguise of being chivalrous; she saw the behavior as despicable, and never failed to express her displeasure whenever she saw any man trying to act funny with her or any woman around her.


    She paused for a while and looked around her, and everything looked the same from the previous day; everyone in the locality seemed to have a routine, and it was easy for Lorence to predict who would drive or jog by, she knew who she would see around the corner. She had taken note of the policeman that always came to get donuts and coffee for his partner that waited in the patrol car parked outside, and then there was the homeless man that always pushed a trolley filled with what looked like junk. She began the short walk to the bus-stop to wait for her bus; her bus was always on time, but after waiting a while, she checked her wristwatch and noticed it was running late. "That''s very unusual." she thought to herself, because for as long as she could remember, the bus had never been late or missed a day. She waited a while longer, and suddenly remembered that she forgot the gift she got for her colleague Margaret. She thought about dashing back home to get the gift, but when she looked up, she saw the bus approaching the bus-stop. Okay Margie, looks like you''ll get your gift tomorrow. My bus is here." She mused.


    "That''s a first." She said to the bus driver with a smirk.


    "What is?" He asked, looking somewhat confused.


    "The bus is late today, and it has never happened." Lorence answered.


    "Late?" The bus driver asked, looking from Lorence to the large LED clock above the windshield. Lorence looked at her watch and then at the LED clock, and when she looked at the date, she realized her watch had stopped working since the previous day.


    "I''m so sorry. My watch stopped working, and there I was thinking I was running late already." She explained.


    Lorence looked at the occupants of the bus and exchanged pleasantries with some familiar faces that used the same bus every day, but there was one person dressed in a flannel shirt that she was certain she had never seen on the bus before. There was no vacant seat for her; apparently the man in the flannel shirt had taken her spot.


    Jaden looked up from his phone and noticed the lady standing, and he thought the noble thing to do would be to offer her his space, considering that his bus-stop was just a few blocks away. He looked at her again, and noticed she was beautiful, and something about her made him feel he had the responsibility to make her feel comfortable and safe


    "You can sit here." The man said.


    "No, thank you. I''m fine." Lorence answered with an expressionless face.


    "No, I insist, I''ll be getting off at the next bus-stop." The man added with a smile, and Lorence rolled her eyes because she did not like being told to do something she did not want to do, especially not from someone that had a cocky smile that he thought was charming. "It is time to see whether he is really chivalrous or whether he is scum." Lorence mused.


    "I do not see why you are insisting though. I don''t want your seat, and it is fine if I don''t. If you think insisting scores you points as a gentleman, then you are very wrong." Lorence answered, and she saw the raised eyebrow from the man.


    "Score points as a gentleman? Whatever that means?" the man asked.


    "Just what you think it means. Now answer me honestly, would you be chivalrous if I was male?" Lorence asked.


    "Oh well, chivalry is an ethical code for knights though, and by tradition I am a knight and the grandson of a Duke, and I don''t mean that literally." The man explained with a smile that made the insides of Lorence''s belly twist in disgust. "This has to be the head of the scum clan." Lorence thought to herself.


    "I really do not care about who you are, I am more concerned about what you do, and you did not answer my question. Would you give up your seat for me if I was not a woman? It''s a simple yes or no question, but of course you probably think women are weak and so men prey on their insecurities in order to get something out of them, even when they clearly do not need your help. It reeks of bias when you cannot offer the same help to a fellow man, and interestingly many of you only offer to help women when you hope to get something in exchange for your supposed help." Lorence said. The man was both shocked and amused at the same time. Lorence did not quite expect him to be amused; she did not expect the smile that was playing across his face, and she hated the fact that she found it attractive. "Remember he is a potential scum. Focus Lorence." She thought to herself.


    "Wow! Wow! I don''t know where all of that came from, but I think there is something I like about how your mind works. However, while I always extend the same arm of courtesy to everyone whether male or female, I still believe women should be looked after, looked out for, and taken care of, and I''m sure many people on this bus share the same views as me." The man said, and other passengers in the bus, both male and female applauded him to the chagrin of Lorence. Everything about what he said reminded her about her ex; she had only pleasant memories about him, and it sort of made her feel relaxed.


    Jaden noticed her large eyes, and he thought they were pretty and made her lean frame look like she needed to be protected at all times. He was not in any way perturbed by her reaction to his offering, but rather he saw something in her; the will to stand for something, the will to believe in a cause and not back down or be bullied into silence.


    "He has a very valid point there. Women are wired to be emotional beings, and men are wired to cater to the emotions of women, but the most important thing is extending the same arm of courtesy to everyone that he mentioned. Very valid point." A lady on the bus said, and others corroborated. The man smiled, stood up and pointed at the seat for Lorence to sit down, but she looked away, because she felt humiliated already and just wanted to get away from the bus and everyone in it. This was the first time in a long while that her talk about chivalry did not go the way she planned or expected. She chided herself for losing focus the moment she paid attention to the fact that he was amused at the important point she made about men and chivalry. However, she could not help but admire his smile, and from his defense, she could tell that he was intelligent. Lorence stole a quick glance at him, and he caught her, because he was also staring at her; Lorence was overcome with embarrassment "Young woman, yes he is good looking, but get a grip of yourself." She told herself, and looked away.


    "Hi, I''m Jaden Keybridge, not that it matters anyway, but there''s something attractive about your mind." The man whispered behind her so only she could hear.


    "That''s right, it does not matter. I would love to be left alone please." Lorence answered, and the man obliged without even the slightest resistance. However, the name sounded like she had heard it a couple of times, and out of curiosity, she took her phone out to Google the name. She was shocked at the results, and then she remembered that some years ago he had sponsored some of her friend''s scholarships through college. She wanted to take a look at him again to be certain that he was the one, but she did not want to give him the benefit of catching her staring again, so she pulled out a mirror from her bag to act like she was adjusting her makeup, and then she looked at him through the mirror. "Wow! It''s him, but it does not change anything." She thought to herself.


    One minute she was returning the mirror to her bag as Jaden was preparing to get off the bus, and the next moment shards of glass and plastic, coupled with the screams of everyone filled the bus as a tanker lost its brakes and ran into the speeding bus from the side, causing it to climb up a ramp and tumble a couple of times before coming to a halt. It all happened so fast; Out of reflex Jaden did what he could do to protect people around him, and he had no idea what he was doing at that moment. After a while, he tried to move, but couldn''t. He was covered in blood, and could barely see anything, he could feel life slowly ebb away from him; the noise around him was beginning to feel distant. He could feel hands touching him, and could feel his body being moved, slowly he moved his head to the side, and saw the lady whom he offered his seat on the bus being wheeled onto an ambulance, she looked at him too, and then he passed out.


    Chapter 1


    The city of New York was bubbling with activities as usual, with people going about their daily activities, from commuters finding their way to work, to pedestrians walking from one place to the other. New York was always so busy that it was dubbed "The city that never sleeps." because of the presence of every societal class, it was also referred to as "The city of dreams." While there were laws guiding everything and everyone, it did not prevent road accidents from happening every other day, and some people had come to accept the fact that fate had its way of doing things in a way that defied logical reasoning, and such was the case of Jaden and Lorence who were involved in a ghastly accident that could have taken their lives. Fortunately for them, they were the only survivors and had to spend some time at the hospital where they were rushed to save their lives.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Three weeks after the accident, Jaden and Lorence were still at the hospital. Even though they were out of the critical phase, some minor surgeries needed to be done, stitches removed, and bruises attended to. Jaden was not the one to be bedridden for such a long time, and so he tried several times to get out of bed, but only ended up stumbling.


    "Mister Keybridge, I see you are a fighter, and I admire that about you, but you need to allow your body to heal properly." The doctor said to him after he had fallen from the bed the umpteenth time.


    "I just want to be able to move around." Jaden said.


    "Yes I know that, but the accident could have taken away your limbs and paralyzed you for life; luckily for you, it didn''t. However, you need to go through physiotherapy in order to walk properly again, but before therapy, it is important that your body heals properly, to avoid complications. I hope you understand Mister Keybridge. If you allow the healing to happen as it should, you will be out of here in no time." The doctor explained. Jaden understood everything the doctor said, but he knew it was not going to stop him from trying to walk before the physiotherapy. If there was one thing Jaden hated, it was being treated like an invalid, and it irked him that he could not use his body the way he wanted.


    Every night was an ordeal for him, because each time he tried to sleep naturally, flashes of the accident kept playing in his dream, and his imaginative mind seemed to make it more vivid and detailed than it actually happened. In the dream, he remembered the discussion between himself and the lady who refused to accept his seat before the accident, and each time he tried to save her and shield her from harm, it felt like all the other occupants of the bus became zombies that dragged them away from each other; He was given shots most nights, to make him relaxed enough to fall into deep sleep. During the day his thoughts always went to the day of the accident, and he smiled at the irony of the fact that the day did not turn out as he planned, but it was indeed different; he wanted a different day, and everything seemed to be different from the moment he made that decision. He wondered how every passenger in that bus was faring after the accident. Most importantly, he wondered how the lady was doing, because she was the only one he saw being taken into an ambulance before he passed out. "Is she in this hospital too? I hope she''s okay. I should ask the doctor." Jaden thought to himself.


    For some reason, Jaden loved reliving the memory of the lady on the bus, and he also thought he may have said some things differently. He thought about the exchange between both of them and then he arrived at the conclusion that she may have been through some harrowing experiences that made her start questioning people''s goodwill towards her. Jaden knew he would give his seat up for anybody, but when he thought deeply about it he wondered if he would give his seat up for a young man. "Maybe she does have a valid point after all, howbeit a tad stereotypical, it was valid all the same." Jaden thought to himself, and he wondered what other thoughts dwelt in the inner recesses of her mind. One of the things he found fascinating about her was that she did not mind standing for what she believed in, even in public, and it made him wish they could be friends. Something about her struck a chord within him that kept resonating and getting him excited about the lady''s personality, even though he barely knew her or anything about her, and something deep within him told him that she saw something in him too.


    "Mr. Keybridge, how are you today?" The doctor asked, as he checked Jaden''s readings.


    "Hey doc, I feel better, and I just want to be able to get out of this bed without assistance." Jaden answered.


    "Pretty soon, you should be able to run at the Olympics." The doctor answered with a smile as he touched and prodded different parts of Jaden''s body to see his reactions.


    "Tomorrow?" Jaden asked.


    "Not likely, but soon." The doctor answered, and all Jaden could do was sigh at the doctor''s response, because he was really eager to get back to living his life.


    "One more thing doctor." Jaden said to the doctor.


    "What''s that?" The doctor asked.


    "How are the other victims of the accident?" Jaden asked. The doctor paused and looked at Jaden with intent, like he was sizing him up to know whether he was mentally and emotionally sound to receive the news.


    "Well, I don''t know how to break this to you in a very comfortable way, but there''s good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" The doctor asked.


    "Give me the bad news first, and cushion it with the good news." Jaden answered.


    "Okay, so I''ll give you both the good news and bad news in one sentence. Here it comes; only two people survived the crash." The doctor said, and then he looked at Jaden''s monitor to see whether there was a spike in his heart rate; there was a spike, however insignificant.


    "So that means me and someone else survived. Who is the person? Is the person here?" Jaden asked.


    "One lady, she''s in the next ward. You should get some rest now." The doctor said and turned to leave. After the doctor left, Jaden wished the other survivor would be the lady from the bus, and the possibility that it could be her made him become more determined than ever to make the move from the bed to the next room without falling; he just wanted to satisfy his curiosity. As he lay in bed pondering how he would leave the bed to the next room, his mind wandered to his life before the accident, and how he was able to do whatever he wanted, and then he thought about all he would have done within the three weeks that he had spent at the hospital, but another thought hit him; life was going on without him and his investments were thriving. Jaden thought that if life was going on without him, then it meant that all the extra efforts and hard work he always put into everything that concerned may not have been necessary, and with that train of thoughts, he asked himself if he would really go back to his life before the accident, or have a change of lifestyle that gave him time to explore new things and discover other abilities that may have been locked away inside him. As he wandered from one thought to another, he began to drift off to sleep, the last thought in his semi-conscious sleep state was whether the lady had a place in his life; for a moment he pictured her smiling at him, before sleep took over. For the first time in a while, Jaden did not have any nightmares, and did not need to be given shots to make him calm; the nurses were surprised, and were even more surprised in the morning when Jaden woke up in high spirits.


    "You look so happy today." A nurse said to Jaden.


    "Do I? I guess I am." Jaden answered with a smile, and indeed he was happy and bursting with so much energy that he just wanted to jump out of the bed, but he knew that would be a terrible idea if he tried it at that moment.


    "Keep up this positive attitude, and you will be out of here in no time." The nurse answered with a smile as she checked his vitals and made some notes.


    "Is Matthew out there?" Jaden asked.


    "Yes, I''ll send him in when I''m done." The nurse answered.


    "How''s the lady in the next room?" Jaden asked. The nurse looked at him with a raised brow, because she did not understand how Jaden knew about the lady in the next ward.


    "You have not stepped out of that door in 3 weeks, how do you know there''s a lady in there?" The nurse asked.


    "The doctor told me." Jaden answered.


    "Alright, she''s doing well." The nurse added. Jaden thought about asking her to deliver a message to the lady, but came up with a different plan.


    "That''s good to know. Thank you." Jaden said. He felt more excited knowing that the other survivor was doing well, but he wanted to confirm that it was the same lady on the bus, and so he decided Matthew would do the confirmation for him.


    Jaden got Matthew to get flowers for the lady in the next room, and then he waited excitedly for the results and description of the lady. He hoped it was the same lady, because for some reason he felt that it would be an interesting story to tell, considering that they were the only survivors of the accident, and the more he thought about it, the more inclined he was to think that perhaps God was at work on that day when he opted to do things differently. "What if God predestined and arranged everything so we would be together?" Jaden thought to himself, and he was agreeing to the thought because chances were slim that he would have the type of conversation he had with the lady if he had stuck to his routine and lived his usual lifestyle of only attending meetings and business functions. As he pondered on these things, he got to a point where he asked himself whether he was not building a bubble-based fantasy that could burst at the slightest prick.


    "Mister Jaden Keybridge, she does have really large and intense eyes." Matthew said, as he filled Jaden in on how the lady reacted to his gift of flowers.


    "Where did you tell her the flowers came from?" Jaden asked.


    "I told her it was from someone that would want to remain anonymous. She rejected it at first, saying she could not accept flowers from a stranger." Matthew explained.


    "That''s her alright. She''s a fighter." Jaden added excitedly.


    Lorence took her stay at the hospital as an opportunity to get all the rest she had missed over the years and it also gave her some time to reflect on her life and the choices she had made. She thought about areas that needed improvement and the areas where she was doing excellently well. As Lorence pondered about her life, she looked forward to when she would leave the hospital and get back to living her life. She loved her lifestyle, especially the new lifestyle of speaking out for oppressed women who were too scared to speak up for themselves, especially women who did not get equity and justice because of the patriarchal system that seemed to favor the men more than the women. She believed in fairness and equal treatment, and she did not hesitate to let it known whenever she was in a place where some men were trying to make life unnecessarily difficult for women. Being vocal about how she felt had made her get fired at different times, but she did not care. She strongly believed that if women stood up to their rights and refused to act like slaves to men, that the world would be a better place for both men and women. However, she had come to realize that not all women saw things the way she did, and not all men were bad; she was always left with trying to balance things out, and so whenever she had the opportunity, she made it a point of duty to ask men questions whose answers would determine whether they were scum or not, and in most cases many men failed the test. Her mind traveled down to moments before the accident, and she remembered how she had felt that there was something different about that day from the moment she stepped out of her block and onto the street; she remembered how she thought the bus was running late when it was just her watch playing tricks on her mind, and then there was the issue with the man on the bus, who coincidentally had never been on that bus before. "Maybe he was the ill luck that jinxed the bus and caused the accident." Lorence thought to herself, and frowned at the thought because she knew it was not true. She had flashes from the accident, and she remembered vividly that he had used his body to shield another person as the bus got hit; the person he was trying to protect was a man, and that got her thinking that perhaps he was indeed one of noble character.


    Lorence looked at the flowers across the room and wondered who the anonymous person was that sent flowers through an assistant to her every day; none of her friends would bring her flowers, because they knew she was not really interested in things like that, and so she figured that the anonymous person was not anyone that knew her well. Each time the anonymous person''s assistant came in with the flowers, it reminded her of the first time her ex had come with some flowers to see her before they dated, and she was so confused that she just stood there looking at the flowers with no idea what to do with them; in that confusion she asked him "Can I cook those as veggies or something?", and her smart ex got the cue, laughed, and never got her flowers. One thing her ex would always be grateful to her for was that she helped him unlearn many stereotypical attributes that society had placed on women; one of them being the notion that all women loved to receive flowers among other societal conditions placed on the women folk. Her thoughts drifted to memories of her ex, and she smiled at the pleasant memories and moments they shared together, but frowned when she remembered that the reason why they could not continue with the relationship was because he wanted to settle down and have kids, but she was not ready to settle down, and she did not want to have kids, because she felt the world was too damaged to bring innocent children and make them conform to standards that should not define them, but not many people understood that; the moment she said she did not want kids, people would look at her like she was a witch. Lorence had seen a lot to make her tow the path of voicing out her opinion about the oppression that women faced just for being women. She hated the fact that so many things were rigged to favor the men and put the women as dependents; she felt society stripped women of the rights to be whatever the men aspired to be, and whenever a woman rose up against all odds, such woman would need to work overtime to maintain her spot at the top among men that did not think she was good enough to be there. Interestingly, her ex was the only ex she was proud of because he supported her with all that he had, even when he had misgivings about some of the things she; he always knew how to bring balance to everything, except when it came to settling down and wanting children, and she could not fault him for that. He would always say something like "I may not agree with everything you say, but I sure as hell love how your mind works, so while you are doing the good work of being the Amazonian wonder woman, let me be the superman that has your back too. Do we have a deal?" and it made her feel good that she had finally found someone that understood her on different levels. Since the breakup with her ex, she had never met anyone who had the noble character that her boyfriend had exhibited on different occasions, not until the encounter with the man in the flannel shirt on the ill-fated bus. There was a statement he made that she would never forget "I don''t know where all of that came from, but I think there is something I like about how your mind works. However, while I always extend the same arm of courtesy to everyone whether male or female, I still believe women should be looked after, looked out for, and taken care of." To her it sounded like he had just described equity and fairness without mentioning the words, and it sounded very much like the same thing that her ex would say. "I hope he survived the accident though." She thought to herself.


    The nurse came into the ward to check on Lorence, and ensure that she was healing and recovering as expected, as well as attend to her dressings. She noticed the flowers and smiled at Lorence.


    "This place smells like a heavenly garden." The nurse said.


    "Oh no! it smells like a hospital, and I want out." Lorence said, and the nurse let out a chuckle.


    "Soon! Very soon! Someone is sending you flowers to remind you how beautiful the world is outside." The nurse added.


    "You believe the world is actually beautiful outside?" Lorence asked.


    "I believe you can create your world and make it as beautiful as you want." The nurse answered with a wink, and Lorence felt that what she said was deep, but the bit of realist in her wanted to question the nurse''s ideology about creating her world considering that there was chaos all around the world, and people were living in fear and uncertainty.


    "So what''s it like in your world?" Lorence asked.


    "Love, light, peace and everything nice." The nurse answered with a chuckle.


    "It must be nice in your world." Lorence added.


    "Oh trust me, it is. I wish I had known about the ability to create my world earlier, it would have saved me a whole lot of emotional and mental stress, but then again those were the reasons I discovered freedom though." The nurse said, and Lorence sensed that she had been in a place of hurt before, and so she did not think it proper to pry further about her beautiful world, so she would not come off as an antagonist.


    "I''m so happy that you found light and are in your happy place." Lorence added.


    "Thank you. Not many people get a second opportunity to fix their lives and find happiness." The nurse said. That statement hit Lorence hard and she knew she was going to think about it a lot, because it came with some profundity. The statement also reminded her of the accident, and she wondered how many occupants of the bus were given a second chance at life.


    "How are the other accident victims?" Lorence asked the nurse.


    "Let us just say you got a second chance at life that many did not get. Please make it count. You need to rest now. I''ll check on you later." The nurse said, and left the room hurriedly. "She does not want to tell me. She''s hiding something. Am I the only survivor from that crash?" She asked herself as she pondered on the statement that the nurse made. A light note on the door made her look at who was coming in; it was the anonymous person''s assistant that always brought flowers.

 Like Oil and Water (2)

    "Hello, how are you today?" Matthew asked, as he placed the flowers with the others, while taking away the ones that were no longer as fresh as they should have been.


    "Very well, thank you. Are you going to do this every day?" Lorence asked, pointing at the flowers.


    "Oh yes, I have strict instructions to do this every day till you leave this place." Matthew answered.


    "I really need to know who gave you the instructions, because I am very certain the person does not know I''m not keen on flowers though, and so that person does not know me." Lorence explained. Matthew was taken aback by what she said, as he was not expecting that there was a lady who actually was not keen on receiving flowers.


    "You really do not like flowers as much?" Matthew asked.


    "I just want to see them in a beautiful garden, and that''s all." Lorence answered. Matthew looked from her to the flowers and back at her.


    "I''ll pass the message on to the sender." Matthew answered.


    "So, you are not going to tell me who this anonymous sender is?" Lorence asked.


    "I am afraid, I can''t." Matthew asked.


    "I think I find it creepy that a stranger is sending me flowers though." Lorence added, and she noticed Matthew was uneasy.


    "I''ll just be on my way now. Have a nice day." Matthew said and left the room hurriedly. "Good riddance to the flowers." Lorence thought to herself, a smile playing across her face as she watched Matthew leave. She looked at the flowers again, and wondered if she was overreacting by rejecting them. "No! Why receive something that I do not want and did not ask for? I did the right thing. It will save the person the pain and costs involved. In the end, I''m just a nice and principled young woman." She told herself.


    Lorence''s mind wandered back to the short conversation she had with the nurse; to the part about her second chance at life, and she wondered if she had made the right choices before the accident, "Maybe I should make myself be available for love again." She thought to herself, but one problem she had was she felt that her ex was the only man in the world that understood her, and she did not think she had it in her to go through the process of falling in love, and opening up to another man again. "Not many people get a second opportunity to fix their lives and find happiness." She remembered what the nurse said, and she was grateful that she did not lose her life in the accident, but felt sad that other occupants of the vehicle may not have been as lucky as she was, and for some strange reason she felt even more saddened by the fact that the man who offered his seat may not have made it. She remembered the last image of him was when they looked at each other while being wheeled into the ambulance, before she passed out. Something about the way he looked at her made her think he breathed a sigh of relief that she was alive, and so she thought to herself, that if indeed she was the only one that made it out of the bus alive, then she owed it to the other occupants to live a better life, and the first thing she wanted to do when she left the hospital was to process her insurance, and then get on with a better version of her life.


    "Mister Jaden Keybridge, I''m afraid, the lady in the next room doesn''t want the flowers sire." Matthew reported to Jaden.


    "Oh! So we are not doing flowers anymore. I''m just so glad we survived the crash." Jaden said, although he did not like the fact that he could not have flowers sent to the lady''s room. He wished he could just walk to the room, just to see her face again.


    "If I may ask sire, have you developed some sort of affection for the lady?" Matthew asked.


    "Oh no! oh well, maybe a little, but it''s only normal, considering we had our moment on the bus, and here we are as the only survivors of that accident. Maybe fate has something waiting for us." Jaden explained, and Matthew could see the excitement on his face.


    "Very well then. Have you considered getting a mechanized wheelchair? Maybe you should ask the doctor so we can get you one immediately." Matthew suggested.


    "Oh Matthew! What would I do without you? Thank you for always being so thoughtful. I''ll ask the doctor when he comes in again." Jaden said.


    That night, Jaden had nightmares again, and it left him more shaken than ever before, so shaken that the shots he was given did not take effect until hours later, and during that period there was a significant spike in his heart rate and blood pressure as he struggled violently on the bed.


    "He''s going into shock!" The doctor yelled, and everyone available scampered around to prevent Jaden from going into a state of shock. His condition stabilized after a while, and then he was finally put to sleep. The next morning, he woke up to find the doctor and nurses staring at him.


    "What did I miss?" Jaden asked as he looked around and wondered why they were there staring at him, but soon began to recollect what happened to him earlier.


    "You gave us quite a scare there." the doctor answered, as he checked Jaden to ascertain that he was okay.


    "Oh I''m sorry! The nightmare was so vivid." Jaden added. The doctor made a gesture for  the nurses to excuse both of them.


    "Was it about the accident?" The doctor asked Jaden.


    "It has always been about the accident, but this time it took a new dimension. Everyone died, became zombies, and were gnawing at my flesh." Jaden explained.


    "Before the accident, how often did you have nightmares?" The doctor asked.


    "Never." Jaden answered.


    "The people that became zombies, were they all occupants of the bus, or some were people you know?" The doctor asked.


    "All from the bus, including the other survivor." Jaden answered.


    "The lady in the next ward? I should check on her too." The doctor said, He stayed with Jaden for a short while, and then excused himself. Jaden thought about everything, and was not happy with the fact that there was little he could do about anything. He let out a sigh, because he missed his life before the accident. A light knock on the door brought him back to reality. He looked up as the door opened, and found the doctor wheeling in someone on a wheelchair. When he looked closely, he recognized her immediately. Her large eyes and delicate structure were not features he could forget so easily. Jaden was so happy to see her that he almost rolled off the bed, while Lorence looked like she was torn between laughing and crying. The doctor smiled at their reactions; he decided to leave them alone for some time.


    Both of them were silent for a while, as they just stared at each other, perhaps with different thoughts coursing through their minds.


    "You''re pretty knocked up though." Lorence said, finally breaking the silence.


    "I see that. I tried to get out of this bed a couple of times, and let''s just say I may have broken a few ribs in the process." Jaden said. A smile played across Lorence''s face as he spoke.


    "You could have requested a wheelchair, you know?" Lorence asked.


    "I could? The doctor never gave me that option." Jaden answered.


    "Oh well, he had his reasons I guess." Lorence added.


    "Not if he knew I really wanted to be able to move around." Jaden answered with a scowl.


    "Again, he had his reasons." Lorence said, with a smile. "He looks so cute, so vulnerable." Lorence thought.


    "That was one hell of a day. It had to be the day I decided to do something different" Jaden said with a chuckle.


    "I don''t understand, do something different?" Lorence asked. Jaden explained how he had changed his mind about what he wanted to wear, and how he had decided to use the bus instead of driving or being driven by his chauffeur. Lorence listened attentively; something about the way he talked reminded her of her ex, and so she caught herself smiling as he spoke. He mentioned how on that day he felt like he was forgetting something or something was not connecting, but he just could not figure out what it was. Lorence also narrated her issue with the watch and her friend''s gift that she forgot at home.


    "Maybe something was trying to tell us to wait a while longer so we would miss the bus." Lorence said, like she had gotten an epiphany.


    "That is a possibility, and maybe God actually wanted us to be there." Jaden added, and there was silence as both of them looked at each other.


    "God? Your God left only both of us alive? Why did He have to take the lives of others?" Lorence asked, she did not like having such discussions with people who were religious, because had come to realize that it was a sensitive subject for them.


    "There are many mysteries to this universe and our existence here on earth that we will never be able to solve, and fate is one of them. Fate is one of God''s mysterious ways He uses to change our plans." Jaden answered. Lorence sat back, staring at Jaden and pondering on what he had just said. "He sure sounds like my ex, but without the God part." she thought to herself. As they spoke, she noticed there were other similarities between Jaden and her ex, and so it made it easy for her to feel a little relaxed as they had their conversations. However, she did not believe in God, but she did not want to burst his bubble since they were not talking about religion.


    "I remember you told me your name on the bus, I''m sorry I can''t remember the name." Lorrence said, wanting to take the discussion away from religion.


    "It''s Jaden Keybridge." Jaden answered.


    "Yes! You are that billionaire philanthropist. I remember you now. You sponsored a couple of my friends'' scholarships some years ago." Lorence said.


    "Oh!" Jaden was about to say something when they heard a tap on the door, the door opened and Matthew stepped into the room. There was a look of bewilderment on Lorence''s face as she looked from Matthew to Jaden.


    "What''s going on here? Do you two know each other?" Lorence asked.


    "Well, Matthew''s my assistant, and since we are all here and I don''t want it to get more awkward than this, I asked him to send you flowers because I heard it helps people heal faster." Jaden answered.


    "So it was you all along." Lorence said, with surprise written over her face.


    "Matthew, can you give us a moment please." Jaden said to Matthew, because he had a hunch that Lorence may get upset.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "Hey Matthew, I appreciate all you did. Thank you." Lorence said, as Matthew stepped out of the room.


    "Before you say anything, I know you are upset about the flowers and the fact that it came from me. I am really sorry, I was just happy that I wasn''t the only one that survived the crash, and I didn''t know how else to contribute to your speedy recovery." Jaden explained.


    "Upset? Oh no I''m not upset. I''m just fascinated. Oh, and I appreciate the gesture, but why flowers though?" Lorence asked. Jaden knew he was getting into a tight spot, and from his previous experience with her on the bus, he had an inkling of the direction the conversation was headed.


    "Okay, now that you have asked, I guess I didn''t think that through. If I knew you, I would have asked what you liked and didn''t like, so my only straw was to assume that you would love flowers. I grew up in a society where stereotypes became the norm, and so we unconsciously conformed to the societal conditioning that made us accept that flowers were a girly thing. Again, I''m sorry if my assumptions and gestures offended you." Jaden explained, and yet again Lorence felt defeated. "He sure knows how to throw me off balance." she thought to herself.


    "It''s fine. I understand the thing about stereotypes and societal conditioning, and we need to be deliberate about unlearning so many things we learned while growing. Lorence said.


    They began to get along well, and after a while they were fit enough to leave the hospital and go back to living their lives. Lorence wasted no time in processing her insurance papers and getting set to resume work, but Jaden still had some recovery to do, because he still had the nightmares, however not as frequent as when he was at the hospital. He needed a therapist to help him with the anxiety and panic attacks that he was experiencing.


    Jaden and Lorence maintained contact after they left the hospital, and they had gotten to the point where they could understand each other to some considerable extent. Jaden admired Lorence''s strong will and character, and loved the fact that she was already up and doing; he loved her strength and admired some of her views about life. For a long while, Jaden had not developed a soft spot for any woman, but it felt like each time he communicated with Lorence, his affection for her deepened, and in no time he was falling for her and wanted their relationship to be more than just the platonic friendship that was between them.


    Jaden noticed that he was always happier on the days when he spent some time with Lorence, and she also got more insight about her career and profession whenever she discussed with Jaden. It felt like they both needed each other to get through that recovery phase in order to bounce back to life, and Jaden thought it was a cue to take the step at winning Lorence''s heart. As days passed, they became more fond of each other, but Jaden''s affections were deeper, and every moment he looked forward to seeing her and hearing her speak.


    "Any plans for the weekend?" Jaden asked Lorence over the phone.


    "None that I cannot cancel for a good reason." Lorence answered.


    "I was wondering if we could maybe hangout?" Jaden asked.


    "I don''t know how feasible that would be, because I have a hunch that your world is different from mine." Lorence answered.


    "So let me show you my world then." Jaden said excitedly.


    "If you will agree to also allow me to show you my world after you show me yours, then we have a deal." Lorence answered.


    "Deal!" An elated Jaden said.


    Lorence thought about Jaden, and she loved the steady pace that their friendship was going, but she was uncertain about the possibilities of them becoming an item. Different discussions had shown her that they had divergent views about some things, and in some cases he seemed to know how to make some divergent views become convergent. She loved the fact that he was always attentive and willing to listen to her, and he also never tried to downplay her views even on days when he did not agree with her perspective. Her friends were excited for her and were always eager to know if they had become an item, but they were always disappointed when she told them there was no likelihood of that happening. Deep down, Lorence wanted to be loved again, she wanted the feelings and emotions that came with being in love and in a relationship with someone that would love her in return. Her heart yearned to have someone that she could talk to about her day, someone she could rant to about her annoying boss or colleague, someone she could run to for strength, and someone who understood her and what she stood for. Interestingly, she found those traits in Jaden, but she just did not know if there was a possibility that both of them could end up together. She was not sure she knew him well enough to get into a serious relationship with, and she also was not ready to get into a relationship that could leave her with regrets and pain later; she was ready to take her time until she was very convinced that she had finally met the right one.


    Jaden could not contain his excitement at the thought of Lorence coming to spend the weekend with him, and he planned the opportunity to find his way to her heart and win her over. As he looked forward to the weekend, he thought about how deep their conversations would be, considering that their conversations were always insightful, and Jaden thought she was the best person to help him unlearn some stereotypes society had made him conform to. He loved it when both of them had divergent opinions about a subject, he loved how she talked so passionately while defending what she was saying. He admired her intelligence and her vast knowledge about different things from art to classical music, and from cars to architecture; she seemed to know so many things, and so it was not difficult for them to talk about so many things. However, he noticed that she seemed to be torn between wanting to open up and holding back so much of herself, and so he wondered what her past was like; he wanted to know what she had been through, and he also wanted to show her that he understood where she was coming from and was ready to stand by her through good and bad times.


    Jaden reflected upon his previous relationship, and each time he thought about it, he wished he could go back in time to prevent himself from getting into that relationship. He wondered how he allowed himself to be so blinded by lust, that he got involved with a lady that could not hold a good conversation for a few minutes without being totally engrossed with her phone and giggling away at whatever it was that she was always watching on her phone. Jaden felt bad for himself for going to great lengths to make her happy, when she did not deserve whatever he was doing for her. He remembered how he had walked in on her and another man in a compromising situation, but rather than react violently, he smiled, apologized for disturbing them, urged them to continue, and stepped out of the place; he knew that was the end of the relationship between both of them, and because she knew he hated scandals she decided she was going to blackmail him if he did not meet her demands, but he was smart enough to see that coming, and so he covered whatever loopholes existed in the relationship, and created illusions for her to hold on to. In the end she lost more than she bargained for. Jaden had learned his lessons and decided he was not going to get into another relationship for a long while; he lost interest in relationships until his friendship with Lorence began.


    The weekend came, and Jaden was really glad to see Lorence, and as usual she looked beautiful, calm, and reserved. Lorence was glad to see him too, and she felt he looked good, but she refused to show her emotions. "I am not going to let my guard down." She thought to herself.


    Jaden used the opportunity to show her the sporty side of him by performing some extreme sports; he urged her to join him, but she declined. They had a nice time together; from relaxing on the beach, to enjoying some moments at sea on his yacht, from seeing movies with his friends to having dinner together at one of the most expensive restaurants. Lorence noticed that Jaden had a huge appetite, and felt that he just loved big and expensive meals, while she preferred to just eat something normal and efficient like her usual chicken salad. She was quick to notice that both of them had divergent meals and meal styles. While she loved to eat something light, Jaden''s huge appetite could not make him conform to her meal standards even if he wanted to, and in fact he tried to live on her meal style for a day, but could not continue within the next hour of taking the meal.


    Through the weekend they did different activities, but the weekend was not enough for him to show her his world, and so he made a difficult request;


    "I have a proposition to make." Jaden said.


    "What''s that?" Lorence asked.


    "Can you take a few days off work?" Jaden asked.


    "Why on earth would I want to do that? Lorence asked.


    "I still have a lot to show you in my world." Jaden answered.


    "Oh well, I think I''ve seen enough to know what your world is like, and if you tell me to take a few days off work because you want to show me more of your world, then you would be trying hard to impress me, and that would be really pointless." Lorence added. This time, Jaden was the defeated one, but he did not allow it to steal his smile away.


    "I''m sorry. I haven''t felt this way in ages. There''s a good vibe about you that I find really attractive, plus you are so intelligent and there''s so much to learn from you. These few days with you, made me feel more alive than I have been in a long while." Jaden explained. Lorence looked at him with intent and a smirk, but inside she was bursting with joy "Glad to know that I am having a pleasant effect on him." she thought to herself.


    "You flatter me. Thank you. I find you interesting, and your world is beautiful; I mean you have a nice life and all these nice things at your disposal, but now I want you to allow me to show you my world, which is also beautiful in its own way. We had a deal, remember?" Lorence said, and Jaden''s face lit up with excitement.


    "Oh yes, we had a deal, so when is this going to happen?" Jaden asked.


    "We begin tomorrow, if that''s fine by you." Lorence answered.


    "It is perfect." Jaden answered excitedly.


    "So, I''m curious, how are you so wealthy and there''s no woman in your life? I mean, being a wealthy young man is usually synonymous with having women at your beck and call." Lorence said.


    "You just said something based on a stereotype though." Jaden said with a smile


    "Oh, what''s the stereotype?" Lorence asked.


    "That being a wealthy young man is synonymous with having women at my beck and call. If we break that statement further, you would also be stereotyping the women as being something like slaves." Jaden explained. Lorence looked at him with her mouth slightly opened, because she realized he was right and anything she may have wanted to say would put her in a tight corner.


    "Yes. I just realized you are right." Lorence said. Lorence liked Jaden''s analytical mind, and again it reminded her about her ex; she liked the feeling, even though she was holding back a lot from Jaden. She wanted to be sure he was the right person that she could open up to, but she needed to clear a few doubts about him. She wanted to see him in his elements and what he was like when exposed to a different life than he was used to.


    "It''s alright. These things can be tricky sometimes; I understand." Jaden answered.


    "Thanks for understanding. I also figured I may be prying into your private life, and I totally understand if you do not want to answer the question though." Lorence added.


    "On the contrary, I have nothing to hide or keep away from you, so I''ll tell you why I chose to remain single." Jaden said, and then went into details about his previous relationship; about how it started and what led to calling it off. He also talked about previous relationships, and from his stories Lorence could deduce that he had been getting involved with the same type of flashy women who barely had anything tangible to offer. She found herself pitying him, because she realized he had been heartbroken a couple of times.


    Lorence introduced Jaden to her world, the life she lived everyday from the moment she stepped out of her apartment, till she got to work and closed for the day. She showed him how she took care of the elderly and went to local stores to get supplies, and then she took him to the restaurants and diners she visited everyday. She thought Jaden would feel disgusted or too uncomfortable to be found with people like that in that area, but to her surprise, Jaden mingled well with everyone they came across, and he even made people laugh. She did not expect that type of warm reception from him; there was no sign of him being proud or looking down on the locals they met, rather he was even more friendly with them than she was, and it warmed her heart dearly. She found herself falling in love with him, because she realized he was in touch with his human side, and she loved him for that.


    "So, what''s your verdict about my world?" Lorence asked.


    "I want to be a part of your world. I love your world; I love the realness of it, I love the feel of humanity in its purest form. I want that. I want you with all of that." Jaden said, as he reached out to hold Lorence''s hands; she let him hold her hands, and that was the first time they ever touched. Lorence did not know why, but her heart skipped several beats as he held her hands."Pull yourself together young lady." she told herself, and sought for the right words to say to Jaden.


    "Why Jaden? Why? Why me? Why do you want to be a part of my world? My world is broken but beautiful, not rich but content. My world is filled with fights for equity, justice and fairness. Tell me why Jaden. I want to hear it." Lorence said, looking into Jaden''s eyes like she was searching for the answers there.


    "Love Lorence, it''s nothing but love for the entirety of you; who you are, what you are, who you are going to be, and what you are going to do." Jaden answered.


    "Wow! That''s so deep and futuristic, but why me? I''m nothing like the pretty women you''ve been with. Well I know I''m pretty in my own way, but you know what I''m talking about." Lorence said.


    "You''re not just beautiful, you''re so smart, intelligent, and you''re knowledgeable about so many things. You''re strong willed, a go-getter that is a non-conformist, an empath and that''s barely touching the surface of who you are Lorence, what''s there not to love about you?" Jaden explained.


    "You''re the second man who has successfully beaten all my defense systems, the first being my ex. I have no idea how you both did it, but here we are. Jaden, my heart is delicate, and so I need all the assurance I can get. Do you really want to do this?" Lorence asked.


    "I have never been more certain about wanting something. I love you Lorence. I believe God spared both of us for this. I will¡­" Jaden was talking when Lorence kissed him. It was a long passionate kiss, one filled with longing and the desire to get lost in each other''s embrace. At that moment, Lorence just wanted to get lost in the moment, and so she refused to listen to the still voice in her head that reminded her that she did not believe in God.

 Like Oil and Water (3)

    Jaden and Lorence fell in love with each other, and it was a beautiful thing for both of them. Everyday it seemed like they found new reasons why they were supposed to be together, and Lorence grew fonder by the day, and got to a point where she began to wonder how she had coped alone before Jaden came along, and his presence seemed to make everything better. Each time she remembered how they had started as strangers on the bus, she marveled at how life¡¯s events could change everything and create a beautiful narrative where it did not look like there could be any.


    While Lorencee did not like the fact that people died in the accident, she was still grateful that in the strangest of ways her path had crossed with Jaden¡¯s. It was not the perfect relationship, but she felt that it had potential to be a perfect one.


    ¡°Who cares about perfection anyway? I mean we are two very different individuals with character flaws that should not define us or the relationship.¡± Lorence said to Margie her friend.


    ¡°There is no perfect relationship. Perfection in a relationship is an illusion; one that blinds the partners and makes them lose focus on the little things that should matter, and just when they least expect, it all comes crashing down.¡± Margie explained.


    ¡°I do not want to sound like a witch though, I¡¯m happy for you both; I mean I haven¡¯t seen you glow this way in ages, but I still think you could have given each other time to get to know yourselves more.¡± Charlotte added.


    ¡°You know you do sound like a witch when you say I do not want to sound like a witch, but we understand what you mean, and it is not up to us to determine just how long our friend remains in the talking stage. We are here to support her no matter the condition.¡± Margie said to Charlotte who rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine guys. I appreciate your looking out for me, and I could not have asked for friends better than you. I know there are some unknowns about Jaden and me, but we are giving this ship our all to make it work; what¡¯s important is that we love and understand each other.¡± Lorence explained.


    ¡°Like I said earlier, I¡¯m happy for you both; I really am. On the surface you both look so good together, but beneath the surface, do you think you look so good together with your divergent views and perspectives about life?¡± Charlotte asked.


    ¡°Charlotte! It¡¯s really not your business or mine. Lorence is old and mature enough to know what she wants and who she wants to be with; it is not our place to scan her relationship for flaws, simply because we have reservations about who she¡¯s with.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°Margie, she¡¯s our friend and it¡¯s okay to say what we think or feel. When there¡¯s a heartbreak, we become her pillars. You know how matters of the heart can get, and all I am saying is I hope she listens to her mental health instead of her emotional needs.¡± Charlotte answered.


    ¡°She? Charlotte I¡¯m right here you know. I understand your point, and your concern is very valid, but at this point there is no turning back. Jaden and I have had our fair share of heartbreaks, and so we are two broken people giving love a chance, seeing the good in each other, and working with the good in us.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°Come here baby, I just don¡¯t want to see you hurt again.¡± Charlotte said, as she opened her hands to hug Lorence.


    ¡°You still sound like a witch though.¡± Margie teased.


    ¡°Will you join the sister-sister hug or not?¡± Charlotte asked Margie.


    ¡°Are you trying to initiate me into your coven?¡± Margie teased again.


    ¡°You both should just start a TV show already.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°Margie and the witch'''' seems like a catchy title. We should look into it.¡± Margie added, and they laughed at the facial expression on Charlotte¡¯s face.


    ¡°I love you girls. You make friendship so awesome and wholesome.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°I love you women more than the sisters I never had.¡± Margie added.


    Lorence was grateful for the few friends she had in her circle, because they always did all they could to support her, even if sometimes they did not share the same views about the patriarchal system and women liberation, they still supported her and were ready to fight for her. They taught her the true meaning of friendship, and also showed her that every friendship would always be tested, but real love had the ability to make true friends overcome any challenges that life brought their way.


    Lorence opened her heart and took Jaden through the timeline of her life from when she was a child till when she became an adult; she told him about her struggles and wins, and the things she saw about society that made decide she was going to do her thing, regardless of what society was going to say or do. As she bared her heart to Lorence, she got so emotional, and broke down in tears.


    ¡°Hey babe, it¡¯s okay. I¡¯m here for you and I never want to be away from you. I am glad you told me all of that, because now I understand you better.¡± Jaden said, as he wiped her tears and hugged her.


    ¡°You called me babe.¡± Lorence said as she looked up into Jaden¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Well, you are my babe, my adorable intense eyed baby.¡± Jaden said and kissed her forehead. Lorence wiped her tears and laughed a little.


    ¡°You think my eyes are intense?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°When you look at me, I feel like you have seen through me, and peered deep into my soul. Maybe that is why I hide nothing from you.¡± Jaden answered as he planted another kiss on her cheeks.


    ¡°You won¡¯t leave me?¡± Lorence asked. At that point, Lorence did not mind that she was feeling vulnerable; she was too in love to care about vulnerability and whatever implications it had. She just loved the feeling of being loved by someone, and she did not want anything to come between her and love. She just wanted to be told sweet things that were real; she wanted to be assured that nothing would spoil the moment they both shared.


    ¡°I cannot afford to leave you. So no, I won¡¯t leave you. I want to see you fulfil your dreams and grow beyond the stage that you are. I want to be by your side when the world cheers you for your good and charitable deeds. I want to be with you at all times.¡± Jaden explained and kissed her lips. Lorence held his head as they kissed, letting out soft moans as her body began to respond to his kisses and touches, and at that point, nothing else mattered. ¡°I have decided to use every moment to create pleasant and enjoyable memories.¡± she told herself as Jaden kissed her neck, and she ran her hands across his athletic body.


    ¡°I love you J.¡± She whispered as Jaden lifted her and increased the intensity of the moment. Lorence¡¯s hormones were in a frenzy and she wanted her cravings to get satisfied; she wanted to be taken through all the clouds of passionate and lustful satisfaction, and her hormones were jumping about excitedly, longing and wanting that deep connection that would leave her shuddering with spasms of passion.


    They continued exploring each other¡¯s bodies, falling to the couch and rolling over to the floor; both of them lost in the ecstatic arms of passion, oblivious to time and their environment. Jaden touched Lorence in ways that she had never been touched; in ways that her body loved. Their bodies seemed to be in sync with the rhythm of their longings, and their breathing became rapid. Finally, they gave in to the demands of their bodies and took turns pleasuring each other the ways they wanted.


    ¡°I¡¯m never leaving your side.¡± Jaden whispered in her ears.


    ¡°You dare not.¡± Lorence answered as she kissed him.


    ¡°Okay, I need to get something off my chest here.¡± Jaden said, sitting up.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Lorence asked, and she looked scared.


    ¡°Now that we are an item, please allow me to get you gifts, no matter how expensive you may think they are.¡± Jaden said with a smile, and he could see the relief written all over Lorence¡¯s face.


    ¡°Do not scare me that way again. I could have had a heart attack.¡± She said and pinched his nose playfully.


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am! So , my request?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°Well, I understand that being in your world puts me in this position where I¡¯m exposed to the luxury life, but really, whatever it is you want to do, make it very simple, please, and only give me what I need. Thank you.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°Fair enough. So what do you need now?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°I need to take a good bath.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°Do you need company while taking that good bath?¡± Jaden asked with a smirk playing across his face.


    ¡°Oh yes! Two¡¯s company, and I¡¯m not sure my hand can get to my back for a proper cleaning.¡± Lorence answered with a wink. Excitedly, Jaden followed her to the bathroom where they talked some more about random things, with frequent giggles from Lorence. Few minutes later they were having steamy sessions in the bathroom, with moans and grunts filling the air.


    Jaden had never been more excited, and he was pleased with the fact that finally he had found the balance that he never knew he needed. Every moment he spent with Lorence made him see just how empty his life was before he met her, and even though he did not like remembering the accident, he was always grateful to God for arranging the meeting, because he was certain that if it hadn¡¯t happened, he wouldn¡¯t have met her and his life would still be empty.


    He thought about the future and was positive that it was going to be adventurous and filled with so much excitement. He was ready to go to the lengths of the earth for Lorrence, and he was also glad that for the first time in his life he was loving the right person, and it was required. He loved her with everything he had, and never failed to show it. Even his friends saw a different Jaden and were concerned for him, because they had never seen him so excited, playful and full of life.


    ¡°Jaden, we are your friends and have come a long way. Are you dying?¡± Mark asked.


    ¡°Like he has some incurable terminal disease, and so he¡¯s using his last days to enjoy all the happiness that¡¯s left.¡± Brian added.


    ¡°Guys, stop it.¡± Jaden said, holding his sides because he was laughing.


    ¡°But they are right though. You have been behaving strangely these days, and that¡¯s since the accident. Did the doctor say you have some months to live?¡± Jimmy asked.


    ¡°Okay guys, enough with the dying talks. No one is dying.¡± Jaden said.


    ¡°Yes. I would say the same thing too if I were in your shoes. It would be really difficult to accept, and so I would use positive thinking to make the news lighter. We understand you, but you need us now more than ever. So what¡¯s the deal?¡± Jimmy asked.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°Come on guys! It¡¯s not funny anymore.¡± Jaden answered.


    ¡°Then tell us what¡¯s happening. Everyone has noticed a different you, and we are just concerned.¡± Mark said.


    ¡°Oh well, the accident changed me and I realize there¡¯s more to life than money and spending money on expensive stuff that we do not need to impress people who only care about what they can receive.¡± Jaden explained.


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s some deep stuff that only people who are about to die think about.¡± Mark answered.


    ¡°Mark, he does have a point though, a very serious point, and it¡¯s making me even more concerned about him and his health.¡± Brian added


    ¡°Exactly! We know he is the most sensible one among us, but it was not as deep as this before. Jaden, you are not telling us all of it. Is this about that girl you¡¯ve been hanging out with?¡± Mark asked.


    ¡°Okay guys, she is my girlfriend, and I will not have you disrespect her.¡± Jaden said sternly.


    ¡°He¡¯s in love. Jaden has finally found love, the real love.¡± Jimmy added with a clap.


    ¡°Yes I have, and it¡¯s really beautiful to finally love and be loved in return.¡± Jaden answered.


    ¡°Love is crap, and it is for weaklings.¡± Mark added.


    ¡°Interesting take, and I find it more interesting that you¡¯re actually the weakest of all when we talk about physical, mental, and emotional strength. So?¡± Jaden answered.


    ¡°Hey Mark, the fact that you don''t believe in love doesn''t make it crap. I believe in love.


    ¡°Hey Jaden, Mark has never been in love, and so he has no idea what we are talking about. I have been in love, and even though it turned sour, it was beautiful while it lasted, so I understand how you feel, and I¡¯m happy for you.¡± Jimmy said.


    ¡°I have experienced love before, but I messed it up and totally lost the interest to tow that path again.¡± Brian added.


    ¡°Love is not my thing. I don¡¯t know how people cope with something as boring and demanding as that.¡± Mark said. Jaden was about to say something to Mark, but thought better of it and just went with the flow of the conversation.


    The conversations made Jaden realize that his friends could not really see love and Lorence the way he saw it, and so he decided he was never going to say too much to them about what was going on in his relationship, because he also realized they were not the ones he could run to for relationship advice.


    Each time Jaden thought about Lorence and the fact that they had fallen in love with each other, a smile played across his face, and no matter what mood it was, he always felt happier at the thoughts of her. He wanted to do so many amazing things for her just to show her how much he cherished her, but he also needed to be careful so she wouldn¡¯t think that he was being obsessive and possessive.


    He knew her happiness was all that mattered, and so he did everything within his abilities to make sure she was always happy.


    Jaden was becoming used to Lorence¡¯s world, and loved the simplicity of it. He found a way to balance business with functioning in Jaden¡¯s world, and he also sought ways that he could make activities easier for Lorence.


    One night, as they lay on the beach staring at the stars, they discussed Greek legends and how the constellations got their names.


    ¡°So how do I name a constellation?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°I have no idea, but if you were to name, what would it be?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°Lorence.¡± Jaden answered before she could barely finish asking.


    ¡°Wow! You didn¡¯t even think about it. You sure know how to make a lady feel good. Thank you. Maybe we can just share secret star constellations that only you and I know their secret names.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°See why I need you in my life. You¡¯re so smart. Where have you been all my life?¡± Jaden said, as he planted a kiss on her forehead.


    ¡°I was probably getting ready for you and the love you keep showing me everyday. You are amazing and I love you Jaden.¡± Lorence added, and returned the kiss.


    ¡°So I was wondering, can I get you a car? Hear me out first, I¡¯m not trying to pull you out of your world. I actually love your world more than mine, but the car is just to help you get around faster and easier, and you don¡¯t have to use it all the time. I know you don¡¯t want something big and flashy, so I thought to ask you first.¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s thoughtful of you, and I love the fact that you asked first. I would have gotten a car if I wanted one. Please bear with me, as I really don¡¯t know how to depend on others, and I¡¯m careful about receiving favors that I may never be able to pay back, and it¡¯s not pride, it¡¯s just my principles. I hope you understand.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°I respect you, your choices, and your principles, but I am your boyfriend and I think I should be able to give you gifts as both a friend and a boyfriend. Do you ask your friends what gifts to get them when you want to surprise them?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to back off, right? I really should get used to the fact that I¡¯m in a relationship with a wealthy man. Please pardon me. You¡¯re free to get me a small car. A small car with emphasis on small.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°It is my duty to take care of you, and yes I know your stance on that, but it is what I want to do, considering that you are my girlfriend.¡± Jaden added.


    ¡°You say that like you are so sure I don¡¯t have a say in the matter, and that is one of the major problems of many men. They come up with this assumption that they are alphas and so the woman doesn¡¯t have a say in the matter. I can take care of myself, and it is not your duty.¡± Lorence defended


    ¡°But I want to take care of you and make it my duty.¡± Jaden said. Lorence did not like the way he made it seem like he was in control of her, and she was not ready to hide her displeasure.


    ¡°There you go again. You just assumed I want that responsibility on you. We are both adults here, so I do not see why you have this notion of wanting to make it a duty to take care of me. I may not have all this fancy stuff, but I can do very well by myself. Society would be a much better place if women did not have to be relegated all the time and tagged ¡°weaker vessels.¡± If you think I got into this relationship because I expect you to make it a duty to take care of me, then I can as well just walk out this moment and not be a bother to you.¡± Lorence explained, and Jaden could feel the anger building. He did not want to see her angry, but he did not understand why he could not feel responsible for her.


    ¡°The primary function of partners in a relationship is to take care of each other. It is teamwork; I take care of you, and you take care of me. Isn¡¯t that how it is supposed to be?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°Are you deliberately trying to miss the point? I thought you understood these things already, but I guess I was... ¡± Lorence was talking when Jaden pulled her closer and kissed her. The kiss seemed to do a good job of calming Lorence down. "He sure knows how to make a lady forget her anger." She thought to herself as she responded to the kisses and wrapped her hands around him. Within minutes, Lorence had forgotten that she was upset a few minutes ago, and was letting out soft moans against the backdrop of the sound of the roaring ocean and howling breeze. In a long time, Lorence¡¯s body had not received the type of attention that Jaden was making it experience, and so it made her all giddy inside and wanting to be taken anywhere. As they explored each other¡¯s body sensualities, she wished Janet Jackson¡¯s ¡°Anytime Anyplace¡± could play in the background; it was one of her favorite sensual songs, and she had others. She decided she was going to introduce him to her playlist of sensual songs to set the mood rolling, but not at that moment, because the sound of the ocean plus Jaden¡¯s touches and scent were enough to send her to the highest cloud of sensual satisfaction. She loved how Jaden took his time in exploring different parts of her body; his touches sent shivers through her body. Jaden savored every moment she spent in his arms, and he was not sure whether it was her fragrance, her soft moans, the softness of her skin, or a combination of everything, he just wanted to have her forever.


    Jaden wanted her to be happy at all times, and so he ensured that he did the best he could to make her as comfortable as possible without making her feel that he was choking her with care and attention. Oftentimes, the alpha male in him would pop out, and it would lead to a brief argument that always ended in kisses, touches, and sensually explosive moments. He knew they had divergent opinions about different subjects, but he was learning to find common ground with her, and he accepted the fact that it would take a lot of getting used to, but he was prepared to understand her as best as he could. He was ready to be patient, because he had come to realize that he needed a lot of patience to understand her, and understanding her was the best way to hold on to her forever. He seemed to draw strength from her presence; she had a way of making him feel younger and stronger again, and he did not want to take that for granted, because she meant so much to him.


    Each time he thought about the fact that he had never been with anyone like her, he felt so happy, and wished he could tell the whole world just how amazing she was.


    ¡°I wish I could just announce you to the world, to let them know I have the best girlfriend ever.¡± Jaden said to Lorence.


    ¡°I love that you love me this much, and honestly, I haven¡¯t felt this happy in a long while.¡± Lorence answered.


    Everyone talked about how Lorence looked different, and was always bubbling with more joy, and at first she did not like the fact that people attributed it to the new boyfriend she had, but after giving it a thought, she just accepted it that way; she had a good boyfriend, and he knew how to make her feel good. To her that was all that mattered, and the most important part of it all was that she was happier than she was before she met Jaden.


    ¡°So, do you both have plans for the future?¡± Charlotte asked, and Lorence seemed to be taken aback by the question.


    ¡°The future?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°Have you talked about marriage, children, and all the stuff that comes with marriage?¡± Charlotte added.


    ¡°Lorence, you have not had those discussions with him?¡± Margie asked.


    ¡°What if I am not ready to have those conversations?¡± Lorence asked; she had never really thought about the future of her relationship, and even though she knew it was a very important conversation to have, she did not want to come off as being ahead of herself, and deep down she was scared that Jaden would want to settle down and start a family, and that was something that she was not ready for.


    ¡°Is he also not ready for those conversations?¡± Charlotte asked. Lorence knew it was a valid point, but it was not a discussion she was ready to have with Jaden, considering they were still in the early stages of their relationship.


    ¡°We have not gotten to that point in our relationship. I feel like it¡¯s too early to start having that conversation. We are still getting to know each other.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°Oh! I see. I don¡¯t know, but I feel like that conversation should have come before the relationship though. You know you don¡¯t want any surprises.¡± Charlotte added.


    ¡°Okay Charlotte, don¡¯t press this any further.¡± Margie said.


    ¡°What? I just don¡¯t want my friend to get hurt again.¡± Charlotte answered.


    ¡°You keep behaving like she¡¯s a child that cannot make her own decisions. She¡¯s an adult and knows what she¡¯s doing. Right, Lorence?¡± Margie added.


    ¡°Right! I just don¡¯t think we are at the point where we want to have those discussions. I know Jaden, he would have brought it up if he wanted to get married and start a family.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay Lorence, we just want you to be happy. Do not forget to use every moment you have to make really beautiful memories; you need memories that will make you smile at the beautiful times you shared together.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be the grinch, but building a relationship based on assumptions and ideologies is not a healthy way to go about the relationship, and you Lorence should know that.¡± Charlotte said.


    ¡°Oh Charlotte! Why do you get so impossible sometimes? She does not want to have that conversation yet; when she is ready she will. Let her breathe please.¡± Margie said in Lorence¡¯s defense.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine Margie. Charlotte¡¯s just showing me tough love so I don¡¯t feel bad in the end, and I totally appreciate your concerns. It is nice to know that you won¡¯t encourage me to tow a path that is bad for me. However, I just want to let you know that I have got this.¡± Lorence explained.


    ¡°We''ve got your back baby.¡± Margie answered.


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Charlotte added.


    Lorence thought about the discussion she had with her friends, and she understood their concern, but she had made her mind up to just live in the moment and let the future take care of itself. She had never quite projected into the future about the relationship, because she did not think it was necessary. After her interactions with Jaden, she deduced that there were some things she did not have to ask him because she knew his stance on a lot of things, and so she could easily predict some of his actions and reactions regarding different subjects.


    With each moment that passed, Lorence loved Jaden more, and she also loved the way he made her feel whenever they had their sensual moments. She knew he had flaws, just as she also had hers, and she had come to the realization that it was best to focus on a person¡¯s good, other than the flaws, especially when in a relationship. However, there was a deep seated feeling within her; a feeling that something was not right about their relationship, but whenever she felt that way, she would wave it aside because she did not want to have negative thoughts that would make her self-sabotage the buddig and beautiful relationship she was enjoying. She knew it was wrong to assume what Jaden wanted or did not want for the future, but she did not think the time was right for them to start having deep conversations about the future, and on the flip side, she agreed with Charlotte¡¯s sentiments about the fact that they were supposed to discuss the future before they became an item.


    ¡°Still thinking about what Charlotte said?¡± Margie asked when Charlotte was not there.


    ¡°Her sentiments are valid. I think being the only survivors of that accident made us fond of each other, and we have never really had those deep conversations about what we want for now and the future.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not too late to start talking about those things, because they are very important. It will give you both the opportunity to know where you stand and whether there is a future for the two of you. You both look good together, but what about your ideologies? Do they diverge or converge, or are they intertwined?¡± Margie asked. Lorence knew many of their views were divergent, even though they had not talked about so many other things.


    ¡°I know, and we will talk about them when the time is right.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°You should do it as soon as possible, because you do not want to fall in love with the ideology of a relationship.¡± Margie said.


    ¡°An ideology of a relationship? What does that mean?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite simple. People talk about empathy all the time, yet we still have people committing murders and all of that terrible stuff humans do to their fellow humans. Empathy can be looked at as an ideology, everyone loves the ideology, but the very next person does not believe people deserve second chances.¡± Margie explained.


    ¡°Bring it down to my level.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°Both of you are two very different individuals with different perspectives about life. Yes the accident may have brought you together, but do you even know his political views? What if you think it''s insignificant, and then you find out that his political views do not agree with your principles? Have you talked about religion? Does he believe in God? Does he know you do not believe in God and know your views about religion? And other such related questions and conversations.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, we should have those conversations as soon as possible, so that I do not blame myself later for believing in an illusion. Thank you Margie, you have given more clarity about what we should have done earlier, but it¡¯s better late than never. I¡¯ll call him to know his schedule so we can have that deep heart to heart conversation.¡± Lorence said.


    That evening, Lorence and Jaden went out to dinner, and then took a walk through the park. Lorence loved the moment, and did not think it would be sensible to start conversations based on ideologies, beliefs, and views; she just wanted to bask in the euphoria of the moment. Lorence wanted to make the best of every moment she spent with Jaden and did not want anything to spoil the moment, and so she did not ask what she intended to ask. ¡°At the right time, it will flow as it should.¡± She told herself.


    ¡°When was the last time you took a vacation?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°That has to be the time spent at the hospital after the accident.¡± Lorence answered with a laugh.


    ¡°Are you joking?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not. The stay at the hospital gave me a lot of time to reflect and reevaluate my life; same thing I would have done if I went on a vacation.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°Wow! Ever travelled to another place to cool off?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°That has to be ages ago when I was a little girl. I became an adult, and I think it stripped me of my interests in so many things.¡± Lorence explained.


    ¡°Same here. A change of environment for a few weeks sounds like a good idea.¡± Jaden said.


    ¡°I find that hard to believe. I¡¯m not assuming stuff or stereotyping you, but you look like the type of person that goes on vacations twice every year.¡±  Lorence added.


    ¡°Oh well, but that¡¯s the truth. It has always been about work and business. I barely had time to get involved in other activities. The accident and time at the hospital made me rethink my life and choices.¡± Jaden explained.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have forever to do the things we want to do, because we are not promised the next hour. Each time I think about the people that lost their lives in that accident, it makes me sad, because I¡¯m pretty sure they all had plans and dreams.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°I hate to remember the accident. I still get flashes, but I¡¯m grateful each time I remember how God has given me a second chance to get life right, and for bringing you into my life.¡± Jaden said. Lorence was going to bring up the matter about God and how she did not believe there was a God anywhere, but Jaden covered her mouth with his, as he kissed her deeply and passionately. ¡°Hmmm!¡± she moaned softly and quietly as her body began to respond to the kisses. If there was one thing she did not want to ever stop, it was the way Jaden made her feel whenever he kissed and touched her; she loved the way he treated the sensitive pleasure spots on her body; like he was an expert that knew so much about female anatomy. ¡°He just knows all the right spots to touch.¡± She thought to herself as he kissed her neck out there in the dark of night.

 Like Oil and Water (4)

    ¡°You know this is a public place, people could be watching or sneaking up on us.¡± Lorence whispered into his ears as his hands reached beneath her blouse.


    ¡°Why do you love me Lorence?¡± Jaden asked, and the unexpected question seemed to throw Lorence off balance. Her heart raced as she sought the right answer to tell him.


    ¡°Well, I have a secret. Do you remember all you did in that accident?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°Why are we talking about the accident again? What has it got to do with why you love me?¡± Jaden asked. Lorence sensed he did not like talking about the accident.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I have a memory of you from the accident that seemed to create a soft spot for you in my heart.¡± Lorence explained.


    ¡°Oh! What¡¯s the memory?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°Split second after the impact, you were trying to shield and protect someone else instead of yourself.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°Really? I did that?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°Yes, and I loved that selfless act from you. At first I did not want to believe that was you being you, until we introduced each other to each other¡¯s world, and I saw that was who you really are.¡± Lorence added, and kissed his lips.


    ¡°Wow! I¡¯m touched, but would that be all?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°Oh no, I also love the fact that you understand me to some extent, and when you don¡¯t, you make efforts to understand me, even if we may not agree on some opinions sometimes.¡± Lorence explained.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready to learn new ways to love and understand you better. I know I have a lot to learn and unlearn, but please be patient with me. I really love you, and never want to deliberately hurt you.¡± Jaden said.


    ¡°I understand, and I know some things I say can be crazy sometimes, but I just need you to see from my point of view too, and I also need you to be patient too.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get away from the distractions so we can get to know each other better.¡± Jaden said.


    ¡°You mean a vacation?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°Yes, just the two of us, no calls from work and all. I feel there¡¯s a lot we need to know about each other.¡± Jaden answered. Lorence was not sure whether she wanted a vacation or not, and so she was not quite sure how she would respond to his request.


    ¡°It sounds like a beautiful idea, but the only thing between me and jumping at the idea is my job.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°I understand; I just thought it would be good to change our environment for a bit.¡± Jaden answered. Lorence thought about the idea briefly, and she thought she would discuss it with her friends first before reaching her decision.


    ¡°Okay, let me sleep on it. I¡¯ll let you know my decision.¡± Lorence answered.


    Lorence thought about Jaden¡¯s vacation proposition, and she had mixed feelings about it. Being away from the distractions seemed like a good idea, but those distractions were already an integral part of her life; they gave her mind different things to think about, and they also contributed to keeping alive her hope for a better world.


    ¡°So what did you tell him?¡± Charlotte asked when Lorence told them about the proposed vacation.


    ¡°I wanted to hear your opinions first before making my decision.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°Sometimes I think I know you, and then other times you do stuff and I wonder if I really know you.¡± Charlotte said.


    ¡°What did I do wrong?¡± Lorence asked, seemingly confused.


    ¡°The question is what didn¡¯t you do? And I will tell you. You should have accepted it there and then. You both have serious discussions to have, and there¡¯s no better time to have the discussions than on a vacation.¡± Margie answered.


    ¡°If you do not want to go, I can go on your behalf though. I need some vacation.¡± Charlotte said.


    ¡°Charlotte! That¡¯s not a nice thing to say to your friend.¡± Margie said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like him anyway, but I¡¯ll gladly accept that vacation.¡± Charlotte added.


    ¡°Charlotte, I think you are over reaching here.¡± Lorence said, beginning to get upset over Charlotte¡¯s attitude.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re not living according to your own standards and principles, and it is affecting your reasoning and judgment. You went through therapy because your mental and emotional health experienced a meltdown after the last breakup; a breakup that would have been avoided if you did not build the relationship on assumptions. Here you are again, towing the same path, and then you get an opportunity to go on vacation so you both can have all the alone time in the world to really discuss about the present and future, so you both know where you stand, but here you are, coming to ask us to tell you no or what exactly?¡± Charlotte said.


    ¡°Wow! Bringing my past up to use as points against me? How convenient.¡± Lorence replied angrily.


    ¡°Okay, let''s just take deep breaths and calm down.¡± Margie said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to do that emotional blackmail stuff with you, and for the records, I¡¯m never speaking to you again about your relationships.¡± Charlotte said as she stuffed her ears with her earpieces and walked out. Lorence was livid; deep down she knew Charlotte was right, but she was upset at her bluntness.


    ¡°That escalated so fast.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°Why does she always think she can talk to me that way?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°Well, maybe because you come off as being that way, I don¡¯t know.¡± Margie answered.


    ¡°Are you taking sides with her?¡± Lorence asked?


    ¡°Taking sides? Is there some competition between you two that I don¡¯t know about? Look, we are friends, and the least we can do is understand each other, tolerate each other¡¯s flaws, and not allow each other to walk into what looks like a pit. Charlotte loves you more than you know, and she wept so many times when you were in your dark place, because she just did not know how to pull you out without taking time, she did not like the fact that you were hurting so deeply and there was barely anything we could do to make you happy or look on the brighter side. She¡¯s deeply hurt that you¡¯re not handling the relationship like you should.¡± Margie explained, and it had an immediate effect on Lorence; her countenance changed, and she felt sad that her actions were hurting her friend.


    ¡°I guess I have been a terrible friend, I¡¯ll just go and apologize to her.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°That¡¯s the right thing to do.¡± Margie said with her smile.


    ¡°Thank you Margie, you¡¯re just amazing.¡± Lorence added, as she hugged Margie.


    ¡°Go and do what you have to do. I can wager she¡¯s crying somewhere.¡± Margie said with a chuckle.


    Lorence went to where Charlotte was and found her wiping the tears from her eyes; she was touched and moved to tears too. She hugged Charlotte and both of them were silent for a while, each trying hard not to let the tears out.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I really am.¡± Lorence whispered, as she tried to stifle the tears.


    ¡°Me too. I don¡¯t want you to go through the pain you went through the last time.¡± Charlotte said, as she wiped her eyes again.


    ¡°I know, I know. Thank you for always being there for me. I know I may act irrationally sometimes, but I¡¯m grateful for having you and Margie as friends. I will not trade friendship for anything.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°Margie is the real angel, I really wish I was like her.¡± Charlotte said.


    ¡°She always knows the right things to say to make you feel good. She is awesome.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°So I¡¯m getting ice cream from you both then. You both cannot say good stuff about me without backing it up with some good deeds as offerings to an angel like me.¡± Margie said from behind them. They turned to find Margie grinning at them and nodding.


    ¡°How long have you been standing there?¡± Charlotte asked.


    ¡°From the moment she hugged you and whispered she was sorry.¡±  Margie answered.


    ¡°You sneaky -¡±  Lorence was saying.


    ¡°Angel, the word is angel. Angels don¡¯t make grand appearances though, so we just love to keep things simple and quiet.¡± Margie answered.


    ¡°Come here!¡± Charlotte said, pulling Margie for a hug.


    ¡°You still owe me ice cream though.¡± Margie.


    Lorence was glad that there was no bad blood between her and her friends, and she was more grateful for the fact that she had a support system that was looking out for her and ensuring that she did not get involved in something that could hurt her. She remembered how devastated it was for her when her ex broke the news to her that they could not continue together because even though they found common ground about other things, they both wanted different things and could not compromise their wants for each other.


    She knew she had to tread with caution with Jaden, and that meant that away from the romance they were enjoying, they needed to have some deep conversations about their relationship and what possible future there could be for both of them. ¡°Jaden, we are going on that vacation.¡± she mused.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Jaden told his friends about the vacation he intended to go on with Lorence, and they were shocked to hear it, because they knew their friend was not one to love vacations.


    ¡°I cannot remember the last time I heard you mention a vacation.¡± Mark said.


    "Are you sure you''re okay?" Brian asked.


    "Guys come on! Things change, people change, lifestyles change, change never stops." Jaden answered.


    "Well, you have a point, but you''re going with a lady you just met, and not us or even me." Mark said.


    "Why would he want to go with you though? He''s tolerating you because we are here. You need to learn to put a leash on your tongue Mark." Jimmy answered.


    "What did I say wrong?" Mark asked.


    "Guys, I have decided not to allow business meetings, tons of paperwork and emails, and countless sleepless nights brainstorming, to prevent me from living a good life. If I die at this moment, life would go on." Jaden answered.


    "So do we get to tag along? You need us three musketeers to watch and protect you." Brian asked.


    "No, I''m going with Lorence, we need some quality alone time to get to know each other better." Jaden answered.


    "It''s alright Jaden, do what you have to do. We''ve got your back, and do let us know where you are, just in case there''s an emergency." Jimmy added.


    "You sure you don''t want one of us around? Just in case you need another friend to talk to." Mark asked.


    "I''ll be fine. You guys can have fun here. We''ll only be gone a few weeks." Jaden answered.


    "So when are you leaving? And where''s the destination?" Brian asked.


    "I have no idea, I''m waiting for Lorence to accept or decline before I make the plans." Jaden answered.


    "Wow! This was really all your idea. I thought she put you to it though. In all honesty, I thought the lifestyle change thing was all her idea." Mark added.


    Jaden was not quite sure what Lorence''s answer would be, and even though he hoped she would agree to the vacation, being the type of principled lady that she was, he half-expected her to turn the request down, or perhaps stall it. He was used to using his charm and wealth to get whatever he wanted, but it wasn''t working on Lorence, and that was one of the reasons he loved her; she was not moved by his wealth. She was so different from the type of ladies he was used to, and so he was ready to go the extra mile to make her happy, since she was asking nothing of him other than he understands and loves her unconditionally.


    Jaden wanted to be there for her at all times; he wanted to be her peace, happiness and safety, and he believed the vacation would make her loosen up a bit so he could get to know her better, and understand how she wanted to be loved.


    "Hey babe!" Jaden said over the phone as he picked a call from Lorence.


    "Hi babe! Are you good?" Lorence asked.


    "Oh yeah I''m good, and hearing your voice even makes it better." Jaden said excitedly, and her laughter made him just want to be by her side watching her laugh and feel good.


    "So, when are we leaving?" Lorence asked.


    "Leaving?" Jaden asked.


    "Yes, the vacation." Lorence answered.


    "Whoop! Whoop!! I''ll start making the plans right away, and will revert soon. You''re simply the best; the best I ever had. I love you with everything, Lorence." Jaden said excitedly.


    "I love you J. Do let me know what you come up with. I''ve got to run along now. Bye!" Lorence said before she hung up.


    Jaden could not contain his excitement as he thought about the wonderful time they would spend together, and how it would help them bond better and become stronger. Immediately, he started placing calls to get everything set, because he wanted them to leave before Lorence would change her mind and cancel the plans.


    He wanted to make the vacation the best one for Lorence, and even though he knew she loved the simple things, Jaden wanted to make it a vacation to remember. He checked the different destinations, and realized he needed to know what she would love too, so as to avoid sidelining her opinions about the vacation.


    ¡°Hey babe, quick one: what¡¯s your idea of a vacation?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°Just you, me, and nature. No noise, no distractions.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°Sweet!¡± Jaden answered.


    ¡°Thank you for reaching out to me first and finding out what I would prefer. What¡¯s your taste if I may ask?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°Your taste is just perfect for me.¡±  Jaden answered.


    He knew just the right place to go for the vacation; some years ago he had purchased a private beach property because he intended to renovate and resell, but even after renovating and making it better than it was formerly, he decided to hold on to the property and watched as the price kept appreciating. He was happy that he didn¡¯t sell it.


    Jaden put a call through to get the property prepared for him and Lorence¡¯s arrival, because according to what Lorence said she wanted, it was just the perfect spot to be away from the hassle and noise of the world around them.


    The date to depart New York for Jaden¡¯s beach house in Florida finally came; they said their goodbyes to their friends and made their way into the airport. Few minutes later, they were up in the sky enroute their vacation destination. Jaden and Lorence were excited about their first trip together, and anyone who saw them said they looked good together. He made sure she was very comfortable on the two hour trip to Florida. When the aircraft taxied to the runway and began the takeoff run, Lorence noticed that Jaden shut his eyes, muttered some words and did the sign of the cross. ¡°That¡¯s a weird thing to do.¡± She thought to herself, and she always found it amusing that people believed in stories about ghosts and phantoms, and then attributed reverence to what she thought were fairy tales. ¡°Imagine me muttering a prayer to the tooth fairy or tinkerbell or some other fairy that religion refers to as a god. That¡¯s crazy.¡± She mused and smiled, but the smile faded away when she realized Jaden was staring at her.


    ¡°Do I look funny? It must be the shirt, I told Matthew that I did not like this shirt.¡± Jaden said.


    ¡°Oh no, it¡¯s not you or the shirt. I must say it looks really good on you, Matthew has good taste.¡± Lorence said, not sure if it was a good idea to talk about religion, because she already knew that they had divergent views about the subject.


    ¡°Okay, so why were you staring at me and smiling?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°I was not really staring at you, it was more like staring at you, but getting lost in space.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°Alright then. May I pour your wine?¡± Jaden asked


    ¡°Yes please. You treat me like a queen, and I¡¯m scared you may end up spoiling me.¡± Lorence commented as Jaden poured her a glass of wine on the plane.


    ¡°Because you are a queen and deserve to be treated like one. I feel like I am not doing enough, and that¡¯s because I¡¯m not allowed to surprise you without spoiling the surprise first by asking you about it.¡± Jaden explained.


    ¡°You are doing more than I deserve. About the surprises, with time we¡¯ll understand each other better, and know just the perfect surprises to give each other.¡± Lorence answered with a smile and a wink.


    ¡°You my dear Lorence are pretty. Wow!¡± Jaden commented as he sat back to admire her.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re hooked.¡± She laughed.


    Jaden stared at her for a while trying to decipher the type of person she really was, but the more he tried, the more the realization hit him that he barely knew her. He had questions to ask, but he was not certain how Lorence would react to the questions, and he did not want to spoil the precious moments they were enjoying together. He believed that as long as it was God that brought them together, then every other thing would fall in place, and so there was no need for him to worry. He looked forward to unraveling the mystery of the woman seated opposite him.


    Jaden knew there was more to Lorence than the little he barely knew, and he had resolved within himself that no matter how long it took, he was going to take his time to get to know her better. He believed that the spontaneity would come the moment they connected deeper, and he was hopeful that the weeks away from the distractions of work, friends and activities would help them connect more, because he had the deep seated feeling that she was still being uptight.


    The two hours flight felt like it was only a couple of minutes, because they were having some interesting but lighthearted conversations, and they were oblivious of the time until the pilot announced that they were approaching the airport.


    The moment they stepped into Jaden¡¯s beach house, Lorence knew her stay there would be a very memorable one, even if she was not quite certain whether the memories would be good or painful. She decided she was going to do nothing but make pleasant memories while hoping for the best but expecting the worst. Jaden showed her around, and she loved the extent he had gone to make sure that their stay would be a favorable one; because Jaden had ensured that everything had been taken care of such that there would be no need for them to ever leave the house or the beach.


    ¡°You took care of everything, including supplies that can last months, are we expecting a zombie apocalypse?¡± Lorence asked sarcastically.


    ¡°I take every mission seriously.¡± Jaden answered.


    ¡°This place is beautiful. I love the view of the sea.¡± Lorence said excitedly, and Jaden was pleased that he had made her excited.


    There was a chef and a housekeeper, and so Lorence and Jaden did not need to bother about anything at all. They walked down to the beach to take in the beautiful sight of the sea as it rocked back and forth with different sizes of waves. Oftentimes, Lorence marveled at the beautiful things that nature made available for humans to enjoy, and wondered why humans evolved from enjoying nature¡¯s beautiful wonders to becoming the vile creatures that hated each other and always sought dominance and territoriality when everybody could co-habit and be at peace with each other.


    ¡°Really beautiful.¡± Jaden said.


    ¡°Everything was beautiful the way nature made them, but humans had to come and mess everything up.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°Even God regretted creating humans at some point.¡± Jaden said.


    ¡°God?¡± Lorence asked. ¡°I think this is the point where I need to burst this bubble.¡± Lorence thought to herself.


    ¡°I know you don¡¯t believe in the existence of God, and that¡¯s fine, it is no one¡¯s place to force anyone to believe in what they don¡¯t want to believe.¡± Jaden answered with a smile. Lorence felt defeated even before she could put up a defense; it felt like Jaden knew when she was about to go off, and balanced off her thoughts or opinions in order to avoid confrontations.


    ¡°That¡¯s very correct. I am curious though, why would anyone decide to believe in fairytales to the point that they become fanatics?¡± Lorence asked, hoping the question would get Jaden to talk more about why he had chosen religion, but he just looked out at the ocean and smiled.


    ¡°People believe in what works for them. No matter how argumentative we want to get about the existence and non-existence of God, it won¡¯t negate the fact that there is a higher force responsible for mysteries we will never be able to solve, and also responsible for these beauties you see around.¡± Jaden explained calmly. Lorence was not about to back down, even though she knew there was no possibility of them getting a common ground on the subject.


    ¡°These beauties are nature¡¯s works, and not some fairytale personality. The land, the sea, flowers, trees, etc. they are all nature''s works, so I don¡¯t see your point.¡± Lorence defended.


    ¡°So what part of nature brought us together? Knowing that we are two different individuals with different views about life, and knowing that we have so much to learn, unlearn, and relearn? Why did your nature and my God pick the two of us? Don¡¯t you see, we can talk about the same things in different ways and arrive at the same conclusions, and one of them is that we need each other to learn about aspects of life we may not have paid attention to.¡± Jaden added, as he held Lorence¡¯s hands and kissed her lips. Lorence was not about to let herself fall for his charm yet again.


    "So, what do you think about the government? What are your general views?" Lorence asked.


    "I believe that it should be a small government, and they should have a minute involvement in civilian business, yeah they can help the people succeed in their ways, without intervening too much. The high taxes are there to make it difficult for the working class to climb the ladder. What''s your opinion? Jaden asked.


    "I don''t agree with you though. I believe the world needs big governments that are big on social care, and are ready to help the people no matter the condition. I''m shocked that you would think otherwise." Lorence said, and was about to say another thing when Jaden kissed her neck. Like clockwork, Lorence¡¯s defense dropped, and she gave in to the kiss, because had no idea what to say to uphold her argument. She was not sure if they would ever revisit the conversation about religion, but one thing was certain; at that moment all she cared about was the way his kisses made her crave him more. ¡°At this rate, I don¡¯t know if I will ever win an argument between us.¡± she thought to herself, as he lifted her and took her inside.


    After a good time together, they lay in bed staring at each other and smiling like kids that had just eaten the best candies they had ever gotten.


    ¡°You know there¡¯s so much we don¡¯t know about each other.¡± Lorence said as she stroked his hair.


    ¡°Yes, and that''s why we are here.¡± Jaden answered.


    ¡°I would really love for us to have those deep conversations where we talk about life, us, the present, and the future.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°I totally agree with you.¡± Jaden added.


    ¡°But you have a way of making me lose focus when we are having such conversations and you just kiss me.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°Do I?¡± Jaden asked sarcastically, and with a smirk playing across his face.


    ¡°I know we both want to make the most of our time here to create pleasant memories, but we also need to talk.¡± Lorence explained.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, and we are talking. I totally love it.¡± Jaden added, and kissed her again. This time Lorence pushed him over and sat astride him, as she began to kiss him.


    ¡°No, this time, I want to control the pace of this.¡± Lorence whispered seductively in Jaden¡¯s ears as nibbled on his ear and kissed him.


    Away from getting carried away by the exploration of the sensualities of their bodies, they agreed to talk more about sensitive issues, and in having those conversations, they discovered that they had divergent opinions about so many things, and even though they sought ways to reach an agreement on some issues, there were just some areas that remained grey for both of them.


    The vacation was an eye-opener for Jaden and Lorence, because they learned new things about each other, and even though they had divergent opinions about different things, their souls yearned for each other, and so with each passing day, they learned to tolerate the opinions that they could not accept, and respect each others views. They had come to the conclusion that they needed each other in order to learn new lessons about life and living from their different perspectives.


    When they got back from the vacation, they went back to the lives they lived before the vacation, but this time with more information about each other, and better understanding about how to treat each other with respect to their different views and ideology.


    ¡°I am ready to do all I can to make this work, even if it may not be easy for any of us, but I just need to know that you are on the same page with me.¡± Jaden said when they arrived at the airport in New York.


    ¡°Yeah, it may not be easy, but as long as you do not drop the energy below redemption, I¡¯ll be able to pull through. However, I need you to remember that being in a relationship with someone who has so many divergent views and opinions isn¡¯t something I¡¯m used to, and so there may be times when I slip.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°Fair enough. We will do this as a team. Team work makes the dream work.¡± Jaden added, and Lorence affirmed with a hug.


    Lorence was not quite convinced about the direction of the relationship, but she was certain that Jaden loved her. However, that uncertainty seemed to make her think of their differences a lot, and sometimes it made her wonder if she was making a mistake with some of the decisions she had made concerning herself, her life, and her affection towards Jaden. She knew she loved him, but she was not sure whether she loved him for who he was or loved him because of the way he treated her like she was royalty. She could not understand how she loved him more with each passing day, even though they had conflicting interests. She wanted to tread carefully with her thoughts, because she did not want to self-sabotage the relationship, and jeopardize the ember that was growing between them.


    ¡°I love him, but I feel like I am withdrawing myself from loving him with everything.¡± She said to Margie.


    ¡°Did he act up or do anything stupid?¡± Margie asked.


    ¡°Oh no. He¡¯s a great guy, he¡¯s patient too and wants this to work.¡± Lorence explained.


    ¡°Why do you say that, like you both had a fight? Was there a fight between you two?¡± Margie asked.


    ¡°No there was none, and this is not really about him, rather it is about me. Yes we have contrasting opinions about so many things, but he¡¯s looking way past those and seeing good attributes in me that even I do not see in myself.¡± Lorence explained.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s the problem?¡± Margie asked.


    ¡°I love him dearly, no doubts, but deep down there is this concern about our compatibility and if we will be able to survive the test of time because some of our deep seated ideologies conflict.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°I figure you discussed a lot with each other. It is valid to feel the way you feel, but you need to check your thoughts, so you do not end up being like me that ruined the best relationship I ever had, just because I started nursing negative thoughts that were not even real.¡± Margie explained.


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t want to self-sabotage the beautiful thing we have going on for us. I used to think it would be very easy for people of divergent opinions to love each other without being in each other¡¯s hair, but I think I was wrong, because it takes a lot for us to actually tread this path.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°One thing I have noticed about successful relationships is that it takes two people who are ready to go the extra mile to make it work, and that includes two people with different views about life. There is always a place for seeing life through the eyes of the other person. Sometimes you need to drop your ideologies and try to understand a situation from the other person¡¯s point of view; that''s what empaths do.¡±Margie explained further. Lorence thought about herself, and if she had really taken time out to really see Jaden¡¯s views from his perspective, or whether she had always wanted to argue her standpoint so that he could accept it as what she felt it was.

 Like Oil and Water (5)

    ¡°Wow, I guess that¡¯s one of the sacrifices people make in relationships.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°It¡¯s a whole lot more. You need to love each other, understand each other and communicate effectively for other things to fall in place. Your partner¡¯s views will not always conform to yours and vice-versa, but you both need to learn to respect your choices and not argue to force opinions down each other¡¯s throats.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°You are indeed an angel. We should set up an office for you to counsel people though.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°If you will agree to be the co-owner of the office and handle some counseling sessions.¡± Margie answered.


    ¡°If we do that, we will grow bankrupt.¡± Lorence teased.


    Lorence was not quite sure how she would cope with the knowledge that she would have to bend sometimes, but she knew that she was in already, and did not want to be the one to chicken out only because she had issues about uncertainty. ¡°I can pull this off. If we have stayed together for some months without any issues, then it¡¯s no big deal. I just need to pay more attention to him and his views.¡± Lorence thought to herself.


    Jaden was not as conflicted as Lorence about the relationship, and everyday seemed to give him a new burst of energy whenever he thought about the woman in his life. More than ever he wanted to be by her side, protect her, provide for her, and be her all round support, but she was preventing him from doing all of those, and sometimes it made him feel helpless when he wanted to do something for her but could not because he had no idea how the gesture would be interpreted. He had never met anyone who had a strong principle about independence like Lorence, and it fascinated him.


    Dealing with Lorence was a new turf for him, because in times past, he was used to being in control and getting his way with women; and in fact because he was affluent, women were always at his beck and call, wanting to do whatever he asked of them, and worshipping him for what they hoped they could get from him. Jaden had never quite experienced requited love; because all the women he had been with had shown that they were only after the material things that he made available, and did not really care whether he was well or not, but on the flip side, he could control them however he wanted, and they were always so obedient.


    However, Lorence was a different breed, and even though sometimes he wished he could make her do his bidding, he loved the fact that she could think for herself, and he also loved that she was not one to conform to standards and principles that did not agree with hers. He loved her intelligence, and also loved the fact that even though he did not agree with some of her views, she was learning to accept him and his views without having to force him to accept hers. He also understood that he needed to accept her and her views without making a fuss over it.


    For Jaden, one thing was certain, and that was the fact that he knew Lorence loved him. When they got back from the vacation, Jaden noticed that she called and texted him more than before, and it made him feel loved and cared about; he was glad that he finally mattered to someone, and it always made him excited because he had never really been in that position before. Lorence loved and cared about him in her own way, and Jaden did not want to trade her attention for anything else, because he believed that meeting someone else that was as principled as her was a rarity, and so he did not want to do anything that could mess things up; that was why whenever there was an argument, he had a way of calming her down by kissing her and making her forget the argument. ¡°Kissing her always works, like magic!¡± Jaden mused as he looked at her pictures on his phone. She looked delicate, but he had first hand experience about the fact that she was not as delicate as she looked, and there was no disputing that fact.


    Sometimes, Jaden thought about his family, and wondered how they would receive Lorence when he introduced her to them, because they were used to seeing him with flashy ladies that only knew how to attend parties and put up appearances like they were important. Even though his folks did not say much about his relationships, he knew they wanted him to be with someone with substance, someone who was a lady in all ramifications of being a lady, and not one who only knew how to wear the latest fashion ensemble and put on a show of being classy. Jaden daydreamed about what it would feel like to introduce Lorence to his parents, and then spend a few days with his family; he smiled at the idea and remembered that he was supposed to go visit his family that period. He checked his calendar, and realized it was that time of the year when he traveled to spend some time with his family at Queensberry, Scotland, and usually he went with his friends and his girlfriend to show them the rich cultural heritage of his family¡¯s dukedom.


    Only few people knew Jaden was Scottish by birth, and he liked it that way, because as a wealthy venture capitalist and a philanthropist, he was a public figure, and he had realized that the press was always trying to link him and his business with some influence from his family in Scotland, and he was weary about explaining to the press and whoever needed to hear it that his venture investment was a private thing, and not the family business that the world thought it was.


    As he thought about the plans he needed to make for his trip to Scotland, he remembered that he needed to inform Lorence, and even though he was excited about telling her and travelling with her, he was not quite sure how to tell her, considering that they had just gotten back from their vacation, and knowing the type of person that she was, there was every tendency that she would object.


    Jaden frowned at the little issue he had about telling Lorence to come with him to Scotland, and thought about several interesting ways to tell her. He did not know her friends, and so it was impossible for him to go through them, plus he was certain Lorence would be mad if he went through her friends to pass the message across to her.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we all hang out together?¡± Brian suggested when Jaden told his friends that he had no idea how to tell Lorence to come with them to Scotland.


    ¡°But we are all hanging out together at the moment.¡± Mark answered with a shrug.


    ¡°I think he means all of us including Lorence.¡± Jimmy suggested.


    ¡°Thank you Jimmy, but I actually meant, all of us plus Jaden¡¯s girlfriend with her friends, and then we can discuss his yearly trip to Scotland.¡± Brian added.


    ¡°Oh! That would be fun. Are they hot and pretty?¡± Mark asked.


    ¡°Mark, please focus.¡± Jaden said.


    ¡°I love Brian¡¯s idea, and it is only normal that as friends we know each other.¡± Jimmy added.


    ¡°Yes, I think it¡¯s a brilliant idea. The only problem is that I have no idea who her friends are, and how to reach them.¡± Jaden said.


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s a fix, and I think it can be sorted out. All you need to do is just invite Lorence, and tell her to come have fun with her friends and us.¡± Jimmy replied.


    ¡°It sounds so easy, yet with the type of principled person that she is, I really do not have any idea how she would react.¡± Jaden answered.


    ¡°You are in a relationship, and after several months you still do not have any idea how she would react to being invited with her friends to hang out with your friends? Jaden, this is not you and I don¡¯t know what to say to you.¡± Mark added.


    ¡°I wish I could explain to you, but you won¡¯t understand.¡± Jaden replied.


    ¡°Yeah! Because even I do not understand what¡¯s going on.¡± Brian added.


    Jaden thought about Brian¡¯s idea of having everyone together at a hangout, and then discussing the trip to Scotland, and his desire to have them there. He toyed with the idea a couple of times, and there was no other idea as good as that at that moment, however, he was skeptical about Lorence¡¯s reaction to the invitation. He did not want to blow his chances, and he also did not want to depend on assumptions. He decided he was going to talk to her about it, and would accept whatever reaction accompanied his request.


    Jaden could not believe he was becoming so tame; he had never imagined that at some point in his life, he would not be able to command a woman to do whatever he wanted her to do, and after reflecting on it for a while, he winced at the fact that he may have been a control freak, and perhaps that was the reason why his previous relationships were the way they turned out.


    ¡°Hey babe, what¡¯s up?¡± Lorence said as she answered the call from Jaden.


    ¡°I¡¯m good babe, and how¡¯s my pretty miss sunshine today?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°Making sure her rays get to brighten people¡¯s day today.¡± Lorence answered with a rare chuckle.


    ¡°Super woman! I love you, so I was wondering whether we could all hangout.¡± Jaden said, feeling like there was a constriction in his throat when he made the statement. ¡°Pull yourself together, no woman should make you feel this weak. The worst case scenario is that she will decline, and you can go without her.¡± Jaden said to himself, as he tried to calm himself.


    ¡°By all, you mean?¡± Lorence asked,


    ¡°Me, you, and our friends. I figured that we don¡¯t know each other¡¯s friends, and we never know where such knowledge could become useful.¡± Jaden answered.


    ¡°Oh, okay. It sounds good, but I¡¯ll need to discuss it with my friends first, because I really cannot speak for them. I will let you know what they think.¡± Lorence added, and for a few seconds, Jaden was speechless, because he was expecting some form of resistance or reluctance from Lorence, but rather she thought it sounded good. Jaden wanted to jump for joy, but just decided to contain it as he replied.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Alright. Thank you, and I¡¯ll be on standby for your reply.¡± Jaden said.


    Lorence thought about the call that came in from Jaden, and she liked the fact that he was taking steps to make each other an integral part of their lives by involving their close friends, and then she thought briefly about what would happen if Jaden asked for her to meet his parents, and deep down she hoped there would not be a point where he had to introduce her to his parents, because she had no idea how she would react, and the last thing she wanted was to embarrass herself or anyone else.


    ¡°So Jaden wants all of us to hang out.¡± Lorence said to Margie and Charlotte.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± Margie said.


    ¡°Me too.¡± Charlotte added.


    ¡°He wants to meet my friends, he wants me to meet his friends, he wants our friends to meet each other, and thus we all need to hangout.¡± Lorence explained.


    ¡°I think I must have been too harsh and judged him unfairly in times past. He seems like a really thoughtful guy.¡± Charlotte said.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing his friends are just as cute?¡± Margie asked with excitement written all over her face.


    ¡°And just as rich.¡± Charlotte added.


    ¡°I guess so.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°What do you mean you guess so, you have never met his friends?¡± Margie asked.


    ¡°Not really.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s no big deal, so when do we have this hangout? Maybe one of his friends would want a taste of Charlotte.¡± Charlotte added.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like you are actually going to be interested in anybody there. I¡¯ll wager my next ice cream from you two that you¡¯ll be your usual cold and inaccessible self.¡± Margie said to Charlotte.


    ¡°I¡¯m nothing like what you have just described. I am a very friendly and homely person.¡± Charlotte answered.


    ¡°So ladies, do we have an agreement?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°Wait, you have not told him already? You want him to change his mind? Do that like yesterday already.¡± Margie answered.


    Lorence told Jaden that her friends had agreed to the hangout, and she could hear the excitement in his voice as they conversed over the phone. She could not help but admit the fact that every moment they shared together, she grew fonder of him, and even though she had not committed fully to the relationship, she felt comfortable enough to take baby steps in the relationship without the fear of being pressured to do things that she was not comfortable with. She loved the fact that Jaden was patient, even if he could be adamant and stubborn sometimes; they were both learning about each other, and so they understood that they needed to cut each other some slack sometimes. Oftentimes, Lorence would remember the different times they got sensual with each other, and her body would crave Jaden¡¯s touch at that moment, and so she tried not to think about those moments, but the thoughts always had a way of popping up, and when it did, she would call Jaden or send him a text to let him know she was thinking about him. She always looked forward to hearing his voice over the phone or via voice notes, because there was always that sweet excitement in his voice whenever he was talking to her.


    Sometimes it was hard for Lorence to believe that she was the same person that had become mushy over a man; if anyone had told her that she would tow the path of love before the accident, she would have laughed at the absurdity, because she believed that so many men were too sexist to accept her views, and several times they had proven her right when she asked them some questions, well except her ex-boyfriend and Jaden who had craftily answered the questions without showing sexist tendencies.


    Jaden was elated because Lorence and her friends had accepted his request for a hangout, and he also hoped they would be interested in traveling with him to Scotland. He loved the idea of having them with him on the trip, as it would be interesting to show them around his favorite spots in Scotland.


    ¡°Good news guys.¡± Jaden said to his friends.


    ¡°We are traveling tomorrow?¡± Mark asked.


    ¡°No, Lorence and her friends have agreed to hang out with us.¡± Jaden announced.


    ¡°My idea won!¡± Brian said excitedly.


    ¡°Yes it did. Thank you.¡± Jaden added.


    ¡°So when is it happening?¡± Jimmy asked.


    ¡°Are they beautiful?¡± Mark asked.


    ¡°Mark, I have no idea, because I have never met them. I think tomorrow would be perfect to meet.¡± Jaden answered.


    ¡°Okay! I need to clean up nice, perhaps one of the ladies would influence me to have a change in lifestyle that will make me excited like Jaden.¡± Brian added.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about you, but I think Mark really needs an overhaul of his emotions more than any of us here. I hope he gets hooked.¡± Jimmy said.


    ¡°What? They will never take me alive!¡± Mark yelled, and the other men laughed.


    Jaden loved how everything was going to plan, and he hoped that the ladies would agree to travel with them to Scotland. Most importantly, he hoped that Lorence would not turn down the offer to come with him on the trip, because she was the most important person she wanted to be by his side when he went to see his family. He had different activities that he was sure she would enjoy, and he was also certain that it would give them the opportunity to bond and become better partners to each other.


    Jaden knew there was still so much he did not know about Lorence, and he sensed that she was taking her time with the relationship, but he was not bothered, because he was satisfied with what he already knew; he was only curious to find out what other attributes he had not discovered about Lorence, but he was willing to take his time to unravel the mysterious and amazing being that he had fallen in love with.


    Jaden reached out to Lorence to tell her where they would hang out, and then the next day they met at a beautiful lounge.


    ¡°Wow! I had no idea this place existed here.¡± Margie said.


    ¡°I love the ambiance.¡± Charlotte added.


    Introductions were made, and they wasted no time in getting acquainted with each other, which Jaden loved. In no time it felt like all of them had been friends for years, and Mark seemed to be having more fun than everyone else, because to the men¡¯s surprise he spoke about love matters like he was an expert, and it threw Jaden, Brian, and Jaden off-balance because they were used to a Mark that was anti-love, and not the Mark that was talking like he was pro-love.


    ¡°We should do this often.¡± Brian said.


    ¡°I totally agree.¡± Margie responded.


    ¡°Your girlfriend must be really proud to have you.¡± Charlotte said to Mark.


    ¡°Oh no, I don¡¯t have a girlfriend.¡± Mark answered. Jaden, Brian and Jimmy exchanged glances, because they had no idea what Mark was up to.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s sad.¡± Charlotte added, and patted Mark¡¯s hand.


    ¡°You ladies should totally come with us to Scotland, I promise that it¡¯s always so interesting when we go there every year.¡± Brian added.


    ¡°You don¡¯t sound Scottish though.¡± Margie said.


    ¡°We are not, but that duke is.¡± Brian answered, pointing at Jaden, and all eyes turned to look at him.


    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s a long story. However, I go back to see my family every year, and it¡¯s usually fun when I go with these men. My aircraft can comfortably carry all of us here, if you do not mind. You don¡¯t need to worry about anything, I¡¯ll take care of the travel documents and processes.¡± Jaden said to the ladies who seemed to look at him in awe, including Lorence.


    The ladies looked at Lorence like it was her decision to make, and at that moment she was not quite sure what to say, because it looked like her friends were enjoying the company of the other men. She also knew that if she did not go, her friends would not go too, and they would hold it against her forever. She remembered how she dreaded the thought of meeting Jaden¡¯s family, but there she was being looked upon to make the final decision. ¡°I have been played and put in a tight spot.¡± She thought to herself as she looked at the faces staring at her, eager to hear her response.


    ¡°Why are you guys staring at me?¡± Lorence teased.


    ¡°Your highness, we await thine decision.¡± Margie answered.


    ¡°It better be good though.¡± Charlotte added as she sipped her wine. The last thing Lorence wanted was her friends getting upset with her; they were the only reason she was considering the trip, because ordinarily she would have turned the request down, because they had just returned from a vacation, and she also did not want to be in an awkward situation with Jaden¡¯s family.


    ¡°When is this trip supposed to happen, and for how many days?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°If I get the go ahead from you, I can make the plans and we¡¯ll leave next week. Normally, we spend about a week, and then run back here. However,  we can spend more time if you want.¡± Jaden answered.


    ¡°A week is just perfect for me.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°7 of us in one place for a week, should be fun.¡± Charlotte said. Lorence knew she could not refuse, because her friends were already in love with the idea.


    ¡°Alright let¡¯s do this! We are leaving the U.S. to Scotland.¡± Lorence said with a smile, and everybody cheered. Jaden kissed Lorence on the cheek and whispered how amazing she was; it made her blush, even though she was not quite comfortable with the trip, and she was going to talk to Jaden and her friends about it.


    Jaden was excited about the decision, but he could sense that Lorence was not really comfortable with the idea. He knew she only accepted because her friends wanted to go on the trip too, and if he saw that she was uncomfortable and did not say anything about it, he would come off as being insensitive.


    ¡°I noticed you were not comfortable when you heard about the trip.¡± Jaden said, as both of them took a walk through the park.


    ¡°Wow! It was so obvious?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve been together for a while now, and so I can pick up some vibes from you.¡± Jaden explained.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to explain this properly, but I¡¯m not sure how I feel about meeting your family, and I don¡¯t mean that in a disrespectful way.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°I understand, but I assure you that you have nothing to fear or worry about. I¡¯ll be there to protect you if need be.¡± Jaden said, and Lorence could sense that alpha male tone in his voice, and she went on the defensive.


    ¡°I can take care of myself. I don¡¯t need you or anyone to protect me. What makes you think I need to be protected by you? I only said I didn¡¯t know how to feel about meeting your family, and here you are talking about protecting me. I¡¯m no weakling, and I can take care of myself.¡± Lorence said angrily and walked away from a perplexed Jaden who just stood there with his mouth agape, because he did not understand how he said anything wrong.


    Jaden watched Lorence walk away, and he was not sure whether to go after her or let her be. He wondered how he could have said it better, and then he wondered why she would get upset by the fact that he said he would protect her ¡°I was only trying to make her feel better, and not make her worse.¡±  he thought to himself. After waiting a while, he took out his phone to call her, but she did not pick up, and then he decided to let her be.


    As Lorence made her way home, she thought about the events at the lounge and her outburst at Jaden at the park. ¡°I messed that up though. He was only doing what any sensible friend would do.¡± she thought to herself, and wished she could take back what she said to him. She did not like the fact that men always looked at women as weaklings, and it always irked her when they wanted to capitalize on that and lord it over them.


    ¡°You don¡¯t look happy.¡± Margie said.


    ¡°Yeah, I got upset and may have said some hurtful things to Jaden.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°Oh dear. Is this about the trip? We can cancel it for all it matters though.¡± Charlotte said.


    ¡°Well, he said he noticed I was uncomfortable at the lounge when the trip was mentioned.¡± Lorence explained.


    ¡°Were you uncomfortable? Guess I was too excited to notice. Sorry baby.¡± Margie said.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, even though I would have preferred we came back home to discuss the trip though. I was put on the spot and didn¡¯t know what to say.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°Sorry, but we did not really know about the dynamics between you and Jaden, plus if you look on the bright side, you¡¯ll have us there.¡± Charlotte added.


    ¡°I told Jaden I was not sure about how I felt about meeting his family, and that is because I feel the relationship is too young for that type of exposure.¡± Lorence said. Charlotte was going to say something, but thought better of it and said nothing.


    ¡°Charlotte, you want to say something.¡± Margie said.


    ¡°Oh no.¡± Charlotte answered.


    ¡°You wanted to say something, I saw you. Out with it.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you want to hear it.¡± Charlotte added.


    ¡°Charlotte, we are friends, and we should never keep the truth from each other.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°Alright, so I think you are scared of commitment, and it is okay, considering your previous experiences, but you cannot get into a relationship and hope for it to work if one partner is committed and you''re not; that would be a selfish thing to do.¡± Charlotte explained.


    ¡°She¡¯s right though. One shouldn¡¯t get into a relationship if they are not ready to be committed to it. It¡¯s not healthy.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t want to commit to the relationship, I am trying, but it feels like everything is happening so fast, faster than I¡¯m able to catch my breath.¡± Lorence explained.


    ¡°What happened between you and Jaden?¡± Charlotte asked.


    ¡°Well I told him how I wasn¡¯t sure about how to feel about meeting his family, and then he said he would be by my side and would protect me if needs be; I could feel that alpha male thing that men do, and so I reacted and said some things in the heat of the moment.¡± Lorence explained.


    ¡°Wow! Lorence wow!¡± Margie exclaimed.


    ¡°I messed up, yeah?¡± Lorence asked as she put her palm to her forehead and shut her eyes.

 Like Oil and Water (6)

    ¡°Sweetheart, don¡¯t be hard on yourself, but have you ever taken time to think about the dynamics of a relationship between two people in love with each other? A successful one has everything reciprocated one way or another. The two people have each other¡¯s backs; they are partners, they are a team, and they look out for one another in reassuring ways. It would be selfish of you to look at this only from your perspective. Reverse the roles and be in his shoes, if he told you he was scared about something that you had some authority over, you would say stuff to reassure him, and that¡¯s just what he did.¡± Margie explained.


    ¡°That was deep. You sure you haven¡¯t considered becoming a relationship counsellor?¡± Charlotte teased.


    ¡°I told her the same thing a couple of days ago.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°Honey, fighting for equity and fairness for women, and liberating women from societal limitations caused by the patriarchal system is what we do, but you need to be able to identify the grey areas where nature is involved and let nature take its cause. No good and loving partner wants the other to go through any form of hurt, and they will do whatever they can to protect their partners from getting hurt; and it is a two-way thing like Margie said.¡± Charlotte explained.


    ¡°Wow! I think I have a partner should I consider running a relationship counsellor gig.¡± Margie teased.


    ¡°You women are just so wonderful. I wonder how I would have coped without you two. How can I ever pay you back for being so nice to me, even when I do stupid things?¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°Oh well, you can pay me by getting a bucket of ice cream, with some chicken wings.¡± Margie answered.


    ¡°If you want to pay me, just make sure I do not miss my free trip to Scotland. Thank you.¡± Charlotte answered.


    ¡°You were not planning to cancel the trip, were you?¡± Margie asked, one eyebrow raised higher than the other.


    ¡°With both of you? I wouldn¡¯t dare it. You won¡¯t forgive me for life if I did.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°Glad you know that. Now do the needful. Give Jaden a call and apologize.¡± Charlotte said.


    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t like him.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°Did I say that? I may have misjudged him. He has cute friends.¡± Charlotte answered.


    ¡°Talking about his friends, what was going on between you and that cute guy? I think I may have forgotten his name¡± Margie said.


    ¡°Mark? We were connecting, and that¡¯s why Lorence cannot afford to have that trip canceled, or I will take it as an act of war.¡± Charlotte teased.


    Lorence stepped away from her friends so she could put a call through to Jaden; she was not sure how she was going to apologize, but she knew it had to be done, because she stepped out of line when she reacted angrily. ¡°I hope he understands that I am prone to behaving that way sometimes.¡± she thought to herself. She wondered how she would have reacted if the roles were reversed.


    ¡°Hey babe.¡± Jaden answered at the first ring, and Lorence was not quite sure whether it was the tone of his voice or the guilt from her actions, but she felt terrible about her reaction.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m sorry for saying what I said, and for reacting the way I did. I know I can¡¯t take back the things I said, but I really am sorry, and I don¡¯t want to give excuses for my attitude.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I understand. I may have come off as wanting control, but I feel like two people in a relationship are supposed to look out for each other. While I respect your stance about women not being weak, society has not made it safe for women either, and so some of us have the responsibility of contributing to the protection of women from social conditioning.¡± Jaden explained. Lorence thought about what he said, and even though she saw that he was right in a way, she wanted to counter what he said for the purpose of clarity, but thought better of it.


    ¡°Thank you for making efforts to understand me. I¡¯m sorry if I go off sometimes, because I¡¯m still trying to get used to the fact that I¡¯m in a relationship, and I am learning that there are relationship dynamics that I really need to pay attention to if this is going to work.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°So is the trip still on, or have you changed your mind?¡± Jaden asked.


    ¡°Even if I wanted to change my mind, the thoughts of my friends not forgiving forever is something I can¡¯t deal with.¡± Lorence said.


    Jaden loved the fact that Lorence called him to apologize, and he felt at ease knowing that she was not cancelling the trip. As he pondered on the relationship from when they started to where they had gotten to, he wondered what the future would be like for the two of them; he wondered whether there would be more misunderstandings to resolve, and if the misunderstandings would be based on gender roles and societal misconceptions. His mind wandered to the moment when they would get married, because he hoped that they would spend the rest of their lives together, and he smiled at the thoughts of them as parents raising children. He wondered what life as parents would be like for both of them, more importantly what values they would raise their children by, and the more he thought about it, the more his desire to start a family with Lorence. ¡°That¡¯s the whole point of being in a relationship like this one, but are we moving too fast or too slow?¡± He asked himself.


    Everyone looked forward to the trip to Scotland, well except for Lorence who did not really share in the excitement; she still had her reservations about meeting Jaden¡¯s family, because she was not ready for the pressure and expectations that could come from the meeting. Lorence had never really talked to Jaden about the future, and so both of them had no idea what they expected from each other in their future as partners.


    All other persons involved in the trip to Scotland were excited about it; for Jaden¡¯s friends, they looked forward to having Lorence¡¯s friends in their midst, and for Lorence¡¯s friends, they loved the idea of traveling to a different continent without bothering about travel costs and hotel bills. It was like the perfect getaway for them and they did not want to miss it for anything. Even though her friends were excited about the trip, they were also concerned about Lorence, because she did not show any signs that she wanted the trip.


    ¡°Everything will turn out fine. You really do not have to worry¡± Charlotte assured.


    ¡°What¡¯s there to worry about when you have your squad going with you?¡± Margie asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You have us there, so you need to relax, breathe and live in the moment.¡± Charlotte added.


    ¡°What¡¯s the worst that could happen? Whatever it is, we¡¯ve got you, and can jet out of the place on the next available flight.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°Not without first showing them the Charlie¡¯s Angels in us though.¡± Charlotte said.


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s right.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°Thanks girls. I can¡¯t believe my mind totally blanked out the fact that you will be there with me.¡± Lorence said, feeling some relief at the realization that she was traveling with her friends.


    ¡°Give your mind a break, you¡¯re allowing it to process too many things at the same time. At this point, just go with the flow, live in the moment, create beautiful memories with every opportunity you have, and enjoy yourself as much as you can.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°Margie with the words of wisdom etched in marble.¡± Charlotte said.


    ¡°I wonder where it all comes from. It¡¯s so easy for her to say something soothing to anyone in any situation. Lorence added.


    ¡°Oh well, I know what pain feels like, and I have survived different types of pain. So it¡¯s easy for me to understand people¡¯s pains.¡± Margie answered.


    ¡°When we get back from this trip, I¡¯m so paying someone to create a website for you, we need to monetize your gifts.¡± Charlotte added.


    ¡°Perhaps I should consider that option.¡± Margie said.


    ¡°About the trip, Scottish men are the ones that wear skirts, yeah?¡± Charlotte asked.


    ¡°Charlotte, it¡¯s called a kilt, and it is a traditional wear.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°Okay, that should be fun to see. I would also love to hear the Scottish brogues, I hear non-speakers of the brogue can barely understand what they say.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°Hey Lorence, ever heard Jaden speak with the Scottish brogues?¡± Charlotte asked.


    ¡°I had no idea he was Scottish. I always thought he was American though.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°Did you know about the dukedom stuff?¡± Margie asked.


    ¡°I think he mentioned it, but I did not pay attention.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°So chances are that you could become a duchess in the near future. Now that¡¯s awesome. We are friends to the duchess, her majesty duchess Lorence.¡± Charlotte teased with courtesy.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s how it works though, but I¡¯m not about to spoil your fantasy.¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°I see why he has that confidence.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll be that rich, and not be that confident. Wealth is a confidence booster. That¡¯s why our friend, the good ol¡¯ Lorence, is so confident, even though she prefers to be humble and modest.¡± Charlotte said.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t believe my parents¡¯ wealth is mine, and I don¡¯t feel entitled, that¡¯s why I would gladly prefer to remain humble and modest.¡±  Lorence said.


    ¡°Does he know about your wealthy background?¡± Margie asked.


    ¡°Not really. Why?¡± Lorence answered.


    ¡°Conflict of confidence if there¡¯s anything like that.¡± Charlotte said.


    ¡°What does that even mean?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°I think Margie would be able to explain better.¡± Charlotte answered.


    ¡°Me? Why me? I didn¡¯t say it, you did. So explain to us what you mean by conflict of confidence.¡± Margie said.


    ¡°Well, Jaden and Lorence have wealthy backgrounds, and their backgrounds have a role to play in their confidence, and so a lot of the arguments may be from a position of each one being confident enough to want to defend their views, opinions, and ideologies.¡± Charlotte explained.


    ¡°You may have a valid point there.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°I did not think about it that way though, but maybe you are right. I think you may be on to something.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°Oh thank you! Margie, do you still need a partner for when you open your counselling office, I think I may have the gift too.¡± Charlotte teased, and the ladies laughed.


    Knowing that her friends were coming with her on the trip to Scotland made Lorence glad, and she tried not to worry about meeting Jaden¡¯s family. She repeatedly told herself that she was going to live in the moment and not be fixated on what could be. ¡°The family could turn out to be very nice people though. Why do you think something will go wrong?¡± She asked herself, and wondered whether it was only because she was afraid that they were going too fast, ¡°But are we going too fast?¡± she asked herself. After thinking about the relationship and how far they had come, she concluded that they were moving at a steady pace, even if they still had a lot to learn about each other.


    Lorence just


    Before the accident, Lorence had planned her life and expectations, and getting in a relationship was not on the list of things she wanted. All she wanted was to dedicate all her life and everything she had to the liberation of women from the unfair treatment they got as a result of conforming to the dictates and demands of a patriarchal system. She wondered why people that said they loved humans could not see that women were treated like they were lesser humans, yet they saddled them with so many responsibilities


    She heard so many stories from the elderly women she took care of, and sometimes those stories of their experiences made her want to take feminism to the extreme, because she could not fathom why men would freely treat women in really terrible ways, and go free.


    After her last break up, she concluded that there was no man that could fill the void that her ex had left, and after being in a dark place mentally, emotionally, and physically as a result of the break up, she resolved within herself that she was never going to allow herself go through the torture of that kind of heartbreak. She felt that not getting into a serious relationship was the best way to avoid the pain that could follow a breakup, and her life was just going according to what she had planned out before the accident.


    The accident had made her rethink her life, because it made her realize you can make all the plans in the world, but events of the next second can change those plans, and thus tow a different path other than was originally intended.


    Being in a relationship with Jaden had made her realize that there were some parts of companionship that she could not get from Margie and Charlotte, and there were no doubts about the fact that she loved what was happening between her and Jaden; the only things that bothered her were uncertainty about the future, and the fact that she felt that she had left her vulnerability unattended to.


    Lorence so desperately wanted to live in the moment and enjoy every bit of it, but her mind always had a way of wandering and making her feel uncomfortable about the relationship, especially as she was not sure whether her feet were firmly planted in the relationship or not. While she was ready to do all she could to keep the relationship, she still felt that there were so many things about Jaden that she did not know about, and so it was difficult to know where to draw boundaries whenever they had discussions about ideologies and views. One thing she was certain about was the fact that Jaden still had the tendency to try to control whatever happened in the relationship, including her; she could sense the alpha male attitude in him from a mile away, no matter how cleverly he tried to hide it. She was not ready to be a man¡¯s robot that could lead to the very same slavery that she was trying to liberate women from, and she was also not ready to be dependent on a man for whatever reasons.


    One of the inner battles Lorence had to deal with constantly was knowing when and where to be firm about her views without being overbearing and making it seem like she was forcing anyone to accept her views. She believed that two people could coexist peaceably without accepting each other¡¯s views, but she had come to realize that the world was not wired that way, ¡°The world would be a better place if people just accepted that humans were equal, and that they were entitled to seeing the world from different perspectives without forcing each other to accept views that they did not agree to.¡± she thought to herself.


    Jaden made the necessary preparations for the trip to his family home in Scotland, and he let his family know that he was coming with more people so that they could also make arrangements and prepare for a fuller house than before. However, he left out the information about coming with his girlfriend, because he knew Lorence was not comfortable about meeting his family, and he did not want to put her in an awkward situation where there would be some sort of pressure from his family, and he was also not ready to deal with his family¡¯s questions about settling down.


    While he thought he knew Jaden to some extent, he was very certain that there were questions he could get asked about her that he had no idea what the answers were. For instance, he wondered why she hardly talked about her family, and he could not remember any conversation where she talked about her family. He had refused to ask because he felt she was deliberately holding back that information because it could trigger memories that she did not want to remember. He did not like the fact that he could make her see life through his mind sometimes, but accepted that it was all a process of unlearning old things and learning new things.


    As planned, the day to leave the U.S. came and they all met at the airport before being taken to a private hangar where Jaden¡¯s aircraft was waiting for them.


    ¡°Wow! That¡¯s a beauty.¡± Margie said when she saw the aircraft.


    ¡°What¡¯s her name?¡± Charlotte asked.


    ¡°Spirit of the skies.¡± Brian answered.


    ¡°Oh! Okay.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°He¡¯s kidding. I haven¡¯t given it a name, yet.¡± Jaden said as he held Lorence¡¯s hand to help her up the stairway.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you give it a name though?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe I was waiting for the right name to come.¡± Jaden answered with a smile.


    ¡°Oh! Fair enough. I hope you give it a sweet name when you do.¡± Lorence added.


    Few minutes later, they were strapped in and filled with smiles and giggles as the aircraft taxied to the runway, and began its takeoff run before lifting off.


    ¡°How many minutes more before we get to Scotland?¡± Charlotte asked as the aircraft began its cruise.


    ¡°Well, about 6 or 7 hours more.¡± Mark answered as he helped himself to a bottle of wine from the cabin attendant¡¯s trolley.


    ¡°He¡¯s joking, right?¡± Charlotte asked.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s right.¡± Margie asked, pointing at a screen that showed the flight path and estimated time of arrival.


    ¡°Wow! Let¡¯s make it count then. Can we play games or something?¡± Charlotte asked.


    Jaden and Lorence sat together, but away from the others. They were silent for a while as they listened to the chatter from their friends, and their voices seemed to have a soothing effect on both Jaden and Lorence. Jaden was glad that the ladies had agreed to come on the trip with them, because he wondered what it would have been like if Lorence was the only woman in their midst.


    ¡°Hey Babe.¡± Lorence said to Jaden, and she loved how his face lit up with a smile as he looked at her.


    ¡°I love when you call me that way. It makes me feel loved.¡± Jaden whispered. The statement seemed to touch a spot in Lorence¡¯s heart, as she had never paid attention to whether he was feeling loved by her or not.


    ¡°What¡¯s your family like?¡± Lorence asked, as she put her head on his shoulder.


    ¡°Let it go. They are cool people, I will take care of your concerns.¡± Jaden said in a tone that indicated he did not like the conversation.


    ¡°Oh okay.¡± Lorence said, not liking his tone, but not wanting to push it.  She knew he was a proud man who was learning not to allow his ego overrule his sense of reasoning, but she could not help but feel upset sometimes, when he treated her like a child that did not have a say in matters that concerned her.


    They had lighthearted conversations as the flight made its way enroute Scotland, and at some point they joined the others as they played games. It was a smooth flight, and one filled with so much fun. It felt like they had been friends for a very long time, and Jaden loved the chemistry between his friends and Lorence¡¯s friends.


    Jaden was still unable to figure out what Mark was up to, because in contrast to his usual impulsive and annoying attitude, he was putting up a good show of being the perfect gentleman, a trait that Jaden had never seen before.


    After several hours of being airborne, the pilot made the announcement about their present location and that they were two minutes away from their destination, and interestingly, the friends were still bubbling with energy.


    ¡°Do you speak the Scottish brogues?¡± Margie asked as the aircraft taxied to a stop.


    ¡°Och, aye ah dae. Ah speak it sae weel.¡± Jaden answered with a Scottish highland accent.


    ¡°What did he say?¡± What did you just say?¡± Margie asked.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± Charlotte answered.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t bother my head if I were you.¡± Brian added.


    ¡°It¡¯s fer easy. Ah kin teach ye if yi¡¯ll waant.¡± Jaden said with a smile.


    ¡°I think I heard- easy and teach in that. Thank you, but no thanks.¡± Lorence said with a giggle.


    ¡°We gave up a long time ago. One minute you think you know it, the next minute you¡¯re staring into space because you have no idea what the person talking to you is saying.¡± Jimmy added.


    ¡°You seem like the quiet one.¡± Margie said to Jimmy as they made their way to a black custom-made bus waiting to transport them.


    ¡°Most times, I just want to observe people first before getting social with them.¡± Jimmy answered.


    ¡°Welcome to Scotland guys. I¡¯m pretty sure you will love it here.¡± Jaden announced as they pulled out of the airport.


    ¡°Can you say what you just said in Scottish brogues?¡± Margie asked.


    ¡°Oh sure. Failte tae Scootlund guys. A¡¯m bonny sure ye¡¯ll loue it ¡®ere.¡± Jaden answered.


    ¡°Wow! I could only make out -guys and sure-, but I love the accent.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°Yeah! I love the Irish accent too. They are so unique.¡± Charlotte added.


    Lorence was not quite sure how she felt; a part of her wished she wouldn¡¯t have to meet Jaden¡¯s family, and another part of her wanted to forget everything else like her friends were doing. ¡°How is it so easy for them? Maybe because I always overthink everything. I really should stop overthinking things, and just live in the moment.¡± Lorence thought to herself.


    ¡°A penny fur yer thoughts mah lassie.¡± Jaden said to Lorence.


    ¡°Wait! Let me figure that out.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°Please do.¡± Jaden said with a smile.


    ¡°A penny for your thoughts, I can¡¯t make out the rest.¡± Lorence said.


    ¡°Brilliant! You¡¯re correct, the other part -mah lassie- is my lady.¡± Jaden added excitedly.


    As the bus meandered its way through different streets and highways, Jaden became more excited. He had not seen his family in a year, and the visits always had a positive effect on him, but this time he was more excited because he came with more people, especially Lorence. He daydreamed about the fun activities they would do together, and how their closeness would strengthen their bond. He wanted to make sure it was the perfect getaway experience for everyone, and he made special arrangements for that.


    ¡°This place is beautiful.¡± Lorence said as she looked out the window.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t seen anything yet. If you love a picturesque landscape, you are about to be blown away.¡± Jaden answered excitedly.


    They got to the family home, and they were indeed blown away, because it was a magnificent castle against a backdrop of mountains and lush green plants. The castle came from a long line of dukes; it was handed down through generations, and they ensured that they maintained it well.


    There was always a nostalgic feeling for Jaden whenever he visited, as memories of his childhood kept flashing. He remembered the beautiful times he spent with his grandfather, and how he taught him so many things that helped shape him into the man he had grown to become. He also remembered the balls that both his father and grandfather threw, and how he was always running through the halls in excitement. ¡°Those were really beautiful times,¡± he mused.


    ¡°Wow!¡± Margie exclaimed.


    ¡°I thought beautiful places like this only existed in movies, you know those epic movies about medieval times.¡± Charlotte added.


    ¡°You have no idea what you are about to see inside.¡± Mark said excitedly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t spoil the fun and surprise Mark.¡± Brian added.


    ¡°I just thought to give them fair warning, so they don¡¯t gasp all the air away.¡± Mark answered. ¡°That¡¯s the typical Mark that we know.¡± Jaden thought to himself as he stole a quick glance at Mark and the other guys.


    Jaden introduced Lorence to his family as his good friend, and even though she felt relief that he introduced her that way, some part of her would have preferred he introduced her as his girlfriend. She was also certain that he only introduced her that way because he just wanted to make her feel comfortable, and not because that was what he wanted. One thing she knew about Jaden was that he was proud of whatever he had, and she knew that he would have loved to introduce her as his girlfriend, but she felt like she had stolen the moment from him, and she did not really like it that way.


    Jaden and Lorence¡¯s friends could barely hide their shock when they heard Jaden introduce Lorence as his friends, but they pretended to recover quickly from the shock and followed the script that Jaden had written. However, like clockwork the attitude of Charlotte and Margie changed towards Jaden and his friends, and Lorence sensed it from the way they responded to them when asked if they would be interested in a tour around the property.


    ¡°No.¡± Margie answered, as the three ladies were shown their rooms.


    ¡°What was that about? Was there a fight that we did not know about?¡± Charlotte asked when the three of them converged in Lorence¡¯s room.


    ¡°A fight?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°Between you and Jaden.¡± Margie answered.


    ¡°Oh no! Why though?¡± Lorence asked.


    ¡°Well, he introduced you as his good friend and not his girlfriend, and I think I find that disrespectful.¡± Charlotte answered.


    ¡°Oh! That? No no, I think he only did that because he did not want to put me in an awkward position.¡± Lorence added.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I understand what you¡¯re saying, and why do you think so?¡± Charlotte asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t understand either.¡± Margie added.


    ¡°Remember I told you we had a fight when he told me he would protect me and I reacted angrily to the statement? I think introducing me as his friend was a way to take the focus of his family away from me.¡± Lorence explained.


    ¡°Okay, the part I don¡¯t understand is the part where you keep saying what you think. You did not discuss this part?¡± Charlotte asked.