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Grace
I didn't want to go back to school, my father had to practically drag me to his car and back to the bus station. Spending time with them was like a breath of fresh air. I didn’t even know I needed this break, so it was very welcomed. Adam seemed to be feeling better, but he isn't going to start working just yet and decided to take time off to spend with Sarah. Their engagement seemed to be put on the back burner. He didn’t elaborate too much but he was set on helping and supporting Sarah.
There was nothing more I could do for him except support him while he tried finding his feet again.
Harper welcomed me home with a hug but looked a bit shaken up when I got back to the apartment. She didn't say anything and instead asked me how it was going at home. I didn’t elaborate. I dreaded going back to Noah’s studio. As far as Harper knows about me working for Noah - she thinks that I still owe him and that every night I'm sneaking off with some guy. However, it was every weeknight at a specific time. She didn't ask any questions and promised me she wouldn't dig.
I highly doubt that she would keep that promise.
The one thing I've learned about Harper over the years is that she is always working on some scheme. She had this talent of getting information about people without them knowing, and not just any information, anything from what you ate this morning to what you were doing on a certain night twenty years ago.
Under all those 60's sweetheart dresses she wasn't just an art major.
I had a few questionnaires I had to work through for the exams but decided that I'd rather try to get past Noah and his dusty storeroom first.
When I arrived at the gallery, he was busy upstairs. He eyed me from where he was standing at the sink washing brushes. He told me to get a chair and sit to listen to him. He was far from happy but what else should I be expecting? He didn't give me much of a tongue lashing and before I knew it, he was kidnapping me.
"Touch me and I will kick you in your balls so hard. Though if your genes didn't catch on it would be a blessing." He just rolled his eyes and ran his one hand through his hair, messing the blonde locks more. I studied him attentively. I won’t lie, he is quite good looking.
"Believe me I do not want to touch. Not even with a ten-foot pole. Don't flatter yourself." I gawked at him for a second and then let my eyes shift down to my fingers that were intertwined on my lap. I continued wringing my hands together.
Those words knocked the wind out of me. This took me back to my high school days where I was teased and bullied for spending my days in the library. Flashes of my head being swirled by the popular girls in a toilet erupted in my mind, taking me back to the 'I hate you' notion and seed of this agreement.
"Pull over." He turned to me, his green eyes glinting. I shouldn’t have gotten into the car with him. Why was I trusting him now? He hasn’t given me any reason to. I had to remember that he really hated me.
"What? Why?" He asked alarmed.
"Are you deaf asshole? Pull over!" I slung back the words that he said to me on the night of the accident.
I started opening the door since he wasn't stopping.
His car screeched to a halt at the side of the road.
"What the hell are you doing? You can't just get out of a moving vehicle!"
"As if you care. I don't know where you are headed but I'm going home," I stated. I tentatively touched the residue of the bruise on my arm. I opened the door and got out.
"Grace, get back in the car please. I'm going to show you a very special place." He asked me through the rolled down window. His angry scowl softened into a plead. I started walking and he slowly followed me with the car.
"Not happening. Here I was thinking you had a nice side, but I was wrong. It's not an angry side, it's just a plain fucked up side." I spat at him. His words can hurt but so can mine.
He sighed, his faced changed into a look of sorrow.
Could the devil himself look sorry? No chance in hell, he is playing me.
"Please just let me show you. I'm not what you think I am."
Some passers-by yelled for us to get off the road and I quote 'sort out your relationship troubles elsewhere!'
"Just...please." I reluctantly got into the car again, not looking at him.
"Why would you want to show me you are not an asshole? You don't care what I think of you."
"Because...I was unfair to you. After this you don't have to work for me anymore, I can finish the painting on my own. I realized that when you told me last week that I wouldn't care, I didn't want to be hated this much. We all have problems; I don't want to be another.”
"Why suddenly? You've never been a person to care. I mean you’ve hit the paparazzi, you party, and live without a care in the world. What problems could you possibly have?" Maybe a few anger issues but
"You really think my life is that great?" He snorted loudly, “You have no idea what personal hell I have." He stated. He clenched the steering wheel harder. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the wheel and continued down the road.
I stared out at the road and saw a sign beside the road reading ‘Jade bay’. We were nearing the beach.
"Why are we going to the beach? Intending on putting rocks in my pocket and pushing me into the sea?"
He stopped his car in front of the steps that led down to the beach. He didn't answer my question.
"Can you take a walk with me?" He asked raising his brow at me. I realised I was making this trip unnecessarily hard on him. The old wounds that he opened gave me more than a justified reason to distrust him and hate him even more. Somehow, I couldn’t really hate him.
"Okay." I stepped out of the car, hearing the waves crashing in the distance.
"Is there a reason why you brought me here to tell me something?" I asked. He didn’t answer me.
“Are you sure you don’t want to kill me?” I had to check. Though, a murderer wouldn’t admit to wanting to murder you.
"Dear lord you ask a lot of question! I brought you here to tell you something. Why here? Because this is where I got engaged and I felt like I needed to walk on the beach. Like the hippy artists used to!” He said exasperatedly.
I kicked off my shoes beside the car, he followed me and did the same. We made out way down the steps to the beach.
The wind sped up making my ponytail whip in the wind. We started walking along the shore.
I studied his frown. There had to be a very good reason for this strange evening seaside walk. A very good reason. The last time I checked we still wholeheartedly hated each other.