Deadlock

XXXI

I descended on the stairs of the stage. The four guys stood up and it was Nate who came to me first. “That was a very brave confession.” He winked at me.

“Whatever, I still hate you, you know.” I told him. He just smiled; I knew he wouldn’t care anyway.

I walked to Rob and he was about to say something but he was so reluctant he ended up walking away. My dear fiancée was speechless, wonderful. Nate and Vaughn followed him but a pair of dark eyes kept on staring at me, it was Jake’s. I ignored him and I ran to the three. Before we pass to the doors of the other building, which was the suites, a familiar looking girl walked towards us. She was the same beautiful girl I saw with Rob, in some rooms. It felt unusual seeing her outside because I usually see her in rooms, whether it’s in this school or in my island. Jane was really pretty though, darn.

“Hey.” Jane said coldly as she smiled fakely. Her face was like stone hard but she still managed to fake a smile.

No one answered and I felt like since I was a girl I was given this responsibility by God to be nice. So I said, “Hi.”

“That was so brave of you.” She told me. I smiled at her.

What happened with the men beside me? Well they suddenly turned into freaking statues. They weren’t really moving. I mean, what the heck was wrong with them?

“So, I’m here to tell you guys that I’m leaving for abroad tomorrow.” Jane turned her attention to the tall guys beside me. As if I didn’t notice, she was really only staring at Rob.

I looked at the jerk and he was like… nothing. His face was expressionless. He got a poker face. He knew exactly how to control emotions. I felt someone moved from my right and it was Nate trying to break the silence.

“We wish you…” Nate managed to say. “…goodluck.”

“Yeah.” I smiled at her.

“Then…” Jane faltered. Wow, her eyes were pasted on the jerk. “I’ll be leaving.” She smiled at us. I believed she really held herself well in there. I felt like she was about to cry on the spot. She walked away while the four of them just stood there.

It was Rob who moved first, probably wanting to run and cry secretly? I should definitely follow him, and get my video cam ready. The other two moved and it was Jake again who was left. Wow, something was wrong with him. He seemed like he was not keeping up with the things happening around. When he kept staring at me, I decided to run away again from him, but he caught my hand. I wanted to take it, but he held it like hulk. He almost wanted to break it.

“What is wrong with you?” I yelled at him.

“Emily, stop what you are doing.” He said firmly.

“I’m not doing anything.” I defended.

“You know exactly what I mean when I said stop. I know that you’ve been scheming things to have your revenge on Rob.” He told me. Was it too obvious?

“He deserves it.”

“Emily, you wronged him.” He started losing his grip. “Yes, he bullied you before but that wasn’t his real intentions. He just wanted to scare you because his broken ego was acting. He knew you were there when he was rejected and he was scared you might tell everybody about it.”

“Scared? That jerk? How about the thing he did to me at…” Oh crap, am I going to slip again? I can’t let him know. “…at the gym. He locked me in there Jake.”

“Because he thought you took away his key chain.” He answered.

“Defend him all you want. You’re brothers anyway right? You’ve known him since ten years ago. Of course you would defend that jerk.”

“Emily, Jane was Rob’s first love.” Jake said. He wanted to say more but he might’ve changed his mind when he saw the word guilty in my face. He wanted to comfort me, but I walked away from him quickly.

I ran away, no… I wasn’t crying. But I was feeling so guilty. Jake sure was good making people feel like crap. No scratch that, I was the one who made them feel like crap. The three of them knew that Jane was important to Rob, Rob still liked Jane, and Jane obviously still liked Rob, and it was my fault they were all feeling like crap. I was so messed up. I didn’t like feeling like an evil bitch but I was. And I was actually all smiling when Jane was saying goodbye. How could I not understand that it was painful for her?

Third Person Point-Of-View

When Emily walked away from Jake, he wanted to follow her. But he knew he had nothing to say that would change her mind, until he saw Nikki. He walked up to her but she avoided him. He followed Nikki wherever she went until Nikki gave up and faced Jake.

“What do you want Jake? Didn’t Emily make it clear to you; we don’t want to talk to you anymore.” Nikki told Jake downheartedly.

“Nik, I know what I did was wrong, so I waited ‘till you two would cool down. But you have to talk to Emily.” Jake persuaded.

“Talk to her about what?”

“About Rob. Listen Nik, you misunderstood him.”

“Misunderstood him? He’s a jerk Jake. You should know that better than anyone because you’ve been with him since… like TEN YEARS?”

“Exactly, I’ve known him for that long years. And he’s not the jerk you think he is. Nik, he might be a jerk sometimes but he’s also a nice guy. But of course, he wouldn’t want anybody to see that. But we three know that. And I want you to tell Emily about it.” Jake explained.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you wouldn’t want Emily to regret what she did. You know Emily is so naive and innocent, when she thinks she’s done a terrible thing she would put herself in a corner and she would feel all so guilty about it. And you know that it’s so horrible seeing her that.” Jake continued.

“Is that why you lied to us?” Nikki inquired. She had been meaning to ask him about his reason for lying, and now, she was actually feeling good that she could finally ask him about it. "Because you think you're protecting her by lying?"

“Yes.” Jake answered. “I wanted Emily for myself. She was so innocent I don’t want her to be involved in our activities.” Jake smiled.

“Activities?” Nikki rolled her eyes, but she continued. “Why didn’t you tell her?”

“Tell her about what?” Jake asked oblivious.

“That you love her. Jake you know she loves you.” Nikki said. “I don’t know what exactly you were thinking Jake, you know she feels the same way you do, but why didn’t you tell her about it?”

“I’ve liked her since we were eight, I didn’t want to leave her but I had no choice. I was just a kid back then. I came back to this country because of her, but I couldn’t just tell her I like her. Nik, her family’s business is where my father works.”

“But your father is the second most powerful in the Van Tassel Empire, just after the Chairman Van Tassel, right?” Nikki was oblivious.

“You’re right. But the Van Tassels are one of the most powerful in the world; I was planning of maybe proving myself first before I come after her.”

“You mean?”

“I mean that I would work hard first and prove to them that I can take care of Emily. But I didn’t expect her grandfather would arrange her soon.” Jake said dejected.

“What’re you going to do now?” Nikki questioned.

“I don’t know. But to this time, I only wish that Emily would forgive me.”

“You know she didn’t really hate you right? That was just her ego. Who said girls don’t have egos?” Nikki smiled.

“I’m sorry about lying Nik.” Jake happily said.

“Two weeks is a long time right? I think that’s enough as a punishment. I’m just going to help you about Emily.” Nikki winked.

“Thanks.”

End of Third Person Point-Of-View