Love Me? Like You Do.

Chapter 19

"Her cellphone and clothes are gone." said Jack succinctly on the phone as he stood inside Zachary's house and looked around.

"Hmm." said Axky thoughtfully on the other line. "We need the phone back. It may contain some data he can use against her."

"We can't do anything from here, can we?" said Jack, stepping out and locking the door again with his utility knife.

"No." said Axky chuckling. "My, my, a billionaire picking locks what will the media say?"

"The media will never know." said Jack tersely. "Anyway, its almost six - thirty, I'm meeting Amanda Nikelby for breakfast at seven."

"I pity the girl." said Axky, a touch of mirth in his boyish voice.

"I don't." said Jack getting into his car and driving off at full speed. Time was scarce, and he had a lot of things to do. 

***

Amanda bit her fingernails over and over again. The pricey open-air cafeteria on the roof was anything but relaxing for her. She was scared that the stone faced handsome man, she'd seen on catalogs sitting across the table would suddenly get up and fling her over the edge.

She sipped her orange juice fearfully. They had been sitting across one another for over twenty minutes and Jack Dixon had not even looked at her once. He was busy typing away on his phone as she waited for him to pay attention to her. Had it been someone else and had she not made a terrible mistake, she would have thrown the drink on them and left already.

But she didn't move. Her guilt kept her glued to her seat as she watched Jack leisurely enjoy his bacon and eggs. 

"Stop it, please." she said finally, her voice and body shaking. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking clearly, you have to understand, it was for David---"

"There's nothing to not understand. Should there be a fire, you'd save David and leave Brielle behind." said Jack looking into her eyes. She shuddered at the iciness in his gaze.

"I'm really sorry. Zachary said he'd kill David if I didn't get Brielle to do as he asked. I was forbidden to go to the police. Please, please try to understand, I -I -I love Brielle, I didn't know the bastard had put her through so much."

"You didn't even inquire about her well being." said Jack condescendingly. "It was only when my friend Sebastian telephoned you that you heard."

"I had no idea, I would never have...does she hate me? She should." said Amanda breaking down to tears. Jack sighed as he watched her mascara spread over her wet cheeks as she choked back sobs.

"If ever something like this happens, you must approach the police, if not then someone you can trust, your family or even David. Someone who can give you proper advice. Does David know about all this?" asked Jack handing her a bunch of tissues. This was precisely the reason he preferred male companions, tears didn't go down well with him.

"N-no." spluttered Amanda, her tissues getting soaked with salty tears. The other customers looked around at them. Jack cursed inwardly. Great, they think I'm making a young woman cry. What a heartless man, I must be. So be it.

"Stop crying." said Jack finally. "I haven't told Brielle anything, yet."

She stopped crying almost immediately. "Y-you haven't told her? Why?"

"You make me sick. After everything she's been through in her life, how do you think she will feel when she finds out the one person she trusted didn't care for her?" said Jack getting up angrily.

"I do care for her." said Amanda standing up too. "Please, I'll do anything. I really am sorry."

"Hmm." said Jack putting a hundred dollar bill on the table. "Take me to Brielle's place. I need to bring some stuff for her."

"Okay." said Amanda wiping her  face with the back of her hand.

***

Where on earth is he? thought Brielle as soon as she woke up. Pushing back the blankets, she glanced at the old hanging clock and immediately stood up.

It was already one o' clock. She'd been asleep for over 9 hours. But where was Jack? 

Maybe he's in his room. she thought taking the piece of paper Jack had left her on the mantelpiece.

"Lets see, who to call." she said aloud as she scrutinized the contact details mentioned in the paper.

With shaking hands, inactive from lying down for so long, she dialed Jack's phone number. Tentatively, she held the receiver to her ear. Her breath hitched as the phone started ringing, she didn't know why she was feeling so nervous. It was as though she was worried he was hurt or something.

"Hello." greeted his assuring voice moments later, and Brielle let out an enormous sigh of relief. But her joy was short lived for the voice continued. "I am busy at the moment. So leave a message after the beep."

"Idiot." said Brielle as soon as she heard the beep. "Where are you? Are you alright? Have you gone to work again? You haven''t slept a wink last night. You'll fall sick at this rate. Anyways, take care, but have you had lunch? I know you skip meals a lot, I read in your interview. Good Lord, I'm rambling, okay bye."

Arthur, the housekeeper's son, seems like the right person to call.

"Is this Arthur?" she said unsurely as she heard someone pick up.

"Janine!" exclaimed the boyish voice. "Is that you? Please give me another chance."

"No. This is Brielle, the one staying upstairs---"

"Oh! I'm so sorry Ma'am. How may I be of help?" he said obviously flustered.

"Its alright," she said quickly. "Can you tell me where Jack is?"

"Yes ma'am." said Arthur. "He's at the office and will leave for the airport in a couple of hours."

"Airport?" repeated Brielle in surprise.

"Yes. He said something about a quick trip to Bangkok." said the boy.

"What? Why?" she exclaimed.

"He mentioned something about protecting the honour of a woman." said Arthur. "Are you ready for lunch? Shall I bring it upstairs?"

"Oh okay, sure." said Brielle confused. What was Jack upto?

***

"Whats going on here?" exclaimed Amanda when they reached Brielle's home. Firemen with hoses surrounded the scene. A fire was burning brightly, and smoke circled around in the sky.

Jack and Amanda watched as Brielle's apartment building slowly burnt to charcoal.

The horror on Jack's face was real.

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