The Experiment 2: The Journey

Busted

RJ was silent the entire time they were cleaning up after the party. Their guests had already left and RJ's parents had accompanied Dei's family to Saks for some shopping. Dei was busy at the kitchen while he worked on getting the decorations down in the living room, pondering ways on how to tell Dei about what he'd found out about JC. He knew he had promised that he would stop bugging her about her project partner; she actually thought that he had already dropped it, so RJ was worried of how badly she would react when she finds out that he had actually been digging for information about JC.

If I tell her that JC and Christine are cousins, what exactly will that prove? he asked himself. He didn't have any evidence that Christine was using JC for whatever purpose. The fact was, JC hadn't really done anything... yet... well, other than gaze at Dei with interest.

He heaved a deep sigh, still unsure of what to do.

"Hey, you okay?" Dei asked him gently, her palm placed flat on his cheek.

"Yea..." he lied, turning his face to the side to kiss her wrist. "Just tired."

"Go on and rest, I'll take care of this," she told him. "I'm done with the kitchen anyway."

He glanced at her and noticed that she actually looked weary too. She had been up so early that morning to prepare for his party and then had to be a gracious host to each of their guests the entire day. He brushed the few strands of hair that escaped her pony tail and tucked them behind her ear, and then held her hand as he walked to the couch. He sat and then pulled her on his lap, pressing his face on her shoulder as he let out another unresolved sigh.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Dei asked, sensing his perturbation.

"I need to talk to you about something," he replied, nudging her cheek with his nose.

"That sounds serious, what's up?" Dei asked, facing him.

"It's about JC, I found out something about him today."

"Oh my god, what is it this time, RJ?" Dei asked frustratedly. "I thought we're already through with this?"

"He's Christine's cousin," he dropped at once before Dei could have any chance to be really angry.

"What?"

"Yes. Kayla knew him."

"I don't believe this... So you've been right all along," she said, looking at him, and he sighed, relieved that she didn't get mad at him like he expected. "Do you think Christine had anything to do with him being part of our team?"

"I'm honestly not sure, babe. But there's a big chance that she does," RJ answered.

Dei sat on the couch and buried her face in her hands, suddenly feeling much more exhausted than she already was. "I can't believe she's still not done with us. How obsessed can one person get, RJ?"

"I know, it's unbelievable," he said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked, turning to look at him again.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want me to quit my job now?"

"I told you, you didn't have to do that," RJ said. "I just want you to be aware so you'd be vigilant."

Dei was silent for a minute, thinking. The thing was, she actually thought JC was okay, and she never felt that he would be a problem. They had to start their project planning in a few weeks and she just didn't have the energy for this kind of stress. But RJ was right, at least she could start being vigilant now. She gazed at RJ, suddenly feeling guilty that she didn't believe him before. His gut feel was right after all.

"You're right, babe. At least I know what to do now," she told him as she scooted nearer.

RJ gave her a small smile and kissed her forehead.

+++++

"Hey, how are you?" JC greeted Dei as she walked inside the conference room. "I haven't seen you in a while," he added.

It was the first time they had seen each other again after Athena's christening. She had been avoiding him since she came back from her holiday vacation, but since they had to start planning for the project, she had no choice but to see him again. He was the only person in the conference room when she got there and she heaved a deep sigh as she took the seat four chairs away from him.

"I'm good," she said simply and focused her attention to the proposal she had started creating.

"How was the holiday celebrations?" he asked her.

She heaved another sigh. "It was okay. My husband and I had a great time with our family," she told him with a tight smile.

"Dei!" a voice suddenly exclaimed from the door. They both turned to it and found Emma, Shannon's assistant, peeking through the door. "I knew I'd find you here. Shannon wanted to speak to you, do you have a few minutes? She said it's important but it'll be very quick."

"Sure!" Dei answered and JC noticed how relieved she looked at finding an excuse to leave the room, because she stood up right away and walked to the door.

JC followed her silhouette on the frosted wall of the conference room and sighed, confused at the sudden cold treatment he was getting from her again. She had already started warming up to him before Christmas, and he wondered if his gate crashing at Athena's party brought him back to her "people to ignore" list.

He suddenly heard a buzz and felt the table vibrating. He glanced at Dei's seat and found that she had left her phone on top of her notebook. Another buzz followed that, and then another, like several messages were coming in. His eyebrows furrowed as he suddenly felt consumed by curiosity and he glanced at the door before walking towards her seat.

He stood beside it, just as another message came in and flashed on the screen.

RJ 💓 | 9:13 AM
And stop worrying about me babe, I'm not worried at all. At least we both know now that Christine and JC are actually related, so no matter what he does, you'd know what to do. Just relax and do your thing, okay?

JC bit his lip and suddenly felt a violent thud inside his chest. He didn't expect this, and it wasn't how he planned for things to pan out. He went back to his seat and waited for Dei to come back.

After five minutes, she finally did, and he looked up from his own phone as she walked back to her seat.

"Dei," he called, his tone serious. "We need to talk."