The Stargazer who fell for the Moon

11| Emrald

Chapter song: Tied up - Major Lazer

Present time, somewhere in the stratosphere...

"Hey, what are you thinking about?", Jayden's voice brought me out of my reverie. He had been working on his laptop while I had been playing on my phone for the last four hours until I got bored and started remembering the past.

"I was thinking about how much of an arsehole you were when I first met you," I said with a smirk gracing my face which probably made Jayden realise that I am about to pick up a fight with him any second from now.

"Oh please, like I was the one going around throwing coffee on people's favourite shirt. By the way, I still miss that shirt." I knew that was a lie since he had bought a similar shirt which is now his favourite.

"That was an accident Jayden. Have you never heard of the word accident? It spells A-C-C-I-D-E-N-T, accident. it means an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury or another definition would be an event that happens by chance or that is without apparent or deliberate cause." I only knew this definition by heart because I say it every time we fight about that day. And trust me, we argue about it almost everyday because Jayden is so stupid that he can't grasp the definition of the word accident and keeps saying that I had ruined his shirt on purpose.

"He wouldn't be a CEO if he was so stupid, stupid." My stupid inner self retorted back.

"Why do you even know the definition of that word by heart? It's so stupid and I'm tired of hearing it again and again. Everything is stupid. This argument, this trip, this flight. Everything. When will we even reach there? I am so tired." I was about to retort back but his sudden mood swing made me stop. I then realised his frustration. When we woke this this morning, he looked horrible. As if he hadn't slept the whole night. I had felt that his Nonno might be in a much worse condition than what I had anticipated. My heart suddenly lurched in my chest. I had been quite fond of Jayden's Nonno back in time. The old man had been very kind to me since our first meeting, unlike his grandson. I had met him when he came to visit Jay once and he immediately took a liking to me. This obviously did not go well with Mr Mancini's favourite grandson who disliked me since our first meeting. I don't know whether Jayden is aware, but Grandpa Mancini and I stayed in contact all these years.

No matter how much I tried to delude myself, the truth is that I do have a crush on Jay and I might even be falling for him for the way that he is behaving towards me nowadays. And seeing him so frustrated and worried and not being able to help him in any way is making me feel antsy. I think this is the reason why I took in his hand in mine without a second thought.

"I'm sure he will be fine, Jay. Don't worry too much or you will harm your own health."

HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?" he suddenly shouted at me. "ARE YOU THE DOCTOR TREATING HIM?"

To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. I was beyond hurt by his words and I did not even know why. This had hurt me just like his words had in his study last night. This happened to me every time he raised his voice at me. I just left his hand and turned in my seat to admire the clouds as I questioned myself onto why I am so sensitive.

"I'm sorry," I heard his voice about five minutes later from besides me. I turned around to see him staring at me, visibly upset.

"It's fine, Jay. Really. You need to stop worrying about his health though. It will only make you more frustrated. And we have five more hours of flight left. Why don't you take a nap instead?" I asked him patiently. I knew that he was frustrated and worrying about his Grandfather and he did not really sleep much last night.

"Thank you Evelyn, for everything. I mean it," Jayden said, looking less upset and frustrated after my words. He then decided to retire in the bedroom the jet offered. I looked at the clouds again while my mind went back to the first time I met Jayden's nonno.

***

I was sitting under large cherry blossom tree in the park near the campus. It was my favourite spot whenever I needed some tranquility away from the stress and bustle that always seems to be around the campus. I don't deal well with stress which is the main reason why I never liked studying in the library. Here surrounded by people casually walking around and kids having a good time was a much better place for me to gather my thoughts and study for the upcoming exams.

"Mind if I join you, child?" A heavily accented voice pulled me out of the notes I was going through. I looked up to see a man who seemed to be in his sixties smiling at me. I never liked talking to strangers but for some reason I couldn't say no to him. He made me feel at ease and I always trusted my instincts.

He introduced himself as Mr Alessandro Mancini, an Italian businessman. He told me that he had already retired and was in town visiting his grandson. His daughter had married an American businessman and settled down in the U.S despite his protests. But he was happy since his son-in-law was a good man. We talked for quite some time until someone interrupted us.

"There you are, old man. I've been looking for you." Oh no! Not this voice. Why did I have to cross path with him so frequently? We did not even have the same major. Yet he seemed to find a way to make my life hell at every opportunity that he got.

"I met this beautiful lady and did not even realise how quickly time flew by in her gorgeous company," Mr Mancini said with a wink in my direction and I blushed, clearly not used to compliments.

Jayden took one look at me and scoffed. "This beautiful lady? Oh please, Nonno. If only you knew how cruel and calculating she could be, planning on making my life hell at every chance that she gets."

"What do you mean by that?" I cried out, angry that he was turning it all on me. "You are the one ruining my life every time our paths cross, pulling stupid pranks like kindergarten kids and picking up useless fights with me."

"Jayden Cole, you do not go around making ladies upset. I know that my daughter raised you better than this." Mr Mancini said, looking upset with Jayden.

To my surprise, Jayden looked taken aback by his words and immediately looked down. "I apologise Nonno. Let's go back now. It's late and you should not be out for long." He said before turning around.

Mr Mancini looked at me before saying, "it was really nice to meet you, Evelyn. I hope to see you again sometime soon." He said with a smile before leaving.

Five minutes later I got a text from an unknown number.

"You will pay for this, butterfly. -J.W.C"

***

A few hours later, I felt someone shook my shoulder. "Hey wake up. We're here." I opened my eyes to see Jayden smiling at me.

"You look suspicious. You didn't do anything, did you?" I rubbed my eyes with my knuckles before eyeing him.

He groaned loudly before saying, "oh come on! I thought the past was behind us at this point. Now come, let's see what Italy has to offer." He pulled me from my seat and led me outside.

To this day, I still have no idea as to how he got my number.