All The Wrong Reason episode 31
đ¸ALL THE WRONG REASONđ¸
đšEPISODE THIRTY-ONEđš
Two days later, Yuan and Jill had to say goodbye to
Adrienne. As much as they loved their week in Paris, they
had to go back to reality. They still had jobs that required
them to go back to New York.
Adrienne decided to do whatâs right. She sent Jada her
resignation letter. She figured, sheâd spent years working
her ass off because she didnât want to be a failure in her
motherâs eyes. But she was never really her mother. Sheâs
her stepmother. And her real mother would prefer she
stayed in Paris, if not for good, then for a while longer.
Although he partied like a kid at night time, Jin
actually wore the Starck heir coat pretty well. He made a lot
of progress managing their business. Little by little, her
stepfather trusted him to take the reins of their empire.
A week after Yuan and Jill left, Adrienneâs mother told
her she would meet her at a coffee shop in one of their
hotels and she will introduce her to some of her friends and
their kids, so she could make new friends. The family driver
took her there.
Adrienne must have been in the coffee shop for an
hour yet her mother didnât make an appearance. She
received a call from her.
âSweetheart, Iâm sorry I canât make it. But Christine
just might come at any minute. If she reaches there, tell her
I had to rush to meet my editor. But if you could pleaseâŚ
have coffee with her. Sheâs just in town for a visit. She could
use some company.â
âOkay, Mom.â
She appreciates it that her mother is slowly
introducing her to her circle of friends as part of her family.
She needed to meet new acquaintances to keep herself
from thinking too much about Justin and to keep from
getting bored.
She checked the calendar. Thirty days left. And still no
word from Justin. She resisted the urge to text or call him.
She couldnât. If heâs doing what he could to get to know his
fiancĂŠe, she didnât want to ruin it.
She badly wanted to tell him about the recent turn of
events in her life. She did not want disturb his focus. She
wanted him to do this on his own, with no influence coming
from her. That wouldnât be fair.
She must have stayed in the coffee shop, browsing
the internet through her phone, for about three hours. No
one came. Her motherâs friend didnât make an appearance.
She called her mother.
âSo, how was it?â she asked, sounding ecstatic.
âMama, your friend didnât show up.â
There was silence on the other end of the line. Then
her mother said, âOh. Okay. She must have been caught up
in something. Iâll give her a call now. Meanwhile, you can
call the driver to take you home.â
âMama, is your friend all right?â
Her mother sighed on the other line. âI hope so. Donât
worry about it. Iâll sort it out. Iâll see you at dinner.â
Adrienne went home. When she got to her room, she
saw a box sitting on her coffee table. It was wrapped in
silver wrapper with a metallic purple ribbon.
She read the card.
Boredom kills.
So maybe itâs time you start writing your next
bestseller.
Love,
Jin
She smiled. Her brother was so thoughtful. He was
everything that Kimberly wasnât. And her heart swelled with
the love that her new family offered her.
She opened the box and found a brand new Macbook
Air. She couldnât stop smiling. Jin was absolutely right.
Writing would be the best thing for her to do whilst she
stayed in Paris. She remembered the novel she started
writing. Then she remembered, she canât work on that
again. She would make herself too heartbroken if she
continued that story. Justin inspired that love story. But now,
her love story with him faced an uncertain ending.
Her mother entered her room.
âSweetheart, Iâm sorry you had to wait in the coffee
shop for nothing,â she said. Adrienne could see the
disappointment all over her face. âMy friendâs sonâs flight
was delayed.â
âYour friendâs son?â Adrienne repeated. âI thought I
was meeting your friend.â
Her mother stared at her for a while and then she
said, âOh, yes, yes. Er⌠Christine was⌠wasnât able to make
it to Paris. But her son came to town. And he wanted to see
the sights.â
âMom, I cannot be a tour guide.â Adrienne said. âIâve
been here less than two weeks.â
âYes. But he frequents Paris. He doesnât need to be
shown around. He just⌠needed company.â
Adrienne narrowed her eyes at her mother. âWhy
me?â
âHeâs from the States, too. And I wanted you to meet
my friendsâ family. Whenever Christineâs son is here, he
usually didnât⌠have any company or friends to tour around
the City.â
âHeâs a guy. Maybe Jin would be able to show him a
better time than I would.â
âHeâs not Jinâs age. And JinâŚhates my circle of friends
and their children. Do you know, heâs met none of my
friendsâ children? And he hasnât gone to any one of my
gatherings or meetings with my friends.â
âReally?â
âIf itâs not business-related, heâs not interested.â
âMaybe he can start with meeting Christineâs son.
Heâd be a better company than me.â
âWell, Pierre just sent him to Dubai to facilitate the
construction of our hotel there.â Her mother smiled at her.
âWould you be a star and help me out then? I sort of
promised Christine Iâd introduce you to her son.â
Adrienne raised a brow. âMomâŚjust a question. Youâre
not setting me up with your friendâs son, are you?â
Her mother stared back at her blankly. And then she
shrugged. âWellâŚmy friends have very good-looking kids.
Theyâre smart, too, and come from very good families. And I
specifically remember that you were trying to get over some
guy whose parents couldnât accept you.â
Adrienne laughed. âOh my God, Mama!â she said.
âPlease stop. I am not looking to jump into a rebound
relationshÂĄp. I just broke up with my boyfriend ten days ago.
And besides, I sort of promised him I would wait.â
âWait?â her mother echoed. âDonât be absurd,
Adrienne. You should not be the one doing the waiting. He
should be chasing after you. His parents should be begging
him to come back to you. Youâre my daughter and youâre
beautiful, smart and kind-hearted. Any guy would die to be
in your boyfriendâs shoes right now.â
Adrienne felt happy to hear that for a change, she has
a mother who is truly proud of what she is.
âMom, donât worry about me,â she ass**ted. âIâll be
okay.â
Her mother sat beside her and put an arm around her
shoulder. âCan you at least promise me you will let me
introduce you to my circle? Okay, you donât have to start
dating right away. JustâŚmeet new people. I donât want to
see you wasting your time waiting for somebody who may
not come back to you.â
Adrienne sighed. She didnât want to do it. But she also
wanted to make her mother feel that sheâs trying to fit into her world. And this is the first time that she felt that her
mother actually cared about her.
âIâll meet new friends,â she said firmly. âBut I will not
date anybody rom-ntically, Mom. I promise Iâll try my best
to become friends with your friendsâ kids. And they have to
be both boys and girls. Not exclusively boys. Iâm all for
making new friends. But I wonât have a boyfriend. UntilâŚâ
She sighed. âUntil Iâm ready.â
Her mother smiled. âOkay. Thatâs fair enough. By the
way, Iâm going to throw a party in two weeks. Itâs the best
way to introduce you to the society. Everybody should know
who you are and that you belong to this family.â She k-ssed
her forehead.
âWhat?â Adrienne began to protest. She thought this
heiress thing was going to be easy. âMama, no. Itâs not
necessary.â
âOf course it is!â her mother claimed. âTo not make
you feel awkward, Iâd do it on the same night as my victory
party. My book âClever Talesâ is number one on the New York
Times Bestsellersâ List for six weeks now. Iâve sold about two
million copies. Itâs time to celebrate. I do it all the time with
my other books that hit a milestone. And on that night, we
will formally introduce you to everybody.â
Adrienne almost panicked.
Her mother laughed. âYou will do great, Adrienne.
Youâre my daughter. Just breathe and be yourself. Everybody
will love you. And if they donât, they can just go to hell. I
donât care. Iâm proud of you.â
Her mother stood up and headed for the door. Then
she turned back to her. âIâve been a rom-nce novelist for
decades, sweetheart. And I knowâŚyou meet the guy for you
at the most unlikely places and situations. You never know.
You just might meet someone whoâs really worth forgetting
your ex-boyfriend for.â
Adrienne just smiled at her mother. But in her mind
she thought, I sincerely doubt that, Mom. Nobody is worth forgetting Justin for.
***
The next day, her mother told her to meet her friend,
Christineâs son again. She sat at the same coffee shop for
more than an hour, but this friendâs son was again a no-
show. Honestly, she was getting infuriated. If she didnât
want to please her mother, she would have left fifteen
minutes ago. Obviously, this guy also didnât want to meet
her. And besides, how ungentlemanly was it to stand up a
girl two days in a row?
She didnât plan on dating him. Adrienne saw this as a
meet and greet type of thing. She promised her mother she
would try to befriend those in her circle. But she wondered if
rich kids usually act like this? Do they assume that only their
time matters and to hell with anyone else?
After another ten minutes, she gathered her stuff,
about to leave.
Just then a guy approached her.
âAre you Andrea Blanc? Ariana Starckâs daughter?â he
asked in a c*cky voice.
Adrienne stared up at the dark-haired guy standing in
front of her. He wore a pair of shimmery black p-nts, long-
sleeved black shirt with white tie and white suspenders. His
hair was dark brown and heâs wearing a pair of silver
shades. His plucked brow was raised, and he looked like he
was impatiently waiting for her to answer.
Adrienne nodded.
He immediately pulled the chair opposite from her and
sat down. He pulled his shades up his head and revealed a
pair of electric blue eyes. She was sure heâs wearing contact
lenses to make his eyes appear more striking.
âIâm sorry, Iâm late,â he said. Then he paused for a
while and laughed. âActually, Iâm not. I wasâŚwith this model
and she was hot!â Then he winked at her.
He then scrolled through the menu and raised his
hand and waived to the waiter. âHey, waiter guy!â he called
in a very loud voice, the coffee shop actually went quiet.
Adrienne sank lower in her seat and actually used the menu
in front of her to cover her face in embarrassment.
It took a while before the waiter came to their table.
The guy raised a brow at him. âWhat? Youâre going to make
me wait for Christmas?â he asked him. He didnât wait for the
waiter to reply. âGet me a machito.â
âExcuse me?â The guy blinked back at him. âSir, what
is that?â
âThe coffee? Hello?â the guy said looking at the waiter
as if he thought he was stupid.
The waiter stared at the guy blankly, clearly having no
idea what he meant.
âAre you stuâŚâ
âO-kay!â Adrienne interrupted, before the guy could
actually continue what he was about to say. âI think he
meant macchiato.â
âYeah, thatâs what I said. You deaf or something?â the
guy asked the waiter.
The waiter bit his lip to prevent himself from either
snapping back or laughing his ass off at this imbecile in
front of them.
âRight away,â he said and gave Adrienne a thankful
smile.
âIn your dreams, peasant,â the guy in front of her said
under his breath after seeing the waiter smile at Adrienne.
âExcuse me?â Adrienne turned back at the guy. âWho
are you?â
âYou donât know me?â he asked and he looked
genuinely offended that she didnât recognize him. âReally?
Where have you been?â
Adrienne stared at him blankly. No! She didnât know
him and she wished she hadnât even laid eyes on him today.
âIâm⌠Iâm sorry. I⌠I was confined in a mental
institution for the last ten years. I really have no idea who
you are,â Adrienne said in her most innocent voice.
He grinned at her. âJustin.â
âWhat?â Adrienne blinked back. The name still makes
her heart beat a thousand times faster.
âMy name is Justin. Iâm Christineâs son. My mother
said I should meet her friend Arianaâs daughter, Andy. Are
you the daughter? Because I know the Starcks. AndâŚwellâŚ
you donât look half as posh as your brother.â
Seriously? His name is also Justin? God, kill me now!
Bile rose to Adrienneâs throat and she balled her
hands in front of her. She would have hit the guy and she
bet the waiter and the other patrons around them would
love to help her gang up on this assh-le. But she cannot
embarrass her mother.
âOkay. Itâs nice to meet you, Justin, and now I must
go.â She started to stand up.
But she felt a hand on her wrist, grasping it tightly.
âSit down, will you?â he asked in a low firm voice that
Adrienne actually scared her a little.
She sat back on her seat and stared at the guy crossly.
âYou know, AndyâŚa lot of girls would die to be in your
shoes right now. Having coffee with me.â He didnât even get
her name right, but Adrienne felt irritated enough with him,
she didnât bother correcting him.
Adrienne closed her eyes for a second. She didnât
remember why she allowed him to stop her from getting up
on her feet and leaving him.
âBut my mother begged me to meet you. Get to know
you. Make you head over heels in love, if I didnât make you
fall in love at first sight. She and your mother are hoping
weâre a perfect match, you know.â
âOh my God! Maybe theyâre right! Youâre probably the
answer to my prayers!â Adrienne said sarcastically.
The guy grinned. âOh sweetheart. I think I am.â
âIâm⌠Iâm sorry. I⌠I was confined in a mental
institution for the last ten years. I really have no idea who
you are,â Adrienne said in her most innocent voice.
He grinned at her. âJustin.â
âWhat?â Adrienne blinked back. The name still makes
her heart beat a thousand times faster.
âMy name is Justin. Iâm Christineâs son. My mother
said I should meet her friend Arianaâs daughter, Andy. Are
you the daughter? Because I know the Starcks. AndâŚwellâŚ
you donât look half as posh as your brother.â
Seriously? His name is also Justin? God, kill me now!
Bile rose to Adrienneâs throat and she balled her
hands in front of her. She would have hit the guy and she
bet the waiter and the other patrons around them would
love to help her gang up on this assh-le. But she cannot
embarrass her mother.
âOkay. Itâs nice to meet you, Justin, and now I must
go.â She started to stand up.
But she felt a hand on her wrist, grasping it tightly.
âSit down, will you?â he asked in a low firm voice that
Adrienne actually scared her a little.
She sat back on her seat and stared at the guy crossly.
âYou know, AndyâŚa lot of girls would die to be in your
shoes right now. Having coffee with me.â He didnât even get
her name right, but Adrienne felt irritated enough with him,
she didnât bother correcting him.
Adrienne closed her eyes for a second. She didnât
remember why she allowed him to stop her from getting up
on her feet and leaving him.
âBut my mother begged me to meet you. Get to know
you. Make you head over heels in love, if I didnât make you
fall in love at first sight. She and your mother are hoping
weâre a perfect match, you know.â
âOh my God! Maybe theyâre right! Youâre probably the
answer to my prayers!â Adrienne said sarcastically.
The guy grinned. âOh sweetheart. I think I am.â
Adrienne gro-ned. Not only is this guy a total douche,
heâs also a moron.
The waiter reappeared with his macchiato. The way he
treated him, she wouldnât be surprised if the waiter spat in
his coffee. She wanted to warn him about it, but she
thought, hell! He deserved it! In fact, she wished the waiter
did.
âHow did our mothers meet?â
The guy shrugged. âOld family friends. Then they were
roommates in college,â he replied. âCloser than sisters. I
think they got it in their heads that they should be family. So
theyâre hoping we start hooking up.â
âSeriously?â
The guy nodded. âYou up for it?â he asked and gave
her a smoldering look.
Adrienne resisted the urge to vomit right then and
there.
âIâm sorryâŚâ she said. âBut I thinkâŚyouâre waaay out
of my league.â She tried to smile sweetly.
The guy leaned back on his seat and drank his
âmachitoâ. When he put his cup down, he had coffee froth all
over his mouth that he actually looked like he was sporting
a mustache. He didnât even make an effort to wipe it off.
âThatâs what I thought,â he said. âI only date models.â
âShocking!â Adrienne said under her breath.
âSo, how come I didnât know about you, Andy? We
donât see you at the Starcksâ events. We knew Ariana had a
daughter, but we never saw you before.â
âI told you, I was in a mental institution, remember?â
He blinked back at her. âOh, that wasnât a joke?â he
asked.
âI donât have a sense of humor,â she replied flatly.
She thought that if he really thought she was cuckoo
he would tell his mother there is no way in the world they
would hook up.
âDonât worry. Girls go crazy about me, too.â And he
gave her a wink again. Then he stared at her with narrowed
eyes, which he probably thought was sâŹĂy.
âIs something wrong with your eyes?â Adrienne asked.
âWhy?â He sounded like he was panicking. âAre they
still red? Damn those Visines!â he said.
âVisine?â Adrienne echoed. âYou meant to tell me your
eyes were red before you came to meet me? What? Are you
on drugs?â
He laughed. âNo. I donât really consider pot drugs.
Duh!â
Pot? Is he serious?
Adrienne was interrupted by the ring of her phone. It
was her mother.
âMama.â
âHey, sweetheart,â she said. âSo, have you met
Justin?â
âHmmmâŚâ she simply said.
âIsnât he wonderful? I swear if I was only your ageâŚâ
âMama, I thought Pierre was the love of your life.â
âOf course, he is!â Her mother laughed. âBut I was just
saying that Justin is a dreamboat!â
âYeahâŚhe isâŚout of this world.â She didnât want to be
rude in front of this moron.
âTreat him well. Heâs my oldest friendâs son. Heâs a
very nice guy once you really get to know him. I think the
two of you could really become good friends.â
âYou donât say.â Adrienne tried to put a smile on her
voice.
âTalk to you later.â
âThanks, Mom.â
She turned back to Justin, the moron.
âOkay so my mother asked me to take you out
tonight,â Justin said. âWhat do you say, meet me at
Rendezvous bar at nine?â
âIs that really necessary?â
He raised a brow at her. âHey. I donât like you, either,â
he said. âIâd rather be f-cking the lingerie model I brought
back to my hotel room a while ago. But as it is, it would
make our mothers happy to see that we at least tried,
right?â
Of all the things that came out of his mouth, the last
sentence was the only thing that made sense to Adrienne.
âAfter tonight, you could tell your mother what you said to
me. That I was way out of your league. Iâm pretty high
maintenance.â
âReally? High maintenance would be an
understatement!â Adrienne rolled her eyes. âSeriously, lady.
When my mother said sheâd like me to hook up with
Arianaâs daughter, an heiress, I was actually expecting the
likes of Paris Hilton or I donât know⌠Ivanka. You know. Posh.
Sophisticated.â
âAnd when my mother told me to try to befriend one
of her friendsâ sons, I was expecting to meet⌠I donât
knowâŚPeter Parker, maybe. Smart. Funny. Interesting.â
Adrienne said, feigning a smile.
âOh, lady. I am interestingâIâm just not interested in
you.â
âOh, thank God! Iâm saved!â Adrienne said, rolling her
eyes.
âYeah, yeah. Nine p.m., Rendezvous. Hereâs my
business card,â he said and he handed her a card.
It was black with silver letters on them. Adrienne read
it.
Justin J.
Making all other men less attractive since 1989.
Email: justinsâŹĂ10xaday@gmail.com.
Adrienne stared back at the guy. âSeriously? You call
this a business card?
He winked at her and gave her another smoldering
look. This was probably the first time she encountered a guy
who has a pickup business card.
Is this guy for real?
He stood up. âSee you tonight, Andy.â And he went off.
The waiter was about to catch him but he was too fast and
Adrienne was left on the table openmouthed. The waiter
then gave her the bill.
âHe even made you pay for his coffee?â the waiter
asked her.
She sighed. âTerrible. That was the most despicable
human being!â
âWell, some rich brats are like that,â the waiter said. âI
am sorry your date was a douche.â
âHeâs not my date. And I am sorry I met him, too.â
He handed her the bill. âI just need your signature. Mr.
Starck will take care of the bill.â
Adrienne shook her head. âNo. Itâs not that much. And
I donât want my brother to hunt that guy down and punch all
his teeth down his throat.â In her mind, she smiled. Yes. She
actually has a sibling who would do that for her now.
The waiter smiled. âHeâd deserve it.â
Adrienne placed a couple of bills on the folder he gave
her. She doubled the bill for his tip. Then she thanked the
waiter and went into the Rolls Royce that her stepfather
owned.
She was going to meet up with that douchebag again
tonight. And she just couldnât help panicking about how she
would survive another minute with him.