Chapter 42

One of the most beautiful places on earth to Cara was Hawaii, even though the last time she had been to Hawaii was when she was a teenager on a summer vacation with her parents. As the plane neared the island, Cara forgot all her woes and chose to focus on the beauty of the island itself.

Her eyes felt like it didn't know how to blink at that moment as she was awestruck by what her eyes witnessed. All she could see was the unending grains of golden sand, as if the whole island was made out of gold itself. Shimmering blue waters that sparkled in the presence of the sunlight encircled the island. Greenery spread out all around the island, with patches of different colored flowers that grew in a distant.

When she stepped out of the hot, stuffy plane she felt nervous, her insides churning with anxiety of what was to come. On the one hand she was happy she was in Hawaii, but on the other hand she was worried that she might have left on a whim. She had constantly agonized over her decision throughout the trip and thought of a thousand and one reasons where everything could go wrong.

She was right, things could go wrong but it wasn't her problem anymore. She had left. She had left all that life behind her.

Hawaii was gorgeous enough to get Cara's mind off things, for a few moments though. Because barely few hours at the room she had rented for a few days she was already worrying about what was going to happen. She had switched off her phone and got a new one with a new sim card. Everything so far seemed normal. She feared contacting anyone for fear of them tracing her but it was inevitable. In a few days they would find her, she suspected that Alex would be doing all he could to get her back while subsequently pulling a few strings. Her parents too.

She would stay put. Wait it all out. If she was back home she'd be getting ready to walk down in the aisle in a few hours. Thank goodness she wasn't. She wished she could have at least told Nicholas what happened, he would be sick to death with worry, but then she wasn't sure she was ready for him to know.

He would take the next flight to Hawaii if he knew, while alerting everyone he knew in the process. Whether he intended to or not. She couldn't risk that. Not yet.

Hawaii would just have to do for the meantime.

"So she's in Hawaii."

Nicholas had said as he sighed after getting off a call with his brother. The past twenty four hours had particularly been hell. After he and his brother had decided to work together to find Cara, a famous gossip blog had headlined the next day. Pictures of Nicholas and Cara kissing were all over, with the blog hinting Cara might have fled with Nicholas since sources tell them the wedding wouldn't hold. It had been particularly annoying for his father, who was doing everything to kill the story as more and more local news outlet started to pick it up.

Nicholas could bear it, he could bear all of it, besides, his publicist and the family publicist was working hard enough to ensure that the news didn't do any more damage than it would, And Alexander himself had issued a statement claiming he and Cara had parted in good terms and mutually decided to cancel the wedding.

As if dealing with the news going public was not enough, his own father was demanding that Cara be retrieved from Hawaii and made to go through the wedding as payment for the humiliation she had caused. He had even condemened Alexander for giving a statement and was more concerned in saving his political career than everyone else's happiness.

He was for some reason a bit relieved about Cara being in Hawaii, away from public eye, maybe it'd be better.

He wasn't sure how she would be able to handle it if she was home and dealing with all the public outrage.

He on the other hand  was taking a few days off work because of the issue, he didn't mind, his company would be okay but he just wanted everything to die down before going back to work.

There was a knock on his door and he sighed.

His mother and father had not yet come for him, but they had been so disappointed and angry with him when they called. Not like he cared much about what they think. His sister had offered her apologies over a text. Typical.

And he had been unable to pick up the Devines phone calls.

He just couldn't do it.

So he wondered who was at the door.

It was Malory.

She walked in with asigh.

"I'm so sorry! I just had to see you."

She said as she walked in.

She looked like she had not slept, she looked tired. She was dressed in casual jeans and a shirt with a large coat.

"So good to see you Malory. I wish it was under better circumstances though."

He said as he walked her to a sofa.

Malory took one good look at him , he looked sad, very sad. She looked around and his place looked impeccable, she had never really been to his place.

Apart from the wedding stuff and all, Malory had to confess they really were not close.

She had barely thought of him as Cara's friend, he was always the brother in law who preferred to stay away. That was of course till she found out that they were having an affair.

"Alexander called me. To tell me everything that happened. About the wedding being canceled and Cara being in Hawaii."

"I didn't know she was going to do that."

He said quickly as he stood up.

"Coffee?"

He asked and she nodded.

"Yes please. I haven't gotten much sleep since I got his phone call and then the things that I saw online.."

She trailed off.

The comments were nasty, it was a whole mess, people were writing thinkpieces, radio shows had turned it to a hot topic, despite the blogs taking the story down, it had caught on and Cara had now become a object of ridicule. Alexander certainly didn't think it had gotten worse when she called him about it.

"How are you you holding up?"

She asked, remembering Nicholas was also involved. His face also being one of the ones that was plastered along with Cara's.

He shrugged.

"Ive got a few call from my investors and all. Some meetings and all. Overall my publicist is going to handle it."

"People will blab about it for the next couple of days and then it'll all die down."

"They'll find something else to talk about."

He muttered as he handed her a cup of coffee. He didn't even ask her how she liked to take her coffee, he was too distracted.

"It's fine. Thank you."

Malory said after she took a sip.

"You really had no idea she was going away?"

Nicholas shrugged.

"I think she did it on a whim. When last we talked, she gave me the impression that she was continuing with the wedding."

Malory shrugged.

"Last time I talked to her she told me she was going to see you..."

Nick nodded.

"Yes. We did see, but it's not what you're thinking. She only came to say goodbye."

Nicholas didn't mention that he had tried to convince her to end the wedding, that he had bought back her father's company for her. He didn't think it was necessary to mention it.

"Who do you think took the picture?"

Malory asked and Nichoolas shrugged.

"My brother's convinced it's Jean. She knew about us..."

Malory mouthed an oh and Nicholas nodded.

"She threatened us with it and apparently Alex threatened her in return, she didn't like that very much..."

"That bitch... I should have known."

Malory murmured as a frown formed on her face.

"Now that you know where she is, will you be going after her?"

Nicholas shook his head.

He didn't think so, he was thinking about it, but he wanted to respect Cara's decision. If she wanted him to know, she'd have told him.

"With everything that's going on I don't think its a good idea."

Malory sighed.

She placed her coffee mug back on the coffee table and sughed.

"I feel bad... I should have supported her."

"Instead I was criticising her. I was hard on her. Because I believed her marrying Alexander was the right thing to do, instead I was only pushing her away from me."

"We used to be so close you know?"

Malory said and Nicholas nodded.

She chuckled.

"She'd tell me everything. Everything and anything."

"But we just started drifting apart and I didn't do anything to stop that."

"It's not your fault Malory, she's your friend, you were only doing what a friend would have done."

Malory nodded.

"Yes. But if I was really such a great friend I'd have known where she is, because she'd have told me."

"Don't beat yourself up about it. Please don't."

Malory nodded.

Together they stayed in silence for a while and then they talked about mundane things. Like work, the weather and after a short while Malory said she was leaving.

Nicholas walked her to the elevator and told her goodbye, then he went back and got beneath the covers to get a little sleep.