16

They both exited the plane in morbid silence. Their faces were set in stone and the tension between them during the ride to the hotel was enough to strangle a person. When they set foot in the beautiful hotel, it was a race to the reception desk so they could get away from each other.
“Reservation for Taylor and Lawson please.” Jason voiced.
The receptionist who was a middle-aged woman chewing gum slowly looked up and put on a huge smile when she saw Jason. Her smile faltered when she saw Jean but she quickly put it back in place.
“Okay, just a minute, let me check.” She fluttered her lashes at Jason before looking down at her computer and typing furiously on it. After a few minutes, she looked up at Jean and cocked an eyebrow in surprise. “You’re Jean Taylor?” she asked, “THE Jean Taylor?”
Jean quickly nodded and removed her sunglasses to confirm her assumption. The lady who they saw to be Madelyn by her name tag, gave a small smile and before calling a bell boy to pick up their luggage.
“Henry, please take them to the penthouse.” She said to the bell boy before turning around to face the duo once more, “Here are your keycards to your penthouse. You may-“
She was cut short by a devastated Jean.
“I’m sorry. Did you say ‘penthouse’? Like one penthouse? I thought the reservation was for two rooms.”
“Actually, its for a two-bedroom penthouse. But you'll love it. It has almost completely made of glass, has a nice view of the beach and its beautiful. Probably perfect for you and your boyfriend.”
“Whoa! Hold it there, sister. We are NOT dating.” Jean defended. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Jason was actually amused by this. No wonder the idiot hadn’t said a word about this, he was enjoying it.
Madelyn just smiled and quickly gave them the keycards before sauntering off in her stripper heels. The bell boy ushered them into the elevator and pressed the button that said ‘P’. They were in the luxurious penthouse before they knew it. Jason tipped the bell boy heavily and he left with a smile plastered on his face. By the time he turned back, he saw Jean's luggage gone and he heard the first door slam closed.
Shaking his head, he slumped on the couch and let his tired muscles stretch on the expensive white leather while he admired the interior of the penthouse. Madelyn wasn’t lying when she said it was beautiful. The wall facing the beach was entirely made of glass and so were the stairs. The kitchen was huge with state of the art cooking appliances and a large glass island. The fact that everything was either cream or white didn’t really suit him but he wasn’t complaining. Grumbling, he dragged his luggage to his room so he could shower and unpack.
Jean was furious as she let the soothing water from the Jacuzzi-stroke-shower pelt her anger. She wasn’t angry at Jason nor was she angry at Madelyn. She was angry at herself for being so unfair to Jason; she wasn’t supposed to make the poor guy feel like it was his fault that he tried to keep their conversation going and he looked so heartbroken when she had snapped at him like a boy denied his favorite puppy at a pet store. She knew she had to apologize but her pride was getting the best of her. The pride she had so painstakingly developed over the years was being tested and so far, it was passing this test a bit too much for comfort. Before she could change her mind, she left the bath-thingy and dressed in a tank top and shorts. Her room and Jason’s room were on opposite sides of the hallway so it wasn’t that hard to find it.
She knocked once, twice, no answer. Then she pressed her ears to the door and heard the springs of the mattress move.
“Jason, I know you’re in there. Please, can you open the door so we can at least talk?’ she pleaded. Then she added, “Please?”
She heard a sigh before the door clicked open to reveal a cross-faced Jason. He stood aside as a sign for her to come in and she did before he closed the door behind her.
“What do you want?” he asked scowling.
Jean decided to say everything she wanted to say before her senses got the best of her. She took a deep breath.
“I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that on the plane and it was completely unfair of me. You were just trying to cheer me up, which is even good for me but I guess I was just stupid to reply you like that and-“
He cut her off by covering her mouth with his palm. “It's okay. I forgive you.”
He let go of her face and she muttered a thank you and he nodded.
“You talk too much when you apologize, which I guess isn’t often.”
“Actually, I apologize every time I make a mistake but that is usually something to do with paperwork or late appointments and meetings rather than personal issues.”
“I understand. But I have a question for you; its rather personal so I hope you don’t mind.” He sat on the queen-sized bed and beckoned for Jean to join him.
“Fire away.” She said as the soft duvet engulfed her behind.
“Do you have any friends? Like, except for Peter and your masseuse who set this whole thing up, don’t you have any other people you hang out with or talk to personally?”
“No, I don’t have friends. Even Peter isn’t my friend and Barbara is like a mother figure to me. I don’t believe in friendship.”
Jason’s face was one of pure horror. He just could not believe that such an amazing woman would isolate herself from the outside world so much. The entire world was missing out on the presence of a queen.
“You have got to be kidding me! That’s terrible. You just have to give friendship a try. Having friends is awesome, I mean, there’s so much to benefit from it and you have someone to hug you when you’re down and celebrate with you when you land those your huge business deals the world doesn’t believe.”
Jean couldn’t help but laugh at the glee in his voice and the glint in his eyes.
“You seem really ecstatic about friends.” Jean turned ninety degrees to face him squarely, “Look, it's not like I never had friends or I don’t know what it's like to have fun with friends and all that, but it's just that the people I trusted the most managed to hurt me in the worst the way possible.”
Jason looked thoughtful for a moment before he finally caught on and looked at her with an understanding look on his face.
“Ah, the old betrayal right? Look, Jean, in this world of ours, there are good people and there are bad people. That’s how it has always been and that’s how it will always be. Your job is to be observant and get your heads out of the clouds long enough to see clearly and notice the bad ones behind their façade. That doesn’t mean you should shut yourself away from the world entirely.”
“That’s just my problem. I don’t want to get hurt before I notice the people who are the major causes of my problems.”
“That’s why sometimes, its better to keep your circle small. Fewer friends means less drama and-“
“No friends means no drama.” Jean was slightly irritated that Jason was actually making sense and if she wasn’t careful, she could end up succumbing to him.
“Stop being so pessimistic, Jean. Okay, you know what? Just try friendship once and see how it goes.”
“But with who?” Jean asked, crossing her arms across her chest and raising a brow, “It's not like I have a book club of women I could call to come over and bake cookies with me.”
Jason dramatically clutched his chest, completely ignoring her sarcasm.
“You hurt me, Jean, so much. Who’s ever gonna be a better BFF to you than me?”
Jean thought about it for a moment and she realized that she actually liked the idea of being friends with Jason.
“Okay, fine then.”
“Yayyyy!” Jason clapped his hands in glee and settled down before a comfortable silence engulfed both of them. It wasn’t a tense one like what they shared in the plane earlier that same day but rather, the atmosphere was peaceful, with both of them drowning in their own thoughts; thoughts they weren’t ready to share after two minutes of friendship.
“Jean?”
“Hm?”
“Those people you said drove you away from personal relationships. Was James one of them?”
Jean looked at him in surprise and he chuckled.
“Don’t blame me for being freakishly observant. And, you guys weren’t exactly quiet that day when you left my office and he started questioning you about our vacation. I also heard you shun him like a troublesome puppy.” He ignored her bewildered expression, “So are you going to answer my question or should I sleep off this jet lag?”
“He was.” Jean gulped at the memory. Jason nodded and he didn’t want to press further but he couldn’t help it.
“Will you tell me the full story one day?” he asked eagerly.
“Maybe, Jason,” she sighed, “maybe.”