Chapter 63

He gathered her in his arms, holding her close to him. It was an embrace he had missed for years and one that brought him so much comfort.

“I forgive you, Mom,” he said softly, close to her ear. “And I love you.”

Yasmin cried harder, bawling her eyes out while she clung to her son. The weight that had weighed heavily on her heart for years was finally lifted and she could now breathe easy. All of her guilt and shame washed away with her tears, leaving her with a feeling of peace.

“I love you, Derek,” she said between sobs. “Thank you for giving me a second chance. I don’t deserve it but I am thankful for it.”

He smiled against her hair and said, “If Rachel could forgive me and give me a second chance in her life, who am I not to do the same for you?”

She stepped back and looked into her eyes. “You are so lucky to have her. She is such an amazing woman.”

“I agree,” he grinned. “What a night!”

“You should go back inside before your guests start looking for you,” she said and took her mask from him.

“Are you going to come inside with me?”

Her eyes widened. “Are you kidding? I’m dead, remember?”

He grinned. “Yolanda Fraser is dead, but Yasmin James is alive. So, what do you say?”

“They’ll recognize me.”

“Not if you keep that mask on your face. Come on, let’s go.”

“What if they ask you who I am?” She asked nervously. She was completely freaked out by the prospect of entering a room full of people who thought she was dead.
She wouldn’t want to be responsible for anyone dying for real tonight from a heart attack after seeing a resurrected dead woman. Besides, she wasn’t so sure that the mask was enough to make her unrecognizable to some people, especially Alfred.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Derek, confidently. “They’ll be too busy cheering to notice an old lady dressed like a chandelier.”

Yasmin gave him a withering look. “Seriously? An old lady?”

Her facial expression made him laugh. “Ok, sorry. I was just trolling you. You don’t look that old.”

“I don’t look old at all,” she said with mock anger. “Do you know how much it costs me to look like this?”

“I can only imagine,” he remarked dryly, enjoying her mock distress. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

“Derek, seriously – “

He cut off her protests by snatching the mask from her and wearing it on her face. “Stop fidgeting. You’re not the celebrant here, I am.”

Before she could stop him, he took her by the arm and opened the hall door. He felt her stiffen beside him as soon as they stepped inside and he gave her hand a comforting squeeze to calm her.

“Maybe you should check out the drinks stand,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m sure they’ll have something you’ll like.”

She grinned at him and replied, “You little daredevil. Thank you.”

Yasmin promptly floated away toward the drinks stand where one of the hotel staff in charge of serving drinks offered her a champagne flute.

“Why, thank you. I like a man who knows what a lady needs even before she asks,” she said coyly, flirting shamelessly with the cute guy.

He grinned. “I try,” he said.

She took a tiny sip of her champagne and said, “Do you have a name?”

The guy gave her a weird look before saying, “Sam.”

“Have you ever been to Bermuda, Sam?”

He laughed. “Are you trolling me?”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” She asked with a giggle.

Sam smiled as he loaded a tray with the glasses of drinks that he had poured. “It was nice talking to you, ma’am, but I have to get back to work now.”

“Ma’am?” She snorted playfully. “When do you get off work?”

He shrugged. “I’m on duty until the party ends.”

“Sounds promising,” she drawled and smiled seductively.

Her innuendo wasn’t lost on him and he smiled back. “You don’t want to mess with me, ma’am unless you want to get burned,” he said with a smug look as he picked up the tray of cocktails. “And I’m not bluffing,” he added and walked away.

She followed him with her eyes, amused by his confidence, and watched him weave smoothly through the party as the guests plucked off a glass of drink from his tray as he passed them. Her attention was diverted when Derek began to tap his wine glass noisily with a fork to get everyone’s attention.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please,” he said loudly. Rachel was standing beside him and all eyes in the room immediately swung in their direction.

“I have something important to say and I believe there’s no better time to say it than right now in the presence of all the important people in my life,” he continued, then nodded to one of the waiters to come and take his glass of wine and the fork he was holding.

“I have a confession to make,” he announced and turned to face Rachel.

**********

A confession? Rachel wondered, a little panicked. Why would he want to make a confession during his birthday party? Did it have something to do with Yasmin? Was he going to expose her? Was that why he had brought her into the hall? Had she made a terrible mistake by flying his mother into the country and bringing her to this party?

Rachel was a bunch of nerves and she tried to catch Derek’s eyes to signal to him to cut out whatever he was about to say because there may be no coming back from it.

“What are you doing?” She whispered from the side of her mouth while still smiling widely at him.

“You’ll see,” he whispered back with a grin, repeating what she had said to him earlier when she’d led him into this hall to a roomful of surprise guests.

Returning his attention to the crowd, he raised his voice and said, “Around two years ago, I met a remarkable lady at the bar of a nightclub that I frequented back then. She caught my eye and her sense of humor won me over within seconds. What started as harmless flirting between strangers soon led to something too beautiful for words to describe, but guess what? I messed everything up big time because of my ego and stupid pride. I let down that amazing woman and I let myself down too. I broke her heart and mine, but the following year, I showed up at her doorstep, apologetic and ready to take the blame for the mess I caused.

“To my surprise and relief, she forgave me and let me back into her life. I have never experienced such grace before and I fell in love with her right then but I didn’t even realize it. You would think that I had learned my lesson, but I still messed up again because I thought I had everything figured out and didn’t need help. It took almost losing this phenomenal woman for me to realize just how empty my life would always be without her and the priceless gift she has given to me – our daughter, Zoe.”

Rachel and everyone in the room were stunned into silence. Who would have thought that Derek was capable of being so vulnerable in front of everyone and opening his heart to them like this? It was a beautiful, touching moment.

He turned to her and said, “Thank you for showing me what love is, Rachel. You made me a believer and now I can’t see my future without you in it. You and Zoe have made me the happiest, most fulfilled man on earth and I am thankful for your patience with me. I fell in love with you when you overlooked my flaws and gave me a second chance for the sake of our child, but I was so afraid to feel what I didn’t understand and instead, tried my best not to acknowledge it. I am sorry for all the times I hurt you with my words and actions, Rachel. Can you forgive me for that?”

She tried to laugh but choked on it instead because her throat was tight with emotions and her eyes were brimming with tears. “Of course, Derek. Would I do all of this if I was still mad at you? I love you, Derek.”

His eyes glazed over with tears and he didn’t bother to blink them away, so they ran down his face. “I love you so much, that it terrifies me sometimes but I’m not going to let that stop me from loving you anyway because my life would be meaningless otherwise.”

It was a lot for Rachel to take in but she tried her best not to fall apart right there and cry her eyes out because everything Derek had just said was the most mind-blowing thing she had ever heard. His honesty warmed her heart greatly and she fell in love with him even more.