When everyone had left, leaving just me and Jessica, all I could do was cry. It just didn’t make sense; he told me one thing and ended up doing another.
“You just have to calm down, Nora; crying won’t solve anything right now,” Jessica said.
“Did you see that? He could have just told everyone the truth from the very start, but no, he chose to let them make assumptions,” I said through sobs.
“You really have to stop trusting these men, Nora; you seriously have to stop. What if the news of you being with him last night comes out, what are we going to do about it? ” Jessica asked.
“I’m sure he has some explaining to do; he promised to reach out to me after he was done with what he had to do. I’m certain he’ll call me soon,” I replied.
“Can you hear yourself? He’s not going to reach out to you; rather, he’ll try to avoid you,” Jessica said.
“He won’t do that,” I said, shaking my head, refusing to believe Ray would do something like that. Tears flooded my eyes, and it felt like I was cold all of a sudden.
“Nora, you’re only going to hurt yourself more. The earlier you realize that the only person thinking of your best interest is you, the better for you. Your reputation is in the mud as we speak; he has turned the tides against you. No one will insult him; rather, some might sing his glory, but you… they’ll call you names. No one will even believe you if you go out there yelling the truth at them. You have to be strong and face reality, ones bitten twice shy.” Jessica said, standing up.
“I’m your best friend, and I’ll always tell you the truth. Mr. Raymond and Jake are family; he’ll do everything possible to protect his family. It’s time you protect yourself,” she said, tapping my shoulder lightly before making her way to the visitors’ room.
I stayed in the sitting room for a long time, eventually stopped crying and just moping at nothing in particular. Maybe I should call him and hear what he has to say, that way he can tell me he has a back up plan right ?
I ran up the stairs in search of my phone but realized I hadn’t had it since the incident. I rummaged through the shopping bags to see if I’d be lucky enough to find it, and, just like my mind was being read, I saw my handbag in one of the bags – the one I had taken to work the other day. Luckily, my phone was inside; however, the battery was dead. I plugged it in, waiting for it to come on, sitting on the bed with my legs folded, checking on the phone almost every second.
It finally came on, and lots of messages and missed calls almost blew the phone up. Some were calls from Jessica, my dad, and a number not saved on my phone; the others I recognized as some of my friends. But then again, I don’t have Ray’s number; there was no means for me to get through to him.
“Ahhhhhhh!” I screamed into my pillow out of frustration; nothing seemed to ever be going as planned for me. I lay back on my bed, letting the frustration wash through me.
My eyes caught a receipt lying close to the shopping bags; I picked it up, and on it was the phone number of the purchaser. I dialed the number, and it matched the strange number on my missed call list. Could it be that Ray was trying to get through to me? It only makes sense; I don’t recall giving him my number, though.
I called the number; it rang and rang, but no one picked up. I continued dialing the number, refusing to give up. After a while, I was told the phone had been switched off.
“No, no, no… He can’t deliberately be ignoring my call, right? It’s just not possible,” I said to myself. “Maybe the signal is just poor.” I went on to continue dialing the number; I was that way for a while before finally falling asleep.
I woke up the next morning to a knock on my door. “Come down for breakfast,” the voice said. I was too drowsy to recognize whose voice it was. This is the difference between staying alone and being at home; you don’t even get to lock yourself up and just cry the entire day away.
I went to the bathroom to quickly wash my face before going downstairs. “Good morning, Dad. Good morning, Mum,” I greeted, taking my seat. Neither of them responded. Jessica must have left for work really early; a friend by my side would have been really helpful. I picked at my food, not having even the slightest bit of appetite. I tried to eat a little, though, and when I couldn’t help it any longer, I stood up to leave.
“I’ll be leaving first. Thanks for the meal,” I said.
“Wait for me in the study room,” my Dad said, not looking up from his plate.
I nodded and went straight to the study room. My mind raced at the idea of him wanting to speak to me. I sat there for a while, imagining all sorts of things – maybe he’s going to disown me, or maybe marry me off to some ugly man. Those sorts of things happen in movies, but who would marry me after all this scandal?
The door creaked open, and I flinched. My Dad walked in, his face expressionless.
“Well, you were quite confident McLaren would defend you yesterday. Now that it turned out otherwise, what do you intend on doing?” he said, walking to his chair and sitting down.
“I… I… I… don’t know,” I stammered.
“Well, I anticipated that response, which is why I’ve come up with a solution for you,” he said.
“Huh!” I exclaimed, raising my brows.
“Yes, dear. You’ll be going to Paris, where you’ll stay until everyone forgets all of this ever happened.”
“What?”