Cara was restless after Marcus left in the storm. She was a little surprised by his concern. It was obvious that he cared else why would he come all the way here? Why would he stand up for her? Why would he pay her the dues? She picked up the money. It was a lot. In fact, it was four times what she would have received.
Why did he always give her extra that would make her want to return the rest to him? Did he do that on purpose? She knew her conscience wouldn’t let her rest until she returned the money, but this time she wouldn’t go to his house. This time she would find an alternative way to return him his money.
In the evening, when she went to the Kingston Club, Rudolph Sterling wasn’t happy. He had suffered losses on the days that she hadn’t performed and blasted her for wasting her opportunities.
“The audience wanted you to perform and when you didn’t, they demanded a refund of their money. Rudy had to flee to escape their wrath. Maybe that’s why he’s grumpy,” said Cole as he geared up for their performance.
“Don’t take him so seriously. Cheer up,” said Garry.
“Yeah, tonight the crowds are much less. I wonder why!” said Carlton.
“Maybe they’re all disappointed at not seeing Cara for two consecutive nights,” said Cole with a shrug.
“Guys, please. The world doesn’t revolve solely around my performance. I’m sure they might have other important work to do than come here,” she said with an eye roll. If she didn’t need the money so badly, she wouldn’t be here in the first place. She would be in a college, studying as all eighteen-year-olds did.
They performed to the best of their abilities. The crowd went crazy to see their favorite singer back on stage. Everyone was overjoyed, but Cara was a little disappointed. She had expected Marcus to be there tonight.
After her performance, as she walked towards the dressing room, her eyes searched for him. Had he returned to the wedding venue? After all, the wedding was scheduled for the next day!
She changed, collected her money, paid Carlton his dues, and took the bus to her neighborhood. Stopping at the nearby supermarket, she purchased food items and other necessities for her home. Happy that they wouldn’t go hungry for the next two weeks, she returned home.
“Wow, are we rich now, Cara?” asked a wide-eyed Vera, seeing the enormous shopping bags in her hands.
“No silly, they’re just grocery items,” said Liam, taking them from her hands.
“I like Marcus, Cara,” said Adam with a grin. Cara sighed as thoughts of Marcus Donnelly again hit her hard. It was because of the money he had given her she could buy all their necessities.
“How can you like him? You hardly met the guy properly,” said Cara, walking towards her room to freshen up.
“Of course we did. Don’t you know that we’ve become friends with him already?” asked Adam, making her jaws drop with surprise.
“Are you crazy? He’s a billionaire and a celebrity painter. Why would he make friends with you? That was the first and last time you’ll ever see him. He won’t come here again,” she said solemnly.
“And if he does?” asked Liam with a serious look on his face. Cara shook her head vehemently.
“He won’t,” she stated, walking towards her bedroom, dismissing the topic altogether. Their bedroom was tiny, and she shared it with Vera, who followed her inside.
“Cara, Adam said that Marcus likes you and he’d surely come here again for you. Is it true?” she asked, sitting on the bed. Cara’s mouth hung open at her words.
“No. I was a maid at his house, and he came to pay me my dues. Why would he like me?” said Cara, but her cheeks blazed with embarrassment, thinking of the moments she spent with him at the Preston Island house.
She knew he had gone out of his way to show her he cared. Cara frowned and wondered what motive he might have behind his behavior. What could he possibly want?
“You’re a singer at Rudy’s club. Does he come home to pay you your dues?” asked Vera, looking annoyed at her older sister for not understanding the simple fact. Cara really didn’t have any reply to that.
“Don’t you have any homework to do?” she asked, to avoid her grilling. With their school at a walking distance from home, Cara didn’t need to bother much about the pickup and drop-off. They went with a bunch of neighborhood children and returned home with them.
“I’ve completed it already,” she shrugged, getting up and leaving the room. However, Cara’s mind was drawn to what she had just said. Did Marcus Donnelly like her even a little? If not, then why did he go out of the way to do things for her? Shaking her thoughts away, she freshened up and walked out to make dinner.
“Cara, what are you gonna make tonight?” asked Adam, his mouth-watering at seeing his sister take out some vegetables and the chicken she bought.
“Steak and fried rice,” she said, and Liam, Adam, and Vera eagerly helped her. They could hardly afford such delicacies ever.
“I wish we could eat this every day. I wish Marcus would marry you, Cara,” said Vera, dreamily, making Cara’s jaws drop with horror.
“I know, right?” whispered Adam into Vera’s ear.
“Stop right away. Why should Mr. Donnelly marry me, of all people on earth? Stop talking nonsense and do something productive with your time. I’ll manage this without your help,” scolded Cara.
“See? You got her mad. Couldn’t we discuss this after dinner?” said Liam, ushering his siblings away. Everything that her siblings had said disturbed Cara. Why would Marcus Donnelly want to be friends with her siblings? At last, she pushed the thoughts out of her mind. It wasn’t likely that she would ever see him again. So why bother?
Marcus closed his eyes and listened to her soulful voice singing the song that had already touched him deep down. It evoked a strange fire inside him that fuelled him to do something worthwhile with his life.
He wondered how she could feel so deeply about love when she herself hadn’t been in love before, or had she? Did she love someone for whom she had composed that song? A strong feeling of jealousy coursed through his body and at that moment, all he wanted was to be the lucky guy. Why couldn’t he find a love that was so pure?
He did not know when his feet involuntarily led him into his art studio. He sat in front of an incomplete painting and gazed at the incomplete work of art that he had started two years ago when he was in love.
Ever since Cassie had betrayed him, he hadn’t even looked at them but moved into this beach house; he had felt the wish to take them up again only if Cara would have been here with him.
The storm had made him take shelter at the beach house for the night. With Lucas and Sienna’s wedding the next day, he knew he couldn’t stay here tomorrow. But after the wedding, he swore to be back and this time he wouldn’t be in any hurry to return.
His heart raced with a strange excitement as he hummed the lyrics over and over that Cara wrote. His hand picked up a pencil, and he unconsciously started to sketch, his mind still on the song. It was only after he had completed the sketch did he realize what he had drawn.
A faceless diva under flashlights!
Marcus blinked at his creation. Was this all he could draw after two years of nothing? Was the figure Cara? He just dropped the pencil and walked off towards the bar to grab himself a drink. Had he become obsessed with the girl?
“She’s eight years younger than you, dammit!” said his inner voice, almost scolding him for his immaturity.
The next morning, Marcus went to attend his brother’s wedding half-heartedly. Thankfully, no one asked him anything about his trip to Long Island, not even Maria. The wedding was a pain in the wrong places as his arch-enemies, Alexander Van Every, and Ashton Pierce had arrived uninvited.
If it weren’t for Lucas and his granny, he and Nicholas would have declared war already.
So while he waited for the wedding to get over, planning to return to Long Island at the earliest, Cara was oblivious to the storm awaiting her.
Her siblings drove her crazy with their discussions on their friend Marcus, and all her efforts to quieten them didn’t work. They seemed to be obsessed with the guy!