Dedicated to my dear friend heart-chan. Merry Christmas and lotsa hugs and luv ~ ! Hope you'll like this. (:
~ CherrySugarCube
The sea was calm today. The water surface sparkled beautifully in the sunlight. It was nicely peaceful and quiet. There were no people near the seashore. Only a young boy, named James, who was sitting on a cliff. He was watching the waves and listening to his Pokémon Growlithe – which he preferred to call Growlie – barking and playing around in the water near the shore.
To James this day wasn't any different from the other days. Today he just happened to be full of Jessiebelle's irritating behavior and so he had decided to come to the seashore. He couldn't have ever participated that this day was like no other, that this day would change his whole life, that today he would meet a person whom he would spend the rest of his life with. A person who would change his life once and for all. James had just made a simple decision to come here and he never once had happened to think about the consequences.
He wasn't in the playing mood so he just watched his Pokémon Growlie playing in the sand. That Pokémon was his only friend and only one whom he could play with. James was born into a very rich family and although he had quite a few servants and personal assistants around him every day, he was very lonely. He felt comfortable only with Growlie. He didn't want to complain because Growlie was a loyal friend and a fine Pokémon but yet still he wanted to have a real friend, meaning a human friend. Growlie couldn't talk and James couldn't always be sure if Growlie even understood what he said to it. But James considered himself lucky for having Growlie as his Pokémon. It was very loyal and fearless creature and it always defended him and listened to him – no matter did it or did it not understand him.
James sighed quietly. He knew he couldn't spend much time here since his parents and Jessiebelle expected him to return before sundown. But James wished that he could have stayed there longer. He had no courage or nerves to say to his parents that he couldn't stand Jessiebelle whom they wanted him to marry. Only because James happened to be a little shy, submissive and maybe even too nice for his own good and because Jessiebelle had managed to make such a good impression on James's parents, they wanted James and Jessiebelle to get married. James's parents thought that Jessiebelle was a nice, kind-hearted, sweet, well-behaving girl but Jessiebelle was far from that. She indeed looked very pretty and nice but James had discovered her true personality a long time ago. She was bossy, arrogant, stubborn, sardonic and awfully wicked. She was sometimes very mean to James and she often judged everything James did and left undone. Nothing was good enough for her. James wasn't good enough. Everything he did was wrong or stupid or could be done better. And James's parents thought that they would make a wonderful pair.
Jessiebelle was the reason for James to be there on the cliff at the moment. He had left from his family's mansion to get away from Jessiebelle. This was a place where he could relax and clear his thoughts. After that he could go back and hope that Jessiebelle had already gone to bed or come up with something else to do than just bully and order him around.
But of course, with James's fortune, that was far too much to wish.
"Oh, James! There you are! I've been looking for you", shouted Jessiebelle's bright voice somewhere below.
James desperately wanted to run away. But he couldn't since Jessiebelle had already seen him and was now climbing to the cliff.
"What are you doing here, James?" she asked. "I thought your parents told you not to come to the shore by yourself. It's too dangerous, they say."
"But I have Growlie here with me", James replied, pointing at the Pokémon that was running around in the water.
Jessiebelle crossed her arms and said knowledgeably: "Yes, but could Growlie do anything if you fell off this cliff?"
"Sure", James replied confidently. "He'd save me. I know he would."
"You dummy! Growlie isn't a water-Pokémon. It couldn't save you from the sea. I bet it can't even swim."
"Of course he can swim", James said immediately, being sure of that he was right and Jessiebelle was wrong.
Jessiebelle shrugged. "I don't know about that… But if I were you, I wouldn't expect too much from Growlie", she said. "It doesn't look particularly smart…"
James disagreed strongly. But he didn't say it to Jessiebelle. The girl would only get mad – for nothing.
"Hey, James", Jessiebelle said suddenly, her voice brightening again. About that James knew that she had gotten some idea and that… Well, James very seldom liked her ideas.
"Since we're here, we could play something", the girl suggested. "Wouldn't that be nice?" She made a charming smile and tossed her red hair over her shoulder.
James hated playing with Jessiebelle. There were stupid rules in Jessiebelle's games and they changed every time she wanted them to. It was just that James didn't have another choice but to agree to play with her since otherwise Jessiebelle would tell his parents and they would tell him to play with her anyway.
"Fine…" he muttered. "What shall we play?"
Jessiebelle looked like she would have been considering the options for a while but James knew that she had already decided.
"I'd like to play a princess", she said. "You can be my prince. I want you to collect things for me. Is that okay with you, James?"
James nodded submissively, knowing that Jessiebelle didn't even want to know his real opinion. She was just acting to be polite.
"First… I'd like you to bring me some seashells", Jessiebelle said. "Understood?"
James nodded again and left for the shore to find some. What kind of prince had to do this kind of stuff…? In his opinion this was more like what a servant would have done.
James whistled. Growlie ran to him. He told it to look for some seashells with him. Growlie started to run around, digging holes into the sand. James watched it running around, wanting to forget about Jessiebelle who wouldn't leave him alone.
"Hey, you there", someone called him nearby.
James turned towards the stranger who had called him. It was a girl – girl who looked a lot like Jessiebelle. The girl's face was very similar to Jessiebelle's but instead of red hair this girl had pink hair and it wasn't as curly as Jessiebelle's was.
"You mean me…?" James asked the girl, pointing at himself.
"Do you see anyone else here somewhere nearby?" the girl replied cheekily.
James wasn't sure if he liked this girl at all. She reminded him far too much of Jessiebelle. She didn't only look like her but was almost as cocky as she was.
"My name is James", James said to her politely completely ignoring the girl's snide way of speaking. All his life he had been taught to handle situations like this. Never lose your temper or reply insolently, remember always to be polite and kind. Never speak if you aren't spoken to. Always reply to the question and say nothing more. Never lie but never tell your real opinion on the matter if it isn't a positive one.
The girl seemed to be a little surprised by James's polite and sincere behavior but she recovered quickly. She then decided to make it clear that she didn't lack of manners either.
"Nice to meet you, James", she said. "I'm Jessie."
"That's a pretty name", James commented, smiling a little. The girl's name reminded him even more of Jessiebelle but James decided not to let it disturb himself. This girl wasn't Jessiebelle. This girl didn't seem like she always wanted to please everyone around her. Jessiebelle did. She wanted to please everyone excluding James whom she was always ordering around.
"Thanks", the girl, Jessie, said to James's compliment. "I was wondering if you could keep me company… Or are you busy at the moment…?"
"I'm looking for some seashells with my Growlithe", James explained.
Jessie looked at Growlie. "An interesting Pokémon…" she said. "Do you have any other Pokémon?"
"No, I don't", James replied. "Growlie is my only Pokémon."
"You call it Growlie…?"
"Yes, I do. Is there something wrong with that?"
"No, not at all", Jessie said, shrugging. "Just pointed out that you have come up with a name for it. Do you like Pokémon?"
"Yes, I do. Do you?"
"Yes. I'd like to have some. It would be cool to become a Pokémon trainer, don't you think?"
James thought about that for a couple of seconds. He had always been happy to have Growlie but now that Jessie mentioned it, he started to think that it would be nice to have other Pokémon, too. To become a Pokémon trainer…
"Yes, it would be cool", he said. "How many Pokémon are there altogether?"
"I don't know much about Pokémon but quite a few, I guess…" Jessie said. "Imagine if one person could catch them all! Oh, by the way… Why are you collecting seashells?"
James scratched his head. "I was supposed to collect some for my… my… For one girl…" he muttered. "And so far, I haven't actually found any..."
Jessie looked at him, obviously wondering what James had intended to say at first. But James had decided not to refer to Jessiebelle with a word friend.
"A girl…" Jessie pondered. She drew her own conclusion. "That's very sweet of you, James. I'm sure she'll be happy."
James blushed a little, scratching his neck, uttering a nervous laughter. "Ah, this is just one silly game we had…" he muttered.
Jessie grinned, saying: "I could help you with looking for those seashells, if you like."
"Really?" James asked enthusiastically.
"Yeah, why not", Jessie replied.
"Thank you very much", James said, smiling delightedly. "That's so kind of you."
"Aw, that's just nothing", Jessie said and swept her hand in the air as if to put James's thanks aside. "Do you think I could join your game?" she asked.
"Sure if you help me to collect those seashells", James said. "We can go to Jessiebelle and ask if you can play with us."
After collecting some seashells James led Jessie to the cliff to meet Jessiebelle. Growlie came with them, running around James and sniffing at Jessie.
"James!" Jessiebelle shouted delightedly immediately after seeing the boy coming. "What took you so long?" Then she saw Jessie and her expression changed. She crossed her arms and glared at her judgingly.
"James, who is that girl?" she asked.
"Jessiebelle, this is Jessie", James introduced the girls to each other. "Jessie, this is Jessiebelle."
The girls smiled at each other but Jessiebelle's smile wasn't warm or welcoming. It was sarcastic.
"We were wondering if Jessie could play with us today", James said, trying to make Jessie to ignore Jessiebelle's rejecting behavior.
"Oh, is that so?" Jessiebelle asked, still glaring at Jessie.
"Yes, so… Is it okay with you, Jessiebelle…?" James asked.
"Of course", Jessiebelle replied. "Why wouldn't it be? Now, show me the seashells you collected."
James handed his seashells to Jessiebelle who took them and looked at them closely for a moment.
"Hmm… Not bad, James", she said.
She threw the seashells into the sea, turning towards Jessie.
"Now, show me what you've collected", she said.
Jessie showed hers to Jessiebelle who glared at the seashells just as mockingly she had been glaring at Jessie.
"All of them are pretty ugly…" she said. "Impressive how you managed to find all the ugliest ones of the entire seashore." Her voice was full of sarcasm which she didn't bother to hide.
Jessie threw the seashells to the ground, puffing. "What's wrong with the seashells I collected?" she snapped. "They're no different from the ones James collected! And why did you throw them away? First you told James to collect them and then you just threw them away! What's the point of that?"
"Stop yelling at me!" Jessiebelle snapped back at Jessie. "I'm the princess of this game! I decide about the rules!"
"Your game stinks!" Jessie mocked. "And so do the rules! And so do you!"
That was just too much for Jessiebelle to bear. She grabbed Jessie's hair and pulled roughly. Jessie screamed and tried to push her away. James didn't know what to do. He stood back and tried to stay out of the way – as usual.
Jessie managed to grip Jessiebelle's wrist. She pushed her roughly and let go of. Jessiebelle stumbled on the edge of the cliff and fell off backwards. Jessie and James couldn't do anything but watch her falling into the water below. James turned to look at Jessie, absolutely horrified of what she had done. Even Jessie herself seemed to be a bit shocked.
"Why did you push her?" James cried in panic. "She can't swim!"
"I… It was an accident…" Jessie replied quickly, looking guilty and apologetic.
"Sure didn't look like it…" James muttered under his breath.
"Be quiet and do something to save her!" Jessie snapped at him.
James tore his hair with his hands. He was in panic and couldn't think clearly. "This is terrible! What can I do? What can I do…?"
Jessie slapped him in the face. "Stop acting stupid!" she yelled at him. "You've got a Pokémon! Tell your Growlithe to save her!"
"Oh, yes! You're right…" James muttered feeling embarrassed for that he hadn't come up with that. He turned to Growlie. "Growlie, help Jessiebelle!" he told it.
Growlie seemed to understand James's command. It jumped off the cliff and dove into the water. James and Jessie followed the situation from the top of the cliff.
"Why did you have to push her?" James asked Jessie.
"It was an accident…" Jessie replied. "And besides… She attacked me first…"
After a short moment of silence Growlie appeared into their sight, dragging unconscious Jessiebelle towards the seashore. James and Jessie ran to them. James grabbed Jessiebelle and pulled her to the sand.
"Is she alive…?" the boy asked, looking at Jessie to get some help from her.
"She is", Jessie replied, crouching down to Jessiebelle. She slapped her face several times to wake her up.
"You're hurting her…" James said.
"Shut up", Jessie retorted.
Jessiebelle started to wake up. She opened her eyes and couched. Jessie stood back.
"What happened…?" Jessiebelle asked, still couching.
"You fell and Growlie saved you…" James explained.
"So it can swim…" Jessiebelle muttered, looking at Growlie and blinking her eyes. "You can thank it for me, James."
James seemed to relax. He smiled a little.
"I want to go home", Jessiebelle then announced. She stood up, gave Jessie a mean glare and turned to James. "Let's leave."
James glanced at Jessie once before following Jessiebelle and telling Growlie that they were leaving now. He hoped that he would meet Jessie again even though their first meeting hadn't gone so well. And he also hoped that his parents wouldn't see Jessiebelle's wet clothes and ask what had happened to her. He didn't want his parents to know that he had been at the seashore without permission. If they knew they would tell him not to go there ever again.
"James! James! Where are you, James?"
James crouched down behind a bush in the garden that surrounded his family's huge mansion. He heard Jessiebelle shouting his name but he didn't want her to find him. Jessiebelle had been looking for him for whole morning and James had managed to keep hiding from her. He believed that Jessiebelle would soon give up if he didn't show up.
"Jessiebelle, what's wrong?" James heard his mother asking. He peeked out a little to see Jessiebelle and his mother from behind the bush.
"I've been looking for James and I just can't find him", Jessiebelle replied to James's mother. "We've played hide and seek together several times and he isn't even good at hiding… Where could he be?"
"He should show up soon", James's mother said. "His piano lesson is about to start."
"Sounds great!" Jessiebelle said enthusiastically. "Can I be there? I'd really like to hear James playing piano!"
James shook his head to himself. He didn't want Jessiebelle to come to his piano lesson. That girl wouldn't ever let him be…
James's mother chuckled. "James is pretty shy", she said. "But I guess he'll let you be there if you ask nicely."
Jessiebelle smiled like an angel. "I'm glad", she said happily.
James didn't really understand why Jessiebelle always managed to win over his parents. She handled them better than James ever could. And then she also bullied James whenever she got a chance. She was so mean, pretending to be a nice girl.
"Shall we go in now?" James's mother asked Jessiebelle. "Perhaps James is already there."
Jessiebelle nodded. James's mother offered her hand to her and the redhead took it. They were just about to leave hand in hand and James was just about to come out of his hiding place and come up with some plan so that he didn't have to go to his piano lesson today. But somehow he managed to stumble and fall – right into the bush.
It was a rose bush. The thorns ripped his clothes and skin. He couldn't help himself shrieking out loud. His mother and Jessiebelle heard him and turned around to see what had happened.
"James!"
"Hi mom… Hi Jessiebelle…" James muttered, trying to stand back up.
"James, what on earth are you doing?" asked his mother, glaring at his ripped clothes.
"I fell…" James muttered, trying to straighten his torn outfit.
"I can see that, you silly boy", his mother said. "But what were you doing there? You are supposed to be on your piano lesson in a minute."
"I was just about to go there…"
"No excuses, James", his mother reproached. "Go inside and get changed and be sure that you'll be with your tutor when the lesson starts. Is this clear, James?"
"Yes, mother…" James muttered submissively, passing by his mother and Jessiebelle, going back inside.
After a few minutes he was downstairs in a room that they often used when he needed to practice playing piano or violin. James's parents wanted their son to play both instruments. James didn't particularly like either of them but unfortunately they never listened to his opinion on any matter… Jessiebelle was very good example of that. James hadn't ever actually said that he didn't want to marry her and that he didn't even like her. And his parents hadn't even asked his opinion. They just wanted him to marry a beautiful, sweet, charming and irreproachable girl – and that was exactly what Jessiebelle was. Probably the thought of that James didn't want to marry her hadn't ever even crossed his parents' minds.
But now James had absolutely no time to think about that. He had to impress, not only his tutor, but also his mother and Jessiebelle who were now listening to him playing the shining white grand piano that had been placed in the middle of the big, bright room.
James tried his best – he always did. But it never seemed to be enough.
"Young Master James, how many times do I have to tell you to play with feeling?" his tutor asked impatiently when he was playing one song that his tutor had been trying to teach him to play perfectly for quite a long time.
"I'm sorry", James replied, trying to add more feeling.
"That's better…" his tutor said but didn't really seem any happier with the result.
James could play the song completely without using the sheets but he just didn't understand why his playing wasn't good enough in his tutor's opinion. He tried to play with feeling but he kept constantly losing his focusing since he couldn't stop thinking about that girl he had met yesterday. And what that girl had said about that she wanted to be a Pokémon trainer.
A Pokémon trainer. Train Pokémon all day long, travel around the world, meet new people and find new exciting Pokémon and the best of all: to catch them all.
He would become famous if he became a Pokémon trainer. He could do the things he wanted, take care of his Pokémon and go wherever he wanted, experience new adventures every day and so and so on… His life was so boring and numb here. Jessiebelle was too bossy and his parents didn't understand anything. They never asked what he wanted to do. It was their idea that he had to play piano and violin and marry Jessiebelle… Of course their wedding wouldn't be arranged in many years. They would both have to turn eighteen before getting married. But just the thought of marrying Jessiebelle made James feel uncomfortable. He didn't want to have a future like that.
"Young Master, you have completely lost the feeling!" his tutor suddenly shouted at him so loudly that the big room made the shout sound even louder.
James startled and accidentally played ugly discord that also sounded much louder than it actually was in this big room when everyone else was quiet.
"Young Master!" his tutor said warningly.
James stood up and quickly bowed to his tutor as an apology. "I'm sorry", he said. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…"
"Young Master James, could you please try to focus?" his tutor asked, obviously trying not to lose his temper.
"Yes, of course", James replied immediately. "I'll try again…"
He turned back to his piano, accidentally hitting his knee against the edge of the piano chair. He hissed, grabbing his aching knee. The piano chair had fallen to the floor and made an awful, ear-deafening clank. James quickly covered his ears.
"Young Master James, what are you doing?" his tutor yelled at him.
"I'm sorry!" James shrieked in panic.
He heard Jessiebelle giggling quietly. "Oh, James… You're so silly…" he heard her muttering.
James wanted to disappear. He felt so ashamed.
"Try again and lift that up!" his tutor told him, pointing at the fallen chair.
James felt the tears of shame slowly filling his eyes. He tried to hide his face. "No…" he muttered silently.
"What did you say, Young Master?" his tutor asked.
"I said no", James replied, now using a louder tone of voice.
"James, try again", his mother said to him.
"No!" James shouted. "I won't try again! I don't want to!"
"James, don't talk like that", his mother reproached him. "Just try again."
"No! I don't want to!" James kept on arguing. "I don't want to play piano! I don't want to play that song! Just let me be, will you!"
He turned around and ran out of the room, trying to fight against the tears.
He went to the seashore again. The sea was nicely quiet this day too but yet it wasn't enough to calm James down. He burst out crying. He sat down onto a rock and buried his face in his hands, sobbing loudly. There was no-one nearby to hear him so it didn't matter if he did cry. He couldn't help himself crying, though no-one expected him, a 10-year-old boy, to act like that.
"Hey… Are you okay…?" he suddenly heard someone asking right behind him.
He startled and quickly stood up, wiping his tears away.
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to scare you, James…"
James lifted his gaze up to see who had come to him. It was that girl whom he had met yesterday. Jessie.
"What's wrong?" Jessie asked him.
"Nothing's wrong…" James replied, sniffing.
"Hey, James, I'm not stupid", Jessie said to him. "I can tell you that there's something wrong with you. What is it?"
James looked down at the sand on the ground. "It's just that… that I don't have what it takes to be a good… a good… I don't know… I guess I'm just not good enough…"
"What do you mean?" Jessie asked.
"I can't play piano… I don't like Jessiebelle and she doesn't like me… I'm not good enough for her and my parents don't get it…" James sighed. "I can't do anything right…"
"Don't say that", Jessie said to him encouragingly. "I think you're a nice person."
"You… do…?"
"Sure", Jessie replied, smiling kindly.
James looked at her and almost smiled back, feeling relieved. At least someone thought that he was a good person.
"Thank you. Jessie."
"Oh, that's absolutely nothing", Jessie replied carelessly. "That's just what I think. I don't like that Jessiebelle either. I think she's pretty selfish. Why are you hanging out with her anyway if you guys don't even like each other?"
"Well… I don't hate her…" James said. "But… she's just sometimes very… frustrating… And she does like me. Well… at least she probably thinks that I'm fun to bully…"
Jessie snorted and walked to James. She slammed him in the back and said: "James, you shouldn't let her be so bossy. Be a man! It appears that she can order you around freely because you don't fight back. Do you understand?"
James winced because his back hurt. "Uh-huh…"
"Good", Jessie stated. "Next time she tries to be bossy you'll just keep your head calm and don't give up so easily."
"But how can I do that…?" James asked.
"Just tell her that you are not his toy and you're not someone to play with", Jessie said.
"Okay…" James muttered insecurely. "And what if she doesn't believe me…?"
"Then you'll punch her and tell her that she doesn't even look as good as she thinks she does!" Jessie said and the tone of her voice was slowly growing louder when she spoke. She sounded almost exultant.
"But… I can't punch a girl…" James refused. "I haven't ever even punched anyone…"
Jessie blinked her blue eyes. "You haven't…?"
"No… Never."
Jessie sighed, saying: "I should have known…"
James didn't quite understand what that meant but he didn't bother to ask.
"Well… try to punch me then", the pink-haired girl suggested.
"But… I can't punch you… You're a girl, too…" James said, taking a few steps back.
"Yeah, I know I'm a girl", she said. "And so what? Don't be such a coward. C'mon, I'm ready. Give it a go." The girl lifted his fists up to defend herself.
James gulped. This wasn't a good idea… He slowly lifted his fists up, hesitating. He decided not to punch hard. Just a light touch…
He pushed his fist forward. He wasn't going to punch Jessie for real but it didn't matter since Jessie was a lot faster than he was. She grabbed his wrist, twisted it and pushed him so hard that he fell to the ground.
"Ouch… That hurt…!" James whined, sitting on the ground.
Jessie scratched her head, obviously wondering what to do next. "Ahem… I didn't mean to be so harsh…" she muttered apologetically.
James sighed wearily. "It's no use…" he muttered, feeling embarrassed and powerless at the same time.
"James… " Jessie began carefully. "I've got to say that I feel sorry for you. You're a spoiled brat and you can't do anything on your own. But I understand all that very well. You've grown in a rich family, lived in a big, beautiful mansion, surrounded by servants and assistants and everything has always been done for you."
James was still sitting on the ground. He looked down, feeling ashamed. Something in the way Jessie had said that all had made him felt ashamed. He sighed again. "Sounds familiar…"
Jessie moved awkwardly. "I… I didn't mean it like that…" she said quickly. "James, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. You're very sweet person – and very kind. Almost too kind for you own good…"
James raised his gaze up at Jessie. "You… think so…?" he asked.
Jessie tilted her head so that her pink hair swayed. "That's how I see it", she said. "But don't worry about it, James. It isn't that bad thing…" She didn't dare to say it to James but in her opinion James's sweet and kind personality was just the thing that made her like him. James was very sympathetic and although he seemed to be very naive, Jessie still liked everything about him.
She offered her hand to him to help him back on his feet. James grabbed it, smiling a little. Jessie smiled back at him.
They watched each other in the eyes for a long time, still holding hands. Then Jessie realized that perhaps it was okay to let go of James's hand already. She let go, being a bit unwilling to do so, though. James turned his gaze away and pulled his hand back, too. There was a long, deep silence. The only sounds they could hear were the sound of the wind and the sound of waves. Some seagull shrieked. But regardless of all the voices of the nature, there was a silence between the two of them – an awkward silence. Neither of them knew what to say.
"Um… How is Growlie doing, by the way?" asked Jessie then interrupting the long silence.
"Oh, fine, I guess", James replied, picking a stick up from the ground. He started drawing circles and abstract lines in the sand with it.
"You guess…?" Jessie echoed.
"Yeah… I haven't actually had enough time to go see him today", James replied. "But I'm sure someone has let him out to play in our garden. Would you like to go see him now?"
"I'd love to", Jessie replied, seeming to be delighted because of the question.
"Very well, we can go see him", James said. "Do you have any Pokémon on your own?" he asked.
"No, unfortunately I don't…" Jessie replied. "I'd like to capture some but for that I need to have at least one Pokémon already."
"Do you know how to capture Pokémon?" James asked, getting excited.
"Well… Yes, in theory…" Jessie replied. "But I've never captured any… I've never even tried it."
"We could try it sometime", James said. "We could become Pokémon trainers together."
Jessie seemed to start thinking about that. Her face brightened and her eyes started to glisten. "I've always wanted to become a Pokémon trainer", she said. "Would you help me to become one?"
"Gladly", James replied. "If you help me."
"Sure. We can become partners!"
"Sounds great", James said, smiling to himself. "That's a promise then, isn't it? We'll become Pokémon trainers together. Partners. Right?"
Jessie looked him in the eyes, having a confident look on her face. "That's a promise", she said, shaking James's hand.
James nodded and echoed: "That's a promise."
TO BE CONTINUED...