Hey dolls! Sorry for the long wait for an update. I've been busy with school. Here is the chapter ya'll been waiting for. Enjoy. Reviews are much appreciated.
As Beck walked to the doors to exit the West mansion, the owners strolled on in.
"Beck, leaving so soon?" Mrs. West asked.
Beck forced a smile. "Yeah. It's been a long day, and I need to get my rest."
"Me too," Mrs. West replied. She gave Beck a kiss on the cheek. "Take care. Mr. West will see you out," she said, walking away.
Beck was about to leave for the door when Mr. West spoke up.
"Come into my office, Mr. Oliver," Mr. West instructed Beck.
Beck followed Mr. West down the hallway to his office. His office was similar to his own father's office at his parent's home. Mr. West poured two glasses of gin and handed one to Beck. He walked over to his seat and sat down. Beck joined him in the chair opposite to him.
"I understand that you are the one who convinced my daughter to quit that awful restaurant?" Mr. and Mrs. West hated learning about their daughter working at a place like that. They wished she hadn't felt the need to do so. They would have supported her more if they had known.
Beck shook his head. "Actually, I got her fired."
"Good," Mr. West replied with a chuckle. "I'm glad she has you in her life. You seem like a good man."
Beck laughed nervously. "Yeah. I'd be the luckiest guy on earth if I had her," he replied in a soft voice.
" 'I'd' as in 'I would,' and 'if'?" Mr. West asked for clarification.
Beck nodded. "Sir, she doesn't want to be with me."
Mr. West scoffed. "I'll tell you something that you probably know but don't realize yet," he started, "My daughter is head over heels in love with you. It's as simple as that. I've seen that little spark in her eye that lights up when she sees you. I've seen Jadelyn grow from a little tiny toddler to the beautiful woman she is today, and I've only seen that spark twice – the first was when she was in her first play and got the lead, the second was when you were sitting down at that table." Mr. West paused to take a swive of his gin. "Jadelyn isn't like most women. Unlike most women, Jadelyn will refuse to tell you exactly how she feels. She will show you, but not tell you."
Beck sat down quietly, sinking in all this information.
"Whether you two are smart enough to get back together, or stubborn enough to walk away, I still want to thank you."
"Thank me?" Beck asked
Mr. West set his glass down. "You brought our daughter back home."
"Oh. No. Sir. I didn't. She chose to come here. I didn't ask her," Beck corrected.
Mr. West shook his head. "Beck. I've lived a fairly long life. I've made business deals that become a success and others fail. I'm sure you've had a hand full of this from your own job." Beck nodded to agree. "Well, after encountering both success and failure, I've come to the conclusion that everything happens for a reason. Sure, you may not have directly caused Jade to speak to her family again, but you sure were a factor. What I'm trying to say is, life is funny in the way it works. People question why their life takes certain course, and there's always a reason. We may not always know that reason, but there is a reason."
As soon as Beck arrived to the airport lobby, reporters attacked Beck like the Broadway celebrity. They questioned him about the whereabouts for the star, Jade. They even interrogated him about his unspoken affair. Of course, Beck was not in the mood to deal with this, so he just kept his mouth shut. Every now and then he'd say, "no comment."
On his plane ride back to New York City and his limousine ride back to his condominium, Beck couldn't shake this strong feeling. Through life, he'd always felt lonely. He had no friends his age, aside from Tori, who was more like family. His colleagues were strictly just colleagues. He never went out to party with them. He grew up too fast to enjoy the party scene of New York City, like Jade. At this point in his life, he realized he felt the loneliest now after being ripped apart from his one and only true love.
"So, where is she?" Tori asked, coming into Beck's condominium. She found him standing at his wall, overlooking the city, alone.
"Is she in the shower? Did she bring in her stuff? Oh my gosh, we can go furniture shopping to get some girly stuff in here," Tori shrieked, excitedly.
Beck slowly turned to face Tori with a sadden expression with a hint of regret. "She's not moving in."
"Oh. It's fine then. She'll move in eventually. I'm sure of it, and then you two will be all happ– "
"-No, Tori. She's not even here. She didn't come back," he stated.
Tori's jaw dropped. "What do you mean she's not here? Why isn't she coming back? What did you do?!"
Beck ran a hand through his hair. "She – she didn't want to come back, with me."
Tori walked over to him and slapped him on the shoulder. "What the hell did you do?!"
"Nothing!" Beck shouted. "She doesn't love me! She doesn't want to be with me! Fine. I can deal with it. She's just one girl. There's a million out there! We live in New York City. There's a ton of girls that I can sleep with." He turned his back on her and ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. He looked out the window, trying to calm down.
Tori reached for his shoulder to rub it, to ease him down. "Beck, this isn't about sleeping with people. It's not about promiscuity. It's about falling in love. It's about taking the chance."
"Well, I did. I tried." Beck paused to release a sigh. "And I failed."
"So I guess I should burn all the wedding plans I made for the two of you?" Tori asked, to lighten up the mood.
To her surprise, Beck slowly tuned to face her and gave a hint of a smile by raising a corner of his mouth.
"Jadelyn," Mr. West said, pushing her bedroom door open.
"Yeah, dad?"
Mr. West entered her room, taking a seat on her bed, while she sat down at her desk.
"When are you returning?" he asked, forwardly.
Jade shrugged. "I don't know. Eventually."
"What about the Broadway play?" he asked.
"It's ok. They understand," Jade replied.
"Don't you think you're being a tab bit unprofessional? I thought Broadway was what you wanted to do?"
Jade looked down at her hands. "It is. It's just… I don't know… It's hard. Maybe I'm not cut out for this. Maybe you were right dad," she finally said.
Mr. West shook his head disapprovingly. "Jadelyn, I never raised a quitter. I raised a strong, confident, outspoken young woman. I wasn't on the boat when you said you wanted to acting as a career but I supported you. It wasn't until you decided to stop, that I was disappointed. You're capable of so much, and I don't see why you're turning away from all of this, your dreams."
Jade didn't say anything. She fiddled with her fingers, trying to come up with something to say.
"Is it that boy? Beck?"
Jade didn't respond, but her father knew he guessed correctly, judging by the shade of rose in her cheeks.
"Sweetie, this man seems like he wants to give you his all. He seems very much in love with you."
Jade rolled her eyes. "Yeah. He'll give me his all – the fame, the riches – but not acceptance."
Mr. West rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"He doesn't want to compromise with me. He wants me to give up everything for him – smoking, drinking, clubbing, partying – all of that. I don't see why he's forcing me to he this girl from a high class with elegant clothing and proper manners. That's not who I am, anymore."
Mr. West nodded in acknowledgement. "I see. Well, relationships are about give and take –"
"I know!" she interrupted. "I told him about that, but –"
"But just because he may not be so willing to compromise, doesn't mean you should just run away. That's not how life works. That's not how relationships work. You don't just give up on your relationships just because something isn't going your way. You have to work through it, together." Mr. West rose from his seat and headed toward the door. He stopped right before exiting to face her. "Running away from your problems is a race you'll never win," her father said in a wise tone.
"Hello boys," Jade greeted Ryder and Danny from behind.
They turned around and Jade snickered when she saw the shocked expression on their faces. "You're back!" they shouted in unison.
"Of course! I hope ya'll didn't miss me," she replied, smiling.
"Good! We almost had to recast you," Danny informed her.
Jade rolled her eyes. She expected that would happen. "Well, I came back just in time."
Jade spent the rest of the day rehearsing from scratch. Danny forced her to go over her lines over and over. Luckily, Jade had already memorized every line. Ryder had her do blocking all over stage, so she knew what to do on stage – where to stand, sit, etc. Jade called over Andre, Cat, and Trina to come over during practices. She convinced Ryder and Danny that Andre and Cat helped her with her vocals. Trina helped Jade learn her dance numbers. It meant a lot to Jade to have her friends be apart of this production and support her. It was an exhausting day, but Jade didn't let it get to her. She was happy to be back. Her father was right. Running from her problems is a race she would never win.
"Did we get a new lead?" Beck asked over the phone call with Ryder.
"Nope. Even better. Jade's back," Ryder replied.
Beck froze after learning this. He was caught in a daze, thinking about Jade. He wasn't even able to listen to what Ryder was babbling about.
She's back. She didn't call me. Maybe she doesn't want to call me, or see me ever again…
"… And production can start in two weeks," Ryder finished.
"Very well. Inform her of all the interviews and photo shoots scheduled within the week and next. Have Tara prepare her for everything," Beck instructed.
"You're not going to come to the interviews and photo shoots?" Ryder asked.
Beck sighed softly, so Ryder couldn't hear it over the phone. "No. I have other work to attend to. I trust you, Danny, and Tara to pull through." With that, Beck ended the phone call.
He rested his elbows on his desk, lacing his fingers together and using his hands to prop his chin. Several seconds of silence and solitude passed, until Tori entered.
"Hello best friend," she greeted him, politely, taking a seat opposite of him. "How are you today?"
Beck pressed his lips in a hard line before responding. "She's back."
Tori cocked her head to the side. "What?"
"Jade. Jade is back," he clarified.
Tori jumped from her seat and shrieked in excitement. "Yay! Now you two can make up and everything we be all sunshine and rainbows."
Beck stared at Tori like she was some sort of crazy adult child. "I'm not going to see her."
"What?! Why?!"
"If she wanted to see, she would have called," Beck replied simply.
Tori grabbed a spare piece of paper, crumpled it up into a ball, and threw it at Beck's face.
"Stop acting like a child!" Beck said through gritted teeth, tightening his jaw.
"You're the one acting like a child! Grow up! Don't play the she didn't do this so I'm not gonna do it either crap!" she chided.
Jade spent the next two weeks preparing for Broadway. Practices ran all day, with little disruptions for interviews and photo shoots. She was busy until night. At midnight, she would hit the clubs with Trina, Cat, and Andre dancing, drinking, and smoking. At interviews, she was asked why Beck was no longer present at her side. She simply replied saying that he was too busy to attend. When asked about their affair, she'd claim that they were simply just two people having fun together – no more, no less. Beck watched her interviews, and was hurt when she'd claim that their relationship didn't involve deep feelings. He tried not to let it get the best of him, but it was hard. He missed Jade dearly, but he was too stubborn to do anything about it. She, too, was stubborn to see him. She figured the practices, interviews, photo shoots, rehearsals, smoking, drinking, and clubbing would rid her thoughts of him, but she was proven wrong. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake him off. The unspoken feelings, subtle heart ache, and the crave of his touch still hung in the air.
Just like any other night, Jade, Cat, Trina, and Andre hit the club at midnight. She danced with all three of them, just like they regularly did.
"Hey, Tori, my cousin, is coming. I hope you're ok with that," Trina told Jade.
Tori? As in Beck's best friend? Why would Trina invite her? "Of course it's ok with me!" Jade replied, trying to sound happy. It wasn't like she didn't like Tori anymore. It was just the fact that Tori reminded her of Beck, and she didn't want to be reminded of Beck.
On cue, Tori came pushing through the crowd, smiling. "Hi guys!" Tori greeted them, and they all greeted her back. Tori turned to Jade. "Jade. I missed you!" she said, giving her a hug.
"I missed you too, Tori," she replied, patting her back.
"Are you ok? You know with the whole Be –"
"I'm fine!" Jade cut her off. "Listen, let me go get us some shots! My treat!"
She turned around and walked away, wanting some air to breath. Instead of going to the bar, she went outside to get a quick smoke. She let the narcotic smoke fill her. She wanted to sulk in smoke and rid herself of her thoughts and feelings of Beck. But of course, it was only temporary. Before returning back to the dance floor she went the bar. She ordered four shots of silver patron tequila and one double shot of gold tequila, for herself. When she turned around, she nearly spilt her drinks, when she found the handsome businessman standing before her.
She didn't say anything. She just gaped at him, surprised that he was here.
"Hello," he greeted her.
She shook her head to get ahold of herself and build her courage to speak. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to here to dance," he answered.
Jade scoffed. "You? Here? At a club? To dance? Don't make me laugh!" she said, bitterly.
"It's true," he replied. "I wanted to dance at the club, with you." He held out a hand to her. "Dance with me," he told her, like it was a subtle plead.
Jade stared at his hand, debating on whether to dance with Beck or not.
Will Jade dance with Beck?
Will Beck and Jade work things out?
Did Tori force him to come here?
Stay tuned to find out!
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