Sweet like Jasmine. Chapter 3
Hanna stood there. Rooted to the spot, unable to move, unable to utter any sound. Her body and mind frozen for what seemed like an hour, trying to process the words and what they meant.
"Cal… she started, but the words got stuck in her throat.
"Caleb….she tried again, her voice just above a whisper, involuntarily shaking her head slightly. Her reaction seemed answer enough for Caleb however and he squeezed her hand, which was still in his, encouragingly. His other hand moved up to her cheek and touched it ever so gently, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and looking at her so adoringly she thought her heart would burst.
"Han, I know..." He finally said, their eyes still locked in an intense gaze. I know it's not my place, I know. He said letting out a large breath. I just can't let you walk out of that door, away from me without knowing how I really feel about you." His finger slightly brushing her engagement ring as he spoke. The contact had given her goosebumps. Hanna was still unable to answer him and wished for Caleb to look away from her so she could clear her head for rational thoughts.
As if he had heard her silent prayers, he finally looked away from her and let go of her hands. His head bowed, but not before she noticed the utter sad look in his eyes, which tugged at her heartstrings.
They stood there for a moment, awkwardly and not knowing what to do. Their bodies were still close together, yet no longer touching. However their closeness caused reactions in both Caleb and Hanna. The latter doing all she could to ignore it and fighting hard to find her voice again.
"I've got to go." She finally whispered, not looking at him and turning around to the front door. Never glancing back at Caleb, feeling his eyes bore into her back.
Caleb watched her leaving. His heart heavy when Hanna never looked back at him. He sighed when she closed the door behind her, the sound of her heels walking towards her car outside, disappearing into the darkness of the night. His immense disappointed being replaced by anger. Anger towards Hanna, anger towards himself. What the hell did he expect? Did he expect her to take off her ring, toss it in the bin and run back into his arms? Well yes, in a way that's what he had hoped would happen.
With his mind still reeling from his stupidity, he walked into the kitchen and opens the fridge, grabbing a bottle of beer Ashley had been nice enough to include into her weekly shopping. The sight of the beer and snacks in the fridge, or "young man snacks" as Ashley liked to call it, slightly calmed him and he smiled whilst taking a sip of beer. The moment he had arrived on the Marin's doorstep she had invited him into her house like she was his own mother.
Although it was Ashley's house, Ted was there more often than Ashley herself, yet Caleb had enjoyed the male bonding time with Ted. Sometimes complaining to each other over the complexity of the Marin women who, unbeknownst to the women themselves, held incredible power over both men.
Whenever Ted and Caleb could get away from work, they would even share a secret game on Caleb's playstation. Ted not wanting to get caught by Ashley enjoying the playstation that much. She would never let it go. But he also enjoyed how Caleb would open up about his life whilst playing the latest release Caleb decided to subject him to. Caleb would start talking about his life, sometimes he even mentioned his family but Ted was fairly certain Caleb was unaware of how many times he managed to bring Hanna up in these conversations, which were more like a monologue than actual conversations because Ted preferred listening instead of talking. Ted could tell by the way Caleb spoke about Hanna, his voice changing whenever he spoke about her and a smile on his lips, that she was very special to him. Which was why both Ted and Ashley had been so shocked to hear about their breakup 3 years ago. Ted had tried on several occasions to find out what happened between Caleb and Hanna, but whenever he even came close to the topic, Caleb would shut down completely and would come up with an excuse to end their male bonding time together.
XxxxxX
"Hanna, there you are, finally!" Ashley exclaimed happy to finally see her daughter coming into the office.
Hanna tried not to snap at her mother for that comment. Not after she kept a secret from her. Hanna instead smiled sweetly at her mother and gave her a hug and a kiss, taking the seat opposite her mother and dumping the papers and wedding magazines onto the desk.
Ashley immediately grabbed the papers and looked them over.
"Thank you Hanna, I'll have these taken care of and then we'll have a drink in the bar."
"Ok." Hanna said casually and sat back into the chair and grabbed her phone from her bag. There was a new message. She unlocked her phone and read the message. Her heart sank when she saw who it was from. It was from Jordan.
"Can we talk?"
She quickly typed a reply. Her heart beating in her chest, what would Jordan want to talk about?
"Of course."
A new message appeared faster than she expected.
"Now?"
She got up from her chair and motioned to her mom, waving her phone in the air and mouthed. "Jordan" before walking out of her mother's office and walking towards the bar. When she arrived at the bar and found a table to sit down at, she called him instantly. Wanting whatever it was, over with as soon as possible.
"Hi Hanna," came his voice from the other line. His voice distant and cold. Hanna swallowed the lump in her throat. Talking to him wa harder than she had expected.
"Hi Jordan." She said and left it there. If he wanted to talk, he could start. It took a few seconds of silence before he actually spoke. Jordan cleared his throat before actually speaking.
"Hey, his voice a bit softer now, how are you?" He asked casually.
"I'm okay, just helping my mom with some work for The Raley, how are you?
"I'm good, so the reason I'm calling, I just got a job offer in Dubai, my manager wants me to start a new office there."
"Oh my God Jordan, that's amazing news! When are you leaving?"
"Two weeks."
Hanna let out a breath. "Wow, just wow. I guess congratulations are in order, Dubai! Sounds exciting!"
"I am excited, it's like a new start."
Although Jordan probably meant it in a friendly way, the words still kind of stung, even though Hanna was the one who broke off the engagement.
"But the reason I wanted to talk Hanna, there is actually still a lot of stuff of yours here in the apartment. I was wondering what you want to do with it? Would you like to pick it up? I was going to pack and ship it for you, but with the two week window I'm not sure I'll have the time."
"I'll come and pick my things up, Hanna said slightly panicked, thinking about her Louboutin shoes and recently acquired Hermès bag, amongst other things. I'll be there as soon as I can Jordan."
"Ok, well you can just come whenever, you still have the keys right?"
"I do."
"Ok then, maybe see you later Hanna." He said solemnly, making Hanna feel immensely guilty.
"Jordan?"
"Yes Hanna?"
"Thank you for this, for calling me and asking me if I want to pick up my things. You could have just given everything to Goodwill, considering what I did."
Jordan was quiet for a moment,
"To be fair Hanna, I did consider it for a moment, I think goodwill would have been very happy with a donation like that. He chuckled. "But even though you broke my heart into a million pieces, you're a good and kind person Hanna. It was me who made the mistake of underestimating the love you will always have for him...for Caleb. I just thought my love for you would have been enough for us."
Hanna did not see this comment coming. She had genuinely loved and cared for Jordan. It had never been the same, not as intense as it had ever been with Caleb, but she had still loved him in her own way.
"Jordan, her voice breaking. I am so so sorry about everything. I never meant for any of this to happen. And for what it's worth, I did love you."
"Yeah…, he trailed off softly. It's still hard for me hearing you use the past tense."
"I'm sorry, she said again. Not sure what else she could say. She felt bad enough already.
"I know Hanna and it's okay, really."
"Bye Jordan."
"Bye Hanna."
Hanna slumped back into her chair letting out a huge sigh, closing her eyes and breathed through her nose a few times. It had been harder to talk to him than she could have ever imagined.
A loud noise brought Hanna out of her own thoughts. Her eyes snapped open and they immediately fell into the stack of bridal magazines now splayed over the table she was sitting at.
She glanced up at the person who had thrown the magazines onto the table to see her mother standing next to her, arms crossed. Reading the look on her face, Hanna knew better than to ask her mother how long she had been standing there. She could tell by the look on her face, her mom had heard enough to figure things out on her own.
Just like Hanna had been dreading, besides shock, anger and surprise on her mother's face there it was...
Relief.
XxxxxxX
There it is guys, Ashley Marin finding out that her daughter is no longer engaged. How will Hanna explain this to her mother and how long till Caleb finds out?
I know you would love to see more Haleb and I promise it will happen! I ship them so hard, so no worries. This just needs a slow build up.
For all the American readers, happy PLL day, let's hope for some Haleb scenes this time! For all my fellow European readers, I hope you all get to watch it tomorrow morning.