My One True Love

Chapter Ten: One Last Thing

ADALET...

Judy and I were sitting on my couch with a cup of hot chocolate in our hands. We had sat in silence since we finished unloading Judy's stuff from her car. "I want to tell you everything now," said Judy softly and I nodded and waited for her to continue. "I was driving home from work yesterday and I had gotten off work early and wanted to surprise David who was in our apartment. When I was about to open the door I heard yells coming from inside and I thought it was weird since David doesn't normally yell. So I decided to wait outside and listen to what was happening and that's when I heard the other woman say she was pregnant and that she wanted to keep it and wanted David to be a part of its life," I saw tears start to fall from her eyes and I placed a hand on her shoulder to show her she had my full support. She looked at me thankful, and took a deep breath before continuing, "David then said that he couldn't handle the expenses right now and told her to get an abortion and I heard as the woman slapped him and yelled; 'so you don't want to be responsible of your child but you didn't mind f*****g me and promising to take care of it if I ever got pregnant.' And that's when she walked out and saw me, I saw she was very angry but when she saw me she looked a bit ashamed and kind of scared and she ran off without another word. I walked inside and saw David sitting on our couch and I asked him who the woman was and he denied it, Adalet, he denied knowing her. So I confronted him and told him what I had heard and at first he didn't say anything he just sat there and then he told me the truth."

Judy stopped talking and took several sips from her mug and stared at my wall in silence. I let her process everything and order her thoughts. "He told me he had met her at school and that they had reconnected last year and one things led to another and that he has been cheating on me with her. He swore that it had ended and that he was going to continue pressuring her to get an abortion and I couldn't hear it Adalet, I didn't want to hear it and I felt like I couldn't breathe in that moment and he tried to 'make it up to me'. Hell he tried to seduce me so that I would forgive him but I can't forgive that because I can't trust him anymore and I can't marry someone I don't trust, Adalet." She was now sobbing uncontrollably and I nodded as I wrapped my arms around her.

We stayed like that for I don't know how long until she insisted on getting up to get ice cream. "He didn't deserve you, Judy and he lost so much even if he doesn't realize it," I said.

Judy sighed and blew her nose. "You never really liked him, did you?" she asked calmly and I honestly shook my head.

"I always thought there was something off about him and he irritated me, but he made you very happy and that was all that mattered," I confided and she nodded and looked at her left hand. It was then that I realized she still had the engagement ring. We didn't say anything as she twirled the ring around her finger and then she took it off.

"You cant begin to imagine the relief I feel to know that I found out about this before I made a mistake," she said and I smiled at her. "I think I am going to sleep now," she said before getting up and heading for the guest bedroom with her ice cream.

I shook my head and decided to start canceling all the wedding preparations that had been made. Number one; the cake.

After I finished talking with the bakers, I saw as Judy popped her head out of the room, "A, I don't want to cancel the wedding dress?"

I stared at her bewildered, "why wouldn't you want to cancel the wedding dress?"

She shrugged, "I want to wear it, someday when I do actually get married."

I sighed, I didn't want to fight with her, she was so stubborn, but I really thought it was a bad call. "Are you sure? You could always find another one."

She shook her head, "I won't, just don't cancel the dress please," was all she said before closing the door.

I groaned internally but decided not to push it, she was healing after all. I looked at the list of what Judy had ordered and reserved for her wedding and sighed, at least it wasn't long. The hard part was going to be telling the bridesmaids the wedding was off but that they still needed to pay for their dresses since there was no refund in those. It was going to be a long night.

WILLIAM...

I woke up with a big yawn and I stretched before getting out of bed. I was still too sleepy to realize that the other bed in the room was empty until I came out of the bathroom and saw small streaks of light streaming in from the curtains. I looked at the clock on the nightstand and saw it was 8am and I remembered Adalet's flight was at 7am. I sighed in disappointment, I had really hoped she would have woken me to say goodbye.

I took my time to get ready for the day since I had nothing else better to do until my meeting in the afternoon with my father's advisor. I walked over to the nightstand to get my things before I headed out for the day, there I found a note and an envelope among my things.

Your Majesty,

Thank you for the day we shared and the talk last night. I had fun and I realized some things about me that I needed to hear. I hope we can remain friends after we head our separate ways. Enjoy the rest of your stay and have a safe trip back home!

Best Regards,

Adalet Trent

(P.S. in the envelope is the money I owed you for all the meals and the hotel).

I looked inside the envelope and sure enough, there was money that covered all of her expenses. I frowned but at the same time I was shocked, Adrianna would have never done that. She was a firm believer that the man should pay for all.

I folded the note and placed it in the envelope which I then put inside my laptop's case. I took my wallet, watch, phone and the laptop strapped across my torso and I left the room.

Downstairs in the restaurant I found the same breakfast as the day before but this time I grabbed some pancakes and a fruit, along with a coffee and juice to drink. I sat in an empty table and began to read the messages on my phone.

"Hey stranger," I heard a familiar voice say. I jumped a little and then looked up to find Emily standing in front of me.

"Oh hello Emily," I said politely and she smiled.

"Where is Adalet?" she asked looking around, expecting to see her emerge from somewhere.

"She's on her way to New York, she had an emergency with her friend Judy," I said casually and Emily raised an eyebrow.

"Why didn't you go back with her?" she asked curiously as she sat down on a chair next to his.

"I still have business to attend to," I said as I took a bite of my meal.

"Oh you business people working in offices, if you ask me I find it boring," she said honestly and then laughed. "Ironically, my girlfriend works in an office." I turned to look at her, stunned. "What? You thought I was hitting on you, Mister British? I'm sorry to say but you're not really my type." I laughed and she smiled.

"I did not expect that, Emily," I said sincerely and she smiled before looking at the table from which she had probably come from.

"Do you want to sit with us? You look so alone and gloomy here," she said as she pointed to her table.

"Sure, why not?" I said and took my plate and coffee to the table while Emily helped me with my juice.

"Guys, look who I found," said Emily cheerfully to her friends who were talking amongst themselves. When they say me they cheered and waved me like we were old friends.

When I finished breakfast I was ready to head out to take Adalet's advice and actually explore an unknown city. But first there was something I needed to do. "Emily could I ask you for a favor?" I asked her directly because she seemed to be the one Adalet got along with the most.

"Sure, what's up?" she asked intrigued.

"Could you give this to Adalet? I am flying back to London tomorrow and I won't see her anytime soon," I said as I handed her an envelope that contained the money Adalet had given me.

Emily eyed the envelope and then looked back at me and shook her head. "Sorry buddy, no can do. We have a strict no messenger policy."

I was shocked, she was serious. "But why not?"

"Because it would ruin the romance," she said as she nudged me. My eyes widened. Romance?

"No no no, you are mistaken, Adalet and I are just friends," I said as I shook my head and laughed. Emily raised an eyebrow and eyed me for a minute.

"You almost had me fooled there, William, but I can see right through you. I can see you and Adalet have a lot of chemistry between you two," she said and other members of the orchestra had begun to listen in and agree with her.

I smiled, "we like to talk to each other and spend time together as friends." I handed her the envelope once again and she hesitated.

"I'm serious William, I am not going to deliver that for you," Emily said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and let herself back on her chair. I sighed and stopped insisting, the next time I saw Adalet, I would give her the money myself. I put away the envelope and the people sitting in our table cheered in victory.

"Well ladies and gentlemen, I really need to get going. It was nice meeting you all," I said as I got up and strapped my laptop across mi chest. The musicians looked sad to see me go but bid me farewell nonetheless.

Outside I decided to walk over to the advisor's office just so that I could see the view. It wasn't a city as crowded as New York but it was big too. I walked past numerous commercial stores and governmental buildings, not to mention several Starbucks, they were really everywhere.

In a little over half and hour, I reached the Fulton River Park. I looked at my watch and saw I still had a little under an hour before my meeting with Reynold Dawson. It was almost noon and I guessed Adalet had probably already landed so I decided to send her a text. I didn't want to repeat my mistake and stop talking to her.

Hello Adalet, have you reached New York yet?

I hadn't really thought about what I was going to text her and that was the first thing that occurred to me.

I saw your note and the envelope, I thought we had agreed I was going to pay.

I wrote and smiled as I thought about her ignoring the fact that I didn't want her to pay. I locked my phone and decided to take a walk along the park, just to explore.

When it was time to meet Mister Dawson, I had already walked around all of the park and through some places in between. Now, the real work began.

I reached the building where he worked and walked up to the receptionist on the first floor. "Hello I am William Johns. I have a meeting with Reynold Dawson," I said and the older woman looked at me and smiled and nodded.

"Yes Mister Johns, we have been expecting you," she said kindly, "people wear this tag on your coat at all times and Miss Richards can show you where Mister Dawson's office is." I nodded and murmured a quick thank you before walking over to the young woman she had pointed at.

"Good Afternoon, Mister Johns, please, follow me," was all the tall, blonde woman with brown eyes said. I did what I was told and followed her to an awaiting elevator across from us. The elevator was big and we were the only ones in it. The woman pressed a button that directed us to the fourth floor. When we reached the fourth floor, we stepped into the hallway and walked towards the back of the hall. It was quiet and all the doors on both sides were closed.

The woman stopped in front of a door and opened it for me to walk in. "Mister Dawson is waiting for you and when you're done with your meeting you can find the elevator through this hall."

"Thank you Miss Richards," I said and smiled and she returned the smile before I closed the door behind me.

In front of me a man with gray hair and a thick, matching mustache, was standing stiffly. I walked closer to him and extended my hand. "Hello Mister Dawson, my name is William Johns, son of Dan Johns." The man nodded and shook my hand.

"I was expecting you, boy," he said, his voice sounded rough, he had probably smoked a lot back in the day. He motioned for me to sit down and both of us did. "Now, why are you here?" He asked politely.

I smiled and took out my laptop from its case before placing it on the dark hardwood desk. "Well business, of course." And the meeting began.