My One True Love

Chapter Sixteen: Two Men

ADALET...

When William had touched me I had felt something I hadn't felt in a long time, desire. He really did not know the effect he had on me nor he seem to care that there was indeed something between us. I sighed, I couldn't be developing feelings for William, I couldn't. He had a girlfriend. But nonetheless there was some inexplicable force pulling me to him.

That night I had dreamt of William, I had dreamt that we were together and I could say that those were the most happiest moments of my life. "Adalet? Adalet!" I heard someone yell at me and I opened my eyes, startled.

In front me was Judy staring down at me. I quickly shook my head to clear my head of more William thoughts away. "What?" I slurred and she pointed at my clock on my nightstand. The alarm was blaring. I quickly turned it off and got up, it was 7am.

"It had been sounding since 6:40, why aren't you up? Were you dreaming about William again?" she asked and her annoyance began to fade when I nodded. She sighed and sat down next to me, she knew I was against the sword and the wall and that I was playing with fire.

"I can see you like him," she started to say and I wanted to object but she shushed me, "no, let me speak. I can see that you like him and Chris can see it too and he has told me some things about his girlfriend that make me guess things are not going so well between them and I am not telling you to go after him, not yet anyway, not until he is single. He can't ruin his image, A, he's a prince after all and both of you are playing with fire. I just don't want you to get burned," she said softly as she ran a hand through my hair in comfort. I nodded and she got up and left the room without another word.

I quickly made my bed and changed my clothes, there was no time to shower until I came back from work. I put my hair up in a ponytail and perfume. I brushed my teeth and washed my face before heading to the kitchen. Once I was there, I only grabbed some leftover sandwich from the night before and followed Judy out the door.

At the office, I found Daniel sitting on my chair at my desk. "Adalet, good morning," he greeted with a smile and I smiled at him but couldn't hide my confusion. "Don't worry you're not in trouble, I just wanted to give you these passes for the Christmas Parade," he said as he handed me two badges. "They're so you can go backstage and interview the volunteers before the parade and I got you two of them because I thought you might take someone with you," he said with a smile as he pointed at the flowers on my desk.

"Thank you, sir. I'll make sure to interview as many people as I can to really capture the holiday spirit," I said with a smile and he nodded, "I know you will, Adalet." Then he got up from my chair and walked off to his office. I sighed once he was finally out of sight and I let myself fall on my chair.

It was now Thursday and the parade was in two days and the idea of inviting someone had never crossed my mind. I took out my phone and saw both Cole's and William's contact appear on the screen. Did destiny or fate or whatever want me to take a guy to the parade? I scuffed and instead called Judy from the office's phone.

"Madeline's office, her assistant Judy speaking," I heard Judy say.

"Hey J, it's me," I said and I heard her sigh in relief.

"Thank God, I thought you were someone from the board, the last time they told me I had to be more professional when I answered the phone," she complained and I chuckled. "So what's up, A? I have a couple of minutes before Madeline shows up and sends me off to get something."

"okay I'll get tot the point then," I started, "the Christmas Parade is this Saturday and my boss gave me two passes to go in behind-the-scenes but I don't know who to take and I thought maybe you'd want to go." That had been the quickest I had ever talked and I wasn't sure if Judy had understood.

"I can't this Saturday A, I'm sorry. My parents want me to go to their house as a pre-Christmas celebration since they are not going to be around on that day," she said with a sigh and I nodded even though she couldn't see me. "But why don't you invite William instead?" she suggested thoughtfully.

"No, I only have two passes and I don't think I can get Chris one with such short notice, maybe I'll call Cole," I said and Judy stayed silent.

"Give me two minutes, I'll get back to you on that," she said quickly and then she hung up. Confused, I put the phone back in its place and took out my latest articles that I was going to put on this week's column on our webpage.

Hi Adalet, are you busy this weekend?

A message popped up on my laptop screen telling me an email had arrived. I opened the email and saw it was from Cole, apparently he really wanted to talk to me and was sending me messages through all my social media sites.

Are you busy this weekend? Maybe we could go out to dinner or go to the Christmas Parade. Please let me know what you would prefer.

P.s. Did you receive the flowers?

-Cole

My eyes widened, I had totally forgotten to thank him for the flowers. Quickly, I started to write a reply when my phone started to vibrate indicating a coming call. I saw William's name on the screen and I was torn between the two. I sighed and picked up the phone, "Hey William, what's up?" I asked casually. We hadn't talked much in the past few days but it wasn't because of what had happened at my apartment, he was just busy with the project and he spent most of his time at the construction zone and with other investors.

"Hello Adalet, do you know why Judy called us and invited Chris to her parents' dinner?" he asked me with confusion and surprise in his voice.

My eyes widened, so she wanted me to go with William. What happened to not going after him if he still had a girlfriend? Unless, she wanted me to convince William to dump his girlfriend, she wouldn't do that , right?

"Adalet?" I heard William again and I remembered I was on the phone with him.

"Yeah sorry, I don't know why she invited Chris to her parents' dinner but if you're going to be alone on Saturday, why don't you come with me to the Christmas Parade?" I asked nervously and slowly. I still didn't think it was a good idea.

William didn't hesitate, "I would love to."

I smiled awkwardly, "great, now I got to go, I'm at work."

"Oh right sorry, see you on Saturday, Adalet," he said before hanging up and after that was over. I messaged Judy.

I really don't understand you.

And she just replied with a wink emoji. Sometimes I wished I could read people's minds to understand why they did what they did. I stared at my laptop and sighed, I guessed it would have to be dinner then.

Re: Hi Adalet, are you busy this weekend?

Hey Cole, sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I have been really stressed out at work. How about dinner on Friday after my rehearsal?

P.S. Yes! I totally forgot to thank you. They are wonderful, you really shouldn't have. Thank You

-Adalet

On Friday I was going to come clean with Cole, I had to tell him that I couldn't see him as more than a friend and I would also put up a line between William and I. He had a girlfriend and I had to respect that and respect the boundaries. I was not going to be a part of anyone's game, I made my own path and took my own decisions.

..

On Friday I was standing outside of where we rehearsed. We had gone over a few waltzes for the gala but right now our main focus was on the last concert of the season, the Christmas concert the day before Christmas Eve. That was in less than a week.

I waited patiently for Cole to arrive since he had told me he wanted to pick me up so I wouldn't have to walk in the cold. I was thankful, the night before had been snowing hard and right now the floor was still very slippery and I could see some snowflakes starting to descend from the sky.

A car that looked new stopped in front of me and Cole stepped out of the driver's side to come open my door. I smiled at him and got in and he followed after me shortly after. "I see that the café does leave you money," I teased and he laughed. I was only teasing him, I knew he was almost two years younger than me and he was still in college studying physics and he only worked in the café to pay his rent, the rest his parents took care of, including the car.

"Of course, the franchise is almost as big as Starbucks," he said as he played along and I shook my head with a smile.

A few minutes later we arrived at a diner since we had decided on something more casual rather than fancy and extravagant. He was always a gentleman through the whole night as he opened doors for me and was careful to give me my space. We sat at a booth on opposite sides and he ordered a cheeseburger and a strawberry milkshake and I ordered a hot dog and a chocolate milkshake.

"So, work's been stressing you out," he said casually and he looked at me expectantly.

I nodded, "yeah well, my boss gave me a promotion and he has me arranging other assignments and writing more and sometimes it's just a lot when you also consider that I have to practice as soon as I get home and then I have rehearsals at night."

Cole nodded, "I get it, I go to school all morning and then work all afternoon until night in the café. It's wild but it is part of growing up." He was right, we were just two adults getting on track in our path of life.

"Your orders," said the waitress as she put our plates in front of us and handed us our milkshakes. I always enjoyed the milkshakes at that place, they weren't very expensive and the glass was very big.

"And have you considered my offer?" I heard Cole ask nervously and I stiffened. The last time we had gone out he had invited me to his parents' cottage up in Boston, of course, after all the concerts and we would spend New Years there.

"Yes I did but I don't know, Cole, I don't want to intrude or anything and I would have to work even though it's a vacation time," I began my excuses but stopped when I saw Cole's face start to fall. I sighed, I was such a bad person.

"I get it and don't worry, I'll tell my parents you got sick and didn't want to spread your infection to us," he said and I smiled at him, I tried to be sweet so I took his hand and murmured a thank you. He looked startled but then he smiled too.

We spent the rest of the night talking and he took me back to my apartment, he even walked me to my door. This was getting harder to do. "So listen Adalet," he said and I turned to look at him. We were now in front of my door and I could see how jumpy he was.

"I want to know if you wanted to be my girlfriend? I mean officially. We have gone out a few times and I really like you," he admitted and his eyes brightened when he looked at me. It was getting harder to breathe, I didn't know what to tell him.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. What could I say? "Cole, you're a really sweet guy and I really enjoy your company but I don't know if I'm ready for a relationship right now," I admitted and it wasn't all a lie. I hadn't felt ready since I broke up with Cory back in Texas.

Cole flinched but nodded and he tried to smile at me. "I understand Adalet and I can live with that but I can also wait until you're ready," he said hopefully and I turned to look at the ground. I felt as he got closer and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. "Good Night, Adalet."

He stepped away and I sighed and looked up. "Night, Cole," I said and I waved at him before disappearing inside. I closed the door behind me and let myself fall on the ground. Why was my love life such a mess? Why was I so neglectful?

..

The rays of the sun woke me up and I groaned as I opened my eyes. Apparently I had forgotten to close the curtains the night before. I looked at the clock and it was almost 9am. I sighed and got up to get ready for the day.

I decided to use a headband today, I didn't want to have an ever-lasting battle with my hair. I was wearing some dark-wash jeans and an orange sweater. As I walked out of my room an hour later I saw it was empty and too quiet. Judy wasn't nowhere to be seen and I saw a note on the kitchen counter that got my attention:

I left to go to my parents' celebration, I'll be back tomorrow. Have fun with William today!

I rolled my eyes and walked over to the fridge to make myself a sandwich. I was just about to take a bite when I heard a knock on the door. Confused, I walked over to the door and opened it to find William standing there with some hot liquid in a thermos. "Hello Adalet, sorry to come without being invited but I wasn't sure at what time you had to be at the parade," he said as he walked into my apartment and set the things on the counter. "I see you haven't had breakfast," he said as he looked at my sandwich.

I closed the door and walked towards him, "no, I haven't. Have you?" William nodded and asked me where the mugs were. He took out two mugs and poured a dark beverage in them, it smelled like hot chocolate.

"This is my grandmother's family recipe, I hope you enjoy it," he said as he took a drink of the hot liquid. I did the same and I wanted to moan but I kept myself from doing that. it would only make things weird. The flavor was very rich and creamy and it tasted like heaven.

"This is so good, your grandmother really knows how to make hot chocolate," I said excitedly and he chuckled.

"I will make sure to tell her you said that when I see her in heaven," he said and my eyes widened. I didn't know. "It is fine. Sometimes I am surprised to see how little you know about me and my family. Are you sure you are a reporter?" he teased and I laughed.

"I don't really follow gossip or those types of news," I said playfully and he shook his head.

"What is said about my family is not only gossip, dearest Adalet," he said more seriously now and I nodded.

I ate my sandwich while he told me about the time his grandmother had taken him to France and how he had been disgusted when the French ambassador had offered him some snails. I would have been too. To me that type of food was nasty.

I got up to wash my plate and we finished the rest of the hot chocolate. "Let me just go get my camera and notepad and then we can leave," I said after brushing my teeth and heading to my room. William nodded and I heard his phone ring before he picked up. It seemed like he was in an intense conversation and I waited until he was finished to walk out of my room. "That sounded intense, is everything alright?" I asked worriedly and he nodded.

"It was Adrianna, she is mad that I will not be home for Christmas or New Years," he responded before letting out a sigh of frustration.

"Didn't you say you told her and even invited her to come?" I asked as I sat next to him on the big couch in the living room.

"Yes and she blew me off then but we had planned to spend this Christmas with her family since last year and she is mad that I am not going to be accompanying her," he said and I didn't know how to respond to that. I heard him clear his throat and then he got up, "anyhow, let us go to this Christmas Parade that I have been hearing so much about." I smiled and handed him his badge and the both of us walked out of the apartment.