Chapter 13: The Past

Then I took a turn to pinch Cecil’s waist. When she groaned, I grinned, satisfied with the payback. 

“You’re sweet, but mean,” Cecil grumbled while caressing her waist. 

I shrugged with an innocent expression. 

Edward laughed aloud to see our interaction. “Thanks. Okay, let’s go later. Only five of us. We’ll talk again about the time and place.” Then he glanced at me. “Let’s go back to our room.”

I nodded and waved at my friends. “See you later, girls!”

“Thanks, sir!” Anna said while waving at me and smiling at Edward.  

After we returned to our working room, I noticed he kept smiling. “Why are you smiling?”

“Your friends are wonderful. They are funny and don’t pretend, even before me. You chose the right friends!” 

“Well, indeed. They are kind and always support me, though sometimes they can be too straightforward. That’s why I enjoy being friends with them.” 

“You’re lucky to have friends like them.” He let out a long sigh. “I’m jealous of you.”  

“Huh? Why?”

“You know? In my circle, it’s hard to find an honest friend. Each time they approach me is to get an advantage, not because they want to be my friends. Even if they don’t, they will be cautious and save their images by presenting themselves as someone else.”

“Don’t you have any friends?” I asked.

“Friends? No. I have a lot of acquaintances, but friends?” Again, he sighed.  

“Is it because you are too afraid to be hurt? Nobody’s perfect, right?”

“Yes, maybe you’re right. I find it hard to get friends because my mother emphasized to me to have friends in the same social circle. She wanted to ensure that none would take advantage of me or my family. When I was in senior high school, I had a good friend. A best friend.” He was quiet for a while before continuing again, “How I could be friends with him was because we were in the same social circle. So it was safe for me to accept him as my friend.“

I listened to him. Probably most people didn’t know that being a billionaire wasn’t always fun. Most likely, people would think that as rich men, they had everything. No need to worry about what they would eat the next day. If they wanted to buy anything, just buy it. Unfortunately, this was the side that not all knew. It was true that all had their own problems and miseries.  

He continued with his story. “Unfortunately, I lost him two years later. Andrew stole someone I like while he knew for sure I liked the girl.” His eyes were dimmed as he recalled the past.

“So you ended your friendship because of that?”

He didn’t reply. He looked elsewhere. “If only he told me, we would be good.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, he lied to me. He supported me to approach Jillian, but in the back, he tried to get her for himself.”

 “Ah, he stabbed you from behind,” I whispered. I could feel his pain.

“Yes, more or less that’s what I felt. It was worse because I trusted him completely, but he betrayed me.” 

I patted his hand. “Have you found it hard to trust people because of that?”

He stared at me and smiled a little. “It’s better now. I was awful back then when it came to trusting people. At university, I tried to be friends with my classmates, but it was my problem that I couldn’t open up to them.”

“Why?”

“Because some of them, who were close enough with me, told me they came from lower-middle class families. They told me they were jealous of the upper class people. How could I be free to be myself after hearing such comments?”

“Afterward, what did you do?” 

“I pretended I came from an ordinary family. At least, no problem to be friends with most of them, but it was impossible to be closer friends.”

I stared at him with pity. “Who knows if you can be friends with my friends?”

“I hope so.” Suddenly, he smiled brightly. “At least from how they treated me, I have hope. They know who I am, but they don’t pretend before me.”

His phone rang. “Hang on, please?” he said while smiling at me.  

I nodded while smiling back at him.  

He returned to his desk. I could hear his voice clearly. 

“Yes, Mom, you will meet her later. I’m sure you’ll like her.” He was silent for a while. “I will ask her about that. Talk to you later, Mom. Yes, bye, Mom.”

My heart beat so fast. Would he ask me to meet with his mother soon? Oh! I wasn’t ready yet! 

Afterward, he approached my desk again. He grinned at me. “It’s my mom. I already told her about us. She wanted to meet you.”

I cleared my throat while scratching my head.  

“When can you meet her?” 

I squirmed on the chair. “Uh …”

“Any problem?” 

I bent my head and squeezed my hands. “W-We are new. It’s too fast to meet your mother now.” 

“Lana, look at me, please?” So I raised my head and stared at him. His gaze was sad. “Are you unsure of me?”

“No! It’s not what I meant!” I protested. 

“Oh, then if you don’t feel like that, why?” 

“I just … I don’t know. It feels like it’s too fast. I must convince myself first that I’m worthy of you. I deserve to be with you.”

He immediately pulled my hands. It was so strong until I was lifted from my seat. “Come. We will go somewhere. We need to talk.” 

“Where?”

“We will talk somewhere more comfortable. I don’t want any problem in our relationship.” 

Then, holding my hand, he directed me to the parking lot. I just followed him. Ten minutes later, we arrived at a mall. Next, we entered a Japanese restaurant there. 

“What do you want to order?”

“You go first. I’m still thinking.”

“Okay, I want the Special Package, please?” he said to the server. 

After turning the menu, I finally decided, “Beef Hot Ramen, please. Not too spicy, please.”

“What beverage do you want? I want hot Ocha,” he said. Ocha was a Japanese tea.

I nodded. “Okay, me too. So two hot Ochas,” I said to the server.