Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jaxon reached Las Vegas by 2 o'clock in the morning. He unlocked his apartment and just went to sleep. He needed the energy to face Carmella and her family.
The next day, Ethan Parker invited Jaxon over for lunch at his house. Jaxon was too excited to do anything else. So he groomed himself, went for a haircut and a good shave to calm his jumpy nerves.
By 12 noon, he wore his favorite pair of good luck jeans, paired with a black shirt, and drove to Carmella's house. Her mom opened the door and welcomed him inside. He greeted her cordially but his eyes searched for Carmella everywhere.
"She hasn't arrived yet," Amanda Parker informed him. Carmella's dad came to greet him and they shook hands cordially.
"Let's have a drink or two, Carmella's on her way," informed her father. They sat down for a drink while her mom went to the kitchen to check the preparations.
The door opened and Carmella walked in half-heartedly, wearing a pale pink dress, her hair tied up in a bun with a few escaped strands framing her face. She froze seeing Jaxon but composed herself quickly, looking down at her feet as she walked towards the kitchen.
"Oh there you are Carmella, come here," called her dad.
She reluctantly went up to him, "Yes dad," she sighed not glancing even once in Jaxon's direction.
"I want you to make amends with Jaxon, please," he said and she nodded and walked away towards the kitchen without even casting a single glance towards Jaxon. But Jaxon couldn't look away. His heart broke thinking how much he had hurt her. He really deserved this. Seeing her after so many days, made him want to talk to her alone. He needed to talk to her, he needed to apologize to her but it seemed an impossible task when she refused to acknowledge his mere existence.
She came back with her mom and Jaxon again couldn't look away. "Lunch is served, come Jaxon," said her mom.
Her mom led them to the dining room where a delicious lunch was spread out on the table, ready to be devoured. Ethan Parker sat at the head of the table with his wife by his side. Carmella went to sit beside her mom but she directed her to the seat beside Jaxon on the other side.
Reluctantly she sat down still refusing to look at him. He didn't mind, he would talk to her later. Gilbert had advised him to be patient and he would be. They ate the delicious lunch, while her dad asked Jaxon about his work and businesses. Then they talked about the case of the missing designs too. Carmella was all ears and she realized that the actual culprits had been arrested. She didn't utter a single word and thankfully no one prodded her. Jaxon passed her the food trays to serve and she accepted as her parents were noticing their every interaction minutely.
The lunch was finally over and their housekeeper, Mary cleared the table. Ethan Parker led them to the living room. Carmella was about to escape and help Mary but her dad had other plans it seemed. "Carmella, sit down. I need to talk to both of you," he said. Carmella reluctantly went and sat beside her mom.
"After talking to both of you, Amanda and I have realized that you both love one another. You had a fight, a misunderstanding and you lost your first baby but believe me, that shouldn't make you give up on your feelings for one another," said her dad, solemnly.
"True love is hard to find, you know. If you're convinced that your love for one another is true, you should solve your differences at the earliest. Don't let the grudges pile up turning into a deep hatred for one another," said her mom.
Jaxon nodded, agreeing to what they were saying. He liked her parents very much and wished that he could have had such parents. "You both have a month to solve your differences and then get married. Your mom and I have fixed your wedding to the 15th of next month. Carmella, you're exams would be over by then, so you would be freer," said her dad. Carmella nodded reluctantly. She didn't have any wish to marry Jaxon but she couldn't argue with her parents. Surely when things died down they could divorce one another.
After making more wedding plans it was time to leave. Jaxon took his leave and went away much to her relief. Carmella left after half an hour, driving back to her apartment. She sat down with her books to study, yet not a single sentence entered her brain. Absentmindedly, she sat thinking about the times she spent with Jaxon in Paris, at his house. Then the thought of that dreadful day came to her mind as she vividly recalled every harsh word that he said to her. Her eyes filled with tears that cascaded down her cheeks. Then she thought about her baby. She would have been five weeks pregnant by now if she hadn't had the miscarriage. More tears slipped down. She closed her books, it was useless, she couldn't concentrate like this.
The doorbell rang and she wondered who it could be. Maybe Tyler. He came often to visit her at her apartment ever since she returned back. He had divorced his bitch of a wife and she was glad that he did so.
Opening the door, she walked towards the kitchen, "Tyler, why didn't you come over to dad's for lunch?" She asked over her shoulders.
"I'm not Tyler," said a deep baritone voice. She whirled around knowing that she could recognize that voice anywhere, anytime.
"Jaxon? What are you doing here?" She asked without any emotion.
"I need to talk to you Carmella," said Jaxon with longing, coming into the apartment and closing the door behind him.
"There's nothing to talk about Jaxon, " she said, looking down at her hands, refusing to meet his piercing gaze which saw the dried tears on her cheeks and the redness of her eyes.
"There is Carmella. I'm truly sorry that I said those words to you. I was upset with you for not joining me in London. I expected you every day. I was going out of my head, missing you and you seemed happy without me. You didn't even call me Carmella. I would have attended your call anytime, but you didn't call even once. I had gone crazy. I know I could have called you but when you declined to come to London, I wanted to see how long you could stay away from me. It seemed that you could stay away from me. You never missed me," he said, trying to go closer to her.
She went further away from him. "That doesn't give you the right to accuse me of theft Jaxon, that too without any proof. You have maligned my name, insulted me. Don't talk of love. If you had really loved me, you would have trusted me. The words you said to me are unforgivable and unforgettable. I'm marrying you only because my dad's goodwill is at stake here. We will get divorced once it all dies down," she said with conviction.
"No, Carmella. I won't give you a divorce, ever. This marriage is forever. I'm extremely sorry for what I said to you, Carmella. It's my misfortune that I can't trust anyone even if I want to, but I'm learning to trust now, " he said, begging her to understand him.
"Since I was ten, I faced betrayal. My mom, pushed my dad down the stairs when he was excessively drunk. He died and she escaped with all his money proving that it was just an accident. My older sister took her portion of the money and left me. My dad's sister, my aunt came to look after me till I was old enough to sign her off a lumpsum amount from the money left behind. In all this, Molly was the only one who stayed by my side. At twenty, my first girlfriend came over and robbed whatever she could get her hands upon and escaped. Tell me how could I learn to trust?" He said in a pleading voice.
Carmella sat down with shock at what he'd gone through. It explained a lot about him but yet she couldn't forgive him.
"You might have gone through a lot Jaxon but you have to understand that I'm not them and everyone isn't like those women you are related to. Like Molly was true to you, I was true to you too. You could have waited for the investigation to get over, Jaxon," she said, quietly. Jaxon came and drew a chair and sat closer to her.
"I realize that now Carmella and I'm sorry. You can punish me all my life but please don't separate yourself from me, " he pleaded.
"I can't forgive you. It was because of you I lost my baby, Jaxon," she said quietly.
"Your baby? You forgot that it was my baby too. It was your duty to inform me that you were pregnant with our baby. Do you think I'm not in pain because of our baby? Do you think I don't shed tears every day because of our baby? Then you're wrong. I'm just as devastated as you are and maybe more because I didn't know of its existence. I couldn't save it. I failed as a dad," he said, covering his face as he wept bitterly, heartbrokenly.
