My Darling, My Dearest

Chapter 105

When he heard that it was about Rachel, Michael rolled his eyes. 'Didn't they sign the divorce agreement already? What's going on?!' he thought.

"Why don't you come and have a drink? It doesn't make any sense to be angry all by yourself, you know," he said after he briefly cleared his throat.

There was a brief silence as Jack considered his offer. "Okay," he replied.

Jack was a powerful man when it came to work and business, but when it came to relationships, it seemed that he was as helpless as everyone else.

It was obvious that he was not aware when he started to develop feelings for Rachel. He was obviously clueless with his own self.

Anger and frustration made him drink as fast as Michael could refill his glass. After a few shots, Michael decided that he couldn't stand it anymore and stopped him by holding his glass down. "I did not tell you to drink alone. Tell me what happened, and I might be able to give you some advice."

He squinted and took a deep breath as he stared at Michael. "What do you want to know?" Jack asked dryly. Michael decided that it was either his natural bad mood or the alcohol.

"First, I want to know why you are upset. Tell me what's bothering you," Michael said calmly. Michael stretch out a hand to Jack's shoulder and gripped it. He smiled as he raised his eyebrows. "I might be able to give you some advice if you tell me what happened, alright?"

But Jack's manner remained cold. He didn't say a word as he seemed to be in deep thought. He slowly placed his glass on the table and started to lean back in his seat to relax himself.

In the meantime, elsewhere, Rachel felt that something was oddly wrong. It was time for her to rest, but she was still wide awake.

She held a book in her hand but never opened it to read a single page. Instead, her attention was completely drawn by the passing time.

She watched the seconds of the clock as it slowly ticked away. Her mind was completely uninterested with the book in her hand.

When the clock struck 22:32, she became so uneasy that she decided to get out of bed.

She glanced at Jack's room. It was quiet, and there was no sound of any approaching car from outside. Rachel stood on the second floor for a while as she tried to get her mind in order.

She stared at the bandage that still wrapped her injured foot. Her eyes then went to the door of Jack's room once more.

He was really pissed off when he drove away. She realized that it was not appropriate to talk to him like that.

'I think I misunderstood him,' she told herself in self-realization. ■d

Rachel's shoulders suddenly drooped as she slowly stepped backwards to lean against the wall. Her mind was still in a mess. She thought that she should apologize to Jack later.

A short time later, a sudden realization seemed to have brought her back to her senses. She was too ashamed to apologize to him. She played with the phone in her hand for a while.

When she felt that she was at a complete loss, she decided to send Lea a voice message, and sought her advice. Content held by NôvelDrama.Org.

'Do I need to apologize?' she kept asking herself.

It was a long time before Lea replied to her message. She couldn't understand what Rachel meant. Her question was not completely clear.

A few minutes later, Rachel's phone finally vibrated and she hurriedly checked the message.

"Well, even though I don't like Jack, you seem to misunderstand his good intentions for you. I think you should take the initiative to apologize to him. After all, he did that out of kindness."

The message of her friend made it easier for Rachel to organize her thoughts. She immediately felt relieved after she read it. Her mind agreed that she should apologize to Jack.

After she hesitated for a long time, she finally picked up her phone and made a call to Jack. The phone rang for a while.

The call kept ringing but Jack never answered it. Her hand fell limply to her side. She felt like her arm suddenly became too weak to keep holding her ■d

phone up. In her mind, she imagined the angry face of Jack silently staring back at her.

'Is he still mad at me?1 she wondered to herself.

She gave him another call, but Jack still didn't answer her call. She decided to give up.

Since he was still mad at her, she decided it was best to talk to him the next day.

She finally put the book back. She had it with her for nearly two hours but she barely read a single page. By the time she finished washing and went to bed, it was almost eleven in the evening.

It was still quiet outside, and there was no sound of a car coming back. She quietly turned off the light as she listened for the sound of any incoming car.

At almost the same time, elsewhere, the bar was bustling with activity. Marcus struggled to get his way upstairs through the crowd downstairs.

He pushed the door open and went in. Michael looked up at the person that stood in front of him, picked up the bottle of wine and poured into two empty glasses. "I called you as soon as we got here. Why are you so late?"

Marcus twitched his lips as he loosened his shirt. "You really picked a good place. A lot of acquaintances downstairs, almost got my skin peeled off when I came in."

Michael laughed out loud. "Did you just meet your ex-girlfriends just now?" he jested at Marcus.

"Cut the crap," Marcus said as he waved his hand dismissively at Michael who was still giggling. ■d

Marcus sat down beside Jack who quietly leaned back on the sofa. He seemed so relaxed.

"Hey, Jack, how's your Rachel?"

Michael couldn't understand why Marcus brought it up to Jack. He turned his head away as he covered his face with a hand. He thought that Marcus' brain must be badly damaged.

Michael leaned over to pour wine into a glass for Marcus. "He's drunk. Don't talk to him," he said to Marcus as he muddled his drink.

"Drunk?" Marcus repeated and took a sip of wine. He curled his lips to an amused smile. "Don't tease me.

I haven't seen him drunk in a very long time. It's been several years since the last time he got drunk." A couple of years ago, Jack was known as a notorious party animal and got drunk almost every night.

When he became busy with the MK Group's business, his priorities shifted. He still got involved in a lot of social engagements, but almost never went out with his friends to drink anymore.

While the two talked, Jack's eyes moved until he eventually opened them. And Marcus guessed it right; he was not drunk at all. It was almost impossible to get him drunk by this type of alcoholic drink, Marcus was sure.

Marcus whispered something to Michael as Jack slowly regained his composure. To their surprise, he behaved like nothing happened. Marcus placed his hand over his shoulder and asked, "What's wrong? Why are you so quiet today?" ■d

But Jack didn't bother to explain anything to him. He took his glass and raised it to the air. "Cheers!" He placed his glass on his lips and started to drink his wine.

"Shit! Are you kidding me?" Jack was almost finished with his full glass of wine as soon as the glass touched his lips. 'This guy is crazy!' Marcus thought.

Before anyone could say anything, Jack leaned back his head and drank the remaining wine from his glass.

He put down his empty glass on the table in front of Michael. Michael immediately filled his glass without saying a word.

Marcus studied Jack for a while and then turned his sight on Michael. He realized that Jack was in a real bad mood.

He was about to ask what was going on, but Michael signaled to him as soon as he noticed what Marcus was about to do.

He winked at him and shook his head without letting Jack see him. At length, Marcus understood what Michael was trying to say to him.

'Better not ask him about it then,'

Marcus thought to himself.

He decided that all he had to do was drink with his buddy. He felt sure that it was Celine that made him unhappy.

On the other hand,

Michael wondered if Jack had fallen into the trap of another woman. ■d

But none of them noticed the strange look on Jack's face as they drank.

The three of them kept drinking non-stop until midnight. Someone suddenly stood up from the sofa and almost fell down. Fortunately, Michael was able to grab him.

Before he could say anything, Jack was already straggling towards the door. Michael called out to him, but he just went straight for the door as if he never heard him at all.

"Wait! Wait! Wait for us!"

It took all of Michael's strength to keep two drunk men straight up in the middle of the night. Marcus was even worse for he could barely stand up on his own.

At last, with some effort, Michael was able to call his driver to pick them up. The driver drove Marcus home while Michael decided that he was still sober enough to drive Jack home.

He turned his head and saw the man in the passenger seat closing his eyes and leaning against the window, as if he had already fallen asleep.

Michael thought about the situation for a while, and decided to take him to his own house.

But as soon as the car started moving, Jack opened his eyes and moved his eyes around without moving from his position. He looked at the road and tried to determine the direction that they were going. "Go to Rachel's place!" he ordered.

Michael thought that he had fallen asleep already and would remain asleep the rest of the ■d

way. But when Jack suddenly said something, Michael was so badly startled that he had an emergency brake.

The car screeched to a sudden halt while a muffled thud came from Jack's side. "Are you trying to kill me?" Jack asked under clenched teeth as he reeled from the impact with the window.

"Oh my God, Jack! You almost scared me to death when you spoke!"

In the meantime, it was almost three in the morning when Rachel woke up from a dream. She lifted the quilt from her body and sat up. She reached for a glass of water by the bedside.

When she picked up the glass, she found that it was empty. Rachel yawned and walked towards the door of her room in a daze.

She opened the door but before she could step out, a tall figure blocked her way in the dark that she was instantly startled.

"Ahhh!" she screamed out of fright. "Shhhh..." the man said in a soft voice as he covered her mouth with his hand.

"Be quiet. It's me."

She immediately recovered from her initial shock when she heard his voice. "Jack?!"

He reeked with the strong smell of alcohol as he answered her in a soft, raspy voice, "Yes..."

Rachel was almost scared to death. She threw out her hands and pushed him. "Are you crazy? You were lurking in front of someone's room in the middle of the night!" ■d

Pushing his tall body was surprisingly easy for Rachel because he was drunk. He leaned against the wall behind him, and shook his head slightly. "I'm here for you," he said in the same soft voice that sounded so pitiful.

"What are you doing here so late at night, anyway?" Rachel asked as she walked out of her room. She struggled to look for the switch that would turn on the light on the corridor.

But as soon as she took a step forward, she was pulled back by Jack. "Don't go," he ordered.

"I want turn on the light. Don't talk to me if you're drunk."

"No. Don't turn on the light." Jack's voice was so soft. Rachel couldn't see his facial expression in the darkness, but she clearly heard the pitiful expression in his voice. "It's all good now. I have something to tell you."