Page 162 of Don't Leave Me

I stood up, needing fresh air and alone time to strategize.

“Yes. She was, sheis, utterly in love with you,” I reassured him. “I will call you soon,” I turned and left.

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Chapter 41

HANA.

I had cried for what seemed like hours. It wasn’t just because of my conversation with Billie, it was everything that I had pent up for the last two weeks. I was not able to cry, to show my sadness, for the last two weeks because that would have shattered the image for Jack as us living a perfect, happy life. But now I had the excuse since Billie had basically denounced me as a human being.

“You alright now, love? You did great. You did fantastic, sweetheart,” Jack said gently, rubbing circles on my back with his hands.

I looked up at him with my sore, red eyes. He looked down at me like I was a wounded child that he needed to take care of.

“Emily’s been calling. Why don’t you call her back? Tell her the good news? Perhaps we can set up a date with them soon,” he suggested, trying to perk me up.

I gave him a weak smile. Hopefully Billie didn’t get Emily involved in this mess that I had created.

“Go on. Here,” he took my phone and dialed Emily, pitting it on speaker.

After a few rings, Emily answered. “Hey stranger!” She exuded joy, as always.

“Hey Em,” I smiled to the phone, relieved to hear her happy voice.

“How’s it going, Mrs. I Love Jack So Much I Must Declare It On Instagram?” she teased, laughing to herself.

I laughed and glanced up at Jack. He was smiling from ear to ear - he was happy she was buying it.

“It’s going really well,” I replied, already in a better mood. “What are you guys doing?” I asked casually, my improvised conversation freeing.

“We were trying to figure out what we wanted to eat. Billie called me earlier - she was asking about you and Jack again,” she sighed, and I could practically hear her eyes rolling over the phone.

“Again? What did she ask?” I questioned too eagerly.

“Well she called me like a few days ago saying you were acting weird and was asking if I heard from you. And I told her everything was fine and she just wouldn’t budge. She thought something was wrong,” she explained. “And this morning, or like an hour ago or whatever, she called again and asked if we’d seen you guys. And then I texted her when I saw your super sweet Instagram post, proving that everything was fine,” she exhaled heavily. “She’s exhausting sometimes. She’s like, always on your case.”

I wanted to cry all over again. Billie was doing everything in her power to save me and I was pushing her away – I was forced to push my only hope away.

“Hey, Emily? You’re on speaker. We have a bit of a big announcement to make and wanted to tell you guys first,” Jack interrupted, giving me a moment to let tears stream down my face.

I froze, watching him speak.

“What is it? Hold on. Adam!” Emily exclaimed, ruffling in the background. “Okay, now you guys are on speaker. Tell us! I’m dying!” she nearly yelled.

Jack took my hand and pulled me onto the couch with him. He wrapped his arm tightly around my shoulders before he spoke.

“Hana and I are getting married tomorrow,” Jack beamed, then looked over at me, truly happy. For a moment, I wanted to bask in all of his happiness. It was the happiest I’d seen him since the day he took me. I couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“Oh my god!” Emily screamed with delight. “What? Oh my god! Where? When? I need to be there – we both need to be there! Oh my god, congratulations, you guys!” she went on and I smiled at the phone, wishing she was with us.

“Why don’t you two come be our witnesses?” Jack suggested. “It’s just the courthouse thing, but it would be really special if you both were there. We’re in Albany for a couple days before we run off to our honeymoon.”

I was surprised that he was going to let someone know where we were before we were married. Perhaps he knew that he had me where he wanted me and wasn’t worried about anything anymore – he was flying high.

“Oh my god, yes of course! Right, Adam? We can take my car, that’s only like a couple hours away, isn’t it?” Emily answered immediately, and I hadn’t heard a peep from Adam. That was normal when one was around Emily though.

Of course she would be happy for us. Why wouldn’t she? We were feeding them all the signs that we were happy, I had just made the mushiest, sappiest post about my love for him, and Emily adored Jack since the day she met him. I’m sure Adam said great things about him too – he was his best friend.

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