Is this destiny?

~ Chicago, Ellie\'s villa ~

5:28 PM

"Mr. Kiani, Miss Young told us to escort you to the garden in the back.", maid gestured with her hand when Jasper came to pick up Ellie.

Knowing Ellie\'s need to keep things private, he didn\'t expect to be invited inside. This was a pleasant surprise. Definitely a progress. He gets to step into her world! Maybe soon he gets a chance to come to EY office and meet Ellie\'s boss.

"Thank you.", he flashed a charming smile which dazzled the maid for a moment.

"Aiden, Sarah…", Jasper was surprised to see two of them with Ellie.

He sat next to Ellie and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek before turning to Aiden and Sarah. "Nice to see you again. Will you join us tonight?"

Jasper does not want anyone to join, but he and Ellie are about to leave for dinner, and he wants to be polite. Especially since they are Ellie\'s friends, and he knows that in order to score extra points with Ellie, her friends should approve of him.

"Oh, that is sweet of you to offer.", Sarah was touched by how thoughtful he is. But she knows that double date is not a good idea... based on her previous experiences which always ended up with couples craving for privacy. "Maybe next time. We have few more things we want to do before heading back tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?", Ellie was not happy about that. She was hoping they will stay longer! The fashion show is tomorrow afternoon! And she still didn\'t find a good chance to ask them to model for her.

"Yes.", Sarah confirmed. "We were planning to go today, but we stayed because you said that you need help with fittings. We feel that we are overstaying our welcome."

Ellie\'s eyes darted from Sarah to Aiden. She knows that she needs to say something now, but how…? "Aiden, can you come with me up for a minute? I want you to try the black jacket one more time."

Sarah was surprised with this request. "Now? Don\'t you have dinner plans?"

"It will be a minute, and it will give me a piece of mind." Ellie looked at Jasper. "We have few minutes, right."

"Sure.", Jasper shrugged indicating that he does not mind. But he does mind! Why Ellie didn\'t call him for fitting? 

"You two catch up. We will be back before you know it.", Ellie practically dragged away confused Aiden.

Sarah glanced at Jasper while thinking, \'Catch up? What exactly I have to catch up on with this guy?\'

…

Inside villa…

"Aiden, I have a favor to ask. Can you two stay longer?" Ellie went straight to the point.

Aiden raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "And you are asking me instead of Sarah because…?"

"I would really-really-really appreciate if you agree to be my models for the fashion show tomorrow."

Aiden frowned. "Fashion show? I don\'t know…"

"I can pay you."

"It\'s not about the money. You know that Sarah is terrified of being in the spotlight.", Aiden reminded her.

"Both of you did great yesterday during rehearsal."

"But the event hall was empty. I don\'t know… ask Sarah. If she is in, so am I." He was about to head out, but then he remembered the jacket from yesterday. "Do we get to keep the clothes?"

"I am talking to you with hope that you will help me persuade her. As for keeping the clothes... we can negotiate on that."

Aiden paused and thought how this will be a great chance for Sarah to break through her anxiety about being in the spotlight. And he likes the clothes!

He leaned closer to Ellie and spoke in a hushed tone: "Leave it to me to delay our departure. You need to convince her to do it. If you ask her to model for you, she will say no. But if you say that you are in some trouble and that you need help…"

...

Outside, in the garden…

Jasper hesitated for some time before speaking: "Sarah, do you know something about the relationship which caused Ellie to be so… difficult?"

Sarah paused the zombie-killing game and lifted her gaze from the phone. "What?"

"Do you know something about…"

Sarah raised her index finger indicating him to stop talking. "I heard you. I just don\'t believe you asked me that. If you want to know anything about Ellie\'s past, you should ask her."

"I did. And she is not saying anything."

"That means that she does not want you to know." Sarah brushed him off and went back to her phone. There are still five zombie waves that are coming to attack her fortress!

"Sarah… I really like her. And I know that she likes me back. But I feel that we are stuck. Every time we are close to making a progress, she retreats back into her shell. I am desperate… and I feel that if I know something about that relationship, we might be able to move from the starting point."

Sarah looked at Jasper with a troubled expression. After some hesitation, she glanced toward the villa and then back at him. "How much I know, you are her first real relationship."

"What? How is that possible?" Jasper could not believe it. Ellie is an attractive 23 years old woman! She didn\'t have a single relationship?

"You either believe me or not."

Sarah was about to return to her game when he held her hand which was going toward the \'resume game\' button on the phone screen.

"No, no, no! Please don\'t stop now. It\'s just that… why is she so afraid of a relationship if she has no bad experiences?"

Jasper let go of Sarah\'s hand when he noticed her disapproval of his touchy-action.

Sarah saw his icy-blue puppy eyed look and besides being adorably cute to the point of her wishing to pinch his cheeks, she can see that he is troubled... and that he cares… and that it means a lot to him.

She glanced toward the villa again, to make sure Ellie is not coming before speaking: "Ellie\'s mother passed away about ten years ago. Her health was fragile and I\'m not sure about the details, but she ended up in a hospital. They knew that she won\'t last long. The whole night Ellie was next to her mother, on the phone, trying to reach her father… to tell him to come to the hospital because her mother, his wife, is dying. He didn\'t pick up because he was with a mistress. And when he returned Ellie\'s calls in the morning, it was too late. It scarred her. I remember that few years later, Anna asked Ellie why she rejected a handsome guy who approached her with an offer for an ice cream at an amusement park… Ellie said that all men are liars and that there is no point in risking to fall for a guy if he will not be there when you need him… She was about sixteen years old when she said that… Honestly, knowing how you were acting at the rehearsal dinner, I am surprised that she gave you a chance to get this close. Don\'t waste it."

Jasper was processing what he heard. "Thank you for telling me this."

"I didn\'t tell you this because of you. I told you because I know that she likes you…" Sarah remembered. "By the way, what was that call last night? She called me asking for help…"

"It was a misunderstanding.", he quickly responded.

"Hmm… it seems there is a lot of those around you."

Jasper saw that Sarah is practically glaring at him.

"Are you going to threaten me that if I bully Ellie you will come after me, like your sister?"

Sarah laughed. "It seems that you spoke with Anna. I am not like her. I don\'t give threats to people. If I am after you, it will just happen."

Jasper looked at Sarah\'s smiling face, and internally he shuddered when he saw a glint of madness in her eyes. He told himself that he should not provoke any of Hill sisters.

"Done!", Ellie returned with a big smile. She looked at Jasper and Sarah and felt that something is off. "Is everything OK?"

"Yes, yes.", Sarah smiled. "I was just saying that I hope you two enjoy your date. Ellie, we will see you in the morning before we leave."

Aiden cleared his throat. "About that… Ellie just mentioned few interesting spots we should visit. Maybe we stay a day longer."

Sarah was confused. In two days they need to go to Austin, how they planned. Revenge. And before that they need to go to Los Angeles to pick up equipment… How can they do that if they stay a day longer in Chicago? "But… don\'t we need to…?"

"We will think of something. Let\'s go and get ready for our night out." Aiden ushered Sarah inside after they said their goodbyes to Ellie and Jasper.

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