Is this destiny?

~ Los Angeles, Mediterranean villa ~

Sunday afternoon…

Ellie and Jasper joined Jeff and JoAnna at their villa for lunch.

Ellie asked JoAnna if they can take a walk in the garden and discuss some… girl topics. She wanted to ask her about contraceptive options and didn\'t want to talk about it in front of the guys.

Jeff and Jasper looked after their women and Jeff observed Jasper\'s enamored expression.

Jeff grabbed few ice cubes from the beverage cooler, pulled Jasper\'s collar from the back and dumped the ice inside.

"Ahh!", Jasper screamed. "What was that about?" He frowned while untucking his shirt so that ice falls down.

Jeff snorted. "That is for making fun of me."

Jasper could not believe the childish prank Jeff just did. And what is with the random accusation? "When did I make fun of you?"

Jeff narrowed his eyes at Jasper. "You forgot already? Only few weeks ago all of you were mocking me because of Anna. And look at you now. Staring at Ellie like she is the source of everything good on Earth, ready to propose and sail in the ship called marriage."

Jasper choked on a non-existent saliva. "Propose? Marriage?"

"Don\'t tell me you don\'t see it? Are you happy to stay in these boyfriend-girlfriend shallow waters? What if another guy comes and decides to swoop her off her feet? Until you put that ring on her finger and she becomes your Mrs. nothing is certain, my friend. You need to lock her down, or she might fly away."

Jasper was unable to conceal mix of emotions that Jeff\'s words stirred.

"I admit, I\'m smitten. And if any other guy comes close to Ellie I will blow him away. But… a marriage? It\'s too soon. We just started dating few weeks ago."

Jeff looked at Jasper who is in denial. He decided to give few advices to his friend. "Ask yourself, in your mind, five years from now… is she by your side? If you can create a perfect girl, would that be anyone other than Ellie? If in five years from now you see Ellie by your side, why delay the inevitable? You are only wasting precious time… But don\'t take my word for it. There is no better way to realize your feelings that a separation. When you come back next weekend, I will be more than happy to rub it in because: I told you so."

Jeff stopped filling Jasper\'s head with ideas of marriage, and they switched topic to business.

Jasper told Jeff that thanks to Ellie, he has the majority of votes secured in the company and some of the projects that were blocked by Norman are now ready to go. Jeff was happy to hear this and they started discussing it on high level, including timelines for when they will meet officially to dig deeper into details of collaboration between K Industries and White corp.

Outside, in the garden, Ellie and JoAnna had their chat.

Ellie was listening to JoAnna\'s suggestions related to contraception.

JoAnna agreed to write a prescription for Ellie.

They switched topic to bed climbers when Ellie mentioned Lily. Ellie was overwhelmed when JoAnna confirmed what Aiden said: those meddling people are everywhere!

JoAnna didn\'t hold back her advices: "But no matter who comes at you and what is their strategy, you will defeat them successfully only if two of you work together. You need to trust and support each other without reservation. If you don\'t have that, those shameless women will take advantage of that crack."

"How do you handle all that pressure?" Ellie was exhausted just listening to stories like spiking drinks, sabotaging a saddle, and challenging to a shooting match.

JoAnna smiled while thinking that only few months back she was like Ellie. "I remind myself why I\'m doing it. Every morning when I wake up next to Jeff is a blessing. I will not allow anyone to take that away from me. I admit, sometimes is overwhelming, and sometimes I\'m tired… and knowing that I\'m not fighting alone helps. A lot. Jeff is my pillar, the one I can always count on."

"I\'m not sure we are there yet." Ellie knows that Jasper has feelings for her, just how she has for him. And both of them are enjoying their time spent together. But JoAnna is talking about stability which comes after many trials. Compared to JoAnna and Jeff, Jasper and she are like elementary school kids.

"I know that you are used to singlehood, and that you were happy there. Usually, it takes time to develop a firm relationship which will stand against all problems. But you don\'t have the time. You need a crash course. I went through the same. We barely started dating when a woman at his work claimed to be me and she even wanted to go to the press and talk about his habits in the bed! I was not ready for that, but I saw that Jeff is talking to me about it, and I realized that he sees me as a partner. As his partner, I can\'t let him fight all the battles by himself…"

"I can tell that you… matured since you are with Jeff.", Ellie voiced her thoughts. JoAnna was always carefree, enjoying the moment. 

JoAnna didn\'t deny it. "I admit that I did things I never thought I will be capable of doing. Some things are ruthless and I\'m not proud of them. But if I get a chance for a do over, I would do it again. There is one thing that Sarah said, and Sophia and I are repeating whenever we face a difficult choice: \'What would they do to me? When would they stop?\' Those two simple questions help a lot in deciding how to handle a situation."

Ellie could not help but think about Wednesday and those five people who came to attack her. What would they do to her? When would they stop? She shivered involuntarily while answering those questions to herself.

...

"I was thinking of checking if you are lost.", Jeff teased JoAnna when she returned with Ellie.

JoAnna laughed. "I\'m happy to hear that you missed me."

Jasper\'s phone rang. He saw that it\'s his mom and stepped away to take the call.

"What happened?", Ellie asked when Jasper returned one minute later with an unreadable expression.

"Norman is in the hospital. It seems that he was attacked after Saturday\'s gathering at Jackson\'s villa."

"Attacked?", Jeff frowned.

Jasper confirmed. "Multiple fractures. He is stable currently. I will find out more tomorrow."

"Don\'t you want to go back earlier?", Ellie asked reluctantly.

"No need. It\'s not like he will recuperate faster if I\'m there few hours earlier.", Jasper pulled Ellie to sit closer to him so that their hips touch. He needs her at a touching distance. Always. Ah, next five days without Ellie will be a torture.

In truth, even if his father is not stable, Jasper has no intention of going back to Chicago earlier. He does not want to cut short his time with Ellie.

Jasper has plan for tonight: dinner in Ellie\'s villa, then they will spend some quality time, and then cuddles. And his jet is waiting for him, he will not leave before 4 AM. That is enough for him to reach his office in time to shower and change clothes before his morning meeting. He will sleep in the plane.

Norman is bandaged and based on Melissa\'s description, he looks like a mummy. He is not going anywhere, so Jasper has no intention of skipping on his cuddles with Ellie.

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