The Bachelor - David Dower (freenovel24 .txt) 📗

nodding her head.

Julianne walked past her and stopped when the lady grabbed her arm.

“Whatever my husband said to you, I disagree. I know my son more than him, Julianne.”

She waited for more, but the lady must have thought that two statements were enough. Julianne nodded her head slowly and walked away when Mrs. Astor let go of her hand. She walked back to the room like a zombie.

“Zach wants to know what happened,” Liam said behind her.

She jumped on her feet. What the hell was wrong with everyone? Why did they have to jump behind her all the time?

“Where the hell did you come from?”

Liam sighed, “I was waiting for you outside the wash room,” he pointed with his thumb. “Zach saw Chloe walking out and we thought that…”

“I’m fine,” she snapped, walking away, not giving him time to say more.

Zach’s head snapped up when he saw her entering the room. He was facing a little boy and Kim at one corner. He looked at her inquiringly. She tried to appear blank. Actually, if she would let her emotions show on her face, it would be a wreck. She was in a freaking orphanage and bad memories were haunting her, then she just had that talk with him, then Chloe came in, and then his mom. And yes, you could add that small talk with Liam.

Chloe was nowhere in sight, probably fuming somewhere. Julianne returned to the side of the room where she had seen Kim and the child appeared before her with her doll.

“Zach told me you’re lonely,” she said with her small, sweet voice. Julianne looked at her and she fought the tears that were threatening to come out of her eyes. God, she looked innocent. She wanted to grab the girl away from this place, away from more hurt that came her way, taking away the childhood that she deserved.

“No, I’m fine. He told you I’m lonely?”

“Yes, he said so. He also added that if I don’t make you smile, he’ll cry.” Julianne smiled and looked behind Kim. Zach smiled at her, not his usually boyish grin, nor his naughty smirks, but his true gentle smile, and Julianne couldn’t help but do the same either.

“Thank you, Kim,” she looked back at the child. “You really made me smile.”

Kim looked at her for a long time before she beamed, showing her toothless gums. “You are fine.”

“Yes,” she nodded and tucked the blond tresses of her hair behind her ear. “Now, tell me about your doll…”

 *****

They stayed at the orphanage until after lunch time and headed back to the ranch right after.

Julianne had a feeling of ambivalence when they left. It was hard to go to the place, yet it was also hard to leave it when the time came. She wanted to hug every child and tell them that they should be strong and that everything would be alright. And she knew they would be alright.

Sister Samuel was genuinely caring and those children were lucky. They only had to watch out from each other because there would always be someone who liked trouble.

Julianne was silent—as usual—as they travelled back to the ranch. Chloe though was quiet. She had been throwing Julianne dirty looks and that was not something new for Julianne so that was perfectly fine.

Kim was already waiting for her when they arrived, her face utterly happy.

At least she had something to smile about by the end of the day. She was grateful for the little help she offered her and Jack.

“What happened?” she asked Kim when they were alone out in the balcony after dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Astor left in a hurry, saying they had an emergency back home though Julianne was quite sure that was not really the case.

“It was amazing. We went for a picnic,” Kim gushed out, her eyes twinkling.

“And?”

“And what?” Kim blushed.

“Okay, I won’t ask further…” Julianne chided.

“We deducted that you and Zach were behind everything,” Kim said with a playful accusation on her face.

Julianne laughed, “We feared that.”

“Well, thank you anyway,” Kim said, smiling at her gratefully. “That was really nice of you two.”

“No problem,” she answered, hoping things for her and Zach were that easy to fix like in Kim and Jack’s case.

 *****

Zach was pacing around his room, trying not to burst out in anger. His father left without even bothering to talk to him about what he said to Julianne. If it was not for his mother’s reassurance that she was completely supporting him this time, he would have gone after them and demanded that his father straighten everything once and for all.

“Calm down, dude,” Liam said.

Yes, his freaking friend chose to stay, claiming he was not due to report back to work until the merger with Strindberg Group of Companies was done. “I don’t want to hear another word from you,” he snapped at his friend.

“Hey, I’m just trying to calm you down.”

“You’re not helping. You’re pissing me off. Why did you stay? To mock me?”

“What? Of course not! I need some time to relax.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to clear my mind.”

“Clear you mind from what?” his brows were almost overlapping each other now.

Liam did not answer. “It’s Chanty.”

“Chanty who?”

“Chanty Strindberg. I’ll be working with her.”

Zach rummaged his memory for a while before his scowl turned to amusement. The world had completely turned around now. Liam was looking troubled and harassed all of a sudden.

“I shouldn’t have mentioned that. I liked it better when I was the one seeing you in agony.”

Zach grinned. “Chanty Strindberg…Now I remember…the girl of your dreams…” he trailed off.

“Shut up,” Liam shot to his feet.

“And your THE ONE.”

“That was a long time ago,” Liam shook his head as he stormed to get a beer.

“But you’re bothered that you’ll be working with her. No, I guess you’re not over her yet.”

Liam did not answer. “Shut up, Zach. Chanty’s not a topic I’d rather discuss.”

Zach sighed in exaggeration, “She’s Philip Strindberg’s sister and that man is not easy to deal with. Man, you really have to get over her.”

“If I say you have to get over Julianne, will you?”

“Of course not.”

Liam smiled. “Exactly.” Chapter 25

The following few days were spent mostly by the girls trying to get Zach’s attention. Some of them lingered around Liam who never explained the reason why he was staying. Julianne chose to spend the whole week working on her computer and talking with Kim.

The next Rose Ceremony came in a rush, with Jack Carter explaining that he was informed that two more ladies will have to go home.

“There were some problem with the budget and I think we all have to adjust,” he had said.

“But that’s not fair!” Pauline blurted out in horror. “The last time, you sent two girls home and now you’re sending two more?”

Jack closed his eyes as the other ladies chimed in agreement to Pauline. “This is not something I can control. Nor is it Zach’s. In shows like this, we have twists, understand?”

Julianne rolled her eyes as the others groaned. Kim shared a look of amusement with her and they giggled silently.

 *****

Zach on the other hand couldn’t agree more. He was itching to get out of the show and pursue Julianne to prove that his feelings were genuine. If there was one thing he loved in the show, it was the unexpected increase of numbers of girls to send home. The faster the show ended, the better for him because Julianne never showed any indication that she would want to stay.

That afternoon, while the girls retired to their room, probably plotting against each other now, Liam handed him a bottle of beer.

“Seems like you’re gonna have some more problems…” his friend uttered, sitting beside him on the steps outside the house.

“I don’t see any problem,” Zach grinned. “The sooner this is over, the better.”

“You’ll have to tell Julianne about the bet though,” Liam uttered.

Zach looked at him squarely in the eyes and said, “Look man, you know the bet is off.”

“Says who?”

“Me,” Zach pointed at his chest.

“Then I guess I’ll have to think of the consequence I have to give you.”

“We didn’t say there’s a consequence. You should feel happy now that you were right and I was wrong. You can mock me but there’s no way there’s a consequence.”

“There will be a consequence, Zach. I’m serious man,” Liam added when Zach scowled. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing big. Just a little deed you have to make.”

Zach knew Liam took the bet seriously and he was not sure if he would like this consequence his friend was talking about.

 *****

“I’m going to back out,” Kim uttered to her the next day, just hours before the ceremony. The crew was busy preparing the place, and Brent was already in his suit and tie, reading his lines.

“You talked with Jack about it?” Julianne guessed.

“Yes,” Kim nodded eagerly. “This show’s going to end soon and I guess I’ll just have to wait.”

“He’s head over heels over you so don’t worry,” she took her friend’s hand gently.

“I’m not. I’m just not patient.”

“You’re not going to show up here any time soon for a visit, right?” she asked.

“No, of course not. God, the ladies will be horrified to know there’s something going on between me and the director.”

“They won’t like it,” Julianne nodded.

“Yes,” Kim sighed and stood up. “Anyways, I think I’ll go talk to Zach about this.”

“He’s probably expecting this.”

 *****

Zach felt a presence behind him and he turned. He was talking with Liam outside the house.

“Kim,” he said when he saw the lady.

“I’ll go take a walk,” Liam excused and smiled at Kim before he left.

“I want out,” Kim said in haste.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t want a rose later.”

Slowly, a smile crept up his face in understanding. “You talked with Jack about this?”

Kim rolled her eyes, “You and Julianne asked the same thing.”

“We think alike,” he winked.

Kim leaned her head on one shoulder to look at him skeptically, “You’ve always liked her, didn’t you? I never really had a chance if things didn’t turn out this way for me.”

It was not a question but Zach nodded anyway, “Just don’t tell the others. I don’t want murder in my ranch.”

Kim smiled at him. “You should take good care of her. She’s the best among us.”

“All of you are different, but she’s the best for me.”

She slowly nodded and sighed, “Anyway, about later?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll send you home.”

“Thanks, Zach. It was really fun being here with you, really.”

“I know. I’m fun to be with. You tell Jules about that as well.”

She just laughed and walked away.

When he was finally alone, Zach’s smile was gone. Kim was Julianne’s only friend here and now she wanted to leave. Should he let her go?

 *****

Julianne gave Kim an inquiring look when she came back and sat beside her on the couch.

“He said yes.”

“I knew he would,” she smiled at her friend. “I wish you all the best, Kim.”

“Me too,” Kim gave her a hug. Pauline, who was sitting just a few paces away from them, gave them a curious look. Julianne cleared her throat and let go of Kim.

“I’ll miss you,” she whispered.

“Me too,” Kim answered. “And I really think you should give Zach a chance, Julianne. He’s a really nice guy and he adores you.”

She just smiled. She