Chapter 9

Jessica woke up because of the loud banging sound coming from the door. Even if everything feels so heavy, she got up and opened the door. And walking a few steps away from the bed, she realized that she isn't in her room. She's inside their room. 

She also noticed that the clothes she wore last night were different from the clothes she's wearing right now. She remembered Philip ripping her shirt last night and she thought that maybe this over large shirt she's wearing right now was Philip's.

Thinking about Philip made her remember what happened earlier that day. She sighed and continued her way to the door.

"Samuel?" It was Philip's bodyguard.

"Good evening, Miss Jessica. Miss Xiomara has asked me to give this to you." He said and handed her a bag. 

"What is this for?" She asked, eyeing the bag suspiciously. Jessica took the bag from Samuel.

"She told me that you should wear that for the party later." He said with full respect. Even if the lad wasn't around to watch him, he still remained to be as respectful as he is when she's around. "I have to go now, Miss." Jessica just nodded and closed the door.

'Oh shoot, I completely forgot about the party.' She admitted to herself as she took the black bikini that has sparkles all around. She liked it, obviously. This kind of design was her favorite. 

But although she did want the bikini, she doesn't want to go to the party anymore. But she knows that she had to go or else Xiomara might be mad at her. After all, she came to Hawaii for her birthday.

So, she had no other choice but to take the bikini and prepared herself for the party.

Jessica wore the bikini and looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. She isn't comfortable with the bikini alone so she put on some shorts and a see-through shirt. Purple marks that Philip made were a little visible on her neck so she tried to cover it with some make-up. 

Every time she remembers what happened, her heart feels heavy. What Philip had done will never be erased from her mind. "Try not to think about her, Jessica. Just...try to have fun at the party later." She gave herself a pep talk.

But how could she enjoy the party if she knows her husband would be there with her?

-

"Happy birthday Xiomara," Colin greeted his friend with a kiss. "Here's my gift." The Irish lad said, handing the model a paper bag that says happy birthday.

"Thanks, Cole!" She said cheerfully, before giving him a quick hug. Elijah was the next one to greet her. 

"Hey, Mara, happy birthday!" He greeted with much enthusiasm. He handed a small box to her. "And here's my gift, you'll like it more than what Colin got for you." He smirked.

Xiomara laughed and ruffled the curly-haired boy's curls. "I'm pretty sure I'll like what the both of you got me, but thank you."

Elijah then asked where will they be seated and just when Xiomara was about to lead them there, they remembered that Jessica and Philip are still missing.

"Where are the lovebirds, by the way?" The birthday girl asked. " I haven't seen them since this morning."

Colin slowly pointed at Philip who's currently talking to his bodyguard, Samuel. And as if on cue, Philip started to walk away from him, hands in his pocket as he walked to the three of them. Everyone he passed by couldn't help but look at him. He's only wearing his beach shorts and plain white sando alone but he looked so sexy and hot. No wonder that all eyes were on him as he made his way towards his friends.

"Happy birthday," He greeted Xiomara and gave her a long pink box. The famous model took it with a smile.

"Thanks, Phil, where's the missus by the way?" The Cuban girl asked while looking behind the lad's shoulder. 

"She'll come, don't worry."

"Oh, okay then, I'll just excuse myself from you guys first. I'm just going to entertain the other guests. Be right back." And then she left the three boys alone.

Right after Xiomara's exit, Philip was the next one who walked away and left his guy friends. They just shrugged, used to Philip's usual attitude. Elijah was the next one who left since he needed to answer a phone call. So, Colin decided to just follow Philip who made his way to the bar. He sat beside him and ordered himself a drink as well.

"What happened?" The Irish lad asked.

"Nothing..."

"I saw what happened earlier...I saw how mad you were when you saw her with that guy." Colin stated carefully. He didn't know what to say, he just wanted to have a conversation with him and to also know why did he seem jealous earlier.

"What do you mean?"

Colin shrugged. "I don't know, but you seemed...jealous?" He said before taking a sip from his drink. Silence surrounded them for a couple of seconds before Philip decided to break it.

"I'm not," He admitted and drank from his glass as well. “I’m anything but.”

"Then why do you look dejected?" Philip didn't answer, so he continued. "I know you, Philip, I know it when something's bothering you. I know it when you're okay or if you're not."

"Yeah, you're right. I do have a problem." Colin's face lit up after Philip's confirmation. He couldn't believe that he was right. "You want to know what it is?" He nodded. "My problem is you and your loud mouth." 

He laughed and shook his head. When will Philip admit the truth to him? "Fine, I'll keep quiet." He gave up since he knows he’ll get nowhere if he argued with his friend.

On the other side of the bar, Jessica was met by the loud cheering of people when Xiomara was just about to blow her cake. The birthday music played and people started to occupy all the space left in the bar near the beach that Xiomara had rented.

Th brunette tried to look around to find Elijah or Colin but it seemed impossible because apart from the fact that she's smaller than all of the people around her, the people started to crowd her. 

"Jessica, is that you?" A familiar voice caught Jessica's attention that made her look behind.

"Ford? W-what are you doing here?" She asked. 'Why on earth is he here?' she asked herself. Does he know Xiomara? Are they friends? Is he dating him?

"Oh, my friend Adam, he brought me here.” Then he pointed to the lad who was talking to Xiomara at the time. But Jessica couldn’t care less. “He knows the birthday celebrant so he invited me to accompany him here." He reasoned. "How 'bout ya?"

"Huh?" She asked. She had no idea what on earth did he just said since she feels like someone's watching her. She looked around but saw no one, everyone's busy dancing. 'Maybe there's some kind of a ghost around here' she told herself.

"Never mind, you look great by the way." He said with a smile. "And... I apologize for what happened earlier. Because of me, you and your boyfriend are fighting. If I knew you were dating somebody, I wouldn’t have asked that question. What happened wasn't my intention, I swear."

"It's okay, you have nothing to apologize for. Excuse me, I have to go now." She said to cut their conversation short and quickly walked away. She couldn't focus, she feels like somebody's watching her every move. 'What the hell is wrong with me?' She asked herself. 

But just before she could leave him, she felt him hold her arm to stop her and she backed away instantly. She recalled the last time this happened and it didn’t end well. She also remembered how Philip reacted and the dark look on his face. 

Ford's eyebrows furrowed by Jessica's reaction. After the small contact they just had, Jessica's face grew pale and she seemed scared. Scared of what? He doesn't know but she doesn't look okay. And he wanted to know the reason why.

He wants Jessica to be open to him. He admits to himself that he has already kind of had a crush the brunette despite of knowing her for only a couple of hours. And he can’t help to admit that his crush grew even more after seeing the brunette in her swim wear.

But he knew that she's already taken. Because of how the lad with stylish hair acted earlier, he concluded that Jessica was in some kind of relationship with him. Jessica hasn't confirmed it to him but the lad's actions showed him enough to realize that they're together.

"You okay?" He asked with so much concern.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," She replied. "Just hungry, that’s all."

"You sure?" He asked again. "I can accompany you if you like."

She shook her head. "Thanks, but no, thank you." And she quickly walked away. And this time, he didn't stop her.

"Jessica! Over here!" The brunette heard somebody call her as she was trying to find her way out of the crowd. She looked around and then saw Xiomara waving at her. She waved back and made her way to where the young model was.

"Xiomara, I'm sorry, I'm late," She apologized. "Happy birthday." She said and handed her a small paper bag. "I'm sorry that it's all I could give you. I don’t have that much money to buy something expensive."

The Cuban girl smiled and hugged the brunette. "It's okay, silly. I appreciate it, thank you!"

They sat on the couch opposite to where Elijah and Colin are seated, they seemed to be in a deep conversation that they didn't notice her arrival.

"Jessica, hey," Xiomara caught her attention just before she could greet the two lads. "Are you and Philip okay? You seemed to be a little...off each other. Care to share?" 

"W-why would you ask that?" 

"Well, ever since Philip got here, he seemed a lot quiet than usual. And when I try to ask him about it, he just shrugs and rolls his eyes at me. Yes, I know, he usually does that. But something doesn't seem right. Does it have something to do with you?"

"Maybe you're just saying that but Philip and I are good.” She told Xiomara. She did her best to try to show the young model that she was telling the truth even if what she said was far from being true.

Xiomara seemed to have believed her and dropped the topic. She then invited the brunette over the bar which Jessica didn't ignore. The Cuban girl has already ordered their drinks when Jessica admitted to her that she hasn’t tried any alcoholic drink ever in her life. 

"Oh, c'mon! Just one shot, please?" Xiomara pleaded. “Please, Jess, it’s my birthday.”

She was about to turn her offer again but the bartender already handed them both a glass filled with a colorful drink. Xiomara downed hers as soon as it was handed to her. Jessica, on the other hand, was still thinking whether she should drink it or just decline the birthday girl's offer.

"Go ahead, drink it!" Xiomara cheered her up. The Cuban girl gave her no other choice so she slowly took the small shot glass and downed the drink. She's never had something like that before but she's definitely going to try it again.

And that's what she did. She drank three shots straight and Xiomara was impressed and did the same. They talked about each other's life and shared stories about their past to each other. Jess learned that Mara was his husband’s roommate in college because her ex-boyfriend was Philip’s ex-roommate. He found out what he did to her and decided to just share the room he has with Xiomara since she was in need of one. The young model on the other hand, learned about Jess’s past. Jess told her about her foster parents and how great they were to her.

Their conversation only lasted for a few minutes or so because Elijah together with Mon and Chloe approached them. They talked and even played beer pong together with some of Xiomara's other guests, including her own girlfriend, Lauren. Jessica had no trouble talking to them, in fact, after a short span of time, she's already close with Lauren and Xiomara. They're both easygoing people and they seem fun to be with. 

After a couple of sessions of playing, Jessica excused herself to go to the bathroom. She stood up and felt a little dizzy when she did. Elijah noticed it so he approached the brunette.

"Jessica? Are you good?" He asked. Jessica simply nodded. "Want me to escort you?" 

"Thanks, but I'll be fine. A little dizzy s'all." 

"You sure?" She nodded then walked to the bathroom dizzily.

As soon as she entered the bathroom, she made her way over the sink to splash some water on her face, trying to wake herself up and lessen the nausea she's feeling. But after doing so, she still felt like the whole world was spinning around her. She didn't know why but maybe it's the cause of all those shots she took a few minutes ago. But how come that she's already drunk when Xiomara seemed fine? I mean, they both took the same amount of alcohol but the Cuban girl remained sober. Unlike her. 

She spent the next ten minutes inside before finally deciding to go back to where she left the others. The dizziness she felt slightly lessened so she seemed fine. 

As she made her way to their table, she saw a familiar figure along the way. Just by looking at this person's back and stylish hair, she knew who exactly it was.

"Philip..." His name came out like a whisper from her lips. 

She hasn’t seen the lad the whole day. And now that she did, her heart felt heavy all over again. As if all that happened flashed in her mind again. All the pain and struggle she felt came back. And she felt worse than that because of what she's witnessing right in front of her eyes right now. 

It hurts her that the lad treated her that way but it hurts, even more, to see him kissing another girl.

'Why does she keep hurting me?' She asked herself as she felt tears stream down her face. 'What have I ever done to make her do this to me?'

She wished that this was all just a dream. Just one horrible dream. But it's far from it. She has to face this reality; she has to be strong to face this nightmare.