An Interview with Mr. Ex

Chapter 10: Temptations From Hell

Chapter 10: Temptations from Hell

(Present - Jade and Jared meeting at Jared's house.)

(Jade)

His eyes were staring at her as if he wanted to dig out everyone of her feelings she was hiding, but she was always good at hiding herself. She was an expert in hiding herself. Always had been, always would be. She took in a deep sigh and looked directly at him.

"We are professionals, aren't we, Mr. Wilson?" She asked, her voice cool and calm. She was neither on the inside. Inside she was a swirling, storming mess. The storm was dangerous, alluring and it was made to annihilate her and her heart. And bring more chaos, madness. The game with him was always and would always be a madness.

No way was she going to walk inside that storm again.

No thank you, sire. Nuh-uh. I am perfectly fine in this sane world.

"Oh, of course, we are all professionals here." He said with a flippant smile as he took a cup from the tray in front of him and looked at her. "Tea?" He said as he poured a cup for himself.

"I don't drink tea," she said with a glared, and he sighed.

"Of course, can I get you a coffee then?" He asked and she nodded no. She wasn't here to have coffee with him. She wasn't here because she wanted to be here. She would rather sit in the graveyard with a zombie when it was snowing without wearing anything.

We get it, the small voice inside her snarked. Don't overdo it.

"I would rather we start now." She said with a frown and he looked away from her.

There was something in his eyes, something which made her melt. She felt her resolve to maintain her cold and distant manner weaken. And she was sure she knew the reason for it.

His eyes were exactly the same as her son's, or maybe, his son's were his.

No, no, you don't do it. You have to look undisturbed or he would smell your fear and chase you until you can't run or breathe.

"Go on."

"So tell me something about yourself, Mr. Wilson and then tell me about your company? Tell me about how you have come this far? How hard was it for you to finally find a place for yourself in this rich world?" She asked as she opened her notepad, again, which was almost empty up until now. She had wasted more than twenty minutes just staring, lusting and having a word fight with him. This wasn't how she had planned today should go. It was a disaster already.

"I am a software engineer and I have always been interested in technology, in Artificial Intelligence and I am also a business major, and, of course, you know that, and I always wanted to do so much with it. So much with my life. So much more than just sitting in a cabin, working for someone else. So when I finished university, I started designing software for some companies from home, but my real dream was starting something of my own, and it was going okay for me. But then it wasn't enough for me. It was just so... so not where I wanted to go." He stopped and looked at her.

She wasn't enough, either.

"So then I started TechNets, though I was still working for other software development companies, now I did with my company name, which was really not a company at first. My friend Tom and I worked, and we hired freelancers. It was not a success story, you know, at first. It failed. It was drowning slowly and I... I was angry with myself, the world and everyone." He closed his eyes and sighed. "I wish I could forget those days of my life, but they were also part of this success." He said with a hint of sadness in his voice and sighed. His voice was deep and it caressed her skin.

He was here. Talking. Opening up to her, like before. It was like a dream.

But this is not a damn dream. This is an interview.

"Right, so how did it all turn out to be a success? What was your first success? Not the one people think as success, but the one you think as your success?" she asked.

"I almost feel like I am still a failure, but what do I know?" his voice was merely a whisper. Her body stiffened and her eyes hardened. She wasn't ready for this, not ready for rehashing past stories with him. She was not strong enough.

"No way you are a failure. You have loads of money."

"You always loved money a little bit too much, didn't you?" He scoffed and she shrugged.

"I did, only because I want to live without having to count my pennies every second of every day. But you... your need for money, it was so big that some days you forgot everything and everyone around."

"And so... you found someone who remembered you?" His eyes were frigid and Jade froze. Her lips quivered in unsaid words, but she wouldn't dignify his words with a response.

"You are a success, Mr. Wilson. Everyone thinks so. Why not give everyone something they desired? You are an inspiration, Mr. Wilson." She continued like she didn't find anything out of the ordinary in their conversation, like their conversation just had taken a complete detour.

"Yeah, let's ignore everything else we talked. So tell me, Jade, do you think I am a succes" He asked as he searched her face with eyes that looked like they could see every one of her thoughts, even the ones she was hiding from herself.

She knew he was pivoting away from the topic, again, but she wasn't going to let him divert it to the way he wanted. Not again.

She wasn't the same naive girl who would do anything he wanted just to make him happy. That Jade had died a very painful, very bad death.

"Yes Mr. Wilson, you're indeed successful. Oh, just look at your house, your lifestyle. It's how successful men live their lives. So, back to the question, what are your plans for your company in the future?" She asked and then looked down at her notepad.

She mentally patted herself for being cool and collected. Oh, so professional, except that little distraction in the beginning.

Megan and Nate would be so proud.

Oh, would she, when she knew about how you thought about kissing him? Maybe you should just give him a fiver and be done with it.

She ignored the way her inner voice sneered at her.

She didn't think it was possible when she had first started, but now she knew she could handle him, handle it even with all these distracting thoughts and feelings. She wasn't going to break down.

"We are developing a new app. A relationship app. It will help people to reconnect, to reanalyze and relate."

"Like a dating app? There are already so many dating apps these days, so what will make yours stand out? Tell me more about this new venture?"

He looked at her with a small frown and shook his head. "It is not actually a dating app. You don't go there to find new people, you go there to find help, to re-establish your old relationships... it is kind of like family counseling, except everything is online. Everything will be streamlined, people on the verge of separation-" he sighed. "will be coached to open up, communicate, they will be counselled. There are helpline numbers for some good psychologists, s*x experts, and family counsellors around and we will connect them to the right one for all their needs. There are tips to help you get through the stormy patches, and I hope, maybe someone will find their happiness back with the help of it."

He could have made it four years ago! It could have saved us, but then again, nothing could have stopped that explosion.

"It sounds sophisticated and helpful, but do you think it will garner enough attention, that people will actually use it? Bring enough profit?" she asked.

He looked down at his tea cup with a small frown. For a moment, he wasn't there, mentally. And then, as if he remembered she was still there, he jostled back.

"I don't know, but we are not doing it just for profit. It is for the satisfaction of seeing people find themselves back, and it helps two people to talk about their problems instead of just running away," he said with a shrug. Her eyes snapped towards him and she scowled at him.

Was he insinuating something? What was he implying? He was the one who blamed her, who fought her, and let her go. He pushed her away, pushed her to run and she didn't make that decision with a smile on her face. She didn't just walk away because she wanted to.

"Wow, so... Here is something nobody else knows. Your generosity and kindness. You are as attractive as you are altruistic. Women will fall for that, pretty hard," her smile was sly and cutting. He didn't say anything back, he just stayed silent.

"...Jade-" He started to say something, when her phone pinged."A minute please." She said as she picked up her phone. It was a message from Amanda, Cole's babysitter.

'Sorry Mandy. Will be back in ten minutes. So sorry. Work is kinda hectic today.' - Jade.

'It is okay. Just that Cole's been asking about you. - Mandy.

"Sorry. Now... Tomorrow, I want to do a ride along with you, if you are comfortable. I will also have to coach you about how to answer live questions from the audience. But if you feel like you can do it without any coaching, we can meet in the set, on Saturday. So ..."

"No. I need all the coaching I can get from you." He looked at her, his eyes almost innocent.

Like you do, you are just doing it so that you can torment me. You have given a million interviews. It is not like this is first one.

"Okay, then, we will meet you tomorrow, Mr. Wilson." She gritted the words out. This jerk.

"We?" He almost looked irritated.

"Yes. Our photographer will be joining us." She said with a satisfied smirk on her full lips.

"Oh." He looked disappointed. She wanted to kick him. "I think that is okay."

"Thank you for your time," she said in her most professional voice as she stood up. He followed and stood up, as well.

"Oh, you're welcome." He said with a small smile and then he pushed his hand forwards to shake.

What the hell is he doing now?

She hesitated and contemplated for a moment. Professional, she sighed and then placed her hand inside his big hand. His hand closed around hers and she felt trapped.

And she felt safe.

It was such a confusing feeling.

***

(Jared)

Her hand fitted exactly inside his. It was warm and sweaty and he loved that. He knew he affected her just as much she did him and that feeling was a balm to his heart.

But she was so much different, she was not the girl he fell in love with. Back then, she was full of light, but she was also shy and timid. Now she looked grown up and serious. Almost rigid. too buttoned up.

Maybe because it is you. And she hates it is you. His conscience chided.

Or Maybe with marriage comes responsibility, he thought curtly. His hand tightened around her for a moment and he realized it when she tried to pry her hand away from him.

"How are you, Jade?" he asked, still holding her hand inside his. He liked it that way. He didn't want to let go of her hand. It felt so right.

But it is so wrong.

"Mr. Wilson, let go," she gritted her teeth.

Why are you not affected, Jade? Why isn't your heart beating like mine is? Is it because you have a husband?

He wanted to ask her that, but he couldn't bring himself to do that. He was afraid to know the answer.

As if to cut his thoughts, her phone rang. She picked it up with a guilty look and pulled her hand away from him in a hurry.

She pressed the answer button and turned her back to him.

He listened to what she was going to say. He knew eavesdropping was just so indecent, but he wanted to pry into her life. He wanted to know more about her. Everything about this new Jade. He wanted to hear how she talked when she talk with her family, with people she loved.

She doesn't love you, anymore.

I don't love her, as well. He assured himself with a frown on his face.

Yeah, keep believing it.

"Oh honey, so sorry. It is work. I will be there in 20 and I am sorry, ok?"

"Oh, yes, yes, I miss you, too." There was a smile in her voice.

"No honey, I am just getting ready to leave. Yeah. Okay. Muaah." and with a kiss she switched her phone off, pushed the phone inside her bag and then turned back.

"Good bye." She said to him and collected her notepad and recorder.

"Who is that?"

"Are you really asking me that? Why don't you rethink your question one more time, huh?" She said with a smile, a derogatory smile and left, for the second time from his life, and he felt as helpless as he was before.

Is that her husband, he wondered. Her voice was so soft when she talked on the phone, so loving, so unlike the way she talked with him now.

He wanted her to talk with him like that, in that voice, but he knew it wasn't possible.

She would never do that. She hated him. And he thought he hated her. But just a look at her, and he was longing for her, yearning to just have a talk with her, as they had once talked... sit with her and share things with her, things he only ever had the heart to share with her.

Will it ever be possible? To talk without this big bridge in between us? To talk freely, just as Jade and Jared as we had once been and talked? Without innuendos and barbs. Without being Mr. Wilson and Mrs....

NO. The answer was readily available to him. He was not someone she wanted to talk with. She was here, only because it was unavoidable. She was here with him, right now, because she was forced into doing this interview and he knew it. He knew it from her eyes. From her stiff lips. From her rigid body.

And it was fate that brought her here. It was destiny.

Bye, for now, Jade. But this will not be goodbye! I will see you. We will see each other.

___