I order Java Chip Frappuccino to boost me up. I always love the taste of mocha and coffee blend, along with its creamy and nutty goodness. Of course, if Zed is here with me, there's no way I would be allowed to cheat. It has caffeine that may be a teratogen to my baby, but I badly need one now. I'm so exhausted in all aspects, but I can't allow myself to rest unless I'll have my questions answered.
While I am sipping my frap leisurely, I saw a woman walking in my direction. She wears a skimpy black dress, revealing her cleavage and two-thirds of her thighs. In her hand is a silver purse that matches her glittering pumps. It looks like she's going to a party rather than meeting me in a coffee shop swarmed with college students and medical interns.
I look up when I see her through my peripheral vision, standing across from me. I rise to my feet and extend a hand for a handshake.
"Thanks for coming," I say, smiling weakly at her. I gesture for her to take the seat across from me.
"Of course. I'm doing this for someone who sacrifices hard for you."
I raise my brows. "Really? Not for you?"
"Oh, come on. Our son is secure and doing well with his family. We may not be a couple just as I wish to be, but I'm always at his beck and call."
I can't help but frown. She makes me feel guilty for not being there for James. And she makes me look ungrateful and fair-weathered girlfriend who got happy and engaged to someone else behind his downfall.
"Excuse me. You don't know the story. He didn't even allow me to visit him."
"Of course, you're not a relative. But if there's a will, there's a way. Poor James, he expected and waited for nothing."
I choke in my saliva. But she's right.
I could have insisted on seeing him even four times a month as the mother of his child. Or, I could have proposed marriage first within the prison ground. I could have let him feel valued that way. But what did I do? I stayed away as he wished, not realizing it may not be what he wanted. That it was just his way of gauging the depth of my commitment to him.
"What exactly do you want to tell me?"
She laughs mirthlessly, her tone full of anger and sarcasm. "I just want to let you know how idiot you are. You have the guts to marry the one who had pushed your fiancée to the abyss of hopelessness."
I sneer. What has gotten into this woman?
“I am not a seer, madame. So, I can't see and know anyone's past. I can't either guess what Zed did that has your blood boiling. Aren't you happy that you can have James all for yourself?"
She raises her brow as well. I give her a quick stare and see in her a sophisticated beauty brought about by heavy cosmetics and enhancement. I remember she had been Mr. Kim's woman, and the thought makes me want to gag. How Mr. Kim accepted her is beyond my understanding. Yen looks so pure and delicate, a woman whose beauty flows radiantly and naturally.
I won't wonder if James had hooked with her. Under the influence of Methamphetamine, James can have sex with any woman. And a child can be born under unprotected sex. It's even sickening to think about it, but that's a part of him I accepted. He even confessed to the act. But how Maezy becomes loyal to him remains a big question.
"Kim is already heartless to push his cousin to the edge, but he only chased him for that rape case." A shiver runs down my spine as she makes rape sound like a light thing.
"But Zed meddled so much. He even exposed all his connections to- "
She stops and looks away. I see glints of reluctance in her eyes. Because I'm someone she thinks of as a traitor, she can't further expose their underhanded matters.
I hold her gaze, and she continues with the sign of interest I show in my expression.
"But what did you do? Instead of sympathizing with the man who has sacrificed for you, you get engaged with him. Isn't that stabbing him in broad daylight?"
Sacrificed for you. This phrase bothers me so much because I thought no one else knew about Jamella, except dad and James.
"Excuse me, Miss Maezy. What do you mean by James sacrificing for me? How much do you know about us?"
She laughs, but her eyes gleam with scorn. "I may be dirt in your eyes, and James may not be able to love me as he does with you, but I'm someone he goes to talk to when no one else listens. So when Kim threw me away, and so did the old man, James rescued me. He sent me back to the university to study Psychology. So that when he would go to prison, I can still see and talk to him."
I gasp, and my eyes grow wide. Maezy also laughs at my reaction. I never realized James had prepared for this predicament. And of all people, he chooses Maezy. Why not me when I am his girlfriend, and we could have a family?
Indeed, it isn't easy to see an inmate in Japan. Aside from family, lawyers, and personnel who handle their business matters, only psychologists or medical professionals who can enhance the well-being of inmates are allowed to see them.
"You're asking yourself why James prefers me over you?" She laughs again, but this time tears brim her eyes.
"It's because he loves you. He wants you to live a good life. Wants to set you and your child free. Away from him and his world."
"But why me? Because I belong to his world. And can die for and with him," she adds.
I froze, and along with that shuddering surprise comes my admiration for her confession of undying love and loyalty. She's willing to die for him. And she's willing to do anything he requests.
"So, choose someone else. Not Zed."
I close my eyes, forcing myself to absorb everything I hear. All bits and pieces of reality have all come together now and form solid shapes, making me understand them better. James isn't pure evil at all. He honors my father's wishes to keep me out of their world. That's why he chooses Maezy. And because Maezy understands him better.
"Miss Maezy, you have not answered my questions yet. How much do you know me? And how much did James tell you about me?"
She sighs, and a tinge of jealousy flashes in her eyes. But after, perhaps, a moment of summoning up her courage, she speaks.
"He met you in the USA. You were crying. You were out of your mind because your dad passed away. You suddenly crossed the street, and he was too late to hit the brakes. To cut a story short, you underwent surgery, and he gave you his blood. Not only that, he took care of you until you were discharged. He also taught you how to run Jamella Tech because you were new in the business."
I draw in a deep sigh, relieved from my fear. Maezy is indeed a complete fool when it comes to James. She's even the kind of person who believes him, even if he says his fart smells good. But I am deeply moved at how James has protected the secret he had with my father.