Since She Met Lucian

"I'm telling you now, Kent. If you so much as dare make a decision without my knowledge, you'll face consequences!" Melissa's
words were still ringing in Kent's ears when she hurried to the elevator.
And although the words were not addressed to her, it was Amelia who felt the sting of those words as soon as the elevator doors
closed.
"It's almost five," Amelia said. "I need to talk to you. Do you have time after work?" Amelia never thought of the office as the
proper place to be asking colleagues about personal affairs, so she thought it best to talk to Kent elsewhere.
"I know that you and Courtney are good friends," Kent began, facing Amelia. "Before you reached out, I was actually thinking of
talking to you." Amelia could see that Kent was struggling to turn his frown into a relaxed smile.
"You didn't change your number, did you? I'll call you after work." Deep down, Amelia knew that she was angry, but one look at
Kent's worried expression seemed to vanish her feelings of hate.
"I'll call you later," Kent repeated before he himself entered the elevator.
Amelia realized that she'd been out for too long. She quickly turned back to head to her desk, her face contorted into an
expression of confusion, anger, and hurt. She forced a smile when she saw Lucian looking at her. "Sorry," she meekly said, "I left
my post without permission."
"I'll ask Frank to drive you home." Lucian's reply was cool but quick. He got up, adjusted his coat, and grabbed his suitcase,
reaching for the door.
"So, are you doing anything tonight?" Amelia hesitantly asked. She knew the answer to her question. She had already heard the
conversation between Sasha and him, but she couldn't keep herself from asking.
"Yes," Lucian replied curtly before looking at Amelia with the gentlest of eyes. "I'll head out soon. I just have a few more things to
attend to."
He didn't say much and Amelia didn't want to press.
"Okay," she said. "I'm sorry, it's nothing. Go, finish up." Turning her head back to her desk, she realized that it was five minutes to
five and she was supposed to meet up with Kent after work.

Lucian left Amelia to her thoughts. She was packing her things up when her phone began to ring. She picked it up and
answered, "Yes?"
"I'll meet you downstairs." It was Kent. Amelia shoved her things inside her bag and hurried to the elevator.
Stepping out of the Zhan Group building, it was Frank who first caught Amelia's attention. He was waiting by the car as
instructed. The man smiled at her. "Mrs. Amelia, Mr. Lucian asked me to drive you home," he politely said.
Amelia realized that she forgot to inform Frank of her plans for the night. "I'm sorry, Frank. There's, uh, something I have to deal
with right now. I'll just take a cab home."
"But Mr. Lucian made strict orders for me to drive for you," Frank protested. "I have to inform him once you're home." Frank
looked worried.
"I'll explain everything to Lucian," Amelia reassured Frank. "Don't worry."
"Well, if you say so." Frank looked like he wanted to say more, but stopped himself midway. Instead, he bid Amelia goodbye and
drove off.
Kent watched the car go before approaching Amelia.
"There's a coffee shop across the street," Amelia said. "Let's talk there." "Did you call Courtney?" Amelia asked. She walked
ahead of him towards the cafe.
"Yes, she's on her way here," Kent replied. He couldn't look at Amelia as both of them headed towards the shop.
Entering the cafe, Amelia scanned the room for an empty seat. She quickly found one and waved for coffee. There was a
moment of silence between the two until Amelia spoke. "As for Courtney..." she began. "Don't you love her?"
She was scared of the answer, but she was determined to know the whole truth. She knew she had to ask questions point blank.
"I do. I still love her." Kent looked earnest, and Amelia thought she saw love in his eyes.
"Then, how would you define your relationship with Melissa?" Amelia asked. She withdrew her eyes from Kent and looked down
instead on the cup of coffee the waiter placed in front of her.
It was difficult to understand. If Kent loved Courtney, how did he get involved with another woman?

Kent covered his face in shame. "Amelia," his voice cracked, "I'm a bastard! You can't imagine how sorry I am for what I did."
Kent knew for a fact that he was truly in love with Courtney, so it was hard for him to put his mind around the fact that it was he
who caused her pain. It broke his heart to acknowledge it.
"Please," Amelia said, reaching for Kent's hands. "Tell me what happened." Anyone watching would see that Kent's expressions
were the complete opposite of Amelia's. While Kent was distraught, Amelia was quiet and collected.
A slow jazz music was playing in the coffee shop, but not even its melody could soothe Kent's anguish.
Kent didn't have the courage to confess everything to Courtney. He thought for a long time before finally exclaiming in
resignation, "I've done what I've done. There's no point in talking about it anymore. We're over."
Amelia couldn't understand how Kent could have thought this, and his expression didn't convey much.
"Do you really want to see Courtney cry? Do you want her to beg you for answers down on her knees? Is that what you want?"
Amelia asked. Courtney was never one to leave without all of the answers. Amelia knew that Courtney wouldn't stop until she'd
learned everything.
In Courtney's own words, she would die if she must, but she would get the whole picture. Amelia knew what her friend was like,
and yet she believed that Kent knew Courtney better than she did.
"I will only hurt her if I tell her the truth." Amelia could tell that Kent felt hopeless and that he didn't want to drag out the pain by
having to explain himself.
"No one knows what would happen if you explained your side! It's not over yet," Amelia protested. "Things could still turn
around." Amelia tried to cheer Kent up, but even she doubted the words which came out of her mouth in a murmur.
She was going to speak again when a familiar figure appeared beside them.
"Courtney!" Kent leapt out of his seat and reached out to hold Courtney, but the latter was quick to push him away.
Instead, Courtney coldly took the seat next to Amelia. Her face was contorted in a mix of fury and despair.
"Do you want me to leave?" Amelia asked. "I can leave you both to talk, as long as you promise me that you'd talk to each other
calmly." Amelia wanted to be there for her friend, but she also felt uncomfortable standing in between Courtney and Kent. She
rose up and collected her bag.

Courtney stopped Amelia before she could go. "Are you sure you want to leave me with him?" Amelia couldn't read Courtney's
face.
Things were quickly becoming too much for Amelia but she steadied herself. She initially thought it would be best for her to leave
the two alone, but it seemed as if she were mistaken.
"Please stay, Amelia," Kent said grimly. "I have nothing to hide." Kent tried to calm himself but it was too obvious that he was
perplexed. The guilt for everything he'd done was eating him inside.
Amelia sat down. "Courtney," she said in an almost whisper, "I know that you and Kent have already gone through so much. If
you still love him, let him explain."
"Oh, I do want to hear him explain!" Courtney exclaimed. "I want to know how pretty she is, Kent. I want to know what the girl you
broke up with me for is like!" Each word that came out of Courtney's mouth was spoken through gritted teeth. With eyes like
daggers, she threw Kent the sharpest of looks.
The expression on Kent's face betrayed nothing but guilt. He stared blankly at Courtney before finally forcing his mouth to utter
her name. "Courtney," he began, "you've given up a lot for me these years. I know how much you've sacrificed. You even went
up against your family..." Kent fought the urge to break down. "I've done something beyond your forgiveness. I guess I've always
been a jerk."
Courtney folded her arms in dismay. "What did you do? Did you sleep with her? Do you love her?"
Kent could only close his eyes in shame. He wanted so much for the earth to open up and swallow him whole.
It was quickly becoming the most difficult confrontation Amelia had ever found herself caught in. Trying to break the tension, she
turned to her friend, "Courtney, I've already told you what Kent wants. Isn't it better for the both of you to give each other time to
think?"
"I'm not leaving until I have all the answers that I want!" Ignoring Amelia, Courtney continued addressing Kent, "You know what
I'm like. I will never be a fool in love. I cannot and will not forgive you for betraying me."
Kent could no longer see how he could turn everything around. Courtney's anger was as deep as her love had been.
Kent bowed his head in shame. It was hopeless! There was only one thing left to say. He raised his head slowly and turned to
Courtney. "Take care of yourself," he said sadly.

"You're breaking up with me?" Courtney was raging. "Of course!" she sneered, "Another woman is waiting for you. How could
I've forgotten? Of course, you're leaving because you can't wait to see her!"
She snatched the cup of coffee in front of her and threw the contents to Kent. Things happened so quickly, Kent couldn't have
possibly avoided getting soaked.
All of his explanations, his love, his feelings, his regrets, everything was drowning in coffee.
The hot liquid stained his face red and his shirt brown.
"For everything I've given up for you, you owe me, Kent!" Courtney screamed, slamming the cup hard down the table. And with
that, she stood up and quickly left the shop.
Amelia's instincts were to follow Courtney, but she held out a few wads of tissue for Kent. She grabbed her things and left
payment for her coffee on the table before standing up and rushing to the door.
Fortunately for Amelia, Courtney had not gone too far. She caught up and seized her by the arm before allowing herself to catch
her breath.
That's when she saw that for all her anger and threats, Courtney's eyes were red from crying. Amelia couldn't think of anything to
say for she was overcome with emotions herself. "Amelia," Courtney said, choking back tears. "Didn't you say that Kent and I
were meant to be together? Why did we just break up?"
Amelia didn't know how to respond. She remembered saying those words to her friend, but even she found it difficult to make
sense of it in light of everything that had happened. She held Courtney in her arms, but this gesture only prompted Courtney to
sob louder.
"Answer me!" Courtney cried. "Do you think I'm pathetic?" The words out of her mouth strengthened Courtney's resolve. She
picked herself up from Amelia's embrace and tried to laugh bitterly. "It's fine. I'm fine. It's good that he's gone. It's better this way,
because I'm tired of holding on to him."
Courtney wiped the tears off her cheeks with the back of her hand, but Amelia knew that deep down, Courtney's heart was
breaking.
She felt nothing but empathy for her friend. Who would want to show their weak and vulnerable side to others?

"Let's go!" Amelia dragged Courtney by the arm. "Let's have dinner. You must be hungry." Amelia scanned the area for the
nearest restaurant. She wanted to take Courtney's mind off of what happened. Maybe food would do the trick.
Courtney shook her head and forced a smile. "Mom and Dad were so happy to see me back. They're probably waiting for me."
Amelia didn't want to force Courtney to do something she didn't want, so she agreed, "All right. I'll drive you home."
"You don't have to. I have a driver waiting for me." Courtney gestured to the luxury car parked a few steps back.
Amelia walked Courtney to the car and helped her in. She watched the car drive off before walking away, relieved that she no
longer had to watch her friend deal with the pain of a broken heart.
But she couldn't take her mind off of what happened. Her thoughts were still with Courtney, so much so that she couldn't feel
hunger even though it had been hours since she last ate anything.
Walking aimlessly, she turned a corner and stopped in front of a small flower shop. She didn't even realize but her gaze was
transfixed on a white lily.
She had never been one to buy flowers, but she found herself walking away with a bouquet.
The faint fragrance of the lily made her heart swell. Feeling a little better, she prayed to God for Courtney to feel better soon.
Amelia made her way back to SJ Garden in a taxi. She was recollecting herself when she realized that Lucian wouldn't be at
home. She remembered the conversation between him and Sasha. She replayed the conversation over and over in her head
and the more her thoughts dwelled on them, the more upset she grew. She kept on thinking about their meeting and imagining
the things they were talking about.
When she finally arrived at SJ Garden, Lily smiled at her and motioned for her to come to the dining room. "Mrs. Amelia, I had
just finished setting the table for dinner. Come and have some food."
Amelia realized that it was already past seven, which was an hour later than when Lily would usually serve dinner. But although it
was a little different from what she'd used to, she didn't bother asking about it. It was probably nothing.
Amelia smiled back at Lily as she deposited the flowers she just bought into a vase and filled it with water. The sorrow that she
felt moments earlier was lifted. She was inexplicably happy; she was smiling ear to ear.