All the Wrong Places

by Jerilee Kaye

  Julianne thought to use her intellect this time instead of her heart. She let go feelings of pride, remorse and fear and decided to go home. It didn’t matter whether her parents would forgive her or accept her son. What mattered was that Justin gave her a chance to give her son a bright future, even if he didn’t have a rich father like the rest of his cousins. She would provide for him and she vowed that Jared would never feel that there was something missing in his life.

  Jared had grown close to his cousins over the last year. The first time Julianne allowed him to go with Justin and Adrienne to Paris, Jared almost didn’t want to leave. It was as if he felt that a part of him belonged there. He was part-French after all.

  A week ago, Jared begged her to let him go to Paris once again. She was in the middle of an important project for Adams Industries and could not afford to take off from work. Reluctantly, she let her son go without her again. She promised she would be with him next time.

  Julianne picked up her phone to check her messages. Paris was seven hours ahead. It was almost noontime there. She was hoping Adrienne sent her updates about her son.

  She saw one message from Adrienne. It had a video of Jared.

  “Tu… es… wait what?” Jared was saying in front of the camera. Then he called somebody that Julianne couldn’t see from the video. “Uncle Jin! What was it?”

  “Ravi…” somebody was saying in the background, coaching Jared.

  “I got it,” Jared said. Then he faced the camera again. “Mommy! Tu es ravissante!” He smiled widely, showing the deep dimple on his cheek. Then he blew her a kiss. “Je t’aime.”

  Julianne smiled at her son’s attempt to speak French. In a way, she felt that he should speak the language. It was a part of him.

  Julianne dialed Adrienne’s number.

  “It’s too early. Why are you up?” Adrienne asked on the other line.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” Julianne replied. “I saw the video.”

  “He’s so adorable, isn’t he?”

  “He is. That’s what he’s been up to lately?”

  “Yeah, my brother’s trying to teach him some words. Maybe by the end of this trip, he’ll be more fluent than me. I’m still struggling and I’m part French.”

  So was Jared.

  “I hope your family didn’t mind that you brought an extra kid with you,” Julianne said.

  “Are you kidding me? My parents love Jared,” Adrienne replied. “Even my brother adores him and he’s a bit of a monster sometimes.”

  “A monster? How could any monster be related to you?”

  “Well, many years ago, I thought my brother was one of the most adorable and sweetest guys on earth. Then history changed him. He’s now unemotional, detached and sometimes a bit of a crude. That’s why he didn’t attend our family gatherings. You won’t even see him in our family photos. He just… doesn’t like to socialize very much. It’s a long, complicated story. Maybe you need to meet him to understand what I mean.”

  “Well, I don’t socialize with our entire family either and I’ve been MIA in our family photos for years. But I have my reasons.”

  “Ian… don’t worry. I know someday, Uncle Edward will come around. You guys will patch things up,” Adrienne said encouragingly.

  “It’s been seven years, Adrienne. I’m not keeping my hopes up. Neither should you.”

  “Well, I know there is hope. He never antagonized Justin for helping you seven years ago. And he never said anything negative when he found out that you’re working for Justin and that you’re living with us.”

  “Not saying anything does not mean agreeing, when it comes to my father. Sometimes, it just means, he’s biding his time. You should know that about him. Besides, it’s not about me anymore, Adrienne. I was hoping he’d have the heart to even look at his grandson.”

  “The right time will come. His heart will melt when he sees your boy. Hey, if Jared could melt my brother’s almost-non-existent heart, I’m sure he can soften your father’s. Jared is a naturally charming boy. He must have gotten that from his father.”

  He did. Jas Mathieu was one of the most angelic and charming creatures I’ve met. He’s a beautiful old soul.

  Julianne shook off old memories of Jas Mathieu from her mind, to keep from feeling heartbroken once again.

  “Wait, what about your parents? I hope I’m not imposing too much on them. I haven’t even met them yet.”

  “I told you, your son is a natural charmer. He’s already stolen my parents’ hearts. They already consider Jared as their family. And they cannot wait to meet you.”

  “Yeah, I promise I’ll come next time.”

  “Well, that next time will be soon enough,” Adrienne said.

  “Why?”

  “Well, my mother is throwing a huge party next month. And all of us are expected to attend,” Adrienne replied. “She’s celebrating the success of one of her books. She’s hit another bestseller. She does this every time one of her books hit the number one spot, which is at least once a year.”

  “Wow. Send my congratulations.”

  “You can tell her yourself when you arrive here,” Adrienne said. “It’s going to be a double celebration. My brother is about to be engaged.”

  “Is that engagement by his own will or is it the type of engagement that both our families are fond of getting into?”

  Yes, their families were quite notorious for arranged marriages. Adrienne’s mother and stepfather had an arranged marriage. Justin and Adrienne had been arranged to marry each other too. Good thing they were already in love when they found out about the arrangement. Justin’s father and mother had also been arranged to be married. Julianne, too, would have been married to the man they arranged her with, if she hadn’t gotten pregnant first.

  “Well, he’s been seeing this girl on and off. She comes from a good family who owns a chain of hotels that Starck Corp. had been looking to acquire. Marriage between him and this girl would be very convenient.”

  “You mean it will be easier for your brother to acquire this chain of hotels if he were to marry this girl?”

  “In a way, yeah.”

  “How much does your brother want to expand your family’s hotel properties?”

  “My brother is a prodigy. He started working for Papa when he was only sixteen. By eighteen, he was already handling half of Starck Corp. and my mother’s spa and relaxation chain. It’s his life’s mission to see Starck Corp. at the top of the world.”

  “And getting this girl’s family’s hotels will do the job?”

  “It will give Starck Corp. a very huge and very rare advantage, apparently.”

  “How difficult is it to acquire these properties?”

  “Difficult since it’s purely family-owned.”

  “If I were his VP for Corporate Strategy, I would advise him to do the same thing. Marry her. That is, if he didn’t have a heart, like you said, and he didn’t look forward to marrying for love anyway.”

  “Unfortunately, nothing is more important to my brother than our family business. He would do anything and would stop at nothing.”

  “And this party is going to be an engagement party?”

  “Well, not yet. Because he’s only expected to propose to her there.”

  “In the middle of the party? In front of all the people he barely knows? That’s very unromantic, don’t you think?”

  “What do you expect? It almost happened to me, remember? Our parents expected Justin to propose to me the same way—at one of my mother’s book parties. Maybe Mom was trying to start a tradition.”

  “I will forever be sorry that I missed that party. How I wish I’d seen the faces of your parents when you guys didn’t show up to your own engagement party.”

  “I’m sorry you weren’t a bridesmaid at my wedding either.”

  “Yeah. I hated Justin for weeks when I found out you were getting hitched on a secret wedding in Italy! Your timing was impossible.”

  “Don’t worry, yo
u’ll be a bridesmaid when I marry her again, Ian,” Justin said on the other line. Julianne could hear Adrienne protesting. Justin must have taken the phone away from her.

  “You’re going to marry her again?”

  “Of course. I’ll marry her over and over if I have the chance. But I do intend to get married again in the States. We’ll renew our vows. And this time it’s going to be grand. Everybody will be invited.”

  “Good, because I will never speak to you ever if I miss it again.”

  “Anyway, did you read the email I sent to you yesterday?” Justin asked. His tone turned serious and professional. Julianne had to remember that she’s now talking to her boss.

  “Yes,” she replied. “RJ Shipping looks promising. But in terms of experience, they’ve only been in the market for two years. I don’t know if they’re the right company to handle our shipments in Asia.”

  “I trust the owner. He’ll be in Chicago in the coming weeks. Do you think you can meet up with him?”

  “Me? Well, I’ve given you my opinion. Don’t you think Procurement should be the one to handle that meeting?”

  “I know what George is going to say,” Justin said.

  “Me too.”

  “I know. I just want to give River a chance. And if you meet him, you’ll understand why I’m inclined to trust him. And maybe you’ll give a different input before we set out the wolves to see him. And as my VP for Strategy, I’m sure you’ll come up with some other recommendations. I want to make a partnership happen. River was one of the people I could trust with my life.”

  “Fine, I’ll meet him.”

  “Thanks, Ian. Now, do you want to speak to my wife again?”

  “It’s okay. I’ll call later. It’s only four in the morning here.”

  “Don’t worry, too much, Ian. Jared is in good hands. They love him here.”

  “Thanks for doing this, Justin. And thank Adrienne and her lovely family for me.”

  “Sure. Speak to you later.”

  Julianne smiled to herself. She missed her son very much. Next time, she won’t be too busy to visit and meet Adrienne’s family.

  ***

  “Look, Mommy! Look at my new notebook.” Jared took out a sketchbook from his backpack. “Uncle Jin gave it to me,” he said proudly.

  Julianne smiled at him and flipped the sketchbook. He’s already painted on some of its pages. Julianne was amazed at the swirl of colors and details of his drawings.

  “Your son has talent,” Adrienne said to her. “He can be a famous artist someday.”

  “Yes,” Justin agreed. “Look at those details and the blending of colors. It’s quite advanced for a six-year old.”

  Julianne stared at the pages in front of her. Even she was impressed by her son’s skill. And she knew he still has plenty of room for improvement. She was certain he’d be a great artist someday. It was in his blood. Another trait that Jas Mathieu passed on to his son.

  “My family was so impressed with Jared, that my brother couldn’t help buying him some art supplies,” Adrienne told her.

  “Really, Adrienne, he shouldn’t have. Your family is so nice.”

  “Don’t fuss about it, Ian. They fell in love with your son.”

  “Can you draw me, sweetheart?” Julianne asked Jared.

  He laughed. “You’re joking, right?”

  “Of course not. I know you can do it.”

  “Someday. I’ll ask Uncle Jin to teach me.”

  “Oh, he draws too?”

  “Yes!” Jared beamed. “He’s very, very good!”

  Adrienne giggled. “I’m afraid that when God spread talent in our family, he gave it all to my brother.”

  “Excuse me, I beg to disagree,” Justin interrupted. “You are equally talented. Whose name was on the New York Times Bestselling List at least five times?”

  “Jamila McBride?” Adrienne teased.

  Justin grinned at her. “Yeah, I remember Jamila McBride.” He gave Adrienne a knowing smile that made her blush violently.

  Jamila McBride was Adrienne’s pen name. There was a history to that name that only Justin and Adrienne knew about and they didn’t want to tell anyone.

  “Well, maybe you’re right. Jin is good with lines and colors. I’m good with words,” Adrienne said proudly.

  “Where are all my colors?” Jared went to his nanny and took a bag from her. He opened it to reveal a designer case with at least eight tiers of color pencils, crayons, paint brushes and watercolors.

  “Look Mommy! I got all the colors!”

  “Oh dear God! You must have at least three hundred colors in there. Are these all yours?”

  “Yes! I’m so happy!” Jared replied happily.

  Julianne inspected the case and read the brand. It was a designer brand too.

  “Adrienne, this is too much. I looked at these pencil collections in Italy. They’re expensive!”

  “I do not know the price tag of these things. And I didn’t buy them. Jin did.”

  “These are worth at least three thousand dollars!” There was a time in Julianne’s life a couple of years ago when she wrote these on her wish list for her son. She didn’t have enough money then and she was jobless. But she promised herself that someday, she would save enough money to give them to Jared. Now, a man she hadn’t even met beat her to it.

  “Three thousand?” Adrienne echoed, her mouth hanging open. “Well, my brother can be extravagant. And I told you, your son can be quite persuasive and charming.”

  “I’m sure it didn’t even hurt his wallet,” Justin said. “Jin doesn’t care about money when it comes to family.”

  “But Jared is not really…”

  “Nonsense. He’s my nephew,” Justin cut her off. “If you feel bad about it, I’ll pay Jin back.”

  “I’m sure my brother will not accept that,” Adrienne argued. “I told you. Jared is as much their family as my kids are. Don’t worry too much about it.”

  “Well then, thank your brother for me. I’ve never seen Jared this happy before.” Julianne felt a twist inside her chest. Not only was Jared deprived of toys and other material things when he was younger, he was also deprived of a father figure.

  Mason had been there for them since Jared was born. So was Gian, Jordan and Justin. But Julianne always felt that Jared was looking for something more permanent.

  “You don’t seem too happy about it, though,” Justin remarked. Julianne realized that her eyes appeared a bit teary.

  “No. I’m happy with all the attention that Jared was getting. But I can’t help but feel that he’s still looking for a father figure.”

  “Well, you can always get in touch with his biological father. See if he’s matured in seven years and is now ready to take on the role of being a father,” Justin said acidly. “Of course, you know that won’t stop me or Gian from beating him to the pulp, right?”

  “Justin!” Adrienne slightly pinched her husband’s arm. Then she turned to Julianne. “Forget that moron. You do not need a man who developed a spine only after seven years. He’s too late. Maybe what Ian needs is to go back to the market and start dating again.”

  Julianne almost choked upon hearing Adrienne’s suggestion.

  “No, Adrienne. I can’t do that. I barely have time for my son. Your husband is a pretty meticulous boss.”

  “Excuse me. I’m result-oriented. As long as you deliver what you promised, what you do with the rest of your time is up to you,” Justin said. “It’s not my fault if you keep raising the bar on my expectations. You’re just too good at what you do.”

  “You need a break sometimes, Ian,” Adrienne said. “Tell you what, you’re really going with us to Paris. Clear all your schedules. I want no distraction. I’m going to introduce you to new friends and you can have the time of your life in Paris.”

  “Have you forgotten already? The last time I had the time of my life in Paris, I ended up having a child in my belly,” Julianne quipped.

  “Well, maybe this t
ime you might end up with a husband and a stepfather for Jared,” Adrienne teased her.

  “Whoa! That’s way too soon. I promised myself I would take it slow next time. I mean, if there will be a next time.”

  “Now you regret falling for Jared’s father, huh? Who would have known he’s a spineless piece of shit, right?” Justin said.

  “Justin!” Julianne hissed. “You do not know him. You do not know our story. You cannot judge him like that.”

  “I don’t need to know him. All I know is that he left you to deal with your pregnancy alone. He didn’t even come to find you after Jared was born. That says a lot about what kind of a man he is. I, for one, would never let my son become a bas… become fatherless.”

  Julianne could tell that Justin was still seething with anger. After all these years, Justin, Gian, Jordan and Mason would turn murderous at the thought of Jared’s father. And Julianne knew that it wasn’t fair because that beautiful man, who gave her Jared, didn’t even know that the magical night they spent together has borne a son.

  “We do not need him. I’m working hard so Jared will have everything he needs. He may not have as much as his cousins, but I will make sure he will have enough,” Julianne said. And she knew that when she said those words, she was making a promise.

  Julianne lost many things the day her father kicked her out of their house. She lost her trust funds, her bank accounts, her credit cards, her family. Since then, she had been living frugally. She let go of all the luxuries she’d been used to since she was born. She bought only what she and Jared needed.

  Every financial support she received from her brother and her cousins, she saved for Jared’s education, his future.

  Someday, she knew she would be able to provide enough for him. They would have their own house. Jared would be able to go to a good university so he could forge his own future.

  “Jared may not have a father, but he has all of us,” Adrienne said, putting an arm around her husband’s waist, as if trying to calm his dark mood. Then she turned to Julianne. “You have us. You don’t need anyone else.”