Second Chance (28 page)

CHAPTER
35

Jae didn’t want
to wait at the D.C. airport. As soon as Sue agreed to give him the one week, he
led her to his waiting jet. Sue asked what he would have done if she said no.
He shrugged. “Follow you home, I suppose.”

She let it be at
that.

“This should keep
the wolves at bay,” Jackie said when he met them at the hangar. Jackie and Jae
spoke as Jae led Sue to the cabin. Sue took a seat and buckled while Jae and
Jackie were still talking. Exhaustion caught up with her and she fell asleep on
the comfortable seat before the plane left the hangar.

Sue’s eyes
flickered open when Jae picked her up. “It’s just me, sweetheart. Go back to
sleep,” Jae whispered in her ear. She sighed and returned to sleep by the time
they reached the bedroom on the jet. He placed her in the middle of the bed and
leaned down to place a kiss on her lips. He grinned when she wrinkled her nose.
He took her shoes off and covered her with the comforter before returning to
the cabin.

“Did you tell
her?” Jackie asked.

“No,” Jae
replied.

“When are you
planning to tell her?”

“When we get to
Minnesota.”

“How did you convince
her?”

“I talked.”

“You talked?”

“Yeh.”

Jae realized he’d
been wrong when he met her again. He realized his mistake but he didn’t know
how much he had hurt her. Jae didn’t understand what Sue’s friend Katie had
meant when Katie said Sue was not fighting him. Sue was protecting herself from
him. “Once bitten, twice shy,” Katie had said.

Katie had called
him, asking to meet him and he had agreed. Katie asked him the very same
questions Sue had asked him. Why are you doing this? What do you want? He wanted
Sue and he was doing this because he loves her.

Katie sadly shook
her head. “She won’t believe you if you tell her that. You have to show her you
love her. She has shielded her heart for so long, she’s afraid to get hurt. And
if you tell her you want her because you love her… She’ll only take that as you
are using her all over again.”

Jae was confused
by what Katie said. What did she mean? Then he remembered.

You got what
you wanted and now you have no use for me, is that right
?

“Sue was the
pride and joy of her father. Their living room was a shrine to her. Even her
perfect attendance certificates were framed and hung next to her high school
diploma. Her father often boasted how proud he was of Sue, how Sue was going to
be a doctor,” Katie told him. “Her father was so proud when she graduated high
school and was even more proud when she started college. Can you imagine what
it was like for Sue to receive her M.D./Ph.D. and not have her father there?
Her father often said when Sue graduated from college, he was going to kill a
cow in her honor. When she graduated from college, only her sister Mai was
there. She didn’t show it, but I know she hurts…

“You believe that
farce friend of hers? Angela is her cousin, a lying bitch, sorry for my
language, you don’t deserve her, you know. If you believe Angela, you are a
fool. Any man who thinks with their brain and not with their prick can see
through that slut’s lust!” Katie said, angry. “I shouldn’t have to defend my
friend to you. If you didn’t see it, it was your loss, but unfortunately, your
stupidity hurt my friend dearly. She’s loyal to a fault. Those vows she
took…you might have forgotten, but she hasn’t, you know. She lives like a nun
all because she promised you…” Katie scoffed. “Sue thinks she’s damaged because
she can’t move on. Michael asked her to marry him and she turned him down
because she has this romantic notion that she loves you and only you and can
love no other…”

Jae returned to
the bedroom, took off his sweatshirt and lay next to Sue. He pulled her to him
and she instinctively snuggled closer. Content, he fell asleep with a grin on
his face and his wife in his arms.

Having her so
close and not being with her tormented him more in the last week than in the
years they had been separated. Before Jae made the decision to publicly
announce their marriage, he sent Jackie to St. Paul to make arrangements with
her parents. He also contacted his lawyers and those papers they filled out
many years ago were now filed, sealed, and legal.

CHAPTER
36

Jae shook Sue
awake when they landed in St. Paul, Minnesota. He gave her some time to clean
up before they left the jet. When she emerged from the bedroom, Jae was talking
to the pilot and Jackie greeted her with a polite smile as he handed her a
coat.

“You’ll need
this,” Jackie said.

“This reminds me,
my luggage…”

“We have your
luggage,” Jackie said. “The coat may be a little big. It’s
Hyung’s
,”
Jackie quickly added, seeing the confusion on Sue’s expression.

“Thank you,” she
said opening the shade of a window. They had arrived in the early hours of the
day and fresh snow still covered most of the runways. Sue saw the Mississippi
River and immediately tilted her head to look up. Recognizing the airport, she
gave a questioning look toward Jae. He was making his way toward her and smiled
when she looked his way.

“Ready?” Jae
asked.

She nodded.

It was a cold
February morning in Minnesota. She zipped the zipper on Jae’s coat and she
stepped out of the plane after him. She noticed Jae only wore his sweatshirt
and frowned. He offered her his hand and when she placed her hand on his, he
pulled her to him and carried her toward the rental SUV waiting for them. She
encircled her arms around his neck and without reservation, she kissed his
lips.

“Aren’t you cold?”
she asked.

“Should I be?” 

“Yes.”

“Then you must
keep me warm,” he said wily. She blushed and he laughed.

Traffic was light
on Highway 52. Interstate 94E was quite empty as well. She had only been gone
for a short time, but she had missed home. It was nice to see familiar sites.
They were on their way to her apartment—oh, God. Her eyes widened.

“Where will you
be staying?” she asked turning to Jae.

Jae was looking
at her when she turned her gaze to him. “With you,” he said matter-of-factly.

“No.”

“Ah, come on
Shorty. I’ll be discreet.”

Her eyebrows
narrowed. “No,” she repeated.

“That word from
you is starting to get on my nerves,” he said dryly. “Where do you suggest I
stay?”

“Anywhere but
with me,” she replied. “Where will they be staying?” she jerked her head to
indicate she meant Jackie and Ty. “You can stay with them.”

“No.”

After more
persuasion and the threat that either Jae stayed with her or she stayed with
him, she groaned in frustration and complied. “You can sleep on the couch,” Sue
said with irritation.

“How big is your
couch?” Jae joked.

“Not big enough
to fit you so you’ll just have to suffer,” she said with a yawn.

Jae grinned. His
Shorty was back and he didn’t care where he slept as long as she was near.

They arrived at
Sue’s apartment and she directed Ty where to park. Jae got out of the car,
looked around and asked, “Where are we?”

“Woodbury,” Sue
said.

“I thought you
lived in St. Paul.”

“I moved.” She
shrugged. “Don’t worry, Lefty. St. Paul is only about a mile down the road so you
can walk there and back by the time I get these—” She shrieked when Jae lifted
her off the ground.

He muffled her
protest with a kiss. “Let Ty and Jackie take care of that. Now, which way? And
don’t call me Lefty.”

“Well if you
insist.” She chuckled, pointing to a single door by the side of the building.
“Stop calling me Shorty and I’ll stop calling you Lefty,” she said, smiling.
“Since you insist on calling me by one of my physical features, you’ll just
have to tolerate the same treatment.”

They were so
immersed in each other’s presence, they failed to notice Ty and Jackie watching
them with jubilant expressions. Khyba was laughing more so in the presence of
Sue than they could remember since meeting him. Ty gave Jackie a questioning
look and Jackie shrugged.

Jae lowered Sue
to the ground when they reached the door. Sue laughed.

“Why are you
laughing?” Jae said, giving her a questioning look.

“I need my keys,”
she said, walking back to the car. Sue retrieved her backpack from the car and
walked back to the door with Ty. She opened the door and led them up a flight
of stairs, which led to another door that opened into a long hallway. Wall
sconces by each apartment door illuminated the hall. Some doors still had
Valentine door ornaments hanging either underneath the sconce or on the door.
They reached her apartment and she opened the door before handing her keys to
Ty. He nodded and returned outside to retrieve the rest of the luggage.

Home sweet home.

Her one-bedroom
apartment was small but cozy. Jackie and Ty had left as soon as the luggage was
inside her apartment. Sue took Jae’s coat off and hung it in the closet by the
foyer then pointed the rooms out to him, showing him where he could keep his
things.

“Well, welcome to
Minnesota, land of ten-thousand lakes and home of the Vikings,” Sue said
smiling.

Jae had lain down
on her couch and was twisting and turning, trying to get comfortable. He sat up
when she walked into the living room. “Ten-thousand lakes?”

“Yep.”

“What is Vi
king?”

“Football team,”
she said.

“Smashing. What
about the Mall of America? Will you take me there?” he asked as he took a quick
survey of her living room. Tall bookshelves lined one wall while a large framed
embroidered tapestry hung on the other, above a couch. He lay back down on the
couch and adjusted his broad shoulders. While trying to get comfortable, he
noticed she had no television.

“Sure, if you
really want to go,” she said. “M.O.A. has many visitors from all over, aren’t
you worried someone will recognize you?”

He cocked an
eyebrow and smirked. “Someone? Woman, do you not know who I am?”

Sue laughed
softly. “I never imagined anyone asking me that question before. Who exactly
are you? I’m afraid I know very little about your career.”

“And what do you
know about my career?”

“Beside that you
go by the name Khyba, I’m afraid, I don’t know much else,” she said, sitting in
the arm chair adjacent to him. “From what I gathered… You’re a singer now?
Still dancing I presume?”

He crossed his
hands beneath his head and stared at the ceiling. There’s a crack, did she know
that? “Yeh, to both questions. That’s all you know?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Jae thought she’d
at least followed his career. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t mentioned in American
media. He went on the Ms. O show just for her. He was in Time magazine as one
of the most influential people of 2008. He was considered one of the most
beautiful people in the world, well, according to People magazine anyway. “What
were you doing? Burying your head in the sand as Americans say?”

“Yes,” she
answered. “I was, in a way, ‘burying my head in the sand’ as you so eloquently
put it.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why were you
burying your head in the sand?” he asked.

“I was studying.
I was, well, I buried my head in books.”

“Comic books?”

“You heard that,
huh. I buried my head in books: textbooks, lab books, medical books, books in
general.” She was smiling but he could hear the sadness in her voice and he
tilted his head to glance at her. She wasn’t looking at him. She had her body
turned toward the wall of bookshelves, staring at nothing in particular. “What
have
you become? I would tell you what I have been up to, but I have a feeling you
already know,” she said, her gaze still on the book shelves filled with her
text books.

“Have you heard
of E.T.?” Jae asked, hopeful.

“Yes. What about
E.T.?”

Jae gave a sigh
of relief. “Then you have heard of me.”

Sue frowned in
confusion. “What does E.T. have to do with you?”

“I was lead
singer. I thought you said you heard of E.T.?”

“Are we talking
about the same E.T.? Steven Spielberg, alien?”

Jae shook his
head in disbelief. “Woman, you are daft. E.T. Eastern Tides?”

“Eastern Tides?”
Sue tried to suppress laughter. “Then I’m sorry.”

“I’ll just have
to show you then,” he said, grinning.

She nodded.
“Jae?” she said after a brief silence.

“Yeh?”

“I’ve been
meaning to ask you something, but with everything that has happened in the last
twelve hours, I didn’t get a chance to.” She turned to look at him. “Why did
you announce that we are married when we are not?”

“I’ll explain
later,” he said. “Right now, I’m famished. Have anything to eat?”

“I’ll feed you as
soon as you answer me,” she said, knowing that he was evading her question.
When Jae ignored her and headed for the kitchen, she got up and went after him.

“Oh, no you
don’t!” She grabbed onto his arm. She reached up, cupped his handsome face in
her hands and stared straight into his brown eyes. “Focus, Jae.” 

He smiled.

Her expression
softened. “We won’t hide from each other, remember?”

Taken aback by
her tender touch, he leaned down and lightly touched her lips with his, testing
the water. She didn’t resist.

Her eyes closed.
Her breathing heavy. Her heart racing. He tilted his head and kissed her
ardently.

Her mind told her
to protest, told her to push him away, that this was too early, too soon, a
mistake in the making, but his words
… for one week, let us love each other.
Let us give each other the love we both deserve.