High School Again: The President's Secret Lady Boss

All of the sudden, Jacob appeared before Winter and Amanda.

Not expecting his arrival, they stay still in their seats and look up at him in stunned silence. Going by the deep scowl and pair of furrowed brows that're marring his frame, he appears to be infuriated. For once, he broke out of his usual cool and composure. All they see right now is a beast that's ready to devour his prey. 

"Ms. Rockwell, go and find Ms. Park. The two of you should head home together. Ms. Middleton, you're going with me." 

Before the confrontation with the drunkard could take a nasty turn, Jacob took Winter out of that place.

Amanda was left nonplussed. He wasn't supposed to be there – and that shows when the others started to stir a commotion the moment they saw him barging in. He ended up staying for only a short while, though. 

Winter had to hurriedly bid Amanda goodbye as Jacob dragged her out against her will. She herself was nonplussed. Not knowing what's happening, she'd let him take her away before she could ask questions.

"Sir Minerva, what're you doing here…?" she asked him as she walked behind him.

"You really surprised me, though I'm grateful to you for stopping that guy earlier."

He remains quiet while he continues to make his way out of that karaoke bar. Like she thought, he's acting kind of odd. He appears frantic and hasty, which is so not like him. 

The lobby is filled with many people. Ranging from grownups to young adults, a huge crowd gathered around. But then, she is too baffled to pay attention to this. His strange behavior as well as the fact that he knows where she is – she badly wants to know the reason behind these. 

"I thought you're going to be more careful from now on…" Jacob muttered through clenched teeth, making Winter flinch slightly. 

"Why're you in this kind of place, then?"

He sounds perplexed and aggravated – not to mention, a bit perturbed. It's almost like he has seen some sort of premonition that has something to do with her.

"What's up with that? You don't seem to be acting like yourself," she pointed out, already getting concerned.

"It's so late at night. You should be at home already. You're the least person I expected to get caught up in that kind of situation," he said sharply as if chiding her.

"Huh? Why are you saying these out of the blue? I also didn't even want to be in that situation-"

"Then, don't go to this kind of place again."

Now, Winter feels like a child. Jacob is treating her like one.

This is starting to exasperate her. It's like she always needs to be watched over – that she's not capable of taking care of herself. She's not sure why he's suddenly looking after her like this, but if this only happens to be an act to get her to their side, she'll definitely make him pay twofold the trouble. 

If that's not the case, it should've been fine. She wouldn't be complaining if he wasn't acting like this, though. They're not even that close, to begin with. 

"Thank you for helping us earlier, Sir Minerva…" Winter started once more, frowning.

"But you really don't have to go through all this trouble. I apologize if I bothered you."

With that, she pulls her hand and slips away from his grip, which finally makes him halt on his tracks and turn around to look at her. He's surprised to find her wearing a downcast expression. She seems upset about something.

"I don't need you to take me home. I'll go back on my own," she told him before taking off and walking past him.

Jacob is unmoving for a moment. Astonished to see a side of Winter that he never saw before, he found himself speechless.  That's until he recalls what he has truly come there for.

He didn't mean to make her feel bad about anything. He's just in an inexplicable panic. 

"Ms. Middleton, wait!" he called out, hastily following after her.

With such a crowd, it's a little hard to navigate around his surroundings. Waves after waves of people keep surging in from here and there, washing him away whenever he tries to move forward. He even has to push his way through from time to time. 

"Ms. Middleton! Wait!"

Jacob keeps calling for Winter. 

Eventually, he realizes that he can't find her at all. That's when a sense of trepidation wells up in him. He pulls out a feverish dash then, unable to stand those feelings.

"Wait a moment, Ms. Middleton!"

He shouldn't have been too rough. He should've at least explained why he's there.

What he's doing now is the exact opposite of what he intended to do right after learning that she has gone out with Bianca's friends – to a bar of all places, and so late at night even. He's aware that his fiancée is scheming something, and he's suspecting that what that drunkard tried to pull out earlier is part of it.

He wanted explain all of these to Winter – if only he could catch up to her, that is. But before he knew it, she's nowhere to be found anymore. She completely vanished. In a matter of seconds, she's gone. 

Just like before. 

"Winter," Jacob breathed out, feeling the same heavy sense of loss from back then.

--- Side Story ---

[This is an excerpt from the author's latest novel, Married Again: The Billionaire's Enemy Turned Lover, that is posted for promotion purposes]

"It would be my honor to take you home tonight, my dearest Ercilia."

Ercilia frowns then. Drystan simply smiles.

In the span of ten years that she didn't get to see him, he seems to have gotten quite playful. He has become more roguish, and as if to make up for the trouble it brings to her, he has become more handsome too. She can't believe that she'll start living under the same roof with such an attractive rascal from now on.

They're in the airport at the moment.

Ercilia has just arrived. Drystan came to pick her up and take her home - to his home, more specifically.

Everyone around them is starting at him, beholding the godly masterpiece that he is. Ladies are captivated by his looks, and men are drawn to his presence. As if catching attention like this was not enough, he just also had to welcome her the way a lover would, thus making a scene.

Drystan suddenly swept Ercilia off of her feet and pulled out a princess carry.

"So, you're really going to act like we're engaged now?" she deadpanned, unamused.

"That's the agreement," he replied, smirking.

"Aren't you embarrassed? The reputable head of Claire de Lune carrying some woman no one had ever seen before. Won't you be ashamed?"

"I can never be ashamed of you, my dearest Ercilia."

Now that he said and did the deed, he goes ahead and carries her all the way out of the airport then into the parking lot where their service is. She stayed silent the whole time, waiting for him to break character and cut the lovey-dovey act. Yet he never did. He continued wearing that soft and gentle smile of his until the end - treating her with warmth, kindness and care. 

And so, she had to resort to her final option.

"Drystan Allaric, I think you're forgetting something."

Ercilia pulled out a revolver from her purse and aimed straight at Drystan.

He stopped on his tracks just as he realized that he's being threatened with a gun at point-blank. His bodyguards who'd been following them from behind had also taken out their weapons as soon as the scene dawned on them. Almost instantly, they encircled them and aimed at her, demanding her to put down the revolver.

However, Ercilia isn't fazed at all. And so is Drystan.

For a fraction of time, the two of them just keep staring at each other quietly. Her expression is steely yet haughty while his is perplexed yet calm. Eventually, she spoke up again and broke the silence.

"Okay. Forget about being embarrassed or ashamed. But don't forget that I should've been the Viatrix crime family's ringleader. I'm capable of killing you however and whenever I want to," she taunted, not buying all his lovey-dovey act - not now, not ever, especially after ten whole years of waiting in vain.

Drystan can tell right away that Ercilia testing him.

He can see that she is still doubting his good intentions. Skeptic and a little bit afraid. It makes sense. Even then, he knows that she will not pull the trigger. He's confident that she needs him even if it's not as much as he needs her.

And so, Drystan only smiles again, much to Ercilia's surprise.

"Of course, I will never forget how fearsome and powerful you were back then, my lovely fiancee..." he quipped with a smirk on his face as he put her down and held both of her hands.

"I'm not sure why you're taunting me all of the sudden. But if I did do something wrong and I had to be punished, could you please wait until we're all alone in our room later? I promise to lock the door."

With that, Drystan leaned down and kissed the backs of her hands.

It took a moment for Ercilia to understand the dirty meaning behind his words. When it did, she couldn't help but turn bright red and shout at his face. 

"You bloody pervert!"