"Why would you do this?" Opal Lounge was the business that the Nixon family used to rise to success. How could he let go of it? How could Finnegan let go of it? Sidney knew it took a lot of determination for this decision.
"Have I ever told you about my childhood?"
"No."
"When I was younger, I really hated my dad," he cleared his throat before continuing. "I went to a private school for the elite. The other kids were children of doctors, lawyers, even business owners. And they always told me my family owned a hotel. At the time, Opal Lounge wasn't as big as it is now; it was just a regular nightclub. When I got older, I started feeling ashamed of my background. I didn't want my dad involved in anything at school. My mom always told me that Dad worked hard to make sure we had a good life, that I shouldn't complain about my parents, and that I had to accept it. But then my mom died, you know how, and I hated him even more. I blamed him for her death, so I ran away from home. I couldn't accept a father like that."
He said it so casually, but Sidney listened intently. These fragmented pieces of his childhood, which she had only heard through others, were now coming from his own mouth. She never thought he would be willing to open up to her like this.
"I started hanging out with friends on the streets, stopped going to that school where I never fit in. I got tattoos, started picking fights with people I didn't like, learned to smoke, and grabbed whatever I could to hit someone and then take off. A few years later, maybe my dad heard about what I was doing and sent someone to find me. He told me it'd be better to stick with him than keep messing around with people who didn't care about me. He even mocked me, saying I was just going around in circles and would end up on the same old path anyway. Eventually, no one wanted to take me in, no one wanted to hang out with me, so I came back home. At first, I thought I could turn Opal Lounge around, clean it up, you know? But the deeper I got, the more I realized—it's Opal Lounge that built the Nixon family! Without it, where would I be? It's what gave us everything, even the financial management we have now. I got lost in it. He was right. I ended up following his path. And that's why I hurt you."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Sidney felt numb after hearing it. She knew he was trying to make her understand him, but she had already made up her mind.
"Didn't you say you didn't understand me? That I never told you anything? Well, now I'm telling you everything. I'll keep doing that in the future."
"Jayson, we haven't known each other for that long. You can forget about me."
"Then can you forget about me?"
Sidney fell silent.
"Say it! Can you completely forget about me?"
"I tell myself, I won't think about you anymore."
"Then you really won't think about me anymore? Did you never love me? I've removed everything you didn't like about me. I've done all this. What else do you want from me?"
"You can find a woman who loves you more than I do." Saying this, her heart ached. It was out of stubbornness—she didn't want to admit that she loved him.
He finally responded after a long pause.
"But none of them are you."
"I'm not that great."
"I only want you." He said stubbornly.
Sidney was speechless.
This was the first time Jayson had shown vulnerability to her. She could no longer say anything harsh. The two of them sat quietly, listening to each other's breathing, neither willing to hang up first. Finally, when Sidney's phone was about to die, she said goodbye to him first.
After that day, Jayson called her every day, and Sidney didn't reject his calls. That old phone had been turned on ever since.
"Every night, he called her to talk about work. Sidney knew he had set up a branch in C City, and she also knew their company now ordered cakes from them every day. He told her he had let the housekeeper go, giving her a severance package to go back and take care of her kids. Now, he was living alone in C City. Maybe it was that confession that had drained all the romance out of him, because every day, Jayson reported his movements and his life to Sidney like a list of routine tasks. Sidney listened patiently, and that's how a month passed. It wasn't until one of the deliveries of pastries that they saw each other again."
Sidney knew he was deliberately waiting for her in the lobby. She was unloading the goods with Frank, and when she saw him, she froze for a moment before awkwardly smiling at him. He smiled back.
The branch office employees, who usually kept their distance from their special-background boss, were stunned to see him smiling. All eyes froze on his face, disbelief written all over it. Then, they looked at Sidney, whom he was gazing at, whispering, "Who is that woman?"
