Misunderstood: Dark Romance Read online

  Table of Contents

  Tom

  Catherine

  Patrick

  Eva

  Susan

  Rebecca

  Ingrid

  Stephen

  Nate

  Andrew

  Margaret

  Misunderstood

  Copyright © 2017 by J. A. Delese

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN 978-0-9989540-0-4

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Jadelese.com

  Dedicated to my husband, family and friends.

  I couldn’t have done it without them.

  Contents

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Patrick

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Eva

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Susan

  Tom

  Patrick

  Tom

  Rebecca

  Tom

  Ingrid

  Catherine

  Tom

  Stephen

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Nate

  Tom

  Andrew

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Eva

  Ingrid

  Nate

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Catherine

  Stephen

  Tom

  Catherine

  Tom

  Stephen

  Margaret

  Catherine

  Tom

  Ingrid

  Stephen

  Tom

  Patrick

  Tom

  Tom

  He woke up from the same dream. He saw her again. He saw her bleeding face and teary eyes. Maybe the tears were her blood. He couldn’t tell exactly what he saw. All he remembered was that she was dying and there was nothing he could do. He sat up in the bed and checked his phone. It was already 6:00 p.m. It was time to go to the opera. He didn’t really like going, but since Evelyn asked him so many times, he couldn’t refuse. He got ready to go.

  It was almost spring, but New York was still quite cold. He was in his warm car, but he could feel the chill in the air outside. Liz loved cold weather. She loved to play in the snow. He suddenly remembered the moment that both of them played in his grandfather’s backyard, making a snowman. He smiled a bit at that. He stopped his car in front of the opera house and got out. He met his friend Andrew, who was smoking and shivering.

  “Hello, brother. Surprisingly on time!” Andrew said in sarcastic tone.

  “Maybe I should have come after the show ended.”

  “I bet Eve would kill you for that.”

  They both laughed and went into the theater. The theater was full of people. Photos of Evelyn covered the walls. She was wearing a white dress and a sad expression, but Tom could tell that she didn’t really look sad. Honestly, he doubted that she could understand someone like Tosca. She grew up in very wealthy family and had always been the apple of her parents’ eyes. What kind of sadness had she experienced till now?

  Possibly that she couldn’t get the main role till now, he thought.

  “Do you want to go and say hello to her first?” He heard Andrew say.

  “No, maybe after the show,” he said and waved his hand.

  Actually, he just wanted to leave and go back home to rest. He’d been working so hard lately and didn’t really like tragedy; however, Andrew was his best friend, and Evelyn was Andrew’s sister. Their parents had been close friends for a long time, so he should pay a visit to show his family’s support towards theirs. He went into the box seat and looked down toward the stage. It was ten minutes before the show would start and not even half of the seats were filled.

  “She’s not going to like this,” Andrew said as he sat down in his seat.

  “I thought you went to see her?”

  “I’ll go with you later. Anyway, if we sit here, she will definitely see us. It’s already a big support, isn’t it?”

  “Agreed.”

  They chuckled. Soon, the show started, and he saw Evelyn on the stage. She looked beautiful and confident. She had nice voice, but she always complained that she didn’t have a strong voice like Maria Callas. Her voice was very soft and sweet as far as he could tell. He raised his opera glasses and saw how Evelyn was singing. She held the other actor and sang a love song. He moved his glasses and looked around the audience. Most of them looked pleased—especially the girl in the front seat. She looked absolutely enchanted. Her face was flushed, and her lips were spread in a wide smile.

  Must be a big fan, he thought. He looked away and checked the other audience members’ faces, but he came back to watch the girl. She had light brown hair and was wearing a green dress. He could tell that she was quite pretty, but it was her smile that caught his eyes. She looked really happy. He couldn’t help but smile with her. Then, the lights in the theater came on, and a gentle, female voice announced that Act I had finished.

  “Let’s go outside and drink some wine. Never easy to watch this when I’m sober,” Andrew said.

  Tom wanted to see more of the girl in the front seat, but he followed his friend and went out to have a glass of wine. He could tell that definitely half of the theater had filled, and there were already many people in the lobby.

  “It’s successful, isn’t it?” he asked.

  “Yep. Totally agreed. Don’t know what my sister will say though,” Andrew said and had a sip of wine.

  Tom took several sips of wine and talked with his friend about this and that, but he actually spent more time looking around for the girl he had seen in the theater. Maybe she also had come out for some refreshments.

  “Why are you looking around? Looking for something?” Andrew asked.

  Perhaps it was too obvious. Tom felt embarrassed, so he lied.

  “Just checking how many people came here tonight.”

  “Don’t worry. She must be happy enough. Honestly, I think my father paid to have those people here tonight.”

  “Come on. It’s not so bad.” Tom tapped Andrew on the shoulder.

  Andrew shrugged his shoulders. When Tom finished his glass, the same gentle voice recommended that all audience members come back to their seats. They returned to their box seats, and the first thing he did was raising his opera glasses again to find the girl. He looked around the front seat to find her, but the
seat was empty. It wasn’t just that seat. The next seat beside it was empty, too.

  Not back yet? he wondered.

  He decided to wait a bit more, since the second Act hadn’t really started, but even when Act II began, he couldn’t find her. The seat remained empty all the way till the end of the show. He didn’t like it. He was expecting to see the girl’s smiling face once again. He didn’t know why, but the smile interested him.

  There was applause when the curtain came down, and though he also gave big hand for Evelyn, he wasn’t really happy. He didn’t like this at all.

  Where did that girl go?

  He kept asking himself the same question over and over again.

  Catherine

  It was a beautiful night. The weather was perfect, and Catherine could tell that she was light hearted. For the first time in a few years, she felt that everything she worked for had been repaid. She’d studied hard to get into law school and to graduate. Finally, she was employed by one of the biggest law firms in New York City and had successfully spent one year there.

  Catherine walked toward the bar, mind absorbed by what she’d been working on, but her colleague, Patrick, interrupted her thoughts.

  “What are you thinking? You look so serious.” Patrick asked with his beautiful smile.

  “About my new case,” Cathy answered with a smile, too.

  “The pro bono? Don’t you think your brain is too precious to be used for pro bono?”

  “Oh, shut up!” Cathy lightly slapped Patrick’s back. “At least, this is a lot more worthy than the divorce case.” Cathy sighed.

  “But at least you became famous with that case,” Patrick told her, still smiling.

  “Well, I cannot deny that,” she smiled back.

  They reached the bar and found their other colleagues. A birthday party was already underway for Rebecca, another lawyer in their law firm. Catherine went to the birthday girl and kissed on her cheek. Then she gave her gift to Rebecca.

  “Happy birthday!”

  “Thank you so much! A bit sad to realize that I’m this old!”

  “Nonsense! You are still so young—and beautiful.”

  They both laughed. Rebecca dragged Catherine by the arm and introduced her to another young man whose back was to her.

  “Remember Nate? He came to stay in New York for a while.”

  Rebecca tapped his shoulder, and Nate turned his face to her.

  “Hi, Cathy! So good to see you again!”

  Nate shook her hand. He was a journalist and if she remembered correctly, he interviewed Rebecca and her senior attorney about their previous case. It was only about a month before, so Catherine didn’t know why Rebecca introduced him like he’s her close friend.

  What’s this? Are they seeing each other now?

  She didn’t know when that started happening and felt a bit sad that one of her closest colleagues—at least she thought so—hadn’t said a word about this.

  “So, how are you doing, Cathy? Heard that you got pro bono case?”

  “Yes. Not an easy case, but a lot better than spending time on the couple arguing over expensive toilet papers.”

  They all laughed, and she felt it was the right time to ask.

  “Are you here for work or for her?” She raised her eyebrows and looked toward Rebecca, who had already walked out to welcome other guests.

  “Well, you could say both.”

  “Since when did this happen?” She was so curious. As she remembered, last time Rebecca was quite hostile to him since he asked so many questions about her case and in the end wrote his article in a scathing tone.

  “It’s a long story, but can I tell you after picking up this call?” Nate left, already answering his phone.

  Catherine looked around the bar to find her colleagues, and she spotted Patrick talking happily with a bunch of other guys. Patrick’s eyes met hers, and he gestured for her to come over, but she shook her head. She liked to talk with Patrick, but except for him, she didn’t like to talk with the other guys in that group. All the rest of those guys were jerks. She could feel that they didn’t like her, and whenever they worked together with her, she could tell that they tried to remove her from the projects or cases.

  Which is terrible. She clicked her tongue and heard her phone telling her that she had a message. She checked her phone and found that her boss had sent multiple messages asking her to come to the office right away to handle some administrative work. Catherine breathed out heavily. She understood that this was all part of business, but her boss was just too stupid. This kind of work after hours felt like ill treatment. She seriously wanted to stay and listen to the love story of Nate and Rebecca, but she knew that she should go back to the office now to keep her position secured, so she put her phone back into her purse and walked out of the bar.

  She wanted to say bye to Rebecca, but she couldn’t find her. The bar was full of people that Friday night. She made several attempts to find Rebecca, but gave up in the end. She walked out of the bar and found Nate at the main door instead.

  “Nate! Nate!” She shouted out his name, and Nate turned back. “I really want to stay longer, but I need to go back to the office. Will you tell Rebecca good-bye for me?”

  “But you just got here! Please do stay a bit longer. We didn’t even sing a song for her yet.”

  “I’m so sorry, but I’m sure you will sing on my behalf,” Catherine said with the face she usually made whenever she felt guilty.

  “Well then, I can’t stop you anymore. See you again soon, Cathy.”

  “Would you please introduce me?” A guy standing next to Nate interrupted.

  “My bad! Cathy, this is my brother, Tom.”

  Nate introduced the tall man who was standing next to him. He was taller than Nate with pale skin and blue eyes. His hair was blonde just like Nate, but she could tell that it was even paler.

  He offered his hand with mild smile.

  “Nice to meet you, Miss….”

  “Catherine Lee. Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Sharpe.”

  She shook hands with him, and his pale, blue eyes looked into hers. It was only for a moment, but she sensed something strange, something weird in his eyes, some sort of excitement. She felt uncomfortable and quickly pulled her hand from his.

  “Well, then. Have a nice time,” she said, forcing a cheerful tone, and walked away from the bar. She didn’t turn back, but she felt that he was watching her. She didn’t know why, but his pale, blue eyes crept her out.

  Tom

  When he found out that his younger brother, Nate, took his car out, he was pretty annoyed. He didn’t like anyone taking his things away from him without his permission. More importantly, his friend Andrew left his wallet in his car, which was also very annoying. He needed to get his car back now. He called Nate, and after reaching his voicemail several times, in the end, finally learned that he needed to go over to his brother’s girlfriend’s party to get his car back. He really didn’t want to go, but since Andrew was his closest friend and Andrew said he needed it before taking a flight, and since it’s after hours for his secretary, he decided to go in person.

  When he arrived at the place, it was crowded with people by the gate. He didn’t even want to go in, so he called Nate. Luckily Nate answered the phone for once and said that he’d going to come out to give him the key. Tom was waiting at the entrance, sending messages to Andrew, when he heard someone’s voice. He heard someone’s laugh. Someone that was very familiar. He stopped texting and lifted his head to see what was going on. He definitely knew what he heard. He heard Liz’s voice. He didn’t remember what exactly he heard said, but he knew that he heard Liz’s voice. He turned around, expecting to see her. He walked into the bar and looked around. His heart was beating so fast at the thought of finding Liz, but he couldn’t find anyone like Liz inside the bar.

  What the….

  He felt strange. He did hear Liz’s voice but he couldn’t find her! He felt suddenly confused and was about
to move to the other side of the bar to check there, but someone tapped his back. He turned.

  “Hey, brother! Here’s the key! So sorry, I was in a hurry just now.”

  It was Nate. Tom didn’t answer. He couldn’t answer. He just stood there, stunned.

  “Tom, are you okay?” Nate asked, shaking his hand in front of his eyes.

  He slapped Nate’s hand.

  “I’m okay. Just don’t touch what’s mine again without telling me.”

  “I promise I will inform you by written document the next time I—”

  “Nate! Nate!”

  It was the voice. It was Liz’s voice. Nate turned back and Tom could see a girl standing in front of Nate. It was a young Asian girl. She had light brown hair and dark brown eyes.

  It’s the girl from the opera house!

  He remembered at once. It was the girl who was smiling all night long at Evelyn’s opera. He remembered her perfectly from looking at her through the opera glasses.

  “I really want to stay longer, but I need to go back to the office. Will you tell Rebecca good-bye for me?”

  “But you just got here! Please do stay a bit longer. We didn’t even sing a song for her yet.”

  They were talking, and he was listening. He was listening to her voice. This girl had Liz’s voice. He couldn’t believe it. He was listening to Liz’s voice in real life, not from old videos, not from his dreams, for real! It felt like she was here with him again.

  “Well, then I can’t stop you anymore. See you again soon, Cathy.” Nate was saying good-bye to her.

  “Would you please introduce me?” he said abruptly.

  Nate gave him a surprised look, but Tom didn’t care. He wanted to talk to her.

  “My bad! Cathy, this is my brother, Tom.”

  Tom offered his hand with a smile.

  “Nice to meet you, Miss….”

  “Catherine Lee. Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Sharpe.”

  She shook hands with him. He purposely shook her hand slowly so he could see more of her face. He could tell that she was pretty. She looked quite tall for a girl and had a slim body. More than that, she looked kind and naïve, but she also gave him the vibe that she was stronger than what she looked like on the outside. Suddenly she pulled her hand from his. Maybe she sensed that he was watching her.