13. New Feelings

"This is the last delivery from the manufacturer, now we can officially start planning our grand opening. " Zoey said as she dropped the heavy box of clothes on the floor.

"Okay that's good, check the clothes again for any problems and check again for the mannequin delivery " Zen said.

"I'll get right to that, Oh and Madam Do has sent another letter, I left it on your table because it seemed important". Zoey said.

"Thank you " Zen replied with a smile and went to her office. She saw the red envelope on her desk which had Madam Do's business logo, she opened it to reveal a handwritten letter. From the contents of the letter Madam Do had asked her to model for the jewelry she had personally made and she got to model her dress as well, enclosed in the letter was a picture of the set she was going to model.

"It's breathtaking, I wonder how much these are going to sell for" She thought to herself.

Immediately she wrote a letter back to Madam Do in response and paged Zoey.

"Madam Do's letter writing habit is slowly rubbing off on you" Zoey complained.

Zen held up the picture of the Jewelry set Madam Do had sent along with the letter. "Do we have a dress to go with these"

"Oh my God, that looks like L'incomparable. Wait you need a dress for that....Oh my God I need to breathe. we're going to model for that?. we get to do that with our own dress for free... Nevermind I know just the dress for it, you'll look even better than you did at the house warming party. I'll send this letter first and get back to you" Zoey said and ran off.

Zen unable to contain herself immediately picked up her phone and called Ruby. immediately Ruby answered the phone, She screamed just for the dramatic touch.

" And this is the part where we start looking up private psychiatric centers to lock you up" Ruby said in her normal cold tone.

" Don't mind my screaming, I was just being dramatic but I do have good news. If you've seen Madam Do's auction catalogue which I'm sure you have, you'll see the jewelry set she has made in reference to L'incomparable... "

" I'd appreciate it if you got to the point, some people are not self employed like you" Ruby cut her off mid sentence.

" Oh sorry I forgot you'd be working by this time. So she asked me to be the model for that set and I get to wear my own dress, Isn't that great"

" That's good news, you won't have to worry about advertising your brand anymore" Ruby said.

" I know right and you know how that auction is always graced by celebrities and influencers, at least someone will like my work and reach out for a Collab I'm sure of that" Zen said with excitement.

" Are you that happy? " Ruby asked.

" Totally, I'm so happy I could give out my house right now "

" Well I'm stressed and could use a drink, what do you say we go to the usual place and get a few drinks after I'm done for the day" Ruby suggested.

" Perfect, this is why I called you. then I'll see you tonight" Zen said and ended the call.

*******************

"Miss Yoon, your guest has arrived" So ya said to Jade who was having tea in the garden.

Jade's face lit up immediately she heard the news, She sprang up and handed the tea cup to So ya and ran off.

It had been almost a year since she last saw her best friend Areum, They were close since highschool but it got hard to meet up when Areum debuted for her modelling agency and even harder when she got married.

"You should maintain your dignity Mrs Lee" Areum said as she saw Jade running towards her.

Jade ran straight into her friend's arms and wrapped her in a warm hug.

"Well, you being able to wrap me up like this assures me that I'm still in shape" Areum joked.

Jade released her from the hug. "I missed you so much how could you not visit, even if you were so busy at least you should've made it to the engagement party".

" Forget about the engagement party, I'm here for all of your wedding preparations and the wedding itself. trust me on this I won't miss even a single moment of it"

Jade gasped in surprise," You're staying for that long?"

" For good even.That's something we'll talk about after you show me that garden of yours that you've been bragging about, and this house is truly beautiful .well of course you have a good eye for things " Areum said and patted Jade's cheeks softly.

"Would you want lunch served now Miss?" Madam Kang asked Jade.

"No, we'll just tea in the garden " Jade replied with a smile

" Very well Miss" Madam Kang said and left.

After the servants had served their tea and left the two women were finally alone in the garden.

"So you said you were staying for good this time,did your contract with the agency expire?or is your mother-in-law threatening you again "Jade asked concern written all over her face.

For the fifteen years she had known Areum, settling down was never an option for her. After graduating from highschool she had immediately made her debut as a fashion model, even her marriage which was arranged by her family didn't tie her down instead she gained the support of her husband and excelled even higher.

"No, I think I've actually fallen in love with Junkyong and funny enough all I can think about these days is to just spend the rest of my days being his wife" Areum said and flashed her a bright smile.

" What's with you, you've changed a lot this time. You've even learnt how to be nostalgic"

"Well the doctor said it is normal at this time" Areum laughed.

Jade blinked severally as she always did when she was confused." The doctor.... "

Areum took Jade's hand and placed it on her stomach. "How would you like to be a godmother".

Jade gasped in surprise and smiled but for some reason her eyes stung and she could feel the tears forming.

"What's wrong with you? Even Junkyong didn't cry when we found out I was pregnant, it seems like you're the nostalgic one here"

" What's going to happen to you now, you hated the idea of having babies and ruining your body. I'm so happy for you but I can't help but worry" Jade cried.

" Okay that's too much reaction coming from you, I should've seen it coming "

" That's what happens when you're going to be a godmother, what would you know about that" Jade said in tears.

Areum hugged Jade and softly patted her back. "I'm not worried about myself, Junkyong loves me so much that he has our future planned out already. He bought a house and actually decorated the nursery himself, so I'm sure we'll do well. now please stop crying and help me choose what I'll wear to my mom's auction".

Jade released herself from the hug and dabbed her tears off. "Right, you're opening the show and you have to look fantastic."

" I just said that to make you stop crying, My mom has everything taken care of, I just have to show up. But I want to talk about Yeong, how's he treating you? "

" Well he's very respectful and kind. I know he wasn't happy with the engagement and everything that's been happening, even my mom can be bothersome at times but he never for once showed me that he was dissatisfied. His family is also nice, I'm pretty much happy so far" Jade said.

" Zen is back, you know right? and word on the street she's back for good. What do you think is his reaction to that? "

" I... I....i truly don't know to be honest, I'm not sure what he's thinking about but I'd say he's neutral on that since we haven't spoken about Zen" Jade paused and took a gulp of her drink." I don't want to be dramatic about it,and I don't want to react in a way that shows distrust so I'll leave him to bring it up first".

Areum sighed and clicked her tongue," leaving it to him isn't always the best choice, We both know what kind of relationship those two shared, it was literally true love we saw and believe it or not love like that is not easy to forget and you're sitting here telling me that you'll let him bring it up first? Oh my goodness " Areum took a deep breath to stop herself from raising her voice. "look darling, trusting Yeong is a good thing for sure, I mean it's Yeong we're talking about he's very trustworthy. but trusting a man in love is risky and I don't think I want you to go through that. It starts with just casual exchange of glances, greetings and before you know it he's staying out late and even not coming home,we all live in the same society remember? and I heard once... "

Madam Kang cleared her throat interrupting Areum."Excuse me Miss, you have a call from Master Yeong" She said and handed over the phone to Jade.

" Oh thank you, I must've left it in the room" Jade said with a smile and Madam Kang left.

The phone rang immediately and Jade answered." Hello Yeong, how are you "

"Good, did you have lunch yet? " Yeong said on the other end of the line.

"I'll have lunch with Areum later"

"Right, you said she was coming over"

"You called me, is there something you want"

"Right, I wanted to tell you that I'll be back late today, I'll meet up with Jisoo and Jay to finalize a deal so don't wait up for me"

"Okay" Jade said and hung up the phone. She felt her heartbeat speed up immediately, she wasn't sure what this feeling was, her chest tightened but she wasn't short of breath. was this anger or jealousy or both?

"I have this new feelings that I haven't felt before and it's going to swallow me" Jade confessed and blinked back the tears that threatened to fall.

"How about confirming your doubts, so that this feeling doesn't consume you"

"I do hope that works." Jade said under her breath