Nothing is Ever What It Seems Ch. 01

"Let me help you."

"No," he pointed to the sofa, "Go- all I need you to do is rest. I can make this by myself."

"Jared-"

"No." he said and dropped a kiss on her forehead, "Please? Since Ryan and Steven love to torture my pregnant wife with god knows how many hours of work a week, I need to offset that. You are my world- it pains me to see you so hard at work. Let me try and do this right," He lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles.

She reluctantly obeyed.

As she mindlessly changed channel on the TV, Jared came out of the kitchen and started to lay out dish after dish of delicious looking food. Alin gaped at him in surprise. As he set the last dish down, Alin looked up at him and then the food in admiration.

Alin couldn't believe her eyes. Jared chuckled beside her.

"I went through a lot of trial and errors. It wasn't all good. Sara and Ryan tried so hard to be diplomatic- so I went to Hallie, and she didn't hold back with her criticism. It was all constructive feedback though."

The smell and the presentation was already causing Alin's stomach to growl and her mouth to salivate. She could clearly see the effort he had gone through- laid out was chicken dumplings, vegetable stir fried noodles and a prawn and asparagus dish. When Jared came to Beijing, Alin would take him to her favourite eateries and choose those dishes for him to try.

She smiled warmly at him, knowing all the hard work he must have gone through for tonight.

Jared tentatively watched her as she tried the dumplings. He had already tried one before he dished it up to serve and it tasted good to him. But he was still nervous. He wanted so badly to impress her.

Alin choked a little on the dumpling as she tried to speak at the same time, "Jared... this is amazing. Did you really make it?" She teased.

"Of course I did," He said taking the bait. When he saw a smile on her face, his expression relaxed. "I'm going to fatten you and our son up."

"Jared, I feel so fat already."

"You're perfect the way you are. Besides if it takes nine months for you to gain the weight, it should take you the same amount of time, if not more to lose it."

"Where did you read that?" She asked as she sampled the prawn and asparagus.

"On a few forums-" He stopped suddenly, considering how it sounded. Jared was still not used to this change in him. Before Alin all he cared about was himself. Now he couldn't contemplate his life without her and their unborn child. It wasn't supposed to be like that. He didn't know why he was so soft when it came to the mere thought of his family- he wasn't even sure he liked the sudden change. Regardless, whenever he had any time, he would trawl through forums and read up on everything he could about pregnancy, babies and the role of a new father.

Her eyes lit up and a ghost of a smile touched her lips. She reached across the table and held onto his hand, "I love you, Jared."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nine months ago:

This was the moment of truth. From their point of view, they had a somewhat clear view of Jared's expression. After Alin's speech at the conference for the Daniel's Group, they had purposely left her on her own so that she could be left alone with Jared.

They could tell he was nervous as hell, as he tried to convince Alin to give him one final chance. The setting was perfect- reminisce of how the two lovers met the first time. Both Hallie and Ryan waited with bated breath at Alin's response.

They were unsure what Jared said, but Alin returned the embrace and immediately Jared smiled in relief.

"Finally seeing them together makes me so happy. I mean look at them, it's so damn romantic and cute."

Hallie looked up at him and smiled warmly, "I've waited five years for this day!"

They smiled at each other knowingly.

Suddenly, Ryan found it hard to tear his gaze away from Hallie. She was so beautiful yet he knew she was too good for him. He didn't know what possessed him to reach out to her, but he used the back of his hand to gently stroke her cheek. "Hallie, I-"

One minute they were happily playing cupid, watching as Jared finally got his act together and persuaded the love of his life to give him one more chance, the next everything suddenly turned so serious. Hallie watched as something past through Ryan's eyes before he reached out and stroked her cheek lightly. She could get lost in his soft touch, so different from her husband... but she couldn't let this happen.

They headed back inside after seeing Alin in Jared's arm. It took them a good five years to get their act together, Hallie was so happy for them both. But it did leave a longing in her heart.

"Jared, did you hear that?" Alin whispered.

"I didn't just hear it, I saw it too."

Alin looked up at him in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Well in my peripheral vision, I happen to see our best friends spying on us."

She tried to turn but Jared stopped her by holding her even closer, "No, they're just heading inside, don't turn yet. Besides let them think we can't see them. They are so bad at this. I don't want to embarrass them" he chuckled but then suddenly looked serious,

"Alin..."

"Hmm?"

"Would you like to take a walk with me?"

Jared smiled when he saw her nod.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hallie and Ryan spent the rest of the evening together, since they wanted to give their friends some space. After the interlude on the balcony, Hallie brushed it aside. Yes, they both knew there was an attraction there, but it never mattered if both of them were not going to act on it- ever. They were first and foremost friends and that will never change.

They were home around nine. They weren't supposed to get home so early but she was starting to get tired due to the twelve hour time difference and the combination of drinking a little too much. Alin had messaged them earlier to inform them they wouldn't be getting back until much later.

She accepted the warm towel Ryan gave her and placed it on her forehead. The warmth instantly made her feel better.

"You know tonight has definitely been filled with emotions." Hallie said as Ryan slumped onto the couch next to her. "Alin deserves all the happiness in the world. Her mom's death had affected her a lot. I'm so glad John and her evil dad got what they deserved. Not to mention Jared is finally 'manning up' and admitting his mistakes. Alin giving him another chance is probably the best thing to happen to him. He better not screw up again."

Hallie playfully poked him in the chest, "She's a true gem and I'm telling you, your friend is lucky to have her!" She said giggling.

"Don't worry, Hals, I tell that lucky bastard every day!"

"That's true. But you know the craziest thing is you knowing Jared. I was so angry when I realised you might have been in this to hurt Alin. It was only later when you explained to me that I knew you are a good guy."

He shook his head, "Well you see, umm... I'd love to lie and say I was a saint, but I'm not. After hearing a brief story from Jared about Alin and then reading the reports about her alleged cheating on him, I hated her. So when he asked me to offer her a job, I knew," he shrugged his shoulders casually, "that sub-consciously he may be using me to 'keep an eye' on her and when the time was right, to screw her over. I, of course in some ways didn't agree with it, though I never really questioned him on his intentions. But I was never really against the idea- I too thought Alin was some heartless bitch."

He laid his hand casually on her knee. The gesture was not intended to be suggestive but a friendly touch. "Of course when I met you and Alin, my life has never been the same since."

She smiled warmly at him, "I'm so glad I've met you too."

At that moment, their gazes locked, searching for answers, searching for what they wanted but couldn't have. It was hard to say who made the first move, but their lips met before they even knew what happened.

Ryan was the first to pull away, but only slightly, "Hallie, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"Are you really sorry?" She whispered against his lips, her eyes closed, "Because I'm not..."

Ryan watched as her lips lifted into a sultry smile. Her wavy hair loosened and framed her pretty face. He reached up to brush the loose strand of hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear.

"No, you're right, I'm not sorry. I only said it out of politeness..." He retorted playfully and saw her eyes snap open, surprised and humoured by his words.

Again, she unknowingly made their already awkward relationship even worse than before. She didn't regret the words, but she did scold herself for saying it out loud.

"So," Ryan continued as he stroked her cheek softly, "Shall we continue to make out then?

Hallie laughed out loud, which help to dissipate the tension in the room. She was in stiches. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she said, "Making out... what are we, sixteen?!"

There was nothing more he loved than listening to her sweet laughter. Unable to help himself he leaned close and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head. He let the simple, yet endearing gesture linger, "Sixteen... first love, the excitement of being close to someone you lo- care for..."

Hallie blushed at his words.

"It's getting late," She said without looking at him, "I'll...um... see you tomorrow." Quickly she stood up, but not quick enough to escape Ryan's grasp on her hand.

"Wait- Hallie!"

She remained facing away from him, fearing if she looked at him she would succumb to the uncontrollable emotions raging inside her. She was ashamed of herself for feeling this way, but also partly for leading him on. That was not her intention.

"Would you-"

She never heard what he was about to say as murmur coming from outside and then the front door opening interrupted them.

They both froze at hearing the whispered words from their friends.

"Thanks for tonight" Alin said.

"No, thank you, Alin. Thanks for letting me take you out."

"We'll talk about this tomorrow." Hallie heard Ryan, before he let go of her hand and went back to his room.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds before standing up to go to her own room. Sleep was not going to be easy tonight.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

4:03am

The angry red digits glared back at him and the first sign of morning started to filter in. Too shattered to get up and close the curtains, Ryan pulled the covers over his head in irritation. It was no use, sleeping was the last thing on his mind. He was tired, his eyes were stinging due to the lack of sleep, but still he found himself staring at the ceiling, until night turned into day.

He rubbed his face in frustration. He was scruffy, he knew he looked like a tramp and he hadn't even bothered to shave his stubble in the last few weeks. The events in the past year still replayed itself vividly in his mind. Not only could he still feel the imprint of the gentle kiss they shared nine months ago, but the subsequent days after the kiss led him to believe that they could never even be friends again.

He thought back to when he first met Hallie. Of course they had met mutually through Alin, but for all the wrong reasons. Ryan didn't like Alin at first, since he thought she had a part in destroying his best friend. He treated her like shit, assigning her with a huge workload compared to the others.

It was predominantly a revenge on his best friend behalf, but also, he had to begrudgingly admit that she was really talented and smart. Obviously in hindsight, he's deeply ashamed of his unprofessional actions. The first time he met Hallie was when she had stormed into his office and demanded to know why her friend was working fourteen hours every day.

It would be rather romantic albeit a little strange to say he fell in love with her then. The reality was he was pissed at Alin for allowing a crazy, hormonal and very pregnant friend of hers come in to his office and shouting at him. At that precise moment, he hated both women with passion. It was much later when he realise they were actually really good people.

His feelings for both women were somewhat platonic at first. With Alin, it had changed from colleagues to a deep friendship. He had come to care for her a lot and sometimes felt a duty to protect her innocent nature. He didn't know when his feelings for Hallie developed to something that was no longer acceptable. She was married and it felt wrong. Ryan had experience being on the receiving end of a cheating partner; he would never jeopardize or even get involved with someone who was attached. As hard as it was, he suppressed his feelings for her- he wasn't even sure it was reciprocated.

The day she cried in his arms and offered a rare glimpse of her relationship with Carter, Ryan knew she deserved better. She didn't say much as she cried- but she didn't need to. Carter's absences in Hallie's and the children's life spoke volumes already. Slowly, he realised she felt the same for him. The accidental touches and the longing gazes in both their eyes when they thought the other person wasn't looking. It was an unspoken tension that both of them would rather not acknowledge. It didn't come at a right time either: she was married; he was in a relationship with the woman he thought he would marry.

His thoughts of Hallie were temporarily put aside as his attention suddenly turned to his ex-fiancée, Tiffany.

Tiffany Tate.

The day she came into his office for an interview, Ryan was blown away with how beautiful she was. But he did not let her good looks and great body sway his decision. In fact he interviewed other candidates for the job and had given a hard time to Tiffany just as much as the others. However, her qualifications and proficiency was beyond any candidate he had interviewed that day, so Ryan did not hesitate to offer her the job as his PA.

At first she had seemed perfect. She did not mind working late into the night with Ryan and proved to be a great asset to the company. All the working late at night, the flirting and the unmistakeable chemistry between the two, ultimately led to Ryan asking her out on a date.

In a way, Ryan wasn't keen on dating Tiffany. She worked for him and he didn't want to blur the line between his private and professional life. Dating her went against all his better judgement. He didn't want to come across as unprofessional. However, it was hard to ignore the attraction. He had found not only her looks that attracted him; she also had a great personality and sense of humour.

What turned from flirting late at night in the office, to a first date a few weeks later, to making out fervently in his car as they were about to say their goodbyes, to hot passionate sex a few months later. Ryan was infatuated with her. They had moved in after a year of dating, and then Ryan proposed to her.

Unlike Jared, Ryan wasn't a womanizer. Raised by loving parents, he had always wanted to emulate what his parents have. Throughout high school and college, when every guy was going through the stages of scoring notches on their bedpost, Ryan had one girlfriend. But they eventually broke up amicably after graduation due to her moving away for a job offer.

In between meeting the demands his firm brought him, he had the occasional fling, but never anything serious. It was surreal that Tiffany would agree to be his wife- she was so perfect, yet she had chosen to be with him. Even though deep down he still had feelings for Hallie, he knew Tiffany was the one for him.

The day he found a fucking used condom in their bedroom, his first reaction was to laugh. It was ludicrous that the woman he loved would take a man back and fuck him in their room. Granted he was away for two weeks for a business conference, he tried to tell himself it wasn't true.

Tiffany was not like that.

Laughter turned to despair- could Tiffany really do that to him? The worst thing was he couldn't even confront her because she was away visiting her parents in France. It was no use confronting her over the phone as it would just cause more confusion.

Ryan thought back to a few days before she left for France, she was distant and no longer as warm as she used to. Then again, ever since they were engaged she had not been herself. In fact, Jared had met her fleetingly and stated his dislike of her.

No, in fact he hated her- if his memory served him right, the words Jared used was 'fake' and a 'gold-digging whore.'

At the time, Ryan had put this down to his bitterness after his split from Alin. But then again, he had noticed the way Tiffany was extra flirtatious and wore extremely revealing dresses when he took her out to events or even when she met Jared. Even his parents were a little sceptical about Tiffany, but he had been too infatuated with her to even remember what they had said. Subconsciously, he had ignored these little signs, but now it seemed so obvious.

Despair slowly turned to anger. He loved her and gave her everything he could. She wanted to move to an even more affluent part of town, he let her- ignoring the sky-high rent. She had wanted to invite the whole world to attend their wedding instead of the quiet intimate affair he had wanted, he let her. Anything she wanted, if it was within his ability, he would give to her, because he truly loved her and wanted her to be happy. The thought that she cheated on him a few months before they were to marry- and on their fucking bed too, turned him into a wreck.

When Tiffany came home from France, he heard her sharp gasp and then a loud bang, which sounded like her suitcases being dropped on the floor. He slumped onto the bed after his rampage, waiting for her to come in.

"What the hell is going on?!" She demanded as she came into the bedroom. "Did we get burgled?"

She buried her face in her hands, "Oh god! I knew we should have moved somewhere even better. Imagine if I was here- they would have taken me!" She cried noting the smashed plates from outside and all her belongings taken out of the closet and strewn all across the lobby. "So glad I changed for a later date to visit my parents." She muttered under her breath.

She went around and wanted to cry at the mistreatment of her prized collection of crocodile skin bags. She wasn't sure what she was pissed off with the most: the way her bags were currently carelessly thrown across the room or the fact that the burglars didn't take them. Did they not know they cost around $10,000 apiece? Regardless, Tiffany was angry at how useless Ryan was.

"Ryan, say something! Did you call the police?" She said turning to him.

He looked up at her, his eyes red and swollen from the sleepless nights and the tears he had shed for the woman he loved.

"Why would you do this to me?" He choked out, his voice hoarse and unclear.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded, clearly annoyed at his strange behaviour.

He saw it.

Finally he saw what other people saw in Tiffany that he didn't see. She only cared about herself and would sell her soul to the devil in order to social-climb. Ryan always thought he was able to spot her type. He was blinded by his love for her.

"We were about to marry...you" He started and saw as the colour drained from her face.

She was guilty.

"Who was he?" He demanded.

"I don't know what the fuck you're on about."