Moonlight Serenade

After that night of confrontation, Jewel stayed in the hotel room and never once stepped out. A few days of medication made Dalya and Pedro's injuries eased a liitle bit. But it was best to let them stay in the hospital. When Jewel knew of this matter, she urged him to send her back to Medellin.

Gideon was helpless, but he obeyed his wife's wishes.

Now, traveling in the south coastal road up to the northenmost part of the province, Jewel was looking at the sea glistening under the moonlight. It was night. She didn't let Gideon travel when the sun was up because she knew how heavy the traffic and hot it was during day. It seemed a good choice. The car wasn't stuck in a heavy traffic in the city and now they're out of the city and travelling on the wide road of other municipalities.

She estimated that four hours had passed before she saw the wide Aisle of Medellin ahead. A smile tugged the corner of her lips. Jewel saw the tall and swaying sugarcanes at the side of the aisle and the sweet breeze brushed past her nose. She inhaled the unique scent of her hometown, the Medellin.

Not long after, the car arrived at Cansanit and stopped in front of Gideon's house. Jewel exhaled a breathe before hopping off the car. She made a way into the shining big house in the dark and didn't wait for Gideon. The man shook his head and followed her behind.

"Maam Laine, Sir Manasseh," Tang greeted them with a smile and let them in.

As usual, she saw her big portrait when she stepped inside but she walked past that corner. She really didn't care at all. Since Gideon wanted to show off her face to his visitor, she let him be. There's a small difference of her face before and the present so at first glance, the people wouldn't recognize that it was her face unless they knew her when she was a teenager.

She entered her room and changed her clothes. Then she threw herself onto the soft mattress and stared at the ceiling. Her body was tired due to that long drive but her mind was still active and wouldn't rest. She sighed.

A knock echoed inside her room. "Jewel," Gideon called outside the door.

Her lips twitched but she dragged her body off the bed and opened the door for him. "What do you want?" she asked.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

Gideon stared at her for a bit before he sighed. "Can't sleep?" he asked. She tilted her head to the side and watched him smiled at her. She pursed her lips and crossed her arms across her chest. Gideon chuckled helplessly. "If you're not tired, then let's go out."

"Where?"

"I will take you to the garden."

She rolled her eyes. "Is that all?" "And the seaside."

Without further ado, she stepped out of the room and followed him out of the house. True to his words, he brought her to the maze garden and saw a lot of little lights that was moving in the air. Fireflies. Jewel blinked her eyes a few times, awe, as she watched the hundreds of fireflies in the maze garden.

The little insects lighted up that part of the maze garden. Even though the big lights were off, those twinkling lights were enough for Jewel to see the place. It was truly astonishing how Gideon used those little insects to give light to the maze garden.

The cold air brushed past her and she was pulled out of her stupor. Her body shivered in the cold. Gideon might noticed her because he take off his cardigan and put it around her shoulder.

"Thanks," she whispered and looked away. A suspicious redness appeared in her cheeks but she shook her head.

No.

She must draw a line between them. Determined, she put her sight back on the group of fireflies.

After a few minutes of being astonished, Gideon took her out of the maze garden and onto the seashore behind the tall brick walls.

"Your house is indeed... something," she said.

It was out of her expectation that there's a secret passageway inside the tall and thick brick walls. A little mechanism was pushed in order for that narrow door to appear. Last time, she didn't pay attention that much but now, she realized that Gideon was using a secret passage to pass through.

He chuckled. "It's necessary to have one." Of course.

They walked under the moonlight. The silence made Jewel sigh as she remembered what happened in the past few days. Dalya and Pedro was recovering much to her expectation, but it was impossible for them to go back to her father's mansion. Where would she put that two?

She sighed again. Only now does she realize that she has been rude and ungrateful to everything the two have done.

It's true that she acted immature and treated people without considering their feelings. She should change her attitude. But it's hard to think of it, and way harder to do it. And she thought that it's even impossible to do so.

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The cold air kissed her cheek from time to time, but she didn't shiver from the cold because of the cardigan Gideon had given her earlier. The noise of the pounding of the waves was not so far away. A little father and they arrived at the seashore.

The two walked quietly. Jewel savored the feeling of peace brought by the waves crashed on the sandy shore and the cold air that passed between her and Gideon. Not long after, they reached the boulder. It's the boulder that he saw from her room's balcony. It was only a few meters from the yacht anchored on the shore. This was the first time she had seen the rock up close.

To his surprise, Gideon leaped over the large rock. He squated and stretched his hand towards her. "Hold my hand," Gideon said and smiled.

"Are you sure it's safe?" she asked and pointed the rock Gideon was standing onto.

He didn't answer and the smile's still lingered on his lips. Under the moonlight, he looked like an adonis that was inviting her. "Hold my hand and I'll lift you up."

She didn't have a choice but to hand over her palm to him. He pulled her up immediately and her lips parted in shock. She felt Gideon's arm wrap around her waist. He spun her around and lowered her to the top of the wide rock.

A stray strand of her hair covered her face and Gideon tucked them behind her ears. "You're beautiful," he whispered.

She pursed her lips but the redness in her cheeks didn't dissipate for a long time. Her eyes stared at the round moon above the peaceful waves in the distance.

"Such marvelous sight," she whispered under her breathe.

She walked at the end of the wide rock and sat down. Her legs hang on the air as she stared at the glistening sea waves under the moonlight. The salty breeze brushed past her. Jewel was not worried that she might fall because the rock's height was only a few meters above the sand.

Gideon sat beside her. "You said before that you were still studying," he asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I'm taking a bachelor degree in college."

"That's good."

They fell silent. The cold air blew between them again. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Gideon took out a guitar from its case. Her brow raised when he tried to strum. She noticed the guitar case on his back while they were still in the maze garden but she didn't ask. She was not interested to know but seeing him play made her heart jumped.

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It was not known that she liked men who play guitars.

"So you play guitars," she said.

Gideon nodded. "It isn't my first time to serenade under moonlight, but it feels good that I'm not alone tonight."

"You're doing it for years now?" she asked again, her eyes squinting. Serenade under the moonlight? Did he tried to serenade some girls?

But he didn't answer. Gideon glanced at her then hummed softly. He sung a phrase and Jewel could only listen to his voice. Her heart skipped a beat and she could only closed her eyes to listen more. Gideon was really good at singing, just like that dawn when he sang her a song.

Eventually he stopped for a moment and sighed. "I talked to your father yesterday."

Her breath hitched for a moment. Remembering her father's stern face, her face paled for a few minutes. "Are you gonna escort me back?" she asked and shivered when the cold air brushed past her again. But it was not clear whether she shivered because of the cold or because of the fear.

"No." Gideon shook his head. "I told him I'll take responsibility for your studies and he agreed."

A sigh escaped from her lips. "That's f-fine..."

"I have seen your name on the list of Municipal scholars. As expected of my wife," he praised.

Jewel looked away and bit her bottom lip. "I won't attend the Santacruzan the next day. I hope you'll tell my mother."

There was a few moments of silence before Gideon said, "If that's what you want."

"Yeah..." She blinked and a soft smile appeared on her lips. "Thank you," she whispered as her cheeks burned hot in embarrassment.

She wanted to draw a line between them and she clearly remembered her harsh words when she confronted him. But Jewel realized that it was hard to draw a line between her and Gideon, when she could only rely on him.