Is this destiny?

~ Salina ~

Wednesday morning, Jeff and JoAnna are in a hotel suite in Salina, getting ready to go and meet with Isabella.

"Are you sure it's OK that I join?", JoAnna was reluctant.

"Yes, my dear wifey." Jeff embraced her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Isabella already agreed to the plan. There are no problems if you to join and meet her. It will be good for you to see for yourself that I have nothing to do with her, except the desire to help her be independent."

JoAnna relented, "OK. Fine..."

"Thank you." Jeff exhaled in relief. He does not want to leave her by herself, and if the meeting will not be with someone who is hostile, he prefers that JoAnna joins him. "For the afternoon, you can stay in the room. Lambert will probably resist the plan, so you should avoid the stress."

JoAnna nodded in agreement. "I trust your judgement on this." JoAnna knows that Jeff is good in assessing situations, and he would not put her in an awkward position. She wants to join and support him, but she also knows that she might get in the way. That is why JoAnna wants to trust him, if Jeff says that she should not join him, then she will not insist.

JoAnna stepped away from Jeff and twirled on her toes, showing off her light purple summer dress. "How do I look?"

Jeff looked at her with admiration. "Amazing, Mrs. White... the only thing that could make it better is if you remove it." He was approaching her with a lustful expression.

"Jeff! Behave!" JoAnna scolded him but could not hide smile on her face. She likes when Jeff does not behave. "We will be late..."

~ Seattle, Cabin ~

In the back of the Cabin, nearby Seattle, under watchful gaze of Stella, Sarah was showing Aiden set of moves that he needs to practice on the exercise dummy* that resembles the one they have in their Fairfield apartment. He picked it up quickly.

Stella was pleased and praised him. "Good memory and coordination. You have half an hour to practice. Then I will come to check, before you move to your second task."

Stella faced Sarah. "We go this way."

Sarah was proud that Aiden got a praise from Stella. Somehow, she felt that her mom is also approving of him as a boyfriend. Sarah gave Aiden a quick kiss on the cheek and followed Stella between bushes. Soon they were out of sight.

~ Salina ~

In Salina, when Jeff and JoAnna arrived at the private club, Isabella was waiting for them. She was seated at a large circular table with light pink table cover. In front of her was an assortment of bite size sandwiches and desserts, and she was sipping tea. Behind her were two bodyguards.

"Sorry we are late." Jeff said as soon as they approached the table and helped JoAnna sit by pulling a chair for her.

Isabella greeted Jeff politely and showed interest in JoAnna. "So, this is your fiancé? I'm Isabella. Congratulations on your engagement!"

JoAnna found that Isabella is very nice person. They hit it off right away and started chatting random girly stuff, leaving Jeff to feel lonely at the table. Even though JoAnna was chatting with Isabella, she still held hands with Jeff and glanced at him once in a while. It made him feel that he is not forgotten.

There was not much for him to talk with Isabella. They already talked online about the plan. This was mostly a social visit, and for JoAnna and Isabella to meet.

They had lunch at that private club.

Isabella knows that later in the afternoon, Jeff will go to meet with her father. "Anna, will you join Jeff to the meeting with my dad?"

"No. He will do that himself."

Isabella perked up. "Do you have plans for the afternoon?"

"Not really. I was thinking of relaxing in the room."

"How about shopping? I would love to show you around.", Isabella was enthusiastic.

JoAnna glanced at Jeff and he smiled letting her know that it's her decision.

"OK. I would love to." JoAnna accepted.

Isabella was very happy, and immediately pulled out her phone and showed locations of three large malls in the area, asking JoAnna to pick one.

They agreed that later in the afternoon Isabella will come to their suite to pick up JoAnna for their shopping.

~ Seattle, Cabin ~

Aiden finished last set that Stella asked him to do for measurements. He laid flat on the ground, so exhausted, that he thought his soul is about to leave his body. 'I need to get out of this... Maybe I can say that someone called me for something urgent from work...'

"How are you doing?", Sarah leaned over him, offering him a bottle of water.

"I'm fine. This is nothing." There is no way that he will admit to her that he can't take this anymore, and that he is making a plan that during lunch suddenly he will get a call from office.

Stella watched him from few steps away and smiled at him as if she can read his mind.

He flashed a forced smile before gulping cold water that Sarah gave him.

Before lunch, they went to shower. Aiden noticed new bruises on Sarah's body and felt sorry for her. He pulled her into a tight hug.

She giggled. "I'm impressed that after all that you still have energy left..."

Aiden realized that they are in the shower, and him hugging Sarah got her to think that he wants intimacy. But how can he say that he is drained of all energy? That would not be manly at all.

Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "You should save your energy for afternoon... if you have any left in the evening, let me know." She playfully winked at him and left the shower.

Aiden felt relief and guilt seeing her leave. Relief that he does not need to expose his lack of energy, and guilt that he plans to avoid afternoon training. But it's too much. He needs to avoid it at all cost.

When Aiden came out of the bathroom, the maid was giving first aid to Sarah. Aiden was surprised to see how much better her yesterday's bruises look compared to last night. And cuts were almost healed.

"That is some magical healing cream", he commented.

Sarah smiled, "It's something my family is perfecting for generations."

Aiden thought for some time, "I didn't know you are in pharmaceutical industry..."

"It stays within the family." Sarah shook her head. "Not for sale."

Aiden' was not satisfied with her answer and wanted to ask some more, when Sarah stopped him. "From my mom's side."

He nodded in understanding and didn't ask anything else.. If it's related to Stella, probably it's not a good idea to dig too deep.