Chapter 11

Kimberly stared at Mr. Gareth with confusion written all over her face. How did he notice? Was it that obvious? "If you don t feel comfortable talking here, we can go outside" he suggested, making Kimberly realize that she can t find her way out of this one, because Mr. Gareth wasn t willing to drop the subject. Although, Kimberly is open with both of Ian s parents, she doesn t know how Ian would react if he found out she told his dad about their fight, but she desperately needed someone to talk to at the moment, so she nodded in agreement and they left the party. Kimberly and Mr. Gareth walked out of the house through the back door and arrived at the pool area. She felt herself relax as she was now in the fresh air, away from the crowd. It made her feel as if she had nothing to worry about, which was far from the truth but she couldn t help it, she always felt that way when she was somewhat close to nature. "Let s take walk." Mr. Gareth said. Kimberly had totally forgotten that she had come out here with him in the first place. It seems her fight with Ian was taking a huge toll on her without her realizing it. Was it because she couldn t find a way out of this one? Kimberly had thought of several options or excuses but she couldn t come up with anything other than the only two options that kept replaying in her head. It was either she disobeyed her dad and go on this camping trip or lose her fiancé. She could see that slowly coming to reality if Ian keeps up with this act. If you ask Kimberly, she would say both weren t an option to take because she doesn t wish to disobey her dad neither does she want her relationship to have the slightest crack, not to mention, coming to an end. This was really nerve-wracking, who even came up with the stupid idea of camping? Mr. Gareth carefully watched Kimberly as she was internally fighting with her thoughts. What has gotten her this worked up? He wondered before taking her hand in his. His action took Kimberly by surprise and she immediately came out of her trance, she guess he must have noticed her nervousness. She thanked him with a polite smile as they walked along the garden at the backyard of the mansion. The garden was filled with all kinds of beautiful flowers. It s green grasses were neatly trimmed to spell out the name 'GARETH making it look like paradise. "So… what s going on?" Mr. Gareth finally spoke up when he noticed that Kimberly had relaxed a bit. Kimberly s sad face returned at Mr. Gareth's question, bringing her to the real reason why there were out here in the first place. "Ian and I had a fight this morning…" she began. "He wants us to go camping, but… I don t want to." "Is there any particular reason behind your refusal?" Mr. Gareth asked in a calm voice. Kimberly sometimes wonder whose father Tony actually was because of the way he acted towards her which was totally different from how he behaves towards his son, Ian. "I m forbidden to do that…" she said, taking a deep breath. "Ever since I was a little girl, my dad never lets me go camping. He told me the woods was a dangerous place to go to and he didn t want me getting hurt, so he forbade me from going there… I've never been to summer camps, although it made me sad, I couldn t do anything about it… Ian and I fought over this in the morning and now he hates me, I mean it s my fault…" she explained, her eyes already filled with tears. "I m scared I m gonna lose him." Kimberly burst out in tears as she couldn t control her emotions anymore. Mr. Gareth took her in for a hug. "I m going to lose him over something trivial." she sobbed into the hug. "Shh. Don t work yourself up over nothing." Mr. Gareth said, soothing her. Kimberly felt so embarrassed for letting herself break down this easily. She wasn t an emotional person, hell, she couldn t even remember the last time she cried this much. She couldn t help it, there was something about Ian s anger today that scared her. She felt like she was slowly losing her fiancé which was one of her biggest fears. She slowly pulled away from the hug, not wanting to look like a cry baby even though she hated the lack of warmth she was currently feeling from the hug. Kimberly looked anywhere but Mr. Gareth as she felt so embarrassed for letting him see her in her most vulnerable state. "You know… when I was younger, I couldn t do some fun and adventurous things no matter how much Melissa begged me to…" Mr. Gareth began, gaining Kimberly s attention. "I was so engrossed in my duty as a soldier that I gradually lost my social life… When I actually retired and thought I could make up for my absence, it was too late. We were past the age for fun things and had to think of more important things." he explained. Kimberly could see the sadness in his eyes as he talked but he immediately masked it, straightening himself once again. "I m in a dilemma… Right now I have no idea what to do. I don t want to lose my dad s trust nor do I want to lose Ian s love." she said, frustrated. "I understand how you feel, but you know there isn t very much time to think about it… if you like I can speak to your dad-" "No please!... He'll never say yes to it, there s no point telling him. It will only make him feel disappointed in me for choosing not to understand his point." "Fine, if that s what you want… but please don t make the same mistake I made because you ll forever regret it." "Thank you Tony. I'll keep that in mind." Kimberly gave Mr. Gareth a hug in appreciation, enjoying the warmth his body gave. It was moments like this she cherished the most. Mr. Gareth gave her forehead a light kiss before asking, "Are you good to go back in?" "I think so." she replied with a smile and they walked back to the mansion.