the thing about one's ex

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KATHERINE BENNET

The most important thing Katherine Bennet had on her mind that Saturday afternoon was whether or not she wanted to go to the party that she had been invited to that night. Recalling the fact that the host was none other than Patrycia aka Paris de Bourgh's cousin, a grin of remembrance crossed on her face. Paris was her sworn nemesis for life, having tormented her in every chance she had gotten when they had grown up. Yet upon receiving a request from Jaxon, Katherine's best friend who happened to be Paris's husband, to join the party to keep an eye on Paris, she found herself in such a predicament and not knowing what to do. 

"Please, Kay, you know how much I love her. I am so sorry that I am asking you for this but there is no one else I trust more than you so, please. Will you help me?"

In all honesty, Jaxon was a mess. He had dropped at her flat with tousled hair and caged her bed for the night. From ten at night to two in the morning, he had told her all the things that worried him, including and most importantly, his belief that his wife, Paris, would betray him if she was given the chance. Above all, he had insisted that his wife had been very close with William Windsor, the Duke of Ashbourne, lately. Of course, Jax had not forgotten to mention that William was once Katherine's boyfriend back in high school when all of them had been in Carlton High, Washington D.C. 

The question remained, what should she do? Should she go to this party or make up some excuses to give to Jax? Yet no matter how she had played it, it all came down to one simple query: did she truly want to go? 

Katherine let out a heavy sigh. Frankly, she did not have a choice. Even if it would be a pain in the ass to meet Paris let alone monitoring her, Jaxon had done her a solid before, and moreover, she should do this as a friend. Even if Paris could be (or well, most of the time, really) a pain in the arse. 

Although truth to be told, lately she felt that she was getting old. Instead of being one of the last to leave, she now was being the first. Parties did not bring her as much joy as they had previously. Perhaps she had outgrown going to the type of party that she had always enjoyed. Her mind drifted over the people who would probably be there tonight. All the pompous rich folks who would fling on their families' money. And then there would be the royals such as William. Katherine heavily sighed once again. William, William, William. It had been a while since she had last seen him yet it felt as if it was just yesterday that they had their last and most painful conversation. 

William had been a rake and a rake he would always be. He was wild and untamed. She had nearly made the mistake of falling in love with him once. It had been touch and go for a while until she realized that any affair with him never lasted long. He would eventually get bored of her, and one day he would regretfully make excuses and leave. Just like he had always done in the past, leaving trails of broken hearts wherever he went. The town was littered with his discarded women. It had been like that since he was young and Katherine was lucky that she had managed to escape unscarred. Sighing, she let her mind take her back all those years ago. 

Katherine still remembered like the back of her hand the day when she had found out what he truly was. They had been at a party at Castile Christophe, William's best friend, house. William, Castile, and three other boys were in a group known as the Crown Boys. They were good-looking boys and all the girls adored them. Just like in every party they had ever attended, William and Katherine had mingled with other people. Then there was this girl with curly blonde hair. Her name was Mandy. Mandy had come to Kate, introducing herself as one of William's ex-girlfriends and telling her that she had approached Kate because she had seen Kate with William earlier. 

"Hi, I am Mandy. Nice to meet you, by the way!" Before Katherine even had a chance to reply, Mandy had continued with her introduction. "I hear you are his latest conquest!" she had said with a bright smile albeit that word 'conquest' had gotten Katherine puzzled. "So, how long has it been? I used to date him last year. When he was still a freshman and I was a sophomore." 

Katherine had been feeling wary then, wondering if Mandy was jealous or had gotten her heart broken by their breakup. Mandy seemed to notice her wariness as she waved her hand then pointed at the tall, sandy-haired guy a few feet away from us. "Do not worry. It is nothing but an old story. I am now dating Dallas right there." Mandy turned to face her and smiled. "Liam was fun, while it lasted. He was great in bed, but again, I think we both knew that." She let out a small giggle, blushing slightly.

Except that Katherine did not know that. Her relationship with William had yet to advance to the bedroom and being seventeen years old, she had not been sure whether she would like to or not. Still, she kept her mouth tightly shut and offered her a tight smile instead. 

"We remain friends although when he first dumped me, I wanted to kill him. But again, I should have seen it coming. All of the other girls had warned me yet I was too naive. I thought a mere freshman would not dare to dump someone who was older and more mature." Mandy shook her head and laughed nervously. "How dumb I was, huh." 

"Other girls?" Katherine blinked, unsure what Mandy meant by her sentence. Since Katherine had only recently been moved to Carlton High, she had not known many people and no one had given her any warning about William, famously known as Liam. 

Now that she looked back, they had met during the summer holiday and instantly clicked. She had not known of his history nor his title as an heir of an old dukedom. Curiosity got the better of her so she dared herself and asked again, "What other girls? What kind of warning?" 

"Oh, you poor girl, you do not know what you are getting yourself into, don't you?" Mandy laughed while shaking her head. 

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a thing or two about infidelity

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Mandy tilted her head to one side, looking uncertain for a moment. "Don't you know that everyone called him a 'rake' for a reason? He is the heir of a Duke title. He is an Earl now and his father is a Marquess because his grandfather still holds the Duke title but still, everyone knows sooner or later it will be passed on."  

"I am aware of that but I am not sure I understand what you mean. What does his title have anything to do with the warning you mentioned earlier?" 

"Well, obviously every girl wants to be the next Duchess or Marchioness or even Countess. Who would not want to become royalty and marry British royalty? So ultimately everyone tries to date him. But he is not a one-girl-forever type of guy. He is the traveling type, never staying with one girl for long. One could even say that he is such a sailor in a way that he will stop in many docks but he will never stick for a long time. A few weeks at most before he grows bored and makes excuses to break up." Mandy waved her hand as if she had not just dropped a bomb. She acted as if Katherine had known this all along when in fact, she had not. "You do not need to worry though. Maybe this time it would be different. He looks like he likes you so much and you both look so good together." 

Katherine had been too stunned to answer yet her mind reeling back to her first week in Carlton High. Walking down the corridors, there were girls who had been giving her odd looks and although she had first thought it was strange, she had not really paid any mind to it. She had simply written that off as jealousy because they wanted to be with William but he chose to be with her instead. Now, after getting this bit of information from Mandy, she could see that those could have a different meaning altogether. Perhaps they had been trying to warn her but unsure how to pop her bubble. 

Still, Katherine had believed in William. He had been nothing but a gentleman to her. "Tell me who the other girls are. How would I know whether you are telling the truth or simply making this up?" 

Mandy seemed to be uneasy and reluctant but in the end, she had called three other girls, "Sarah, Daisy, Lina, why don't you tell Katherine here about Liam and your brief relationship with him." 

"He was fun. Though you could not trust him out of your sight," said Sarah. "He is the kind of guy who is capable of seducing your best friend right under your nose!" 

Daisy protested, "No! He does not cheat! He simply walks out one day and never contacts you again. He broke up with me saying he was sorry but he had fallen for someone new. He kissed my forehead then left. I did not see him until two weeks later when he marched into a party with a redhead in his arms. It sucked so bad but I live." 

"That was more or less what happened to me too," said Lina, the raven-haired girl. "He is the sexiest guy and he knows his way in the bedroom too. Even though he broke up with me, I regret nothing! He has given me the best sex. He is up there on the list of the best sex in my entire life." 

"I agree!" Sarah nodded eagerly. "He and I are friends now but to be honest, how can I look at him without recalling the time we have spent together." 

"How is it with you, Katherine?" Mandy asked and the other girls shifted their gaze to Katherine. 

"It is fine," Katherine replied curtly. She could not possibly tell them that she had never gone to bed with William. Not when they were boasting about his amazing skills in bed. 

"Let me give you a hint," said Mandy conspiratorially. "You always split up when you go to a party like this, right? Why don't you try to find him?" 

Katherine was about to inform her that at a party like this, William had always been with his other friends: Castile, Rafe, Orlando, and Nathaniel. The five of them were known as the CROWN boys and always stuck together. 

Yet before she had the chance to, Mandy had interrupted her and said, "Go and find him. If he is tired of you, you could find him with another girl but if he is not then he is probably in the lounge with the other CROWN boys." 

The other girls had nodded their agreement. Lina even commented, "Liam is always like that. He has to find the replacement first before telling you that you have been replaced." 

Even after the girls had finally left her in peace, she could not shake the thought off of her head. She and William had only been seeing each other for a very short time, no more than a month. She was not yet in love with him, but if she was being honest, she was merely wavering on the brink. Now it seemed that she could never let herself fall for him or she would be doomed to have her heart broken so carelessly by him. 

It would be her turn next to stand in front of him, hearing him say those words he had said to those girls. Lame excuses and all. And there would be nothing she could do about it because it would be far too late. Except if she would never fall in love with him, if she never let him matter then he could never hurt her. Yet if she went on and continued seeing him, how could she stop caring? How could she prevent herself from falling for him?

There had only been one logical conclusion. She must walk away from him before he walked away from her. She must be the first to leave to be the last to get hurt. As she had gone to search for him that night and eventually found him talking to a girl who had been standing way too close to him, she swiftly made up her mind. It was best to break up with him now before it was all too late. Before he broke her heart and left her to pick up the pieces. 

Pushing those old memories away, Katherine went into the kitchen to fix herself something to eat. As she poured tea from the teapot into a cup, she stopped short. Patrycia was bound to have invited Raynald Ambrose since he was one of the people in her social circle.

Damn. 

Raynald always believed that he was in love with Katherine since the day she had defended him in Sociology class back in university, and lately, he was becoming too much. She had tried numerous times to let him down gently but he was being very persistent, convinced that she was the only one for him. He had even once declared that he would make her love him. As if love could be arranged that easily. 

Sipping the tea after pouring a splash of milk, she slumped down on the couch, knowing fully well that tonight's party would be tiring but she had to attend nonetheless.

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Dear Gentle Readers, this author truly hopes that by now you are intrigued enough to turn to the next page. one mustn't lose hope, even when things might not go as expected.
yours,