Chapter 239

Maggie found Pearl and asked to see her alone. "Excuse me, gentlemen." Pearl said to Erik and Sebastian.

"Of course." Erik said.

"What's going on? Are you alright?" Pearl asked.

"Yes. I'm fine. I guess. This is so crazy. But Auggie is acting weird." Maggie said.

"What is he doing?" Pearl asked.

"He's avoiding eye contact. And he keeps saying we need to talk later. I don't know. It's odd." She said.

"I'll talk to him." Pearl said. "You look beautiful. You are doing an incredible job tonight handling all this. It's probably him. You're the first woman he has ever brought home. It's a lot for him, I'm sure." Pearl said. Maggie smiled and thanked her.

They got back to the party to find Fi and Ian encouraging some very important people, including the Prime minister and his wife, to do shots with them. This was not looking good. Pearl found Iris and asked her to help quell that impending disaster.

She walked all over the room, looking for Auggie. She couldn't find him anywhere.

"Pearl. Is everything ok?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes. I'm looking for Auggie. Maggie said he is acting odd and I wanted to speak to him. Have you seen him anywhere?" She asked. Erik approached them and said, "No, but I know where he might be. Come." He said. They all walked out into the private garden.

Sure enough, Auggie was there, sitting on a giant rock along the garden's edge.

"His thinking rock." Erik whispered. "He's always sat there, since he was a small child."

Pearl walked over to him.

"Is there room on that rock for me?" She asked. He smiled and moved over. "I'm sure you are missed inside. Everything alright?" She asked.

Erik and Sebastian lit a cigar and shared it as Pearl chatted with him, listening but letting Pearl do the talking.

"How did you know Erik was 'the one'?"Auggie asked.

"I didn't." Pearl answered. Erik looked at her, listening intently now.

"You didn't?" He asked.

"No." Pearl said.

"Please explain." Auggie asked.

"Well, it's not an easy question to answer. I have always wondered that myself. How would I know if I have found the right one?" Pearl began. "And I've come to the conclusion that the right person adds to what you have and what you don't have. They are an addition, an added bonus, if you will. The right one adds more laughter, more good days, more good memories, more peace, more love, more joy, more happiness, more stability, more support, more respect. They listen more and help more, but if the person is not the right one, they will subtract or take away what you have. They take away your happiness, joy, peace, humanity, dignity, trust, energy, self esteem, time, money, love and end up taking away your life. The right one is positive in life and the wrong one is negative in life." She explained.

"The biggest fear to have when falling in love, is the fear of cutting out the best part of your heart and giving it to someone; because first of all, it hurts to do that; and second and most importantly, you never know if they are going to throw it away or not. But even then you should still do it. Because any other way is cowardice. At the end of the day, it's about being brave enough to do it, and we are only haunted by the ghosts that we trap within ourselves; we are not haunted by the ghosts that we let out. And if the other person throws it away? Or doesn't want it to begin with? Someone else will come along one day, cut out from his/her heart that exact same jagged shape that you cut out of your own heart, and make their piece of heart fit into the rest of yours. Wait for that person. And you can fill their missing piece with your soul. And when they do, I promise you, you will know." She said.

"Did you do that for Erik?" He asked.

"No. We did it for each other." She said.

"Thank you, Pearl." He said.

"One more thing. My grandmother was the single greatest human that has ever walked the planet. And she gave me some advice about love some years ago that I should have taken but forgot, until just now." Pearl said. "I asked her a similar question when I was a young girl, embarking on boys and high school. I asked her how I would know if a guy really loved me and if he was the one. She said, "Open your bible, Pearl, to first Corinthians chapter thirteen. Read it though once. Then read it again, and put the boys name in wherever it says the word love. And if the verse is still true, then they are the one." She said.

Auggie smiled and thanked her. Erik and Bash walked her back inside.

"I've never heard anyone speak like that to someone. What are you, Pearl?" Erik asked.

"I'm a poet." She said. "Words are everything to me."

"Indeed you are. And I am so proud to call you mine." Erik said, kissing her hand. "Thank you for what you just said to my bother."

Auggie sat on the rock and took out his phone, looking up the verse Pearl told him to. He read out loud.

"If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have 'Maggie', I gain nothing.

'Maggie' is patient,

'Maggie' is kind. She does not envy, She does not boast, She is not proud.

'Maggie' does not dishonor others, she is not self-seeking, she is not easily angered, and she keeps no record of wrongs.

'Maggie' does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

'Maggie' always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

'Maggie' never fails."

He read, smiling.

Inside, Erik did the same. He looked at his phone and read the words with Pearl's name instead of love and his heart felt like it may burst with complete adoration and love for her. She was the one. The only one.

"Pearl never fails." He said to himself, smiling,

Wiping a tear from his cheek.