by Debbie Civil
Chapter 11
Jake
“So, are you chasing me, Carmen Philips?” I ask because I’m a jerk and nothing more. She sucks in a breath and hands me the laptop.
“It depends,” she replies.
“On what?”
“On if you want to be chased.” I don’t know what to tell her. It isn’t like I hadn’t thought of being with Carmen. Hell, I’ve kissed her freely plenty of times. It’s just that things have just gotten too complicated. How on earth was I going to manipulate a web of lies the way I had to? Eli needed some time before I could let the cat out of the bag. She claims that she needs her inheritance to protect our mother. But what if Dana Johnson is a gold digger? Then what? “Jake, I was kidding. I…” She’s back peddling. I walk over to Carmen and tip her chin up with my finger tip.
“Don’t backpedal. You meant what you said,” I tell her. Her gaze is vulnerable. No one has looked at me like that since Adriana. It’s weird how they, in essence, asked the same question. I told Adriana that I hated her nose ring. It wasn’t the most polite thing to say. But the stupid thing had been distracting me. I hate thinking of Adriana, because when I do, I think of Amber. Damn. I shouldn’t be thinking of Amber right now. Carmen expects me to say something.
“But… Um…” She can’t find any words to say, that’s more than evident. I close my eyes and try to come up with something smoother.
“Never take back anything you say,” I end up telling her because it’s honestly how I feel. “You're beautiful.” I have to release her chin and back away before I’m tempted to kiss her again. I want to kiss her right now. But it feels wrong touching her while thinking of another woman. There should be no comparisons between Carmen and Adriana. Until I can stop thinking of my past love, I won’t pursue anything with Carmen. She stares up at me, disappointment in her face.
“I looked up stuff on the laptop for you.” I had almost forgotten about punching Sharp Michaels.
“What did you find?” I ask as I sit beside her. Carmen eyes the laptop that I had placed on the desk. I shake my head.
“I don’t want to see it, tonight. Just tell me what you know.” In truth, I don’t feel like logging her back in. I have a seventeen character password which consists of a number pattern that I developed. Carmen sighs.
“Are you dating a waitress named Wildflower?”
“No.” The denial comes out so forcefully because Carmen shouldn’t even know that vile woman’s name.
“Oh, I’m sorry I offended you. It’s just that there are pictures of Wild Flower being all over you. Then, you are fighting Sharp over Jazmyn.”
“Alex,” I gently correct. Carmen closes her eyes and drums her finger tips t on her lap. She always does that when she thinks. It takes everything that I have not to grab her hand and massage her fingers.
“Your sister?” Carmen asks.
“I found her a couple of months ago. She hates me,” I admit, just to shut down talk about Carmen meeting her. Carmen frowns.
“Why would she hate you?” I repeat every word of what Alex said and Carmen winces.
“You aren’t bossy. You’re…”
“Don’t lie to me, Darling. I can handle the truth.” The nickname fits her so well. I can’t help but give it to her.
“I’m not lying,” she firmly says as she meets my gaze. She’s trying to convince me that she’s right, but I know the truth. And I’m going to make her understand before history repeats itself. Adriana fell for who she thought I was. When she realized who I really was, she ran away with my best friend. I’m not going to end up that way again.
“Carmen, I kissed you several times, without your permission,” I argue. She covers her face with her hands and doesn’t say anything for a while. I’m hoping that the subject is dropped, but then she faces me.
“Jake, it wasn’t like I was complaining. Kissing a girl doesn’t make you controlling,” she argues.
“Carmen, I…”
“You’re stubborn. And you do have some controlling tendencies. But I don’t think that you’re a controlling person. I…”
“Leave,” I say, unable to take her optimism. Carmen stands and glares at me, and I want to take the words back. But I don’t. She leaves and shuts the door quietly behind her. I have no idea why I feel this way, but a hole begins to open up in my chest. I know that I have officially blown it with Carmen Philips. Everyone else has stepped on her emotionally, and I just did the same thing. I yawn, feeling angry, tired, and aggravated. If only Alex had listened to me. Now, I’m going to have to piss Eli off and tell Dad the truth. James Jones’ campaign is important to him. I slip into a pair of flip-flops and make my way toward Kenny’s suite. Half of me hopes that Carmen will be there, but the other part wants the opposite.
I don’t even bother knocking. I stroll into the room trying to act confident. I immediately want to leave. The room is crowded with people. My family, Kenny and his wife, and Mrs. Philips are all sitting either on the couches or at the table. When my father sees me, a disappointed look crosses his face. There is an empty seat at the rectangular table meant for me... But I don’t want to sit. Instead, I walk over to the table and stand by the seat.
“Jake, why were you at Rhino's?” my father asks, his eyes focused on a laptop screen. I look around the room and see that everyone is glaring at me. Why does my going to Rhinos affect them? This is such an overreaction.
“To see Alex,” I respond, studying everyone’s reactions. No one has a clue who I’m talking about. Good.
“And who’s Alex?” My father knows a lot better than to draw conclusions when it comes to me. Because the more you draw conclusions, the more I won’t tell you a damn thing.
“My sister, Dad. Dana was pregnant with another child when you left her. She didn’t tell you because she knew that you would take her away. I found her a couple of months ago.” Dad shakes his head, as if this is impossible. I sigh. “I took a lock of her hair and had one of my buddies run a DNA test. Dad, she’s my full sister.”
“How did you know about her, Jake?” Mom asks. Now that, I won’t tell her.
“The point is that I know about her,” I reply.
“Jacob, has Dana been in contact with you?” Kenny asks, and I know the truth. Eli believed that the one night stand was concealed from the family. But I tried to tell her otherwise. Everyone here knew that Eli and I have the same mother and didn’t bother cluing us in.
“No,” I say, which isn’t a lie. The woman doesn’t want to talk to me. She wants to work her magic on Eli. Judging by how Alex turned out, Eli probably dodged a bullet.
“How else would you have known about Alex?” Dawn ask. I’m not answering any of these questions. They all knew about my relation to Eli and didn’t bother telling any of us. What if I had a crush on her? What if we had dated? They are really lucky that I have eyes for Carmen because if… I won’t finish that thought. I glare at Dad. That’s right, I’m going to make him say it.
“How do you know Dana, Kenny?” My siblings all look at Kenny with curiosity. They have been wondering the same thing.
“You know?” Kenny’s eyes are wide. He pulls out his phone as if to warn Ben, but my dad stops him.
“Don’t. If you tell Ben that he knows, then…”
“Leon, did Dana contact Eli? She isn’t supposed to. The woman signed all of her rights away. She doesn’t get a second chance,” Kenny hisses. Oh great, so it did happen exactly how I thought it did. The woman’s sob story was completely false. Who in the world is going to tell Eli? I don’t feel like doing that.
