The Right Side of My Pillow

by LaShawn Vasser

  Her spine stiffened. Jade had some pride. “You were eavesdropping?”

  “No. Well, not on purpose. But, if you need a place to stay for a little while, why don’t you come stay with me until you can get back on your feet?”

  She stuck her chin out. “Oh no. I’m not accepting charity from you or anybody else. I don’t even really know you. People can change a lot in ten years. You could be a serial killer. For all you know I could be a serial killer.”

  Cole smiled because it wasn’t often he came across people who pushed him away. He was wealthy and powerful. Somebody always wanted something from him. Yet, Jade didn’t seem to notice or care about that. “First of all, it’s been nine years and a few months so not exactly ten years.” He nudged her shoulder with his. “Come on. It’s not charity. You give charity to strangers, not family. Ever since you were nine years old, when I beat up that fool for teasing and trying to pull your hair, we’ve been family; angry or not, we’re still family. You’re all I’ve got, and I can’t even express how glad I am that I’ve found you again.”

  Jade softened a bit with that memory. Her throat felt thick with emotion. She was still hesitant. “I don’t know. I’m still not sure what I’m feeling right now, but anger is mixed in with it.”

  He understood, but he also hoped there had to be a small part of her that missed him too and wanted to re-build their relationship. “I get it, Jade. But, if you move in with me you’ll find out I’m not a serial killer.”

  Jade thought, Before or after he’d killed me?

  She let him continue talking. “It’ll also give us a chance to reconnect and get to know each other again. My house is huge so on those days you don’t want to be bothered you don’t even have to run into me.” Quietly, almost inaudibly, he said, “I really want you back in my life.”

  The sincerity in his voice was almost her undoing because deep down, if Jade were honest, she wanted it too. “I’m still pissed at you, and I’m not sure if I can ever forgive you.” She threw her head back and closed her eyes. “But, if I’m honest, I’m also somewhat homeless.” Jade sighed. “We can’t go back in time and erase everything, Cole. Some hurts are impossible to recover from.”

  “No, we can’t. But, we can start from now maybe even build something stronger.”

  Jade pressed her lips together while deep in thought. Both of them sat quietly until she spoke. She looked him in the eyes. “Okay, let’s say I take you up on your offer, it doesn’t mean I forgive you. It just means I’m not stupid, and I need a place to stay.”

  “I don’t care about your reasons for agreeing just that you agree.”

  “You used to be really moody and bossy. I’m telling you now; I won’t do what you say just because you said it. I’ve been on my own too long, doing things my way to start bowing down to you. I’m sure you have enough yes men surrounding you anyway.”

  “That’s fair. You’re an adult, and I respect that.”

  “The minute you or anybody makes me feel as if I’m indebted to you…I’m out.” Who was Jade kidding, she didn’t have anywhere else to go. Staying with Cole until she could get her own apartment might not be such a bad idea. She did wonder what his girlfriend was going to say. Jade wasn’t up for any drama. “The lady at the restaurant seems pretty protective of you. Will this arrangement be a problem for her?”

  Cole could feel the ice melting just a bit as he laughed. “She can be a little prickly, but she’s not as bad as she comes across. Her name is Elise McGee. We’ve been dating for about a year. Once she gets to know you, I’m sure you two will hit it off.”

  She was skeptical. “I can’t imagine having a strange woman living with your boyfriend is going to endear her to me.”

  “It’s my home. I live there alone for the most part. Elise may stay over a couple nights a week, but I’ve made it clear to her that she has no reason to be jealous of you.”

  Jade still wasn’t convinced.

  Cole continued. “Just because I want you back in my life doesn’t mean things between Elise and I will change. Anyway, if that is your only issue, don’t worry about Elise. I’ll handle her.”

  “That’s not my only issue. Believe me, I have many of them, but I’ll take your word for it on that one.” Jade wasn’t really too worried about Elise. If she were honest, her more immediate concern was that even as angry as she was with Cole, given how badly he’d hurt her, though he might think of her as his little sister, she had never ever thought of him as a brother. Never.

  Chapter 6

  The car ride from the hospital to Jade’s apartment was made mostly in silence because she had fallen asleep. Cole tried to remember that she was still recovering from pneumonia, and that wasn’t something that went away overnight. Even though her smooth, cinnamon colored skin wasn’t back to its healthy hue, Cole still couldn’t help but notice how peaceful Jade looked while asleep. All the worry lines and creases on her forehead disappeared from her face. Their relationship, or lack thereof, was a mess, but he was going to make it right.

  He pulled his car up next to the address Jade had given him and put it in park. She jerked awake the moment the car stopped moving, and immediately smoothed down her hair. Jade was sure she must look a mess and was also a little embarrassed that she had fallen asleep.

  Cole took a quick look around the neighborhood. It was a typical working class place. The lawns were kept neat, and economy cars lined both sides of the street where a group of young kids were playing basketball. The children had parted like the red sea when he drove his expensive luxury sedan through their make-shift court to park. No, this area wasn’t in the more affluent part of the city, but it wasn’t on the impoverished side either. There were lots of low to middle-class family homes mixed in with apartment complexes. If he were honest, it felt more authentic than his gated community.

  Jade watched him critique where she lived. It made her angry. “If you were expecting the hood, this isn’t it. Please don’t judge me.”

  Now it was Cole’s turn to be a little embarrassed. “No, that’s not it. I just….”

  Jade didn’t give him a chance to explain. She opened her door and got out of the car. Cole couldn’t seem to get it right with her to save his life. He got out too and followed her to the apartment.

  Jade put the key in her door knob, turned and opened it. When she walked inside it was exactly the way she’d left it. There wasn’t much furniture in the two-bedroom unit to begin with and even less once Katrina took her things and left.

  “I seem to keep pissing you off. I don’t mean to.”

  She sighed. “Forget about it.” Jade wasn’t usually this emotional, but being around Cole opened up too many raw emotions she thought were buried a long time ago. If she was going to be living with him for a month or two, Jade had to figure out how to put the past behind her.

  “How long have you lived here?” Cole’s baritone voice snapped her back to reality.

  “Not long just about nine months.” She looked up into his eyes. They hadn’t changed much over the years. They might have been a little sadder. Which was weird considering, he seemed to have achieved everything he’d always wanted. Jade was exhausted, so it had to be her imagination playing tricks on her. At this point, all she wanted to do was get on with the task of gathering her things. “You don’t have to stay you know? I don’t have much to pack, but it’s enough to keep me really busy over the next day or so. I also need to find a place to store my things. I have a lot to figure out and not a lot of time to do it.”

  Cole ignored her and moved to place his jacket on an empty chair in the kitchen, or was it the living room? It didn’t matter. “I’m good. You look tired.” He unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt then started rolling up his sleeves. “What do you need me to do?”

  Her eyes followed his hands from his neck to his arms. I need you to go home is what she thought. Cole was always strong and athletically built, but the years had been good to him. His broad chest and the corded
muscles in his arms were no longer that of a teen but of a strong adult man. Quickly, Jade turned to focus on the clock on the wall. “You really don’t have to help me. I can handle it alone.”

  Alone. The weight of that word was so heavy. He pushed the feelings it evoked down. “I’m sure you can. But, since you’re not alone anymore you don’t have to.” Cole had that determined look on his face that said he was not going anywhere. It was the same one he wore when they were kids, and he was focused on something.

  Jade couldn’t help but think maybe it would be easier to let him help. Plus, the faster she packed the sooner he would leave. “Fine. We can get started with breaking down my bookcase.”

  An hour later, Jade was sitting down on one of only two chairs in the apartment watching Cole stack her bookcase and bedroom furniture into a corner. He’d forced her to sit down. “I can have someone come over and pick up your things in the morning and store it for you.”

  “Thanks but that’s okay. You’ve already done enough.”

  “It’s really no problem.” He used his thumb to scratch above his eyebrow. “Do you have anything to drink? I’m a little thirsty.”

  Jade was embarrassed. He had been working hard, and she hadn’t offered him anything. “Sorry. Um…yes. Well, I haven’t been home, so there’s probably not much in the refrigerator, maybe some water?”

  “Water would be fine.”

  Jade must have stood up too fast because she almost fell back down into her seat. Cole was by her side in seconds. He wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from falling, and Jade held on tightly to his shoulders. “I’ve got you.”

  Her breath was caught in her throat as she looked up into his eyes. A little breathless she spoke. “Whoa. That was scary.”

  Cole continued to hold Jade. It wasn’t like he’d never touched her before but that had been years ago. If he remembered correctly, Jade hadn’t felt like this. She was soft, and her womanly curves were throwing him off. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

  Jade spoke in a near whisper as she continued to hold his gaze. “I think I’m okay now.”

  He’d held her a moment or two longer than necessary. “Oh. Sorry.” Gently, Cole lowered Jade back down into her chair as if she were the most precious thing on earth. He wasn’t sure how long she’d been in his arms. He thought his mind was definitely playing tricks on him though, because he could have sworn he saw something in Jade’s eyes that didn’t look very sisterly. He shook his head and laughed to himself. Jade barely wanted to be in the same room with him, let alone feel something other than a sisterly type of love for him. Cole still needed to remind her that she cared about him no matter how angry she was. Putting that aside, he felt she was in no condition to stay alone. “Jade, I would feel better if you packed a bag and moved in with me tonight. They released you from the hospital, but you’re still not a hundred percent. I can have my assistant come back tomorrow and finish up all of this.”

  As much as Jade hated to admit it, Cole was right. She was so exhausted that all she wanted to do was curl up in bed and go to sleep. “That might not be such a bad idea if you really don’t mind.”

  It didn’t take her very long to pack. They locked up the apartment and got on the road. The drive to Cole’s was, at least, an hour or more.

  Initially, the car was quiet with both of them lost in their own thoughts. “Are you hungry?” Cole asked.

  Jade’s mind was a million miles away. She hadn’t heard him speak.

  “Jade?”

  Slowly she turned her head towards him. “I’m sorry? What did you say?”

  “Where’d you go?”

  “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that I’ve got a lot to figure out.”

  She snapped at him, but Cole decided to let it pass. She was going through a lot. “You want to bounce some of it off me? I’ve been told I’m a good listener.”

  “Really? That must have changed in the last ten years because you were never a good listener. Your idea of being a good listener was listening for me to say, ‘Yes Cole.’ ‘Okay, Cole.’ ‘I’ll do whatever you say, Cole.’ ”

  He laughed. “Was I really that bad?”

  “It’s not all your fault I guess. I think it’s something with the male gene.”

  “Well, I’m listening to you now. Also, I was just asking if you were hungry. Do you have a taste for anything special? I hadn’t planned on having anyone over and my housekeeper, who also does my cooking, Olivia, is off for the next few days. We can pick something up.”

  Jade shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not that hungry.”

  “Well, you’ve got to eat something.”

  “Whatever you pick is fine.”

  “Alright.” Cole thrummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “So, you said you lived in that apartment for nine months. What were you doing before that?”

  Jade wasn’t really in the mood to take a trip down memory lane. She needed to let the past be the past, but how was she going to do that if he was so insistent on bringing it up? “I moved around a lot. Finding work that pays decent money is a challenge without a college degree.” Jade rushed to add. “I do plan on going back to school.” She didn’t want him to think badly of her considering his success. Not that she should care. “It’s just the timing is never usually the best and things like this seem to always come up.” Jade wasn’t a slacker. She was just dealt a pretty crappy hand in life.

  “So, what happened with the apartment?”

  “It was my roommate's apartment. We both work for the same cleaning service. She needed a roommate, and I needed a place to stay. It worked out. At least, I thought it did. I paid her my half of the rent, and she apparently put it in her pocket and walked away a few days ago with my money. I had about a week to figure out my living arrangements and thought I had a plan. Then I got sick.”

  “That’s messed up.”

  “You’re telling me. If I had known he was going to rent the apartment out to someone else, I never would have given him almost all of my money for the last two month’s rent. Then, I would have at least had money for another place.”

  “I’m glad you gave him the money.”

  “What? Why?”

  Cole tipped his head to the side. “Honestly, I want us to get to know each other again. If this situation had not happened, I probably wouldn’t have this opportunity.” His cell vibrated in his shirt pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the name on the screen. “I’ve got to take this call.”

  Jade looked out the window while he was on the phone. Her emotions were all over the place. For as much as she wanted to scream at him for forgetting about her, he made it seem so easy to fall back into how things used to be between them.

  “Hey, babe. I tried to call you earlier. We’re going to have to reschedule dinner tonight. There was a slight emergency. Jade needed a place to stay, and I volunteered my place. She’s with me now.”

  Jade couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but it couldn’t be good. He started responding in clipped tones and one-word answers.

  “I’ll explain it all to you later, Elise. No. Bye.”

  Cole focused on the road and looked straight ahead.

  “She’s not too happy about the living arrangements, huh?”

  He glanced at her then back on the road. “She just needs to get to know you. Once she does she won’t feel so threatened. So, back to us trying to catch up. You married Kevin.” Cole did his best not to show his shock over that one. Kevin was a jerk. And, he wasn’t remotely what he thought Jade’s type would be.

  Jade squirmed a bit in her seat. “Cole, if this is going to work…us reconnecting and me living in your house for a couple of months, Kevin has to be off-limits. That chapter of my life is closed, and I don’t really want to revisit it.”

  He stared at her long and hard before responding. “Alright, closed. Got it. Anything else?”

  She looked down at her hands. “Nothing that I can think of at the moment.
”

  As they drove to his home he tried to engage Jade into more conversation, hoping that she would loosen up. She didn’t. Whatever happened between her and Kevin was really traumatic. He’d have to tread carefully there.

  Finally, they arrived at the gate to his home. Cole pressed the security code. A second later, the gates opened, and he drove his car through.

  Jade couldn’t believe her eyes. They were entering a place that looked as if it should be on episode of HGTV. The long winding driveway seemed as if it went on for at least a mile before reaching his house. When they finally pulled up in front of it, Jade was in utter disbelief. It was huge! She knew that he had done well for himself, but she couldn’t imagine the kind of wealth Cole must have to own a mansion like this.

  Cole was used to his money, but seeing the look on Jade’s face stirred up an emotion within him that felt like pride. He hadn’t even felt that on the day he’d purchased it. Maybe it was because this was something he and Jade had dreamed about often when they were younger. He would sneak into her room, or she would sneak into his, late at night. In her effort to lie her head next to his on the pillow, she would take over. It frustrated him to no end so he’d yell at her. “Take the right side of my pillow, Cricket. Not the whole damn thing.” If he didn’t, Jade would take ownership of the whole thing. Once they were comfortable with their heads side by side they would dream of being rich and famous. They would even discuss the kinds of homes and cars they would have. Over the years, Cole had worked hard to bring their vision to reality. He smiled at the memory.

  “Wow. You own all of this?”

  His chest swelled with pride. “Yeah. I bought it a couple of years ago.”

  She was in awe. “It’s pretty impressive.” Cole was rich. He was filthy, stinking rich. She knew he had money but not like this. While it was great that he seemed to have achieved all of his goals, it also made her feel all the more like a failure.