Her Charming Secret

by Sam Ayers

  “Hi, Ashton, is Adele in?” Abigail asked.

  Ashton looked tensed, “Umm . . . no sorry, she isn’t here.”

  “Oh! I should have called, I guess.” Just as she was about to wave goodbye and walk away she heard a voice call from inside, “Who iz it, Azhton? Iz it mi zear grandauzer, Adele?”

  Ashton went pale and tried to shoo her away, but all she could do was stare at him confused. The door suddenly opened further and Abby was pulled in.

  “Who iz thiz, Azhton?” She looked at the man and realized that he was their grandfather.

  “Hello, I am Abigail, Adele’s wedding . . .”

  “Oh, you are alzo getzing marriez! How goodz, you zhould alzo marriez in ze France likez mi Adele.”

  Abigail looked at Ashton in confusion. If Adele had changed the wedding location, why hadn’t she informed her yet?

  Ashton just shook his head. Before she could open her mouth to ask him what was going on, Pierre said, “Zo mi zear, who you marriez? Howz old ere you? Iz he a Frenchman?”

  She stood staring at him in confusion. Just as she was about to answer him, she heard a deep chuckle that sent shivers down her spine. A voice so baritone she swore it should be illegal said, “Seriously, old man, if you took a breath, she would tell you that she is Ady’s wedding planner.”

  Abigail gave him a small smile. Yes, she was still annoyed with him but she guessed he wasn’t all that bad.

  “Hi, beautiful!” Abigail looked up to see Alex standing right in front of her.

  “Hi,” she smiled. After the first week, she got pretty used to Alex flirting with her. He was like a cute overanxious puppy that loved drooling over her. Hmm . . . she actually wouldn’t mind him wrapped over her . . . Wait, what? Bad Abby! Even as she had her inner monologue, Alex had started leading her towards the sitting room.

  “Hey, wait! If Adele isn’t here then I’ll come later.”

  Alex pouted, “Oh come on, Abby, will you not spend some time with us? And anyway we are also helping Adele, so maybe you can discuss whatever it is with me.”

  “I wanted her to confirm the venue,” she said.

  “Oh! That I can’t really help you with, but I can let her know if you want.”

  “Thanks, Alex. I should get going now.”

  Just as she got up, Aubrey came running in, “Al, I am hungry.”

  Alex groaned. “Alright, let’s take you out for pizza.”

  Abigail, who was standing right there, looked at him in surprise, “Are you serious?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t really know how to cook, Ashton is no better, and Pierre would just burn the house down, so . . .”

  Abigail looked at Aubrey’s cute face and sighed. “Where is the kitchen?”

  Huge grins broke out on both their faces. “Yay! Abigail, you are the best! Can I please have Cheesy Chex Mix?” Aubrey asked and she nodded at her.

  She turned to look at Alex as Aubrey led her towards the kitchen, and saw a look she had never seen on him. She couldn’t do anything but smile back. Nodding to him to follow them, she made her way into the kitchen.

  * * *

  The next morning, Aiden woke up to a very loud noise coming from the living room. He was having a peaceful sleep, but someone ruined it. He sighed and realized that there was someone in the living room. Someone was in his house! Oh God, was he being robbed?

  He pulled his baseball bat out from behind the door and slowly crept into the hall to see Adele lounging on the couch sipping coffee and watching a rerun of some sappy romance on the TV. Sighing, he put the bat down and plopped down next to her.

  “Good morning! Want some?” She asked, raising her cup.

  “Morning! No thanks. I need to go jogging now,” he smiled and got up. Of course, Adele was staying with him! How did he forget that? Shaking his head, he headed towards his room.

  It took him just five minutes to get ready and then he was off. He went to the nearest park with a jogging trail and started his normal workout. A lot of things were going on in his mind, the first of which was Adele. He had to find a way to convince her to go back. Next was Grandpa Pierre; Alex called him yesterday and told him how badly he was behaving. He was literally driving people nuts. As Aiden jogged, he saw a girl walking a little ahead of him. From the back she looked a lot like Jo. Was he actually checking out his secretary’s back? Aiden looked away, then back. How could anyone not look? She was drop dead gorgeous! He sped up so he was ahead of her. Yes, he was right! It was Jo. She didn’t see him, though, and it looked like she couldn’t hear him either. She was listening to some music on her iPod, so he went ahead of her some more and stopped. She was still not looking, and ran right into him. He caught her before she lost her balance.

  “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t see—” She stopped as soon as she realized who he was. Her voice was loud. Because of the music, Aiden guessed. He pointed towards her Earpods and she pulled them out.

  “Hi!” Jo murmured.

  “Much better,” Aiden said and chuckled. “How are you this morning? Do you come here often?”

  “Umm . . . No . . . Yes!” She mumbled. She looked so nervous that he guessed she didn’t want to talk to him now. Bad Luck, Aid!

  “I guess I’ll be going now,” he said after a few seconds.

  “You’re leaving already?” She asked him, surprised. For a minute, he felt like she wanted him to wait. Did she?

  “Well, I don’t have anything better to do.” He smiled.

  “Let’s sit there.” She pointed towards a bench. “We can talk. That is, if you don’t mind.”

  She was giving him a choice to either stay back and chat or walk away. He smiled and led the way to the bench.

  “I’m sorry; I was just surprised to see you here,” said Jo.

  “I was surprised too. I don’t come here often; it’s just that this park is closer to my parents’ place and I’m visiting them later. My grandparents are here and it would just be rude if I don’t take some time out for them.”

  “You really have a big family,” she smiled. “Abigail told me about your sisters and brother. She always sings your mother’s praises.”

  “Oh! Yeah, Abigail is the wedding planner, right? She must have met them already.”

  “Uh huh! It must be awesome to have such a great family.” Sighing, she lowered her head.

  “Well, it looks like you already know about them, but Abigail might not know all the details . . . so do you want to know?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “YES!” She cried out in excitement.

  Aiden laughed. “Curious, aren’t you?”

  “Well, you already know my dad, and you’ve seen Adele; she was at the office that day.” He smirked. “She’s the one getting married.”

  He swore he saw Jo blush when he said that. “I know that, Aiden.”

  “Of course you do! Well, there’s my younger brother, Ashton, and my adorable Aubrey,” he said, smiling. “My mother, Adelynn has been living here since she married dad, but she has dual citizenship: Canadian and French. And my grandparents are here to visit us. You must have spoken to grandpa.”

  “Oh! Yes, I have. He is . . . what can I say?” She was searching for a word to describe him.

  “Peculiar?” Aiden grinned. “He can be troublesome sometimes, but we love him. And there’s Uncle William, Alex’s dad. You met him too.”

  “Yes, I did!” She beamed. Aiden wanted to know more about her too, so without hesitating he continued.

  “Now tell me about yourself,” he said. “You are quite a mystery, Josephine Winters.”

  “Me? Well my life isn’t as interesting as yours is,” she said. “My mom passed away when I was ten.”

  “I’m so sorry, Jo! We don’t have to talk about this now if you don’t—”

  “Nah, it’s okay. I was never alone though. My uncle, Jacob raised me; he is young but very responsible. I lived at his place till I was 15. Then I realized that he wasn’t moving ahead because of me. So I joined a boarding
school. Jake was against my decision but he knew that I would be okay. That’s where I met Abigail,” Jo smiled. “Abby is a great friend. She has always supported me.”

  “What about your dad?” He regretted the question as soon as he asked it, because her smile disappeared.

  “I don’t like to talk about him. I’m sorry.”

  “I understand. I’m the one who should be apologizing now. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that.”

  “It’s not your fault, Aiden. It’s just . . . I never talk about that person,” she said and got up. “Did you see the time? I’m getting late. And I have work today.”

  “Well, why don’t you call your boss and say that you’re running late?” He smirked.

  “My boss is strict. He wants me there right on time.” She shook her head. “But he is a good guy.”

  “Just a good guy? Is your boss a good-looking guy?” Aiden smirked again.

  “Oh! He is. Very good-looking, smart and . . .”

  “Handsome?”

  “Yes, he is handsome,” she grinned.

  “Intelligent?” he continued when he saw her blush.

  “Yeah, really very intelligent,” she said. Aiden moved closer and he could feel her breathe hard.

  “Is he hot?” He smirked.

  “Mmm-hmm. And he’s going to be mad if I’m late. I’ll see you at work. Bye, Aiden,” she winked.

  “Yup, see you later.” He waved as she walked away. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. She really was something. Sighing again, he walked to his car.

  On his way back home, he pulled over by the soccer field he once played at. After the accident he had had to give up on many things. His dream of becoming a Physicist shattered because he didn’t remember what he had studied. And he had to choose a stable career. His other dream of playing soccer was ruined too; he’d been asked not to do anything physically straining, and soccer was one of those many things.

  There, on the field, he saw one of the teenagers dribbling the ball. It looked as if he was going to score. And he did. Aiden saw Ashton’s goal and smiled; he had become a lot better. Aiden smiled at his brother who wanted his dream to come true. Suddenly, Ash looked at him and waved.

  He ran towards Aiden and said, panting, “Hey Aid, what are you doing here?”

  “Is practice over? I’m here to pick you up.”

  “What? No, I can go home by myself. Aren’t you going back to your apartment?” he asked as he drank the water from the bottle Aiden handed him earlier.

  “I have to meet grandma and grandpa, so I’m going home. C’mon, let’s go,” said Aiden.

  “Alright bro, gimme a minute. I’ll go get my bag,” Ashton called and walked back to the field. Aiden was going to meet his grandparents after a long time; this was going to be exciting. He smiled and got in the car.

  * * *

  Alex had picked Adele up that morning and she was whispering something to her father when Aiden and Ashton walked in. Nicholas loved all the kids just the same but Adele was the apple of his eye. Adelynn, who was making breakfast for them, was surprised to see Aiden walking in with Ashton. Just by stepping his foot in the house, he brightened her day. Her baby had grown up already; she smiled as the thought crossed her mind.

  “Aiden, my child, it’s so good to see you,” Danielle called as she hugged him.

  “Grandma, I missed you too.” He hugged her tightly.

  Ashton pushed him away so he could give his grandmother a big hug. He was close to her, and loved her like Aubrey loved Pierre; Adelynn guessed that was because she made him brownies every time he visited her. Special brownies! Adelynn smiled when she saw Aiden walking towards her. He hugged her before she could say a word.

  “I missed you, Momma.”

  Adelynn didn’t realize that she was crying as she hugged her son.

  “You know what? If you cry, I’m leaving.”

  “Don’t go! Please stay, Aiden,” she whispered.

  “I was just kidding. But I really have to go . . . upstairs to take a shower. Do I smell bad?”

  “Never!”

  Adelynn smiled when he kissed her cheek and walked away. Aubrey ran towards him and hugged him tightly as he stood near the stairs looking at Adele in surprise. Wasn’t she supposed to be at his home?

  Everything was falling into place. Adelynn looked at her family, finally complete with all her kids there. As it was breakfast time, Alex and Aiden came down and joined Ashton and Aubrey, who were seated at the dining table and talking about their grandfather. Adele was still talking to Nicholas; she joined them only when Ash forced her.

  Suddenly, Alex poured his orange juice on Ashton’s pancakes and grinned as he added some maple syrup, too.

  “What is wrong with you? You ruined my pancakes!” Ashton shouted, pushing his cousin away.

  “Pancakes taste better with orange juice. Try them,” Alex said, winking at Adele when he saw her sigh heavily.

  “Eww . . . Are you crazy?” She asked him, making a face as she looked at Ashton’s pancakes. Aiden and Aubrey were brave enough to try the pancakes and by the looks on their faces, it was evident that they liked it too.

  * * *

  The kids had grown up, but when Adelynn saw the twins, she still remembered her cute babies. Aiden was the serious one, rarely smiling. Adele was always a happy baby. Her face lit up when Nick walked into the room, as she loved him more than anything. Even though Aiden was her first-born, Adelynn always considered Alex as her eldest son. Alex came into her life when she moved to Toronto with Nicholas. Her sister-in-law died giving birth to him, so William was never able to accept him.

  When the twins were seven years old and going to school, she became lonely. Then little Ashton came along and made their lives more interesting. Ashton was always happy and excited, and he loved following Alex everywhere; they fought, but Alex was always a great big brother. Baby Aubrey was a surprise, but the twins, who were fifteen, helped Adelynn a lot. Aiden loved his baby sister even before she was born. He would tell his mom that it was a girl, and he was the happiest person on earth when she was born. It was like his parents gave him a great gift. Just then, she felt Nick come up right behind her and before he could surprise her again, she turned around and threw her hands around his neck.

  “You caught me!” He laughed.

  “A long time ago, darling,” she said, hugging him. Nick cupped her cheek and kissed her passionately.

  “Get a room, guys.” They heard Alex’s loud voice.

  “I guess we should,” Nick whispered; Lynn smacked his shoulder lightly.

  “You have work, Mr. Reid,” she smiled.

  “I guess so, Mrs. Reid,” he sighed. “I need to talk to Aiden. See you later, darling,” he said and kissed her temple lightly.

  Adelynn heard him call for Aiden, and in half an hour everyone was busy. Adele was talking to Danielle about the wedding. Pierre was nowhere to be seen. Aubrey and Ashton were ready to go to school, and Nicholas was leaving with Aiden. She heard lots of goodbyes and take cares, and everyone was off to their lives. Sighing, she went upstairs to find her father.

  After taking a ride with Alex, Aiden walked into his office to find Jo about to place a cup of coffee on the desk.

  “Good morning! Your favorite coffee,” she said as she handed him the cup.

  “Ah! Thanks, I needed that,” he said. “Well, what’s today’s schedule?”

  “You have a meeting with the Chairman and the President in an hour. Alex will be joining you, too.”

  “Alex? Well, I guess I’ll just go and meet him now,” he said. “Thanks again for the coffee.”

  Aiden walked out and knocked on the door of Alex’s office. Not receiving a reply, he walked inside.

  “Aiden? Hey!”

  “I knocked, but you didn’t answer. Are you busy?” Aiden asked, sitting down on the chair.

  “Did you see this?” Alex handed over a file to Aiden.

  “No, what is this?” Aiden looked at the fi
le. It was a contract, and the date of signing was tomorrow. What surprised him was the location.

  “You are going to Tokyo?” He asked.

  “Not just me. You are coming too,” Alex murmured.

  “We are going to Tokyo? But no one told me anything about this!” Aiden groaned. Just then, there was a knock at the door and Jo came in.

  “Excuse me, I hope I’m not disturbing you two,” she said.

  “Come in, Jo; please take a seat,” Alex spoke in a very professional manner. Jo looked at Aiden, who seemed to be a little troubled. She sat next to him quietly and looked at Alex.

  “Is everything alright?” She asked.

  “I guess it is. I was just telling Aiden about our trip to Tokyo later this evening,” Alex replied.

  “This evening?” Both Aiden and Jo asked simultaneously.

  “Yes, this evening. We leave after the meeting with the bosses. I think we need to pack for two days. Don’t worry, Aido – it’s going to be fun.” Alex smirked and, looking at Jo, said, “Don’t miss me too much, darling. We will be back before you know it.” He grinned.

  “Miss you? Not gonna happen in this lifetime, Mr. Reid!” She said as she got up. Alex smirked. “Hey, a guy can always hope, right?”

  “Aiden, there are a few documents which need to be checked and signed. Will you check them now?” she asked Aiden.

  He covered his head with his hands and sighed.

  “Aiden will be out in a minute, Jo, and I think that the documents can wait,” Alex replied instead.

  “Alright, I guess I’ll be going now,” Jo said and walked out of the office.

  Later that day, Aiden and Alex walked into the conference room to see Nicholas sitting with the chairman.

  “So I guess you two already know the reason why I called this meeting?” William asked.

  “I’m sorry, sir, but I have no idea why I am here,” Aiden said to William, and then turned to face Nicholas. “If this is about the Japanese project then I’m ready to leave now.”