by Sam Ayers
“Wha . . . what are you trying to say?” Her voice shook and her eyes glittered with unshed tears.
“You know exactly what I mean. Where is our relationship heading? Do you ever want to get married? Will you ever be ready? Are you actually in love with me? I feel like this was never meant to be. That we were never meant to be.”
When he got up, she did the same and grabbed his coat tightly. “Is that what this is about? You don’t love me anymore?”
He managed to laugh, but it was awkward. “That’s the problem, isn’t it? I love you and I’ll always love only you.” He touched her cheek and bent down to place a soft kiss on her lips. While he breathed against her lips, he whispered, “This is a goodbye, Josephine. And I’ll love you forever!”
He slowly began to walk backwards, away from her, before turning and walking off, not even once looking back in her direction. She stood there in disbelief before she felt something wet on her cheek. Touching her cheek, she realized that she was crying. Gasping like she couldn’t breathe, she crumpled on the park bench; heart-wrecking silent sobs wracking her apart. She hugged herself, wondering if she was in a nightmare, and if not, what exactly had happened that her fairy tale had suddenly been ripped apart.
Twenty minutes later, Jacob noticed that Jo was missing. Someone told him that she had gone to the park, and he decided to go check on her. But the sight he saw made his heart stop. Jo was crying as she clutched herself. He ran towards her and pulled her into a hug. She cried into his chest, not telling him what was wrong.
“Jo, please tell me what is wrong? I promise I’ll fix it,” he murmured and placed a soft kiss on her head.
“No, there is no fixing it, Jake. He left! He’s gone. He dumped me, Jacob,” she cried, not looking at him.
“Dumped you? Wha . . . what? Aiden left you, but why?” He asked in shock.
“He didn’t give me a reason; he just said that we were never meant to be. Jacob, I love him, please tell him not to go.”
She trembled in his arms. He slowly got up and helped her up; placing his arm over her shoulder, he walked her towards his car. Once they were seated, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. When that person picked it up, he said, “Ben, I need your help. Come over to my place. ASAP!”
With that, he cut the call and drove her back home.
* * *
What Aiden did broke Jo’s heart and his own completely. The pain was deeper than any he had ever experienced. It ripped him apart to see Jo crying. But this was for their own good. He made his way towards home and rang the doorbell. Ashton opened the door.
“Hey, bro! What a surprise! Are you done—”
He was still speaking as Aiden walked passed him towards his own room, completely lost in his thoughts. Ashton stood there for a minute, shocked to see his brother’s reaction. Aiden, the sane one in their family, had never behaved like that before. Knowing something was wrong; he went to inform his mother.
Meanwhile, Aiden had ripped off his tie and jacket, pushing them aside instead of hanging them up as usual. Going into the bathroom, he stared at his reflection in the mirror. His face fairly personified pain to an extent that he felt disgusted.
“I trusted her. TWICE!” he shouted and punched the mirror; it shattered into tiny pieces, small and broken pieces cutting into his palm and slicing his wrists as he clutched them tightly. When Adelynn and Ashton heard the noise, they ran upstairs to see Aiden in the bathroom, sitting on the floor with glass shards all around him and his hand completely drenched in his own blood.
“Aiden, no!” Lynn screamed and hugged her son, who didn’t move an inch. “Ashton, get the first-aid kit and call Grandma. And call Adele immediately.”
He nodded and ran downstairs to inform Danielle, who went upstairs with the first-aid kit. Slowly, she removed the glass and wiped the blood off Aiden’s hand before tightly bandaging it.
“She broke me,” Aiden whispered as he rested his head on his mother’s shoulder, she touched his cheek and looked at him.
“Twice,” he whispered before blacking out.
* * *
Alex was still at the office, and he was so furious that he just wanted to go out and hit someone. But when he had calmed down, he walked towards Aiden’s office and knocked on the door for the first time in years. When he didn’t get a reply, he opened it and walked in to see it empty. Aiden’s files, laptop, coffee mug and everything else that belonged to him were missing. Alex groaned and walked towards his father’s office.
He barged in and demanded, “Where is he? What did you do to Aiden?”
William looked at his son and sighed. He handed him the letter that Aiden gave him before. Alex read it out loud and moved back in horror.
“He resigned?” His voice was shaking as he spoke. “This can’t happen. You can’t do this!”
“Alex, I suspended him for just two weeks. He resigned this morning; I couldn’t stop him. I don’t know how I’m going to face Nicholas after all this.”
“You couldn’t stop him? Really? And you’re worried about Uncle Nick? What about Aiden? He’s our family, too! You supported those obnoxious jerks but not Aiden!”
“Alexander, lower your voice! Don’t forget that I’m your father!” William glared at him.
“Yeah, right! A great father you are, too! You have always blamed me for Mom’s death. I killed Scarlett, didn’t I? That’s why you can’t accept me? Did you ever consider that I was just a baby? I lost my mother, too, that day,” Alex raised his voice and spoke to him furiously. “You were never there for me; Aiden was. I’m not gonna leave his side now, and I’ll bring down anyone who dares to harm him! And I won’t think twice if it’s you! He is family, a whole load more than you ever were. He saved me. He took care of me. Don’t you dare say I have to listen to you and stand against him!”
With that, he stormed out of the office and headed over to Jo’s place for some answers. When he reached her home and rang the doorbell, a stranger opened the door.
“Hi, is Jo in?” Alex asked him.
“Yes, but who are you?” the man asked.
“Alex?” a voice came from inside. Alex looked at Abigail as she walked towards him and placed her hand on his shoulder.
“Ben, this is my boyfriend, Alex,” she introduced. “Al, this is Ben; Jake’s best friend.”
“His only friend,” Ben corrected. He smiled and there was a twinkle in his eyes. Alex immediately understood that this person was close to the Winters family. He led the way towards the drawing room and asked Alex to take a seat. “Nice to meet you, Alex. I’m happy that Abby has finally found someone.”
Abby mock-punched his shoulder and smiled.
“Nice to meet you, too,” Alex replied. “Where’s Jo? I need to talk to her.”
Abigail noticed Alex’s icy blue eyes. They were dark and cold, as if anger had completely taken over the ever-cheerful Alex.
“She’s upstairs. Why don’t you sit?” Abby asked him.
“I’m not here to sit, Abigail,” he raised his voice. “I’m here for some answers!”
When Jo and Jacob heard his loud voice, they came downstairs.
“Hey! Why the hell are you shouting?” Jacob called as he came down.
“I’m not here to talk to you!” Alex shot back.
“Oh yeah? Guess what, this is my place and I decide to whom I wish to talk to and whom I wish to kick out!” Jacob growled and stood in front of Jo protectively.
“Whoa! Calm down, you two!” Ben spoke. He looked at Jacob. “You, sit! And not another word.” He faced Alex next. “I hate people barging in and demanding stuff, so please let’s maintain some peace in this house. Why don’t you take a seat and explain what’s going on?”
Alex looked at him in surprise and then grudgingly stopped shouting. This guy reminded him of Aiden; he had the same amount of patience too. He just nodded and sat down.
“Jo, why didn’t you tell us the truth?” Alex asked her, calmly.
“What t
ruth?”
“Oh c’mon! Don’t pretend that you don’t know! After what you did to Aiden—”
Abigail, who slammed a pile of books on the table, immediately cut him off. “Stop right there! What she did to Aiden?! You moron, he’s the one who broke my friend’s heart. He broke up with her!”
Alex looked at her in surprise. “Aiden wouldn’t do that!”
“Oh really? For your information, he already has done that!” Abigail glared at him. At that minute, the guy sitting in front of her wasn’t her boyfriend. He was just the cousin of the guy who broke her best friend’s heart.
Alex looked at Jo’s face; it was red, and her eyes were red as well, as if she had been crying the whole time.
“But why didn’t you tell him about Joseph and Richard Knight?”
Jacob looked at him in shock. “What about them?”
“That Joseph is her father and Richard is her brother!”
“Half-brother,” Jo corrected him, just like Richard had corrected their father at the meeting.
“Why does that matter to you?” Abigail asked him.
“Wait, you knew this too? You knew that Joseph Knight is Jo’s father?” Alex asked in shock.
“Of course! You thought I wouldn’t? She’s my best friend!” said Abigail.
“They were at the office today. Richard had hired a spy to take pictures of you. And guess what, Aiden happens to be in them too! They accused Aiden of using you for getting his hands on a business deal! He lost his job this morning, wait, scratch that, he quit after being suspended!”
Everyone looked at Alex in shock. “Is that why Aiden broke up with me?” Jo asked in horror.
“Do you think that’s the reason? Tell me the truth; were you helping them with this plan? What did Aiden do to you, Jo?” Alex sighed heavily.
“I swear, I had no clue that they knew about us,” Jo spoke hurriedly. “They have always been trying to do this.”
“They did it before,” Ben muttered. “And succeeded, too!”
“What are you talking about?” Alex asked, confused.
“The summer of 2006, I met . . . someone, and they ruined it back then, too,” Jo replied.
“Who was it, Jo?” Alex asked. Curiosity had completely taken over him; all he wanted to do now was unveil the truth.
Jo looked at everyone and sighed before saying just one word.
“Gale.”
- Chapter 29 -
She’s All That
Summer, 2006
It was a peaceful summer morning when Jacob came downstairs to find his sixteen-year-old niece cooking up a storm in the kitchen. He watched her fondly, remembering a time when it had been his sister doing the same. He knew that if Erin had been there now, she would have been proud of her daughter just as he was every single day.
She could burn water; that’s how bad a cook she was, but she hadn’t accepted that and decided that she would practice every day. He only hoped that she did learn to cook before she burnt the house down. He turned to the door when he heard a knock. Opening the door, he found his best-friend-and-business partner standing there, grinning at him widely. Jacob and Ben owned a publishing company together – Lyndon and Winters.
“Howdy!” Ben called and tipped an imaginary hat towards him. “Oh! What’s that smell? You cooking?”
“Hello, Ben!” Jo called as she came out to see who was visiting, and hugged him. “I missed you, Benny!”
“Hey, little Jo, I missed you, too! Are you making something?” he asked, motioning towards the kitchen.
She nodded and grinned. “I’m baking a cake!”
“Kid, how many times have I told you to not do such silly things?” Jacob asked her, smiling; he loved his niece, no doubt about that, but when she was over enthusiastic, she usually ended up causing trouble.
Ben mock-punched his shoulder and glared at him, “Leave her alone. She’s trying!”
Jacob glared at Ben while rubbing the sore spot on his shoulder. Sometimes Ben didn’t know his own strength. He had always cared for Jo like a big brother and had seen her grow up from a tiny tot into a fine teenager who was still childish sometimes. He loved and doted on Jo almost as much as Jacob did.
Jo grinned again and told them she wanted help with the icing. Ben, ever the fun-loving guy, stood up at once and followed her to the kitchen. Jacob groaned and trailed behind.
She had managed to make a weird-shaped cake and when Jacob asked what it was, she simply said, “It’s a star! Can’t you see the perfect shape?”
Ben started icing the cake and it started to look pretty neat, as the icing brought out the star shape. She then started placing M&Ms around the star, and in the center in the shape of the letter J, all the while popping the occasional candy into her mouth.
“So, Jake, are you done with the first draft?” Ben asked. “I would like to see it before going to Paris.”
Jacob groaned at the mention of Paris, but Jo stopped decorating her cake and asked curiously, “You’re going to Paris? That’s awesome!”
“No, Joey, not just me. We have an important meeting related to the publishing industry.”
She turned towards Jake and scowled at him. “You forgot to mention this?”
“I was about to, and you are going to Abigail’s place for a week,” he declared and, swiping a finger over her cake, ate a part of the icing that he swiped off.
“Don’t you dare!” Jo growled and hit his arm. Jake pulled it back when he saw how furious she was.
“I’m going to Paris, too. I wanna go!” she whined.
“No, you are not!”
Ben sighed heavily and tried to stop the argument from escalating. “Jake, what’s wrong in taking Jo along with us? She can explore the town while we attend the meeting and do our work. I trust her, she’ll be fine.”
Jo squealed in happiness and hugged Ben again. “Benny, you’re the best!”
“No can do! She’s going to Abigail’s, and that’s final!” Jacob raised his voice a little.
“But Jakey, Abby’s going out with Seth and I’ll get bored!” Jo pouted and pretended to be upset. The one thing Jake could never do was say no to her when she was upset.
“Alright, fine! You can come with us, but if you misbehave, you are grounded for the rest of the year!”
“Yay!” She squealed and jumped on him again, and the packet of icing in her hands accidentally burst over his face, covering it with the sugary paste.
“Whoa! This is a million dollar picture,” Ben teased and pulled out his phone to take Jacob’s picture. And when Jake got up to get his hands on the phone, both Ben and Jo ran out, knowing he wouldn’t follow them.
* * *
A week passed, and Jo had finally finished packing her stuff. She sighed happily when Jacob brought her some hot chocolate as she sat on her bed reading a novel.
“You done finally?” he mocked and got a grin in return. She was really excited and, as she had never traveled much, was looking forward to this trip.
Her short curly hair bounced as she nodded vigorously. “Oh yeah! I’m ready and we are gonna have lots of fun!”
Jacob smiled. She was like a miniature copy of his sister, and he could already see some of her mannerisms in Jo. Jo was a pretty girl, and he was worried that he would have to chase boys away from her with a baseball bat when she was older. “I’m not going to ask you to stay in the hotel all day, but I don’t want you to go around getting yourself in any kinda trouble. You hear me?”
She nodded again. “I promise, I’ll stay out of trouble.”
“And you are not going anywhere near those French boys. The way they talk and charm ladies.” He sighed heavily.
“What?” Jo giggled.
Jacob placed a small goodnight kiss on her brow and walked away to his own room. The next day saw Jo bouncing happily as Ben had come to pick them up.
Jacob wondered why she was so enthusiastic. He was having his own doubts about her going there. He was suspicious all throug
h the flight as Jo sat next to Ben chatting about some band she played for at school. Ben always encouraged her to do what she loved, but Jacob was the practical one and he was strict when it came to careers and relationships.
Jacob fell asleep, but Jo and Ben were still chatting. When they reached Paris, they took a cab to the hotel they were booked into. Ben got a luxurious room whereas Jacob had a suite with two bedrooms; Jo ran in before him and chose the biggest for herself. The men carried her bags to her room to find her jumping on the bed.
“Jakey, this is better than our trampoline!”
He sighed. “Down! I’m going to work now; I don’t want you breaking the bed.”
When he walked away, she plopped on the bed. Ben sat next to her and grabbed her hand. “You know you were just two days old when I first saw you? I thought how could a baby be so adorable? I mean, all babies are cute, but you were special.”
Jo smiled. “Really?”
Ben put his arm around her shoulder and hugged her tightly. “Yeah, and you will always be special. I know Jake is acting weird, but you didn’t have to scare Emma like that, you know.”
Emma was Jake’s ex-girlfriend. Jo had chased her away by pretending to be a ghost. Emma was so scared that she ran away in the middle of the night.
“I just added red ink to her water and put fake blood on her pancakes instead of maple syrup. And . . . I also dressed as a spirit, but it’s not my fault, Ben!”
“Right, that face is so innocent!” he said, pulling on her nose a bit. Jo swatted his arm away and laughed with him. It was so easy to talk with Ben. He was easygoing and kind, and hardly judged anyone. Realizing that he had to leave, he asked her to stay out of trouble and, handing her some money for safety, waved goodbye.
