She let out a sigh, her whole body shuddering as the air passed between her lips. Her head ducked down, and she stayed in that position, bent over my desk, for a moment. When she stood up, she looked a bit calmer than before. She removed her hands, shaking them out, then flipping a lock of hair back over her shoulder.
“There’s something going on between you and Jessi, isn’t there? And don’t even pretend you don’t know who I’m talking about right now, Trent, because if you try, I will hit you.” From the steel in her gaze, I knew she meant it. She was not playing around. I backed away from her a little.
“I know the Jessi you’re talking about.” I frowned at her, just slightly, smoothing a hand down the front of my shirt as I finally found my composure again. “If you’re asking whether there is anything between Jessi and me, then yes. It’s none of your business though.”
She scoffed, giving me the stink eye. “It is my business if just your mere presence sends my friend packing, big brother.”
The words were said derisively, but I hardly cared, because her words had just sunk in for me. And my composure was gone again as I looked up at her with shock.
Jessi was gone?
I opened my mouth but couldn’t bring myself to say the words. I didn’t want to think it. I was with her just last night! Granted, she wasn’t there when I woke up, and her boxes were gone… A coldness flushed over me as I figured out I’d been wrong. I’d thought she just put the boxes away so she could do her job. Why would she have left without saying anything?
My eyes drifted to my phone. I picked it up, noting absently that there was a slight shake of my hands as I did so. I unlocked the screen, and her number was still there. I dialed it this time and put the phone to my ear. Emily stayed quiet through my silence, though she did start pacing the room in front of me. The phone rang and rang… until it cut off.
She wasn’t picking up.
“Did you speak to her?” I asked, looking up at Emily. “Did she tell you she was leaving?”
Emily scowled at me. “I had to hear she was leaving from another source. I called her, and she must have been on her way there in her car already. That was an hour ago. I would have come here immediately, but I was at home and I wasn’t properly dressed.”
“What did she say?”
It didn’t sit well with me that Jessi was closer to Emily that she would talk to her instead of me, but if there was a way to change things…
“She didn’t say much,” Emily admitted. “To be honest, I don’t know a lot of what went down between the two of you. I just have a bunch of rumors, most of which she confirmed. She sounded fine over the phone but I know that she’s not, and it’s because of you. She ran because she thought you would put her through more heartbreak.”
Jessi…
“Why didn’t she just talk to me…?”
It hurt to think that she would rather run from me than talk to me. Just what did she think last night was? Or the other night? I hadn't exactly clarified anything myself, but surely she knew my words from yesterday were sincere? I might have tried to lie to myself after our first time together, to convince myself I felt nothing for her. I knew that wasn’t true anymore. If she had just asked me yesterday…
I never did give her that apology, though. And I didn’t say everything that I should have, just what I thought she needed to hear to get her to stay. I should have asked if she was going to stay instead of assuming she would just because I said so.
“Fuck,” I muttered, dropping my face into my hands. I’d made a lot of mistakes with Jessi.
“I guess you finally realize that you were in the wrong,” Emily said, though her voice was completely sarcastic. “Well, that’s good, but what I want more than you realizing is you doing something. Whatever it is you’ve broken in my friend you will fix it, or else. I don’t know or care what’s happened between the two of you since you’ve been back here, but dammit, you will fix it!”
Her voice rose as she spoke until she was shouting at me, and I leaned back in my chair, feeling chastised. I was more than a little stunned at her vehemence, though there was still a small part of me not over the shock that Jessi was gone.
“I haven’t done anything to hurt Jessi,” I started, trying to defend myself. “She probably just got the wrong idea because we haven’t talked about anything—”
I cut myself off at her laugh full of derision as she folded her arms and cocked her hips to one side. She arched an eyebrow at me as she smirked.
“Oh, big brother. Don’t tell me that along with a black heart you happen to have a selective memory as well? I know I just said I didn’t know or care what happened between the two of you, but I’ve heard rumors from reliable sources, and we both know you’ve been mean to her in the past.”
That was more than enough to shut me up. I didn’t have to think back to know what she meant. I’d put Jessi down plenty of times, and it wasn’t like I’d cared if other people heard.
“On your first day at the hotel,” Emily started, “I heard you picked a fight with her. You didn’t think she could have got her job here fairly. And don’t think I missed what happened when you came to the mansion. When you left me to go running after Dad and ran into her. I heard the words you said about her, making a snub about the help using the front door. Oh, and there’s plenty more if we start digging into the past.” She gave a snort and sneered at me, tilting her head back so she looked down her nose at me. “Wow, big brother. I knew you were a douche, but to that girl? You were an absolute bastard.”
My fists clenched on my thighs where she couldn’t see as she listed out all the callous words I’d thrown at Jessi. She was right, our past was even worse. Back then Jessi had been around me a lot more than she was now.
“You know nothing about what’s been going on between me and Jessi,” I said, sounding a little defensive even to my own ears. “And it’s none of your business anyway; I don’t give a damn what you have to say. Now, please get out.”
She didn’t. Little sis was done listening to me. Forever, it would seem.
“That woman,” she said, pointing a finger at me. “Jessi? She loves you. She fucking loves you, Trent! She’s always loved you. I didn’t tell her this, but even before you left and I was a little kid, I would see how she would make eyes around you every time you walked into a room. And you have always, always, thrown it back in her face. I kept silent then because I didn’t know how to talk to you before, but I am fed up. I’m not just going to keep watching it anymore.”
I was stunned, once again. In my mind, I wondered just what my sister had seen all those years ago. I tried to find some sort of defense for myself, some protest. Could there really be anything to find? I couldn’t blame my family issues on it because it was my choice to be an ass to Jessi.
Hell, if I was honest with myself, I was an ass to them all and something of a tyrant, or Emily suddenly treating me so harshly wouldn’t be so shocking. Her temper had never been aimed at me, but that was more because she didn’t know me, and partially feared me, than that she had nothing against me.
I had a lot of making up to do. And not just to Jessi.
The question now was even if I wanted to try, could I? I looked up at Emily, the sister that I never knew, that I always thought was nothing but a meek, spoiled child but was now showing me colors I hadn't seen before. Had my brothers ever felt the same way, that they didn’t know how to talk to me? My father, who was always trying to get me to come home, and my stepmom who made attempts to get close to me I always rebuffed… what about her?
I hadn't treated them much like family at all, and here Emily was, telling me to get her friend back.
“You better go after her, Trent,” she said, voice suddenly quiet like she’d blown off all her anger while she’d screamed at me. “I don’t care about whatever else you do, and you’re going to have to figure out how to do it, but please bring Jessi back home. Soon, if you don’t mind.”
Home… this was Jessi’s
home. And I’d been the one to run her off. I watched Emily turn and walk out of my office, closing the door behind her especially gently.
I should go after Jessi. Not just for my sister’s sake, but for my own.
20
Jessi
My alarm clock went off, waking me up from a pleasant dream. As I looked up at my new ceiling, lying in my new bed, waking up to a new day, I had the sudden urge to cry. Because my dream of being back home, surrounded by my friends and family, had been great, so much better than I could have expected it to be.
“I want to go back home,” I whined out loud to myself.
But no matter how badly I wanted it, I had no plans to head back to the hotel in Charlotte after I’d run away not that long ago.
I got out of bed and went and got ready for the day reluctantly. On the way to work I tried calling Emily, but my friend wasn’t picking up.
“Are you mad at me for leaving?” I asked, scowling at my phone. “Just pick up, would you! I could use a friend right now.”
By then, I’d made it to the hotel, and I had to put the phone away so I wouldn’t get into trouble. As soon as I walked in, I was taken to task.
“Hey, newbie!”
I started at the loud call and looked up at the reception. Two people stood there, a woman and a man. It was the woman who had called out to me.
“Yes?” I said timidly, shifting my feet, wanting nothing more than to turn and run off to work.
“You forgot the entrance again or what? And aren’t you a bit late? What, were you on the phone with your boyfriend so long you forgot when you were supposed to get into work?”
I tilted my head a little to the side. “I’m… late? But…”
I was reaching for my phone to check, but she scoffed at me, giving me a scornful look Trent would have been proud of.
“Just get to your station in the kitchen, would you?” the guy said. “You know what happens when you show up late, don’t you?”
It had happened to me a few times already in the past couple weeks since I’d been at the new hotel. I made a quick bow as my heart started to beat a little in panic, then I practically ran in the direction of the hotel’s kitchen. I prayed the whole way that I was in the clear. But then I got there…
“Jessi!”
I was startled for the second time that morning, only this time, the person called out my name. He wasn’t the head chef, but he was a guy that didn’t particularly like how I intruded on his life either. In his head, he probably thought I’d come to ruin any possible chance of him getting a promotion with my good performance. In the beginning, he’d hoped I would fail, and when I didn’t, he’d used every moment possible to give me shit just to try and put me down.
After years of putting up with it from Trent, not just anyone was going to affect me that badly. More than anything, he was annoying.
“Excuse me,” I murmured, keeping my head ducked down so he wouldn’t see the irritation in my eyes.
“Why are you late again?” he asked, voice sharp.
“I’m not late, sir,” I said quietly.
“You are late if you get here and half of the staff is already in here!” he snapped back. “Look around and tell me if half the kitchen staff made it here ahead of you.”
I looked around, and sure enough, it was true. I winced, knowing this wasn’t helping my case. But I hadn't been late! I had my schedule memorized, and I knew it was still some minutes until my official shift time.
Not that I could say that out loud because I knew these guys would just flay me over it.
“I’m sorry, sir,” I muttered.
He huffed. “You think an apology will make everything okay, huh? I don’t know what you did at the main branch, but things here are a little different, Jessi. You need to get your act together before you get your ass handed to you. Hurry up and get to work already. You’re late enough as it is.”
I watched his back as he walked away, then moved slowly over to my station. It was smaller than the one I used at the hotel back in Charlotte, and I had to share it. My new colleagues didn’t bother hiding their snickers and whispers as work went on, glad I’d gotten in trouble again. They were pretty tight-knit, a lot like the old guys I worked with. Of course they would give me a hard time, being the outsider. It was to be expected, but maybe not to the extent that I’d felt it already.
After working through the morning and stopping in midafternoon, I was feeling hungry and exhausted. I was a little fearful to go on my break without finishing my work for the day, so I stuck it out until I could leave for a breather.
The hotel itself was pretty beautiful, and just outside there was a nice view of the beach. I felt some longing, wanting to go down that way for a walk, but it was too risky while I was still on shift.
***
“I made a mistake, Emily,” I muttered, sighing wistfully. “I just want to go home, but why won’t you pick up my calls so I can tell you?”
It had been hard enough to push aside my pride so I could call her. I didn’t want to admit I’d made a mistake, even though I felt that way every day. I mean, dealing with Trent might have been hell for me had I stayed, but anything would feel better than knowing that everyone was bullying me for their amusement.
Two weeks felt like a long fucking time. As beautiful as the place looked, as great as being by the beach was, I hated my time at the hotel more than anything and wanted to run back home into the comfort of my mom’s arms.
The staff particularly acted as if I’d personally offended them by getting myself transferred here. I guess transfers were pretty rare to begin with, because finding employees with such high-level standards that the hotel would agree to transfer instead of just letting them go, wasn’t exactly easy. As far as I knew, there had only ever been two other transfers at the hotel in Charlotte for the past decades it had been running.
“Bastards, all of them,” I muttered. “They are such bastards, Emily. They’re all so damn greedy, and they’re mean to me because I managed to get a transfer. I’m such an easy target for them. What am I supposed to do?”
There was no Emily there to answer me, and after a few more minutes of taking in some fresh air, I decided to go back inside so I wouldn’t get into more trouble.
Why did I ever think this was a good idea? I thought to myself.
If I wasn’t at the hotel and taking shit from the rest of the staff, I was walking around and talking to myself because I couldn’t get a hold of Emily. I spent my free time in my tiny apartment, which somehow managed to seem even smaller than the one I’d had in Charlotte.
I regretted my hasty decision to leave, and then picking this particular branch hotel to head out to. If my friend would just answer me when I called… I could tell her everything, and she would help me, and I would ask to be allowed to go back home. I knew I could have just gone to the manager to tell him I wanted to go back… but the manager here didn’t like me either. I met him on the first day, and he’d looked down on me, probably thinking I knew someone high up at the other hotel which was why I managed a transfer.
Well, it was true, but I’d run away because of that person, and he sure as fuck didn’t help me. They knew I was at least good at my work. I’d been put in the hot seat the first few days, they were probably hoping to see me fail, and instead, I got praise. They’d halved my workload and a part of me was grateful while the other was disgruntled. I was pretty sure if they’d thought I was terrible, they might have kept things as they were so that I could get into even more trouble.
If only I wasn’t so good at my job.
Could I go back and face Trent?
That was the question that made me hesitate all throughout the first week of being there. I only started calling Emily in the second week because I’d been unsure of myself. I thought it would be easy to deal with Trent. What the fuck did I even run away for? I was mature, wasn’t I? Adults were supposed to deal with their problems, not walk away from them.
Fi
nally, the end of my shift came, and I left the hotel feeling relieved. I was walking back to my apartment when my phone rang. It was so unexpected it made me jump, but when I pulled it out and saw Emily’s name on the screen, I was relieved.
Finally!
“Emily,” I said quickly as soon as I’d answered the call. “Emily, I need to talk to you.”
There was a sigh on the other end. “I need to talk to you, too.”
Her voice sounded so subdued I lost my urgency, wondering what had happened.
“I have something I need to tell you,” she said. “It’s supposed to be a secret, but I want you to hear it. It’s about my dad.”
“Is he ill?” I asked hesitantly. “There hasn’t been any news at all…”
“My father isn’t sick,” Emily blurted out. “He was never sick. He just wanted my brothers to come back home, so he made it up and had me help him. He’s putting off seeing them because he knows they’ll notice the moment they see him that there’s nothing wrong with him, and he’s worried they’ll leave again.”
That gave me pause. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Matthew Thompson was never quite so manipulative. This plan was something I would expect to see Trent using before his father. Was the man that desperate to have his children back? I knew for Trent to come back home, he had to have been worried about his dad. How would he react when he found out?
“That’s the kind of family that I have, Jessi,” Emily said, her voice sad. “So do you want to tell me why you were calling me over and over now?”
“No,” I murmured. “I’ll call you back, Emily.”
I cut the call because I had some more thinking to do. I’d been so ready to go back, but now I wasn’t so sure.
Was that really what I wanted to go back to? Did I want to have anything more to do with that family? Having heard what Emily wanted to tell me, I felt more like I’d dodged a bullet. The Thompsons had always seemed like the perfect family on the outside. I knew some of their secrets that made that image not entirely true. But this was even worse.
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