by Monica James
I quickly lower my eyes and Jasper chuckles at my guilty expression.
“Nothing, Mom. Just telling Ava how much I’m looking forward to dessert.”
I blush at the hidden innuendo, but Jasper’s mom beams. “Oh, I’ve made your favorite. You used to love it when you were a little boy.”
Favorite? How does she know what his favorite is? She was too busy paying more attention to her pills than she was her kids.
Brushing aside that nasty thought, I force a smile when Danielle gestures for my plate. Handing it to her, I try not to blanch when she cuts, (yes, cuts) the rice to separate the grains from the gluey ball it’s rolled into.
Once she hacks into it and is able to divide it apart, she spoons up way too much and it makes a loud thud once it hits the plate. She then plonks in three spoons of the non-fragrant chicken. Keeping this down is going to be a miracle.
She hands me my plate, and my hand nearly drops with the weight of all the dense, drab food sitting unappetizingly before me.
She reaches over to the bamboo bread dish and extends it my way.
“Oh, no bread, thanks,” I say quickly, my hands wielding her off.
“Don’t be silly. How are you going to wipe up all those delicious juices?”
Her hand is still waving the bread dish in my face, so with no other choice, I reach for a bread roll, placing it on the small dish to my left. Looking at the mountain of food before me, my stomach gurgles in protest.
Jeepers, I’ll be eating into next week.
Jasper covers his mouth to hide his smile and I have an urge to kick him in the shin.
“Okay, Jasper, your turn,” she says, looking at him fondly.
Jasper reaches forward, handing her his plate. “Not too much, Mom, I’m watching my figure,” he says, patting his stomach. “Anyway, I bet Ava will eat what I don’t.”
Giving into my urge, I kick him subtly under the table. He lets out a grunt on impact.
Danielle glances at us with a puzzled look, and I try to cover up my violence with a small smile.
She looks down at my plate and frowns. “Ava, please don’t wait for us. Start eating.”
Crap.
I was hoping to fake my way through dinner, using the over stimulating conversation as an excuse to not eat. But sadly, now I have no ploy to hide behind.
Picking up my spoon, I decide to do what I used to as a child when eating broccoli. I will just swallow it, so this way, I won’t taste a thing. Scooping up a small spoonful, I gulp it down quickly, trying not to gag.
“Hmm,” I smile. “It’s good.”
Jasper covers up a chuckle, and I have a right mind to stomp on his foot.
Thankfully Danielle is serving herself up a plate and I can stop force feeding myself.
“So, Ava, what do you think?” she asks as she takes her place near Jasper.
“Yeah, Ava, what do you think?” Jasper smirks, teasing me.
He is so going down for this.
“It’s great, Danielle,” I reply, lying through my teeth.
She gives me a genuine smile and I don’t feel too guilty lying to her, because I just earned my first legit smile for the evening.
“Jasper, have you decided what you want to do for your birthday?” she asks while chewing around her meal.
Jasper shrugs, poking his chicken, which doesn’t move an inch. “Nothing much. Staying in bed all day sounds like a great birthday to me.”
He squeezes my knee which sends a shiver down my spine.
“Oh okay,” Danielle says with a small frown.
Jasper looks at her, and I can read his expression instantly. He feels bad.
“Why? Was there something you wanted to do?” he asks, his hand still resting lightly on my knee.
Her face lights up and I feel a wave of annoyance pass over me, as I don’t like the control she has over him.
“Well, I was thinking,” she says, smiling. “How about we go to a karaoke bar?”
This time I nearly gag because of her suggestion, not the food. Karaoke bars hold bad memories for me. Not to mention, it’s a fucking lame place to have a birthday.
Jasper hesitates, and says uncomfortably, “Ah, Mom, really?”
He looks over at me, knowing Harper broke my heart in a karaoke bar, and that I would rather eat glass than go to another one ever again.
“Yes, really. I never get to see you sing. I thought this way I could,” she replies huffily.
Is she serious? He’d be performing other artists’ songs, not his own, while singing into cheap equipment which will do his voice no justice at all. And if that isn’t deterrent enough, the tacky animation bouncing around on the screens should be. If she really wants to see him perform, she should come to one of his shows.
“Come see one of my shows then,” Jasper says as if reading my thoughts.
“Oh Jasper, you know I don’t like that loud music. When you were younger, all you did was play on that blasted guitar. I couldn’t bear a whole hour of that.”
I have to bite my tongue because I’m about to give her an earful.
Only when Jasper rubs the back of his neck, giving me a ‘help me’ look, do I intervene. I can tell he’s torn, as he doesn’t want to disappoint his mom. But he also doesn’t want me to get weirded out by being at a karaoke bar.
He toys with his bottom lip, and I decide to make the decision for him. “Sounds like a great idea, Danielle.” I smile.
Jasper turns to look at me, narrowing his brow.
“Really?”
Both he and his mom question me at the same time.
The look on both their faces is quite comical, or maybe I’m just losing it.
“Yeah, it’ll be fun,” I say, looking at Jasper, nodding my head, hoping to appear more convincing.
Jasper moves his luscious lips from side to side in contemplation.
“Okay?” he says looking my way.
“Okay,” I confirm.
He squeezes my hand, which is sitting in my lap.
“Okay, karaoke it is, then,” he says, looking slightly confused by this whole situation.
Danielle claps enthusiastically, her entire face lighting up. “I can’t wait.”
Smiling happily, I can feel the ice around her heart melt a fraction. Who would have thought some good could come out of karaoke?
“Oh Ava, you didn’t eat very much,” Danielle says, looking at my plate.
Shuffling in my seat, Jasper senses my discomfort, but I just can’t eat it. It’s tasteless and I can’t punish my taste buds, which have been so good to me in the past. But I also can’t offend his mom.
Giving her a small smile, I pick up my spoon, but before I have a chance to ladle any up, Jasper reaches over and steals my plate, pushing his empty one aside.
“Jasper, don’t be rude,” his mom says, smirking, secretly enjoying him wanting seconds.
He scoops up a big mouthful and stuffs it into his mouth, swallowing it quickly.
Looking over at him, I give him a big ‘thank you’ smile as he smirks, and takes a big swig of beer to wash down his toxic waste.
We both just took a bullet for the other, although I have a feeling that the decision I just made is going to bite me in the ass.
After some idle chitchat, Danielle clears the table, insisting I stay seated. I feel a tad bad as I’ve been raised with the mentality, you eat, you clean. But she’s pretty adamant, and I don’t want to argue with her.
She’s preparing coffee to serve up with her infamous peach cobbler, which I hope is better than her dinner.
The evening hasn’t been too bad, but I’ll be glad once it’s over.
Jasper leans over, nuzzling my neck. “I promise dessert will be better than dinner.”
“I thought I was your dessert,” I say innocently with big eyes.
Jasper smirks. “You’re my midnight snack.”
“I think you’ve eaten enough,” I tease, referring to him finishing off his dinner as well as mine.
Jasper wraps his arm around my waist, yanking me over to his seat, and I let out a tiny yelp as he slides me onto his lap. My legs are dangling off to the side, and I can’t help but giggle at how ridiculous this whole night has been.
“I’ll never have my fill of you,” he says deeply.
My heart begins beating steadily, and all I want to do is smash my lips against his.
“Yeah?” I ask, fascinated by his luscious mouth.
“Yeah,” he confirms, giving me a small smirk.
Wriggling on his lap cheekily, Jasper groans, while I inch my lips closer to his, more than ready to seal the deal. But the doorbell chimes unexpectedly, sadly interrupting a moment that was about to turn pornographic.
“Jasper,” his mom calls from the kitchen. “Can you get the door?”
Jasper lets out an exaggerated sigh, and I know he too is saddened by the disruption. He gives me a quick peck on the lips, and I pout involuntarily. Rewarding me with a crooked smile, he thumbs my lower lip, and I can’t help myself as I slowly wrap my lips around his finger, sucking it into my eager mouth. He shakes his head at me and cheekily pushes his thumb further into my mouth, and I happily embark on sucking it harder.
“You’re a bad, bad girl, Ms. Thompson,” he says breathlessly, fixated on my mouth.
The doorbell sounds again, and I begrudgingly let go out of his thumb, which makes a ‘pop’ sound as he removes it from my mouth.
Jasper’s eyes darken in desire and I give him a sassy grin.
He gets up, shaking his head at my cheekiness and disappears to answer the door. I stand up and peer out the window, thinking about the evening.
Everything, bar the Indie picture, has been bearable thus far. How is it that that troublemaking bitch can make my skin crawl without even being in the same room as me? Thankfully, I never have to be in the same room as her ever again.
“Hi, Ava.”
My breath catches in my throat and I choke on it, coughing loudly and letting out a small gasp.
My name has never sounded so dirty as it does right now, passing through her lips.
Seriously?
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!
I spin around so quickly my bun loosens slightly with the momentum.
Closing my eyes for a heartbeat, I curse the irony of this situation. Taking a calming breath, I reopen my eyes so I can look upon the vixen that is Indie.
Every time I look at her, something inside of me snaps, and I’m holding onto the last tether of patience I possess when it comes to this troublesome bitch.
I know she and Jasper are looking at me, but I can’t move or speak, because all I can hear on repeat is Danielle saying ‘perfect’ when looking at the picture earlier. She’s up to no good. I just know it.
“Ava?” The voice of my beloved snaps me out of my rage.
Meeting his eyes, I see his expression matches my mood. His luscious mouth dips into a slight frown, and his eyes are attempting to read my blank expression.
“It’s been way too long, Ava,” Indie says sarcastically.
My eyes narrow as I see Indie’s amused, smug face, and I claw the inside of my palm to stop myself from slapping that smug smile off her face.
She looks a little more respectable than usual, and I guess I should be calling the Sunday Times that I can’t see her lady parts!
Her tight blue jeans sit so low on her slender hips they expose her ghastly hipbones. Her dangling belly ring is catching in the light, and I have a satisfying image of me ripping out that piercing and stabbing her in the eye with it.
I work my way up to her cream boob tube, which reveals way too much cleavage and midriff, and I can tell she’s not wearing a bra as she’s blinding me with her headlights.
Her makeup rivals that of a clown, as it’s so thick and caked on. And her long blonde hair sits straightened and perfect, not a wisp out of place.
I want to change that however by pulling out her lush locks, strand by strand. Sadly, my vision of hair pulling like a four year old is interrupted by an excited squeal.
“Oh Indiana, you made it! What great timing. I’m just about to serve up dessert.”
Ugh, Indiana. Sounds even lamer than Indie.
Danielle brushes past me like I don’t exist, and wraps Indie in a warm, tender embrace. I can’t help but compare my hug to Indie’s. Wow, I totally got shafted. I peer over at Jasper who is standing behind the two BFF’s, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.
He meets my gaze over their shoulders and mouths, “I’m sorry.”
Shaking my head, I attempt to give him a reassuring smile, but I know I must look like I have just eaten glass.
“Jasper, where are your manners? Give Indiana a hug.” Danielle steps away from Indie and gives Jasper a pointed look.
Jasper rubs his brow and I can actually see him cringe. But he does as his mom asks and gives Indie a light, loose, awkward hug.
She, however, pole vaults onto his body, wrapping her arms around him while rubbing her boobs into his chest. I quickly look away before I pry them apart with a crowbar.
Danielle is overjoyed, as she stares at the couple lovingly with her hands clasped over her heart.
My heart sinks when I witness her happiness. Why do I have a feeling this is the start of something sinister?
Jasper slips out of Indie’s claws and subtly removes her hand from his forearm when she doesn’t let him go.
He looks… pissed.
I silently celebrate the fact he’s as unhappy as me, because when it comes to Indie, she always stirs up feelings of insecurity in me.
“Come now, the cobbler is getting cold.” Danielle smiles, linking her arm through Indie’s, heading into the kitchen.
Jasper shakes his head angrily. “No Mom, we’re leaving.”
Everyone’s mouths pops open, especially mine.
Scrunching up my brow, I look at him, attempting to gauge what’s going on behind those deep cerulean eyes.
Danielle’s face drops, and I almost feel sorry for her.
Almost.
“What? Why, son?” she asks.
Indie is alongside her pouting. I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing.
Jasper collects his jacket off the back of his chair and shrugs into it. When he reaches for my bag and cardigan, I stand, stunned. We’re really going?
In that case, no need to ask me twice. He walks over to me and hands me my bag with a small smile.
I gingerly take it, but am suddenly hit with the guilts when I hear Danielle sniffle.
Jasper holds the arms of my cardigan out for me, and I slip into one sleeve, but halt when I hear Danielle let out a muffed sob.
Jasper freezes when he hears her whimper.
Slowly slipping into the other sleeve, I sneak a quick look at Danielle, who looks to be on the verge of tears.
Even though she totally set up Indie coming here, I still feel a pang of sympathy for her. I look up at Jasper, who has a torn expression on his face, and as much as I’m going to hate myself for my next comment, I do it anyway.
“Ah, c’mon, party-pooper, we can stay for dessert. You’re only young once, and considering you’re turning a year older next week, you need to live large before it’s all about early nights and laxatives.”
It’s a lame joke, but I need him to know that it’s okay. That I’m okay.
I know he’s leaving because of me, as he can sense my discomfort, but I won’t force him to choose between me and his mom.
He looks at me with a puzzled look on his beautiful face, and I give him a reassuring nod, as I can sit through this because I know how much it means to him.
“Are you sure?” he asks, searching my face.
“You betcha,” I reply standing up on tippy toes, kissing his stubbled cheek.
As I pull away, he gives me a look filled with love and compassion, and I happily return his gaze of affection with one of my own.
“Okay then, the coffee is getting cold.�
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I turn to meets Danielle’s eyes, and the look in them isn’t pretty.
Indie flicks her hair over her shoulder and plonks down into my seat like a spoiled brat.
Dear God, what have I done to deserve this?
Jasper senses my discomfort instantly, so grasping my hand in his, he leads me over to the other side of the table, pulling out the chair for me. I swear he’s doing this to tick Indie off, and I couldn’t be happier.
I bite back my smile when I witness Indie’s sour expression.
Jasper sits near me, holding my hand tightly in his under the table. I look over at him and smile. I can feel Indie spearing daggers my way.
“I hope you like peach cobbler, Ava,” says Danielle with a forced smile as she places the dessert in the middle of the table.
“Yes, I love it. I love anything that’s bad for you.” I blanch as soon as the words are out of my mouth. “Not that your food is bad,” I correct quickly. “I just meant, you know, desserts are usually bad for you, but I’m sure yours is great. Full of nutrients.”
I need to shut up, as I’m totally blabbering, but my brain isn’t connected to my mouth right now.
Jasper rubs his thumb over the back of my knuckles, and it instantly calms me down. I quickly bite down on my lip to stop my verbal diarrhea.
Jasper reaches for the coffee pot with his right hand, as my right hand is still enclosed in his left. He pours himself a cup and raises the pot my way, indicating if I wanted a cup.
As I give him a small nod, I can feel Indie glaring at his simple, kind gesture. I know his mother is also.
“Jasper, don’t be rude. Pour Indiana one, too.”
Jasper sighs, slightly annoyed, but he doesn’t make a scene and pours her one. He slides it over to her without an acknowledgment, and I know she’s all but seething, because he does all this with our hands still linked under the table.
After Danielle has dished up the cobbler, we all dig in, and thankfully her dessert is better than her dinner.
We’re all dead quiet and the air is so thick I could cut it with a knife.
After a few moments of polite chewing and sipping our coffee quietly, Danielle decides now is a good time to play Remember When.