Her Charming Secret

by Sam Ayers

  Adele glared at Gabriel, “No one asked you. And what are you even doing here? Not too busy now?”

  “Why are you still mad at me?” He asked.

  “You came home for two days this week, Gabe! Better than you not coming home, but seriously!”

  He looked so tired that all she wanted to do was pamper him, but he had to know this would destroy their relationship.

  “You knew that I was busy, Adele.” She sighed and sat next to him.

  “I don’t want to fight, but please, you have to understand; we are getting married, Gabe,” she murmured.

  “I know that, baby, but work is hectic. I haven’t slept properly for a while and I really want to spend time with you,” he whispered.

  “I miss you, Gabe.” She hugged him tightly.

  “I miss you too, sweetheart. Listen, Alex and Aiden will be fine. Aid will call you as soon as he is free,” he said.

  “Alright. I hope they are okay,” she sighed. She wanted to talk to Aiden, but she gave up for now, knowing that it wasn’t possible. She wished that wherever he was – he would be alright.

  Two hours later, Adele wasn’t able to do any work. She was distracted big time! She had something in mind that she wanted to try, but every time she thought about that, she remembered Aiden’s words.

  “Do not use this unless and until it’s an emergency,” he had said when he gave her his secretary, Josephine’s number.

  Well, he wasn’t answering his calls, so this was an emergency. She dialed her number and Jo picked up at the third ring.

  “Hello!”

  “Is this Josephine?” Adele asked.

  “Yup! Who’s this?”

  “Hi! I’m Adele, Aiden’s sister.”

  “Oh, hi! How can I help you?” Jo asked. She sounded confused.

  “I just called to ask if you received any message from Aiden? Or Alex?”

  “No, they didn’t call me. Aiden informs me when his meetings get over, but he hasn’t called me yet,” she said.

  “Oh! I hope they are alright. I haven’t received a message either,” Adele murmured.

  “Don’t worry, they will be fine. I’ll let you know if Aiden calls, okay?”

  “Sure! Thank you, Josephine. I hope I haven’t disturbed you,” Adele said.

  “No, not at all. You can call me anytime.”

  “Thanks again. Goodbye!”

  “Goodbye,” Jo said and Adele ended the call. So she had no clue either. Adele guessed she would just have to wait till those boys decided it was time for her to know where they were.

  Aiden woke up with an excruciating headache. Suddenly, he remembered that he had been running – then nothing. Where were they now? His eyes shot open and he groaned as he sat up. Something was not right – this place! He wasn’t at the hotel. The last thing he remembered was the near-death experience they had.

  “Whoa, Aido! We are safe now. Here, have some green tea,” he looked up to see Alex standing next to him, cup in hand.

  “Al, where are we?” Aiden asked him.

  “We are safe. Remember, we reached the road? We got a car there.” He said calmly.

  “What? What car?”

  “I guess you don’t remember; you sorta fainted, Aido. And you sprained your leg. But anyway, this really nice couple helped us out,” he replied. Aiden turned as he heard the door open to see a man and a woman walk in.

  “Oh! You are finally awake! We were worried,” said the woman smiling at him.

  “Aiden, I would like you to meet Kazuma and Megumi. They are the ones who helped us out.”

  “Hello, thanks for helping us,” Aiden said politely.

  “Oh, no need to thank us,” she replied. Just then, they heard the doorbell ring and, to their surprise, Ryu Nakamura came in.

  “Ryu? What are you doing here?” Alex asked before Aiden could say a word.

  “Hey guys! I live here. What are you two doing here?” Ryu asked them.

  “Do you know them, Ryu?” Kazuma asked him.

  “They are my bosses, Onii-san,” Ryu replied.

  “Oh! That explains things; I thought you were tourists,” Megumi said. Just then an old lady came in to the room.

  “Karerawa gaikokuhito deska? (Are they foreigners?)”

  “This is our mother, Yoshiko,” Ryu said. She sat down next to Aiden and stared at him. It was kind of creepy, but he guessed she was just like his grandfather – he loved staring and troubling others.

  She spoke to Megumi, and it sounded like she demanded something. After talking for a while, Megumi turned towards them. “She asked me who you were and what were you doing here. I explained about the trip to Black Onsen. Apparently you two are not the first survivors; she says that a young man survived the evil years ago; it was her brother – he came back safe, but he was injured too.”

  “You mean he lost his way and checked in – thinking it was an inn?” Aiden asked her.

  “No, he didn’t lose his way. He went in because of a bet or something,” Ryu answered. “He went there with a group of friends. They experienced something paranormal, but he managed to escape. Mother says that he always spoke about a girl named Miho.”

  “Miho? We saw her there – in the onsen,” Alex cried.

  “Calm down, Al. Yes, we saw Miho. I thought she worked there,” Aiden said. Yoshiko said something else, not that they understood anything but it sounded like a warning.

  “Miho’s soul must be stuck there; my mother says that you were lucky that you escaped. There is something demonic in that onsen and it never rests,” Ryu explained.

  Yoshiko spoke to her kids again, and for the first time Aiden wished he could understand. Alex was literally jumping in his seat, his face filled with curiosity.

  This time Kazuma spoke, “Mother says that the only way to escape is to reach the barrier during the sun rise. I guess you managed to do that.”

  “I guess we did,” Aiden sighed. He looked up to see the time; it sure was late. They only had two hours to go back to the airport; they had a flight to catch later. “Alex, I think we should go, I don’t want to miss the flight,” Aiden said.

  “Thank you for all the help. We are really grateful,” Alex said and after thanking them and saying their goodbyes, they left to the hotel to get their stuff. They packed and finally took a cab to the airport. Boarding the flight, Aiden realized that some memories – good and bad – would always remain where they were meant to be.

  So did she become a memory? Aiden asked himself, thinking about the girl in his dreams again.

  “Did you say something, Aido?” Alex asked him. He was talking to the air hostess, and Aiden didn’t think Alex heard what he said.

  “No, I didn’t say anything.”

  “Okay, so Jenna, I was saying—” Aiden blocked off the noise by putting on the headphones. He smiled to himself; his life was getting back to its normal mode.

  * * *

  Jo thought it was easy living with Abigail as she always did the shopping by herself, but now she had no clue why Abigail asked her to go and buy some milk. She wasn’t lazy, but she hated shopping. And she loved coffee. So she knew that if there was no milk then there wouldn’t be any coffee. Abby’s rule. They had a lot of silly rules around the house. They created them when they were at the boarding school. While thinking about boarding school, she remembered Jacob. Oh God! She forgot to call him again, but if she did, he would find out that something was bothering her. And he knew it was always Richard who was bothering her. Always! Jacob Winters was her uncle, who owned a publishing company. He was a writer, too. She decided to call him anyway because she missed him a lot.

  “Hi Jakey,” Jo said, smiling. She was still shopping, adding chocolates to the list.

  “Ah! Finally someone decided to be thoughtful enough to call me,” he teased.

  “I was busy,” she whined.

  “Yeah, right! What are you, CEO of the World?” she knew that Jake was a little mad at her – just a little.

  “A
lright, Jakey, I promise I’ll visit you this weekend. We can go out and have lots of fun,” she said.

  “Now you’re talking! Can’t wait to see you, kiddo. You don’t know how much I miss you.”

  Jo heard a noise in the background. “Jake, what are you doing?” she asked, suspiciously. She was adding lots of chocolates to the basket. It was good to shop when Abigail wasn’t around.

  “I was just . . . umm . . . making something,” he murmured.

  “Stop acting like a child, Jacob. You are thirty already. Wait . . . you are thirty three, right?” Now it was her turn to tease him.

  “I’m not answering that, young lady,” he said coolly.

  “Really, old man? C’mon Jake, tell me what are you doing. Please please? See, I’m begging you.”

  “No can do! You just insulted me by calling me an old man,” he chuckled.

  “Alright, let’s make a deal,” she said while paying the bill. “You tell me what you are up to, and when I visit you, I’ll bring you those amazing pastries you love and all those chocolates and—”

  He cut her off and said, “Seriously? You’ll bring all that?” Jacob was just like a little kid, except easier to please.

  “Yup, I will! And listen—”

  Before she could finish what she was about to say, she walked into someone. She dropped half of the things down and looked up to see her worst nightmare standing right in front of her.

  “Richard?”

  - Chapter 10 -

  Unwelcome Ambush

  Jacob was talking to Jo when her voice cut off mid-sentence. Did she drop her phone? He wondered. He couldn’t hear anything else; there was a lot of disturbance. He thought she was saying something – talking to someone.

  “Jo? Jo, can you hear me? Josephine?” He was cut off when someone cut the call. Where the hell was she? What was going on?

  When his sister died, Jo had become the center of his world. He would do absolutely anything to keep her smiling. Over the years she had grown into an intelligent woman, but he just couldn’t stop worrying about her – even now when he knew she could take care of herself. He couldn’t help but check on her often just to calm his heart and know that she wasn’t in any sort of trouble. Her cutting off the call like this was odd and gave him a really bad feeling. Following his instincts, he picked up his phone, took his jacket, the car keys and rushed out. Even as he backed the car out of the driveway, he called Abigail.

  “Hey, Jacob!” she answered.

  “Hey, Abby. Listen, do you know where Jo is?” Jacob asked her hastily.

  “Yeah, she is out shopping; she will be back soon. Why?”

  “I was talking to her, like, minutes ago, and then she didn’t answer and cut the call,” he explained.

  “She cut the call? I have no clue why; where are you now?” she asked, sounding confused.

  “I’m on my way to your place; will be there in another ten minutes.”

  “Don’t talk while driving. Keep the phone away; I’ll see you soon,” she scolded and ended the call.

  Oh God! This isn’t the time to teach me road safety, Abigail! It took him fifteen minutes to reach to her place. He rushed in to see Abigail pacing around the room; she looked disturbed.

  Seeing him, she looked up.

  “Jake, she isn’t back yet!”

  * * *

  He was here, right in front of her. After years of running away, he finally found her.

  Richard leaned down to pick up the phone Jo dropped. She could still hear Jacob’s voice, but she wasn’t able to do anything as he ended the call.

  “We meet again, Josephine,” he said coolly.

  “Ric . . . Richard, wha . . . what are you . . . doing here?” she stuttered.

  “I have come here to talk to you, Josephine,” he said. “So you were shopping? Why don’t you let me drop you off at home?”

  “No, I can walk,” Jo said, picking up her stuff – which had fallen when she’d walked into him.

  “Are you leaving without this?” he smirked, waving her phone.

  “Give me my phone!” She glared at him.

  “No, I cannot do that. Well, I’m not talking about your phone. I heard you are working for some rich guy; you can afford to buy another one,” he said as he came closer. “One call and anything can happen to your favorite uncle.”

  “Stay away from Jacob, and stay away from me, Richard,” she hissed.

  “Josephine, dear, you are making this hard for me. Let’s make a deal. Five minutes! I want just five minutes to talk to you. And Jacob will be fine, drinking his usual coffee and working on his new novel.”

  “How the heck do you know that?” Jo shouted. He was spying on Jacob too?

  “Lower your voice.” He frowned. “So should I drop you off at home?”

  It was a question, but he walked towards his car with her phone and she had no choice but to follow him. He opened the door for her to get in.

  “Give me my phone, Richard.”

  “Well, like I already said, we can talk for a while. But if you have this in your hand,” he said, playing with her phone, “You will be distracted and not answer my questions properly.”

  “What questions?”

  “I want to know why you don’t want to go to London,” he asked. “Is it a guy? A lover?”

  Jo had no clue why Aiden’s face flashed in her mind when he asked her about a lover, but she shook her head.

  “No, that’s not the reason,” she murmured. “Please try to understand; I have a job here. I live here; this is my home.”

  “I’m sure it’s a guy stopping you. I know that it’s not Jacob; this person is important, and he must be respectable if he gets to be number one in your list,” he smirked.

  “Let me tell you again, there is no one—” Richard cut her off by stopping the car and pointing towards her apartment.

  “Here you go. You know my number, so call me if you change your mind.”

  She got out and slammed the door. “Never!”

  “Josephine, wait,” he raised his voice. “I know that there is a guy in your life; just remember one thing – I can destroy him.”

  His eyes were cold, and she knew that he could do it; he could destroy someone who was important to her.

  * * *

  Jo ran as fast as she could, only to run into Abigail. “Jo! Where were you? Jacob was here!”

  “Jacob? Wh . . . why?” she asked. Oh God! I didn’t call him back.

  Jo took her phone out and dialed his number when the door opened and Jacob came in, he pulled her into a hug.

  “Jake, I ca . . . can’t breathe!”

  “Gosh! I was so worried. Who was that guy?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.

  “What guy?”

  “I saw some guy dropping you off. Who was it?” Jake questioned curiously.

  “Was it Aiden?” Abigail asked her. Jo groaned. No, Abby. Wrong time to talk about Aiden!

  “Aiden? Who is he? Did he drop you off just now?” Jake questioned, folding his arms and frowning at his niece. Jo realized that she was in trouble – real trouble.

  “No, it wasn’t Aiden,” she said to Abigail. She plopped on the couch and sighed. Jake sat next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “It was Richard.”

  As soon as those words came out of her mouth, Jacob was glaring.

  “What the heck was he doing here?” he asked in a grave tone. By the look on his face, Jo knew that he was mad. And it was hard to deal with Jacob when he was annoyed.

  Jo got up and grabbed his arm. She pushed him towards her room; turning around, she saw Abigail looking at them confused.

  “Excuse us, Abby,” Jo said, closing the door.

  “When were you planning to tell me the truth?” Jacob asked the minute the door was closed.

  Sitting next to him, Jo sighed and replied, “He’s been calling me for a while now. First I was scared to face him; I had no clue that he was stalking me. Today I ran into him while I was talking to you. He s
aid he wanted to talk with me.”

  She told him everything except the part where Richard threatened her about destroying the person she loved.

  “Jo, please let me know if he tries to contact you again. You have no clue how worried I was when you cut off like that,” he muttered.

  Jo could see in his eyes that he was worried. Jacob had sacrificed his whole life just to take care of her. She was ten years old when her mother passed away and Jacob took up her responsibility. He took care of her without thinking twice; he was never in a serious relationship with anyone because every single girl he brought home to introduce Jo never liked her. At the age of fifteen, she forced him to let her join a boarding school. He was against it, but agreed because she insisted. That was where she met Abigail, and where her life changed. Jo came home for holidays each year, and when she finally returned, he was still there, waiting. Jacob told her that the reason he didn’t get married was because of his sister’s disastrous marriage; maybe it would happen to him too.

  Jake stayed for a while, leaving only after Jo promised she would spend that weekend at his place. It was a long day and later Jo realized that she had to work on her new novel. Work was so hectic that she wasn’t giving it much attention.

  “Abby, I’ll be in my room. My writer’s hat is calling me,” Jo called, walking towards her room.

  “Sure, Jo,” Abigail smiled and waved.

  * * *

  It was a long flight back home and Aiden just wanted to crash in his bed. He wanted his bed, nothing else. Maybe some coffee first.

  He was able to walk now, thanks to all the medication. What surprised him was the person waiting to pick them up at the airport. Aiden had no clue when Alex had called Adele to pick them up. She hugged them as soon as they came closer.

  “Hey, why are you here?” Aiden asked her.

  “Why can’t you both stay out of trouble?” She questioned. “Alex called and asked me to come here.”

  Aiden looked at Alex and he just smiled. “Guilty!”

  After a long ride back home, Adele dropped Aiden off at his place and asked him to meet her the next day for Aubrey’s birthday shopping. Aiden couldn’t remember what he did next, or whether he did anything – he just crashed as soon as he reached the bed.