Her Charming Secret

by Sam Ayers

  The next morning, Aiden woke up to the sound of the alarm. Gosh! I slept for twelve hours? Wow!

  He got up and rushed to the shower. He had a meeting with the boss, and he was late! No time to wear a suit, Aiden!

  Aiden put on a sweatshirt and his favorite pair of jeans, grabbed his car keys and, pulling on his runners, ran to the car. It didn’t take him much time to reach the office. He hurried upstairs to see Jo writing something in his diary. Why her? He groaned as he started to feel that attraction – the one he was trying to hide. He stood there staring at her.

  Just then, a colleague called his name. Everyone started asking him questions about his trip and it took him ten minutes to excuse himself and move towards his office.

  “Hi, Aiden,” Jo said smiling. Gosh! Why doesn’t she realize what she does to me?

  “Morning, Jo,” Aiden said with equal enthusiasm. “How are you today?”

  “I’m great, and you?”

  Aiden noticed that people were staring at them. Well, this was an informal conversation for a boss and secretary to have. He figured they might not get any privacy here, but he had a great idea in mind.

  “I’m good. Actually, I have to meet the boss. I’m not officially here today,” he said. She looked him up and down; he guessed she understood that already from his attire. “So I’ll meet you in my office in ten minutes.”

  Smiling, he walked away to the Chairman’s office. William was already there, reading a journal. He smiled when he saw Aiden.

  “Good morning, Aiden,” he said. “Take a seat; I thought you were taking a day off.”

  “Morning, Uncle Will. I’m just here to collect my files, not officially here today. In fact, Alex isn’t either.”

  “Yes, he called me this morning. How was your trip? I received the report; looks like you intimidated the staff at the meeting.” William smirked.

  “Well, what can I say? I’m just like that.” Aiden smiled.

  “I expect to see the official report on my desk by Friday. I know you’ve been working very hard, so I think you should take a break tomorrow.”

  “I don’t need a break,” Aiden muttered and looked down. William’s word was final and his tone made it clear.

  “Remember one thing, kid: if you work too hard and spoil your health, you know what your mother will do,” he said calmly. “I wanted to talk to you about your secretary. Hmm . . . one minute.”

  Aiden looked up at him and saw him smiling. He was checking a text message; finally, he placed his phone down and smiled.

  “Your mother knows that you are here and she wanted me to tell you that she wants to meet you in an hour,” he smirked. “That was Nick’s message. He’s at home, too. Apparently, your grandfather has created another problem.”

  “What? No!” Aiden groaned.

  “Pierre loves troubling Nick. I remember the day Nick came to me and told me about a girl he had fallen in love with. He was, what? 19? 20? He used to meet your mother secretly. One day I caught him, but then I had my own life to concentrate on.” Aiden could see happiness in William’s eyes.

  “When Nicholas introduced me to Adelynn, I knew that their love was strong enough and they could face Pierre. When Pierre said no, it was hard to convince him. Finally he agreed, but I guess he still has some problems.”

  “He will be fine, Uncle. Alex handles him well.”

  “Ah! Yes, he does. Well, Aiden, I want to talk about Josephine. You see, Mrs. Greene took two days off, and Josephine assisted me; she is a good assistant.”

  “Yes, she is. She is great,” Aiden smiled.

  “Aiden, I know this is a personal question, but I’m your uncle so I guess you wouldn’t mind me asking this. Do you like Josephine?”

  “I don’t know, Uncle Will.”

  “You already know that a relationship between colleagues is not acceptable here,” he said in a low yet stern voice. “I hope you haven’t forgotten that incident.”

  Aiden knew exactly which incident he was talking about. Alex had a secretary once who flirted with him all the time. When he didn’t respond to her feelings, she reacted badly by threatening him. Of course, she was fired, but William always blamed Alex because of his flirtatious behavior. And Aiden supported Alex because he was innocent; Nicholas was on Alex’s side, too.

  “No, Uncle,” he muttered.

  “Alright, then. Take a day off.” William smiled.

  Aiden said goodbye and walked out. Alex was right; he said that every time they go into the Chairman’s office and come back – they actually did come back from the lion’s den.

  Aiden saw Jo waiting near his office. He stood next to her and held the door open for her.

  “Hey, please come in for a minute.”

  “Is everything alright?” she asked, confused.

  He smirked. “Yeah, the boss has given me two days off.”

  “That’s cool!” She chuckled. Wait till you hear this, Jo.

  “And I’m giving you a day off; did you have your breakfast yet?”

  “What? No! I don’t want a day off, and I . . . I think I forgot,” she murmured.

  “Well, let’s go get something to eat. We leave in five minutes; I’ll see you downstairs,” he said and picked his car keys and walked out.

  Aiden was taking Jo to a Patisserie/Café, which had amazing stuff for breakfast. At least, that’s what he said. She asked him about his trip to Japan and told him about Adele’s call.

  “Don’t worry about that; I spoke to her already. You see, it’s Aubrey’s birthday tomorrow; her 10th birthday, so it’s quite special for us,” he said. He told her about the meeting, and when she asked him about the site inspection, he was quiet for a moment. Then he told her about their bizarre adventure. She was shocked to hear about their paranormal experience. For a minute, she was scared; all this time she thought he was ignoring her, but he had actually been busy fighting to save his own life.

  They reached the Patisserie, and Jo realized it was the same place she and Abigail always visited.

  “Hey, I come here regularly!” Jo said, smiling.

  “Oh! That’s great!”

  They walked in to see a woman coming out with a newly baked cake. She looked so happy. Wait, was she happy to see us?

  “Salut, Aiden! It’s so good to see you,” she said.

  “Salut, Camille,” he said, hugging her. “Jo, let me introduce you to Camille; she’s a pastry chef. Camille, this is Jo, my friend.”

  Jo looked at Aiden, who was smiling at her; he’d introduced her as a friend not a secretary. Wow! Aiden ordered some coffee and some French stuff – well, he spoke in French, and so she couldn’t understand a word.

  As they were about to finish, a lady walked out with new set of croissants. Her face lit up when she saw them. Wait, not us, just Aiden. His expression was quite similar, but he did something that surprised Jo. He walked towards the lady and hugged her.

  “Hi, Momma,” he murmured.

  “You’re back! This is a great surprise,” she said and smiled.

  Wow! Now I get it, the resemblance.

  “I’m sorry, Mom; I came back last night, but I was too tired to go anywhere.” He sighed.

  “Come here, let me introduce you to Josephine.”

  They walked towards Jo, and she had no clue why she was so nervous.

  “Mom, this is Josephine Winters. Jo, this is my mother, Adelynn.”

  “Hello, Mrs. Reid.” Jo smiled.

  “Hello, dear! So you are Josephine; Alex talks a lot about you, but Aiden is the one who always sings your praises. Right, Aidey?” She chuckled. Jo giggled when she saw his face – it was red.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Jo said.

  “Nice to meet you, too, Josephine,” she said. “Now tell me, what have you done to my son that he can’t stop talking about you?”

  It was Jo’s turn to blush now. She lowered her head and Aiden pulled his mother’s arm.

  “Can I please talk to you alone?” he asked.
<
br />   “Sure. See you later, Josephine,” she said and walked away with Aiden.

  Aiden talked to his mother about something and then they left. He dropped Jo off at her place, they talked for a while, and then he excused himself, as he had to meet his sister. It felt good to talk to him, despite the fact that he was being mysterious.

  * * *

  Later that day, Abigail sat on the couch frowning at the various pictures all around her. She was showing Adele the flower arrangements for the venue the day after tomorrow, but something just didn’t fit. Even as she almost pulled her hair out in frustration, the door opened to a glowing Jo as she walked in, almost floating with happiness.

  “Hi! What’s got you so happy?” she asked, curious to know the reason behind her smile that seemed to light up the whole world, but Abigail’s voice broke her out of whatever stupor she was in.

  She looked at her, eyes wide. “Oh, nothing. Why?”

  Abigail raised an eyebrow at her. “Seriously, where were you?”

  Jo turned around, blushing. “Nowhere. I met Aiden at work today and since he hadn’t had breakfast either, we went to that Patisserie we usually go to.”

  Abby grinned at her. “You’re finally realizing that you like him.” She was surprised to see Jo blush; she had expected her to snap back or brush it off. Maybe she did like him.

  “It’s nothing like that, Abby! He’s just a good friend,” she said. Abigail gave her an ‘I-don’t-believe-you-for-a-second’ look.

  “What? We are just friends,” Jo said before walking off to her room muttering about pesky friends.

  “I heard that!” Abby shouted in her direction, and was rewarded with a door banging shut. Abby and Jo were like sisters; she had promised long ago that she would protect her and Abby intended to keep that promise even if it meant she had to talk to Alex for it.

  Abigail didn’t mean any offence to the guy but she saw him flirting with every girl he met. Sighing, she pulled out her phone and dialed his number. He answered on the third ring.

  “Hey, beautiful! What can I do for you today?”

  She pulled the phone away from her ear to stare at the screen incredulously. “Is this Alex?”

  “The one and only. What can I do for you today, Abigail?” he asked. She scowled at the phone.

  “I want to talk about Aiden and Jo,” she said, and it seemed that one sentence sucked all the playfulness out of him.

  “Why, what’s wrong?” He asked.

  She sighed again. “Nothing’s wrong, per se. I just want to know if the feelings Jo has for Aiden are mutual or if my best friend is heading for heartbreak, because as cheerful as she may seem, Alex, she has a lot on her plate right now and I don’t think she will be able to deal with it if Aiden isn’t serious about her.”

  “That’s not true, Abigail! He does like Jo, but he is in denial right now.”

  She snorted. “And what is that supposed to mean for my friend?” She could almost see him frowning.

  “Aiden isn’t the sort to play around, you know. Just give them time and let them figure it out.”

  “But—”

  Just as she tried to find out more, Jo walked out of her room. “Listen, just meet me tomorrow and we will talk about it, okay? Bye, now.” She cut the call before he could answer.

  Jo looked at Abigail and smiled at her. Shaking her head, she walked off into the kitchen. Abigail sighed as she stared at the pictures in front of her. What with Richard coming back and Aiden being uncertain, she no longer knew what could be in store for Jo.

  * * *

  Later that day, Gabe surprised Adele by staying at home, claiming that he was taking a break. That week had been hectic for him; he hardly had a holiday that whole month.

  “Hey, sweetheart, want to watch this movie?” he asked, showing her a DVD. “Aiden gave it to me last month.”

  “Sure, why not?”

  Adele had to meet Aiden in an hour or so. They had planned to shop for Aubrey’s birthday party. She asked Ashton to go with her, but he refused and told her that he was busy, so she had no other choice but to ask Aiden; he agreed immediately.

  “This is good. Aid has a good collection, doesn’t he?” Gabriel smiled.

  “Yup! He sure does,” she replied. It was a romantic flick, and she had no clue why Aiden had it. She figured it was Alex’s DVD and giggled at the thought of him watching the film alone. Poor Al!

  “Hey, why are you laughing?” Gabe asked, smiling at her. She snuggled up close to him and kissed his cheek.

  “It’s nothing,” she whispered. Gabe turned around to cup her face and kissed her lips lightly. She threw her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. She had no clue how long they had been kissing when her phone rang. She moved away from Gabriel.

  “Who the hell is it now? Just let it ring,” he said, pulling her back into his arms.

  “It’s Alex; I have to take this. Sorry, baby,” she said, giving him a small peck on the lips.

  He groaned. “Fine, just this one.” She heard him say something about annoying people who spoil the mood. She smiled and walked out to the living room.

  “Hi, Al, how are you?”

  “Hey, Ady, I’m good. Listen, I want to talk about something very important; I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

  “No, not at all. Tell me what’s wrong,” she said, sitting down on the couch.

  “Nothing’s wrong; it’s just . . . I wanted to talk about Aiden.” He sighed. “Abigail called me and told me that Jo has feelings for Aiden and wanted to know if he felt the same about her. I think he loves her, but he doesn’t want to talk to me about it. I figured you’re the only person he will ever share his secret with, if at all.”

  “Do you want me to talk to him?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Can you keep this a secret? Just between us?”

  “Sure, Al!” She smiled. She knew what he meant; he didn’t want her to share it with Gabe. They weren’t talking to each other, so she guessed she had to keep it a secret too.

  “Yup. Talk to him and let me know, okay?”

  “Don’t worry, everything will be alright,” she said. “I have to go now. I’ll talk to you later. Bye, Alex.”

  “Bye, Ady.” With that Alex hung up.

  She walked back to the room and Gabriel sat up. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him.

  “Is everything alright?” he asked anxiously.

  “Absolutely. Don’t worry.” She hugged him.

  “I love you, baby,” he said and hugged her tightly.

  “Love you more. Gabe, you haven’t seen the arrangements yet; we should meet the wedding planner together.”

  “Hmm . . . sure,” he murmured.

  “And then we need to buy Aubrey a present. It’s her birthday tomorrow; you remember, right?”

  “Yeah,” it was a barely audible whisper.

  “I’m going out with Aiden later; we have to shop for Auby’s birthday party.” She smiled at the thought of the party; it was going to be fun. “Gabe, is that okay?”

  When she didn’t get an answer, she turned around to see him fast asleep. She poked his arm, but he didn’t move. He had passed out on her. She dropped her head onto his chest and his hands curled around her shoulders.

  She waited for a while, but when he didn’t wake up she slowly got up, took a sheet of paper and scribbled a note saying that she was going out for a while and he could call her when he woke up. She placed the note next to him and called Aiden to pick her up. He arrived in a few minutes and they left for the mall.

  “Is Gabe still working?” Aiden asked, looking at her.

  “No, he’s at home,” she sighed.

  “Home? Then why are you here? You always say that you never get to spend time with him, and when the poor guy is at home, you are here with me, shopping!”

  “Stop exaggerating, Aid. He’s asleep. I was talking to him, but he fell asleep.” It was embarrassing to tell Aiden about it, but he was the only person she could share her conce
rns and secrets with.

  “Oh! Sorry, I thought you guys wanted to spend some time together and I must have disturbed you,” he said.

  “I thought so too, but I guess destiny has something else in store for us.”

  Aiden just nodded. They reached the mall and Aid wanted coffee first. Not again! Adele sighed as they walked towards the café.

  “I swear you are addicted.” She scowled. He just smirked and handed her a cup of her favorite coffee.

  “Just like you.” He smiled. He was right; she couldn’t say no to a Caramel Frappuccino. She giggled; she was an open book to Aiden.

  “So . . . tell me about Josephine,” she said, sipping her coffee.

  “What about her?” Aiden asked, surprised.

  “Well, Mom called and told me that she met Josephine today,” she explained.

  “Oh! Yeah, we . . . we were having some coffee and . . .”

  “Coffee again?” Adele giggled.

  “Cut it out! What do you want to know about Jo?” he asked coolly.

  “You like her, don’t you?” She raised her eyebrow.

  “What? No!” Aiden shook his head. He was quiet for a minute, and then replied quietly, “I’m not sure. Maybe.”

  “Gosh! Aiden, it’s so simple. You are in love with her!” Adele smiled. He looked at her confused; her brother had no clue about his own feelings.

  “I like her, Ady, I do. But I’m not sure if she feels the same for me.” He lowered his head.

  “Talk to her, Aiden.”

  Just then, they heard a voice right behind them, “Jo, wait! Hey, Jo!”

  They turned around to see Josephine walking out of a store. She was laughing and hugging a man. Aiden froze next to Adele. His eyes widened and the way he looked at them, she knew that he was really hurt.

  “Let’s go!” he called and walked away.

  - Chapter 11 -

  Bash The Birthday

  It was a bright and sunny day, a day where Abigail could have just lazed around the house eating ice cream or doing something – or maybe nothing at all; instead she was roped into following Jo and Jake on their Uncle-and-Niece day out.