Her Charming Secret

by Sam Ayers

  “Jake, I thought you were happy,” Jo said in horror.

  “How dare he? You’re just a kid!” he yelled and moved around the room. Five minutes later, after finishing his coffee, he calmed down. “Sorry, I don’t know what happened. But I want to meet him and set some ground rules.”

  She poked her tongue out. “I’m not a kid!”

  “Of course you are! What do you know about relationships?”

  She looked confused. He was right, though. She had no clue about relationships, but what she had with Aiden was working out fine.

  “You are talking as if you have lots of experience!” she answered.

  “Of course I have experience! I’m going to ask my girlfriend to marry me and that’s something big. It’s not like your silly crush!”

  Jo’s expression changed to horror first and then she looked gloomy. “You are marrying her?” she whispered. Before he could reply, she continued, “Jacob, you have no clue how I feel about Aiden. It’s not a ‘silly crush’. I’m in love with him, and you just don’t care because you already have her. Now that she is here, I don’t mean anything to you, right? All you want is to marry her and have a fairy tale ending with a bunch of kids, and I will never be a part of that, thanks to her!”

  “Josephine,” he started, but she gestured at him to stop by raising her hand. Before he could realize what was happening, she took her handbag, pulled out some clothes from her closet and dumped them in a smaller duffel bag. She walked as fast as she could towards the front door. He went after her but she banged the door in his face.

  Two minutes later, the door opened again. She rushed in towards the kitchen and came back with the box of chocolates.

  “You thought now that I’m gone you could have these chocolates? Never!” She poked her tongue out and rushed out. Jacob sighed and plopped on the couch. This was the one thing he never wanted to happen. He knew that she would go to Abigail’s place. Maybe she would come back after she calmed down a bit.

  * * *

  Jo hailed a cab and was on her way to Abigail’s place. She still had the spare key, and was sure Abby wouldn’t mind her crashing there. When the cab stopped, she got down, paid the cabbie and rushed to the door. She couldn’t believe she was still wearing her sweater and sweatpants, but she really didn’t care about that right now.

  The door was unlocked when she tried it. She pushed it further and stepped in. Slowly, she moved to her room and placed her bag. She heard the sound of water running; it was coming from the bathroom. She decided to wait for Abby and plopped on the couch but the TV remote accidentally fell down, going under it. She got on her knees and looked under the couch.

  “Oh, great! Just great!” She groaned and bent to pull it out.

  Just then, she heard footsteps coming towards her. “Baby, you showered already?”

  She turned around in surprise to see Alex standing there with nothing but shorts on. He looked at her in shock.

  “What the hell are you doing? Why are you half-naked at Abby’s place?” she yelled. “Gosh! Put a shirt on!”

  She looked away as he grabbed a t-shirt from the room and walked out at least half decent. “What the hell, Alex?”

  “Why are you in sweatpants?” he asked, unable to control his stupid mouth.

  “You moron!” she screeched and jumped on top of him, tackling him to the ground. “What are you doing here?”

  “Whoa! Relax, you wildcat!” he yelled, trying to push her away. But she caught his hair and pulled it hard. “AAAAAHHH!!! Let me go, you wild animal!”

  “Jerk! Moron! Stupid player!” She pulled his hair harder, furious to see him half-naked and calling her best friend ‘baby’.

  Abigail rushed out of her room when she heard noises. She thought someone had broken into her house, but when she reached the living room, she saw Alex on the ground and Jo sitting on him, clutching his hair tightly.

  “Jo, what are you doing?” Abigail asked, shocked to see the sight in front of her.

  “Abigail, help me!” Alex groaned.

  “Shut up, you moron!” Jo slammed her forehead against his head. What was he made of? Steel? It hurt her so much that she let go off his hair and rubbed her forehead. Knowing this was the right chance, he pushed her off and moved away, but she jumped on his back and tackled him to the ground again. Abigail ran towards her and pulled her off him.

  “Joey, please calm down!” Abigail cried. “I’ll explain everything.”

  Jo groaned and moved away after a minute. Alex had never felt so much pain before; this little wild girl would have killed him if Abigail hadn’t come to his rescue.

  “Jo, please listen to me—” Alex was immediately cut off by Jo.

  She glared at him. “Don’t ever talk to me, you moron. I trusted you, you were my friend and you were using my best friend all along?!”

  “What the hell? I wasn’t using her! FYI, we are dating. Exclusively. Get your facts straight before you start attacking innocent people,” he growled.

  “Innocent? You? Oh my God! You are the worst kind of human being. You break people’s heart and trust,” Jo shot back immediately.

  “Will you both stop it?!” Abigail raised her voice. “Alex, please don’t talk to Jo like that. And you too, Joey. I really am sorry for not telling you this earlier. Yes, we are dating. And I’m serious about him. We were going to tell you after Adele’s wedding.”

  Jo groaned heavily. “But why, Abby? Why didn’t you trust me? We are best friends; we never keep secrets from each other. I even told you when my first goldfish died!”

  “Your goldfish died?” Alex asked sympathetically.

  “Yeah. I’d named him Barney. He was so cute,” she said sadly. But then she snapped out of it and growled, “Don’t talk to me!”

  “Hey, I was being polite.” Alex sighed.

  “First Jacob and now you two. Why can’t you guys just trust me? Am I that bad? Don’t I deserve to have friends?” Tears were running down her cheeks as she spoke.

  She looked at Abigail. “When Aiden and I got together, you were the first person to know. Why? Because you are important to me and I really trusted you.”

  Abigail looked down. She had made a big mistake by not informing Jo. When she looked up, Jo was gone from the room. She had gone inside, picked up her belongings and was out in a minute. Jo placed the spare key on the table.

  “You know what, Abigail? Today I feel completely alone. I never felt this way when my dad left me or when my mother died. Jacob and you were the only two people to whom I had given the means to completely break me, and you guys did just that.” She looked at Alex and said, “I never expected this from you. Now I really regret meeting you!”

  With that, she stormed out of the house. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number, walking towards a park.

  “Josephine? Are you alright?” a calm voice said from the other side as she burst into tears.

  “Come! Get me out, please. I can’t stand this anymore,” she cried. She had no idea why she had called him, but now she waited for him at the park. She was so cold and alone. After waiting for a while which felt like forever, she saw him walking towards her. He removed his jacket and wrapped it around her and hugged her tightly.

  “I’ll make it better, Josephine, I promise! Talk to me.”

  “Alex and Abigail . . . they are . . . they are together. They . . . they never told me anything,” she cried, resting her head on his chest, completely soaking his shirt. “And Jacob is getting married.” Right now, she had no idea what she was going to do.

  “Richard, please help me!”

  - Chapter 24 -

  Crash The Party

  Jo felt really cold. Richard realized she was freezing. He quickly guided her towards his car and opened the passenger door for her, making her sit there comfortably.

  “You really don’t have to be upset when the people around you are happy,” he said calmly after getting in from the driver’s side. “Jacob loves you more than anyon
e else in the world. Yes, it might be hard for him to sort out his priorities, but I know one thing for sure: you will always be his number one priority. As for Abigail, she means no harm. Sometimes we get scared to tell the truth to our loved ones. And when the truth comes out before it’s time or from the wrong source – it ends up destroying everything.”

  “So what do you suggest I do?” Jo asked, wiping her tears. He pulled out something from his pocket and asked her to open her hand. When she did, he dropped two candies in her hand.

  “Eat! You’ll feel better,” Richard said. “I’m taking you back to Jacob’s place. You both have had each other forever. You need to sit and talk and sort it out.”

  After that, Richard didn’t say another word. He just drove to Jacob’s place quietly. He noticed Jo wriggling in the seat.

  “Are you feeling uncomfortable?” he asked, concerned.

  “Nope,” she replied and started to repeatedly bang her head on the window.

  “What are you doing, Josephine?” Richard asked in horror, watching her smack her head against the window. She had always acted weird, but this was extremely weird even for her.

  “What’s wrong with banging my head? Is it hurting you? No? Scared that your window might break? I was thinking of going to Disneyland. Maybe Jacob will agree to take me there.”

  He gave her another worried glance before turning back to the road. She worried him; she was hands-down the most . . . unique girl he had ever met.

  “What will you do if I lock you up in a haunted house, Richard?” she asked suddenly, loudly munching on her candy.

  “Why would you want to lock me up in the first place?”

  “It would be fun to see your silly expression.” She chuckled, but then frowned. “Oh no! I forgot my chocolate box at Abigail’s place.”

  He didn’t reply, because they had already reached her home. She got out and marched in. Jacob was still sitting on the couch, wondering how to fix things with Jo.

  “Hey Jakey, I’m back!” she called out loud and cheerful.

  “Jo? Are you okay?” He ran towards her and placed his palm on her forehead. She was burning, alright. “I told you not to go out. You have a fever now.”

  “I’ll be fine, old man. Don’t worry about me!”

  Just then, the door opened again and Richard walked in. One thing Jacob hated was people barging in without permission.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” he hissed.

  “Chillax, Jake! He gave me a ride back home. Sit down and I’ll explain everything,” Jo said. Richard sat on the couch, too, waiting to hear the reason for her outburst. She was pretty calm now that she was at home. She told them about Abigail and Alex. Richard looked like he didn’t care, but Jake seemed concerned. When Jo finished explaining, Richard stood up. He politely excused himself, saying he had another meeting to attend.

  “You’ll become an old man sitting at meetings,” Jo commented.

  Richard nodded uncomfortably and started to walk out. He turned around to face Jacob before leaving. “I heard you were getting married. Congratulations.”

  Jacob smiled and shook hands with him. “Thank you. And thanks for bringing her back.”

  “That’s fine; just take care of her,” Richard said and stepped out.

  “Always,” Jacob muttered.

  He went in to see Jo gone from the room. He found her in her room, tucked in her bed. She happily sighed and asked him to come closer. “I’m sorry, Jakey. I don’t know why I acted like that. I feel horrible,” she murmured.

  He sat next to her and said, “Listen, kiddo, you mean a lot to me. I’m sorry for saying all those things, too, but remember you will always be my first priority. You will always be my kid, even though you are so big!”

  “Hey! Not fair,” she called and mock-punched his arm. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

  “Even though I lost my sister, I got you. I can’t think of a life without you, kiddo. It feels incomplete.”

  “Jake, can you do me a favor?” she asked innocently.

  “Sure. What’s up?”

  “Is it okay if Aiden visits me? I really want to meet him.”

  “What? Now?”

  She nodded and pulled her phone out. “Pretty, please?” she said, putting on her innocent puppy dog expression. He groaned. “Fine! Call him.”

  She didn’t waste another minute. She dialed his number and he picked up on the third ring.

  “Hey, Jo! Is everything alright? How are you feeling now?”

  “Hey, handsome,” she replied, grinning. Jacob looked up and shook his head in disapproval. She ignored him and continued, “There’s this huge blue panda at my place. He seems to be mad at me. Can you come here?”

  “What? A panda?” Aiden asked. She sounded so weird that he knew something was wrong. He didn’t waste another minute; he got in his car and drove to her place. “I’ll be there in ten minutes; see you soon.”

  She ended the call and grinned widely.

  “Blue panda? Seriously?” Jacob asked, running his hand through his hair.

  “I said huge blue panda,” she corrected him, chuckling, pointing towards his t-shirt as she lay back on the bed. Jacob looked down at the t-shirt he was wearing. It was blue, and had a drawing of a panda. He shook his head and went out of the room to change his shirt. The doorbell rang as he came down, and he opened the door to Aiden’s surprised expression.

  “Hi, is Jo here?”

  “Hey, come on in. She’s upstairs,” Jacob replied.

  Aiden went upstairs to her room. Jo was lying down and sighing heavily when he walked in.

  “Aid!” she grinned and opened her arms wide to hug him. He didn’t waste another second and pulled her into a deep hug. She moved away and rubbed her cheek.

  “What’s wrong, Jo?”

  “Your stubble! It tickles,” she muttered and rubbed her cheek again.

  “Get used to it, darling.” He smiled and kissed her cheek. “I see no blue panda here. Are you really okay?”

  “If you are asking me if I’m mad, then no! I’m just hurt and confused.” Pouting, she told him all about the silly encounter she had with Alex at Abigail’s place.

  Finally, he ran his hand through his hair and replied, “Look, Jo, Alex is my cousin and my best friend. He is basically like my big brother. He used to be a player, but now I know that he isn’t playing around. Please try to understand that I would never go against him. I will always stand beside him if anything happens. You need to give them a chance. They accepted us, right? Why don’t we do the same? All that matters now is their happiness. If they are happy together then we can’t interfere and we shouldn’t. They haven’t actually done anything wrong, Jo. They are in love, and you should realize that asking Abigail to choose between Alex and you isn’t fair.”

  She sighed as his words sunk in. Aiden and Alex had each other’s back always, and she knew he wouldn’t hear a single word against Alex. She respected that. Even though she teased Jacob and he really didn’t mind, when someone else said a word against him, she would rip them to shreds, so she completely understood the sentiment.

  “I don’t know how to face Abigail again,” she lamented.

  “You don’t have to do it right now. You can always take your time. You see, we planned a bachelor party for Gabe. I’ll be gone for the whole day. Think you can stay out of trouble?” he asked, gently touching her cheek and running his finger in circles.

  “My blue panda will take care of me,” she said as soon as Jake walked in.

  “Stop that panda nonsense,” he called. “So, Aiden, you are dating my niece?”

  Aiden looked at him carefully. So Jo had finally told him. “Yes, sir. I promise to take care of her.”

  “You better keep your word if you don’t want something bad happening to you.” Jacob smirked. “I’m going to make something for you to eat,” he said to Jo and walked away.

  “What was that?” Aiden asked in surprise.

&nb
sp; “That’s what a possessive panda looks like,” she said, giggling. “So you are going away for a day? You know I’ll miss you a lot.”

  “I can stay back if you want. I’m not really interested.”

  “What? No way! You should go and have fun,” she said, gently pushing him. For the first time, she noticed he wasn’t wearing the suit he was wearing this morning. He was in a plain black t-shirt and dark blue jeans. He wore black boots that she had nicknamed his ‘killer boots’. “Gosh! You look so hot! I’d keep you in my bed all day, but you’ll catch a cold, too! You will call me, right?”

  “I will! Every five minutes,” he teased her and kissed her fingers.

  The door crashed with a bang and in came a very dangerous-looking Jacob. “HANDS OFF HER. NOW!”

  Aiden backed away immediately with his hands in the air, only to be pulled closer by Jo. “Wear a jacket, baby, or you will catch a cold,” she said before kissing him hard. He moaned at the feeling of her lips on his. He had no clue what to do now, and she called him ‘baby’ in front of her uncle; it was embarrassing.

  I shouldn’t be doing this, he thought and pulled away. He stepped away and moved towards the door fast.

  “Err . . . I’ll talk to you soon, Jo. And goodbye, Mr. Winters,” he called and rushed out without giving Jacob a chance to kick him out.

  “Aiden . . . wait!” He turned around to see Jo running towards him.

  “Jo, what’s wrong?” She placed her hand on his chest and shook her head.

  “There’s nothing wrong. It’s just that my old friends are in town and we are going to a party later. There’ll be music, dancing and all sorts of fun. Wanna join me?”

  “Today?” Aiden shook his head. “Jo, I don’t think I can make it today. Gabe’s bachelor party, remember?”

  “Oh! Let me know if you change your mind; I’ll text you the details.” She smiled.

  Aiden placed his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him. Their breaths mingled as he stared into her eyes. “I’ll call you if there is a change in our plans,” he murmured and closed the distance by placing his lips on hers slowly. Jo threw her arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer. Aiden tasted like coffee and mint. She sighed contentedly, feeling warm and safe in his arms. He pulled away and stepped back.