by Kiana Lee
“Aloha,” he said when the door opened.
But it wasn’t Caitlin. It was her roommate, Jessie.
“She’s not here,” she said, her voice cool. Jason shifted uncomfortably on his feet. It seemed that her friend had already heard about his callous behavior.
“There’s something I need to know. And maybe I can ask you?” he said.
When his question was met with silence, he decided to forge ahead anyway. “What’s her problem with me?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Jessie said, folding her arms over her chest.
Jason gave her a pained look. She was going to make him explain himself. “I keep getting mixed messages from her. One day she’s fine with me, and then the next day she’s not. So what’s the deal?”
“She has a lot of stress,” her friend said defensively. “Since she has to pay for everything on her own, she’s under enormous financial strain.”
“Couldn’t her boyfriend help her?” he asked. “He has that nice fancy car, so he probably has the money to get her out of her financial straits.”
“Her boyfriend?” she frowned. “What are you talking about? Caitlin doesn’t have a boyfriend.”
“I’m pretty sure she does. I saw him pick her up from school in his Maserati the other day.”
“You’re talking about Nate,” she said, understanding entering her eyes. “He’s my boyfriend. She had to sell her Jeep, so she needed a ride home.”
“She sold her Jeep?” he asked, perplexed. “Why would she do that?”
“You don’t get it, do you?” she said, the corners of her lips turning down. “She has to help out her grandparents, pay the rent, and get something called food. Like everyone, she needs money to live, and she thought that by enrolling in the program she would get the job at Signatures and improve her chances of bettering her life.”
“She enrolled just to get the job?”
“That’s right,” Jessie said. “Nate offered to lend her some money to help pay her school fees, but she’s too proud to take the loan. Caitlin likes to do things the hard way, and doesn’t want handouts, or anything resembling charity.” She blew out a rush of air from her lungs.
“She won’t accept help even if it’s from a friend?”
“She just wants to do things on her own terms.” Jessie shrugged.
Jason scribbled his number on a piece of paper and handed it to Jessie before he turned to leave. “You can tell her I dropped by.”
As he made his way to his car, he became aware that there was so much he didn’t know about Caitlin. Maybe he did take things for granted, and from her perspective, it appeared that he had an unfair number of advantages.
Throughout the rest of the weekend, Jessie’s revelation continued to occupy his mind. There was no question about it. He was a selfish jackass. Since growing up, he had few cares, and anything he wanted, he had at his disposal. With that kind of privilege, it was hard to see how others lived. He never even considered how other folks paid for their food, much less their schooling.
More than once he found himself wanting to grab his keys from the kitchen counter, and drive over to Caitlin’s place. In his moment of insanity, he didn’t care how late it was. He wanted to force himself into her apartment and demand that she listen to him. But somehow through all the pacing he did, he managed to get a hold of his senses and remain in his condo. An act like that was sure to land him in jail and incur the wrath of his father. Since he had dutifully gone to school and done his work, his father hadn’t bothered with him. Ideally, he wanted to keep it this way.
Throwing himself on the couch, he stared at the ceiling as the TV blared in the background. It would’ve been easy to go out with his friends, get stupid-drunk, and forget his troubles. But he knew that once he sobered up again, he would remember everything with crystal clarity. He would see the hurt on Caitlin’s angelic face and know that he was responsible for her suffering.
His thoughts became jarred when the phone rang. Reaching over to the coffee table, he picked up the cordless phone. Was it Caitlin? Did Jessie explain to her that he’d come around, and was she now willing to talk with him? Not bothering to look at the Caller ID before picking up, he quickly answered the call.
“Hey, brah, you coming to the club?” his friend Aaron asked on the other end.
Disappointment slammed into his gut. “Nah, I’m not feeling up to partying tonight,” he said, which was the truth.
“You’re joking, right?” his friend said, his voice filled with disbelief. “You must be on your deathbed because I’ve never known you to cancel out on clubbing.”
“Yeah, well clubbing isn’t everything,” he said.
Aaron gasped in mock horror. “I never thought I’d hear that coming out of your mouth.”
“Yeah, okay,” Jason said, letting out a chuckle. “You guys go and party without me.”
Aaron was silent for a moment. “All joking aside, are you all right, brah?”
“I’m good. There’s just a lot on my mind with school and stuff,” he finished lamely.
“Well, if you need me, you know where I am.”
Jason ended the call, and stared at the TV monitor, the sound of canned laughter echoing in the room. Picking up the remote, he shut off the TV. He had too much to think about, and he didn’t know how he would ever fall asleep.
***
When Jason woke up on Monday morning, the perfect solution appeared to him, and he almost laughed at the simplicity of it. All he needed to do was to help Caitlin get her dream job.
After he grabbed a small breakfast, he hopped into his car and went to school much earlier than usual. As he entered the administrative office, he noticed that three students were ahead of him. Jason started to move past them to speak to the secretary, but then he suddenly changed his mind. He didn’t anticipate that it would take too long just to wait for his turn. With this in mind, he went to the end of the line.
While it was still morning, the warmth had already settled inside the school, and the fans were spinning at full blast. The window in the office was open, and he could hear the distant voices of students arriving at the school.
The two people ahead of him had already left, but the final person in front of him was taking his sweet time. He shifted restlessly on his feet and glanced over at the clock.
“Man, hopefully we won’t be here all morning,” he muttered to the student who had come to stand behind him.
The girl let out a small giggle. “The lineup isn’t that bad.”
But she was wrong. The clock seemed to move at an excruciatingly slow pace, and when it was his turn, he breathed a big sigh of relief.
As he walked to the counter, the secretary shook her head in dismay, and she began to mutter to herself, “Another student reporting a missing knife kit. I don’t know why —”
“The school needs to invest in a better security system,” Jason said, cutting her off.
“Can I help you?” she asked, frowning slightly when she looked up from her papers.
“I need to speak to Mr. Molowa,” he said.
“Mr. Molowa isn’t available to see you at the moment.” She glanced down at the papers again as if dismissing him. “You’ll need to make an appointment.”
“He’ll see me,” he said, his tone firm. “Tell him Jason Wekiu wants to speak to him.”
The woman seemed to sense the assurance in his voice, although there was doubt etched on her round face. She punched in the number. “I’ll have to see whether he’s free,” she said, reluctantly.
“There’s a Jason Wekiu to see you, sir.” Her brows furrowed slightly as she listened to the other person on the line. “Yes, sir. I’ll send him right in.” When she looked up at him again, there was puzzlement in her eyes. “He says he’ll see you now. He rarely sees students without an appointment.”
Jason pushed himself away from the counter and made his way to the director’s office.
“Jason,” Molowa said, showing the whites of his teeth w
hen he saw him at the door. “What can I do for you so early in the morning?”
“I want a new deal,” he said.
His smile faded, and he leaned back in the chair. “Did you speak to Jordan James as promised?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“I have a tentative time and date set for a day after exams,” he said. “But first I want to amend the terms of our agreement.”
“Now why would you do that?” he asked as he folded his hands together, his voice calm but suspicious. “I’m not giving you any more than what you asked for.”
“I’m not asking for anything additional,” he said. “I just want the top ranking to go to Caitlin Moray. And I want her to get the job placement.”
“I see,” Molowa said, his eyes assessing Jason, trying to determine his level of desperation. “I fear that I don’t understand your motives. From our previous conversation, I remembered that you somehow lost your job and wanted it back. “
Molowa’s memory was keen, and Jason immediately recognized the game he played. If he wanted to change the terms, he needed the upper hand. Walking to his desk, he braced his hands on the messy surface. Leaning forward, he stared down at the smaller man. “If you’re not willing to make the change, then you can kiss your TV show goodbye. Right now you want the TV deal more than I want the job placement. It’s up to you.”
The director remained silent for a long while, pondering Jason’s words.
“I guess the deal’s off,” Jason said, turning to leave.
“Wait! Let’s not make any snap judgments here,” the director said, getting up from his chair. “I don’t want you to cancel the meeting. If it’s that important to you, I’ll see that Caitlin Moray gets the top ranking in the program.”
“Good.” He pivoted around to face the director again. “Just make sure that it’s believable. She has to think she earned the job on her own.”
As Jason said that, he felt guilt tugging at him but he immediately shook it off. As long as she didn’t know who helped her get the placement, then what was the harm? After all, he was only doing this to help advance her career. And since she would be too proud to accept his help, he had to get sneaky about it.
“All right, we’ll shake on the new agreement,” Molowa said finally, putting out his hand.
Jason grasped it. “Okay, now I need to know the recipes that will be included in the final practical.” If he knew beforehand what recipes she needed to study, then she would feel that she aced the exams.
“Yes, right.” Molowa picked up his glasses lying near his computer keyboard and put them on. Stacks of paper and folders sat on his desk. He lifted one binder after another until he finally picked one out from the untidy surface. He took a few minutes more to sift through the papers.
“Ah, here it is,” he said, finding the sheet of paper that he searched for. Scanning down the sheet, he then looked up at Jason. “These are the three recipes we decided on.”
“Good.” Jason quickly keyed the information into his phone. When he was done, he put it into his pocket. “I expect you’ll take care of all the necessary arrangements and make sure everything runs seamlessly,” he said. Then to ensure that he would follow through on the new promise, he added, “Of course, if you don’t, I’ll just assume that you’re no longer interested in doing the cooking show and will cancel the meeting with Jordan.”
The threat hung heavily in the air.
Jason could tell that the older man didn’t like the ultimatum. But if the director negated on his side, then the deal was off, and he could stay in his so-called hellhole.
“Don’t worry,” Molowa said bristling. He lifted his chin up a notch. “If you keep your end of the bargain, then I’ll keep mine.”
Chapter 16
“So Jason came by earlier,” Jessie said, taking a seat across from Caitlin. She held a cup of coffee, her fingers sliding nervously along the ceramic.
“Oh yeah?” Caitlin said, not showing any interest though her heart jumped slightly at the mention of Jason’s name. She immediately put a stop to that, mentally hammering the sensation down until she felt nothing. It was a technique that she used to make her forget the awful scene that occurred at the TV producer’s house. She should’ve felt guilty for making Jason eat that hot plantain chip, but he deserved it. Maybe next time he would grasp that there were consequences for being a jerk. But of course she doubted that he would ever learn his lesson. He was just too into himself to think about other people.
Caitlin ran her finger along her notes as she tried to memorize the kitchen terms and techniques that might be included in the exam. The amount to study was tremendous.
“Maybe you should talk with him,” Jessie said, her voice sounding a bit awkward. She set the cup down on the coffee table and seemed torn on what to say next. Finally, she said, “He seemed really sorry about upsetting you.”
With the second mention of Jason, Caitlin lost her concentration. Her mind swung from thinking unkind thoughts of him to wishing that they were studying together or just hanging out. When he wasn’t busy being a jackass, he was actually a nice person to chill with.
“That’s too bad.” Clearly, he had sweet-talked Jessie and had somehow gained her sympathy.
“You know, you’re my friend, so I’m going to tell you that you’re making a huge mistake by not calling him.”
Caitlin leaned her head on the back of the sofa, knowing that her feelings toward Jason were conflicted. She had much time to think about their relationship, and she hated that despite everything, she still cared for him. In fact, she more than cared for him. She loved him. And that realization made her feel even more miserable. Out of all people to fall for, why him? There were other guys out there that were maybe not as good-looking, but they were decent and respectful people. Why couldn’t she fall in love with one of them instead? But logic couldn’t dictate the longing in her heart. Jason was the first guy she liked in a long time, and she thought that he felt the same way. And just when she got closer to him, he turned out to be the biggest creep she ever met. Upon reflection, he’d come into her life, making it one massive, uncomfortable roller-coaster ride. And while she preferred things to stay constant, she found herself crying too much over the past few weeks.
“It was a mistake to let him into my life,” she said, gathering her things and getting up from the sofa. She sensed Jessie’s eyes on her as she made her way to her room. At the rate that things were going, it appeared that the job placement was likely out of her reach. Whether or not she got the job, she was determined to complete the course and get her certificate.
When Monday rolled around, she filed into class to take the exams. She saw the friendly but anxious faces of her classmates, but for some reason, she couldn’t share their nervousness. She wasn’t sure whether it was because her emotions were dead, or if it was because she was well prepared for the test. When the teacher handed out the papers, she saw that the test consisted of a selection of true and false, and multiple choice questions. From her intense studying, she knew the answers to all of them.
“How did you do?” Jane asked when the quiz was finished. Her friend Betty was behind her. They waited for the line ahead of them to clear.
“It was easier than I imagined,” Caitlin said, shifting as the line moved forward.
“I think I passed,” Betty said.
“I think I passed too,” Jane confided, “although last night I couldn’t get a wink of sleep. It seemed that I could hear everything from my husband snoring at my side, to the rain hitting against the windowpane.”
“I’m sure we all did well,” Caitlin said. “At least we’re beyond the halfway point of the curriculum.”
“That’s true. It went by quite fast, didn’t it?” Then her tone sobered, and worry crept into Jane’s voice. “Of course we now have to study for the finals soon.”
“Oh, don’t remind me,” Betty groaned. “No one knows what to expect for the finals.”
&nb
sp; “We just have to study more, and be prepared for everything,” Caitlin said shrugging.
Her two friends agreed.
They were almost at the doors when Betty said, “I see Jason up ahead.”
Caitlin looked up and saw that he was staring right at her.
Jane saw him too. She glanced at Caitlin and drew her own conclusions.
“Oh, look, Betty. Let’s go talk to Molly over there. We’ll see you in class tomorrow, Caitlin.”
Caitlin hardly noticed when her two friends took off. She was too busy searching for a way to avoid Jason, but he positioned himself so that it was impossible for her to escape him. Ignoring the determined expression on his face, she made a valiant attempt to brush past him. But it was no use. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her aside.
“We have to talk, Caitlin.”
The rage that she’d buried suddenly came to the fore. “We have nothing to talk about,” she said coldly. “And please let go of my arm. We’re only classmates, remember?”
A few students glanced curiously over at them but they continued on their way.
Jason rubbed the back of his neck and let out a frustrated sigh. “Look, I’m sorry about what happened on Saturday.”
“You hurt me,” she burst out, no longer able to keep her emotions in check. She wasn’t even concerned whether they had an audience. “I didn’t care about your opinions when I thought that you were an ass. Then you tricked me into thinking you were a nice guy, and I actually liked you.” An involuntary tear ran down the side of her cheek, and she angrily wiped it away with the back of her hand. “It turns out that you’re still an ass.”
Caitlin hadn’t expected all that to pour out of her, and even though everything was now out in the open, she didn’t feel any better. Suddenly, she needed to get away from him before she completely lost control of her emotions. Glancing to the side, she saw the exit and blindly made her way there. But of course he wasn’t done with her, and he followed right behind her.
“Caitlin.” Jason caught the strap of her knapsack, pulling her back. He turned her around to face him. “I’m sorry, okay? I was shocked at seeing you at my ex’s house, and I didn’t know what to do or say. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’ve never felt like this —” he checked what he was about to say, a startled look appearing on his face.