by C. C. Brown
“What’s wrong? I thought you were sleeping,” Jason, said, stopping in his tracks when he saw my face.
I shook my head, trying to gather my thoughts. “No, I was just going, but…” I stumbled for the words, not wanting to reveal that I had been talking to Heather.
“Just what?” His tone was menacing, and deep inside my guilt was overcoming me and making me feel as if Jason had figured me out.
“Just getting some late night giggles in with Chelsea. She always makes me laugh. I’m on my way to bed now,” I smiled and tried my best to not give myself away. I had never been much of a liar, and it wasn’t a trait that I wanted to become known for, but in that moment, I knew I needed to. It dawned on me that he hadn’t stormed in here demanding that I unfriend his brother, so he must not have seen the comments.
He looked at me suspiciously, not buying my story.
“You were getting a good giggle from Chelsea, yet you look like a ghost? Bullshit Cara.” He ran his hands over his face, and then walked into the bathroom to take a shower.
I was well aware that he wasn’t buying my lie, in fact, I wasn’t expecting him to, but the exhaustion of the day had him not wanting to delve any further, which made me happy. While Jason was in the shower, I took the opportunity to delete the comments from Jacob and Heather; I didn’t want to turn this night into an argument. Because the messages were hidden from public view, I took the moment to write Heather back, hoping to disarm her alarmed response.
To Heather Bradley
I am sure you already know the answer to your questions. I have to ask, what is going on? Why is it so awful that I speak to Jacob? I am getting nothing from either end.
Almost immediately I got a response from her, as if she was awaiting my replies.
From Heather Bradley
I am going to stay out of it. I would love to meet you, but I’m not sure if that is going to happen. Jason will go a long way to keep you away from Jacob and subsequently, the rest of us.
I wanted so badly to write her back. The ambiguous nature of her replies was quite interesting. I knew I couldn’t just come out and ask Jason because so far, he had been nothing but evasive on the subject. He stopped his shower, and I knew I was finished with Heather for the night.
<>
At morning workouts I confided in Chelsea the Facebook conversation that I had with Heather. I tried to speak as discreetly as possible because, although Mila and I were friendly, I just didn’t trust her. She seemed so much more loyal to Jason these days, so I wanted to keep her out of the loop. Chelsea was Chelsea, turning up her nose, scoffing at my stories, and throwing out her wild assumptions. She suggested that we do some research of our own and I had to admit, it was the best idea I had heard yet. There was no other way since Jacob, Heather, nor Jason himself would let on.
The day dragged on, and our film session was excruciatingly long. I could only conclude that the day was moving along so slowly because Chelsea and I had decided to skip our afternoon classes in order to channel our inner Sherlock Holmes.
When we arrived to our apartment, Mila was sitting in the living room watching TV. I was really hoping that she would be gone. I did not want to be holed up in front of a computer with Chelsea, leaving her out; that would only arouse her suspicions. Chelsea could read my face like the back of her hand and sprang into action.
“Hey Mila, don’t you have class?” She asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
“I’ve decided to skip it, kind of like you two,” Mila replied, turning to look at us with a rather smug look on her face. I glanced over at Chelsea and widened my eyes, prompting her to continue.
She took my cue and continued, “Well, you should probably get there. Lydia Bancroft says your study guide is being handed out today. Don’t want to fail that exam,” she smiled, and I saw Mila’s eyes twitch.
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” She asked, looking back and forth to both of us.
“No Mila. But, I would love for you to remain eligible.” Chelsea always knew exactly what to say. Two years ago Mila’s eligibility was threatened when she failed her Medieval History class, which was the class that she was trying to skip. The words seemed to haunt her, and she quickly retrieved her backpack and jetted out the door. I was so thankful for Chelsea since I was aching to start researching more on Jason.
We grabbed a couple of waters and headed back to Chelsea’s room. She had a MAC and a much larger desk, allowing both of us to sit comfortably to research the illustrious Jason Bradley. Chelsea started out the search with the Bradley Oil Family, and over 1000 articles pop up. We clicked on the most popular articles first, which simply detailed the family business, the charities they gave to, the production and earnings – which by the way were astounding, and there were even articles on Jacob Bradley and Heather Miller getting engaged and married. So far, our search hadn’t turned up much of anything. I prompted Chelsea to type in Bradley Family Charity Gala and more articles came up on the family and the charities that they supported. From what we could find, there were four charities chosen each year, one by each member of the family. They raised money for children, education, animals, and historical leagues. Chelsea clicked on the images link, and found numerous photos of the family at the gala throughout the years. There were pictures of the four Bradley’s; there were pictures of the Bradley’s plus Heather, with Heather pregnant, and with a young Abigail. After clicking through nearly a hundred pictures, I got up to use the restroom. Before I even had an opportunity to squat perfectly Chelsea was screaming my name. Startled, I hurried my business and ran back into the room.
“I found this picture of Jason with this girl, who is she?”
I looked at the picture and instantly recognized Stacey. “That’s Stacey; she’s an old friend of his he grew up with.”
Chelsea pursed her lips and shook her head, obviously not buying it. She continued to scroll through pictures until she found another. “And what about this one? I don’t know Cara; she doesn’t look like just an old friend.”
I leaned closer to look at the picture; it was of Jason and Stacey accompanied by Jacob and Heather. Chelsea’s gaze was so intense that I had to stop and fill her in on what little I did know. “Heather and Stacey are sisters, and Stacey lives here in San Diego.”
Chelsea’s mouth hit the floor.
“I met her when I went paintballing over break with Jason. She hung out with a bunch of his gym buddies, but she is now seeing a guy named Devon.”
“Ok, but who was she to Jason?” Chelsea asked, not appeased by my answer at all.
“From what he told me, she was an old flame from his childhood, who moved out to San Diego when he did.”
“Cara, listen to me. There is more to it than that. Were they ever intimate? Did they date?”
“Yes. They were fuck buddies for a bit, but he didn’t want anything more and she did, so that’s when it ended.”
“How long ago was this?” Chelsea asked, speaking as fast as I had ever heard her speak.
“Like a year ago, or something like that.” I looked up to the ceiling and shook my head, regretting the rehashing of all of this.
“Keep digging Cara. These photos don’t look like old friends to me. And the fact that Jacob is married to this girl’s sister makes me think there is more to this.” She continued to click on links and stare at the information. “Jason actually took you to hang out with her?”
“Yes – well… no. We went paintballing and she went because Devon went. Jason swore that he had no idea that she would be there.”
“Well, for once I believe him, because I can’t imagine him taking you around an ex- fling of his, that’s just plain stupid. But, we need to find out more about this Stacey. Do you think Jacob will tell you anymore?”
I shook my head at the evasiveness that Jacob was dishing out. I didn’t like the idea of Jason and Stacey being intimate and living in the same city, and seeing those photos had my jealously on a level 10. I didn’t know if I
should show Jason what I had found and demand that he give me the full story on Stacey, or if I should wait until I had more to go off of. After consulting Chelsea, she convinced me to wait, that a few pictures were not concrete evidence of anything.
My head was pounding, and my stomach was in knots. I deliberately left out the tidbit about Jason spending time with Stacey while he was away in Texas for that week, or that they were loosely engaged. Chelsea would cut off his balls if she knew about either. I needed to dig into that a bit more, and I had to figure out if it was Jacob, Heather, or Stacey herself that I would be getting this bit of information from.
There was a knock on the door, and I opened it to Chase on the other side. He gave me a warm hug, and walked in. He was freshly showered, and had a school boy grin plastered across his face. It was a sight for sore eyes, and my aching belly. I led him into the living room, hoping whatever he had come for would be brief. Just as we started talking, Chelsea came out of her room.
“Hey Chase, whatcha up to tonight?”
“Not much. Just came by to see what you girls were up to.” He smiled his wide grin and I returned it warmly.
“What we were up to or what Cara was up to?” Chelsea narrowed her eyes and gave him a sly grin. Chase rubbed his hand over his face, trying to hide the red that was flashing throughout. “Besides, we’re doing absolutely nothing but playing detective.” I looked over at Chelsea, trying to give her the shut up look, but she didn’t take my hint, or rather ignored it, and took Chase by the arm into her room.
Chelsea sat Chase down in front of the computer. He started milling through the photos, and began to piece our detective work together.
“What are you trying to find out about Jason?” He looked over his shoulder back at me, shaking his head while doing so.
“Just seeing who this girl is, that’s all,” I tried to not give too much away. With the toxicity brewing between Jason and Chase, this would only fuel the fire. Chase continued scrolling through the pictures and found a couple more of Stacey – alone.
“Why is she is so important to be at all of the family functions?” I tried to ignore his question, but the truth was, I had been wondering that myself. “Jason said she was a friend of the family, they’ve known each other since high school.” Deep down inside, I was well aware that there had been so much more than that, I just didn’t want to face it. Was there some hidden child somewhere that I didn’t know about? I shook my head, trying to erase the despicable thoughts bombarding it. My phone rang with Jason’s ringtone. I took the call out to the living room so that he couldn’t hear Chase’s voice in the background.
I ran back into the room where Chelsea and Chase were deep into their research, pointing, asking questions and shaking their heads. My breathing had turned into panting, so much so that you would swear that I had just finished a marathon. Chelsea turned around and scowled, wondering why I was in such disarray.
“Chase, you’ve gotta go,” is all I could muster through frantic breaths. He turned in his chair and looked at me, giving me the identical look I had just received from Chelsea.
“Why?” He asked, as I walked over to help him out of his chair. “Was that Jason on the phone? Why do I have to go, he doesn’t pay any bills here Cara?” In all actuality, Chase was right, but the last time I was privy to them being in the same room, a world class boxing match almost took place right before my eyes.
“Yeah, why does Chase have to go? He was actually quite helpful Cara,” Chelsea stood and folded her arms in front of her chest. I rolled my eyes at both of them, and continued helping Chase out of his seat.
“Chels, you weren’t here the last time these two were together. I’m actually not interested in seeing that again. Jason said he was like a block away so please Chase, if you are my friend, please just go. I will call you tomorrow.” He looked at me while shaking his head, then ran his hands over his head and sighed heavily.
“Fine, I’m leaving. You should know Cara, your boyfriend has some shit he isn’t telling you, and I’m going to keep digging.” I gave him my nervous grin, but ushered him out of the room and to the front door. All I could think about was getting him out of the apartment before Jason walked up and saw him. I heard the roar of the Raptor and pushed Chase out of the apartment and shooed him along. He walked down the way to his apartment, but stopped and turned towards the parking lot. My heart plunged into my stomach and I began to sweat. I could see the anger building in Chase and I knew he was standing and waiting for a fight with Jason. I ran out to him and shoved him along, my eyes wide, and longing -- longing for him to keep moving so that a serious catastrophe didn’t take place on my doorstep. Chase looked down at me and grinned, mumbling something about Jason not being worth it, and continued on his way. I hurried back to my apartment and made my way inside – running to the bathroom. Chelsea was in the kitchen biting into an apple, when I ran past her and asked her to get the door for Jason when he knocked.
I threw some water on my face, trying to hide the look of panic that had swept through my entire body when I heard the doorbell ring. I could hear them making nice with one another, exchanging tense pleasantries, but being cordial; even if it was forced. Chelsea told him I was in the bathroom, and then it went silent. After drying my face, I walked to my bedroom, receiving a wink from Chelsea as I walked by. I found Jason sprawled out on my bed, an unreadable look on his face. I lay down next to him, and then leaned over to kiss his face. He kissed me back but sat up in the process. Studying him, I thought back to his phone call and how upbeat he was then, and how worrisome he looked now. I decided to bite the bullet and find out what had changed his mood so drastically.
“Hey, what’s your problem?” He looked at me, his hooded eyes, blaring into my soul as if he could burn right through me. He pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket and handed it me.
“This is my problem. What the hell is this?” I grabbed the paper and looked to see Chelsea’s notes on Stacey all over it.
Chapter 12
I stood, glaring at the paper in my hands, unable to breathe. My mind couldn’t formulate an answer quick enough. When I got the will to look at Jason, he was staring at me with a painful look of anger and angst. As if walking in right on cue, Chelsea came storming into my room like she had lost her notes.
“There it is. How did you get this?” Her voice was so high pitched that I immediately knew she was faking it. I didn’t even respond; instead just handed her the paper. Jason turned to stare at her, the worry leaving his face, but fury quickly replacing it. She smiled at us both as she turned to leave the room -- shutting the door behind her. Jason ran his hands through his hair, and then turned around to face me, but with a softer look on his face.
“Why does she have that?” He asked calmly, and I had to wonder if this was the same guy who just looked like he wanted to tear one of us apart. I swallowed a bit, and decided that filling him in, while omitting a few things, was an okay way to approach this, since he was famous for the technique.
“I told her about Stacey, so she wanted to find out a little more about her. That’s all.” Scratching the inside of my ear as I walked past him, I hoped deep inside that he would buy the excuse.
“I told you everything there was to know about her, why is she treating her like a research project?”
“I don’t know. You were so vague, and Chelsea started asking questions that I couldn’t answer so she decided to take it upon herself. I’m not sure how her notes got in here though.” And, in that moment, I realized that Chelsea deliberately wanted Jason to see those notes. She wanted him to know that we were checking up on him so that he could come clean with whatever it was that he was hiding. I could kill her, but secretly appreciated the gesture.
“It’s not being vague; it’s having nothing to tell. This is some real bullshit Cara. Did you put her up to this? Why don’t you trust me?” He leaned with his back up against the door. Looking up to the ceiling, he began to shake his head when I chimed in
.
“You always say there are no secrets between us. I don’t feel like that, I feel like there is still so much to tell and yet you won’t let me in on anything.” That statement must have hit a nerve because his calm state instantly evaporated and irate Jason was back in full force.
“Are you fuckin’ serious? “ The southern drawl that crept in when he was most angry was back with a vengeance. “Secrets? I have no secrets. Just because someone doesn’t give every gory detail of their past sexual escapades doesn’t make them secrets.”
“Well, why didn’t I know about Stacey until I had the unfortunate opportunity of meeting her? She is obviously important Jason, why were you hiding her?”
He began yelling, “There is nothing to hide. I fucked Stacey for a while; her family is friends of my family, what more do you want to know? Would you like me to tell you about her?” Well fine, she has a nice fuckin’ rack, about 36C; I loved playing in those tits. Her skin was silky soft because she used this sweet smelling mango lotion that I would rub all over every inch of her tight body. I rubbed it all over her, and smacked her ass over and over, watching it jiggle when I did.” My stomach knotted into a pretzel, and I yelled for him to shut up but he kept going. “She had a sweet little clit, not as sweet as yours of course, but it was sweet. It was pink, warm, and wet… didn’t take much for me to slam my cock into her and listen to her yell my name, over and over again…” He finally stopped, seeing that I was a sobbing mess. I didn’t ask to hear that, and sadly, it sounded like he was reliving what he had, and almost wishing he had it back.
He came to sit with me on the bed and pulled me into his lap, running his fingers through my hair. “I’m sorry Cara, I didn’t mean to hurt you, but you wanted specifics so I gave you specifics.”