Her face contorted into what must have been the look of pure bliss and she let out a howling laugh. I was more confused than shocked as I stared at her for a while then eventually joined her with a nervous laugh that soon turned genuine.I didn't know why but I was laughing so hard. Of course, it was a joke. Maybe a bad one, but a joke nonetheless. And I was taking her seriously. It hit me like a basketball to the face when I realised how dumb I was being. I guess I just wasn't used to having a friend. With your friends, you could be free. Free to express yourself for all the quirks you had, good or bad. At work, I had to be professional… mostly. But with a friend, I could let down that social guard.“You know how crazy that was?” I asked as we caught our breaths.“I know. You were so scared,” said Sadie as she wiped her eyes.“I was. It was a joke, right?”We burst into another bout of laughter that lasted almost as long as the first.“Can you imagine?” she asked. “Anyway, how about
The thrill stayed with me as I got ready for my date with my ex-husband. I knew how smug he'd be thinking he was easily winning me back over. Such a prideful person. I made sure not to overdo it so he didn't think it was too easy. But I looked really nice. I made it there and called him. He quickly found me where I parked and gave me a surprise hug. He didn't seem to care when I didn't hug him back. “Okay, don't completely hate me. But…” I already hated where the conversation was going, even more because he had my hand in a vice grip. “...there's someone here to see you.” It must have been seconds from when he said that so when I recognize Celia's face through the glass walls of the restaurant. The anger that erupted inside me must have taken decades to mature. I had this primal urge to walk right up to her and scream in her face. But social decorum wouldn't allow me. I shot Oscar a glare, snatched my hands and turned on my heel. Celia had not been a move I had
“He must have thought he had you,” Oscar said with a chuckle, placing a hand on the small of my back.My body jerked forward on its own but I didn't look back. Maybe I was going to lose Jesse but I needed to lure the fool into a false sense of security.Even if Jesse was still going to give me a chance I knew Ashley wasn't. And if Ashley didn't then he wouldn't. “The girl is cute though.” He was glancing over his shoulder and I could see his eyes look down. Pig. “She could really– wait, is that Ashley? She’s all grown up!” He whistled.I was about to ask how he knew Ashley but remembered he and Jesse were brothers. “Let's go,” I said.“All right, baby. We'll go anywhere you want,” he needlessly yelled.Something broke inside me knowing Jesse had probably heard him.I didn't wait for him as I strode to my car.“Hey, wait up.”Immediately I got into my car, I locked the door.He tried opening it but eventually gave up. “Remi? What are we doing here?”That tone. It used to strike fear
I eventually picked up the phone when I got home. “Remi, what the hell was that?” “I told you I needed space. I thought you understood?” I asked nonchalantly. I'd learned from the best. “I–I… I did. But still, you should have picked up. What if I had something important to tell you?” “Did you?” “I could have!” He boomed. “That's the point. It could have been an emergency.” “Thankfully it wasn't,” I mumbled. “Yeah, this time.” I could picture his shaking his head disdainfully. “Anyway, what are you doing tomorrow? Let's get dinner in a special place. I'll send you the details.” He didn't give me a chance to respond as he immediately hung up. I chuckled. This damn clown never changed his game. I honestly couldn't blame him. I think back on my younger self and facepalm because how could I have fallen for this obvious scam? No. That was good. If he still thought I was that young dumb girl then this would be easy. Maybe I could even push the limits a bit. The next
“I never doubted you for one second, sweetheart.”I rolled my eyes. Of course he would say that now.“I'm sure you didn't, dad,” I said.“I always knew you had that special something. You are my daughter after all. And to think this is your first act too.” He sounded so proud of me. To be frank, I was proud of myself. My first project was a huge success by this point.“I learned from the best.”He let out a howling laughter that brought a big smile to my face.“Give mom a kiss for me. I have to go.”“Before you go,” he said, sounding serious. “Know that the board is going to come knocking and bearing gifts. They are sycophants. Don't give them the time of day. Accept whatever they give you, complement and gifts, but don't let anything they say have any effect on you. Don't let their praise get to your head. Do you understand?”I found myself nodding before realizing I was on a call. “Yes, dad.”“Alright. Love you, sweetheart.”“Love you dad.”I was on my way to the office and in a gi
“You need me to drive you home?” Jesse asked. I snapped out of my head and stared questioningly at him. “Why would I need that?” “You just look… never mind. I'm sure it's nothing. I'll file a police report anyway.” I remembered the trouble Debbie got in at my swearing in party. She got a bit too drunk and acted out. I'm not sure how long she was held or if any charges were filed but I didn't want to be one more reason for her to be miserable. She hated me enough already. “Is that necessary?” I asked. “We all know Debbie is a toothless dog. She's not going to do anything and–” “I understand that Remi. But this is your life were talking about. I think I would be best if we didn't take the chance. I'll file a police report. There usually isn't an investigation if that's what you're worried about. It'll just be on record.” I rolled my eyes. “Fine. I'm sure you'll just hate to love your amazing working relationship with me.” He stopped writing on his planner and glanced a
The whole drive over, we didn't speak. But my heart was doing cartwheels.I'd thought I'd lost him after the scene with Oscar and Ashley but there I was, his passenger princess being driven to his house because he cared about me so much.“Do you have a spare wardrobe I can put my stuff in?”He quickly glanced over at me with a raised eyebrow.“I have a spare room that you'll be staying in. Ashley usually stays there but she's not around right now,” he said.My heart sank a bit and when I caught my reflection in the side view mirror, I was pouting.“What if she comes over?”“She won't,” he shot back. “And if she does, we'll figure it out.”The pout had turned into a frown.Walking into his house was still thrilling. Even more so because I knew we weren't going to just hop into bed.But nothing wrong with dropping subtle hints or wearing something that left little to the imagination. He opened a door and stood in the doorway. “Here the room.”I walked into it and bent all the way over
His darting eyes zeroed in on me. “Go get your things we're leaving,” he barked. I just wished the ground would have swallowed me up right there and then. I glanced at Jesse and he had an eyebrow raised at me. “You called him here?” he asked calmly, but I could see the anger brewing beneath the surface. “No, I didn’t.” I shook my head profusely. “She did. I saw her talking to him,” Ashley yelled from behind Oscar. “I didn’t call you here,” I scolded Oscar. “You didn’t need to. I got your message loud and clear baby. You wanted me to show you that I care more. That’s why I’m here.” I felt like running away to hide somewhere. How the hell was I supposed to answer that? He said it as if we’d had a discussion and that was the conclusion. “I didn’t ask you to come here!” “But Remi–” he took a step towards me but Jesse stood in his path. “Since she didn’t tell you to come here, I'd suggest you leave,” Jesse said. “I’m not leaving without her,” Oscar growled. “Just