"Joy has a habit of talking to herself?" Mum asked, her voice cracking because of her laughter.
I nodded, "She does. A lot."
Joy couldn't stop laughing either and neither could Richard. For the past half an hour, every one of us brought up stories that had our stomachs hurting.
"Well, it's not weird at all. Richard here has a habit of farting when he's nervous."
Ri immediately retorted, “Now, that’s very embarrassing.”
JOYFriday had come by fast. And with it, Vince’s fear had only heightened. I understood what he was going through but I couldn’t do anything to help him, besides giving him the support he needed."Have you guys taken everything you need?" I asked as I ambled down the stairs.Vince had persuaded me into staying at his place with Paige. Well, there was nothing much to argue. His house was bigger compared to my apartment and Paige was used to living in a big place. Kids, usually, found it hard to adjust to new places, so staying here was the best option.My eyes drifted past Eve to the brawny man standing behind her, a heavy suitcase in his hand. It was none other than Beau. He wore a grey t-shirt with black jeans, his left arm clad with silver tattoos under his half-sleeves.His eyes met mine and he smiled. "I’m glad you stuck around."I nodded. “What can I say? He’s hard to leave.”
JOYI walked over to Paige's side of the car to help her out.She had a grin stuck to her lips ever since she'd heard she would stay at my father’s house. Even Dad had cancelled all his work and had invited Julia's son over for her to play with. Both Julia and I had work, and neither of us had any idea how he would handle two kids on his own.But then, I remembered how amazingly he had raised me and Mason. And we weren’t the calmest of kids.Dad opened the door before we could reach the porch and his eyes immediately fell on the tiny figure walking beside me. Even from the distance, I could see a sincere smile tugging the corner of his lips."So, is this Paige?" Dad asked.Paige nodded her head ardently and said, "I am Paige Dorothy Brown, sir."I whipped my head toward Paige as Dad crouched to reach her height. "Oh, you're so well-mannered. So should I call you Paige,
JOY“Dad, you’re worse than a kid. This cartoon isn’t for you. You need to go to bed!” I yelled at Dad, who smiled at me, his eyes much brighter than before.Paige stared at me from the couch, giggling at my father being scolded.“I can’t help it. This is amazing. Who knew SpongeBob SquarePants could be so hilarious . . . but also, a bit inappropriate for kids.”I shrugged. “I know. But Dad, you’ve taken your sleeping pills already. So, if you don’t sleep now, you’ll be awake all night.”“Fine!” Dad groaned, stood up and his head twisted toward the window, at the black car parked outside. “Are they going to stay out there like that?”I nodded. “I packed some food for them. That’s the least I could do since they want to stay outside where they can't disturb us but, at the same time, keep an eye out.”“Good. Vincent seemed to have taken a lot of precautions.”“He has. Not just for
JOY Now it was crystal clear to me. Last night, Josh had been inside Vince's house and it was his footsteps that had me perturbed. The mere thought of what could've happened terrified me. But what was I supposed to do now? Run, leaving Paige and Dad to the mercy of this madman? My legs shook and my head spun. I wasn't selfish enough for that. "You kissed him right in front of me," he said, dragging my attention back to him, and then clicked his tongue. "You gave him what's mine." "I'm not yours." "Hm." He looked down at his feet. His smile disappeared, and disappointment marred his face, but within seconds, it was gone. He burst out laughing and said, "You're not his either. Too bad I’ll have to take care of him. Just the way I did—" "Just the way did with Mason?" I said, intervening. There was not a hint of guilt or regret on his face. I looked down at Paige, who kept giving angry glances at Josh and
JOY “How’re you feeling?” Beau asked as Dad handed us the coffee mugs. It was way past midnight. I had tucked Paige safely in her bed before coming back downstairs to talk to Beau, who looked too tense within himself. “Good,” I said, slumping back on the couch, my body aching from the struggle. “Frankly, I was terrified to see him, but I think I’m okay now. I realised many things today.” Beau kept the mug on the table and said with all his sincerity, “I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if something happened to you.” Meeting my thankful gaze, he added, “More so, my best friend would've hated me if Josh had—” “I’m fine," I confirmed, not letting him complete. "Besides, whatever Josh did wasn’t your fault.” He shook his head. “But it is. I took him too lightly and kept only two men at guard.” “How many more men would you have kept?” I asked with a raised brow that made him laugh.
JOYMom parked the car in front of Vince’s house and turned back to check on Paige who was deep asleep. Dad had taken care of Paige while Mom and I had spent most of the Saturday together. I had never realized how much Mom had changed and suffered. But I was willing to move on.Mom was here and that was all that mattered.And when Sunday morning dawned, Paige and I had to return. I felt much more relieved now that Josh was in prison as Beau had confirmed. But Mom wasn’t convinced that I was okay and had decided to stay with me.I looked at her and sighed. “You didn’t have to do this, you know, stay with me?”“I’ve lost a lot of time on you and I think this would be good. All three of us spending time,” she said.“Yeah.” I smiled. “But don’t you have work?”She nodded. “I’m a freelancer. All I need is my laptop and a place to sit.”“Well, you’re guaranteed to get
JOYBeau entered the living room with a rather tense demeanour, his hands held behind his back and his gaze flickering between the people present in the room. I knew he was uncomfortable about something but couldn’t pinpoint why.That was until I saw Misoo fidgeting through my peripheral vision. I shifted toward her, pretending to not notice the unspoken heat filling the room.“The house seems too packed, no?”Misoo was taken aback and jolted her head up to meet my gaze. “It does.”“Yeah,” I nodded. “I think it’s because of Beau’s presence.” She retorted a laugh, her almond eyes flicking toward the only man in the room before settling back on my subtle eye-hints at their tension. I asked, “So, aren’t you going to tell me what’s with the secret glances between you and him? I’m not blind, you know?”“Maybe some other time,” she said in a hushed tone. “Besides, your man’s coming back. If
VINCEWe moved to the dining room while Misoo, Joy, and Agatha walked back into the kitchen. I could see Richard’s jaw twitching as he avoided looking at Beau. And I knew if a war broke down between the two at this moment, then there was nothing I could’ve done to stop, no one’s side I could’ve or would’ve chosen.Richard and Beau weren’t the ones to blame, and neither was Misoo for the uncomfortable situation among these three. It was just that life happened.I sat on the chair beside Paige and waited for Richard to settle down as well. But Richard walked out of the room in a hurry, pulling his phone out of his trouser pocket.“I can’t believe you guys,” I began. “It’s been eleven years and you all are still hung up on the same bullshit?”“I’m not,” Beau protested, which made me snort.“Like hell, you’re not. Do you know what the biggest deal about this whole mess is? Misoo isn’t the