Chapter 29 #2
I am absolutely fuming for her. Abby has always been an entitled little shit, and she and Jaime have never really gotten along. But this is low, even for her. I suspect that Jaime’s actually more upset about Abby’s betrayal than Isaiah’s, even if she’s being more vocal about him.
“Fuck, J! What, when…what? How did you find out?” I sling my arm behind her and rub her back.
“Oh, this is the best part. We spent last night at Isaiah’s, and my parents wanted to take Marcus to this Frost Fair near theirs today. I had a headache, so I was going to go home and nap, but when we got to their house, I realised I’d left Marcus’ coat at Isaiah’s.”
“I don’t like where this is going.”
“It’s exactly what you think,” she takes a deep breath before continuing.
“So, I drop Marcus off and head back to Isaiah’s to grab his coat, but when I get there, my sister’s car is in the driveway.
Weird, but I guess not completely unheard of.
Like, maybe she thought Marcus and I were still there.
It could be anything as innocent as that, right? ”
Even though I know exactly what she’s going to say next, I keep hoping for Jaime’s sake that I’m wrong.
“Now, you may be thinking that I walked in and heard them going at it before I went to go find them, but that’s not how it went down.
Because they made it super convenient for me.
I didn’t have to go looking for them at all.
Isaiah was balls deep in my sister on the fucking stairs!
Like they couldn’t make it to the bedroom, or even a more comfortable surface, because they were so overcome with lust for each other.
They just dropped trou and started going at it…
” she chokes on her words and the tears start falling.
I grab her wine and put both our glasses on the coffee table so I can wrap her in another bear hug, letting her soak my shirt with her tears.
“Jaime,” I whisper, a lump in my throat for how upset she is. I hate this for her. “I’m so, so sorry you had to find out that way. That it even happened at all. I don’t even know what to say!”
She sobs into my neck, and even though I start getting pins and needles from the awkward position, I won’t move until she’s ready.
I stay with Jaime all afternoon, and when her parents drop Marcus home, I stick by her side as she tells them why she’s so upset.
I can see that they don’t want to believe their youngest would do such a thing, and maybe it’s not my place since I’m not blood, but Jaime is my sister and I won’t let the rest of her family hurt her even more.
So when her mother starts trying to defend Abby, I have to jump in.
“Yvonne, I’m really sorry, but I’m going to have to stop you there.
Jaime’s been through enough today, so don’t try to make excuses for Abby.
She and Isaiah are the ones in the wrong here, do not gaslight Jaime by saying that she must be mistaken.
How do you mistake seeing two people you love having sex right in front of you? ”
I can tell Yvonne isn’t happy with my interjection, but she knows I’m right. Roger puts a hand on his wife’s arm, “She’s right, sweetheart. We both know exactly how Abby can be when she wants something. I’m sorry Jaime, what can we do? Do you want us to have Marcus overnight?”
My phone starts ringing as they’re discussing what to do. “I’m just going to take this in the kitchen,” I squeeze Jaime’s shoulder as I stand and answer Brad’s call.
“Hey.”
“Hey, how was your date?”
“Oh, short-lived, thankfully. I’m at Jaime’s.”
“Is everything ok? Did Jake do something to upset you?” The concern in Brad’s voice never fails to warm my insides.
“No, nothing like that. I’m fine, Jaime’s having a rough time, so I came over a few hours ago.”
“Is she ok?” This man, I swear.
“No, but she will be.”
“Ok, well, I was just calling to see if you were going to come over for dinner or bedtime. Lizzie’s bedtime, I mean.”
I chuckle, “I know what you meant. I’m, um, I’m not sure what’s happening here, to be honest. I’d like to come and do bedtime at least, but I’ll have to—”
“You should go, babe. Have dinner with them even,” Jaime’s voice surprises me from the doorway behind me. I had no idea she was standing there.
I spin around to face her, “Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you alone like this. You can come with me if you want? Stay the night at mine?”
She tries for a smile, “Thanks hun, but my parents are going to take Marcus overnight and I’m going to spend the night at Elle’s. She just phoned me and I invited myself over.”
“Are you really, really sure? I’m happy to have you!” I suddenly remember Brad is still waiting on the other end of the call. “Shit, sorry Brad, give me two secs,” I say into the phone.
“No worries, take your time, Blaze.”
“I’m really, really sure, babe. You’ve been here for me all afternoon. She’ll be over soon, Brad!” she shouts into the phone.
Laughing, Brad tells me to give her a hug from him and that he’ll see me soon before he hangs up.
As I’m hugging Jaime goodbye with a promise to check on her in the morning, my phone rings in my hand. Assuming it’s Brad again, I put it on speakerphone without checking.
“Hey, I’m just leaving now, did you need me to grab something on the way?”
“On the way where?” Jake’s low rumble comes through the phone.
“Oh shit, Jake? Sorry, I thought you were Brad. I’m just leaving Jaime’s to go and have dinner with Lizzie and Brad. How was the rest of the exhibition?” I place the phone down on the windowsill so I can shrug my coat on.
The line is silent for a moment, and Jaime’s furrowed gaze meets my own. I check the phone, but we’re still connected. “You didn’t text or call,” Jake finally says.
“What? When?”
“You said you’d call or text when you got to Jaime’s, and you didn’t.”
“And he’s only just checking on you now?” Jaime murmurs quietly.
I grab my phone, take it off speaker, and mouth goodbye to her, blowing a kiss as I make my way out the door. I’ll walk to Brad’s since he’s only a fifteen-minute walk from here. The sun is only just starting to set, lending me enough light for Brad not to worry about me walking alone in the dark.
“I’m so sorry, Jake. I completely forgot! Jaime was so upset when I got here that I haven’t thought about anything other than consoling her since I arrived.”
The crisp January air fills my lungs and stings my cheeks, but the sky is clear and the birds are still chirping as the sun starts her descent over the horizon.
“I was worried about you when you didn’t call.” But it took you almost five hours to check on me? I can’t help but hear Jaime’s sentiment as he says it.
“I’m sorry. I’m fine, though. Did you enjoy the rest of the show?”
As he starts telling me all about the different trains and sets at the venue, I look up to see a very familiar six-foot-three shape walking towards me with a very familiar pushchair, the contents of which are shouting “Mama! Is Mama!”
I cover the microphone with my hand as they get nearer, “What are you guys doing here?”
“Hey, Blaze. We couldn’t let you walk alone so we thought we’d meet you halfway.” Puddle, puddle, puddle.
I break eye contact with those hypnotic sea-green pools and bend down to kiss my girl’s mitten-covered hands. “Hi, baby girl,” I whisper as she tries to reach for my face.
“Shari? Are you still there?”
Shit, forgot about Jake again. Not good. “Yes, I’m still here, sorry I think I lost reception there for a second,” the white lie makes me grimace. “Listen, I’m nearly at Brad’s house, so can I call you later?”
It takes him a moment to respond, but his voice is soft when he does, “Yes, of course you can. Get home safe and I’ll speak to you later.”
“I will, bye, Jake.”
Brad leans in to kiss my cheek as I hang up, “So, tell me about this date you were happy to leave. Where did he take you?” He spins the pushchair so we’re aiming back towards his house.
“Oh god, I’m honestly not sure why he thought I’d enjoy myself. It’s clearly important to him, so I tried to be excited, I really did. But a model train exhibition just isn’t my thing.” my face scrunches up with the memory.
And Brad? He laughs so hard I’m worried he might fall into the road.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting that. You’ll have to take him to a book signing event as compensation,” he grins.
How does he just get me?