Chapter Ten.
His house is insane. This place is practically a mansion, with its three stories, floor to ceiling windows on each level, a huge pool already filled to the brim with people and a huge backyard surrounded by woods.
I knew Jared was well off, but I didn’t know he was this loaded.
My God.
A valet greets me at the end of the driveway, stating they’ll take my car to the lot. I’m nervous handing some rando my keys, but then again, I’ve never had a valet service before so I don’t know the rules. He gives me a number to call when I come to pick up the car and drives off.
The doors to the mansion are wide open, adults and students filling every space.
The entrance opens into a large room with a view straight to the pool through the back of the house.
A large chandelier hangs in the middle of what I can only assume is the living room surrounded by a fur rug on the marble floor and white semi-circular couches on each side.
A fireplace is stationed on one side and a big screen TV is drilled on top of it.
I can only imagine what the rest of the house looks like.
Before I can walk to the backyard to look for Shirley, pressure appears under my chin and pushes my mouth closed.
“You are the definition of what a jaw drop looks like there, Charlie.” Jared’s hand pulls my face to his and he smiles down at me, his expression full of excitement. “You had me worried you weren’t coming,” he says, his smile softening as he meets my eyes.
My cheeks burn under the intensity of his stare, but this time a touch of nausea accompanies it. Shirley comes into view, walking toward us, an unquestionable expression of hurt on her face. I quickly remove his hand and step back.
“Hey Shirl,” I exclaim as enthusiastically as I can manage.
“Hey,” she says with a forced smile. Arms thrown behind my back, I turn to Jared attempting to rectify what she might have interpreted from afar. I immediately move into wing woman mode and start the conversation Shirley and I previously agreed to.
“Jared, did you know that Shirley has been in four beauty pageants?” Glancing at Shirley, I nod to encourage her to finish the rest of the conversation.
“Uh, no, I didn’t,” he replies with a confused chuckle. A brow rises as he strokes his chin.
“Yeah,” she says beaming, moving in front of me to bring the focus more on her. I gladly side-step back and allow her to take charge. A promise is a promise.
Jared kindly keeps up the conversation with her even though I catch him watching me out of his peripherals every now and then.
Each time the conversation fizzles, I start up the next topic Shirley and I had agreed on to keep it going. I caress Shirley’s arm and step beside her.
“Jared, did you know that Shirley is going to Jenkin’s University as well?”
Both eyebrows raise in interest. Bingo. “Oh, really? No, I didn’t know that. What are you going to major in?”
Her face lights up in excitement at the now fully drawn attention from him. I give myself a mental pat on the back. His eyes no longer veer to me in any capacity, so I assume my job is done and walk away, the ghost of his hand where it caressed my chin still lingering quietly.
Luckily, I’m quickly distracted by the magnificence of this place and I happily explore with my new freedom, wanting to see more of it.
I walk to the back pool area and stare in awe at how large their pool is.
It’s not exaggerating to say it’s the size of a small lake, shaped in an ongoing curve like fashion with beautiful clear water.
A large black W for his last name, Wallace, is painted on the bottom of the it.
The pool overlooks a monstrous backyard with perfectly mowed green pathways on the sides in between two lines of trees.
About a mile back, the backyard ends into a small wood where an extravagant water fountain sits, spraying water out of some type of statue in the middle.
I stroll along the green pathway, taking my time and enjoying the nice weather and quiet away from the noise of the party, soaking in the beauty.
It takes me ten minutes to get to the fountain, but it’s worth it as I stop right in front, admiring the beauty of it in the setting sun.
The light hits the female crystal figurine in the center of it, splitting into rainbows under the mists coming out of the spouts in her hands.
Two large stone dogs sit on each side of her.
“My dad had this built in honor of my mom’s dog training career. She was a legend back in the day.”
I whip around, my heart racing. I was so lost in thought, I forgot other people were here.
“Jared, you scared me!” I huff, gripping my hand to my chest.
His expressions apologetic. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.
I saw you admiring the fountain, so I wanted to tell you what it was about.
Not many people know about my mother’s professional dog training background.
It’s pretty cool, the work she did. She traveled all around the world, won some medals and even helped train military dogs there for a while. ”
I stare in awe at the crystal woman in front of me. What an amazing woman. Such power…over herself, animals and likely people.
“Why’d she stop?”
He smiles softly, albeit sadly. “She became pregnant with me.” He pauses, taking a breath as if to steady himself.
“Her pregnancy was rough. She was sick and bedridden almost the entire time. Then once she had me, she had post-partum depression so bad she could barely take care of herself, let alone me. My father, who is no longer in the picture, had to take ownership of me for a while. It ripped them apart. She blamed him for everything…her loss of career, her life, and for ruining her body. She wasn’t a bad person; her mental health was just in a terrible place.
She ended up divorcing my father and taking full custody of me in the divorce.
My father, the poor bastard, was still madly in love with her.
It wrecked him. He had this built right after I was born, hoping it would show her what she could still be if she wanted and how he believed in her.
Unfortunately, she was too far gone. It wasn’t until she met my stepdad and got into therapy that she became a good mother.
I’d swear you can even say she loves me now.
My father on the other hand hasn’t bothered to show since divorce court.
So, you could say he definitely doesn’t. ”
A noticeable bitterness surfaces in his tone under his fake chuckle before he goes quiet, his attention on the fountain.
When I look back at the statue, she no longer seems magnificent. What kind of horrible woman would do that to the father of her child, let alone her own child. I wish she would have gotten help sooner or things would’ve turned out differently for Jared’s sake. That’s tough.
Is this why Jared pushes himself so hard and hopes to move far away from a home this beautiful? Maybe this isn’t some beautiful mansion to him but a reminder of the hardships he’s had to endure.
I brush his arm gently with my fingers to comfort him when I can’t find the right words to say because what else is there to say to that story besides, “I’m sorry”.
He grabs my fingers and holds them on his arm under his hand.
My cheeks burn at us practically holding hands, but again, not in a flattered way.
It’s uncomfortable. Wrong. Nothing like Ben’s touch.
It’s just friendly touching. It doesn’t mean anything.
“I’m sorry, Jared. I can’t imagine what that must have been like to deal with as a child. Have you lived here your entire life?”
He nods, continuing to stare at the statue, his face unreadable.
“I’ve broken this statue three times. My stepdad always pays to fix it.
He’s under my mom’s thumb but he seems to enjoy it.
To be fair, my stepdad is a good guy, I just think he has low self-esteem.
Plus, I have him to thank for my life getting better after he got my mom into therapy.
But after everything, I can’t find it in me to feel much love toward him.
I’d rather just not have parents and do my own thing away from all the drama and baggage that comes with it. ”
I squeeze his arm, unable to imagine feeling that strongly about escaping your parents or the life you grew up in.
“Well at least you’ll be moving out soon, so you won’t have to see her anymore if you don’t want to.”
“Kinda. She forced a stipulation on me where she won’t give me any money unless I visit home a minimum of once every three months.
I won’t need her money for long, but I’ll need it at the start.
I’ll be forced to come here for the first couple of years until I’ve saved up enough, but after that I’m free. Fully free to escape forever.”
He grips my fingers harder, almost painfully.
“Ow.”
“Sorry, you okay? My anger came out in my grip there. I apologize.”
He releases his grip, enabling me to shake my fingers out.
“Yeah, it’s okay. I’m fine…” I say hesitantly, looking for a way to escape. “Wait. Where’s Shirley?”
He rolls his eyes, minutely shaking his head and his blonde hair with it. “I left her in the kitchen talking to one of my cousins who's here from out of town.”
“Oh?”
“Why were you trying to set me up with her?”
Unprepared for such a blunt question, I shift on my feet and look down, embarrassed.
“We’ll talk about it later. For now, let’s go back to the party, shall we?” He holds his arm out for me.
My muscles freeze in hesitation. Is it wrong to grab his arm now that I know I want to be with Ben?
“I won’t bite.” He winks, his mischievous smile returning.
Chuckling awkwardly, I grab his arm to appease him. I guess it won’t cause any harm. Technically, friends do this, right?