Chapter 8
1921 Words
Jason
I was waiting in the living room.
Right after I dropped Jessica at Ricardo’s office, I immediately called Cathy to ask if she was okay if I came to her house right now and she said yes. She was currently in the kitchen making tea and possibly some snacks for me. Ricardo also asked me to accompany her to the doctor for another check-up because he couldn’t be with her thanks to his important meeting. I bet he was extremely guilty because he couldn’t accompany her. And he wanted to be there for every single check-up to see their child’s growth in his wife’s body. But he knew his wife, she would never question it and let her husband attend the meeting. That’s the kind of a girl my sister was, always thinking of other people first before herself. And stubborn as well.
I heard her soft footsteps as she returned by bringing two cups of tea and some biscuits. She put down all of them on top of the table and sat beside me. “Thanks, Cat.” I grabbed the tea and drank a sip.
“How are you doing, Jason?” she asked.
“Good. I visited Mom and Dad before I came here. They said you were waiting for me.”
“I was.”
“I’m sorry I immediately returned to London after your wedding.”
“That’s okay, it was needed. I heard about Scotland. I’m so proud of you.”
“Thank you.”
She put down her cup. “So, you will be accompanying me to the hospital today?”
“Yep.” I looked down at her stomach, it was not that round yet because she was still at the early age of the pregnancy.
“What would you like, Cat? The baby.”
“It doesn’t matter as long the baby is safe and sound,” she replied. That was so typical of her. Cathy would be a great mother in the next nine months.
“I think your baby will be a great friend with Eva’s son.”
She directed her baby blue eyes to me. “I hope they will.”
I shook my head. “I know they will be a good friend with each other. Or at least frenemies just like their dads.”
She giggled cutely. “I heard they will get the one they wanted; a boy.”
“Yeah. Eva met someone while she was doing a check-up before, saying something about this man being her friend and leaving a great presence in her heart but he died on the same day they met. She wanted to honor him by using his name.”
“Wow, that’s cool.”
Even I was amazed by her. To be honest, Eva was too pure and white to be living in this world. Almost like she was the true definition of an angel. I already knew about her past, and James told me about her. I had met her bastard father and thank God he was in jail now. I couldn’t believe he did that to her daughter. Good thing he hadn’t raped her or James would snap and kill him himself. He also mentioned the scars on her body, burn scars. Eva must be feeling down with her body like that, especially around James. She thought James would never want her because she thought men only desired a flawless body from a woman. She thought James would be disgusted. I knew James would never judge her. He was an asshole but he would never body-shame anyone. He loved every single of her flaw just like Eva loved him wholly.
I wondered if there would be someone to do that to me.
No one, not even Jessica.
Ah, f**k you.
“Jason, you’re okay?” Cathy asked, snapping my attention back to my sister.
“Y-Yeah, I’m okay. What time your check-up will be?”
“One.”
“I’ll treat you to lunch later.”
She giggled. “Thanks, Jason.”
***
Jessica
It was almost lunchtime.
I was still waiting for Ricardo’s guest so I could have lunch. I wanted to wait but Ricardo, as usual, forbade me. He said I could have my lunch as long I had prepared all the documents for him. I already did and now I was just waiting for his guest.
He was sooooo late.
The meeting should begin ten minutes ago. Was this Mr. Stone having any knowledge of how punctual Ricardo was? Or maybe he was getting his revenge because Ricardo canceled it at the very last minute before? But he looked fine at that time, or was it just a mask?
Ricardo had asked two times whether Mr. Stone had arrived and my answer remained the same. I knew he was mad already but he never blew the volcano toward me but I was sure, he would attack this poor Mr. Stone later in the meeting. Positively, he would yawn and reject his offer. It was great my boss would never throw his tantrum on me because of someone else. He always directed them at his rightful target. Which I prayed would not happen. Ricardo in his beast mode? A big no-no.
I really hoped Mr. Stone would show up before his third and final call because only God knew what Ricardo would be doing. He would cancel it immediately and go to Cathy.
The elevator dinged and the man finally arrived. I immediately stood up as Mr. Stone went to me in a hurry. “Hi, Miss Jensen. I’m so sorry for being so late,” he said, running out of breath. Did he run his old foot here?
“No, Mr. Stone. It’s totally okay.” No, it was not. Ricardo would verbally assault him later. “What happened, sir?”
“Some trouble back in the office and the traffic was bad. It’s not an excuse; I should’ve called you,” he explained. I could only smile in an assuring way. I couldn’t feel annoyed or pissed at him since he was heavily sweating.
“Did you run here, sir?”
“I did. I got out of the taxi when I saw the car didn’t move at all for fifteen minutes.” Well, I should give him a credit for that.
“Please, follow me, sir.” I hoped Ricardo wouldn’t explode later. As long the reason was reasonable, Ricardo would listen. I escorted him to the meeting room where I had prepared a drink and some snacks. They would go straight to lunch right after the meeting so I only prepared the snack. Just some tomato bruschetta but those should be enough to fill their empty stomach. “I’ll go call Mr. Williams now.”
“Thank you, Miss Jensen.”
I headed to Ricardo’s office and when I was about to knock, the boss suddenly opened the door, surprising me. His expression was flat, not raging like before. But at least, he came out when Mr. Stone had arrived. Phew.
“Um, Mr. Stone has arrived.”
He smirked. “About time.” He closed the door and I saw him already bringing out his laptop and phone. Oh.
“You heard us.”
His brown eyes were on me immediately. “I did. I was about to go out to ask you again when I heard you two talking.”
“He said he ran as fast as he could.”
“I know. But he should at least inform you if he was running late, not letting us assume things.” That…I had to agree with him. Ricardo sighed and said, “Lucky man. Well, I owe him for letting me cancel the meeting before. Consider it done.” I smiled at him. “You can have your lunch now, Miss Jensen. I’ll be back probably around three.” I nodded my head as he patted my shoulder and headed to the meeting room. I went to my table and grabbed my purse, phone, and wallet. I took the elevator and headed to the food court on the third floor.
When I arrived, the place was already packed with lots of staff and I immediately headed to the Japanese cuisine corner.
This was one of the reasons why I enjoyed working in Ricardo’s company, he provided a lot of cuisines for his staff, presenting us for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Even opening Starbucks on the ground floor. I couldn’t be more thankful than that. Even the cafeteria was beautifully decorated. He made sure his staff didn't get stressed out while working here.
“Hi, Akari,” I greeted the cook.
“Hi, Jess. The usual pork cutlet?”
“Yes, please.”
“I’ll prepare it now.”
“Thanks.” I sat at the table right in front.
Akari was two years younger than me and she was currently learning cooking. Her mom used to be around but she trusted her daughter to handle the shop for a while. She went back to Japan to visit her family there. Akari was half American and half Japanese. She lost her father three years ago and both her parents were Chefs. She must have inherited her passion for cooking from her parents.
While waiting, my phone chimed and I pulled it out of the purse, seeing Jason’s name on the screen and I picked it up. “Hello?”
“Hi, Jess. Are you having lunch now?”
“I am. Are you in the hospital?”
“Yes. But we’re still waiting for our turn. The doctor had to handle her patient who went into labor unexpectedly,” he explained.
“Well, you can wait.”
“I can. I’m not Ricardo.” I laughed. Yep, not Ricardo. Sometimes he could be impatient about…everything. He was too punctual in everything. It was a good trait but sometimes could be annoying, too.
“He almost canceled the meeting again,” I told him.
“Why?”
“The guest was late and he said he had something going on in his office and the traffic was bad. But he admitted it was his fault and Ricardo listened. He said he should consider it since he also canceled the meeting at the very last minute, too.”
“Well, my buddy is not that scary at all, as long they keep their hands away from his wife.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to witness that. Ricardo in his foul mood is scary enough.”
“I can imagine that.”
“Mrs. Williams?” I heard someone call Cathy’s name.
“Ah, Jess, I will call you again later to talk about our date tomorrow.”
“Do you still want to take me out?”
“Of course. It’s our first official date.” Oh? I didn’t know but I was happy with that.
“You can call me again after you’ve finished accompanying your sister.”
“I will. See you around, Jess. Enjoy your lunch.”
“I will. Bye.” We ended the call and by the time Akari came and put down the pork.
It’s our first official date.
For the first time after a long time, I was excited to go on a date.
I thought I should pat myself on the back for that. For not just giving Jason a chance, but me as well.
Good job, Jess. Keep it up.
- Writer
