Chapter 48. A tea
I walked out of the bathroom and crossed to the bedroom. Leah was sitting at the edge of the bed, a bright smile on her lips immediately put me on alert.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised.
"Why didn't you tell us Oliver was in town?" I widened my eyes a bit more.
"Because it's my business, not yours. I saw him today, but it didn't end well." I crossed to the other side of the room and sat on the stool at my vanity. I looked at my sister's reflection in the mirror. "How did you find out?" Her smile faded as she pressed her lips together.
"He came by a little while ago." I stood up quickly. "Since you went straight to shower, you didn't have time to see the spectacle that was brewing."
"What?" I took the towel off my head.
"Your boss was arguing with him in the street when our dad approached."
"What?!" I exclaimed, alarmed. She smiled again.
"I like Johnson; he's tall, burly, but a bit shy, though polite. He kind of reminds me of Jacob."
"Tell me he didn't do anything to Oliver," I said quickly, trying to find clothes to change into.
"No, but we already saw what he did before. It looks like he broke his nose." I turned to her.
"This isn't funny, Leah!" She crossed her arms.
"Of course it's funny to me that your boss gave him a beating. Jackson must have reacted for a reason, so I'll assume he disrespected you in front of him, and he didn't tolerate it."
"Witch." She smiled more. "But I know, I know, violence isn't good, Leah." I dressed quickly while she just watched me.
"Where are you going?" she asked, curious.
"I'm going to find Oliver and tell him to leave me alone."
"You won't go! Are you crazy?"
"I'll go, I'll talk to Michelle..." she interrupted me.
"Michelle is in town? How did she join her brother in this ridiculous adventure? If she's here, that means she'll do everything possible to get you back with Oliver." I could see the annoyance in her eyes. Leah and Michelle had become very good friends a while back, the best, until she moved abroad to study. Although Leah confessed she wasn't the same Michelle, I felt she was.
"I don't want to get back with Oliver, especially after how he's treated me."
"What did he say to make Jackson hit him?" I tensed, and she noticed. "If you don't tell me, I'll find out myself." I pressed my lips together.
"He disrespected me."
"What did he say? Give me more." She crossed her arms.
"That I was... used." She furrowed her brow, not understanding the last word until her eyes began to widen, her face reddening with anger.
"That son of a..." I stopped her as she intended to leave the room.
"No. It's my battle, not yours. Let me handle things my way."
She turned to me.
"Lilly, you're my sister. How do you expect me to stay calm after hearing what he said to you?"
"Jackson punched him."
"That's not enough. He's degrading you. Just because you gave yourself to him doesn't mean you can't do it with someone else. He's out of his mind! You have the freedom to give yourself to whoever you want, whenever you want!" She tried to calm down. "You know that, right?"
"I know," but even though I wanted to hide it, his words had bothered me.
"Alright, alright," Leah began doing a small breathing exercise to calm down, she was furious. "If you're going to see him, lie well."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Who?"
"Your boss."
I snorted.
"What does he have to do with whether I go or not? It's my business, my private life, and he won't find out anyway."
"Oh, he will." I furrowed my brow; there was something she hadn't told me, and she smiled.
"Tell me he's not in the living room having tea with our parents..."
"Oh, yes..." I opened my eyes, almost popping out of their sockets.
"No."
"Oh, yes. So you lie well, but I would recommend not doing it, because... you're terrible at it." Leah dodged me to leave. I stood there in the middle of my room, staring at the door she had just closed, my heart pounding. I brought my fingers to my lips, remembering her kiss before she left. The heat had surged within me just from that kiss, sending me straight to take a very cold shower to calm what it had stirred inside me. I changed clothes, and with my hair still damp, I left the room and walked down the hallway to the living room. I heard my parents laughing. Leah was standing and noticed I was coming.
"Lilly, you finally came out of your room. Look who's here." I reached the living room doorway, and Jackson stood up in one swift, elegant motion, holding his cup of tea and trying not to spill it. He looked at me, blushed, and then looked at his cup, his dark eyes settling on me again.
"Hi, your parents invited me up for tea."
"Of course, how could we not? He told us what Oliver did during your lunch break, Lilly." My mom had that look of restrained annoyance. She then glanced at Jackson and motioned for him to sit down again.
"Yes, he's very polite and—" she looked in his direction, "Thank you for defending my daughter. She prefers not to use violence..."
"But in this case, it was necessary," Leah said. "Thank you also for giving him a..."
"Leah," my mom warned. "What will Jackson think?"
"I won't think anything, but yes, I don't usually act that way." I crossed my arms, wondering what exactly he had said to make my family adore him so much right now.
"And how is your mother?" my mom asked casually, starting to chat with him. Leah came closer to me and smiled.
"Well, well, this tea... smells like something more." I raised an eyebrow and then narrowed my eyes.
"Don't start, Leah."
"I'm just saying..." she murmured near me.
After a few more minutes, Jackson had finished his tea. I even thought he had finished it on purpose to leave already. He seemed calm, not tense, but it must have been uncomfortable to be practically kidnapped by your employee's parents.
"Thank you for your hospitality, you are very kind to have invited me up."
"Thank you for accepting, we've enjoyed meeting our daughter's boss."
"I'll show him out," I announced with a smile to my parents.
"Of course, go ahead," Jackson shook hands with them and then approached me.
"Can we talk?" I nodded, closing the door after he passed. We started down the stairs until he stopped and turned to me after descending a few more steps to be at my level. "I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to tell your parents what happened with Oliver at lunch."
"Oh, don't worry, they were going to find out from me anyway. We communicate a lot, although I wouldn't have given them so many details about what he said to me."
"I know, I didn't give details, but they assumed with certainty that he offended you. How could you tolerate so much?" His gaze was filled with restrained anger.
"He wasn't like that, I think I mentioned it. I assumed it was the anxiety about the upcoming wedding. But it's a topic that gives me a headache, better," I cleared my throat, "Tell me, what did my parents say? Did they ask you anything? Did you tell them we're going on a date?" He smiled, amused by my barrage of questions.
"Good night, Lilly." Without another word, he turned and started down the stairs.
"Jackson? How are you going to leave me like this?"
"See you tomorrow at the office, Miss Bradley." He crossed the glass doors and disappeared from my sight. A smile appeared on my lips, and then I sighed, biting my lip. As I released it, I shook my head slowly, my heart still racing from his presence and closeness.
"What are you doing to me in such a short time, Johnson?"