Chapter 46: Sister

Jasmine had grown to find comfort in knowing Nick would always answer her texts, a comfort she hadn’t been aware of until he went radio silent. His commitment to the disappearing act would be admirable, if it wasn’t so frustrating for the mother-to-be.

She wrote out paragraphs worth of text that explained her fears about the baby, the photographer, if he’d still be in her life. None of them were sent, but they were therapeutic, nonetheless. The imagined conversations kept her optimism alive, at least for now. Merrick said that Nick would likely be out for two weeks based on messages sent right before he dropped off the face of the earth, so she held on to that.

There had been no tabloid covers plastered with her image surrounded by baby items in the last couple of days, which was a small victory. At least he still monitored their public image.

She left for lunch on the third day he was gone and upon entering the lobby was met with a commotion. At the front door, she saw two of the security guards holding back a tiny form that was screaming and yelling.

“Please! I just need to talk to her for five minutes!” Jasmine sighed. She thought Andrea was more dignified than to resort to tantrums.

She walked closer, and the guard’s calm voice became audible. “Ma’am, unless you have a guest pass, you aren’t allowed to enter. Please leave before we contact the police.”

Jasmine walked to the side and got a clear view of her sister. Her hair was a mess, frizzy and sticking out in all directions. Her cheeks were streaked with mascara from her tears. She felt a pang of pity. “You’re not going to stop until you talk to me, huh? Where’s Mom?”

Andrea wiped her tears away and stood taller as soon as she saw Jasmine. “Oh, thank God. It’s just me. I’ve been trying to talk to you for days, but you’ve been ignoring me,” she said, her pompous attitude a stark contrast to the desperation seconds earlier.

“Fine. We’ll talk in one of the office rooms, that way Mom can’t just show up like y’all did last time.” She patted one of the security guards, Matt was his name, on the arm. “Thanks, guys. I got this.”

They stepped aside, and Jasmine pulled a tissue she kept in reserve out of her purse. “Here, you’d have a fit if you saw how you looked.”

“Thanks.”

Jasmine led her to one of the offices used exclusively for interviews, knowing that at the time of day it’d be empty for an hour or so. They sat down across from each other at the small table and began an awkward staring contest.

“Go on. Spit it out. Why have you been relentlessly stalking me for weeks?”

Her little sister sat up a little straighter. “First, we wouldn’t need to stalk you if you actually talked to us.”

“Which I’ve made abundantly clear I don’t want to do for years at this point.”

Andrea rolled her eyes. “Second, there’s actually a good reason if you could get off your high horse for ten minutes.”

“If you talk to me like that, I’m going to walk out the door and get security to throw you out,” she said, already exhausted with the conversation.

“Dad has cancer.”

The world stopped.

“It’s terminal.”

Jasmine looked for any trace of deception. “Andrea, I swear to God if you’re lying about this, I will never forgive you.”

“I’m not lying.” Her tears returned. “We found out a month or so before your graduation. They gave him six months. It’s why we came up here in the first place, and why we’ve been traveling between here and Georgia for the last three months. Mom would never step foot here if she didn’t have to. She hates ‘city folk.’”

Her mind was blank, so she did what she always did with her family; she went on the defensive. “Then why was Mom talking about me taking over the business? Why did you have my whole life tracked down? Why not just message me? What could you possibly gain?”

“I don’t give two shits if you come back. I’m the most eligible bachelorette there with a whole fortune at my feet with you gone.” Jasmine could see the arrogance she wielded was a shield, a shield that fell as she continued.

“But you know how Mom is. She wants you to come back. If you don’t, it’ll ruin her image as a dutiful and supportive mom. And quite frankly, neither of us are up to the task to run the business. You’re her last resort to keep her elite lifestyle. So, she told me to find anything I could that might persuade you, and I was pretty sure telling you about Dad over text would go over as well as a lead balloon. You wouldn’t have believed me. You barely believe me right now.”

Jasmine saw her little sister again as they had been during their childhood: her hair being ripped out with the violent strokes of a brush as their mom told Andrea and Jasmine how they needed to look prettier, be better, lock down a rich man. At night, they would curl up together in one of their beds and talk about their real dreams and aspirations.

Jasmine wanted nothing more than to travel. Andrea wanted to be an architect, but most of all, she wanted to make Mom happy. And in that moment, she saw the vulnerable child in front of her again.

“I’m sorry for leaving.”

Andrea wiped away her tears before they fell. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. But you should come see Dad. He really wants to see you. He’s been different since the diagnosis. You might actually like this version of him. He’s quiet—a little humble, if you can believe it.” She stood up. “I think he just wants to know you’re doing okay, so take that for what you will.”

A dying man’s wish. That was hard to deny, even with her mother’s claws in the mix. There was a little hope as she processed all of it as well, that maybe her dad might finally show her love in a normal way. He at least deserved to know about his grandchild.

Jasmine rose to her feet, trying to hide the brief struggle with her tummy. “Okay. But I’m only going for a week max. You make that very clear to Mom. I’m not flying with you guys either. I’ll arrange my own travel, and I’ll show up when I do and leave when I want.”

Andrea grinned as relief flooded over her. She went around and went to hug Jasmine. “Thank you. He’ll be super happy. After that, I promise you won’t hear a peep from me again.”

Before she could stop her, Andrea wrapped her arms around her.

“Uh.” Andrea said, pulled away and looked down at the shirt that now accentuated instead of hid her bump.

“Yeah.” Jasmine took a deep breath. “There’s another complication.”