CHAPTER 84

MELANIE.

TURNS OUT JASMINE COULD DO ACCENTS TOO.

Well, not exactly accents, but she could do what she swore were accurate imitations of the people she'd disliked in the ‘prison’ she escaped from.

She even did a Hilary Clinton one that had us both in stitches. We'd talked long after all our food was gone, and laughed a great deal too. Jasmine was funny and quick-witted, and some of the things she'd done in her prim and proper school and the authorities' reactions to them were pretty bold. She'd gotten suspended twice.

According to her, it wasn't her fault they didn't have a sense of humor. Sometime in the middle of telling her how Jordan had openly declared he hated my pizza but secretly kept on eating it, the intercom crackled.

“Melanie?”, Jordan said. I sobered up and went to my desk, pressing the button.

“Yes, Jordan?” I replied in a sweet voice that made Jasmine snicker.

“My walls are soundproof”, he told me. I furrowed my brow, unsure how he wanted me to respond to that.

“Um, good for you”, I said uncertainly.

I heard him take a deep breath and exhale. “My walls are soundproof, yet I can still hear you and Jasmine chattering like magpies.”

I smiled slowly. “Must not be very good soundproofing then”, I said helpfully and Jasmine snorted.

Another deep breath. “Are you suggesting that I use substandard products for my buildings then?”, he asked.

I gasped in mock horror, “Not at all sir! How can I?”

“Melanie, get back to work? I don't pay you to sit around doing nothing”. Jordan gritted out, his small capacity for patience having been depleted.

“Actually, you haven't paid me at all. When do I expect my paycheck?”, I shot back with a small smile.

I heard him mutter a low expletive and click off and my smile spread.

“You, are an absolute genius. I've never seen anyone handle him like that before”. Jasmine laughed, “except Blainey.”

Ah, so she did know Blaine, which told me they went farther back than I thought. Except..the small smile on her face told me she didn't just know him.

“Jasmine, do you have a crush on Blaine?”, I asked.

The way she volunteered and stumbled over her words told me I was spot on.

“What? No! He's like, old. Why would you think that?” She mumbled, not quite meeting my eyes. I simply folded my arms and stared her down with a knowing look until her shoulders slumped.

“Fine, maybe a little. Always have. Is it that obvious?”, she asked.

“Baby girl, you could put it on a billboard and it wouldn't be more obvious”, I drawled.

She covered her face with her hands. “Jeez, but he's absolutely gorgeous so I can't help it. He's fun too, unlike Grumpy in there”.

I nodded along, suddenly hit with nostalgia. Skies, I missed my friend.

Jasmine suddenly waved her hands in front of her. “You know what? I don't want to talk about it anymore. He's way older, and he wouldn't even look my way”, she said.

I hummed in thought, “People with large age gaps between them get together all the time. The only reason why he won't look your way is because your brother will murder him”. I said, matter of fact.

She nodded in agreement, “I absolutely believe that.”

I wasn't the best person to meet for advice on boys and whatnot, but the look in her eyes compelled me to say something.

“Look, Jasmine. I know we just met, but from what I've seen so far, any guy who gets within three feet of you should offer a sacrifice of worship to whatever he serves.”

She laughed, “Weird choice of words, but thanks. That was nice to hear.”

I smiled at her and then we sat in silence for a minute before I stood up.

“Well, I should probably get back to work. Holler if you get bored, or go in there and annoy your brother”, I gave her a final smile before crossing the room to my desk. As I made to sit down, my phone pinged twice.

I took it out as I sat down, opening the text from Bennett. I frowned and my mood went down a few notches. The tone of his text was cold, which was odd, and in it he told me never to drop in on him unannounced. He said something about not liking surprises but it didn't ring sincere. I just closed his chat and made to drop my phone when I saw the unknown number had replied. I opened the message and my blood ran cold.

This time there was a photo of me and Bennett in Paris hugging in front of the cafe with me crying into his chest. The caption was a simple, “Still laughing now? Watch your six, rugrat”.

My blood thawed and started to boil as anger took over.

I typed out a quick angry text in response.

“If you so much as come near him, I will grind your bones into dust, sell your kidneys to the nearest hospital and buy myself a fucking yacht”, I pressed send and dropped the phone while fuming.

Cadell had messed with one member of my family before and I had barely recovered. I'll be damned if I let him touch another. Especially now that I was older and could do something about it. I buried myself in files and correspondence until a headache started to come on. As I massaged my temple, my phone buzzed with a text from Jordan.

Apparently, Jasmine had gone into his office to annoy him without my knowledge and he wanted me to take her home. I checked the time and shrugged; it was close to the end of work hours anyway. I was on my feet packing up my bag when Jasmine and Jordan came out of his office, looking more identical than ever with matching annoyed looks on their faces.

“Ready to go?”, I asked with a smile to try and ease the tension but Jasmine just nodded stiffly. O..kay. They'd obviously had an argument.

“You can't go out like that, unless you're trying to advertise your presence”. Jordan said, his tone frosty. Before they could reenact whatever argument they'd had, I held up a hand and told them to wait then walked away. I reappeared minutes later holding a hoodie I'd snagged from Blaine's office and held it out.

“It’s the best we can do for now.” She took it and put it on, stuffing her hair in and pulling the hood over her head. After giving Jordan a stiff hug, she followed me into the elevator. “So”, I started on the ride down. “Wanna talk about it?”

“No”, she replied and I decided to just keep my mouth shut.

As we walked out the front doors and towards my fixed car, I rummaged in my bag for my keys, frowning when it was taking longer than usual. I could swear I put them in there.

Or maybe I had left them in the ignition? I looked up at my car and immediately my eyes narrowed on one of the doors. It was just the slightest bit ajar and I remembered double-checking the locks this morning. Then all at once, I remembered the guy who bumped into me, the hate in his eyes, the texts from Cadell.

A gust of wind suddenly blew past, making the door swing open wider. I turned and dived for Jasmine, tackling her to the ground and covering her body with mine as my car exploded.

Watch your six, rugrat.