Forty Seven

Chapter Forty Seven

‘So what are your plans now? What do you plan to do now that it has been almost proven that she is your sister?’ Charlie asked from the other end of the call.

Jennifer walked away from the French door, drawing the curtain down since it was night time already.

“Step sister.”

She corrected, walking towards the bathroom.

‘Sorry, step sister.’

“Well, I really don’t know. All I want to do right now is focus on the company. There are still a lot of things to be taken care of.” Jennifer took off her slippers and climbed into the bath tub to sit in it, staring right at the safe Francis had somewhat found a way to install in the wall. When he told her that, she had doubted him. It just seemed crazy to her. But what she was staring at that moment proved her wrong.

There she was staring right at a dresser sized safe filled with cash. She sighed, hugging her legs to herself.

‘Jennifer are you there?’ Charlie’s voice brought her back, reminding her that she was still on a call.

“Yes I am. I got lost in thoughts for some seconds.”

‘Do you need to talk?’

“About what?”

‘Everything? Anything? You got to know some pretty heart shaking information today and I think you should talk to someone about how you feel or rather, how you are feeling.’

Jennifer took off her robe, dumped it on the ground and turned on the tap a bit, the water running out slowly. She reached for the bottle of wine not far away and stared at it. “I don’t want to talk about it. Not now.”

‘Anytime you want to talk, I am your guy.’

“Thank you Charlie.” She paused as the question that had just popped into her head was sure to rouse a certain kind of pain in her heart and also make Charlie a bit pissed at her. But she was going to ask anyway.

“How is Mark?”

‘Ah, seriously.’ She could picture his eye roll which would be followed by a frown.

‘That guy hurt you Jennifer. In better terms, he led you on. Should you even bother your brain by remembering his existence?’

“Charlie…”

‘Don’t Charlie me, Jennifer. Stop hurting yourself .’ Jennifer closed her eyes, wondering how to ease his frustration. She knew he was talking that way majorly because he still didn’t understand why she would love someone like Mark when he was there. She sighed again.

“Jennifer, listen to me, I care about you a lot that I hate to see you get hurt every damn time. When you told me about Mark, I was angry. Not because I wish I was him but because he chose to do what he did at a time like that. You were going through a lot Jennifer and he foolishly hurt you a lot more. And I hate that.”

Jennifer smiled softly. “I know how much you care about me Charlie. In fact I might not even be sure anymore how much you care about me. And you are right, Mark’s actions came at a very wrong time. But, I … I just find myself missing him instead of hating him. When I am alone, my mind goes to him, yearning for his presence. Charlie, trust me when I say I have scolded myself numerous times over the past week for remembering him in such a way. But no matter how much I scold myself, I still end up thinking about him regardless, because…”

‘You love him.’ Charlie said in a low voice and Jennifer nodded sadly.

“I love him. And I don’t still understand why.” Jennifer felt a single line of tear rush down her eyes. She wiped them with the back of her hand, giving a nervous quite sarcastic short laugh afterwards.

“So, tell me, how is Mark?”

She heard him heave a heavy sigh before replying her. ‘Last time I checked, he locked himself in his work room. According to Mike he is working on something big.’

Jennifer closed her eyes and pictured Mark, shirt off, paints of different colours on his chest either in splatters or streaks. She could see his ruffled hair clearly and she could picture his hands moving, with a brush in his grasp, over the big thing he was working on.

“Are you doing fine Charlie?”

‘Yes I am. I miss you though. When will you be coming over to Hamesia? We haven’t completed our fun tour you know?’

“Oh yes. I would love to go on one right now. But, office duties and all these sister issues won’t let me do that now. Let’s see how things go first, in the next one month, I should be thinking of coming over. And I miss you too! Especially your cooking.”

‘Of course you miss my cooking.’

“You sound so cocky right now.” Jennifer said teasingly.

‘Why not? Anyway, I just can’t wait to see you. Don’t let office work kill you before then alright?’

“Yes sir.” Jennifer smiled grandly, putting her phone on speaker as she put it down beside her to pour herself a drink.

‘You know, I still can’t believe Francis hid a safe in your bathroom.’

“I can’t believe he cheated on me with our help now turned step sister.” She sipped a bit of wine.

‘I kind of expected the cheating part. Anyway it is good that you found this out eventually. It is good that you miraculously survived being drowned in a ocean so that you could find out who is who in your life.’

“I guess it is.” Jennifer stared at the phone’s screen.

‘Alright, I need to end the call now, I have office things to take care of. Take care of you.’

“Take care of you too. Thank you for everything Charlie. Bye.”

‘Good night.’

Jennifer ended the call and took another sip from the glass, setting it down after. She loosened the hair band holding her hair up into a ponytail, her hair falling down. After that, she grabbed her special oil she used to obtain relaxation whenever she was stressed and she opened the tap fully, poured some of the oil on her body before pouring some into the water. When the tub was filled with water to her desire, she turned off the tap and sat properly, relaxing into the bath tub.

She told herself to just enjoy the bath, to forget about whatever it was that was running through her mind. She closed her eyes and relaxed further as the silence all around her made things more easier. Already feeling less tension in her system, she began to hum her favorite song, swaying her head to the melody coming out of her mouth.

But her gradual body and mind easing process was soon interrupted by her phone’s ringing tone. She sat up to check who it was, hoping at the back of her mind that it was someone not so important so she could just cut the call and switch the phone off to avoid future disturbance.

It was the lawyer. Reasoning that he wouldn’t call her unless it was something important, she picked his call.

“Mr Roberts.”

‘So, sorry to disturb you Ms Lewis.’

“It is okay. Is anything the matter?”

‘Well, yes. The female inmates prison yard just called me. Hannah has requested that you visit her.’

Jennifer frowned. “Requested? Why?”

‘According to the message sent from her, she indicated that she wants to tell you the full story. So, I am guessing she wants to explain the whole family issue.’ Roberts suggested.

“Oh well, I’ll create time to do that. But the PI should still continue his job.”

‘Definitely. Apologies for the sudden call. Goodnight.’

“It is fine. Goodnight.” Jennifer turned off her phone after, leaned back into the bath tub and wondered what it was Hannah had to say to her. She wondered what the things she would be hearing from her would be.

But determined to enjoy her bath, Jennifer pushed whatever thoughts she was having aside and she let the silence around her numb her mind as the water embraced her body.