17. Jake: Getting the Situation Straight

Chapter seventeen

Jake – Getting the Situation Straight

After dropping the bombshell, there are mixed reactions. Aurora stares at me with so much shock, her jaw is slacking open. She sits there frozen, her hand still held in mine, and I debate on slowly closing her mouth or just leaving her to deal with the shock how she deems fit.

Or you’re just scared she’ll bite you after the stunt you pulled . Yeah . . . that too . I rub soothing circles on the back of her hand.

Bella squeals and runs to our side of the booth, having switched sides when mom made Aurora sit beside me.

“It’s nice to officially meet you! Welcome to the family, Aurora! Can I call you Aur? Or Rory? Maybe Rora? Will you attend my wedding? I’m sure Jake has invited you, hasn’t he?” She pelts Aurora with questions, while hugging her tightly.

I still haven’t let go of her hand, and I’m really beginning to worry about her still-frozen reaction. She clutches my hand tightly as if it’s the anchor holding her, helping her realize she’s not in some crazy dream.

She stares blankly at Bella, who keeps asking questions. Mom notices her shock and mistakes it for discomfort, so she steps in, rescuing Aurora from Bella’s onslaught of questions.

“Bella, that’s enough. Don’t scare her away,” Mom says gently, while smiling fondly.

Bella pouts and goes back to her seat, wiggling her brows at me as she sits beside her mom.

Mom turns toward Aurora—who, thankfully, has managed to return her jaw to its rightful position. I’m a minute away from requesting smelling salts from her workers to jolt her back into ‘consciousness' when my mom softly smiles at her, her eyes crinkling with kindness. “Hi, darling. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Melissa Reynolds. You can call me Melissa, Mel, or Lisa, as it suits you, darling. Mrs. Reynolds makes me feel old.”

Aurora blinks herself back into the situation, and I inwardly breathe a sigh of relief. She smiles weakly and politely, reaching out to Mom with her other hand for a handshake. Because you’re still holding on to her right hand.

I scowl inwardly at the small voice in my mind. It’s absolutely normal for couples to hold hands, especially when you’re currently introducing them to your family members. Yeah, right. I inwardly narrow my eyes, refusing to ponder on the tiny conversation I just had with myself.

“It’s a pleasure to officially meet Jacob’s family. He speaks highly of you and Bella. Congratulations on your engagement, Bella. Thank you for coming, Melissa,” Aurora says, timidly and politely, and I can see she has captured Mom’s heart already .

Bella practically has excitement written all over her at the prospect of having a new sister.

“Call me Bells,” Bella says, then she bursts into a fit of giggles. “You call him Jacob? He hates it. Oooh . . . someone’s smitten,” she says, laughing, and my mom beams.

I’m about to reply to her when I hear the sound of a throat clearing. I look up to see Sophia with a sweet smile, but her eyes tell a very different story. They are stony hard and I realize she is glaring at Aurora. Alex has an unreadable expression on his face. He looks almost . . . constipated.

“Congratulations, Jake. You’ve finally moved on. How did you guys meet again? Because it’s barely been two months since you’ve moved down to Birchwood,” Sophia says, with a razor-sharp smile, crossing her arms, her red, manicured nails reminding me of drops of blood.

Mom sighs tiredly and glares at her. “Are you not tired of standing here and keeping your fiancé waiting? As you can see, this is a family moment, and we’d love to keep it that way,” mom says coldly, placing emphasis on the ‘fiancé.’

“But Mel—” she begins to say, but mom cuts her off.

“It’s Mrs. Reynolds to you, Sophia.”

Bella begins to protest at mom’s actions, but mom shoots her a look, and Bella keeps quiet, looking away with a sigh, her expression silently pleading with Sophia.

Sophia huffs and walks to a nearby table, her heels clicking angrily after her. Alex strolls after her and pulls out a seat for her. I don’t know why, but I turn to look at Aurora watching Alex’s action.

Her face is an aloof mask, but her eyes do nothing to hide her real emotions—anger and a little hint of hurt is hidden there. She whirls to face me and clenches my hand painfully tight.

Aurora smiles at mom politely and nods sideways at me. “Could you excuse us for a minute?”

She tightens her fingers around my hand harder when I try to talk, the pain promptly shutting me up.

“Sure, darling. We’ll be here,” mom replies, with a gentle smile on her face. Bella looks up and smiles, the last bit of her now cold pancakes in her mouth, her cheeks puffing up adorably.

Aurora laughs at the sight, the first real smile I’ve ever seen on her face. “I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy your breakfast hot and uninterrupted. I could get you another round,” she says, with a sweet smile on her face, and flags over Noah, who is currently manning the cash register.

“Oh no! Aurora, it’s fine. We’ll make do with this one. The pancakes are very delicious by the way, and the coffee is a delight.”

It looks as if Aurora is going to argue with mom, but she shakes her head with a kind smile. Noah reaches the booth, the smile still on his face. Do his cheeks never hurt?

Aurora stands and stumbles a little, so I quickly grab her arms to support her. “Are you okay?” I ask, but she doesn’t reply. Bella ‘ awwws’ at the act and proceeds to make kissy faces.

Aurora nods at my family, accompanying it with a slight grin at Bella’s antics, and she adds a wink also, shocking me. She leads me away from the booth, almost dragging me with her, Bella’s hearty laughter ringing out .

“May I clear your table now, ma’am?” I hear Noah ask, as Aurora leads me to what I assume is her office.

It is moderately sized: not big, not small. There’s a table and an office chair behind it. Files and stationery are neatly arranged on top. The office also has a shelf where files are in neat rows and columns, a mini fridge, and a couch in the shape of a doughnut. I have to raise my brows at that!

Aurora shuts the door and the moment we get inside she glares at me, her usually expressive eyes giving away nothing. I say nothing, the fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time dumbing up my tongue.

“Well?” she asks.

“Well, what?” I counter, raising my brows.

Her eyes shoot out sparks of fire at my reply and I realize I like it better when her eyes give something away, so I can read her expression or prepare myself for what to say next. I simply do not like the blank look in her eyes.

Beautiful, expressive green eyes, I wonder what you mean, says the sarcastic voice in my head.

She drags me to the couch, and I realize we’re still holding hands, and I don’t think Aurora notices it. I sit on the couch as she sits too, making no move to release our joint hands.

“How about you start from the beginning? What did your mom mean when she said they specifically came to meet me in Birchwood? Why did they assume I am your girlfriend?” she fires in rapid succession, not giving me a chance to reply before moving on to the next question.

At the next question, I realize that her voice drops down a notch and her shoulders sag tiredly.

“Do you know Alex? And Sophia is your ex-girlfriend, isn’t she?” she asks, wearily, and suddenly I feel guilty, because she is now involved with the situation, whether she likes it or not.

Today has taken an absolutely terrible turn and nothing seems to make sense right now. I sigh and lean back on the couch, turning to face Aurora. Our eyes fully collide, and I see a strange emotion pass through hers. She looks away before I can decipher what I’ve seen there.

I stare at her beautiful side profile, her rich chestnut hair covering the side of her face—probably on purpose—and I resist the urge to tuck her hair behind her ear.

I don’t want her shielding her face from me for reasons I definitely don’t understand. We have a situation bigger than me wanting to stare at Aurora’s side profile. I clench my fist to stop myself from doing what I wouldn’t have an explanation for. Killing the itch to tuck her hair, I feel something funny happen in my stomach. Probably because I missed breakfast.

I sigh blearily, the complication of the situation weighing down on me. Not to sound cliché, but our joined hands fit perfectly. Her slim, beautiful fingers artistically wrap around my big hands. I look up to see Aurora also staring at our hands, her hair still framing her face, making it difficult to see her expression or guess what is running through her mind.

But a fact sticks out—she doesn’t let go of my hand, and I tighten mine on hers.

I understand that we both need this moment of companionship, not saying it out loud, but we both know our pasts have come crashing into our lives this morning, and the least we can do now is to comfort each other, waving a white flag at our mutual dislike.

I open my mouth to answer her questions, but she grips my hand tighter, seeming to prefer the silence for now and the comfort we’re currently offering each other. She leans back on the couch again, staring into nothingness, probably trying to make sense of the curve ball we both were thrown this morning.

I’m not a big fan of coincidences. I think events happen mostly as a result of planned efforts by someone, somewhere.

Sophia’s visit is not a coincidence. It is a result of her malicious wish to see for herself if I’ve truly moved on. What she plans to gain by it, I do not know.

But one thing I do know is that her coming down here means she plans to ruin the chances I have at happiness, even though the girlfriend part of it is not true. I know what she is capable of, and I fear what she might do to Aurora. I vow silently that I will do everything in my power to keep her safe from Sophia.

Aurora leans her head on my shoulder and it brings me out of my reverie. I rub soothing circles on her shoulder with my free hand. She seems to be out of it again, no doubt lost beneath murky waters of bad memories. I try not to think about my past with Sophia. I know I will not be able to escape the rush of memories that will come flooding back later, but right now, I want to focus on being there for the girl I have inadvertently dragged into this mess.

And if I’m being honest with myself, I need the comfort too.

Alex’s visit is also not a coincidence, it is a planned effort from his end to visit Aurora in Birchwood. I believe life is full of events made from efforts planned by other people. What does Alex want with Aurora? Surely, his only purpose in Birchwood isn’t to rub his engagement to Sophia in her face. Does he want her back? For some reason, that thought doesn’t sit well with me.

But Sophia and Alex? What are the odds?