can’t leave me here like this, you ungrateful ingrate, after everything I’ve done for you.”
“Father, you did this to yourself. There’s no one to blame but you. Jeni, c’mon.” He takes my hand and we walk down the staircase to the front door.
“Aiden!” Alistair yells.
Aiden slams the door hard, and we walk to the Aston Martin.
“Are you sure we should be leaving him here on his own? He can’t do anything for himself.”
Aiden opens my door. “I know we can’t. I’ll send Marissa over to care for him, but until she gets here he can sweat it out on his own and see what it’s like to have no one. I’ve had enough of him treating you this way, and I don’t want to hear any more of his caustic tone,” he says raising his voice.
We drive in an awkward silence and there is a feeling of tension in the air. I’m feeling disheartened and Aiden’s silence only serves to heighten my emotions. I turn to look at Aiden, his brows are furrowed and his hands on the steering wheel are clenched so tightly that his knuckles are turning white.
When we arrive home, we walk quietly to our room, trying not to wake Sarah and Chris. Aiden is still silent as we take off our clothes and crawl in bed together. The fact that he is touching me, puts my mind at ease as he cuddles into my back stroking my arm.
“I love you, Jeni, more than anything in this world, you know that, right?” he whispers in my ear.
I feel instant relief wash over me. He finally says something, and it couldn’t have been more perfect. I close my eyes and smile, taking his hand in mine and holding it to my chest.
“I know, babe, and I love you, too,” I say, bringing his hand up to my lips and kissing it. He cuddles into me further, and with our love confessed and tensions eased, we both drift off to sleep.
CHAPTER 5
I’m awake, relaxing in bed in the arms of my man, thinking about last night and how badly it could have gone. I suddenly hear the sound of Sarah shrieking. What the hell? I sit up in bed along with Aiden who looks back at me with the same confused stare. I start to panic. Why would Sarah scream like that? I get up and throw on my robe, and Aiden puts on a pair of boxer shorts. We quickly make our way to the kitchen to see Chris chasing Sarah around the kitchen with a snail. I feel instant relief as I figure out that her shriek was from nothing sinister but more from something silly.
We both laugh as Sarah screams, running as fast as she can around the kitchen island to get away from Chris and the snail, who are in hot pursuit of her.
“Chris, get it away from me. It’s disgusting,” she says with a stern look on her pale face.
“Nah, babe, I’m gonna cook it up and eat it. They’re a delicacy you know.” He stops at the sink with Sarah on the other side while they stare each other down.
“You know they don’t taste that bad,” Aiden says, adding to the conversation.
“See, babe, they taste good,” Chris calls out.
“Anything that comes from a dirty garden can’t taste good.”
“Sarah, you know fruits and vegetables come from a dirty garden, especially those strawberries that you love so much,” Chris says, raising his eyebrows up and down insinuatingly. Sarah blushes. Hmm, I wonder what that story is?
“Oh yeah…” Sarah says, turning bright red.
Chris moves around the counter towards her, and she shrieks again.
“Chris Starke, I swear to God if you come near me with that slimy thing, I will never open my legs for you again. Do you hear me? Not even for that thing you do with those strawberries,” she says, pointing at him and pursing her lips together like she’s really angry.
We laugh at Sarah’s reaction, along with Chris who brings the snail up into his line of sight.
“Looks like you get to live another day, little buddy. I can’t go on without Sarah and her strawberries.” Chris laughs and we watch him as he takes the snail back outside and pop it on a plant.
We walk into the now
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