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CHAPTER 21
‘I won’t be the one’
The One - Chainsmokers
Jamie
“They wouldn’t let me in,” I exclaim as Rose comes out of the front door. The police have just left warning her to not drive in her condition – Drunk? High? In shock? – and she’s hurrying to her car in the garage.
“I know,” she says almost out of breath. “I’m going now.” She opens the door to her Bentley.
“Great, I’m coming with you.”
She freezes and turns to me, a hand on top of the car door. “You should stay here,” she declares.
She throws something on the passenger seat and gets in the car. As she goes to close the door, I put a hand on it.
“Are you joking? I’m coming!”
She sighs and runs a hand through her hair. “Jamie, this…” She looks around and back at me. “You need to give us a minute. Stay here.”
I’m gobsmacked by her reaction. “Rose, surely you can’t expect me to…” My gaze wanders and stops on whatever she threw on the passenger seat. “Is that the form? You’re bringing it to him? Are you expecting him to sign because you have?”
“What?” She turns around and realizes what I’m talking about.
I can see she’s refraining herself from rolling her eyes at me. I’m not following fast enough and it’s pissing her off. How can I understand what’s going on? I’m in way over my head.
“I’m just not leaving them for anyone to find. This is pure gold to Bianco, and I can’t trust anyone with it.”
“Not even me?” I ask, incredulous.
There’s a long pause but she finally admits, “You’re his girlfriend, not mine, and no, you’re not on my list of people I trust.”
“What the hell is your goal here? You don’t want to let me see him, you don’t want to leave the paperwork with me. You know perfectly well if this ends up in the same room as Jake he will sign them. He would never let you move to Nathan’s on your own.”
“My goal is checking that my brother is alive and not leave my fucking life on a paper with the girl that used to date the other brother, who just coerced me into making him my legal guardian. Maybe that makes a little more sense to you now?”
I let out a shocked scoff. “You don’t trust me because I dated Nathan? That was before I knew of any of this mess, surely you can’t still hold me accountable for this!”
“That would be easier to do if you didn’t get all wet and bothered when Nate’s around. Now get your hand off my car.” Her tone doesn’t leave me a choice. It’s dark and deep. Like the growl from a guard dog protecting its property.
I retrieve my hand, shocked at what she said. I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to figure out what she thought of me. If the little comments here and there were really aimed at me or if that’s just who she is. Now I know; she doesn’t like me. She doesn’t like that I went from Nathan to Jake and worse, she caught on to my shame from earlier.
I run back inside the house to find my phone. It’s a mess. Not only the situation, the house as well. Roy and Carlo have turned the beautiful mansion into a slum. Mirrors are broken, furniture destroyed, floors soiled.
I find my phone on the bed in the guest room and look at the Ubers. I don’t care if Rose doesn’t want me there, she has no right to put herself between Jake and me. As soon as I open the app, I understand how naïve I am. It’s New Year’s Eve and there are no cars available. Usually there are not many cars. Stoneview is small and people rarely need taxis or Ubers since they all have their own drivers.
I let myself fall on the bed and dial the only person I know will help me no matter what. Again, my hopes fall to nothing when Emily’s voicemail talks back to me.
“Fuck!” I rage, hating my mom for never teaching me to drive and myself for not being able to afford a driving test.
In the following hour, I try Chris and Luke but none of them pick up. The lines are crowded with everyone calling each other for the new year. I text Rose countless times, call her but all I get in reply is a text: ‘he’s fine’. That was ten minutes ago. I try Uber again but there’s nothing.
Another hour passes by of me pacing the room. I tried the only cab company in Stoneview. They laughed in my face. I want to clean the house for them, but I don’t know where to start. I settle on the kitchen because I can’t put a foot in the living room without seeing Jake on the floor.
I sweep broken glass, clean up the floor, and wash the walls where they threw food. I do my best but it’s still clear that the room has been messed up. I check my phone and sigh. Another night I’m going to spend wide awake waiting for Jake to show up. The night at the police station and the whole day waiting for him to come back from D.C. was a nightmare. It was something I thought we’d never have to go through again.
I was wrong, it was only the beginning.
