One Wild Night

Harry gave Jade a once over when she joined him in the living room some minutes later, dressed casually in a long-sleeved floral top and a pair of black trousers.

“Ready?” He asked, and she gave him a nod.

“Yeah,” Jade said quietly. Perhaps it was because of Harry’s unexpected behavior in the last couple of minutes, the mere sight of him now not only made butterflies flutter in her belly his voice also made her heart jump.

“Let’s go,” Harry said as he led her to the door and held it open for her.

How he had managed to switch from sexy Harry back to gentlemanly Harry in a couple of minutes was something she needed to study. She hoped that wouldn’t be the last time she would experience that Harry.

When they got to the car he held open the passenger door for her to get in but Jade hesitated, “I think you should let me drive,” Jade said, but Harry’s expression did not change.

“Get in. I don’t have all night,” he said with forced patience.

“I don’t think you are in the state of mind to drive,” Jade insisted, and Harry raised a brow.

“Did I seem distracted when I kissed you a short while ago?” He asked, and color rose on Jade’s face as she quickly got into the passenger seat without arguing further.

Once Harry shut the door he went around the car and got into the driver’s seat while Jade turned her face to the window as he started the car and drove off.

“What are you thinking about? Why are you so silent?” Harry asked, turning to spare her a glance when she had remained quiet for some minutes after he had been driving.

“Will you tell me how you feel if I ask?” Jade asked as she turned to face him.

“How I feel about you, you mean?” He drawled, and Jade stifled the urge to giggle, knowing that he was deliberately trying to be obtuse.

“I’m being serious here. Quit trying to be funny,” Jade scolded, and Harry scoffed.

“Why? A boring guy like me is not supposed to be funny?” Harry asked, and she grinned this time.

“You are still not over that yet? Don’t let it bother you anymore. You’ve succeeded in clearing my doubts. I don’t think anything is boring about you anymore,” Jade said, and Harry arched a brow.

“Why? Because I kissed you?” He asked, making Jade look at him with a surprised expression. She hadn’t expected him to refer to that.

“Wow! You keep outdoing yourself in surprising me today,” Jade murmured, and Harry chuckled.

“What have I done that is so out of the ordinary, Esquire?” Harry asked, and Jade looked at him as she tried to put her thoughts into words.

She cleared her throat when Harry turned to spare her a glance, “Well, you’ve always been so gentlemanly and I didn’t expect this…” She raised her hands helplessly as she tried to find the right word.

“This part of you. If I didn’t know better I would think you were a Casanova,” Jade said as she let both hands fall on her thighs.

Harry smirked, “You would have known I’ve always been this way if you didn’t choose to avoid me after that night,” Harry said, and Jade looked at him with interest.

“Were you interested in me back then?” She asked, still unable to believe it even though he had mentioned it earlier.

“Did I look or sound uninterested when we spoke that night?” Harry asked as he turned to spare her a glance and Jade shrugged.

“Well, you didn’t exactly say or do anything to make me know you were interested in me,” Jade said, and Harry arched a brow.

“Did you expect me to behave inappropriately towards you when I knew you had a boyfriend and he was there with you?” Harry asked, and Jade shook her head.

“No. Let’s not talk about that. It’s all in the past now. Back to the point…”

“What point?” Harry cut in.

“Well, I was trying to say I didn’t expect you to be this way. I mean for someone who has never been with a lady…”

Harry raised a brow, “I had no idea that being celibate meant I had to be timid and naive,” Harry said dryly, and Jade rolled her eyes.

“That’s not what I meant. Your behavior earlier and now doesn’t seem like it’s the first time you’re doing something like this.”

“Why? Are you jealous that I might have been this way with someone else?” Harry asked, and Jade eyed him with annoyance when she noticed that he was deliberately evading her question.

“Forget I said anything,” Jade muttered under her breath.

“Should I also forget that you said you are interested in me?” Harry asked, and Jade scowled at him.

“Yes. You can forget that too!” She snapped at him, and Harry chuckled.

“Then you don’t mind me having eyes for Aurora or other ladies, do you?” He asked sweetly, turning in time to see Jade glaring at him.

“Are you trying to piss me off?” She hissed at him, and he grinned at her.

“Why are you always so short-tempered?” Harry murmured as he returned his attention to the road.

Jade studied his side profile, and she didn’t know what to make of his carefree attitude. She had thought he would be broken by the news and everything so why did he act like he was perfectly okay? She mused as she kept looking at him.

“Why are you staring at me so intently?” Harry asked without turning to look at her.

“I’m wondering if you are okay. It’s not that I expect you to be fine considering everything, but you keep acting as if nothing happened. How do you truly feel?” Jade asked looking at him with concerned eyes.

“Are you bipolar? One minute you are staring at me like you want to gouge out my eyes, and the next you are worried about me,” Harry observed in amusement.

“Don’t try to change the subject, Harry. Are you okay?” Jade asked in a serious tone.

“I’m fine. You can stop worrying about me,” Harry said, but Jade continued to look at him doubtfully as she waited for him to tell her how he was really feeling.

“I’m waiting,” Jade said, and Harry sighed.

“If the situation was reversed and you were in my shoes, how would you feel? Maybe if you tell me, I will have a better idea of how I’m feeling,” Harry said, and Jade shook her head.

“I would have been hurt and devastated,” Jade said, and Harry glanced at her.

“Why?”

“Are you really asking me that? Finding out that sort of truth about your mom is bound to break anyone. I wasn’t even directly involved yet I wept when Tom told me about Sara and all she did to you guys. I was deeply sad. For you, Candace, and your dad,” Jade said, and Harry shook his head.

“I don’t feel hurt or devastated that someone like that abandoned me. She is not worth it. She is merely a stranger that means nothing to me. Her existence doesn’t mean anything to me or change anything for me. The only sadness I feel is for my dad and Candace who was most affected by her wickedness. I don’t think I was affected in any way.”

“Did Tom tell you that we both met her?” Harry asked, and Jade looked at him with interest.

“No, he didn’t. When? How?” Jade asked curiously and listened as Harry told her all about their brief exchange with Sara and how he later got to know she had been there to meet with his dad and Lucy.

“Let me get something straight, Lucy followed your dad to meet with her aunt who happened to be your mom. Is it that she didn’t know the whole time that her aunt was your mom or what? I mean, if Sara is her mom’s twin sister then she should have known that Sara was married, right?” Jade asked in confusion.

“They don’t have such a relationship. That was the first time Lucy met her,” Harry said, and then went on to fill Jade in on all the details.

He started by telling her all that Lucy had told them about Sara and how she ran away from home and went further to tell her what his father had said about Sara.

“Wow! I don’t know what to say,” Jade said with a shake of her head.

“It’s thanks to Lucy that we found out she lied about the death of the other twin. And it’s thanks to you that Lucy and Tom were able to figure out that Candace was the one,” Harry said, and Jade looked at him curiously.

“So she told Lucy the truth?” Jade asked, and Harry reached for his phone and unlocked it before handing it to Jade.

“You can listen to their conversation. She made a voice recording,” Harry said, and Jade played it.

Jade had a stunned expression on her face by the time she was done listening to the conversation between Sara and Lucy, “At this point I’m speechless,” Jade murmured as she rubbed the goosebumps on her arms.

Although she was impressed by how Lucy had handled everything, she shuddered at the thought that she had come across such a cold-blooded person. She couldn’t believe that woman was in any way blood related to Harry, Candace, or even Janet.

“How did Candace take the news?” Harry asked after some time.

“She wept. At first, she tried to pretend like she was unaffected, but then she broke into a sob and cried like a baby,” Jade said weakly, and Harry glanced at her.

“It must have been very upsetting for her,” Harry said, thinking about Candace.

“Yes, it was. As I told you earlier, it has been quite a rough day for her,” Jade said, reminding Harry of everything she had said before.

“I can’t even imagine how she must feel,” Harry said with a slight frown, reminding himself once again that his feelings didn’t matter at all.

The people who were hurting more than him were his father and Candace and all he needed to do was focus on them and help them set things in order.

“At first she was bitter when she found out about you and your dad. She was reluctant to come with me. She was concerned that there would be no room for her in your close-knit family. I had to do my best to convince her otherwise,” Jade said, and Harry’s heart ached for Candace. His sister. His twin sister who he had no idea how he was going to face.

“Why does she need a room in her own family?” Harry asked, feeling very sad for her.

“You will have to make that clear to her. She believes you and your dad have been together for too long to make room for an extra,” Jade said with a sigh.

“That is nonsense,” Harry said harshly, and Jade nodded.

“I agree with you. But after finding out she was sold by her own mother and then learning how she ended up at the orphanage and also living with someone like Jero, you can’t blame her for being a little wary,” Jade said, and Harry sighed.

“I guess you are right.”

“You remember she and her sister were strippers, right?” Jade asked, reminding him of some of the conversations they had about Candace in the past.

“Yeah. Why?” Harry asked as he stopped at the traffic light and turned to look at her.

“She is sort of worried that you might be disappointed and ashamed of her…”

Harry gritted his teeth, “That should be the least of her worries. Her past doesn’t mean anything to us,” Harry cut in with an angry hiss, and Jade smiled.

“Yeah, I tried telling her that too. I’m only telling you this so you will know better how to relate to her when you meet her. She has a lot of emotional scars so you will have to take it easy on her,” Jade advised, and Harry gave her a nod.

“Sure, I will. Thanks,” he said, and Jade gave him a smile.

“You’re welcome. By the way, why did you decide to break the news to your dad that way? I thought you were going to wait until you were with him,” Jade said, and Harry sighed.

“He suspected she was the one already. There was no reason to lie to him or keep the truth away from him Unnecessarily,” Harry explained as he kept his gaze on the road he could only hope that his father would be fine at the end of it all.

The car was silent for the rest of the drive until Harry pulled into the parking lot of the hospital.

Immediately he turned off the car’s ignition, Jade placed a hand on his arm before he could reach for the door, “Can I hug you before we go in?”

“Jade…”

“I know you are in a hurry. It won’t take a minute,” Jade said, and Harry reluctantly leaned forward, and Jade embraced him.

“I know you said you are unaffected, but I know you are only trying to be strong for the sake of your dad and Candace. So I’m hugging you because I know you are most likely going to be at the giving end of the hugs in there and not the receiving end. Stay strong,” Jade said softly as she pat his back, and Harry sighed as he let his chin rest on the crook of her neck.