(written by Lacy) "Mommy, I love you," were the last words Jade heard before closing her 3-year-old son's bedroom door with a sigh. "I love you too, Honey," she whispered, blowing him a kiss goodnight. Every time she saw her son she was reminded of the love she left behind in Orlando. How much she wished she had stayed there with..... shaking off the thought, Jade peaked in the bedroom one more time before shutting the door. Scott looked just like his father -- dark black hair, strong jaw line, and dark skin. The only thing he had that even resembled his mother were his bright green eyes. Flipping her long blond hair behind her, she made her way down the hall. As she walked into the living room and turned down the TV, the phone on the stand beside her let out a shrill ring. "Hello?" she answered quickly, annoyed that someone was calling so late at night, especially when her son was in the other room trying to go to sleep.
"Jade?" the male voice on the other end asked. "Josh, you know Scott's sleeping!" she said in a whisper. "I know, but I had to get ahold of you before you went to bed," Josh said appologetically. "Why? What's wrong?" she asked, sitting down in the recliner with a sigh. "Nothing's wrong, actually everything's perfect! The boss has a new assignment for you. Actually it's a relocation," Josh said.
"A relocation? To where?" she asked. "He wants you to go back to Florida, Jade. We checked it out and your old house is still available and everything!" Josh said excitedly. Jade felt as her the blood drained from her face and had to use both hands to keep the phone up to her ear. "Jade?" Josh asked, not sure if she was still there. "F-for how long?" she asked, stuttering. "Permanently," he said. This time the phone hit the floor with a thud. "Jade? What happened, are you okay?" Jade heard from somewhere far away. She rubbed her hands over her eyes and picked the phone back up reluctantly. "Permanently?" she whispered, her voice catching in her throat.
"Yeah... look Jade, we all know how reluctant you are to go back down there. But Orlando's a big city, what are the chances that you'll run into Scott's father again? Besides, he probably doesn't even live there anymore," Josh said, trying to reassure her. Jade swallowed the lump in her throat at the mention of Kevin and looked in the direction of her son, Scott's, room. Yes, she told her co-workers that she had gotten pregnant in Orlando; what choice did she have? But she hadn't told them who the father was... she wouldn't do that.
"Listen Jade, I know you don't want to go, but honestly you really don't have a choice. If you want to keep your job then you're gonna have to relocate with the rest of us," Josh said. "The rest of you?" she asked, confused. "Yeah, our entire section is relocating. There's only 15 of us, but that's still a big move considering we're gonna be writing for an entire different firm," he said. "What firm?" she asked, not believing what she was hearing. "Jive's taking 5 of us, including me and you, and a Florida Law Firm is taking the other 10," he said. Jade, again, almost dropped the phone. She couldn't believe it... Jive? Why would they want her back after what happened? She had gotten their main editor fired and hadn't even finished half of her assignments when she had worked for them before. "They said they really liked your work from before," Josh said, as if he was reading her mind.
"So I don't have a choice?" she asked. "No, not really," he said. "Jade," he continued, "we're leaving day after tomorrow." Jade's mouth dropped. "Day after tomorrow?! Are you nuts?!" She yelled, immediantely covering her mouth with her hand as she remembered Scott was trying to sleep. "I know how you feel... hey, I gotta go. I'll see you at the airport at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning, okay?" he said, his voice followed by the click of him hanging up.
Jade slowly sat the phone back down on the receiver and stood there staring at it for what had to of been eternity. "Mommy, who was on the phone," a small voice asked from behind her. Turning around, she bent down and picked up her son, hugging him tightly against her. "It was Uncle Josh, honey," she said. "Is he coming over?" he asked, his big green eyes looking up at her expectantly. She placed her hand on his head and laughed softly. "No, Honey. Not tonight. Go on back to bed and mommy will tell you everything in the morning, okay?" she said, scooting him off in the direction of his room. Leaning back against the back of the chair, she ran her hands through her hair and sighed. Looking at her watch, she realized that Jess, who lived right across the hall of the rich complex, would be home within the next ten minutes. She walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter, waiting for her best friend to get home so she could talk to her. There was no way in Hell she was going back to Florida without her best friend Jess right beside her.
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