Within five minutes, Jade was bored out of her mind. What was she doing? Usually, people waited for her, people lined up to wait for her, the Jade Cassady. With all her vast family wealth, Jade never had to wait for anyone. So what made her break the speed limits to get to the airport on time? Or better yet, who?
Why did she rushed out here so that she can hang around and see him the moment his plane touched down? When had a mere flirtation progressed into something much more than that? Why hadn't she stopped it? Jade knew very well just how much Nick liked her. She knew it was not enough to make him stay if Danny showed the slightest inclination towards him. Jade was not so insipid that she didn't know exactly why he stayed with her long after his fascination with her worn out. Danny was the key word. At first, Jade hadn't cared one way or another, slow degree by degree, she had found herself more and more envious of the longing looks Nick cast Danny's way if she so much as walked past them.
It was frustrating that when they were kissing and were just getting into it, Danny would walked into the room, unknowingly of course, and Nick would pushed away from Jade, guilt writtened all over his face. She also knew that her friend would rather jump into a pit full of venomous snakes before she did anything that she thought would hurt Jade. Jade knew that they were in love with each other, with Danny furious with herself for feeling any emotion other than intense dislike for Nick and Nick who was frustrated that with Jade in the way, Danny would never give him a chance. Jade knew all that, yet she couldn't make herself let go of Nick. She knew she should, if she was as magnanimous as Danny, or even half as, she would, but Jade wasn't.
The night Danny and Nick met, Jade was right there with them. She was feeling so excited that Danny was finally going to meet Nick that she couldn't sleep. She had then concocted a wild scheme, intending to pull Danny into her well-laid plans. The girl needed some excitement in her boring existence. And Jade made it her job to provide it.
She had opened the side gate with the key Danny had given her when they were nine so that she could go and come as she pleased, and sneaked into the house just in time to see her friend coming down the wide staircase. Jade had been curious as to what Danny was doing up so late and even more as to where her friend was heading. She had hidden herself in the shadows of the hall and followed her, at a distance to prevent disclosure, of course. She had watched while her friend settled herself comfortably staring at the sky, a favorite past-time which Jade couldn't abide. It was a total waste of time. Instead of watching it, Jade would rather be tying ladders together so that she could reach and plucked down the stars, if that was possible.
Jade had just decided that Danny had wallowed enough in her self-pity and she, the wonderful Jade was going to rescue her from her melancholy when she saw the man approaching her friend. She would have recognized that build anywhere. It was Nick.
Jade had forced herself to stay back in the shadows to observe how her friend would have handled the situation. It was the worst decision she had ever made. If she had interrupted their tête-à-tête, maybe things wouldn't be as they were today. Curiosity had worn out when she saw Nick sitting down beside Danny and tried to take her into his arms and she had refused. Jade crept closer to them so that she could hear every word exchanged between them.
When Nick had kissed Danny, Jade felt her temperature rising and had almost jumped out on them, but Jade was nothing if not smart. And cunning. She had seethed silently and had comforted herself with the fact that had Danny known Nick was Jade's boyfriend, she wouldn't have gone within five feet of him, much less let him hold her.
She had crept silently away when Nick was in the middle of his recitation about Danny's beauty. Jade didn't need Nick to tell her how great and wonderful Danny was. She had knew it all since they were six years old and when Danny had given a crying Jade her ice-cream when Jade's own cone was knocked from her hand and onto the ground.
Danny had seen Jade's distress and responded to it, not because she had to, Danny didn't, but because she wanted to. Young as Danny was, she was still selfless and always considerate for people around her, putting other's needs above her own.
So, Jade had grown up spoiled and pampered and sheltered. Her parents hadn't been the only one providing the pampering, Danny had, in her own way, protected and gave in to Jade. So much so that Jade took it for granted now. Jade wanted something, she'll move heaven and earth to get it. And God help the one who stood in her way.
The next day, she had executed her plan perfectly and right on time. She was talking to Nick, trying very hard to appear attentive while keeping her ears wide open for the sound of the front door opening and footsteps leading to the patio, where she had chosen for her little staged performance.
She had heard Danny talking to her mother on the way in and she had quickly jumped Nick, counting on his shock to keep him from kicking up a fuss. Within seconds, Danny had finished her brief chat with Mrs. Cassady and was opening the sliding door that led to the patio..
Dimly, Jade could feel the shock and embarrassment rolling off in waves from her friend, but that soon gave way to amusement. Nothing Jade ever did shocked Danny for long. By then, she was getting into the kiss with Nick's participation.
It was Nick who heard Danny clearing her throat, a tactile way to get their attention. He had pulled back slightly, a frown on his face. He looked at Jade in a combination of disappointment and resignation. Obviously, Nick was not happy with the interruption, or was it because he was disappointed of the kiss itself? Jade couldn't tell.
She jumped up and had greeted her friend with her customary enthusiasm and had watched with satisfaction and a twinge of guilt as conscience reared its head and berated her for her meddling. For her selfishness.
Danny had been the friend most only dreamed of having and Jade had repaid her loyalty and unwavering friendship in the most abominable way imagined.
"Frowning spoils your looks, but it doesn't diminished your beauty." The voice that had made more than a girl swooned stole into her ear and Jade had to quell the rising guilt. She turned towards the source of the voice and smiled in genuine happiness up at Nick who was only taller by a few inches since Jade was considered an Amazon pertaining to her height.
"You're back, finally," she breathed and kissed him, not quickly, but slowly and deeply. The type of kiss that stirred a man's desire and heated his blood. She gave him a smug smile when she saw the dazed look in his eyes when she pulled away. Threading her arm through his, she bent close to his ear, "Miss me?" her breath tickled his sensitive ear and Nick laughed, the sound hollow and uneasy. Good, she had unbalanced him.
"Rule number one: No public display of affections, remember? We don't want the press onto our behinds when we're having some down time." Kevin frowned down at them, making Jade feel like she was nine again and caught kissing a boy when her father said she should wait until she was at least twelve to do so.
Always the clown, Brian turned around and peered down at his rear. Then her turned back to his cousin and gave him a mock look of innocence, "I don't see any press on my behind, do you?"
Kevin gave Brian a look while resisting the urge to smile. It was difficult, but Kevin had training in that department. Nick and Howie was grinning and AJ was guffawing loudly. Loudly enough to garner attention. Jade wrinkled her nose, her hazel eyes sparkling with hilarity.
"Bad joke, Brian. I expect better from you than that." Jade teased.
Brian shrugged helplessly, "Well, you know me, that's the best for me."
Jade chuckled, "That's the sad fact," she agreed.
Kevin turned and bestowed upon AJ a stern look, "You sound like a sea lion when he's trying to attract a mate. Keep quiet, or someone's gonna call the zoo with information on the escaped sea lion. Let's keep going before all hell break loose when they realized who they're staring at."
Nick picked up his duffel bag from the floor. "For once, I agree with Mr. Sound-of-reason here. Let's go. I'll hate to be mob on the first day home, not to mention hour."
Lowering their heads and trying to blend in as much as possible, the boys and Jade made good their escape.
Danny had tried everything; she had tried reading, then studying (although the idea of touching a chemistry book in summer revolt her) and even tried watching some videos. Nothing worked so far. Her thoughts kept drifting to Jade and her boyfriend. To her horror and irritation, her thoughts kept lingering on Nick, on how he's been and how his relationship with Jade is now. What they are doing now? Are they kissing, making out, or worse, having sex?
Danny hit the stop button vehemently, wishing with her whole being that she was hitting Nick. She never asked for this torment. She never asked to fall in love. < Fall in love? > Danny froze. It's not possible. She had only met Nick for one brief teensy minute. How can she fall in love with anyone in such a short time? It's impossible.
'Nothing's impossible in this world, sweetheart,' her mother told her once before. Could it be real? It happens in the world of romance books and movies all the time, but in real life?
'Romance are for fools, Danny. They don't come to you when all you do is sit there like a doll. They have to work for romance. Fight for them, want them with your entire being and search for them. Search hard enough and you'll find them, when you do, hold on tight to them, don't let anyone sway you. Know what you want and head for them. Love has no reason, no logic. Love is not selfish, Danny. It is shared. If your love is not requited, then, darling. I'm sorry to say that he's not the one. We are all fools after all.' That was another piece of wisdom her mother had imparted before she died. Danny never ever forgot anything her mother told her.
She saved them in a corner of her heart, a corner no one knew existed or even touched, no one, except for Nick. He had seen her at her most vulnerable that night.
So what if what she felt for Nick is love? she asked herself. He is after all Jade's boyfriend. What can she do. 'Fight for them,' her mother's voice whispered through her mind. Fight? How could she when the person she had to fight was Jade? 'Don't let anyone sway you.'
Dare she risked everything? Her mother had and what had she got in return? A shove down the staircase.
Her mother hadn't taken her own advice, she had married someone she loved to distraction and yet the man she married didn't love her. Her father was incapable of that particular emotion. He gave his wife and daughter everything that money could buy, everything except for the one thing they really want. Her mother had thought she could teach her husband love, but she had made the worst mistake of her life. And she had paid for her life. Now it was Danny's turn, she had fallen in love a year ago on a cold and lonely night under the watchful eyes of the stars, her guardian. Can she trust a man like her mother once did? What would it result in?
Danny had no answers to all her questions. < No one has, > she realized. < I'll have to find out for myself. >
The big question was not how she was going to find out, it was whether she wanted to find out or not. Danny knew the answer that. It was a big, unequivocal no. Whatever it was, Danny didn't want to take the risk. It just isn't worth the heartache it would surely follow, her father taught her that, Darrell had too, by consorting with numerous actresses and leggy models. She loved Darrell, but the truth was that all men was ultimately the same: they can't settle for just one woman in their lives. Why would Nick be any different? Why would he want to be?
Feeling like a burden has lifted from her young shoulders, Danny jumped up and decided to head for the beach with her writing equipment. Love was not reliable, but words, they're a different story. Words are powerful weapons when used correctly. Nuclear warhead paled in comparison. Danny definitely knew how to shape them into lethal weapons, just like she knew how to shape them into stories of heart-breaking romance. And though romance in this world is impossible, romance in the fairy tales world is very highly possible. After all hadn't Cinderella proved that theory? Danny could never figure out why other people couldn't fit their feet into the glass slipper. No matter how shape Cinderella's feet were they were surely others with the same sized feet around. It's highly unlikely that she had the only size 4 feet in the entire kingdom. Later, she had asked her mother precisely that, and her mother had answered her question like she had dozens of them, with patience and tolerance.
She had said that whatever was impossible in this world is not in the world of imagination and dragons and mermaids. It is a place where everything is possible, even the fishes can walk on land and humans can fly.
It would be dusk soon and though she preferred dawn, she enjoyed the golden glow that brought dusk. Holding her notebook and pencil in one hand and a box of candles in another, she slipped out her room.
At the foot of the stairs, she encountered Baxter. "Miss Danny," he intoned, his old rummy eyes held a spark of adoration for the girl he watched grow up.
Danny smiled at him, "Yes?"
Baxter remembered his errand and immediately his eyes clouded over with worry. Mr. Wilson had asked to see his daughter. He knew of the bad blood between the both of them, he knew of the misunderstanding that created a chasm between them, but his employer had forbidden him to right the wrong, to tell the innocent young miss the truth.
Baxter didn't understand why his employer allowed this estrangement, but he wasn't about to disobey him. Baxter was nothing if not loyal and as a friend to Cato Wilson, he was obliged to maintained his silence.
"Baxter?" Danny's slightly worried tone woke Baxter from his silent rambling.
"Your father wants to see you." He noted Danny's eyes dimmed. "He's in the study." Danny nodded curtly once before heading in that direction.
"Miss Danny," he called out implusively, anxiousness laced thick in his voice, his eyes concerned as he mentally gauged her mood. "He has a weak heart, don't agitate him. He haven't recovered from the previous time yet." He said almost desperately.
Danny hesitated. "I'll try, Baxter, I'll try."
Baxter nodded in relief.
Danny composed herself, trying not to quiver with the anger she felt boiling inside her. He was her father after all. Much as she hated him, that was one fact she couldn't change. Danny paused outside the study, pining the door with a look that could pulverized rock, she swallowed the bitter taste in her mouth and raised her arm to knock.
Chapter Five
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