The rain was still pouring the next day and I was really hoping that it would continue 'til tomorrow, rainy days are really pleasant days for me and since I had no more job, I'd take this opportunity to relax for once and do nothing.
I nestled myself deeper into the covers of the bed and sigh in content. Now this is life. I was about to drift back to sleep when the door busted open and Jodie skipped in and dived straight towards me, bouncing me off to the floor. I landed hard on my back and I groaned. "Good morning sleepyhead, time for breakfast," she was so filled with enthusiasm that I wanted nothing but to strangle her for waking me up so early.
I pull myself up from the ground and climb back into bed, "Five more minutes," I yawned and pull the covers back to me but it magically disappeared and so did the bed underneath me as I fell once more to the floor and this time, it was right on my face.
I screamed in frustration and stood up, raising my hands as if in surrender, "I'm up, I'm up," I yawned once more, "What's the occasion?" I mumbled and Jodie scoffed at me, "Breakfast Temper, breakfast, now go get yourself ready, you're spending all your free day today with me," and just like that, Jodie run out of the room, her footsteps echoing back in.
There was no point going back to sleep since I was now wide awake, no thanks to somebody.
I stretched my arms out and walk towards the door. I peered outside to see that there were people running back and forth, working and I felt a bit ashamed watching them do all the work so I retreated back inside the room and shut the door behind me, making sure it was locked.
Preparing myself didn't take too long. I took a quick shower, dried myself then my hair, and picked gray sweatpants and a plain V-neck red shirt from my duffel bag, and to finish the whole look, I wore black socks to protect my feet from getting cold. I opened the door and look around once again. It seems that everybody had left since it was so silent and the lack of activity made me a little relieved.
I headed to the stairs and for the second time, followed the delightful aroma of breakfast wafting in the air except for this time, it had to lead me straight to the dining room and I saw Jodie setting up plates and a man sitting on one of the chairs, dozing off.
"Jodie," I called out to her and she turns to look at me with a wide grin, "Temper, finally, I was wondering when you'd show up, come, you can sit beside me," she pulled a seat from across the man and I walked over it anxiously. Everything around me was a completely different environment and I don't do well with these kinds of things. At least Jodie's here with me.
I sat on the chair and watched as Jodie and a few maids kept running around the table, bringing plates and food and setting it down in front of me. I look around and my eyes stopped on the man in a business suit. He was so deep in sleep that he probably didn't hear the whole activity, it was honestly loud too.
Come to think of it, the man was familiar. Black hair, lean shoulders and he was probably tall too even though he was sitting down with his head on the table.
Jodie abruptly plop herself down beside me and coiled her arms around my left arm. "It is so good to have you here with me, it's been so long since we have eaten together," she squealed and placed a large piece of egg onto my plate then followed by five strips of bacon, two toast and a glass of orange juice filled to the brim. "Whoa Jodie, that's too many," I said and took two strips of bacon off my plate and placed it on her empty plate.
"Too much? That was honestly few, no wonder you're so skinny," she raised my arm and gave it a squeeze, "Hey," I whined and pulled my hand away which only made her laugh.
I glance towards the man again and Jodie followed where I was looking and sighs. "This guy, honestly," she looks around for a second before grabbing the spoon near her and threw it at the man. It hits him right on his head and he sat up in a blink, a drool hanging on the side of his mouth. Jodie made a sound of disgust and threw a hanky towards the man which failed miserably since it flew over the food.
The man shook his head and looked at me and smiled, "Oh hello Jodie's friend," he greeted and I gaped, "You're that guy last night," I pointed out and he nodded, "Yeah, sorry for causing a scene so early in the morning," he yawned, "I just haven't had a good night sleep in ages," he raised his arms and stretched it out. I felt something nudge me in the arm and looked at Jodie as she motioned her head towards the man, "You know him?" she asks.
"Oh yeah, I mean not really, we met last night while I was choking over a piece of steak,"
"What!?" Jodie exclaimed and wrapped her arms around me, "Oh my poor little Temper, you must have been really scared and alone last night," she cooed and it took me all my willpower not to throw her out of the room, my place, or not. I struggled to push her off me but thankfully Everest said so in my place, "Let go of her Jodie, she looks like she's about to burst," he smiled apologetically at me but I just shook my head at him, "She was so much worst back at high school before,"
And with that, we began eating breakfast with a few words exchanged with each other.
"So Temper, how'd you meet Jodie?"
"She shoved me in the halls trying to reach her class,"
"Typical, she shoved me too, the first – ow, you! violent woman,"
"I didn't shove you, I just had a misstep,"
"Right, I tripped her of course as a payback,"
Everest burst out laughing and slammed his hands repeatedly on the table which got him another kick in the shin from Jodie.
"Tell me more,"
"I was new back then of course and I felt a bit guilty for tripping her so I helped her up,"
"Shame, you could have let her stay on t – ow, stop it,"
"I apologized to her and she grabbed my schedule out of my hands,"
Jodie nudged me, "I didn't grab it, you liar, I asked for it," Everest sputtered over his orange juice and started laughing, "She took my coffee too, the first time we met, right out of my hands," he said with a smile playing over his lips.
"Shut it, Everest,"
"What happened next?"
"We had almost all of our classes together and we just clicked and became friends,"
I finished and wondered why it suddenly became so silent. I glanced at Jodie who was staring intensely at Everest who was also doing the same. It didn't take me long to realize that this was the brother that Jodie was talking about. It was awkward. It was so awkward nibbling on a toast when there are two people staring at each other with me, intensely and brimming with desire. They were so into it too that they didn't even notice me finish my share and leave the room and to the kitchen.
"Ah, Miss Lock's friend, it is a pleasure to meet you," a stout and smiling middle-aged woman came towards me and took the plate that I was holding, "Hello, I'm Temperance," I smiled back at her and she waved her hands, "We know, we know, Miss Lock hasn't stopped talking about you to us yesterday before she left to get you," she laughs heartily and I felt touched at her words.
"That sounds sweet,"
"It was, it was, not even Everest could make her talk like that,"
"How long have they been together?" I asked. So far, Jodie has been pretty close about her relationship with Everest, and plus, she told me she had a fiancé so, in my point of view, it was slightly inappropriate to be with her fiancé's brother even though her fiancé encouraged it. "They have been together for so long, longer than Mr. Miller, I believe they met in college. It was really a tragedy for Miss Lock's part to be engaged to Mr. Miller while she was dating Everest, so very tragic," the woman said with a slight sadness taking over her face.
"Anyways, it is nice to meet you Temperance, I'm afraid I must be off, see you around,"
She turns away from me and left the room, leaving me with a bunch of servants. I just went back to my seat and continued drinking my orange juice, ignoring the fact that Jodie and Everest were still staring at each other while eating their food. It was suffocating that two lovebirds were sitting with you at one table, it made me feel unwelcome. When I had enough of their staring, I snapped my fingers in front of Jodie's face which made them break eye contact and she looked at me, her cheeks tainted red.
"Sorry? What is it?" she breathes out and I glared at her, "It feels weird watching you two giving each other a staredown, erotically" I replied honestly and her face turned crimson while Everest started choking on his toast. Serves them right.
After breakfast, Everest left for work and Jodie dragged me to her room. She was running around like a madwoman, throwing one outfit to the ground then followed by another. Hair and Beauty products were scattered all over the bed and I found myself moving closer and closer to the edge. We had about 10 hours before meeting our friends but here she was preparing like we were about to be sent off for war.
After screaming at her to chill her tits down, she eventually cooled down and lied on her bed. "Jodie," I called to her slowly and she glances down at me from her position. "Yes?"
"I don't mean to be nosy but what's your story with Everest? You never told me anything about you two," I turn to lie down on my belly and watch her sigh and looked at me with a smile on her lips, a smile that you don't you usually see on a person, something filled with so much more.
"We met when I was in college. I was a bit wild you know, moving to England gave me an opening to be someone different so I chose the wild card. I sort of met him in one of the parties I've been in, apparently one of his friends dragged him to the party by force. The Millers are a bit overprotective with each other and he grew up in that kind of environment, besides, his brother, Sean, was there getting his degree at the same school as him so it never crossed his mind to went out of his boundaries and Sean was really overprotective," Jodie laughs lightly, her eyes glazed over at a memory.
I smiled. I felt happy for Jodie. Back in high school, the two of us really sucked at talking to boys, we looked like complete dorks while fawning over and trying to get the attention of the guys we like. Our friends were exceptions, of course, Jodie met Percy and Kaleb through Ruth while I got partnered up with Justin for a science project, he's even the one who talked to me first. I'm really glad she met someone like Everest. '…so very tragic' the middle-aged maid's words echoed through my head and shrug it off.
"It was a very funny encounter; I could still remember it like it was yesterday. It was ironic that he was the one drunk while I was pretty much sober. He stumbled upon me while he was looking for the bathroom, it was on the balcony. I was memorizing something, forgot what it was, it was so loud inside that's why I went out and then suddenly, in the middle of my memorizing, a guy in a checkered polo with a tie and black slacks came stumbling in asking where the bathroom was,"
Jodie started laughing and raise her hands up, reaching out to the empty air.
"He was about to jump off but I grabbed his shirt and pulled him back and he landed right on top of me and I blacked out," I laughed at what she said while she gave me a glare, "I woke up to find him a bit sober than he was a while ago and he was panicking too. My head was on his lap as he cried like a big baby. 'Oh no! I killed someone, what's Sean gonna think of me' that's what he kept saying and I even thought that Sean was his boyfriend or something.
At that time, I didn't know who he was but I found it funny that he was more concerned about what would Sean think rather than killing someone so I sat up while he was rambling like a broken record and pat his head which only made things worse. He was a massive nerd and all he knew what to do was study, video games, and movies, tons of it. When I touched him, he started screaming about zombies and alien invasions and how Sean would think about him. By that time, I was already pissed off at how loud and obnoxious he was becoming so I pinched his lips together to quiet him down,"
Jodie and I were now lying side by side, enjoying each other's company just like how we did back then.
"His friends ditched him after assuming he left so he started crying again after seeing the car that brought him there was long gone so I spent all night trying to console him and trying to sober him more so that I could leave since I felt partly responsible for his hysterics. He was an honest drunk who cried a lot and while I was trying to get him to finish a glass of water, he started talking about how he hated being part of his family.
He talked about how he wanted to be study medicine rather than reading his brother's boring business books. I stayed there for God knows how long, listening to him pour every buried thought and feeling he had just because he was drunk but thankfully, we were somewhere far from the crowd so no one could hear him cry like a baby. He was cautious though, he never said anything that could let me know that he was actually part of the Miller's so I remained clueless of his identity.
When it started to become morning, I asked him where he lived and he just willingly told me where he lived which was too idiotic of him. I hailed a cab and thanked the heavens that he went to the same school as me and was living in one of the dormitories. After dropping him off to his roommate, I didn't see him again until two weeks later he showed up in front of my dorm with a flower that he probably picked up from the school garden. According to him, he has been looking all over for me after his roommate told him that I dropped him off,"
Jodie suddenly slide out of the bed and to her dresser and pulled out a ring, a small silver ring that fits perfectly on her finger.
"He thanked me for not telling anyone what he was telling that day and I was surprised he even remembered it. I took the flower from him and thanked him for it then suddenly, I kept seeing him everywhere. He sucked at trying to lay low with stalking me but I found it cute. He gave me this ring on our first anniversary, it's a promise ring. He promised me that day that he would be responsible for me and he was going to marry me,"
A tear fell from her eye and she quickly dabbed it dry but then it started to fall more furiously and she just laid her hands on top of her head and started crying.
"We were so happy Temper, we have been together for nearly seven years and at some point, I found out who he was but I didn't mind it, not one bit. After graduating, we continued seeing each other, getting closer and closer ever since our distance has lengthened. He started his training with his family's company and I did the same to mine and we were going steady but then, two years after graduating, I suddenly found out that I was engaged to his brother,"
Jodie took a deep breath and dried her eyes while I frowned.
"I begged my father to cancel the engagement with Sean and let Everest and I get engaged instead, but dad was firm with his decisions since was Sean was to inherit their family business and not Everest. I cried the whole day.
Sean and I had never met properly and when I met him, he looks like his brother in some way but he was more manly and rough-looking that I immediately disliked him and I could tell that he was too because he kept moving away from me if my father pushes me close to him. Sean is odd and was never the same as his brother, while Everest was like a bundle of energy, Sean's presence can make you feel depressed, he was so silent and cold that as soon as the meeting was over, I dash out of the place.
When our parents saw no progress between the two of us, they decided to get us to live with each other and had Everest monitor us but Sean still remained silent and even sent me away with Everest on multiple vacations, which I don't mind at all, just to avoid making any conversation with me. The only time I probably heard him talk is when we are in a meeting. Nevertheless, I should be thanking him for everything he has done for Everest and me, if it wasn't for him, I could have run away or something and party somewhere nice," she ended her story with a laugh and I was slightly amazed at how fast she could recover.
"Now that you've heard Everest and I's a tragic love story, let's find you something to wear for tonight,"
I shook my head and jumped away from her, "Don't you dare come close to Jodie or I swear," I pointed a finger at her but all she did was just scoffed at me, "Puh-please, I received much more deadly threats from Sean than you so come here," she beckoned me to come near her but I shook my head and stayed on the other side of the bed where she couldn't possibly get me.
She grinned at me, an evil one that made me want to just get swallowed up by the whole floor, "You're going to that party, whether you like it or not,"
Oh boy…