5: A LITTLE HELP MAYBE
1801 Words
Andrew Jamestown wasn't surprised when Josephine came to him with the request to push forward the wedding. After she had stormed out of his office a day earlier, Andrew thought and overthought her story. It wasn't adding up. He was sure of that. He had known the McCain's since he was a young adult, learning how to run the family business from his father. Occasionally, he had met the McCain's in meetings, galas, and basically, anywhere their business worlds collided, and he could attest to their generosity. He also talked to his father about Josephine's claim, and the old man argued that he had worked with Luther McCain, for years he could vouch for his honor. Father and son had concluded that Josephine's family was hiding something.
“Is this your wish or your father's?” Andrew gazed at his fiancée intently, daring her to lie.
“Does it matter?” Josephine retorted instead.
“Of course, it does. I am not marrying your father, Joss,” Andrew scoffed. “And he is certainly not calling shots in our marriage through you.”
Josephine was silent for a minute. “I thought you couldn't wait to marry me,” she accused.
“I can't wait, baby,” Andrew confirmed. “And if I was convinced this is just you talking and not your father plotting something, I would be dragging you to the nearest chapel as we speak.”
With no other excuse to give, Josephine exhaled in defeat and slumped on the visitors' chair opposite Andrew's desk. “I just want to get my daughter back,” she bemoaned.
“I can help you with that,” Andrew volunteered. “All we have to do is build up a case and the court will force a DNA test done on the child you claim is yours, and we take it from there.”
Andrew made everything seem simple. And Josephine wanted to take him on that offer, but she feared it might anger her father. The man loved to keep his family's drama in a wrap. Far from the public eye. And Andrew's involvement could not guarantee that.
“Father will handle it,” she murmured leaning back in the chair, sighing. “You know he doesn't like involving anyone in the family issues.”
“But he has no problem asking you to push forward our wedding, why?” Andrew was genuinely curious. He wanted to understand what Paul Lawrence stood to gain from an early wedding.
“The McCain's are a powerful family,”
“So?”
“Father thinks if I am Josephine Jamestown, they will not step all over me, unlike now. My family's name is nothing compared to McCain's.” Andrew nodded in understanding. It made sense.
“Do you love me?” He asked randomly, making Josephine frown.
“Of course I love you,” she whisper-yelled. “Are you doubting my feelings for you?” she asked in a small voice, making Andrew feel like a douche.
“I feel you are hiding something from me,” he confessed, drawing a sigh from Josephine. “I am.” She admitted softly. “And I promise you, I will tell you everything soon, right now, I am just trying to wrap my head around it and I can assure you facing one's past is not as easy as they make it sound.”
“I will marry you,” Andrew blurted.
“What?” Josephine squealed. She had already given up on asking.
“I said I will marry you soonest,” Andrew repeated, articulating each word slowly. Josephine's face lit up. She rose from her seat and rushed around the table, spinning Andrew's chair and attacked his lips. Andrew pulled her to his lap and rested his hands on her waist.
“Thank you,” Josephine whispered with much emotion after tearing her lips off his.
“I love you,” Andrew said, brushing his lips lightly against hers. “And I will do anything to make you happy.”
“I am happy,” Josephine assured. “Every day that I spend with you is a gift that I feel I don't deserve sometimes.” Andrew swallowed, as his eyes fogged with emotions. “I love you, Andrew Jamestown, with all my heart,” Josephine added breathlessly leaning to kiss him on the mouth. Andrew took over the kiss and devoured her lips fiercely. They were too engrossed with each other, they didn't notice when the elder Jamestown graced the room. He cleared his throat, starting them.
“Father,”
“Mr. Jamestown,”
“You couldn't wait to do that at home?” His incredulity and frown made Josephine lower her head in embarrassment. Andrew, on the other hand, held his father's gaze.
“We are celebrating,” he beamed proudly.
“What's the occasion?” The older man asked in a bored tone.
“We are getting married,” Andrew grinned, grabbing Josephine's hand. “In a week.”
“Absolutely not!” Titus Jamestown bellowed.
“Dad…” Andrew began, but his father interrupted harshly. “What happened to your set day? Eight months is not far.”
“Josephine and I want…”
“I wasn't born yesterday, boy!” Once again, he cut in hard. He then turned his glare to Josephine, “Tell Paul my family's name is not for his personal gains.”
“Father…”
“Don't make me cut you off, son” Titus Jamestown rasped coldly. “If you are that dumb, not see they are just using you, I fear for the future of our company.”
“She needs my help, I will not abandon her,” Andrew argued fiercely.
“I am not asking you to,” his father snapped. “There are so many ways to help her without dragging my name down the mud with them.” He threw Josephine a brief icy glare. “Hire lawyers for her, private investigators, anything, but not marriage. Not right now. Do you understand me?” His non-negotiable tone made Andrew gulp, nodding slowly. “Yes, father.”
He knew better than to go against his old man. Titus Jamestown started his company from scratch. No inheritance, no family, just a poor kid from an orphanage who had a dream to become somebody someday. And he did, through hard work and sweat. If he needed to cut off his elder son to teach him a lesson, he would, without blinking.
The elder Jamestown turned to leave. He halted by the door, “I checked your story.” He addressed Josephine. “Something doesn't add up, your family received two hundred million dollars from the McCain's back in the year 2015, just when your company was going under. Around the same time, the little girl belonging to Sebastian McCain was born,, I suppose. And from all facts and references, your family and the McCain's have never done business together. Were you perhaps paid in exchange for your daughter?”
Josephine swallowed hard, squirming under the older man's intimidating glare. Luckily, Andrew came to her aid. “That's enough father,”
“It's okay,” Josephine tried to avoid raising a quarrel between father and son, but Andrew was determined to defend her. “I know you don't approve of her for me, but insinuating she sold her own daughter is harsh.” Titus Jamestown didn't seem fazed by his son's outburst.
“You don't know what harsh is, son.” he retorted. “I have sheltered you from the harsh reality out there,, and I am beginning to think it made you naive.” he then turned to Josephine.
“Before you drag my son down with you, make sure you are telling the truth. Otherwise, it's not just McCain's you will have to worry about.” And the older man disappeared, banging the door behind him.
Just then, Andrew's phone pinged. It was an email attachment from his father. He quickly opened the document. It was the official transaction statements, between the Lawrence's and the McCain's from seven years. He shoved the phone to Josephine. Her brows furrowed as she studied the statement.
“There is an explanation for that, I am confident,” she uttered feebly, sounding suspicious even in her own ears.
“I would love to hear it,” Andrew grumbled. All the doubts he had tried to bury suddenly re-emerged.
Maybe she is playing him, he thought, throwing a watchful peek her way. He felt like he needed to reach out to Sebastian McCain and hear his side of the story. Something in Andrew's voice alarmed Josephine.
“You are having doubts,” she stated calmly. Andrew said nothing and instead just looked at her as if he were trying to read into her mind.
“It's not what you think.” Her eyes implored him to believe her. To support her. To love her through it all.
“You don't know what I am thinking.” He snapped. Fearing she might lose his support, Josephine began narrating the events which led up to her daughter's birth. By the time she was done, all the fight had left Andrew's body.
“I think you should try talking to Sebastian once again.” He suggested understanding her dilemma. Sebastian was her only hope, but Josephine was horrified by the idea. After how the man had treated her on their first encounter, she wasn't sure she could face him again, alone.
“Come with me, please,” she begged, hoping Andrew's presence will give her the strength she needs.
Andrew gulped. Did he dare go against his old man? The man had precisely asked him to stay out of the McCain's' way. But then again, his fiancée needed him, what kind of fiancée would he be if he left her to face her foes alone? Andrew was confused. What he wanted to do and what he needed to do were two extremely diverse things. He swallowed warily and faced her, hoping she would understand his dilemma.
“I want to,” he began cautiously, watching her face closely. “But I am afraid the McCain's' will take it, as an attack from the Jamestown's.” He rubbed his palms in exasperation before he pocketed them. “My father will not take it kindly if I drag his name into all this. You heard him say so.” His eyes pleaded for her understanding, and she surprisingly understood. Contrary to whatever argument he expected, Josephine calmly assured him of her understanding.
He made her promise to reach out immediately if Sebastian made her uncomfortable.
And Sebastian made her uncomfortable, very uncomfortable, just not in the way Andrew had assumed.
- Writer
