Hey Stranger || Jerrie

Chapter 21

It was September 1st and Perrie had just arrived home from a work out with Jesy, something her body always regretted an hour after the fact. Somehow Jesy had managed to keep track of the days when Perrie finished work early in the afternoon and took advantage of those days, forcing her to train with her.

It was only five o’clock in the afternoon when she arrived home from the gym, but she was already ready to pass out. Upon arriving at home though, the endorphins caught up to her and she got her second wind. She opened her computer and started to play some music as she danced around the apartment cleaning.

Perrie was in the middle of cleaning up some of her messier art supplies when she received a call on Skype. “Hello beautiful," she greeted Jade as she accepted the call and turned off the music that had previously been playing through her computer’s speakers.

“Are you holding a sponge?” Jade asked, leaning closer towards the camera to get a better view of what Perrie was holding.

“Yes, in fact it is,” Perrie grinned as she held the dirty sponge closer to the screen for her girlfriend’s inspection.

“Why are you holding a sponge?”

“I’m cleaning,” Perrie stated matter-of-factly. Seeing the look of disbelief on the brunette’s face she acted hurt, “I'll have you know that I do clean every once in a while!”

“Rarely!” Jesy interjected as she entered the living room. The girl came up behind Perrie and waved at Jade. “Usually Leigh-Anne and I clean, Perrie pretends to be busy.”

Perrie rolled her eyes and shoved her friend away from the computer, not wanting her to reveal all her secrets to her girlfriend. She then threw the paint-covered sponge at Jesy’s head and picked up her computer, heading in to her room.

“Ugh, so now I have to talk to you alone?” Jade complained, “I was really looking forward to some quality time with J!” Someone appeared off screen and handed Jade a salad and two Red Bulls.

“I’m no doctor, but I am technically still an EMT and I’m pretty sure that the Red Bull offsets any kind of healthy side effects that the salad gives you,” Perrie tutted. She knew that Jade was so busy that between concerts and time changes her sleep schedule was pretty much f****d and that she needed the caffeine, but she wished she’d have soda or coffee and not something as unhealthy as Red Bull.

“Red Bull gives me wings,” Jade shrugged with a slight grin. Perrie rolled her eyes, knowing better than to try and convince Jade to change her habits. Then she noticed as Jade’s gaze shifted. Perrie looked behind her, trying to figure out what the girl was looking at. “Are those your parents?” Jade asked, pointing to the space above the blonde’s shoulder.

Perrie spotted the framed photo and realized that she must have moved it while cleaning, and that was why Jade was only seeing it for the first time. She took the picture in her hands and held it up to the camera so that Jade had a better view of it. It was a photo of Alex and Debbie on their wedding day. “It is,” Perrie explained.

“You look like your dad,” Jade stated. Perrie took a look at the photo and smiled to herself. She still felt sad when she thought about her dad, but had gotten to the point where she’d accepted his death. It had been nearly nine years since the accident. “How did your parents meet?” Jade asked.

“My dad was in the air force,” Perrie explained, “He joined right after college, but he really wanted to be an astronaut, so as soon as he got out of the air force he got a job with NASA. My mom was in medical school at the time and it was during her residency that Dad’s roommate came in with an appendicitis and he was Mom’s first solo surgery. Apparently during recovery while high on meds he started talking about how ‘Alex-boy’ was going to go up in space. The nurses all thought it was just the meds but Mom thought it was interesting and when Dad visited his roommate in the hospital she asked if he was an astronaut. She expected him to laugh and say no, but when he said he was trying to be, she asked him out on a date. It’s actually the lamest story, but they were married a year later.”

“That’s not lame,” Jade shook her head. “It’s cute. Because so many things if they were just a little bit different, it would have meant them never meeting each other. Like what if your dad never left the air force, or found a different roommate? Or what if your mom’s first solo surgery had been something else?”

“I guess I never thought about it like that,” Perrie spoke. It made her appreciate the chance of her parents' meeting even more. “What if I had dialed Jesy’s number correctly that night? Or what if your phone number was different?”

“Fate is a funny thing,” Jade smiled. She looked down at her salad and twirled her fork around before looking back up at Perrie, smiling sheepishly. And at that smile, the only thing Perrie could think was ‘forever’. She wanted Jade forever. She wanted what her parents had before her dad’s death. A million different choices led Alex and Debbie together, digits dialed on a phone led her to Jade. There was something funny about how easily things could have turned out differently.

“What about you?” Perrie asked as she watched Jade gulp down several large sips of Red Bull after shoveling a large mouthful of salad in to her mouth. The blonde’s eyes focused on the liquid that had missed the opening to the brunette’s mouth. Jade must have noticed the change in the girl’s gaze as she slowly licked her lips to get rid of it. “How did your parents meet?” She then shifted her gaze to see Jade sit up more rigidly.

“Perrie, I know that you’re kind of dense when it comes to knowledge of my background as a celebrity, but do you really not know anything about my parents?” The question came honestly, Jade was genuinely confused as to why Perrie was asking the question.

The blonde shrugged though, “All I know is that your mom sucks,” she explained, “Your words to me.”

“Do you at least know the movie The Godparent?” Jade asked.

Perrie sighed and rolled her eyes at Jade, “I may be dense, but I’m not completely oblivious Jadey. It came out in the late eighties or early nineties, around when we were born, but I’ve still seen it a few times. It’s a classic. Why?” Perrie tried to imagine how the famous movie had anything to do with Jade, until she remembered the name of the actor who starred in the movie. James Thirlwall. “Holy crap your dad is James Thirlwall?”

Jade laughed out loud and nodded. “My parents met on set of the film. There’s no real romantic element to it though. They were filming on location so James was away from his wife and kid, Mom was a make-up artist just out of high school. They had an affair and I was the product of it. They didn’t love each other, but James at least acknowledged I was his when I was born. Not that I ever really saw much of him, but being the bastard of a Hollywood actor did have its perks.”

“I had no idea,” Perrie shook her head. “So is that what you call him then, James?”

Jade nodded, “Yeah. He was never really Dad to me. Well that’s not true.” She sighed, obviously remembering something before she continued, “After he divorced his first wife, he spent more time with me. He and Mom never really had anything together after the affair, but from around when I was five to age ten I actually called him Dad and spent time with my half-brother and half-sister. But then he married again and his new wife didn’t want him around me and their kids, so I was pushed aside again.”

“I’m sorry Jade,” Perrie sighed, she knew what it was like to have a father than lose him, but at least she knew that her dad had always loved her. “What about now? Do you have any relationship with him now?”

“It’s a little weird,” she acknowledged. “I mean, I’m probably making just as much as him if not more now, but that’s what my mom always wanted. She wanted to prove to him that she was a better parent without him. That’s why she had me getting roles in movies when I was little, even though it was his name that got me in the door. That’s why when I started to show a liking for singing and playing the guitar, she exploited it. At this point though, I’m not sure who would have been the better parent. I don’t see James too much, but if we’re ever at the same event we both make sure to at least have the press see us together. It helps us both in the media for the world to think we have a relationship even though we don’t.”

“What about your half-siblings?” Perrie asked. Her whole life she’d always wanted siblings, and through seeing the Devlins, she knew how much siblings could mean to one-another.

“I talk to some of them more than others,” Jade shrugged. “The ones from James’ first wife I actually talk to fairly frequently, but the ones from his other two wives are more estranged. I mean, I have a half-sister who is three years old, so it’s definitely a bit weird. Having Karl is nice though.”

“Wait, pause a second,” Perrie held up her hand. “Karl is your brother? I thought he was your manager s***h cousin!”

Jade let out a laugh while shaking her head, “You’re right, I guess I just didn’t explain that right. He’s my cousin through James’ brother, who has always been more of a dad to me than James. Maybe that’s because he’s more behind-the-scenes in Hollywood. He’s James’ manager and always made sure James didn’t completely forget about me. Karl is five years older than me, but my Uncle Kevin always made sure I felt like part of the Thirlwall family, so when Norma allowed me to see Uncle Kevin, Karl acted more like a brother than anything else. And after I fired Norma, Karl became my manager.”

“Oh,” Perrie nodded, “That makes sense now.”

Jade moved the now empty Red Bull away from her and reached for the unopened second can. Perrie rolled her eyes and shook her head, but remained silent, deciding not to voice her opinion on the matter again. Jade, however, wasn’t oblivious to Perrie’s opinion though. Instead of opening the can, the brunette pushed it away from her and took a bite of salad instead.