SECRET’s OUT
1308 Words
“I… We’re getting married” he said after a beat of silence.
“Right” I pressed my lips into a smile and turned away.
“Gianna…”
“That’s all the answer I need Jack. I want my mum to be happy, really” I said.
But before he could talk again, a waiter appeared with a silver tray and a glass gleaming with a dark liquid..
“Your mum asked me to give you this”
The sharp smell of alcohol hit me instantly and made my stomach churn.
I closed my eyes, taking a step away from him, hand held out instinctively. “I can’t drink this, take it away…”
But Jackson already had his hand out reaching for it “Give me that”
He took the glass and poured the alcohol into his mouth in one effortless swallow.
“Thank you” he handed the glass back to the waiter and dismissed him with a pat on the shoulder.
As soon as the waiter disappeared…
“How are you going to tell your mother we f****d?”
Yeah, he needed that drink more than I did.
“That is a cheap question and the answer, of course, is no comment” I said flatly.
“Yeah?” He laughed under his breath, stepping closer to me.
“Jack…”
“Now that we have all this time alone, again” his voice rich with tease “why don’t we have a little introduction, Gianna?”
“Please don’t…”
He went ahead anyway.
“I'm an ER surgeon, I have a son, I play tennis in my free time…”
“I don’t have to tell you anything about myself,” my tone was sharp.
“Okay, you don’t have to” his smile deepened “I’ll find out myself”
“It may take you a while to dig up anything on me” I said through clenched teeth.
“That’s alright” he didn’t budge “ I don’t mind waiting for the things I want”
I froze.
My mouth opened, and then it closed.
That was… wrong. So wrong of him to say, and so stupid of my heart to flutter.
I dropped my gaze to my hand, staring at my fingers and searching for something… anything to say to break the silence.
“It’s late,” I muttered, “I need to go ahead before I get stuck in traffic. It’s almost Christmas, the streets are crazy” I said instead.
“You don’t stay with your mum?”
I almost laughed, that was like a death wish.
The thought of staying here overnight? A bad idea. This house held too many painful memories and secrets, I doubt I could survive a night here.
“No,” I simply said.
“Okay, I’ll drive you” he offered in a smooth voice.
“No!” I snapped, sharper than I intended.
He blinked “Is there something wrong?”
“No” Everything about him was getting under my skin.
“Then why won’t…”
“Stop talking to me!!” I exploded..
A passing waiter offered some unrecognizable hors d’oeuvres, and the awful smell wafted into my nose. I closed my eyes as my stomach turned, hard.
Jackson’s voice dropped low “Gianna, please we need to talk” my eyes flew open “About that night…”
“We have nothing to talk about, Jackson. whatever we had that night was in the past, it’s over. you’re getting married to my mother, she’s happy, you should be too, don’t let one stupid night ruin everything.”
“I know,” he said quietly.
But my stomach churned again, nausea rose hot and sickening. I subtly practiced breathing exercises, trying to hold my stomach down.
“Celeste is a wonderful woman and I’m glad I met her. I just…” he exhaled “we’re about to be family, we need to get rid of any bad air between us. What happened two months ago…”
“Was a mistake!” I snapped, my eyes flashing “I want you to stay away from me. As far away as possible. You are one sick twisted man”
“What?”
“You found out where I worked, even after I told you we were done that morning before I left your place. But somehow you still found me and transferred there!”
“I did no such thing Gianna”
My eyes narrowed “Well, congratulations” I spat “you should be happy, you finally get to see the girl you f****d, who managed to slipped from your fingers. And by the ways she’s the daughter of the woman you’re about to marry”
“Gianna, Don’t you think you should hear me out”
“No!” My voice was shaking “How do I know you didn’t orchestrate the whole damn thing? Screw me, get married to my mother, and play house with your pretty secret. Was this a sick fantasy of yours? For all I know you might be crazy as…” I glanced at the house, I wanted to say my mother, but that’d be too insulting.
His jaw clenched “Why the hell would I want to do that?”
“You tell me” I hissed.
“It’s not…”
“And if you did, you better get that stupid idea out of your head.” I said cutting him off “What happened between us was in the past, it’s dead and I’ve buried it. And no one, no one can know about it, especially my mother”
Jackson looked stunned. “What are you on about?”
His brows scrunched “ I’m trying to put this behind us Gianna. Goddamn, this is already a very complicated situation for me too. I admit what we had was great… it was real to me, but we’re about to become family. It’s over, I know that”
“Good,” I said, the word spilling like venom.
But my stomach rebelled again, bile rising to the back of my throat.
“This is just one big, messy situation. The wedding is…”
I didn’t wait for him to finish talking before I turned on my heels and ran away from him.
“Gianna, wait!”
But I was already back inside the house, pushing and weaving through guests before running down the hallway as fast as my legs could carry me. My heels clicked wildly against the floor.
I barely registered colliding with someone until warm arms held and steadied me.
“Gigi? Are you alright?”
Rio.
I didn’t even know he was also at this party today, I had hidden in my mum’s bedroom all day avoiding everyone.
I pushed him away, shoved the bathroom door open. I barely made it before I dropped to my knees, retching everything in my stomach into the toilet bowl.
Strong warm hands gathered my hair away from my face and pulled it back gently. “Was it the food?”
Rio’s voice was calm and reassuring.
“I don’t…” I didn’t finish talking before I doubled over again and retched for the second time.
As I gasped and wiped my mouth, I shook my head while Rio rubbed circles into my back softly “Are you allergic or something?”
I shook my head again trying to catch my breath.
“It’s alright” Rio kept rubbing my back. “I’ll get you a glass of water”
“Are you pregnant?”
The question sliced through the air like a knife.
And when we both turned, the silence that followed was heavy.
Jackson was in the doorway behind Rio, his eyes locked on mine, a horrified look on his face.
- Writer
