Jennifer walked into Marshal's office with a nonchalant expression on her face, she submitted a file at his desk. “Here, you asked for this.” She muttered in a cold voice.
“Yeah, thank you.” he replied with a small smile.
Jenny didn’t respond, she just turned around to leave. Marshall got up immediately and went after her. “Hey wait!” he called as he noticed the frown on her face.
She paused and turned back to face him. “What?” she murmured.
He walked up to her, standing in front of the desk. “Is everything alright? I mean, I can't help but notice that you have been avoiding me in the past few days, and what is with the face? You act like you are mad at me. Did I do something?” he queried.
Jennifer hummed and folded her arms, she avoided eye contact with him while saying nothing. She really wanted to tell him but she didn’t know how to say it.
“Come on, please talk to me. You are making me feel uneasy, was it the sex? Was it bad?”
His question threw her off. “Noo!” she replied quickly, trying not to smile at the thought of the sex.
“Okay, so please tell me what I did wrong? Why are you not speaking to me?” he queried.
Jennifer sighed. “Fine… who is Lucy?” she finally blurted out the question that had been troubling her mind.
Marshall was taken aback by her sudden question, he squinted his eyes in surprise, speechless.
Jennifer huffed. “Yeah, that is what I thought.” she blurted and immediately turned to leave.
He grabbed her arm immediately. “Wait,” he said softly. She paused and slowly turned back to him. “Give me a second,” he requested.
Marshall took out an ID from his wallet and handed it to her. Jennifer collected it hesitantly, she quickly read through it. “Lucy Jaffrey…” she read slowly and then her eyes widened, she looked up quickly. “Your mom?” she muttered.
Marshall huffed. “Yeah, you should have just asked.” He said with a tone of disappointment, then he took the card from her and turned back to his desk.
It was Jenny's turn to stop him this time, she held his hand. “Wait, I am sorry… I just got mad that you lied to me and acted on impulse, please forgive me.” She pleaded.
Marshall sighed and faced her. “It is fine, not like I have a choice; I wouldn’t be able to stay mad at you anyways.” He smiled.
Jennifer smiled back, a little blush on her red cheeks. “Thank you. To make it up to you, let’s have dinner. It was your place the last two times, so I am inviting you to mine now.” She announced.
Marshall made a curious face. “Uhmm… that sounds so sweet but don’t you live with your parents?” he asked slowly.
“In this town, yes.” She chuckled.
Marshall scratched his head. “Yeah, I really don’t think that is a good idea.” He said nervously.
“Are you scared of my father?” she questioned.
“Well, he is my Boss, so yes. I would be making a mistake coming to have dinner with his daughter under his roof, don’t you think it is a bit improper?”
“Hey! I am not going to play a game of hide and seek with you, I am an adult, I can make my own decisions. Moreover my Dad is cool with you.”
“As his employee, yes. But definitely not as the guy rocking his daughter, we are supposed to be Co-workers,” he smiled, pointing to the both of them.
Jennifer laughed. “You are such a Chicken, I still don’t understand why I fancy you.” she confessed, she always loved the bad boys. “But don’t worry, it is going to be fine, now you better be there by 8pm, my family will be expecting you.” she announced and caressed his cheeks with a chuckle.
As she turned around, Marshall smiled nervously. “Okay, I will be there,” he said with a nervous laughter. He knew at that moment that he was doomed, Mr. Gilbert would probably make an example of him.
**
As Jennifer walked down the hallway leading to her office, her phone began to ring. She checked the caller ID and her smile widened. Just about the perfect time.
“Hey girl,” that angelic voice came bubbling through the other side of the phone.
“You know, I was starting to think that you had no more use of me, did you have to wait so long to invite me to the party?” Jennifer replied quickly.
“Hol up? What party?” Anna asked immediately.
“Your birthday party, did you think you could keep it a secret for long? You are the one who should be getting surprises, not me.” She laughed.
“Sorry, but there is no party, Jen! Why would you think that I was planning a party and I wouldn’t tell you?” Anna queried.
“Save your strength, Ann. Mr. Blackwood already told me about the birthday party at his place, he has also instructed me to invite all of your friends, from year one to graduation.” Jennifer announced.
“What??” Anna yelled. “You are not serious, are you? Please tell me you didn’t invite anybody! Especially the Cruz twins”
“Oh they were at the top of the list, yes I did invite them all.” She replied.
“Oh my Freaking….” She Paused between her words. “What have you done? You have to cancel!” she demanded
“What? Why are you screaming? You don’t want a party?” Jennifer asked, genuinely confused with her friend’s reaction.
“You are not seriously asking me that, I can't have a party in this state!”
“Alright then, I will ask Maxwell to change the location.” Jennifer cut in as she walked into her office.
“You know that is not what I mean,” Anna said. “Please Jen, you need to cancel. I can't have a birthday party with all those guys, they are going to see my stomach, it is not as small as the last time you saw it.”
Jennifer burst into laughter. “Really? Is that what you are scared of? Come on girl, no one is going to know. Fine, I will find you a nice attire that makes you stand out while your tummy still stays hidden, but this invitation I cannot unsend.” She announced.
“Ugh! If I get embarrassed, it is on you.”
“Agreed.” Jennifer laughed as she took her seat.
“Whatever… Anyways, I just called to check on you, how are you doing with your work enemy? Hope you haven’t gotten in a fight with him yet.” Anna asked.
Jennifer grinned. “It depends on how you describe the fight. Well I slept with him.” she announced.
“What?”
“Yeah, twice actually.” Jennifer added.
“Oh my God!” Anna screamed over the phone.
“Chill, it turns out he is not a bad guy, and he is so good in bed. You know, I think I am in love with him.” she said with a serious face.
“This is serious! You need to calm down and think this through, Jen. When did all this even happen? What happened to you telling me everything? Don’t make a mistake with your feelings, can this guy be trusted?”
“Chill Anna, he is a nice guy, I promise. He is reserved, sweet and all that.”
“Eww… Doesn’t sound like your kind of guy, but either way, please be sure that he is what he claims to be. Men are deceptive, you can never tell until you see their true intentions, they are always lying.” She advised.
“Oo…kay,” Jen dragged the word, sensing that there was something wrong with the way she spoke with spite. “What happened? Did Maxwell do something?”
Anna sighed, a bit hesitant but then she spoke. “Well, you remember when I told you Maxwell and I were going for a DNA test?”
“Yes, and I have waited for the results ever since then. Is it supposed to take this long?”
“No, the results were out last week.” Anna informed her.
“Last week? Today is Thursday! How come you didn’t tell me all this while?” Jenny yelled.
“I am sorry, there were some complications. The results say Maxwell is the father…”
“Yes!!” Jennifer interrupted excitedly.
“Don’t rejoice yet, I am not done.” Anna cut her short.
“Oh, okay?” Jenny laughed, trying to contain her excitement.
“So then Maxwell says it is not possible that he is the father, because he got a Vasectomy years ago.”
“What?” Jenny screamed.
“Exactly! He kept it a secret all this while, he took me for a fool!”
“So the child is not his?” Jenny queried.
“Hey! You are missing the point, he kept it a secret from me.” Anna argued.
“But is the child his?” Jennifer queried, making her priorities clear.
“Yes, okay? The child is his. It turns out his Vasectomy had failed, whatever that means. So now he just wants me to forget that it all happened and let's live like one small happy family,” she said in sarcasm.
Jennifer exhaled in relief. “Thank Goodness, the child is his and he accepts it, that is all that matters.”
“Are you serious right now? I thought you would be on my side? He lied to me!”
“And I am sure he has apologized, come on Anna, you shouldn’t hold on to grudges over trivial matters.” Jennifer uttered.
“You call this Trivial?” Anna flared.
“Think about it, maybe he didn’t tell you to protect what you two had, after keeping it away from him for so long because you were afraid he would reject you when he finds out you were carrying another man’s child, maybe this time he was scared you would reject him if you confirmed the child belonged to Jimmy.”
“That makes no sense, and I am tired of hearing that silly excuse, he should never have kept it a secret from me, there is no justification for what he did.” She argued.
“Ughh!” Jennifer groaned in frustration, knowing how stubborn her friend could be. “People make mistakes, Ann. We have all made mistakes, can’t you forgive him this time?” she pleaded on his behalf.
Anna sighed. “Just forget about it.”
“No I won't, Maxwell loves you and he wants you. If there is someone you should trust to always put you first, it is Maxwell Blackwood. I am not just saying this because I want to go on expensive fully paid vacations, courtesy of Blackwood Enterprises, which I do by the way, but also because I care about you.”
Anna laughed. “You are a silly girl, I will speak with you later, it looks like Mr. Trouble is home.”
“Awn, she even has a nickname for him,” Jennifer laughed.
“Shut up Jenny!’ Anna joked before ending the call.
Jennifer laughed out loud. She actually needed that call, by convincing Anna to trust Maxwell, she was also convincing herself to trust Marshall.
TBC!!