After that day by the roundabout, Jax wasn't seen much. He was kept busy by workload both pack-related and also the multiple businesses that he was being groomed to overtake.
Lola was spending more time with Melissa each day and their friendship went back to what it had been.
It had been five days since they sat on the bench at the roundabout and the university was opening tomorrow on Thursday. They took advantage of the school being closed to renovate the classrooms and polish up the lab.
The mayor, Mr. Clan, was much celebrated for this decision and the students were glad to take the classes remotely.
Melissa and Lola however had seen these few days as a vacation and said they'd catch up once school started again.
They sat in Melissa's living room and waited for her parents to come home. Lola had been invited to stay for dinner and Mrs. Clifton had expressed how much she had missed Lola's company.
They played a game of Joker and Lola won for the second time when the door opened and voices filled the house.
Mrs. Clifton's laugh could always brighten any room regardless of how dull or colorless it was. They walked in and saw the girls sitting on the couch only Melissa's parents weren't alone. Mr. Clifton smiled, his glasses fell on the bridge of his nose and he wrapped his arm around his wife.
"Lola, you've been missed in this house." Mr. Clifton said but Lola's eyes were too focused on who was beside him. "We have another dinner guest." He said and looked at Mrs. Blackwood.
Her maroon-colored coat clung to her body and her hands clutched a smaller purse. She was dressed for a five-star restaurant dinner with diamond earrings and a matching necklace. Everything on Mrs. Blackwood screamed wealth and socialite.
"I'm happy to see your other life, Lola." Mrs. Blackwood said with a smile. A smile that Lola had never seen before. Her lips lifted and her eyes hooded in genuine glee. Was it because she liked the Clifons or was she just that good at faking human emotion?
Melissa and Lola shared a look as they walked to the kitchen.
"We have a wonderfully delicious chicken with lovely greens and cheese-grated potatoes- all of which were bought at Sally's." Mr. Clifton smiled as he pulled the containers out and plated the food. Mrs. Blackwood chuckled in her seat, her head shifted smoothly and even laughing was a calculated artform for her. Nothing could be done without precision, she always had to look her best, behave her best and somehow she made even laughing look obnoxious.
Lola took out her phone under the table and quickly wrote a text to Jax.
-At Melissa's, your mother's here.
She sent the text and put her phone on her legs, hoping to get a response within the second it took her to do that.
Melissa was laughing and talking to the company but the Lola could tell how tense she was, pressing herself back against the chair.
"Lola, Mrs. Blackwood was so eager to learn more about you when you started dating her son. Thank you for telling us by the way," Mrs. Clifton said, feigning betrayal.
Lola smiled. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, it's been a busy couple of weeks." She said.
"It's alright, honey. But I did realize when she asked us about you that we didn't know very much." Mrs. Clifton said. She looked genuinely upset about the fact.
Jax's mother was digging in too deep into Lola's life. How was she supposed to keep everything a secret if Mrs. Blackwood kept prying around in her past?
Lola did feel bad that Melissa's parents didn't know anything but it was safer that way. There's no telling how a person will react to that sort of news and Lola wasn't planning on finding out.
Her phone didn't vibrate but she kept checking it every other minute just in case Jax answered. She flickered her finger over the screen and scrolled up in their conversation.
The last five messages she'd sent had been left unanswered. Thinking back she couldn't remember when they last saw each other. Jax was busy with work and whenever he got back at night he went to his room. Maybe he wouldn't answer at all. Maybe something else had happened. Lola shook her head and shifted in her seat, she couldn't go down that road right now. She needed to be alert.
Mrs. Clifton poured more wine into everyone's glasses. She grabbed Lola's glass and filled it halfway to the top and placed it down with a wink.
Lola took the glass to her lips and at first she only sipped it but the second she felt the warm sensation sliding down her throat and her body relaxing she took a bigger gulp.
Soon the glass was empty and she leaned back. That soft spin of the wine kicking in and sending her brain into a high was letting her breathe. Even with Mrs. Blackwood present she didn't feel stale or scared, all of that was put aside.
"Is your family here, Lola?" She leaned back and focused.
"No they're dead," Lola bit down on her tongue, the taste of blood filled her mouth and she glared at the wine glass.
Bad idea, Lola.
-please come, I can't handle her alone.
-I know you're busy but I need you.
She put the phone away and blinked to regain focus.
"They're dead? Lola, I didn't know that."
"It's alright, Mrs. Clifton. It was a long time ago." Lola explained. She tried to relax but it was as if every muscle in her body tensed double as hard in punishment for her losing focus and letting her guard down.
"Lola, you call me Paula and nothing else." Her eyes were stern. She was dead serious.
Lola smiled. She felt the eyes of Mrs. Blackwood boring into her but she couldn't turn her head. Right now the alcohol had taken control of her strength and it wouldn't be relinquished anytime soon.
-can you please answer me.
All of the feelings and worry about Jax were slowly pulling up to the surface and this time she couldn't kill it.
Was she being annoying by sending all of these texts? What if he's incredibly busy?
No, he should be here, helping her. It was his mother.
"When did they die?" Mrs. Blackwood asked. Lola begged that the conversation topic would be changed because the truth was rising rapidly. Right now she would answer anything even though she knew she shouldn't.
"They died when I was sixteen," she said, not feeling bad about telling the truth but the anxiety that followed her answer was proof enough that she shouldn't have done it.
"How did they die?" She wasn't letting go.
Melissa cast a worried glance and leaned in. Her cheeks were tinted and her eyes were heavy, Melissa was just as tipsy as Lola.
"Let's talk about something not so morbid, shall we?" Melissa said in the hope of changing the subject.
"I agree. How are things with you and Jax?" Mrs. Clifton asked. Her golden brown eyes had a softness to them. They were always kind and warm. Her brown curls fell right below her shoulders and she always wore a silver chain around her neck that she got from her husband on their wedding day.
Her husband wasn't much different, his sea-green eyes made you feel safe immediately and his lips were almost always turned in a smile.
Even when they tried to act serious they were loving and gentle, their faces never took on the snake-like expression that Mrs. Blackwoods did.
"Things are good. We-"A glass fell on the table and wine poured over the marble surface.
Melissa and Lola jumped and Mrs. Blackwood's hand shot out to grab the glass that had tipped. It was hers, she looked in shock and apologized repeatedly.
Lola, in a state of haze, looked at the red wine pooling on the surface.
It reached the white napkins and when it got absorbed it looked an awful lot like blood.
"Are you okay? You look a little pale." Mrs. Blackwood asked.
"I'm fine," Lola said.
Mrs. Clifton told everyone to sit and she laughed as she dried up the spilled wine. She didn't understand the overreaction and told Margret Blackwood to stop apologizing.
"Lola I want you to know that I meant no harm in asking about your parents. I too know what it feels like to lose your parents at a young age." Melissa's jaw dropped when Mrs. Blackwood spoke.
"I never meant to pressure you. Once you're ready to tell us what happened you will," she smiled. Lola didn't know how to react but her body slumped in the seat. Her eyes fixed on Mrs. Blackwood.
The wine was pushing down her guard further, the anxiety went away slowly and her mind was forming all of the words that she would speak.
"They died from-"For the second time when trying to talk, Lola was interrupted. This time by the door to the house being flung open and someone barging in with a dramatic flare.
"I will not be offended at the lack of invitation to dinner but I will ask to be considered for the next one," Ash said when he walked into the kitchen. Lola looked up and her eyes glimmered in joy. One second later her heart dropped. Jax must've read the texts and sent Ash.
"Ash Blackwood it's a pleasure to meet you." Mr. Clifton said when he walked up to shake Ash's hand.