The Words I Never Said

Chapter Sixteen

                Chapter Sixteen

                “So I’m guessing this Ben person is umm – mean?” Emily guessed as she nibbled onto some toast, she and the boys were currently sitting at the dining table having breakfast at the penthouse as they waited for Ben to arrive. Jackie had made her stay the night there. Emily had to admit, she was a bit scared. What if Ben was mean? Better yet, what if Ben decides to tell Jackie to fire her? The negative thoughts swirled in her head, Emily tried pushing them away but they just kept coming back.

                “Nah,” said Adrian lightly as he spread some peanut butter on his toast “He’s pretty cool.” Jack who was sipping some juice nodded in agreement. “The man’s a legend.” He added

“He’s awesome.” Dylan said reassuringly to Emily who couldn’t help but smile at the boys’ efforts to comfort her. They all grinned cheekily – well except for Alex who looked like he wasn’t looking forward to seeing Ben.

                “Unless he’s mad,” Alex chided with a grumble, his three friends shot him a look. He rolled his eyes “It’s true. Remember that time when Jack had that fight via Twitter with Sammy J from Destination Five?”  He reminded “He practically wanted to shut down all our Twitter accounts.” His friends shot him disapproving glares once more “Sorry.” Alex mumbled, Emily sighed.

                “Look Alex, I’m sorry.” She said tiredly “It’s my fault I know.”

                “No it isn’t.” Alex said, looking up at her from across the table. There was something in his eyes she couldn’t decode. “None of it is.” He added, staring at her. She stared back and before they knew it there was an awkward silence, Dylan who was sitting next to Emily, cleared his throat.

                “Well, so much for that.” He said, obviously trying to break the ice. The two of them looked away from each other. “I personally think we should settle this in a calm and –“

                “Very nice suggestion, Dylan.” A voice came, cutting Dylan off. All of them looked up to see Jackie entering the room with a tall blonde man with a grey suit on. He had an air of power and at the same time – coolness. Like if life were some kind of high school, he would be one of the jocks or something like that.

                So this must be, Ben. Emily thought to herself as the man grinned and took a seat at the head of the table. “I’m proud of you, boys.” He said as he took a sip from the glass of juice set in front of him, Jackie stood behind his chair with her arms crossed and an unreadable expression on her face. “You’re filling up the headlines! Alex my boy, what you did last night was great! It’s driving the press crazy! You’re on the front page of the paper and the main story in several shows. Oh, and have I mentioned you trended for hours on Twitter last night?” he was enthusiastic; the opposite of what Emily expected him to be. Alex seemed to feel the same; Emily looked over at him and saw that he was gaping at Ben.

                                “Are you even serious right now?” Alex asked in disbelief, he looked like he was witnessing some miracle “Aren’t you going to make Jackie ban me from driving or something? Haven’t you seen the news? They kept talking about how much of a reckless driver I am.” Ben waved a hand dismissively

                “Yes, yes but that doesn’t matter. The public do not care about your driving.” Ben said nonchalantly, he folded his hands neatly over the table and rested his chin on them. “What they do care about is the fact that you were caught with a girl.” He then looked over at Emily, the grin on his face growing wider. All eyes were on her. Emily was used to being part of the center of attention, and sometimes being the center itself but at that moment she wasn’t sure if she wanted to experience that anymore.