Fire and Freedom - Book One of the Café Latte Trilogy

Chapter Seventeen - Jasper

I took a deep breath, and said, "Fine, you're right. I'll give them time to think about it. But I did have something to actually talk to you both about. It's horrendous timing, but I've been keeping something else from you, and I just want to get it out."

Mum and Dad looked suspicious, but waited for me to continue.

"I don't want to do business," I told them, and blushed. "I lied to you, and I'm sorry about it. I applied to do photography, at universities aimed towards the arts. I'm sorry I lied, but I was hiding a lot from you with coming out and everything, and I didn't feel ready to talk about it all. But I am sorry I lied. I've been accepted to really good schools."

Dad blinked, and Mum looked aghast. "Jasper, you agreed that business was the best chance for employment after university."

"I know," I replied hastily. "But I also know I would be absolutely miserable doing that."

After a few moments of silence, Dad said, "We need to think about this. I think you should go and see Cyri today and give us some time."

I couldn't help but feel rejected. I knew they just wanted some time, to gather themselves and think of the response they wanted to give, but it stung all the same. I swallowed and nodded. "Okay, got it."

"I'll give you a ride," Andrew said quietly, and we headed out of the kitchen. "Dude, I'm so sorry," he quickly said once we were outside the house. "I didn't mean to drop you in it, they were just freaking the fuck out that you were dead in a ditch somewhere. I just wanted to reassure them, but their minds started whirring."

"It's fine, it's fine," I sighed, getting into the car and calling Cyri. When there was no answer, I hesitantly called Ross.

"Yeah?" he answered curtly.

"It's me," I sighed. "My parents figured out about me and you, and they exploded."

There was a moment of hesitation, and he said, "Balls. How did they figure it out?"

"They called Tom's last night to get hold of me for something, and when I wasn't there they grilled Andrew," I explained.

"Ah," he replied. "Well, I did say you were terrible at espionage, so this shouldn't be a surprise."

I felt my heart sink. "Look, they'll get over it. It'll be fine, alright? Don't worry about it."

There was another pause, and Ross sighed. "This is getting complicated already. I didn't want things to get complicated."

I hesitated, not wanting to have this conversation in earshot of Andrew. "Seriously, it'll be fine. Listen, I'm going to hang out at Rory's or something until the drama dies down, so I'll speak to you later." Before he could say anything else, I hung up and winced.

"Everything okay?" Andrew asked. "Where do you want to go?"

"I'll just hang out at Caffe Latte and do some work," I said, having grabbed my laptop bag. "If you could just drop me in town."

"Don't worry about mum and dad," Andrew tried to reassure me as we drove away from the house. "I'll talk to them when I get back - they're just panicked that some creepy old guy has swooped in and corrupted their precious baby. They'll get over it."

I sighed. "Love you."

"Love you, too," he said.

*****

Lucie was at Caffe Latte as per usual, and she smiled when she saw that I had come to do some work. "Hey, baby," she said, kissing me on the forehead. "Coffee?"