Second Chance

Nine: Mona, the Notorious Gossiper

Nine: Mona, the Notorious Gossiper

Bessie dug into her cheesecake, her eyes wide with innocence as chewed on the cake. Ciara knew better. Great, she knew she would be screwed if Sam were to catch her.

“You.”

“Me?” The fork paused halfway to her mouth, and her eyes widened by a fraction. Ciara knew the girl was feigning shock.

“Yes, why did you come here?”

Bessie looked crestfallen. “Are you saying your best friend can’t visit you?”

“I’m working. Plus, you just paid for your own food.” Ciara’s gaze dropped to her half-eaten cheesecake. “That’s like a life achievement, considering you always make guys buy you food.”

“Don’t worry about that. Jake said he’ll pay for all my food.”

Ciara smacked her forehead with her palm. “Really, Bess, what’s going on with Taylor? You came here to talk about him, right?”

“You guys make the best cheesecake. No fair, Ciara, you get eat amazing cake at work.”

A single thought passed through Ciara’s head: my best friend is an idiot. The said best friend proceeded to give out one of the loudest and creepiest laugh Ciara had ever heard. Goose bumps appeared on her arm, and she wondered if Bessie had lost her mind over the past few days. Bessie placed down her fork and took a long gulp out of the glass cup.

“You’re fun to annoy. No wonder he likes to annoy you.”

“Must be hereditary,” Ciara mumbled under her breath.

“Yes, I did come here for Taylor.” Her eyes lost their playfulness. “Ciara, we’ve talked about this. It’s only now I realized that he’s serious about you.”

“Bessie, you do know I don’t believe you, right?”

“I swear on Jewel I’m serious. Oh, screw this. I think I just broke some invisible siblings rule, but technically, he never said a word about it. All my information is based purely on my theories. I do think Taylor likes you.”

Jewel was Bessie’s beloved Persian cat. The feline was huge for a house cat, but she absolutely adored it. There was no way Bessie would be lying when Jewel was involved.

All sort of expression disappeared from Ciara’s face. She stared blankly at the brown-haired girl in front of her. Her mind mirrored her expression.

Taylor.

Loud music blasted out from her phone, and she jumped. Fumbling slightly, she fished out her phone a bit breathless.

“Hello?”

“Ciara? I’m coming over in around ten minutes. Just thought I’d remind you,” he added quickly.

“Of course I didn’t forget. I’ll see you around, Jared.”

“Sure, bye.”

Ciara winced, feeling a headache threatening to appear. Why? Why now? Why are they both back? Why me? She pinched the bridge of her nose. She finally glanced up, seeing Bessie staring at her knowingly.

“I know you like him,” she said. “You always had in high school. It’s only natural the feelings will be back.”

“About Taylor,” she said, feeling a lump appear in her throat. “I can’t say I believe this. It’s just…too…much. I mean,” she paused and searched for the right word. “I do believe you, but Taylor’s not the kind of guy to settle for a girl. We both know this.”

That was true. Taylor had looks on par with Jared, but instead of Jared’s timid personality, he was the typical jerk that girls all seemed to fall for. One thing Ciara knew for sure was that buried somewhere in the darkest corner of his mind, Taylor was certainly not a jerk.

If he were a jerk, he wouldn’t have risked a broken bone to save that kitty stuck on the tree in fifth grade. If he were a jerk, he wouldn’t have defended the bullied kid in eighth grade. If he were a jerk, he -

It was different. Ciara could not imagine seeing him other than the irritating big brother of her best friend.

“I know, Ciara. I know. This is hard to believe. Honestly, I don’t even know for sure what kind of things go through that mind of his even though we’re siblings. Oh look, your shift is over, and I have get home before Taylor gets the wind that I came here. Hold on.” Her head snapped sideways. “Isn’t that Mona?”

Her gaze flickered to Mona who was pretending to be scrubbing the table next to theirs. Ciara would bet every little penny in her pink piggy bank that she was eavesdropping.

Swear words that would make a sailor proud ran through her mind at a speed faster than Jewel could destroy Bessie’s furniture. Curse her carelessness!

Her phone vibrated once more, signaling the presence of a message. Ciara groaned. She didn’t have time to take care of this.

“Mona, you did not hear a thing, get it?”

“Of course!” the brunette chirped way too eagerly. “I did not hear a thing.” Mona nodded, the small bun on top of her head bobbing in the process. Ciara scowled. For some reasons, she really didn’t trust the brunette. No time, she repeated in her mind. She changed her clothes in record time and flew out of the door.

“Bye, Bess!”

“Good luck on your date!”

“Hello,” Ciara chirped upon entering the car.

“Here,” he said, offering her a single red rose.

“Is that a flower?” Ciara tentatively reached out towards the rose.

Jared rolled his eyes. “No, it’s a potato.”

Ciara playfully smacked his arm, a light blush blossoming on her cheeks before she could stop it. “Thanks.”

Jared grinned, turning his attention back to the road. The car sped down the road. He chuckled. “Totally worth it to see your reaction.”

Ciara had a feeling that Mona wouldn’t be able to keep her mouth shut, but no scenarios she’d imagined in her mind would ever prepare for the drastic change in the town’s latest gossip.

Ciara was already fuming at the growing rumors of her and Jared. With the addition of Taylor, Ciara might just surpass the latest news of Mrs. Charley cheating on her husband with a guy ten years younger than her.

It was not the rumors themselves that bothered her. No, she couldn’t care less about what people said behind her back. She’d had enough of those, being the only daughter of one of the richest woman in town. She couldn’t wait to see Taylor’s reaction. Jared, how would he think of her after this? For some reasons, those two’s opinions mattered a hell lot more than the entire town added together.

“Mona.” It was such a simple word, said with little emotion and in a fairly soft voice. Mona glanced up from the coffee machine, cringing at the icy look in her eyes and her tense posture.

“Look, I can’t keep things to myself but!” she said, shushing Ciara before Ciara could say anything. “I did say I won’t say anything to anyone. I couldn’t help but rant about this to a few stray cats. Who knew Susan from next door was waiting -?”

“Just,” Ciara said through clenched teeth, “Disappear from my sight. Now.”

Mona scurried away as fast as her legs could carry her.

She was smart.

For the rest of her shift, she did a wise choice in avoiding Ciara. The blonde did not know if she would be able to tolerate the sight of the gossiper.

Ciara sighed.

Lovely, I can’t wait to see Taylor’s reaction.