( James Darcy's POV )
I've learned, in my thirty four years on this earth, that nothing is ever as it seems. I've seen a lot in those years, horrible shit, simple what-the-fuck-shit that made me think that nothing could really shock me anymore. But boy was I wrong, because this right here, this....
"Fuck me!" I slammed the paper on the table, not worried about the stares I was getting from the people at the little café I had told Dimitri to meet me at. Next to me, sitting like the big boy he is and eating his fried ice-cream, I heard Sebastian giggled making some of the ice cream spill from his mouth. This, any other day would have been funny and I would have been laughing right along with him, but was simply a speck of dust in the cluster-fuck that was the news I had just received from Dimitri.
"Ghost, are you sure about this? You have to be a hundred and ten percent sure about this because this shit is going to fuck with a lot of people." I had to make sure the information was accurate, not because I didn't trust Dimitri and his work, but because this was possibly going to open old wounds and create new ones. And this time, there wasn't anything I could do to stop it. I would have to let it happen and hope that it wouldn't do too much damage.
"Darcy, You know I would never bring it to you if it wasn't accurate or I had doubt. I've double checked and it seems legit, everything checked out. The only thing that's left is to do the test." He replied.
"Fuck, this is not good." I admitted, reaching for my baseball hat on my head which I pulled off and placed on top of the file Dimitri had handed me earlier. I looked around me for nothing in particular, just at the decent amount of people that were in the café, most of them dealing with their own issues, minding their own business.
A few tables to my left was a girl who started laughing out loud while her friend, sitting across from her, tried to keep it in. This reminded me of Charlotte and the fact that when she found something truly hilarious, she would laugh so hard that she would start snoring like a little pig, not worried about the people around her. I smiled fondly at the women.
Charlotte was the one who had introduced me to this place since she and Rose lived only a couple of blocks away at the time. They used to love coming here, she had told me, especially for their ice coffee. She was also very adamant on the fact that Starbucks was simply too overrated and overpriced. When I replied that she could afford it, she glared at me and said that money wasn't the issue and also, it was important to support local business and help them thrive.
"What are you thinking about doing?" Dimitri asked, the coffee he had ordered earlier, to his lips.
"I'm not sure, but I'll wait for the results before mentioning anything to Charlotte and go from there. I'm sure this won't be the only thing she'll be upset at me for hiding it from her." I wasn't one to panic when things got messy and tricky, as I've always had things under control for the most part, though, I was still working on a few things, I believed I've come along way from my breaking everything and lashing out days.
I've learned that fighting fire with fire usually resulted with you getting a possible third degree burn, though I was one to sometimes not listen to that at all.
Dimitri moved the coffee cup from his lips to the table after a few sips, before running his fingers into his thick, dark mane.
"Do you want my opinion?" He asked, his eyes darting over the pedestrians walking by the café, seemingly distracted by something across the street.
"That would be a no." I replied. Dimitri was the one who had asked to sit outside of the café, explaining that he wanted to enjoy whatever was left of the summer weather as we were entering fall.
"Obviously, I'm going to ignore this." He replied. I didn't have many friends, and most of the time I preferred it that way, having too many people in your life had the tendency of playing against you. Dimitri continued.
"What you should have done, four weeks ago, was to tell Charlotte the truth. You know this girl is madly in love with you, I'm sure she would have understood the situation. But, I think it's not too late, spill the beans now and hope that she has it in her heart to forgive you. Do it now before adding anything else to the plate because I'm not sure she'll be able to swallow it all."
I was glad to have Dimitri as a friend, but sometimes, I did in fact wonder if I hadn't made a mistake in mixing business with friendship. Dimitri was a good person and was great at his job which was why I kept him around, but sometimes I found myself itching to punch him in the face. Of course, I would never do that because I wasn't that person anymore, at least I tried not to be; but, the thought was still there, nonetheless. It's the whole fight your demons, mantra.
I heard my name being called from the distance which made Dimitri, Sebastian and I turn toward the voice simultaneously.
"Speaking of trouble," Dimitri mumbled as he got up from his chair. "I guess this is my clue to take leave." He added. Again, the thoughts of punching him where there, but I was a good boy...or tried to be one.
"Jemma, you're early." I remarked, taking a quick look at my watch. She beamed, diverging her attention quickly to Sebastian who smiled happily at her.
"I know, but I missed this big boy so much that I thought I would come a little early." She walked around the table to Sebastian's seat and placed a big kiss on his cheek, which made his giggle, while he falsely squirmed in his seat.
I glanced at Dimitri, but I didn't need to do so to know what he thought, though I didn't necessarily care. I've made a decision that I thought would be beneficial for everyone and so far, it had been working just fine.
"I will see you Wednesday, Ghost."
He tipped his head slightly to the side. "You got it, boss." And with that, he was gone. Jemma took the sit he was occupying and put her small purse down on the table before calling out to the server, who immediately approached us.
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I guess the right thing to do here would be to explain the Jemma situation and how it came to be. The whole thing had never been something I had ever though possible, but when situations arise, one has to make due with what one has in order to take care of said situations.
Desperate times called for desperate measures. And seeing how the whole custody battle was weighing heavy on Charlotte, I had decided to do something about it. I knew what Jemma wanted; to able to spend time with Sebastian. At first, I was skeptical about her intentions, who wouldn't? She has done terrible things. But the thing was, so did I and so did Charlotte. May those who had never sinned throw the first stone....or some shit along those lines.
Though this logic made sense, it took me awhile to come to the decision that maybe, allowing some supervised visitations wouldn't be such a horrible thing, especially because she, meaning Jemma, would never be left alone with the child. Not even for a few seconds.
I knew Charlotte would have never agreed to it and I understood why. After all, who could blame her? She had her reasons and there were just as valid as the reasons I had to allow Jemma to spend time with Sebastian. This was what I had explained to Royce, what I had him understand. It had taken awhile to get him to agree, but I had never doubted that he wouldn't see things in my light.
That was a month ago.
And this was now.
My phone vibrated in my pocket which I reached for absentmindedly while I watched Jemma interact with Sebastian. Why couldn't she be this caring when he was born. If she had been the mother that the child needed, none of this whole mess of sneaking around and of lying would have been necessary. Now, I found myself having to lie to the love of my life.
I looked down at the phone. A text message from Charlotte which I immediately opened.
A single word.
Liar.
And it was at that very moment, that I knew I was fucked!
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Guys! Can you believe this ish?What do you think of James Darcy's explanation as to why he's doing this? Do you believe Jemma is sincere and genuine? What do you think Charlotte would or should do?