The Betrayal Within

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Song of the Chapter: SexyBack by Justin Timberlake

Recap (Francisco’s POV):

“We have to go now,” Jasmine said. “Adam, you better do the same. Francisco…”

I smiled at the fact that she didn't know what to say.

“Love you,” I said.

“Love you too,” she answered.

“Ugh!” Paulene exclaimed. The call ended and an annoyed Adam looked at me.

“What?”

“You know that you have to buy a present for her, right?” He told me.

“I know. I have an idea.” He walked away and I looked back at my notes.

My mind went blank. I don't know what to give my girlfriend for Christmas.

One week later... (Christmas Eve)

Jasmine's POV

The snow fell down gently as I was looking at the pawn shop case.

It didn't make sense. How can Adam and Francisco stole a priceless antique? Maybe there were framed.

“Hey dude,” Paulene greeted me with a bottle of water in her hand. “You were looking at that screen for the longest time, so I gave you water to fill your eyeballs.”

“This doesn't make sense,” I muttered. “Their handprints were all over the necklace, but there's no video surveillance camera. It makes them prime suspects.”

“I don't know. But you have half an hour left until your shift ends. It's Christmas Eve.”

Paulene’s right. I should be relaxing.

“Have you bought Francisco his present?” She asked.

I sighed. “No.” I searched store to store to buy a present, but it was no luck. Either he already owned something or I didn't like it for a present. “It has to be something special.”

“Buy him a book so he can read,” she suggested.

I gave her a look. “Paulene, I'm being serious. This is going to be our first Christmas tomorrow and I don't want to be the one to mess up.”

“You know I don't like him, but my advice to you is to think from the heart. Maybe he doesn't want materialistic things or he just want you to be there. I'm not Santa.”

From the heart. What is the one thing that he wants both of us to do?

***

A little while later, I went back home. Paulene was going to come an hour and a half after me, since she came in later than usual.

I took a steamy shower with my playlist from Spotify blasting through the bathroom. It was a throwback Friday and all of the 2000s classics were back on.

The music followed to my room as I dried myself off and started to plan out my clothes.

I took a dark jean jacket and wore it. I tried to curl my hair, but got burned after a couple of tries. I continued and then put on my makeup.

My phone rang with one ringtone I specifically put for someone.

“You reached the phone number of a girl that's in love with Justin Timberlake. Please leave a message if you are Justin Timberlake. If not, then kindly hang up.”

Francisco laughed. “Damn Jaz, I knew you were in love with him, but I didn't know it was that serious. Should I find him and tell him that it's over between you two?”

“Do you want to be in a fight with his entourage?” I joked.

“I'll do anything for my girlfriend.” It still felt weird that he said ‘girlfriend’ to me. It felt surreal that he has been almost a month since we were together.

“You're cute,” I joked. “Where are you?”

“Right in front of your apartment complex,” he answered.

“This early?!” I haven't wore my shoes or checked my bag. “You're usually late.”

He chuckled. “A person can change, but can I come in?”

“Aw, because you really want to see me?”

“That and I really have to pee,” he said. He always have a mind of his own.

“Door’s unlocked for you.” I went to the door and unlocked it. The playlist kept blasting Justin Timberlake music and now the song SexyBack was playing. That song actually made me wild when I used to go to parties a lot.

I was dancing like a maniac when the beat dropped and I guess Francisco saw the entire thing and had his phone out recording.

“Holy--”

Francisco was laughing like a hyena on drugs. So he started to dance with me.

Near the end of the song, I was feeling myself too much and done a very provocative move to him.

Immediately, he spins me to be face to face. When I saw him, he looked good.

But I see that he was hungry for something else.

The song changed to an ard for Snickers.

“You're not you when you're hungry,” the announcer said.

We stared at each other, until I cleared my throat.

“I thought you needed to pee.”

“Lost it.” He leaned in and kissed me like he hasn't seen me in ages. I lost every feeling I had in my body and I let my hunger take over.

The kiss went deeper and my hands went around his belt. Getting a bit over yourself, girl.

His hands went around my butt, of course and it felt like he was squishing a pillow.

After about a few minutes of doing that, somehow we landed on the couch. My lipstick was halfway gone and saw the other half on his lips.

“We have to go,” I told him.

“Can't we ditch them?” He asked. “They should have time to themselves.”

“No, Paulene would kill Adam and it'll be our fault.” He groaned and I smiled. “Go pee before you pee in this carpet.” I got up and went to my bedroom.

I redid my lipstick and fixed my hair. I put on my boots and checked my bag if everything was there. I told myself that I wasn't going to bring any weapons.

Okay, so I lied. I had three small pocket knives inside my bag with my badge, just in case police want to stop me for any reason.

I felt more confident lately. I didn't talk bad about myself. I don't need to talk down about myself for any reason at all.

I texted Paulene and Adam that Francisco and I were leaving. One minute later, Adam texted me.

If I die with the devil, you know that I want you and Cisco to take my ashes and throw them in Miami Beach with a house party that's going on.

I'm positively sure that Adam will be fine with Paulene in a car.

Or they won't be and I would have to bail my best friend out from jail.

I left my bedroom and saw Francisco making funny faces on his phone. I sneaked in and saw him on Snapchat with the dog filter.

“This filter is overused!” I exclaimed. My face was detected and had my face in a dalmatian dog filter. I admit, it was cute.

He sent it through his story. “I peed. Can I have a reward?”

“Hmm, what about us leaving the house?” I joked.

“I can be here all day and all night long,” he commented. He went closer to me and kissed me softly.

“What was that for?”

“I just love you.”

***

Francisco was driving his car that he bought a few days ago to the carnival.

It was a long drive, so we had long talks about our childhood and how I manage to be in the CIA at fourteen.

We arrived at the carnival and cars were everywhere. I guess everyone was having the same idea that Paulene had.

We got out the car and the first thing I saw was a pink flamingo.

“It's so fluffy!” I exclaimed.

Francisco raised his eyebrow. “Since when flamingos are fluffy?”

“Since I said so.” I wanted it so bad that I actually ran in the snow and almost slipped. The pink flamingo stood out the most.

“Step right up and try to play this game!” A man that looked like his early forties exclaimed.

The objective was to shoot thirty baskets into the net in forty seconds. I started to go first.

I'm bad at basketball; didn't even shoot as much as I supposed to.

I only made six baskets.

“It's okay girl,” the man said. “How about you, sir?” He looked at Francisco. “Step right up and win a prize for your lady.”

I didn't even hear Francisco complaining and he took the basketball and started to play. I saw balls flying into the net.

I knew he played basketball, but when he was a kid. I thought he was rusty.

It was only five seconds left and he had twenty-nine baskets. It felt like it was slow motion and he made it in just in time.

The man was shocked himself.

“Um, wow,” he said. “You won. Congratulations. Which prize do you want?”

“The pink flamingo,” Francisco answered and smiled at me. I didn't know the stuffed toy would be that big.

It was half my size.

“Thanks,” I told him. It became so awkward that I would call him a pet name. I don't know if I'll ever do that yet.

We walked back to the car and dropped the flamingo inside. I saw two cars that was familiar to me.

“You don't think that it's Adam and Paulene, right?” Francisco asked me.

“It is!” Adam exclaimed. I jumped and slid through the ice and fell on my butt. Adam started laughing.

“You're an ass!” I yelled. Paulene came out of her car and helped me up with Francisco.

Paulene pushed Adam and landed face first into the snow.

“Don't mess with her, except I say so,” Paulene stated. I got up and I got confused.

“Why aren't you two in the same car?” I asked.

“You never said about being in separate cars,” Adam said. “So we decided to do that.”

“The reason why I wanted you two together is because I wanted you two to get along,” I told them. Paulene shrugged her shoulders and Adam got distracted with a girl.

“Jaz, someone cute is performing!” She pulled me to the sound of music and started to run. This is going to be a long day.

***

Francisco’s POV

The girls ran out of our sight to see some guy singing.

“Cisco, I have something to tell you,” Adam told me when we started to walk around.

“Let me guess, you failed your exam and now you have to take the class again?”

“That was one time! But that's not it. Remember at the party we'd went to and I told about that girl that threw up on me?”

I nodded.

“I was thinking about her and what she looked like. That time we went to Paulene’s and Jasmine's place and I went to the bathroom. Paulene’s bedroom was wide open and saw the same wolf mask that girl had at the party.”

“You don't think…”

“I'm positively sure that I was drunk flirting with Paulene.”

I had every reason to laugh. He had an annoying look on his face that made me laugh even more.

“I knew you two had some chemistry,” I replied.

“I don't like her,” he said. “I mostly fear her.”

“Well, you're going to fear her even more when you have to tell her,” I said. They make the most weirdest couple. But I know that Paulene will find out eventually.

“Do you want me to die?”

“Either you say it now or she'll find out herself.”

He groaned. “This will be all your fault if I die.”

Throughout the hour, we played and ate. I beat him through most of the games. Also, we made a bet to see who would win the most games.

I won and now, he has to tell Paulene about the party. It was karma because Paulene came with a few toys in her hand.

“I'm going to leave you two alone.” I smiled evilly. “Paulene, where's Jasmine?”

“She's in the bathroom. She's taking an important phone call.”

Paulene and Adam disappeared, while I started looking for Jasmine.

There's about five bathrooms around the carnival of what I heard from a woman. I called Jasmine and the phone was busy.

“Hi, this is Jasmine. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.”

“It's Cisco. Paulene told me that you were in one of the bathrooms. Call me back. Love you.”

After I hanged up the phone, I texted her that I'm looking for her.

“Long time no see, López.” The voice that I didn't want to hear. I turned around and saw Alex with a smirk on his face.

“What the hell do you want?” I spat. “Aren't you supposed to be with your family on Christmas?”

“My dad and my stepmother can handle it,” he said. “Why all the questions? Why the hostility?”

He makes my blood boil.

“Why are you here?” I asked rudely.

“I can't enjoy a Christmas Eve with some excitement?” He questioned.

“At least I'm not alone on Christmas.”

“At least I don't have a criminal record.” He smirked.

“Well I guess you didn't know that Jasmine and I are dating.”

His face looked shocked. I guess he didn't know that.

“You're playing with me.”

“But I'm not,” I said, smirking back. “I took the only girl you have that loves you.”

“You don't know anything about Jasmine. You don't know all the wonderful times and the firsts we made. Should I tell you how everyone reacted when we first dated?” I stayed silent. “Everyone knew that we end up together. My father thought he'll be a grandfather early.”

Calm yourself, López. Don't let him get to you.

“We loved each other so much that we planned our wedding,” he continued. “White and blue colors …”

“I'm warning you, Martinez.”

“Oh this is going to be the icing on the cake.” My hands turned into fists. “I wanted my first time to be with Jasmine and--”

My fist punched the shit out of Alex.

He fell down backwards and blood was on his lips and on the snow. I felt satisfied and Alex had this angry look.

“You're going to regret that, López. You're fucking with the wrong person.” People started to look at what's going on. I made that move and left.

“Go to hell,” I said.

I walked off with a smirk on my face.

***

Jasmine’s POV

“Jeff, I'm still trying to find out who did it.”

“Jasmine, you should stop with the case,” he said. “It's basically taking over your life. Is it because the suspects are your boyfriend and his best friend?”

“No!” I exclaimed. “Well, sort of. Their records should be clean.”

“You're not their lawyer.” The line went dead. I look at my phone and it shut off. Shit, my phone died.

Officer Jeff was trying to convince me that the pawn case was over since Adam and Francisco. I wanted to open it back up again.

Jasmine, it's Christmas Eve. Stop thinking about work and think about your loved ones.

Mom and Dad had to work on Christmas, so they couldn't visit. It's been about a couple of months since they came up to Philly. I miss them too much.

I left out the bathroom with two toys that I won with Paulene an hour ago. I knew I didn't have a phone to call Francisco, so I decided to go back to the parking lot.

“Jasmine!” I turned around and I thought that it was Francisco.

Alex wasn't Francisco.

How did he find me here? Why is he here?

I made a mental sigh, but saw a bruise on his lips. It was bleeding entirely.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“It's just a cut.”

“Alex, it seemed like someone punched you in the face.” He didn't have a black eye, but his lips were bruised and his teeth were red. I wonder how he gotten it.

I went inside my bag and found a napkin and a bandage. I ushered Alex to sit on a bench. I placed the napkin on his lips to let it absorb the blood.

“I forgot that you had brown eyes,” he said. I ignored his comment and continued putting pressure on his lips. Then, I used the bandage and put it where the bruise is.

“Thank you,” he said.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I needed to talk to someone about something.” He looked up and down. “You look beautiful.”

“I'm not going to be your girlfriend.”

He took back what I said. “Why?”

There's reasons why I didn't want Alex to know that Francisco and I are dating. That's going to be too much drama. I would rather say that I needed time for myself.

“I need time for myself.”

“I'll give you all the time that you need. Jasmine, do you know how much I missed you?”

I got up from the bench. “I'm sorry, Alex. Don't follow me.” I look in the corner of my eye and he wasn't following me. I really have to block his number now.

A couple of minutes later, I was almost near the parking lot. I hear a scream and people running, make that sliding to the commotion.

What's going on?

“I'm going to get you, Adam Garcia!” I know that voice. I saw Francisco waiting at his car and he started running towards me.

“Where have you been?” He asked me. Surprisingly, he gave me a hug. “You had me worried.”

He lets go of the hug. “Actually, we should worry about Paulene killing Adam.” We walked quickly to the scene and all I saw was Paulene taking Adam from his shirt and Adam pleading to every God he could think of.

A security guard came and separated the two. “I'm going to have both of you arrested!”

“That won't be necessary, sir,” I spoke up. Everyone looked at me. “Nothing to see here, people! Go on and play a game!”

The crowd listened and walked off. I had to think of a plan to get them out of this situation.

“Mr…”

“Portobello,” he answered.

“Sounds like a stinky mushroom,” Adam commented. I look at Adam with an angry look.

“My friend here,” I pointed at Paulene. “is taking some medication for her skin condition.” Lie your ass off. “She hasn't taken it for a couple of days and it has some side effects, that includes lashing out. This young man probably ticked her off and that's why she got into beast mode.”

“Hmm, well. As long as they don't cause trouble again, they're off the hook.”

They owe me big time.

“Thank you, sir,” Francisco thanked. He looked at Paulene and Adam. “Guys…”

“Thank you,” they both said in a monotone voice. Mr. Portobello released their hands and walked off.

“What the hell happened?” I asked. They were both silent until we ended up at the parking lot. “Well?”

“I was the one that was flirting with Paulene at the masquerade party,” Adam admitted. I tried not to laugh, but that's all?

“Paul--”

“Don't Paul me,” she interrupted. “I'm going home. Jasmine, don't stop me.” She walked off, going to her car.

“Adam, this is all your fault,” I told him.

“Me?!” He exclaimed. “I lost a bet to Francisco, so I had to do it.”

I looked at Francisco. “You made him do it? You knew about this the entire time?”

He shakes his head. “I didn't. I learned about this today. But at least she didn't find out herself.”

“I'm going to visit my mom,” Adam told us.

“At this hour?” Francisco asked. He was right. It was half past ten.

“There's no food at our house,” Adam said. “And it's Christmas Eve.”

We both nodded our heads. Maybe he wanted to be alone or be with his family.

After Paulene and Adam left, we went back in the car. I saw people was leaving. I guess it's ending.

I was thinking about Alex and how he manage to come here. He wouldn't stalk me. Would he?

“Hey.” Francisco rubs my shoulder. “You okay?”

“I thought we would all have a great time, you know, without any arguments, but I guess Christmas is time to be alone.”

“You know this isn't your fault,” he said. “So this Christmas is a bit abnormal as usual, this is my actual Christmas without being in a cell.”

“How did you feel? You know when you was in jail?”

“Horrible,” he said bluntly. “But it made me think of the future. And it seemed like something came up.”

He was actually thinking about the future with me. That made me blush.

“Why don't we go back to my place to chill?” He suggested. “Tell Paulene that you're gonna be with me.”

“My phone died.”

“That's how I didn't reach you,” he said. “Use my phone to text her.”

***

T

his has been the third time since we were dating that I went to his and Adam’s apartment. I thought that it was going to be plain, but I came inside with lights and decorations.

“I'm actually surprised,” I commented when he opened the door and took off his shoes. I took off my shoes and went towards one of the couches.

With the decorations, it felt so Christmas-y. I took out my coat and placed it on a coat rack. I was at the end of the couch when he came back with two hot chocolates.

“I figured you needed something hot.” He handed me a cup. It felt warm in my body. I took a sip and shit, it was hot that it burned my tongue.

He chuckled. “Got burned, Haitian?”

I rolled my eyes. “Sort of.” I felt him staring at me. I turned around and he was. I sip my hot chocolate, while he still stares at me.

“Why are you far away?” He asked.

“Um… for… an experiment for class to see if--”

“You're bluffing.” I placed my cup on one of the coasters.

“Now why don't you come closer?”

Stop being weird and get close to him!

I listened to myself and ushered myself close to him.

He smiled at me. “You're a weirdo, you know that?”

I smirked. “I accept my weirdness, unlike you.”

“Is that a challenge?” He questioned. I didn't know if he could carry me around him. He had his arms around my body.

“Seems that I'm winning,” he said. “But, you're the cop here. Tell me to stop.” His lips landed on my neck and he continued to do that for a minute or two.

He started biting.

Why haven't I stopped? Because you like it. You're getting really turned on.

My thoughts were mind blown with the possibility of something else that could happen.

“You know, being a cop is sort of handy,” I told him.

“Oh really?”

“I know some moves that you don't know.”

“I have something on my sleeve that was waiting for you since I met you.” He turned me around and kisses me passionately.

Everywhere around my body shuts down and went into a mode that I didn't see before. I was ready. I was really ready since I had a crush on him.

Half of my clothes were off and his bare chest were shown. I was hungry.
Before I know it, he carried me to his room.

A/N:
Paulene: I don't like him.

Jasmine: Why not?

Paulene: I have reasons.

Jasmine: Who are you talking about?

Paulene: People.

Jasmine: Um, that last scene was uh...

Paulene: Uh...

Jasmine: Yeah. Merry Christmas?

Paulene: Meh.

Be random & meh to the world!

- Jasmine & Paulene

Extra A/N: Merry early Christmas, Betrayals! The reason why I postponed this chapter because it has major mistakes in them. This has been the longest chapter ever, with four thousand words.

So, um #Framine huh?

I realized I did three Justin Timberlake songs in three chapters.

Story Recommedation: Abandoned and Alone by @AwesomenessIsMaThing

I have no words for this chapter other than screaming my ass off.

Well, anyway. Merry Christmas and have a safe holiday!

- Jasmine