-Chapter Six-
(Can You Date My Brother)
"Where to next," The driver rolled down the partition in between, "Mr. Ford."
The rushing noise of New York City had diminished around him to a point that almost unheard, leaving only the gentle purr coming from the limo. The weather was unbearable with the cold dash of winter kept coming at his face, Jackson was thankful for the tinted windows or else he was going to break something again. Jackson grumbled his company's name under his breath before the partition went up, leaving him in total silence for the first time in the past few days. It was a test of patience and Jackson knew he was failing, but he didn't care as he brought out the champagne from the hidden compartment beneath the seat.
As he poured the champagne, thousands stars began to align themselves around the crystal glass, a cool sensation under Jackson's touch. He groaned and twirled the glass in a hasty circular motion, scattering the sparkles into tiny dots. Jackson appreciated the bitter taste once it hit his tongue, gulping down greedily until he poured himself a second glass. He needed this, the buzzing numbness before he met up with the asshole from the Marketing department.
Jackson had been relentless and detailed obsessed when he dropped the twins off at the babysitting center. From the idea of the place being in the middle of the most crowded street of New York City and not to mention it's next to Chinatown where the Asian mobsters lived, Jackson might have zero trust issue but it's not without a reason.
The woman in charged, he thought, Anatasia? Annie? Andrienne, did not look like a person who would open a babysitting center. He imagined someone older, or British, and definitely not your daily girl-next-door American blonde beauty. Jackson knew model material when he saw one, it's a genuine surprise that this Andrienne woman didn't get snatched off by the modeling recruits around the chaotic streets.
Andrienne allowed Jackson to bring along the twins into her office since he refused to put them down in a stranger room that's lack of adult supervision. Jackson furrowed his brows at the glittering hot pink wallpapers, those didn't go well with the Victorian style windows she was trying to fit it. The meeting went fairly good without Jackson going all Hulk on her, he was neither delighted nor amused to hear he had to attend the 'father and son' lessons provided by the center. Containing his anger was easier in the room because he kept staring at the stupid naked baby picture on the table, and of course the constant whining from the twins kept him at bay.
Jackson thought he could feel the wave of relief crashing over him when he let the twins go, except all he felt was the lost of warmth around his arms. Now he was on the way to his office with an emergency text from his secretary saying the head director of the Marketing department was going to send out the proposal for the winter fundraiser with or without his approval. Jackson hated the thought of being agitated, it's weak and it did nothing to lessen his troubles.
Instead of letting go the negative energy, he tapped into the burgeoning aggression that never gave up on him. The familiar burn ran quick in his body, coursing through his veins and filling his mind with a bright red flame.
Anger.
This he understood; this he could deal with.
"We're here, Mr. Ford."
"Thanks, Hank," He put down yet another broken glass on the carpeted floor and alighted from the car, "see you later, Hank."
Jackson was in the lobby of his office building when he noticed the familiar strawberry blonde that worked under the Markerting department was holding the elevator for a man. He's pretty sure the woman saw him running at the elevator but the doors quickly close before he was halfway to it. Something snapped inside of him, he watched the elevator numbers light up and decided he wouldn't let some bitch beat him to the floor. Holding on to the surge of hot energy, he shot up the stairs, taking them three at a time and actually managed to get to the forth floor while the elevator was starting its journey from third.
Jackson doubled over heaving, realizing he might have just pushed himself a little too far. He crouched down, struggling to fight air down his lungs only for the elevator doors to open and reveal the blonde standing stiffly at the back, a few feet away from the man in a brown suit. Even though he was having problems breathing, the frightened look on her face was enough to bring out a gentle hum of satisfaction in his mind.
Jackson straightened and entered into the left back corner of the elevator, standing purposely next to the woman. It didn't take long for the blonde to snap out from her trance of thought and gave Jackson a tight awkward smile.
"Good morning, Mr. Ford."
Jackson nodded curtly, waiting for a dramatic pause to ascend before addressing the elephant in the room. She shuffled to her right a bit and went about her business ignoring Jackson. As if that would ever work, the blonde did try her best as she tugged uncomfortably at the collar of her white dress shirt, eyes fixing at the illuminated elevater numbers. Jackson was watching her without coming across like a total creeper, smiling at the distress posture she was holding. This actually made him cool down before he had to face the devil himself.
"So," Jackson smirked as he startled her, "I heard your boss needed my help. Oh, what's your name again?"
"Angie. Oh, yes. Mr. Trevon was currently waiting for you in your office, Mr. Ford," Jackson let out an annoyed huff, loud enough for Angie to hear. He shouldn't act so immature in front of his employee but Jackson was still angry at her boss opinionatedly taking care of his shit. Yes he should be glad that someone around here was trying to help him out with the whole fundraiser venue issue, still the pride of Jackson Ford was at sake here and he refused to allow some old man to barge into his work. The rumour of him being too young to handle CM Ford was enough to boil his anger, allowing the seniors to mendle just adding oil to fire.
"Tell me, Angie. What will be waiting for me when I enter my office? Should I call for SWAT or just Freddie?" Jackson pointed out the name of the building security guard, he tried to be subtle yet it didn't fit his character well. Obviously Angie was uncomfortable and her mumble of prayer for the doors to open didn't escape Jackson's ears.
Jackson snorted at that, making Angie instantly cringed inwardly.Frustration found its way up Angie's neck, tugging her collar awkwardly she finally looked at Jackson, she blinded him with a fake smile.
"I'm sorry to say this, Mr. Ford but you have missed the board meeting with Jordan Kash and without your presence, he refused to consent our showcase in Kash Mart. Mr.Trevon has every reason to push on the propasal himself so the whole fundraiser doesn't go down in flame, the contract wouldn't be terminated if you were there, Mr. Ford. All Mr. Trevon needs for now is your signature before the next meeting," Angie cleared her throat, "sir."
The shock on Jackson's face clearly showed he wasn't prepared for the sudden outburst, his anger began to resurface when the elevator dinged open. He remained still for what felt like forever, staring Angie's retreating back and feeling himself get pulled apart and everything in him give way. He was finally spurred into action and went out, grabbing Angie back into the elevator.
"Mr- " Angie was cut off when Jackson's lips crashed into hers. She gasped at the contact but responded immediately. He leaned in, one hand still bracing against the elevator wall while the other kept pressing the close button. The kiss deepened and grew rough quickly as the elevator doors closed, Jackson fisted his hands into the soft material of Angie's dress shirt before he slipped them underneath to explore the burning skin beneath it.
Jackson managed to draw out a moan from Angie as he mouthed along her jaw, diving his free hand into her strawberry blonde hair. Angie must be quite new at this situation because her hands were all over the place, trying to stay calm even though Jackson had been biting and sucking at her throat. He leered and went back her lips. licking into them as he felt the shudder ripple through Angie's body and watched the blue eyes cloud over. The action was immediately stopped by Jackson when he felt her hand against his chest, he pulled back and smirked at the flustered face of Angie. Jackson smoothened the front of his shirt before licking his mouth.
Hm, strawberry.
"It's been nice, Angie." The elevator doors slide open and revealed the building lobby, a few of his employees noticed him and exchanged greetings as they began to file in. Jackson locked eyes with Angie and let out a hiss, "tell your boss to go fuck himself before I fire his ass. Oh, by the way you're fired."
Jackson was out of the building before a heart wrenching scream rent the air. He was planning to give Finn Trevon a piece of his mind but that would do, firing his best right hand man/woman was enough to act as a warning shot. Jackson made sure Angie wouldn't turn a deaf ear when he dropped the bomb in front of her along with those witnesses. He was feeling lot better and he had no desire to throw one of his mother's replican Ming vases anymore.
It was a quiet noon but you know New York, it's an inevitable chao throughout the whole city at any hour. Jackson contemplated calling Hank to fetch him back to the apartment, but the memory of smelling dirty laundries and sanitizing bottles had him quickly put away his phone. So he ended up heading west, following where most of the workers went.
Jackson stopped at a little sandwich shop around the corner of his building. He bought the deluxe set, all cheddar cheese and bacon, glaring at the old lady who gave him a disapproved huff. He made the purchase and started eating as he stepped out into the brisk air of the August noon and Jackson shivered.
Jackson shook his head hastily and took off towards a bench, sitting down while scarfing down his sandwich. He looked around as people surged around them, checking watches and hurrying to get to work and wherever they had to be. For the first time in his life, Jackson felt out of place. Here he was enjoying his bacon, egg and cheese sandwich when everybody was rushing and actually working hard just to have a warm meal on their plates. And it's not just that, Jackson was dressed in a single black suit with no thick scarf nor jacket to fight against the winter claw. He was so used to the limo driving him everywhere ever since he stepped down the private jet, Jackson didn't think he should be wearing any extra layers.
Jackson sighed and sank down into the bench before running a hand through his hair. Dustin was right, he wasn't a New Yorker, he was born to enjoy the sun and the heat not the brutal change of weathers in this very city. He hated to even think that Dustin was always right, he could hear his infamous evil laughter running in his mind. Dustin had asked him before he left the house, questioning his decision of taking over the company.
"I thought it would be fun, you know, actually apply the bullshit I have learnt in Harvard."
"Oh sorry, I didn't know you're that bored with your miserable life."
"Besides, mother needs me."
"That's just utter bullshit! You clearly have the knowlegde that Amanda and I have lunch whenever she's in Bali, which is always but we do discuss stuffs behind your back so I know exactly she didn't ask you to come back. You were the one who wanted to come back, what's up with that, huh, Jackson? Care to explain why you abandoned us?"
"First, I don't wanna know why the hell you are on first-name basis with my mother. Second, it's none of your business. Third, I didn't abandon anyone and I told Kat that this is just me going through my first hiatus, which you always seem to be on."
"Stop trying distract me by talking about me, no matter how much I like it you can't avoid this conversation until the end of time, Jackson."
"Just go, Dustin, before you wake the twins up with your rant."
"That's just racist, both of us know you're not born to be a New Yorker and- Stop shoving me!"
"Bye and being Canadian is not a race!"
To hell would Jackson ever give Dustin the chance to stomp all over his pride. The more Dustin told me he couldn't, the harder he's going to work and make him take back his words.
A breeze picked up and settled down on Jackson's cheeks, he shuddered at the sudden drop of temperature that gripped around his warmth. His fingers were numb and rosy from the wind, cheeks the same shade that's beginning to make its way to the rest of his body. Jackson coughed and stood up slowly, realizing his butt was sore from sitting on cold hard wood. Aching from Dustin's disgusting laugh and butt sore, he headed towards Chinatown.
It's time to face his initial headache again.
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The bright yellow sign welcomed him like warm halo as he slumped tiredly against the wall, panting for his dear life. Jackson was scared shitless when he walked past one of the Chinese herbal shops, catching a man in black following him out of the corner. He wasn't being paranoid because he swore the man tailed after him even though he was already making his way up Mott street. With his fight-or-flight mechanism kicking in, he chose to flight and ran his way back to the familiar building earlier. His breathing finally went back to normal, wiping his sweat with the back of his hand he pressed the doorbell next to the closed doors.
Jackson pushed in after the buzz was heard over his head, stepping into the pristine waiting room, he was glad by the fresh air blasting fully on his face. Tension slipped away from his shoulders and the comforting relief of it almost made his knees weak.
"Back so soon?" Jackson snapped toward the reception desk, groaning at the smirk on Andrienne's face. Andrienne stood up and flattened her sundress before rounding the desk to give Jackson the once over, making Jackson uncomfortable under her gaze. She might be gorgeous, still she wasn't a diamond in the rough. There's a pool of blonde beauties waiting for him back in Bali, pretty sure he could pass this one on.
"If you wanna paint my portrait, take a picture 'cause it'll last longer." Jackson joked proudly, the smile dropped from Andrienne's face and she wasn't looking any near being amused. Jackson gulped as the silence settled in like a tragic mourning of Jackson's passing, he could even hear his own breathing rapidly increased. The intense stare-off was broken as a tiny whine was heard from the door behind the reception desk. Andrienne gave Jackson the stay-or-fucking-die look as she moved back behind the counter, cooing while entering the room.
Jackson didn't know he was holding his breath until someone pulled at the hem of his shirt, he nearly let out an unmanly shout but able to restraint it by jerking his whole body away from the tiny girl beside him. The girl stared up at Jackson with wide curious eyes, two dimples was visible on her rosy cheeks as she frowned.
"Who are you?" She sounded grumpy at Jackson being there, like it was unpleasant to be sharing the same air with him. Jackson kneeled down to her level, raising a brow at the annoyed girl. Her tiny arms even crossed over each other to defend herself in case Jackson was a bad guy or monster, anyway, she's not happy.
"Well, didn't your father teach you to say hello first?" It was like the girl was caught stealing candy, her eyes couldn't be wider and a little gasp escaped her lips.
"Hello, who are you?" the grumpiness was back but she did fix her words and greet him. Jackson chuckled and held a hand out, the girl looked skeptical at the foreign hand only to hold her tiny one out for Jackson after a few seconds.
"Jackson Ford, nice to meet you. And may I ask who are you, strange little girl?" Jackson shook her hand in amazement as she replied the gesture back politely.
"Alex, but daddy called me Alexandra. I don't like it," she pouted and took her hands back, crossing them each other and holding tightly against her chest. Jackson didn't know what's going on in that little mind of hers, it did something to Jackson's heart which he couldn't help to muster a big smile and caressed the girl's soft hair.
"I like Alex, it's a nice name."
"You do?" she squeaked in her tiny voice, her face light up in wonder like the Christmas tree.
"Yeah," he ruffled her hair, "a strong name for a strong girl."
Jackson didn't notice the tips of her lips went down, he stood up from his crouch just in time for Andrienne to come out from the small room. He tried to keep a straight face but it was hard, the image of his sons grinning and chuckling at Andrienne's words was beyond amazing. Jackson wouldn't admit to anyone but the babbling of their little baby voices sounded very cute and it didn't fail to put a smile on his face.
James was first to notice his dad, tugging on his brother's stubby hands to divert his attention. Maybe it's a twin connection, both of them faced Jackson simultaneously. A silence bore on for a second more before James and Jeremy erupted in excitement. Andrienne had a hard time holding them as they kept bouncing toward their father. Jackson was suddenly there, welcoming back his two bundles of energy into his arms.
Gently, he lowered James and Jeremy's forehead onto his. Even though they were too hyper to even stay still, Jackson didn't care as he breathed in the light powdery stench. Andrienne must have bathed them, before that they smelled like the chrysanthemum shampoo Dustin bought. He liked it, the true baby smell. Not that Jackson spent his entire life sniffing babies, but this kind of held him down. The aggression inside of him was welcomed anytime, but he decided to let it slip out from his shoulders. Right this moment with four chubby arms around his neck and disoriented whispers in his ears, this moment felt like home for the first time.
Maybe Dustin was wrong, maybe he could do this. Living in New York and being the young CEO of CM Ford, as long as he knew James and Jeremy were going to be there, he's going to be alright.
"So Mr. Ford," Andrienne cleared her throat awkwardly, snapping Jackson out of his father and son bonding moment.
"Jackson, please," he insisted tiredly while Jeremy and James decided to treat their father as a tree. He probably looked funny with two young toddlers trying to out climb each other to reach the top of his head, Andrienne took quite a few seconds before she seemed to realize she's staring.
"Hm, right, Jackson. I bathed the twins after you were gone, hope you don't mind."
"It's okay, thank you so much. I should probably apologize first, it's been a wild morning. Dustin was there."
Jackson didn't miss the understatement dawned on Andrienne's face, her posture loosened up and there's a small smile tugging on her lips. Ah, now Jackson could be sure that Andrienne must personally know Dustin really well, the mention of his name was truly a mood changer for Andrienne. An old friend perhaps. If Jackson's intuition wasn't wrong, Andrienne might be a model before and probably worked with Dustin once or twice. Dustin was considered very popular in the model world and no one this beautiful as him would slip out his jealous claw.
"Yeah, he did call this morning. How was him anyway?" Andrienne gestured Jackson toward empty chairs in the waiting room, he shook his head and held the twins down closer to him. Both of them whined at the lost of their victory, but they somehow lost interest anyway and returned snuggling into Jackson's neck.
"He's doing well, too well I guess." Jackson rolled his eyes, catching Andrienne doing the same. They held gaze for awhile before she bursted into a short laugh, Jackson just grinned when the twins laughed along. It's rare to meet someone that could tolerate Dustin, let alone talking about him. Jeremy was clapping his hands, flailing everywhere including Jackson's face. James just chuckled softly near his ear.
"He wouldn't be Dustin Lorez if he didn't live up his name." she responded and excused herself toward a pink door where a soft giggle could be heard. Alex tailed behind her, twirling back in the process to give Jackson a small wave.
Jackson didn't know if he should follow Andrienne, he was glad he didn't because it only took her a minute to appear back into the waiting room with a small boy in her arms. He was talking incoherently in a rocket speed, it sounded like he dreamt about a huge teddy bear that had a ouchie? The little boy only seemed to realize there's someone else besides Andrienne and him after she walked back in front of him. He stopped speaking and a pair of scared emerald eyes was staring at Jackson.
"Danny, say hello to James and Jeremy's father." she nudged at the boy in her arms, Jackson reminded himself mentally he might have to shave his beard before meeting any kids. He was sure it was the beard, not because of his entire grumpy presence. He forced a smile on his face, even though James and Jeremy already squealing happily at Danny being in the room.
"Hello." Danny muttered the word under his breath, quickly hided his face into Andrienne's neck to seek comfort. Andrienne just huffed softly and put a careful hand on Danny's head.
"He's a bit shy around strangers."
Maybe kids just hated Jackson, he thought.
Except James and Jeremy.
At least not yet.
"Um so," Jackson left the dangerous mind of his before he dwelled further into it, "when did you meet Dustin? He didn't tell me he has a friend in New York and he's not a big fan of keeping one."
He earned a snort from Andrienne.
"Well, we did a thing together back in Malibu."
If Jackson were drinking water, he might have done a major spit take. He did tumble a bit under the sudden weight from James's excited bounce, it didn't cover much what he was thinking as Andrienne found out the weird reaction.
"Not that kind of thing, we were in a covershoot together. Oh my God, you're worse than my brother." she sighed loudly, muttering 'idiot' when she thought Jackson wasn't paying attention.
Jackson wanted to thrust his fist upward or maybe hollered victory at the sky, instead he kept a calm face and accepted her answer politely like a civilized adult. Andrienne was indeed a fashion model, it explained her friendship with Dustin completely. Curiousity did start eating its way up his stomach, wanting to ask why she wasn't on the cover of magazines now. With her beauty, she bound to make millions and Katherina would sign her on in a heartbeat. Still something was bugging at the back of Jackson's mind.
What made her quit.
"So, what about you? You don't seem to be the type of guy Dustin likes to hang around. How did you meet the reincarnation of Regina George herself?" she pointed out out of curious, took a few steps back and support herself by leaning against the counter when Danny suddenly became slightly heavy for her to hold. Jackson patted James' back when he yawned, rubbing his sleepy eyes with his tiny fists. Jeremy was still bouncing happily in his arm, not sharing the connection with his twin brother.
Jackson didn't know what or how to answer, he didn't expect everyone to recognize him but she was once a model, how could she not know about the fashion icon, Jackson Ford?
"Same way as you," Jackson gulped, "I guess."
Andrienne did something funny with her eyebrows, they furrowed toward each other and it took only a second before they headed straight into her hairline. The smirk on her face wasn't what Jackson was expecting, he expected a high pitch scream backing up with a demand of his autograph.
"Maybe I was wrong, I didn't know Dustin has that ability in him. I always thought Andy is the only one that drags people out of denial, apparently he's not just a pretty face." Jackson was feeling very self-conscious at this moment, he had no idea what Andrienne was thinking and he didn't dare to ask.
Jackson wasn't even blinking when Andrienne was already stepping into his personal space, too close for his comfort. He didn't want to move away because he might wake James up, unlike his father, Jeremy was having a good time playing with Andrienne's hair. Her eyebrows were doing the funny movement again. giving Jackson the 'so-what'sup' look. She even flipped her hair over her shoulder, to Jeremy's dismay, and she even jutted her left hip out.
Oh shit, Jackson realized, she's doing the Dustin move.
"How do you feel about radiant olive skin and dark hair? Soulful molthen gold eyes and a killer body, way better than Dustin's. Good sense of humour, a little bit sarcastic on the edge but a big boy like you would definitely know how to shut him up for good. So what do say? Wanna date my baby brother?"
That, he didn't expect.
"What?" Jackson sputtered, nearly dropped the twins in the process.
"I mean, if you don't have anyone in your life right now. Trust me, my brother loves kids and he would be the perfect step dad for Jeremy and James and-"
"Andrienne."
"He's actually outside right now to buy more stuffs for the kids. He should be back for the night class, did I mention he's the-"
"Stop talking, Andrienne!" Jackson thought he was seeing stars, this couldn't be real.
"So, what do you say?" Andrienne pressed.
"What?"
"Can you, or can you not date my brother?"
"What the fuck?"
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Oh, Andrea.
I hope you enjoy this as well as I enjoy this!
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