I disconnected and went to get dressed. As I waited for Wade I realized how much my
life had changed. At first I would start my day looking for a job and would come back
home only at night and nowadays ever since I woke up I would be getting ready to go
somewhere or the other. It was fun but I missed working. The ringing of the door bell
brought me out of my reverie. I opened and there stood Wade looking breathtakingly
handsome. He was wearing khakis and a maroon shirt and a beige jacket, his hair fell
in his eyes and he stood there smiling.
“Hi!” I reached forward and hugged him.
“Whoa! Hey Natasha? Can’t breathe!” I released him blushing.
“Thank you for coming Wade”
“Anytime. Now what is the matter?”
“Jude’s gone out with Stephanie”
“He WHAT?”
“Yep you heard me right” I quickly grabbed my slippers and shut the door. “Where are
we going?” He smiled and said, “I know just the place that will cheer you up”
We drove in comfortable silence. Wade seemed to sense that I didn’t want to talk and
he was really sweet and considerate about my wishes. We stopped on the way to buy
some take away Chinese and soda cans. Wade was being really secretive about where we
were going. We were now at the outskirts of the city. We came to an area that had
hills and Wade drove up a smaller one that had a little flat land on top and stopped.
He got out and came and opened my door for me.
“Wade where are we?”
“Wait for it”
He took my hand and pulled me toward the edge. I gasped at the sight, we could see
the city lights from here. It was beautiful!
“Wade this place is beeeeaaaauuuuutiiiful!” Wade chuckled and said, “Come on you
haven’t seen the best part yet.” He pulled me towards the car and pulled out a
blanket and the food we had bought. We lay the blanket out and sat on it. I kicked
off my slippers before sitting. Wade lay down and pulled me beside him. I saw up and
the sight took my breath away. It was a starry night and there were a million stars
up there! It was a full moon night and there were wafts of clouds there as well.
“Its so beautiful” I whispered
“I know right? Its my favorite place”
“Wow, isn’t that the north star?” I asked pointing out to the brightest star in the
sky.
“Yes”
“You know when I was a kid my mom always told me that it was my dad and he was
watching over me. Whenever I misbehave she’d tell me that he was watching and was sad
because I was being naughty”
Wade laughed and said, “No! The honorable Natasha was naughty?”
“Shut up!”
“So now, tell me why are you upset?”
I lay there in silence looking at the drifting clouds and the stars. “Natasha?”
“I don’t want him to get hurt you know? What she did to him last time changed him
completely.”
“Ok now answer this, why do you care so much?”
“Because I l- er because he is a friend”
“Really now Natasha, don’t lie to me atleast. I mean I come here at night at a
moment’s notice and try cheering you up and this is what I get?” I turned to look at
him and to my relief he was smiling mischievously.
“No fair, you are playing the guilt card”
Wade just shrugged and raised his eyebrow. Just then I had my epiphany, OH MY GOD I
am in love with Jude Smith.
“I am in love with him” I whispered.
“Took you long enough”
“Shut up!”
“Well Sean and I had already figured you like him and he likes you too he is just to
stubborn to admit it or too daft to realize it”
“Yeah but it doesn’t matter he loves Stephanie”
“No that’s just his ego. He is just trying to get her back so that he can prove a
point to Nick”
“Did he say so?”
“Nope but hey I am a guy so I know why he is doing what he is doing. That idiot
doesn’t realize he likes you too”
“What am I going to do? What if he goes back to Stephanie? She loves him when he’s
all happy and she loves his money!”
“I know”
“Whereas I put up with his crap and his crankiness and his sloppiness. He acts like a
jerk with me and I don’t care if he isn’t rich! Because I have seen the other side to
him and if ever anyone would ask me about the guy I wanted to marry I would’ve
described Jude well the Jude who is not a jerk anyway. ”
“I know”
“Wade what am I going to do?”
“I thought you’d never ask! Here’s the plan…..”
Jude’s P. O. V:
I called Stephanie and asked her to meet me at Joe’s. It was a local burger place,
nothing fancy but they had delicious food. She was a little surprised at my choice of
the restaurant but she agreed to meet me there. I arrived before her and sat down.
The interior of this restaurant was like a barn. There was hay in a corner and
different booths were made from straw huts. I sat down and called for an iced tea. No
alcohol for me tonight, I was going to take it light. About five minutes later,
Stephanie arrived. She looked stunning in a strapless black dress that fell just
above her knees. She had left her blonde hair open and the wind blew them around her
shoulders.
“Hi” she said sitting down.
“Hey”
“I’m sorry I am late”
“No biggie I just arrived a few minutes back”
Then there was an awkward silence. I looked around trying to get the waiter’s
attention and a boy came over.
“I’d like to call for uh chicken soup” I smiled as I remembered what Natasha had said
about chicken soup. I felt a pang as I thought about what she must be doing. This was
the first time we were spending time separately ever since she came over to stay with
me.
“Jude? Hullo?” Stephanie was waving her hands in front of me.
“Sorry”
“I was asking is that all you’re going to eat?”
“Oh yes, I will keep it light tonight, don’t want to fall ill”
“Oh right”
“Well did you place an order?”
“Yep”
“So long time huh?”
“You can say that again”
‘What is happening between you and Nick”
“Well I found him cheating on me”
“Yeah Karma is a bitch right?”
At this her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I am sorry Jude. I swear it was a
mistake, I don’t even remember how it happened but it did and I am really sorry.”
I looked at her and my expression softened, at this moment she looked so much like
the girl I had fallen in love with.
Maybe just maybe this could work?
Natasha’s P. O. V
“Are you serious? Do you really think this is going to work?”
“Like a charm” said Wade wiggling his eyebrows.
“You think this is a good idea?”
“Yeah and so does Sean”
“How do we go about this?”
“Um why don’t you call Jude right now and tell him that you aren’t going to go home
tonight.”
“Huh? Where do you want me to go then?”
“My place” he said smiling sexily. I shivered it was cold and I hadn’t grabbed a
jacket. Wade noticed and gave me his jacket. It smelled really good, spices and
citrus. Mmmm. Ok Natasha focus.
“What do I tell him where am I?”
“Why at my place of course!”
I looked at him doubtfully but called Jude anyway.
“Hey!”
“Hi Jude, how’s your date going?” at this Wade smacked my arm. “Ouch!”
“What happened? Nothing, I just got bitten by a bug.”
Jude chuckled as Wade rolled his eyes at me and gestured for me to go on.
“I just called to say that I wont be coming home tonight.”
“Why? You staying over at Joey’s?”
“um no, actually Joey wasn’t free so”
“Oh no! why didn’t you tell me! Damn you didn’t have to spend the evening alone” I
gave Wade a ‘can you believe him look” at which Wade smirked.
‘Jude let me finish. Joey wasn’t free so I called Wade”
And then there was silence. Like a deafening silence.
“Jude?”
“Yeah?” he said curtly.
“I am staying over at Wade’s” and I hung up quickly. Wade laughed like a moron and
gave me a high five. Dear God what have I done? Wade and I finish eating our takeaway
and then he drove us to his place. It was a fancy apartment, a bachelor pad but a
well kept one.
“Er Wade where will I be sleeping”
He smiled mischievously and said, “In my bed where else!”
I picked up a cushion from his couch and threw it at his head which he had no problem
deflecting.
“Wade I am serious”
He just raised a finger and glanced at his watch and said, “Wait for it, he said he
was at Joe’s right?” I nodded.
I jumped as I heard an incessant ringing of the doorbell. I looked at Wade in
surprise. Who could it be at this time of the night? It was almost 1. 00 a. m. Wade got
up with a wide grin and went to open the door. He opened it to reveal a very angry
Jude with a stormy look on his face.