“Yes. We go a long way.” Jack replied.
“It seems you both don’t have the best of relationships. Why don’t we finish with our shopping then we find a place to talk. Huh?” Ciara tried to mediate as she stared between both men.
“He is my best friend.” Harry revealed, and the both ladies wore surprised looks. Ciara knew who Jack was. Everyone in Los Angeles did. But she couldn’t see how they were best friends. Though he had mentioned that his best friend was a big figure in Los Angeles, her mind never thought of Jack.
“Ohhh” Ciara’s mouth hung in surprise. “Seems they’re on a rocky path.” She thought. Karen just stood there, staring ahead. She suddenly felt a bit stupid. She had dated Jack for a few months and never knew about his best friend, not even his sister. What a nice girlfriend she was!
They continued with their shopping, and in no time, they were done. They paid off at the counter and took the packaged bags as they walked out into the cold night.
“Are we still doing the discussion thing?” Karen asked. Not like she wanted to say anything. She just wanted to know how Ciara and Harry started dating.
“Ya. Let’s all meet at my lake house. Jack knows the direction, he’ll drive you.” Harry replied. Ciara and Harry used Harry’s car while Jack and Karen got in together as they drove to Harry’s house.
***
They all sat on the different sofa in the sitting room, staring at each other. They had arrived few minutes ago and since then, none of them had spoken a word.
“We’d like to know about you guys’ friendship.” Ciara spoke and Karen nodded in agreement. Seemed pretty much like she was the unofficial anchor for the night.
“We have been friends since childhood. We attended the same school…” Jack started to explain and when he was done, the both ladies nodded in understanding. Seems they were very close.
“So, what caused the misunderstanding?” Ciara asked. Both men stared at each other, communicating with their eyes.
“That is our secret to keep” Harry finally spoke up, walking to the drink cabinet in his sitting room. He pulled out a bottle of Jack’s favorite drink and four glasses and took them to the table. He turned small quantities into each glass and was on the last glass when Karen interrupted.
“I don’t drink.” She spoke, pointing at her protruding stomach.
“That’s okay, Jack is gonna drink for you.” Harry replied and they broke into a laugh.
“To great friendship” Harry proposed, raising his glass for a toast. They all raised their glasses before drinking.
“We are cool now, then?” Jack walked up to Harry, holding the two glasses in his hands.
“Ya. Always will be.”
“Good. We have a lot of things to catch up with.” he replied as they started chatting.
*
“Are you gonna tell me how you guys started dating?” an impatient Karen questioned and Ciara gave a small laugh.
“It just happened.”
“How?”
“Well, we met at work. He owns a company in Chicago. We worked together on a project, and it just happened.” she tried to explain with a blush on her face.
***
“You’re awake!” Jack exclaimed as he walked into the large balcony that oversaw the beautiful view of the lake to see Karen seated on a lounge chair.
“Ya.”
He took a seat on the same lounge chair, sitting beside hair. “The view is beautiful. Innit?”
“Ya. A peaceful aura too.” she replied.
They sat in silence, staring at the flowing water body as light reflected on it. It was a few minutes past 1 am. They had spent most of the night talking and catching up and when she realized she had to go, it was already late into the night so Ciara had convinced her to sleep in one of the spare rooms in the mansion.
“So, you had Jack had issues?” Karen brought it up again. She had noticed the coldness between them when they had met in the mall.
“Ya. But, we’re good now.”
“Would I be asking too much if I asked what caused it?”
“We had a fight. Both of us said things we didn’t like to hear, punches flew, and he stormed out. We didn’t meet or see again until yesterday.” he replied with a chuckle.
“Ohhh. I guess you got beaten up.” Karen laughed, imagining Jack with a swollen face and broken lips.
He chuckled, “So, your best friend and Harry are dating now. How do you feel about it?” Jack asked
“I’m happy for her. I feel they’ll last. I think she deserves it.” she replied and they got into another fit of silence.
“What about you?” Jack suddenly broke the silence, staring focused on the falling water.
“Huh?” She turned to look at him, but he wasn’t staring at her.
“What do you think you deserve?”
The question threw her a little off her back. What does she deserve? She could count a thousand things that she deserved, but why was he asking?
“Never mind.” he spoke, diving into her thoughts. “Have you thought of a name for the baby?”
“Not yet. I don’t even know it’s gender yet.” She chuckled, rubbing her hand over her belly. “I hope it is a boy.”
“Bad news for you then. It’s a boy. ” Jack was fast to counter her.
“We will see then”
Jack and Harry met over a drink the next morning. Karen and Ciara had left for Karen’s place early in the morning in Ciara’s car. Karen and Jack had spoken for over an hour on the balcony before she complained of feeling sleepy. He had wished her goodbye and still remained out. Sleep was a difficult thing to come by for him of late. He only had 2-3 hours a night.
“I’m sorry about that man!” Harry consoled after Jack had informed him about his dad’s health. “I wasn’t even aware of all these.”
“Ya. We all have our shits to deal with. I’m sorry about what I said about your girl the other time.” he apologised.
“It’s okay. I guess we all needed a reality check” he answered. “I’ve got the best girl now.” His tone was that of pride and admiration.
****
In one of the VIP rooms in a hospital, the nurses ran to and fro as they tried to attend to a patient. His heartbeat was very weak and almost unnoticeable. His blood pressure level was decreasing rapidly as he laid almost stiff on the bed.
“Go and get the doctor” the senior nurse hollered out of panic at one of her colleagues who ran to get the doctor. The patient was a VIP patient in the hospital and had been admitted few weeks back.
The doctor walked in, followed by the nurse. He checked the reading on the monitor on the bed head and sighed. Soon, the machines stopped beeping and total silence fell on the room. The doctor bowed his head for few seconds as a sign of respect.
“Cover him up.” he said to the nurse as he walked out. The patient was dead. “I will put a call across to his family.”