Chapter 471 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“I… I don’t know,” Jade said with a shake of her head, confused about everything. What was Harry up to? Wasn’t he interested in her? Or had she and everyone else been mistaken?

“You said he doesn’t really have ladies in his life, right? This has to mean something. Listen, Jade, if things work out between Harry and me, you’re going to be my maid of honor, I promise you,” Aurora said with a wide smile as she embraced Jade, and Candace almost rolled her eyes.

Although she had nothing personal against Aurora, she couldn’t help wondering if Aurora was blind or just plain stupid. It was obvious from Jade’s reaction that she wasn’t happy about the progress between her and Harry, so why was she saying all of that? Candace wondered as she continued to watch both ladies.

“So, can you tell me more about Harry? I mean his personal tastes: favorite color and all that. I want to know as much as I can before going to see him. I’m going to sweep him off his…” The rest of Aurora’s words trailed off when Candace cleared her throat.

Aurora looked at her in confusion for a moment as though she was wondering who Candace was, and then she remembered, “Oh! I’m sorry,” Aurora said with an apologetic smile while Jade turned to Candace, who she had forgotten about for a moment.

“Aura, meet my friend, Candace. Candace, meet Aurora. She’s the one I told you about. She needs to relax,” Jade said with a cheerful smile as she looked at Candace, but looking into her eyes, Candace could tell she wasn’t okay.

“Your room is ready. You can come with me, and I will have one of the girls take you there. Jade, wait right here, and I’ll get you something to drink while we discuss, and you wait for her,” Aurora said with a wide smile as she walked away, leaving Candace to follow her.

Candace looked at Jade for a moment as though she wanted to say something to her but decided against it. This wasn’t the time or place to say anything. Jade had been very good to her, and if the only way she could reciprocate Jade’s kindness was by helping her snatch Aurora’s boyfriend, whoever this Harry guy was, then she was going to help her.

“I will be waiting for you,” Jade told Candace with a wide smile as she watched her walk away, and the moment she closed the door behind her, Jade let out a sigh.

She didn’t know what to think about this information from Aurora. She didn’t even know whether to laugh or cry at the sudden turn of events. What was Harry thinking? She had told him just the previous day that she didn’t want him going out on a date with anyone because she was jealous. She understood why he was meeting with Aurora. That was her fault. She had hooked them up, and he had promised to go on a date with her before now, and as the gentleman he was, he couldn’t go back on his word. That was understandable.

But how could he invite her to the anniversary party as his partner? Why would he do something like that? And what was that madness about asking her to give that shirt to Aurora? The same shirt she had told him she was wearing without undies? Jade thought with a hiss of annoyance.

In fact, she wasn’t going to worry about Harry right now. She had something more pressing to take care of. She reminded herself as she took out her phone and dialed Matt’s line. If she couldn’t stop Candace from doing something stupid, she believed that Matt could.

“Tell me, Celsie. Did something happen while you were in the bedroom with Aaron?” Benne asked again when it seemed to him like Celsie was taking too long to answer his first question.

Celsie bit her lower lip as she contemplated telling him the truth. Although she was trying to be fair to Aaron, but putting herself on Benne’s shoe as well, she knew she would definitely want him to tell her the truth if he was the one that heard Sonia’s father say something in his sleep that might help Sonia understand what was going on with her father.

“He was crying in his sleep and calling out to someone named Sara,” Celsie said, deciding to tell him the truth, and immediately Benne stepped on the brake pedal abruptly causing the car come to a screeching halt.

His sudden action made Celsie’s heart skip a beat, and the car behind them, which almost rammed into theirs honked at them angrily.

“What exactly did he say?” Benne asked, ignoring the angry blares of horn behind him.

Celsie called out an apology to the driver who was swearing at Benne as he drove past them, before looking at Benne, “Are you trying to get us killed? We are in the middle of the road,” Celsie reminded him, alarmed by his action.

“I’m sorry,” Benne said as he drove away from there until he found a safe spot to park by the side of the road. Once he parked the car, he turned it off before turning to look at Celsie.

“Did he say anything else?” Benne asked, and when he saw something flicker in Celsie’s eyes, he frowned.

“You weren’t going to say anything about this had I not asked?” Benne asked, not pleased that she had been planning to withhold such important information about his best friend’s father from him.

“I wasn’t sure it was in my place to say anything. I’m still not sure I’m doing the right thing either. I don’t think Aaron would be pleased to know that I was there while he slept and I heard whatever he said in his sleep. I know I wouldn’t be pleased to know someone eavesdropped on my private thoughts while I slept, and not only eavesdropped but told others about it,” Celsie said, and the edges around Benne’s eyes hardened.

“I am others to you? You consider me on the same level as others?” Benne asked, and Celsie frowned at him.

“That’s not what I meant, Benne. Don’t twist my words or try to misunderstand me. If you were in Aaron’s shoes would you want this?” Celsie asked, and Benne took a deep breath.

“Let me ask you a question. If Harry was Sonia, and you were me, how would you want me to handle this? Would you be pleased if I kept something like this away from you? No explanations. Just a yes or no would do,” Benne said, and Celsie sighed as she looked at him.

“No. I know what you mean. I understand.”

“Good. If you do, then tell me what you heard. You can’t keep whatever you heard to yourself, Celsie. This is not only important to Harry, it is important to me too. If something affects Harry, it affects me as well. And I like to believe you consider my problem as yours in the same manner. If you heard anything in Aaron’s bedroom that might help us understand what is going on with Aaron, you should say so,” Benne said, and Celsie took a deep breath.

“You don’t think this is the same as breaking into Aaron’s phone? I heard Harry tell you that he wants to trust his father and hear whatever it is directly from him,” Celsie said, and Benne shrugged.

“That is Harry. I’m not Harry. If it affects Harry, it affects me and I have to find a way to fix it. Harry would do the same for me,” Benne said, and Celsie sighed.

“I don’t have to tell Harry anything about it. I will find a way to fix it for both Harry and Aaron,” Benne promised, and Celsie gave him a nod.

“I don’t think it’s as easy as you think. I’m confused. I heard you and Harry talking about a Sara that has been calling Aaron. I’m not sure it’s the same Sara that Aaron was talking about in his sleep,” Celsie said, and Benne raised a brow.

“What do you mean?”

“I think the Sara, Aaron was talking about is Harry’s mother or maybe Aaron was married to someone else before they had Harry. And that Sara bore a daughter for Aaron,” Celsie said, and Benne frowned as she relayed the words to him exactly the way Aaron had said it.

“Maybe it’s not the same Sara. Harry’s mother died when Harry was a baby. Besides, Harry’s late mother’s name was Bella, not Sara,” Benne said thoughtfully.

“It depends. I couldn’t tell if he was heartbroken because she died or she left him. Let’s assume she left him. If that’s the case, it could be the same Sara who is calling him now. Maybe she is an ex who he knew before Harry’s mother, and she is trying to come back to his life?” Celsie suggested instead.

“But according to Aaron, Harry’s mother was his only one true love,” Benne countered.

“That doesn’t mean he wasn’t romantically involved with other women before he met her. After all, you can say that I’m your one true love, but you have also been involved with other women in the past before me,” Celsie reminded Benne, and although he wanted to argue, he knew that she had a point.

“But if that is the case, and she is just his ex trying to reunite with him, why is he trying so hard to hide it from Harry?” Benne asked no one in particular.

“On second thought, he could only have been this hurt if Sara was his first love. He cried and begged in his sleep for her not to leave. What if he lied about Harry’s mother being his first love and this Sara lady is actually his first love and that’s why he’s hiding her from Harry? Maybe he doesn’t want Harry to find out that he lied about Harry’s mother being his first love. That could be why he was apologizing to Harry in his sleep,” Celsie said thoughtfully.

“It doesn’t make sense. Why would he lie about something like that? And why does she keep calling when he doesn’t want to speak with her? Or does it have anything to do with the daughter he mentioned?” Benne asked, and Celsie sighed.

“Why don’t we continue this conversation at home after dinner?” Celsie said when she glanced at her wristwatch, and saw that the time was almost 8 PM already.

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