"Really, Mum? Why don't you?"
"Oh, I'll leave the writing to you and Jessa," her mum replied with a dismissive flick of her hand.
"We must have gotten the writing gene from you. We certainly didn't get it from Dad," she teased as she wiped her eyes with a tissue.
Joe laughed. "Give me numbers over words anytime."
"So, Jaz," Alice said in a subdued voice. "Was Kane against your books?"
"No, Mum. He loved them," she said, melancholy hitting her with force, making her eyes water again.
"We don't want to pry. We just want to see if it was because you were worried about leaving us here."
"It's definitely not because of you guys. It's just one of those things that didn't work out."
"Okay, honey. We just want you to be happy."
"I know. Thank you."
*******
Jasmine sat up on her bed as her security intercom buzzed harshly, waking her from a deep sleep. Her gaze flew to the alarm clock on her bedside table. 11:45pm. Who the hell could that be?
She tried to shake off her sleepiness, her mind fuzzily imagining different sorts of emergency situations.
The buzzer rang again just as she was about to answer it. With a pounding heart, she pressed the button to talk to the caller. "Who's there?"
"Jaz, it's Kane."
"Kane?"
"Yeah."
"Kane?" she repeated, not quite believing her ears. She did recognise his voice but her brain was questioning if she was dreaming or not.
"Yes, it's me."
"Are you sure?" she asked stupidly.
"Yes, baby, I'm sure," he answered with a chuckle.
She pressed the button to let him in the building then walked to her door. She opened it and waited, still unsure if she was fully awake. She wouldn't be surprised if her mind was playing a trick on her. She hadn't been sleeping well since she broke up with Kane. But after her parents' visit that afternoon, a certain amount of peace came to her and, for the first time in a long time, she had fallen asleep without too much tossing and turning.
Kane appeared in her line of sight and her breathing shallowed. She stared at him, drinking in his form thirstily. She hadn't seen him for so long, and now he was standing right in front of her.
"You look beautiful, sweetheart, but I think we should go in before someone else walks past," he croaked as he gently pushed her in, his eyes roaming her body.
She looked down and realised she was wearing the new lingerie she bought to make her feel sexy after being tossed aside for another woman.
"Oh! I forgot what I was wearing," she mumbled, her heart dancing madly in her chest.
Was she really awake? She could swear Kane called her 'baby' and 'sweetheart'. And she could see he was looking at her like a starving man.
"Kane, what are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you."
She gaped at him and shook her head. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
"Because I didn't want you to come up with excuses not to see me."
She sighed and walked to the sofa. "You woke me up. And you scared me."
"Sorry. I know it's late. But I was lucky enough to catch the last flight to get here."
"So … why are you here?"
Kane sat next to her and took her hand. "Jaz, I know about the blackmail."
She looked at him in alarm.
"I'm sorry," he continued. "If I had known about this earlier, we wouldn't have had to suffer for this long. I understand why you didn't tell me. But I'm still a bit mad at you for not trusting that we could have found an answer together instead of trying to work it out on your own."
"Well, okay. Now you know," she said. A glimmer of hope touched her heart but her mind played the scene she saw in Dylan's balcony. She pulled her hand from his grasp.
"Ray is going ahead with the article," he informed her, his eyes wary.
"That's good," she said with a small smile. "I suppose that would help in making sure George wouldn't be able to hurt your reputation." She looked away, unable to maintain eye contact without wanting to cry.
"Jaz?"
She glanced up at his face and felt a pinch on her heart at his anguished expression.
"Please tell me we're not really over," he entreated.
She melted. He wanted her back. The dark clouds parted as blood started singing in her veins.
"You still love me?" she whispered.
He cupped her face with his warm hands. "What kind of question is that? I never stopped loving you."
She couldn't stop the tears that ran down her cheeks, or the smile that spread on her face.
"You don't love Brenda?" she asked, needing to be sure.
"No, baby. Brenda is just one of Dylan's flirty friends. I never went out with her."