Her eyes narrowed at him but she kept silent.
"Anyway, when you got angry and you threw me out of your apartment, I knew I got it all wrong. I was too embarrassed and ashamed of myself to even see you again to apologise to you. I know I shouldn't have looked at your laptop and I don't know what came over me when I sent myself a copy of your story from your computer. But Jasmine, I'm truly sorry. I'm not really that kind of person. My only excuse is that I was so angry about why I became bankrupt that I wasn't thinking straight."
She closed her eyes to clear her head. She didn't even know George was bankrupt. "What did you tell Tim about me?"
"Tim? I haven't spoken to him since that time he confronted me for going out with you. I wouldn't be surprised if he's still mad at me."
"Look at me, George," she demanded. When they were eye-to-eye, she asked, "Why are you blackmailing me? What do you get from threatening to ruin Kane's and my reputations?"
She saw his expression turn from apologetic to full-on disbelief and incomprehension.
"What on earth do you mean?"
"Why did you contact Kane's ex and send me those threatening emails?"
George continued to look at her incredulously. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about, Jasmine. I was at pains to avoid you ever since that day I did that stupid thing. And who on earth is Kane?"
She pressed her hands on her head. George looked like he was telling the truth. If it wasn't him who was responsible for all the blackmail, then who was?
*******
"Kane is arriving any minute. Don't be surprised if he tries to hit you when I tell him who you are," Jasmine said to George in warning.
"I still don't know what I've done that we need to have this … meeting," George said, glancing nervously at Jasmine's parents, who sat quietly on the couch, looking equally concerned.
Jasmine propped her elbows on her thighs and leaned her head on her hands. She was so confused that she didn't even know how to explain to her parents why she brought George to dinner.
"Are you okay, Jaz?" her mum asked.
"Yes, Mum. I just need for Kane to get here already." She needed him not just to help her sort the whole story out, but also for comfort.
"Jazzie," her dad said softly. "Can you start somewhere for us?"
"I guess we could start with the fact that George and I used to go out together," she responded. "One day, he saw a lovemaking scene I was writing on my computer and assumed I write for porno magazines. Then he suggested we have a threesome with someone else."
Her mum gasped in horror and her dad jumped to his feet.
"But that's not what this is all about," she said hastily, waving at her parents to calm down. Goodness, they hadn't even got to the worst part yet and they were already up in arms.
Where was Kane? Her mind flashed a picture of him lunging at George and worried things might actually get more out of hand when he got there. She cleared her head and took a deep breath. It was up to her to control the situation and manage everyone's emotions.
The doorbell rang and she hastened to open the door.
Kane had a breathtaking smile for her and she couldn't help but respond in kind.
"Hi, baby," he said, kissing her on the lips.
"Hi." She grabbed his arm while she closed the door, not wanting him to rush to the other people in the room.
"Hello, Kane," Alice said warmly, walking towards them. "We're glad you and Jaz could come visit us again so soon."
"Hello, Alice. It's good to be here," he responded, giving her mum a hug and a peck on the cheek.
"How was your meeting, Kane?" her dad asked. He patted Kane's shoulder a little too enthusiastically, a sign he was impatient and itched to know what was going on.
"It was very productive, thanks, Joe," Kane responded, unruffled.
"Uh, baby," she interjected, slipping her hand in his and squeezing tight. "There has been a new development about that matter we still haven't discussed with Mum and Dad. And there's someone here who can hopefully help us shed some light on a few issues."
Kane gave her a quizzical look before spotting the stranger standing a few steps away from them.
"I'd like you to meet George," she said, watching Kane's face carefully.
His face reddened and he stepped purposefully towards George with a decidedly menacing expression. She quickly stepped in front of him and cupped his face, forcing him to look at her.
"Kane, I don't think it was him," she whispered.
"What?"
"I bumped into him in the shopping centre and he said he didn't know what I was talking about when I asked him about it. So I invited him here so he could tell us his side of the story."