Hidden Love
By : Autumn Blackwell
Chapter 2
Jade walked from her office and turned off the light as she closed the door behind her. Walking down the quiet hallway almost everyone in her building had already gone home. ‘What should I do, what should I do?’ Today was a Friday and Jade had nothing to do and no one do it with. Stopping at the elevator she pressed the button to go down. Jade was tapping her foot and being impatient when her partner walked up to her.
“Going down?” Keith flashed Jade one of his devilish grins and tried to be suave.
“What does it look like I am doing Keith? Standing here for my health and waiting on your slow butt?” Giving him one of her best sarcastic smiles the elevator arrived and the doors opened.
“And to think, I thought you were warming up to me. ” Smirking, Keith followed Jade into the elevator and turned to face her. “Have any plans for the evening or can I buy you a drink before the weekend starts?”
Ever since Keith had been assigned to Jade as her partner he had done nothing but try and hit on her. Although Jade didn’t mind, Keith wasn’t really her type. He was fairly muscular with a full head of dirty blonde hair and a pair of deceiving brown eyes, definitely a ladies man when he chose the right ladies to work his charms on.
“A drink huh? I don’t know Keith, you know how I feel about going out with co-workers.” Jade gave her best letdown smile. The elevator doors closed and they continued down to the parking deck.
“Its only a drink Jade. Come on you need to loosen up a bit and relax.” Keith knew he was pushing a bit and hopefully crossed his fingers behind his back.
“Where did you have in mind?” After how stressful the week had been she was ready for a drink and didn’t think it would be all that bad having some company.
“Wherever your heart desires.” Keith wasn’t Jade’s first choice to go have a drink with and he could sense that, but still had hope that he would break through Jade’s stoic demeanor.
“Okay you got a deal. Follow me?” Jade gave in to his request and decided she knew just the place.
Keith put a huge grin on his face and said, “Sure, no problem.” The elevator doors opened and Jade walked to her car. Keith was only parked a couple of spaces down and so she waited until she heard his engine start.
Jade pulled out of the parking deck and turned on her radio. Driving down to I-285 and merging with traffic, she looked in her rearview mirror to make sure that Keith was still behind her. Traffic wasn’t too bad for a Friday night and drove at a slower speed so that Keith would be able to keep up with her. Jade had bought this car for the smooth look it had to it. It was a Jetta, shiny black with tinted windows and all the bonuses on the inside. Coming up on her exit she turned her signal on early and Keith followed her lead.
Merging into traffic on GA 400 she drove a little farther and got off on exit 6. Whisker’s was her choice of places to go. They had live bands almost every night and nice people that worked there. Jade got out of her car and waited for Keith to catch up with her. The parking lot was packed tonight and Jade was excited about the evening.
“Hey there.” Jade greeted as Keith jogged up to her.
As they started to walk up to the doors Keith commented that he had never been here before and Jade just told him that he would love it.
“Hey Stephen.” Jade smiled at the bouncer at the door. “Who’s playing tonight?”
“JMC your favorite band.” Stephen got up and gave Jade a hug. “You look good tonight Girl!”
Keith shifted uncomfortably behind the pair as he watched on with a bit of jealousy. “Thanks man, I just came from work so it ain’t all that.” Jade blushed a bit after being given a compliment. She wasn’t very used to that. Only five foot eleven inches, long ebony hair, and a striking pair of blue eyes; she didn’t think that she was anything fancy. Turning to Keith, “Stephen, this is my co-worker Keith. Keith this is the only bouncer they trusted this bar with, Stephen.” Jade put a big grin on her face while she introduced the two men.
“Nice to meet you Stephen.” Keith put a fake grin on his face and shook the man’s hand. “So where would you like to sit Jade since this seems to be a place you are very familiar with. Watching the interaction between the two men, Jade saw that both men were sizing each other up for totally different reasons and all she could do was laugh to herself. Keith put a hand on the small of Jade’s back trying to convey a message to the bouncer that she was here with him tonight.
Noticing the slight touch, she slightly turned herself so that his hand would not be on her back anymore and walked over to the back bar by the band and the pool tables. Jade was laughing inside herself that Keith would feel protective over her. It sure was funny to see the look on Keith’s face, even though Stephen was gay.
“What are you smiling at?” Keith had noticed that a big grin had appeared on Jade’s face and secretly he hoped it was from him being there. Jade realized that Keith didn’t understand the inside joke about her smile and decided that she wouldn’t say anything about it so as not to embarrass him.
“Nothing, “ came the simple but throaty reply.
“No seriously, what are you smiling about?” Keith was very intrigued at whatever it was that was holding that smile on her beautiful face. ‘Gosh, she is striking.’
“Come on, let’s order a drink and then I might think about telling you.” With a devilish grin on her face, Jade sat down at a bar stool and ordered.
“I would like a Rum and Coke, What do you want Keith?”
“I’ll just take a beer.” Keith replied and watched Jade intently.
“We have many different types of beer, Sir. Do you know which one it is that you would like?” The sarcastic reply was not unnoticed by Jade, but it seemed to fly by Keith. Betty was one of Jade’s favorite waitresses here at Whisker’s and found the situation hilarious. ‘Keith must not get out much. This is a bar.’
“Uhm. I think I’ll just have a Bud on draft.” Keith realized that he was staring at Jade’s profile and decided to stop and look at the band setting up on stage.
The drinks were delivered to them and Keith didn’t let the last subject go as Jade had hoped he would. “Alright now that we have our drinks what was it that had you smiling so much back there?” Jade couldn’t contain her laughter anymore and through a couple of chuckles she told him that Stephen was gay.
“He is?!” Keith wasn’t sure whether he should join in on the laughter or cry. He had just made a fool of himself. “Well, I guess we can’t win them all.” Rather than being any more of a fool he decided to sit there until Jade had stopped laughing and even snickered a bit too at the funny situation.
After a bit of silence and their second drink Jade decided she was going to have a little fun tonight and enjoy herself. Keith was listening to the music and watching the people move around on the small dance floor when Jade decided to interrupt his thoughts. “So, “ Jade leaned into Keith a bit and continued. “You got me here, now what ever do you plan to do with me?” It wasn’t like Jade to lead a man on, and it wasn’t like her to even go out with a man when they offered but tonight she was here with a friend and was going loosen up and joke around a bit.
“Uh…Uh…Uh…” Keith was caught off guard by Jade’s advances towards him. A little tipsy and becoming only a little bit more tongue-tied he answered with a not so good answer. “You wanna play some pool?”
Jade knew that she caught him out of his daydreams and decided that she probably shouldn’t make Keith think she was leading him on. “Sure, that sounds like a plan.” Walking over to a free table she bent over and put the quarters in the slots. ‘He should like that site.’
Keith stood rooted to the spot he was standing in and watched Jade lean over to drop the quarters in. ‘Daaammn. She is so very fine.’
“You going to play or just stand there all night and look at my ass?” Jade’s back was still to him but she knew he was still staring and decided to push Keith a long a bit so that they could play.
“Oh sorry.” Feeling the heat creep up his neck at a fast pace, Keith went and grabbed a pool stick for himself and asked, “You breaking or am I?”
“Go ahead I’ll break next game.” Smiling that her friend was back to the real world she focused herself on the game at hand and enjoyed the blues music being blared out of the speakers.
After three games Keith still had not won, and suggested to Jade that they dance or go get another drink, but that he didn’t want to lose again. Jade chuckled to herself and said, “Okay.” She understood that men didn’t like to lose, but her lessons as a child told her that she should always do her best. Throughout her childhood she had always battled with her sister about who was the best, and that had left a scar on her heart.
Putting up the pool sticks they walked back to the bar and ordered another drink. “So, how do like the place Keith? Nice huh?” Jade sipped her drink unlike her others.
“The music is great here, I will have to come back again. What did Stephen say the name of this band was?”
“JMC and yes I agree with you. This is the best band that plays here, although the managers pick only the best to play. They play here every Thursday night and sometimes on Saturday’s, but I guess tonight is special.” Turning to the band, Jade whistled and clapped her hands to the end of the song. Keith made a silent comment that was almost a whisper and simply stated, “Maybe they knew a special lady was going to be here tonight.”
Keith nodded to her comment and made a mental note that he now knew where he could find Jade on most Thursdays. After watching Jade most of the night he observed that she didn’t check out any of the males there at the bar, but that there was this one female she had kept her eye on all night. Not knowing how to take that information he had just obtained he chalked it up to she might know her.
After her fourth drink, Jade was ready to call it quits before she couldn’t drive herself home. Keith had been making small talk most of the night trying to find a way inside her protective wall. Frankly she was getting a little annoyed with it and didn’t want this night to affect her working relationship with Keith.
Saying their goodbyes in the parking lot, Jade went to get into her car and watched as Keith pulled out of the parking lot and waved. She returned the wave and drove home. On the way home she caught herself thinking about the beautiful woman she was spying on at the bar. Shaking off her thoughts she drove the short distance home and decided she should retire to bed.
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Jade woke the next morning to her alarm blaring and a cat licking her face. Rolling over to turn the alarm off she pushed the cat to the side in hopes he would leave her alone for five more minutes of sleep. When that didn’t work she sat up in bed and absently petted Tuxedo’s silky fur. Jade had gotten Tuxedo when he was just a kitten from her mother as a birthday gift. He had his name for a reason because he was all black with a white under belly and face. Jade thought it fitting and he had only grown into his name as he got older with his prissy attitude. It seemed that he had gotten into a schedule no matter what day it was. Although she had been trying to teach him when the weekend came he still didn’t understand.
Dragging her tired body out of bed she padded into the kitchen to feed him and make herself some coffee. Standing in the kitchen she rested her head on the cabinet above the coffee pot with her mug in hand. Saturday’s were her day to play catch up on everything she had not had time for during the week. When her coffee was done she took her full mug and went outside to pick up the daily paper. She enjoyed reading her paper out on her deck and drinking her coffee even if the Saturday proved rainy she still enjoyed the outside.
She lived in a nice size home. Two bedrooms, two and a half baths with a nice wrap around deck on the bottom floor and a small one on the second story. She had an underground pool put in last year and still had a huge back yard. The neighborhood was a quiet one, but that is the way she liked it. She had a nice plot of land that was in the middle of everything and anything that was interesting. Sitting on her deck this morning she realized that it was the weekend to mow the lawn. She loved the scent of fresh cut grass, but she didn’t like all the bugs and grass cuttings that would fly up in her face. Her backyard was fenced in so she really didn’t have to cut the grass, but she didn’t want to spend the extra money paying someone else to mow it for her either.
After that was done, Jade decided she should have some lunch and went into grab something to grill. Looking in her refrigerator she sighed. “I guess I have to go the grocery store today. Just what I wanted to do.” Talking to no one but Tuxedo she scooped him up and walked back to her bedroom to change clothes. While she was out she went ahead and picked up some fast food and came back with a hundred dollars worth of food to put away. “This should last us. Don’t ya think, Tuxedo?” All Tuxedo did was head butt Jade’s leg and meow. Chuckling to herself at how well her cat could respond at all the right times she headed for the living room.
Plopping into her favorite leather chair she grabbed the remote and decided to watch some TV. “Boy this has been an uneventful day Tuxedo.” She had gotten a lot done today, but none of it was exciting. At least tomorrow would be a relaxing day for her. Scratching underneath his collar, Tuxedo curled up into Jade’s lap and purred himself and Jade to sleep.
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Waking up with Tuxedo still curled up her lap, she regretting falling asleep in her chair for her neck hurt like a car had hit her. Stretching her arms and neck, Jade moved Tuxedo much to his dismay and looked to check what time it was. ‘Am I reading that clock right?’ Taking a deep breath Jade had slept through most of the night and was wondering if she should just stay up or go back to sleep in her bed. “Bed. That sounds like a good idea. You coming with me Tuxedo?” Jade swore that he knew what she was saying, but she would never know because all he answered with was a meow. She went into her room, stripped and climbed into bed. Sunday was going to be her last day before the week started again, and she was not looking forward to her caseload.
Sunday morning came all to quickly and it started out just like yesterday for Jade. Feeding the cat and getting her paper and coffee, except today Jade had plans to work out her muscles and catch up on a few leads she had in one of her cases. Jade liked her work as a private investigator, but sometimes she got hit with so many cases she had to turn some away. Her business had picked up so much that she had hired Keith to help out and take some of the cases that came across her desk. This was her third year doing this kind of work and every time she finished a case all the work was worth all the trouble she had gone through.
After jogging her two miles for the day and lifting weights for about an hour, Jade decided to call it quits and took a hot shower to relax her well worked muscles. Stepping into the running hot water was like instant relaxation for Jade. She rested her hands on the cool tile and let the water run down her back. Breaking her thoughts she heard the phone ringing and cursed out loud. Grabbing a towel to wrap around herself, she ran to get the phone before the answering machine got it.
“Hello?” Out of breath and panting a little bit. Her hello came out irritated.
“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, or I interrupted something important?” Keith’s voice came across the phone with a cheerfulness that Jade was just not feeling. If she sounded like she thought she did on the phone Keith probably thought that he had intruded on an intimate moment.
“Not really except that I was in the shower and you have impeccable timing.” Jade was dripping water on her carpet and quickly walked back to the bathroom to finish trying to dry off. She was not going to satisfy his wondering about what she had been doing besides the shower.
“Well, sorry for interrupting your private moment in your shower.” Keith teased her with a bit of laughter at his sarcastic comment, only Jade caught the bit of pondering behind his words. ‘Hmm, she is naked while on the phone with me; this is something very nice to think about. I just hope no one is there with her.’
“Very funny, now get to the point of your call please so that I can finish drying off and getting dressed.” She was finding it very difficult to dry off while holding a phone to her ear and wished he would just spit out the reason he called for.
“Well, I was wondering if you would like to, *Beep*, go to dinner tonight?” Keith asked hesitantly.
“Ah, Keith …” Sighing at this turn of events Jade was at a loss for words, “Sorry for the beep, I pressed a button on the phone by accident.
“You already have other plans.” Jade could hear the disappointment in his voice and decided that she didn’t want him to think that was the case.
“Actually no I don’t, but I was actually thinking of staying in for the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying a quiet night at home.” Jade chewed her bottom lip at the fib she was telling, but she didn’t want to lead him on by saying yes. Going out with co-workers was really against the ethics she lived by in her life.
“Okay, that’s cool. I just thought I would ask. Well, I guess I will see you tomorrow at work then.” Keith didn’t know how to take that answer and decided that he shouldn’t jump to conclusions yet. Friday night was a pretty good step and he didn’t want to push his luck.
“Okay, see ya tomorrow. Have a goodnight!” Jade hung up the receiver and released the breath of air that she had been holding. He is a good man, but just not my type, not to mention, he is a co-worker. Truth be known Jade preferred the same sex for her relationships. Which as of late had kept her very single.
Chapter 3
Monday morning came all too soon for Jade as she was walked the corridor to her office on the third floor. Passing by her secretary Jade said her pleasantries and continued through her to office. Having no messages Jade got down to business. Opening up her most important case, she looked through all the pages once again. Punching a button on her phone she quickly spoke to Mrs. Patrick.
“Mrs. Patrick could you please get the Los Angeles Social Service Department on the phone for me and ring it through when you get to a person.” Jade sighed. One of the hardest parts of her job was helping adopted children or adults find their birth parents. So much red tape to get through to get any answers at all. Running a hand through her raven locks, Jade put aside the open file on her desk and looked into the next one she had to deal with today as well. Both adults had been born in L.A. and were recently informed that they had been adopted. Jade specialized in adoptive cases, and didn’t mind working her way through all the barriers for her clients.
“Jade?” A knock at the door and her name being said brought her attention up from her paperwork.
“Heya Keith. Good Morning. What can I do for you this morning?” Jade leaned back in her chair and gazed up at her partner.
“Good Morning to you too. I had this file on a woman born here in Georgia and I have completed the case. Do I just give the file to Mrs. Patrick so that she can file it? Or should I?” Keith didn’t walk into Jade’s office all the way and just leaned on the door jam.
“Give it to Mrs. Patrick and she will do it for you. Congratulations on your first case finished.” Jade had a small smile creep up on her face and gave a little salute to Keith for his good work. She decided that she was right in hiring him. He learned quickly and was a great addition. When she first went into this business after finishing law school she had decided to fly solo and not take on a partner, but these three years had been hard on her and she wanted a reprieve.
“Thanks. Did you have a good Sunday?” Keith was fishing for things to talk about rather than the real things he wanted to say, but Jade looked busy and during work was not the time to ask the things he wanted to ask.
“It was very relaxing.” Jade raised an eyebrow in Keith’s direction as if to say either get to the point or get to work. Keith took the hint and said his goodbyes and that he would stop back before he went to lunch.
Lunchtime was upon Jade quickly and she decided that she wasn’t going to take one today; she just had too much work to complete. Her entire morning had been spent going from person to person in the SSD in L.A. Her clients were awaiting time to face a judge with their cases and Jade was just trying to get through a bit of the red tape involved in opening a consenting adult’s non-identifying file that was made during the adoption process. This file contained all the information of the court proceedings that concluded the adoption along with important information regarding medical history, where to find the original birth certificate and the names of the person’s parents.
After talking with Mrs. Patrick and telling her to go to lunch, Jade went down to the break room on the first floor and got a soda and a bag of chips to keep her until she got home and made dinner. Deciding to take the stairs back up to her floor she took them two at a time. When she got to the third floor she popped a chip in her mouth and saw a woman sitting in her small waiting room. She noticed that the woman was about twenty-three years of age with auburn shoulder length hair. Jade paused a moment to study the woman, and popped another chip in her mouth before continuing to walk to her office.
“Hello. My name is Jade Caldwell and I am one of the private detectives of this office. Sorry that you had to wait but my partner and secretary are out to lunch. Can I help you?” Jade wiped her hand on her slacks and noticed that she had a far off look in her eyes that might also be seen as fear.
“Hello.” Putting her hand out to shake Jade’s hand she introduced herself. “My name is Sara Adams, and yes you can help me.” Jade took the offered hand and searched Sara’s eyes for a hint of why she was here. Observing a slight yellowish tint under Sara’s left eye, Jade wondered if it was cause from a recent bruise.
“Care to join me in my office?” Jade’s voice was velvety smooth to Sara’s ears and she liked this woman already. Sara nodded her head as Jade opened the door to her office for Sara to enter before her. “Please have a seat Ms.?” Jade hesitated with the woman’s title and walked around her desk to take a seat in her chair after closing her door for privacy.
“No, It is Mrs., but please just call me Sara.” Sara took a seat in front of Jade’s desk. In that unguarded moment Jade saw a definite flash of fear in the woman’s hazel eyes that sat across from her now.
“Alright Sara.” Jade tried to give Sara a reassuring smile. “What is it that I can help you with today?” Taking out a new legal pad from a desk drawer, Jade grabbed her favorite pen and waited for Sara to begin her story.
After two hours of discussing Sara’s problem, Jade recapped so that she understood why Sara was here. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she didn’t like the sound of the situation and didn’t know if she was capable of keeping this woman safe.
“Your husband beats you, you believe he is dealing drugs and you want me to follow him so that in court you will win and be able to put him behind bars. Am I getting all that correct? Jade looked through her notes to see if she had missed anything.
“Yes, that is right. Tell me Ms. Caldwell.” Sara started to ask.
Jade interrupted her, “Please call me Jade.” She smiled at Sara trying to lighten the conversation up.
“Can you keep me safe while you are investigating my husband?” Sara was nervously tearing up a tissue Jade had handed her earlier.
“Sara, “ Jade gave Sara a slight nod to reassure her, “I believe that I can protect and I believe that I can find what you are looking for, but it is going to take time and patience and I will need your help with some things. Can you handle helping me in return?” Jade raised her eyebrows under dark ebony bangs in questioning at the terrified woman sitting before her.
“I’m sure.” Sara nodded her head in determination that was born from fear of her husband terror.
“Okay, I need to finish up some existing cases I have but those shouldn’t take too long. I have a partner that will be helping us with this case, and you will need to meet him. Sara nodded again in understanding with what jade was saying to her.
Looking at Sara Jade saw a fear that brought back memories from her childhood days. It was the main reason that drove her to law school, and to help people in need. The feeling of loneliness started to creep back into Jade’s mind and she quickly shut it out. It was the first day that she had met Laine Holden, a scared little girl, crying underneath an oak tree. Putting her feelings back in check she turned her attention back to Sara.
“I understand that it is going to be hard for you to make appointments, or come in on a regular basis.” Grabbing a card from the top of her desk she handed it to Sara and said, “If you need me for anything don’t hesitate to call me at home or on my cell phone.”
Sara took the card from Jade. “Thank you for helping me and understanding the position I have been put in.” Sara stood and quickly walked to the door. Throwing over her shoulder, “I must be going Joe will be looking for me soon.”
Jade quickly got up and got to the door before Sara had a chance to slip through it. “I mean it, if you need anything and I mean anything at all you call me, okay?” Jade stopped in front of the scared woman and lifted Sara’s chin so their eyes would meet.
“Yes, and thank you again. I don’t know how to thank you.” Sara took Jade’s fingers from her chin and softly squeezed them to let the detective know that she understood the request. For a moment a thought crossed Sara’s mind of what it would be like to be with someone so caring as the detective was, and as quickly as the thought crossed her mind she pushed it away and left.
Jade stood at the door and watched Sara as she left the office and walked towards the elevator. ‘What a sad situation for such a beautiful woman to be in.’ Walking back to her desk, she sat down in her chair and decided to push Sara’s case up on her top list and give Keith the cases she had been working on today. She wanted to handle Sara’s case mainly by herself seeing as how Sara was the most trusting of men as of right now.
She wrote a list of things to do for Keith, packed up the folders and all the information he would need to get started on himself and walked over to his office. Stopping at Mrs. Patrick’s desk, Jade asked if Keith had left for the day.
“Yes, he has Ms. Caldwell is there anything I can help you with?” Mrs. Patrick was a nice lady and had been Jade’s assistant since the beginning.
“Yes there is actually can you make sure that he gets this packet tomorrow when he comes into the office.” Handing the packet to Mrs. Patrick she continued with her instructions. “Also make sure that if he runs into any problems that he call me on my cell phone, I will not be in the office tomorrow.”
Mrs. Patrick nodded her head and made a list of everything to tell Mr. Miller.
“Just tell him that I have decided to take a very important case that needs me attention immediately. You have a good night Mrs. Patrick and I will in touch with throughout tomorrow. Depending on what I find I might need you to do some leg work for me here in the office.” Jade waved and walked to the elevator to go home.
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By the time Jade got home she had lost her appetite and decided on having a glass of wine with some cheese. Standing in the kitchen, Tuxedo rubbed against her leg and purred. “Hey boy, how was your day today?” Tuxedo meowed and started to tell her all the gossip that he had learned. Putting her ahs, ohs and nods in all the right places Tuxedo finally quieted down and curled up at her feet.
Sipping her wine and popping a cube of cheese in her mouth every once in awhile, Jade’s muscles began to relax as well as her mind. With Les Miserables playing in the background breaking down the wall around her mind and heart, her thoughts started to drift to a sunny first day of school when her and her sister were in the third grade.
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