Unrequited Love

67

"You're not my mother." Jane said, as she slid into the passenger's seat.

"I'd be shocked if you thought I was." Gena chuckled nervously, then pointed at her seat belt. "Strap in."

Jane put on her seat belt, and stared out of the window. "Not to sound rude, but why are you here?"  

Gena gripped the steering, she wasn't the best at reading children, but she would bet her beloved car that Jane was angry at her. "I needed to pick you up because your mother- can't"

"If she knew she wouldn't be able to pick me up earlier, she'd have asked me to go home with Emmett." Jane said, giving Gena a side way glance. "She would never ask you to pick me up without informing me first."

"Do you want to be an undercover cop or something?" Gena laughed dryly. "You're right, your mother can't pick you up, and that's not because she's indisposed, it's because she's in the hospital."

Jane stiffened, but didn't immediately freak out. "What happened?"

"According to the doctor, she had a severe panic attack, I didn't want to alarm-"

"It's been a while since she had those." Jane frowned, sagging into the seat. "Are you taking me home, or to the hospital?"

"Anyone you'd prefer is fine." Gena tapped the steering wheel, "Did you say it's been a while?" she couldn't help but ask.

"I'd like to change first, then we can go to the hospital." Jane sighed. "And yes, I noticed them after we left dad, and anytime I asked about it she would laugh it off or tell me she was short of breath at the moment. After a while, I let it go or maybe she started hiding them properly from me."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Will you tell me what really happened?" Jane asked. "She gets this way only when she's stressed, or has something on her mind she can't talk to me about."

It was Gena's turn to sigh. "I want to call it a freak accident, to be honest it was all a big misunderstanding." 

"What was?"

"After I left your house on Friday-"

"You mean the day you promised to teach me how to bake the cake I loved, and go grocery shopping with me so we could get a present for mom and surprise her, that day? I'm sorry, you can carry on now."

Her next words died in her throat, Gena hadn't seen how selfish her actions had been until now. "I'm sorry." Jane didn't look at her. "I really am."

"What happened after you left the house?" Jane said instead, staring straight ahead.

"I received news that my mother had passed from someone I least expected." Gena didn't think Jane would understand, it would require her telling the whole story from the beginning, and she didn't have enough strength in her to do that.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"It wasn't much of a loss." Gena shrugged. "We weren't close."

"So why did the news affect you so much?" Gena understood Jane's confusion.

"I know everything I'm saying now sounds vague, I'll try to break it down for you as much as I can. I opened my soul earlier. I don't think I have it within me to do that again."

"I'm all ears." Jane turned to her, paying fast attention.

"My family never accepted the fact that I was gay, so after my father passed, the reins of the company was handed to my younger brother. It was my inheritance by virtue of being the first child, but that birth right was stolen from me because I loved women. I walked away from my family to start a new life. That's when I developed a passion for French, and fortunately French loved me too. My brother ran the company into the ground, around that period was when I met Lea, my ex fiancée. My family used her to get me to come back to the company and after I'd dragged the company back to life, they finally exposed their schemes. I found out their despicable plans and the fact that Lea was actually dating my brother all the time she was with me. Shamed and heartbroken, I walked away from my family for the second time and never looked back."