Think Of Me

Chapter Fifteen

“Can I talk to you alone for a moment?” A sickening smile spread across Jacqui's face as she turned to face Aaron once again. She looked like one of those Cornish pixies from Harry Potter.

“I thought I told you to stay away from me?” Aaron asked. He kept his voice calm and steady, but Jeanna could see the fury in his eyes.

“Oh, I think you may want to know about this.” She looked over at Aaron's mom whose expression had turned serious. She nodded in agreement.

“If you'll excuse me, I need to use the restroom. I'll put our stuff in your old room? Come on, Reese.” Jeanna spoke uncomfortably, grabbing Risa and sitting her on her hip. She quietly made her way past Jacqui and Aaron's mom and quickly climbed the cream carpeted stairs. As she moved past pictures of Aaron and Jon as children and family portraits lining the wall, she began to wonder what she was doing here.

“Mommy, is that Daddy?” Risa asked, pointing her small finger at a silver frame.

Jeanna laughed. “No, Honey. That's your uncle, Jon. He's Daddy's brother.”

“Like how Chywee is your sister?” she asked, butchering her aunt's name.

Jeanna smiled, pulling her daughter closer. “Exactly.”

She sat Risa down on the floor so she could open Aaron's bedroom door. The room hadn't changed since Jeanna had last seen it. Pictures of sports teams and girls were still plastered to the pale blue walls. The cork board holding what seemed like a zillion pictures of them and their college friends hung above his cluttered and unorganized desk, looking like it hadn't been touched since last time he left. At least the bed's made, she thought, laying her purse and day bag on Aaron's bed.

“Reese, can you promise me to stay right here and not move while I go to the bathroom?”

The little girl nodded her head slowly, already finding something magical to play with: a platic blue and yellow Ithaca football. Jeanna rolled her eyes. Little people could be entertained so easily. But as much as she didn't want to go back downstairs where Jacqui was, she reminded herself of the reason they came in the first place. After she finished in the bathroom, she came back and got Risa so they could go back downstairs.

Aaron and Jacqui were no where to be seen, and something in the air just didn't feel right. She made her way to the kitchen, holding Risa's hand, and found Aaron's mom in the middle of cooking.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

“Oh, Baby, I've got it. Thank you. I want you to tell me all about this little beauty here,” she said, grinning at Risa who had hid behind her mother.

“Aw, Reese. Come here.” She picked Risa up and bounced her. Sometimes Risa acted a lot like her and was shy. “Tell your grandma about ballet and Ms. Luxe,” she prompted, trying to get her to talk.

“I'm a ballerina!” she exclaimed proudly, taking her face away of her mother's neck. “Daddy says I'm the best in my class!”