Oh, hell no!

Chapter 8

Chapter 8.

After Anne explained her plan to Grace, they called Jake over and Anne went to fetch Jim. They need everyone's help to get this plan to work. But first they had to explain why Grace needed help in the first place. So Grace had to tell the story of how she grew up to two people she hardly knew. Even her best friend did not know the whole story, but Grace knew what she had to tell them will never leave this room. Grace trusted them and felt save and protected so after the two men joined the two women in the livingroom, Grace began.

"After I tell you about my childhood I hope you will understand why I need your help." Jake could sense Grace's nervousness so he pulled her closer to him, her back to his chest. Grace felt grateful that he knew she needed his support. "When I grow up, I never wanted to fall in love, the picture or idea of love that I had when I grew up was twisted and ugly. My father believes a woman must obey and do whatever her husband asks. He is a very domineering man and demands respect from whoever he meets. He treats my mom as a slave and whenever something goes wrong it would always be her fault. My mother never fights back, she never defend herself or stand up for herself. I never wanted that and still don't. I don't believe that is how love works. I see love like the two of you have. You complete each other; have a mutual respect for each other and you do not blame each other for things out of your control. You take responsibility for yourself and your own actions. When you look into each other's eyes you see the love and the respect. You look at each other as if you see each other for the first time every time. You share your pain and pleasure. You are never selfish and you never blame each other for anything. You may have your up's and down's, but you never show it to the world." Grace looked at Anne and Jim and could see the complete adoration in their eyes for each other as she spoke of their love. She shifted herself to look at Jake and gave him a small smile. He gave her a nod as to encourage her to go on.

"The reason why I describe the love between my parents and what I want love to be, is so that you know that when you meet them how their relationship between them are, you two taught me what love could be like. My parents will arrive tomorrow, they never visited before and the last time I saw them it did not end well. I did not grow up rich; we had just enough to get by. My dad and I never had a close relationship, because I was too afraid of him. He would never abuse you physically, but mentally he will destroy you. You will never be good enough for anything and you will never be loved, because you are you. My mom tried to spend time with me, but we never had a bond either, she would always tell you about how much fun we had and played during the day when my dad was at work, but I cannot remember any of it. All I do remember is thinking how she never defended me or herself, how she expected me to just take it like she did. I remember wishing they would just split." Grace made a splitting motion with her hands and everyone could see that she was reliving each memory as she spoke.

"I remember asking my dad why he married my mom and not her sister like his mother wanted him to, his words were simply 'then you would not have existed.' When they would fight after that I would always wish my dad married my aunt. I felt bad for my mom to be in that marriage, but as I grew older I could only think of how much she must be in love with him to stay at his side and never get defeated. As for my dad I don't know why he treats her that way, maybe it has to do with his mom telling him all sorts of lies about my mom and how she's never good enough for him. It would get worse every time we went to visit them. I only visit them once a year, because I can't stand the way my dad treats my mom and how she just takes it. I don't hate my parents; I just hate what my dad does to my mom. No one deserves that. I love them in my own way and through all of it; it made me see what love should never be." Grace looked at her friends and felt relieve seeing that they did not have judgement in their eyes.

"Jake I need your help, please?" She looked in his eyes pleadingly; her hazel eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "Will you please still pretend to be my fiancé? I don't know what Darren told my dad and if he told him about us and he finds out the truth he would cuss me out as a whore and blame my mom again for how she brought me up. I really don't want her to be blamed for my choices and I know he would take it out on her. I know this must sound like a lame excuse to you, but I just want to protect her for once." Jake squeezed her tighter to him and she relaxed against his chest again.
"Yeah, I understand don't worry. I'll want to protect my mom to in this type of situation, just like I want to protect you now." Jake said looking down at Grace.
"Thank you." Grace whispered, looking up to meet his eyes.
"Oh, Grace." Anne whispered with tears in her eyes. She knew Grace had a history just like everybody else. She felt so sorry to hear that the person that shows love to every one she meets never really felt loved herself. She loved Grace dearly and wished with all her heart that Jake could be the one to show Grace what true love meant. Wiping away her tears she softly said: "Whatever you need us to do, Grace, we will be here." Jim gave his wife a sideways hug and kissed her temple.

Grace stood up and gave her friend a big hug. "Thank you, Anne, for showing me what love is and for loving me like a sister." She softly said into Anne's ear so only she could hear. Even though Anne might have cried Grace knew it was not out of pity, but compassion. That's all she saw in these three people's eyes. She loved them for it. They did not judge her nor felt pity for her. She knew that for some it would sound ridiculous that a grown woman would feel unloved and be scared of her father, but Grace knew everyone has their demons to fight and this was her fight.
"Okay, so we all agree to help Grace, right?" Anne spoke up after she took a few deep breaths. She got emotional really quickly when it came to someone she cared about. The two men nodded in approval, so Anne continued. "So the plan I came up with is; you two move in together as from tonight. You can stay in Grace's apartment; Jake you can just move your clothes. Grace's parents never saw her apartment so they would never know the difference between her stuff and yours. Jake you will do everything you can to win over Grace's parents even if that means you have to ask her dad for her hand in marriage." Anne said with authority, giving Jake a look to let him know he had no choice, but to do what she asked. "Jim and I will make friends with your parents and try to support you in whatever you need. We will show them that Grace deserves true love and in that show them what true love means. Now you need a ring." Anne looked over to Jim and he stood up and walked over to Jake.
"I have something for you little bro'." Jim said holding out a small black velvet ring box. "This was Grandma Sue's ring that she gave to dad to give to mom when he asked her to marry him. Dad gave it to me to give to the women I loved with all my heart. I gave it to Anne the night I met her. When I saw her I knew she was my forever. I wanted to get to know her and protect her and be with her. The first time I held her in my arms I knew I never wanted to let her go. So that night I gave her this ring to keep safe till the day I needed it. It was my excuse to see her again." Jim said giving Anne a cocky smile.

Anne had tears in her eyes again remembering that day. Her hands were clasped in front of her chin as she lived in the memory. She remembered meeting Jim at a friend's house, where they all got together for a pool party. A chill ran down her spine when she saw him arriving with a friend. She could not keep her eyes of him. The two of them walked past her and her group of friends and when their eyes locked a spark ignited in the pit of her stomach. She just knew she had to talk to him sometime during the day. Five minutes later Jim took the seat next to her. He introduced himself and gave her an unopened beer. The two of them got lost to the rest of the world. They got to know each other and talked about everything under the sun. Hours felt like minutes oblivious to their surroundings the sun started to set. It was when the air got colder that Jim asked Anne if she wanted to get something to eat. The beers he got hours ago were warm and forgotten on the ground next to her chair. Jim took her to the diner where she worked now, she did not have to work, but did it for sentimental reasons as well as to keep her busy when the kids are at school. Hours later Jim took her home and gave her a hug to say goodbye. They slowly pulled apart, but Jim kept his arms around Anne.
"Can I ask you to keep something save for me, please?" He asked looking deep in her eyes, she nodded her head and he continued. "You see my dad gave me this." He let go of her with his one arm and pulled out a chain from underneath his shirt. On it was the most beautiful ring she ever saw. It was a simple white gold band with a cluster of diamonds in the middle. The diamond cluster formed a rose. Jim took the chain from his neck and held it out to Anne. "Will you please keep it safe for me till the day I might need it. I really don't want to lose it and as I already lost my heart, I don't want to take the chance to lose this too." Jim whispered the part about his heart being lost, but Anne heard it. Looking up at Jim she whispered: "It is safe with me." Then they sealed it with a kiss.

Anne's attention returned to the three people in front of her. Seeing the hesitation in Grace's eyes she knew she had to distract her friend. "Grace we need a back story."
"I haven't thought of that." Grace said the expression on her face changed to a thinking one.
"Where do we start?" Jake asked. "What happened when you met Anne's parents for the first time?" Jake turned his attention to Jim. Jim's ears turned red as he remembered the first time he met Anne's parents.
"Her dad sat me down in his bar, poured us both a drink and said 'You need it.' Through his drink down his throat and motioned for me to do the same. He pat me on my back and said 'welcome to the family.' When I asked him why he said I needed the drink he said 'You looked like you wanted to faint.' Then he walked out and we continued with supper." They all burst out in a loud joyful laughter. Jim looked down at his feet rubbing the tip of his ear, a gesture he did whenever he felt really embarrassed.
Anne moved closer to her husband and gave him a quick kiss on his lips. "Truth is, my dear husband you really did look like you wanted to faint."