The COO's Daughter

You Haven't Changed

Jade had been laughing for the last 10 minutes, sitting with Randy and listening to him tell the worst jokes in the world

"Why did the mermaid stop wearing seashells?" He asked

She kept quiet waiting for it

"Because she grew to C-shells," he replied

Jade began laughing

"Why was the skiing spark plug in awe?" He asked, smiling

"Because the view was shocking,"
Jade threw her head back in a fit of giggles

"I got another," he said

"What do they call it when Batman skips church?" He asked

"Christian Bale!" He said, smiling as Jade began crying with laughter

"What's the difference between a hippo and a zippo?" He asked

"The hippo is heavy but the zippo is a little lighter." He said

Jade had never laughed so hard at something so dumb before

"You cannot run on a campground, you can only ran cuz it's past tents!" He said

That did it, Jade started turning red in the face and beating her thigh like it owed her money

"Singing in the shower is all fun and games till soap gets in your mouth and then it becomes a soap opera." He said shaking his head as Jade cackled

"Okay last one," Randy said smiling fondly

"What do you call a singing laptop?" He asked

Jade tilted her head

"A dell!" He said and Jade began howling with laughter

Randy looked at the catering table, turning his body slightly to see what they had

This gave Jade time to study him

Same cold blue eyes, same tint of his Missouri accent, same tanned skin and tattoos. Same button nose, same gorgeous smile, same sense of humour, same curiosity for life, same everything.

She found herself smiling

"You haven't changed a bit," she said, catching his attention

He turned back to her with a smile

"Thanks," he said turning back to the table and that's when she saw it

A silver ring, dangling from the chain hung around his neck, shimmering as he turned to the light

She thought nothing of it, till she saw the engraving, HJL with a small, neat heart enscribed in the ring's strong insides

She now knew exactly what it was, her ring had RKO with a heart so she had the same done for his

"Randy, why?" She asked staring at their worst memory hanging off his chain

He turned back to her confused by the question until he saw what she was staring at

His hand protectively held the ring to shield it from her gaze

His eyes avoided hers

"Remember when I proposed to you, a month after and everything began spiraling down?" He asked looking at the oh so interesting table

"I cheated on you, knocked Sam up and hid it from you until John ended up spilling it cuz he thought I had told you, and you packed up everything you owned and left, you picked up everything that would remind me of you, except this," he said, playing with the ring

"Everyday, I'd look at this ring and think how I'd screwed up so bad and I didn't want to give it back cuz it reminded me some mistakes just aren't worth making." He finished finally meeting her eyes

Jade looked at him

This man wasn't the selfish man she met all those years ago and who showed his face just a week ago. This man put other people before himself. This man learnt from his mistakes. She couldn't believe it.

Randy had changed, but it was a good change

She simply smiled

"I'd never take that away from you." She replied

He thanked her then was called for his match, leaving Jade alone with her thoughts