Remembered Promises

Chapter 27

Jake was waiting in line at his and Jenna's favorite pizza shop when his phone started ringing. He was hoping it wasn't Julia, the girl he had spent the weekend with. She was really starting to turn into a stage 4 clinger. He hated when he would set the ground rules, the girl would be more than happy with it, then BOOM! Clinger! Jenna always have him a hard time about his whoreish ways. But he wasn't looking for anything serious until after college. His degree was his significant other. Jake had way too many goals that he wanted to accomplish before he settled down.

He looked at his phone and it was an unknown number. Hmm, that's odd. He always got the girls numbers so he could avoid their calls. He decided to take a chance and answer it anyways.

"Uh hello?" Jake said apprehensively.

"Hey Jake! It's Brent. I hope it's okay that I got your number from Jenna." Brent said. Jake rolled his eyes. He was going to give her a piece of his mind when he got home.

"Hey Brent. What's up man?" Jake said cheerfully. He cringed at how fake he sounded. But he promised Jenna that he would try.

"Not much. Not much. But I do need to talk to you about something. If you have a few free minutes for me." Brent said.
Jake sighed quietly and got out of line at the pizza shop. He'd have to start all over again in ordering pizza. But oh well, this was important to Jenna.

"Sure man. I'm free for a few minutes." Jake said as he sat down at an open table.

"Well, I saw Jenna today. We went for coffee. And she pointed out how rude I was to you at dinner the other night. So, I'm calling to apologise. I had a really bad day at work and I guess I took it out on you. So I'm really sorry dude." Brent said.

"We all have bad days. So apology accepted." Jake said as he put his head in his hand. He didn't believe this guy at all.

"Thanks man. I really appreciate that. I know how important you are to Jenna. In fact if you could help me in the area of Jenna, that would be amazing. We've been dating for a month now and I feel like she won't allow me to get closer to her. Do you have any advice?" Brent asked.

"You mean advice on how to get her into bed with you?" Jake asked. He could feel his blood pressure rising. Brent was silent on the other end. "You still there?"

"Um, yeah I'm still here. I guess your question just caught me off guard. Because I respect Jenna's wishes. I was just wondering on how to get her to open up more. So, I'm sorry if you misunderstood." Brent said. Jake knew that's not what Brent meant.

"Yeah I guess I misunderstood the other night when you asked her to come stay the night with you, too. Right?" Jake asked. Jenna was going to be so pissed at him when she found out but he couldn't keep it in. Not when his best friend's safety was on the line.

"I knew you had feelings for her. There is no way a straight man can live with a woman as beautiful as Jenna and not want to claim her as his own. I'm sure you probably stroke it in the shower and think of her face. Am I right?" Brent said as he chuckled. Jake laughed so hard he could barely breathe. He got a lot of weird looks from the people in the pizza shop.

"Jenna is my best friend. I've never looked at her any different than that and my little sister. My little sister that I need to protect from sleaze balls like you." Jake said through gritted teeth. He was holding his phone so tightly he thought he was going to crack it.

"Yeah I'm sure. And I'm also sure that when you run home and tell her about this conversation that it will be your word against mine. Seeing how you've never liked me anyways, she'll be inclined to believe me. See ya around, Jake." Brent said as he hung up. Jake was practically foaming at the mouth. He knew that there was something fishy about this guy. And he knew just the guy to call to find out more information. If Jenna ever finds out, she will literally end him. So, he needed to keep this on the down low. He picked up his phone and googled the number he was looking for. Thank God for Google, Jake thought to himself. He typed in the number and put the phone to his ear. His hands were practically shaking. But he had to do this, for Jenna.

"Jonah Hollingsworth, Private Investigator. How can I help you?" Jonah asked.

"Um hi, I was wanting to hire you for a job. How do I go about doing that?" Jake asked shakily.

"Well, you give me a name and I start digging. Whether it's personal info, business into or private info, I can typically find it all." Jonah explained.

"And how does payment work?" Jake asked.

"Half down deposit and then you pay the other half once I've delivered your into." Jonah explained further.

"Okay, I'd like to hire you." Jake said.

"Well, I think it would be best if we meet in person. I can make you an appointment at my office for tomorrow if you'd like." Jonah said.

"No can do. I'm in Seattle." Jake said.

"Woah! Why did you call me then? I'm sure there are plenty of PI's in Seattle that can help you." Jonah said sounding perplexed.

"Well, you come highly recommended by my best friend who went to high school with you." Jake said quietly. He was hoping Jonah wouldn't ask any questions because he hated lying.

"Hmm, okay. An email will suffice, I guess. What's your best friend's name?" Jonah asked.

"Oh I'm sure you wouldn't remember him." Jake lied. He cringed at his horrible lying skills. Thankfully Jonah seemed to be buying it.

"Um, okay. Why don't I give you my email address and you can send me the person's name and any info that you do have about them. Then I'll send you my PayPal link and once I get the first half, I'll start digging. Sound good?" Jonah asked.

"Okay, I'll send the email tonight. Thank you Mr. Hollingsworth." Jake said.

"Jonah is fine. And my email is jhpi@gmail.net. I'll be looking for your email first thing tomorrow morning. I look forward to doing business with you. Um, I didn't catch your name." Jonah said.

"Oh, it's Jacob. Thanks again Jonah. I'll be talking to you soon." Jake said as he hung up. Jake's nerves were on edge between the conversation with Brent and then calling THE Jonah Hollingsworth. He looked down at the time and noticed a missed text from Jenna. Shit, he was running half an hour late. He texted Jenna and ordered the pizza. He had a sick feeling in his stomach about Brent's intentions so calling Jonah was the only reasonable thing to do. He wasn't going to run home to Jenna and tell her the disgusting things that Brent had said to him. Because he was right, it would be his word against Brent's.

Maybe he was justifying calling Jonah but he had to do something. And this was the best plan that he could come up with in this short amount of time. He needed to protect Jenna from Brent at all costs. Even if did cause some rifts between him and Jenna. Her safety was his number one priority.