AUTHOR'S NOTE:-

This chapter is dedicated to , because she loves the messy and the tension. And because she likes my story so much! Well at least I think she does.. :-p

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THE NEWS (PART 1)

"Hey Jade.... It's me... Uh.. Alec."

Emma was in the kitchen having breakfast while Alec stood in his room and called Jade.

"Alec! Hi!"

Jade sounded groggy and half asleep. Alec could hear the ruffling of the bed covers as Jade sat.

"Hi! Yeah... What are you doing today?" Alec asked, he ran his fingers through his hair and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

There was a minute before Jade replied, "We are going out in the evening right? I mean Jules called last evening..."

"Yeah... Yeah not in the evening. I mean in the morning, I want to meet you."

"Okay...." Alec heard her yawn, "Come over, but Emma...?"

"She's going out shopping with Julia. I'll be there around 10?"

It had all been planned. Julia had convinced a reluctant Emma, after a lot of arguments.

"Yeah... 10 will be fine."

As Jade was speaking Alec heard someone walk to his room.

Thinking it must be Emma he quickly whispered, "I got to go now. See you at 10."

Just when he kept the phone the door to his room opened and instead of Emma, Steve stood in a white t- shirt and jeans.

"Hey, they are leaving. Come on!" He said.

Alec pulled on his shirt jacket style over the plain t- shirt and followed Steve out of the room.

"One thing, Al. Julia told me to warn you. You better be home when they come back. She'll give you a call when they are nearby."

"Yeah... That's fine." Alec said as they entered the living room.

The three women were dressed and at the door ready to leave.

"Bye Em!" He said, hugging his girl friend who looked terribly reluctant to go.

The expression on her face was more she was being abducted against her wishes rather than going for a fun day of shopping.

"You sure you won't get bored?" She asked, trying to find some excuse to not go.

Julia and Susan were taking her to the nearest mall to shop for some dress to wear to the club that evening.

Alec smiled holding her by her shoulders, "No I won't get bored. I have some mails to answer and then I thought I'll got out with Jason and Steve. You go have fun!"

Emma gave him a painful smile, but a smile none the less, and followed Susan out of the house.

Once Julia and Steve parted from their own embrace, Alec received one last warning glare from his sister.

"I mean it Alec!"

"I know... I know. I'll be home I promise!" He said and lead her out.

The women sat in the car and Julia drove away.

Steve turned to him once they were out of sight, "Ready to talk to Jade?"

"No. Not at all!" Steve laughed while Alec ruffled his hair again in agitation.

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After waking up to a call from Alec, which sounded suspiciously like they were planning an illegal meeting, Jade had pulled herself up from bed and had walked straight into the shower.

After a shower and a cup of coffee, she went to get ready.

She dressed carefully in a white summer dress with short sleeves and pulled her brownish black hair into a loose braid.

Since when had she started getting ready so carefully for Alec, she thought shaking her head.

It was 10 by the time she got ready. Alec was late again.

She went into the kitchen and made herself another cup of coffee.

Just when she took the first sip of coffee and sat on the bed, the door bell rang.

Thinking it must be Alec she opened the door.

But instead of Alec's tall and lean frame, she was face to face with her father.

"Hi Jade." Stuart Tucker said.

"Hello." Once she was over her initial shock she took a step back and let him get into the house.

"Can I get you some coffee or tea?"

Her face was grim as she asked him. It was highly unusual for him to come to meet her in the absence of her mother.

This was the first time he had come to her apartment and seeing him amidst the familiar background, made her uncomfortable in a way.

He sat on the sofa, "Tea or coffee? How mature has my Little Blade become! You know you're just like your mother. There's very little of me in you... You must be glad about that." He paused, "Whatever you're having will be fine."

Jade went to the kitchen and poured another cup of coffee.

She took the time to compose herself. The use of her dad's old nickname for her always crumbled her resolve of being mature and formal.

It reminded her of the old days when he was only her dad, who she loved with all her heart. And who loved her back and was always there for her.

She rubbed a palm across her face and walked out of the kitchen.

She handed him the cup and took the seat opposite him, waiting for him to speak.

"I came here to apologise." Stuart said after taking the first sip of his coffee and taking a deep breath.

"Apologise for what?" Jade asked with narrowed eyes.

"For all that I've done over the years, the amount of time I hurt you and Amanda. And though I know sorry is not a word which will make anything better. I just wanted to say I'm sorry!"

"I know."

Stuart looked his daughter into her eyes that were the identical to the eyes of the woman he had fallen in love with. Amanda.

"I meant what I said that day... I really am here to stay this time."

Jade just nodded before asking, "Are you still staying at The Inn?"

"Yes. Though I'm meeting Amanda for lunch and dinner. We have a lot to talk about." He paused, "That brings me to the other reason I'm here today. Your mother and I, we think we all should meet for dinner one day. She told me to invite you for dinner tonight."

There was a hopeful look in Stuart's eyes.

"I have other plans."

"Oh!" His face fell. "That's okay then."

That's when Jade realised that he thought she was lying to avoid going for dinner.

"No really... I was invited by a few of my friends to go out tonight. Will tomorrow be okay?"

For the first time she was agreeing to meet him not for her mom but for herself.

The smile which her sentence brought to his face almost hurt her eyes, it was so dazzling.

"Tomorrow will be great." He said placing his empty cup on the table. "I'll get going."

He got up and Jade followed him to the door of her apartment.

"Uh... Wait." Jade said as he started going away with a nod of his head.

He turned around with a small smile on his face and looked at her expectantly.

Stuart knew that this was as difficult for Jade as it was for him. Maybe more.

"I want to forgive you. I don't know why but I actually believe you." Jade took a deep breath, "But even if I forgive you... When I do... It's going to take me time to forget."

"I know... I understand and I'll wait."

Stuart looked at his daughter who had grown up so fast and walked away suppressing his urge to go and hug her.

But he knew that hugging her would make the situation worse than making it better.

He was making progress. And he would be happy with whatever little he got.

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Jade was still sitting where she had plopped down after her dad had left, when the door bell rang again.

This time when she opened it, it was Alec standing on the doorstep.

"Hi!" He said awkwardly after seeing the expression on her face.

It was not exactly tired, it was sad and the smile which she gave him was stressed.

"Come in."

He went in and sat on the sofa, "I saw Stuart leaving from here just now. What was he doing here?"

Alec had been there to comfort Jade all those years when her dad would come back before leaving them with broken hearts again.

He had seen everything happen and it always made him so angry.

But he had been to young to do anything about it. Now he was much older and if that man was still hurting Jade and Amanda he was going to make him regret it.

"He came here to meet me." Jade said simply, sitting opposite him.

"Meet you?"

Was that the reason behind the sad look on Jade's face?

"What is he doing here in town?" Alec's voice was rising.

"Look it's a long story. It's okay." Jade said trying to calm him down.

"How is it okay?"

The stress of the last few days caught up with her, "Alec you've not been here for many years. You have no clue what's happening in my life. You were not there when so many important things happened in my life."

Alec looked at her, surprised at her sudden outburst, "Why are we going back to that? I thought we sorted it all out."

"It's not so easy, Alec" she ran her fingers through her hair, ruffling her braid. "How am I supposed to forget all these years? And act like they never happened. I'm supposed to forget everything and act like everything's hunky dory. Guess what? They're not! Things suck in my life right now and you coming back are not making them any better."

She no longer knew whether she was talking about Alec or her dad. And she didn't care. She needed to rant out all her anger and frustration.

"Do you have any clue how many times I've missed you in these years? How many times I wanted to meet you, talk to you.... Just see you for Gods sake!"

She buried her face in her hands and inhaled.

There was no use in yelling at Alec.

She composed herself and looked up. Alec was sitting, stunned on the sofa with an almost pained expression on his face.

"I'm sorry... I just... I'm sorry!" Jade said.

They sat in silence for some time. Both lost in their own thoughts.

Finally Alec got up and went to her, he bent down and held her hands, "It's okay. I'll go get some water for you and then we'll talk. Okay?"

Jade nodded. She didn't have the energy to say anything else.

As she waited for Alec to come back with a glass of water she wondered how much of what she said was meant for Alec and how much for her dad.

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Happy Reading! XX