Doorways

Today was all about the Vanderhaven’s and as soon as one topic of gossip hit the wires another wave started as every bood in town must have been burning the wires all day with Zizi, Osric, Nadia and Jago getting into some arguments more public than they would have liked them to be. It started with Astrid going to dinner with Tony Sedero of all people now this was one pairing that no one would have ever considered and Chantal in a fury called Mother this morning who them relayed the gossip on to me. Astrid and Tony had gone out to a small but not secluded restaurant where they had been seen snuggling which pretty much horrified everyone who observed it, as Astrid is considered a stylish elegant woman and Tony whose taste in women was not terribly discriminating is considered a sleaze.

Jazz called me at work and told me she was ready to cut her father out of her life as she just couldn’t take his open womanising any more and asked if we could have dinner. I was worried Simon might get a little cranky so I put her off by saying I was signing a lease for a new apartment but if I finished in time I would give her a call. I felt bad but I knew Simon was going to get a bit grumbly if I kept going out and I hoped that getting the new apartment together would solve this. I never realised that having a boyfriend meant balancing your social life and that I wouldn’t be able to run out anytime I liked although considering what I was running out for I was probably better off staying home.

I had only managed to get a little bit of work done when Coco rang breathless with even more gossip telling me that she and Tiah had been a Djini’s when who wanders in but Jago and Zizi! She said Tiah was furious that Jago was taking Zizi out to lunch in public as this was one the rules Taryn laid down when she did not leave him after finding out about Zizi, no none event public displays. Tiah wanted to leave but since they were in a booth at the back they had to sit and wait for them to leave first as she didn’t want her father to see her there. To make matters worse Osric Jones comes in with Nadia Voss and leaves her to go over speak to Zizi and Jago. Jago and Osric exchange some words and Osric leaves with Zizi ignoring that he came in with Nadia. Nadia then tries to join Jago and he waves her away impatiently causing her to erupt in a total fury. She then announces that he is the one she had been having an affair with, not Braith who had been covering for his cowardly father. The entire place went silent in shock and Tiah unable to take the insanity of her family melted down and burst into tears running off to leave Coco to deal with their lunches.

When I heard of this latest news I knew Jazz was going to be crazy wondering why Braith would ruin his own life and cover for his dad so I called Simon told him the gossip and that I would be meeting Jazz after work. My tone of voice let him know that I was not about to back down and he stopped grumbling to become all supportive and said he would wait up for me. I told him that would be great as we could finalise the lease papers later tonight knowing this would cheer him up and it did as I left him full of plans for our new place. While I was on a roll I called up Jazz and told her I would be meeting her after work at her house and before she could take a breath to refuse I hung up.

I knew she was going to be out of her mind for the next few hours and it was probably best to see her a bit later as she was going to sprackle the lid right off this town. However the biggest surprise of the day was when I did arrive she was calmer than I had ever seen her and I couldn’t work out if she was finally closing the door to Braith or for the first time seeing an opportunity to reunite with him. She was not forthcoming and sat there staring into the distance leaving me to do all the talking as I didn’t know what to say so I told her about Gervais and Jojo and the deals I had made. I knew that even though Braith had something totally stupid, I had done the exact same things out of love and I rambled on saying that sometimes we do stupid things to protect the people we love, make all the wrong choices and it winds up blowing up in our faces. Jazz stared for through the doorway behind me as if I wasn’t there and then suddenly asked “If you are so in love with my brother then what are you doing with Simon?” I found myself unable to tell her the humiliation of Jojo’s rejection, of how I had to close the door when he left, how Simon did not turn me upside with emotion, when a voice from behind startled me “That’s what I’d like to know.” Said Jojo.

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