Not All Redheads Are Dumb

I woke up in my usual state, Jojo gone and no message from him to say what was going on and I decided that instead of ringing around for him like a deranged lunatic I would drive around town to see if I could find him. A few hours later I was back sitting in Mother’s chair concerned at his vanishing act so I decided I was not going to play this game and I called my accountant telling him not to bother as there was no longer an agreement, he seemed relieved that some sort of decision had been made. I returned to the security of Mother’s chair waiting for Jojo to come home for it was starting to get late and we had to be at Royce’s party soon or there would be no point in going at all.

Tiah had called me four times already asking where I was so in desperation I asked her if Royce was about and she told me that Royce was downstairs with Coco greeting guests. So if Royce was with Coco, where the hell was Jojo, I couldn’t wait any longer so I sent him a text message and left a note telling him to get into some decent clothes then get his arse up to the Vanderhaven estate as soon as possible. Maritka gave me a scowl when I said I was leaving alone but I was in no mood to discuss the very obvious shortcomings of Jojo.

I drove up to the estate my head full of angry thoughts knowing that Jojo and I were going to have a very serious discussion when he returned. Arriving late I found most of the town already there with Royce and Coco looking extremely happy as they greeted guests. For a second my heart froze as I thought I saw Gervais but it was some inane look alike and I calmed down realising that I was becoming a big paranoid about him.

Tiah grabbed me as she filled my ears with her usual complaints about everyone and everything but I was too busy with my own internal war and just nodded as if I was listening to her insane ramblings. Braith and Jazz turned up with Jazz glowing with the radiance of a bride to be and a pang of jealously hit me when I realised I should be glowing like that, instead I was standing here alone. As soon as I had the chance I took Jazz aside and asked her if she knew were Jojo was all she could give me was a puzzled look as she thought he was here with me.

I became totally fed up, dragged Royce into a corner and asked him straight out what was going on with Jojo. Royce had the grace to look uncomfortable while waffling that Jojo was tied up doing contracts and would be here soon. I gave him a dirty look as he should look uncomfortable while he was partying with Coco he had left Jojo doing all the work. I told Royce to call Jojo and get him here quickly as I had enough of this nonsense, he at least could have the grace to tell me what is going on himself.

Royce gave me a quizzical look asking why I don’t phone him myself and replied bitterly because he was not interested in answering my calls so perhaps he would answer his! Royce reluctantly got his phone out and tried ringing Jojo but got no answer as I had been getting for hours and a dark dread filled me for if he was not even answering Royce perhaps something bad happened. I could no longer trust the world as a safe place as people could suddenly leave you without warning and . I told Royce I was getting scared but he shrugged it aside. He said that when Jojo was engrossed he often did not answer the phone and I was not to worry.

This lack of concern which was so Royce made me cranky and I decided that if Jojo was not answering his phone I should go to his office to find him so I made my goodbyes and left the party my heart filled with the fury of being ignored for days. I was in such a tizzy that I drove down the mountain way too fast and before I knew it I had left the side of the road and found my wheels spinning in a ditch. I sat there in the dark and realised I was not exactly safe in the car on a remote road in the middle of the night and I called road service who gave me an estimated time of two hours before coming. I called a taxi and they gave me an hour estimated time in desperation I sent Jojo a text message saying I urgently needed his help and rang him again to get no answer. I tried Maritka but she was not answering either and I sat there until I saw headlights coming up the road in the distance and fear gripped me. I had no idea who was approaching and thought to myself that it was probably Gervais, it was always Gervais in my worse moments.

The car came up and once the driver saw my car it came to an abrupt stop as a man leaped out and the speed he was running towards me send me into spin of alarm. It wasn’t until his face loomed against my window that I saw to my relief it was Simon and I had this unreasonable urge to throw myself into his arms and burst into tears. Everything in my life was going to hell but here was Simon, rescuing me yet again, Simon the one I had abandoned yet who had never quite abandoned me.

I tried to appear calm opening my window as casually as I could while he maintained the same calm and asked if I required assistance. I said no, I just loved sitting in a ditch to which he replied, good and turned to leave but my frantic “SIMON!” called him back. He turned with a big grin chuckling that he would tow me out and it was typical of Simon to have useful things like a rope in his trunk. In a flash he had me back on the road and I was more grateful than I could reveal, than I think he could ever know. He stood in front of the headlights this big, handsome, mountain of a man, sight of him comforting as always until the memory of Gervais flitted across my mind. I offered to buy him a coffee for his troubles-- I only offered for I was certain he would turn me down but to my surprise Simon agreed and so we wound up back at Sweet's for a late night coffee.

Simon sat down dwarfing the little café chair and asked me how life was going, I smiled brightly and lied to him that everything was going really well. He folded his arms and I knew that he knew me far too well to believe any lies I would come up with so I decided to deflect him with some truth. I told him about how I had tried to give Mother’s clothes to charity but couldn’t. Simon said when his mother had died it had taken him a year before he could so anything with her things, he patted my hand telling me not to worry, the charity would always be there and Mother would understand me needing to have her around.

These were the words I had longed to hear from Jojo instead of his endless silence and I knew that things between Jojo and I were not right. Simon had carefully not mentioned Jojo, I thought maybe it was because it was too painful and I didn’t want to bring him up at that moment as I was not too happy about his behaviour at all. In fact I had another unreasonable urge to fling myself into his arms and beg him to forgive me for leaving but again Gervais flitted across my mind making me shudder. I steered the conversation to local chit chat and asked how his father was. Simon said he was doing fine but the office was in a mess again which had me explain the filing system to Simon but his huge grin had me catch myself. This family was so charming that before you knew it you are caught up in their spell again and I could not allow this to happen so I ended our coffee abruptly. I thanked Simon coolly and drove back home wondering why I always made the same stupid mistakes over and over, first Jojo and now here I was thinking about Simon.

I went home and saw no sign of Jojo, his car was not in the garage, there were no signs that he had returned even for a short time. I tried one last time to call him but as usual no answer and for me this was the last straw. I dragged a chair out into the foyer and sat in it facing the door as this time I was going to be right there when Jojo returned and he had some serious explaining to do. It was here that Maritka found me asleep in the morning and I awoke to her shaking me while asking what was wrong with my bed.

I asked her if she had seen Mr. Jojo this morning and she gave me a strange look as if I had been absent for a while and She replied that Mr. Jojo had not come back for three days had I only just noticed he was gone? I stared at Maritka in disbelief and ran upstairs to the bedroom to see that she was right, he had not been around and I was so busy trying to be good girlfriend while managing my grief that I had not noticed him gone. His shaving gear was untouched, there was no new laundry, he had a few things in the closet but there was no sign of him. Jojo had left, without a word, but where the hell had he gone? My first urge was to phone everyone in town and shout until they were deaf but on second thought I decided not to do a thing. I called down to Maritka saying I was going back to bed for a decent sleep. She nodded in approval as if it was the first sane idea I had in days. I might be stupid but I sure as hell wasn’t dumb, Jojo Sedero was not coming back to this house.

Previous Next