Chapter Thirty-Five

"Oh my God. This is so good." Jaiden said between mouthfuls of fruit slices that she smothered in whipped cream.



"Save me some of that!" Michael said and pointed at the dish of whipped cream.
"I told you I want that for my pancakes."



"There's plenty left. See?" Jaiden said and dipped her finger in the dish.

Michael watched her as she slowly licked the whipped cream from her index finger. She teased him as she swirled her tongue around her finger and licked the whipped cream with long, slow licks until inserting her entire finger into her mouth and sucking it clean.

Michael grabbed a pillow from the bed and sat id on his lap. He was now waring his boxer briefs and even with those on, he was finding it difficult to 'contain' himself.

"You are mean." he said to Jaiden.



"Whatever are you talking about, Mr. Jackson?" Jaiden giggled.



"Did you enjoy that?" Michael asked.



"Yes." Jaiden said slyly.
"Seems you did too." she said and tapped the pillow on Michael's lap.


Michael giggled and reached for the whipped cream. He took a spoon and dipped it into the bowl and helped himself to a generous amount, which he then spread over his pancakes.


He then took two juicy, red strawberries from the fruit tray and put them on top of his pile of pancakes. Jaiden watched him with a smile on her face. He looked like a kid. He was smiling so big while topping his pancakes with whipped cream and his grin grew even bigger when he added the strawberries.



Michael looked up from his place and noticed Jaiden looking at him.

"What?" he asked, smiling.



"You're adorable." Jaiden answered.



The two sat on the bed. It was still dark and they had only turned on one lamp on one of the nightstands beside the bed. The atmosphere in the room was cozy as the thunder boomed outside and the warm rain splashed against the window.
Jaiden had thrown on a robe quickly when Room Service knocked at the door. She and Michael had just finished making love again when they heard the knock.

Good thing it had been dark in the room when the man wheeled in the cart or he would have noticed Jaiden's wildly messy hair and barely tied robe..
Michael had hidden under the covers and waited for the man to leave. When the man did, Michael stood and put on his underwear as Jaiden began to carry the plates over to the bed.

Now they sat comfortably and enjoyed the food before them as well as each others company.


"Do you have plans for the morning?" Jaiden asked.



Michael sliced off a mouthful of pancake.
"Ohhhh yeahhhhh..." he answered and then put the piece into his mouth.



"That's not what I meant." Jaiden giggled.



"OH. You mean work?? Oh. Mmm Hmm." Michael said.



"Damn. Oh well. It was working asking." Jaiden sighed.



"Ian has some people coming in for me to talk to." explained Michael.
"I'm supposed to talk about some charities I want to donate to. There are so many, Jaiden. You have no idea. All these kids all over the world who need help." he said.



"I know, Michael. It's great you want to help." Jaiden smiled.

"It doesn't feel like I'm doing enough. It just never does. I wanna do something big. Something huge. I want to make a difference." Michael spoke with passion and feeling and Jaiden knew that he would indeed make a difference one day. She shook her head and looked at him.



"Is there whipped cream on my face?" he asked and put his fingers to his lips to wipe anything off that might be there.




"No. I just think you're an amazing human being." Jaiden said.
"But... just to be sure there's no whipped cream..."

Jaiden leaned in and took Michael's face in her hands and kissed him sweetly and deeply and decided he was sweeter than any whipped cream.





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Sam's gloved hands were covered in red hair coloring while she stood dying a client's hair.

"This is going to suit you so well. It's the best quality too. It's the stuff I used last month." she said.



"Well, I trust your opinion, Samantha." said Francine Solomon while she sat watching Sam in the salon mirror.
"How long have you had your hair blond?" she asked.



"Hmm...about a week or maybe a bit longer." Sam answered.



"It looks really nice, Dear. I think I'll do that next time." Francine said.



Sam grabbed a few more hair clips and began putting the color on the top layers of Francine's hair.

"Thank you. I like it blond for now. But next week.. who knows?" smiled Sam into the mirror at Francine.



"So is your girl friend still away in Europe?" asked Francine while leafing through a magazine.



"Yes. She was supposed to come back soon, but she's going to stay a bit longer." Sam explained.



"Oh! Ohhhh...that's right. Yes. Can't say I blame her." Francine said with he eyes still fixated on the magazine.


Sam stopped what she was doing and looked at Francine's reflection in the mirror.

"Uhm...I don't think I mentioned to you before now that Jaiden wasn't coming home as soon as planned." she said.



Francine looked up from her reading and saw Sam looking at her in the mirror.

"Oh, I know that, Dear. But I heard from Janis, you know, she's friends with Sally Rubins. So, I know what's going on. You know... the 'situation'." she said while making air quotes.



"I'm not sure I'm following you." Sam said. She really had no clue what Francine was talking about.


Francine explained to Sam what she was referring to as Sam stood frozen with a bottle of hair dye in her hand.


"Oh my God. That's why Mrs M was..... This makes sense...Oh my God. I wonder if Jaiden knows?" she said to herself while pulling off the rubber gloves she was wearing.


"Uh oh. Have I said too much?" Francine asked Sam.



"It's fine, Mrs Solomon. I'm going to have Mandy take over with your hair, okay? I forgot I have an appointment." Sam said.

And with that, she asked her co-worker to finish up with Francine Solomon and was out of the Salon before Mandy could ever agree to help.


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Sam hurried around to the back of the Salon where she'd parked her bike. She unlocked it from the bike rack and hopped on.
Why hadn't Mrs McKinnon told her what was going on? Sam was sure that Jaiden's mom know what was happening. Mrs McKinnon had seemed almost relieved that Jaiden wasn't coming home soon.
It all made so much sense now.



Sam sped along the streets and was headed over to the McKinnon's house. She needed to know everything Jaiden's mother knew.
Suddenly her stomach knotted. Did Jaiden know any of this?
Maybe that's why she decided to stay longer in Paris? Maybe she knew, but didn't want to worry anyone, so she instead made up some excuse as to why she wanted to stay longer.


Sam rode into the McKinnon's driveway and leaned her biked against the garage. She ran up to the door and pushed the doorbell.

Within moments, Mr. McKinnon answered the door.
"Hi, Samantha." he greeted her with a smile.



"Hi, Mr. M. Uhm...is Mrs M here?" she asked.



"No, but she will be back soon. Did you want to come in and wait for her?" Thomas asked.



"Uh. Yeah. Yes. I would. Thanks." she said and walked into the house.



"You seem upset, Samantha. Is there anything wrong?" he asked.



"No offense, Mr. M, but I just want to talk to Mrs M first, okay?" Sam smiled and tried to cover her worry, but knew she wasn't doing a great job of it.



"No offense taken. Come on in and sit down. Olivia will be back any minute now." Thomas gestured toward the large, brown leather sofa in the living room.


Sam always loved visiting Jaiden when she lived with her parents. Their house was enormous. The tuscan style living room alone was the size of Sam's entire bachelorette apartment.
The windows were tall and had long, dark blue curtains from the tops of the windows to the bottom where they puddled on the floor. Their sofa was huge and there were two matched, over sized chairs facing the couch.

There was no television in the living room. Instead there was a large, brick fireplace.

Sam and Jaiden used to sit on the big, fluffy area rug in front of the fireplace and would talk for hours and everything imaginable.


The living room had no ceiling lights and used the giant windows for natural lighting during the day and during the evening, there were several Tiffany style lamps on the side tables as well as on an ornate wooden bookshelf.
It wasn't a brightly lit living room, but was always so warm and inviting.


"Can I offer yo a drink? I think we have some iced tea. If I remember correctly, that's your favorite?" Thomas offered.



Sam wasn't thirsty, but decided to agree to an iced tea so that she could look busy drinking it in case Mr. McKinnon wanted to ask her again if she was okay.


She didn't want to tell him anything just in case he didn't know what was happening. She knew it was best to talk to Jaiden's mom first.



Just then, like magic, Olivia walked in the front door.
She was carrying a paper bag of groceries and didn't notice Sam sitting on the sofa, drinking iced tea.


"Thomas, I spoke to Brandon again. He thinks we should......" Olivia's voice trailed off when she saw Sam.
"Sam. Oh dear. I didn't see you there. How are you? It's good to see you." Olivia said as she walked forward toward the kitchen.
Sam got up quickly to follow her, leaving Thomas in the living room with a curious look on his face.


"Let me help you with that, Mrs M." Sam said and helped Olivia with the groceries.



"Thank you, Sam. Just put the oregano in that jar over there on the counter." she said while taking oranges from the paper bag and putting them in the fridge.

Sam decided to jump right in and not waste any more time.


"No. I haven't. Have you?" Olivia replied.



"No." Sam said and then took a deep breath before speaking again.
"Mrs. M, I think I know what you know. Or, I mean...what I think you know." Sam began.



"My dear, I've never been very good at riddles." Olivia kidded and put some butter and milk in the fridge.



Okay, well, I was talking to a lady at work today. And she said she heard something that Sally Rubins had said..." Sam didn't finish what she was saying. She didn't have to. Olivia's expression told her she was right. Olivia already knew.


Olivia stood holding a bottle of olive oil that she was about to put in the cupboard.
"I haven't known long, Sam. I didn't even tell Thomas until recently. You know I would have told you soon." she said.



"It's okay, Mrs M. I was just worried. I was worried about you. I wondered if you knew and then wondered if Mr. McKinnon knew. And now I am wondering if Jades knows." Sam said and sat down on a bar stool at the kitchen island.



"I don't think she knows, Sam. Brandon knows. I spoke with him. I needed his strength and his advice." Olivia explained.



"What should be do?" asked Sam.



Olivia could see worry in Sam's eyes. It was the same worry she saw looking back at her in the mirror every morning.



"Well, my dear, I don't know. I've been asking myself that for a while." Olivia put down the olive oil and walked around the island and sat on the stool next to Sam and put her arm around her.
"But I'm sure we'll figure this out." she said softly.



Sam turned to face Olivia.
"How did you find out?" she asked.



"I saw Bernie Rubins on the street one day. He seemed to be sweating more than usual. I knew something was wrong." Olivia said.



"Did he happen to mention why it's all happening now? Why didn't this happen when it was supposed to happen?" Sam's voice filled with the frustration she was feeling.



"Other things got in the way. It was pushed back." Olivia explained.



"It's not fair, Mrs M." Sam sighed.
"Should we tell Jaiden?"



Thomas appeared in the kitchen and walked over to the women.
"We've been asking ourselves that very question, Samantha." he spoke quietly.


Sam took Olivia's hand and Olivia leaned her head on Thomas' side as he stood beside her at the island.

"Perhaps together we can come up with the answer." he said.








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