The two of them arrived at the airport within 15 minutes, including the time they took to park the car. Jasmine hurriedly made her way to the arrival area and just as she found a spot by the barricade, she spotted her best friend walking out.
Stephanie waved at her and Jasmine smiled waving back. Only, her smile was short-lived when she saw the person behind her best friend. Stephanie knew Jasmine had spotted him and she could only give her a small awkward smile as the two of them approached her and Stephen.
"Hey, girl!" Stephanie greeted
"Hey, lil' sis."
Jasmine managed a small smile as she hugged her brother, "Hey, Randy."
As soon as Randy let her go, she turned to look at Stephanie, who gave her a slightly embarrassed smile.
Randy looked at Stephen, "You must be the detective then?"
Stephen nodded, "Yes. Ah'm detective Stephen Farrelly."
"Randy Orton. Her brother." He said
While the two were talking, Jasmine pulled Stephanie a little away from them.
"Why did you bring Randy here?" Jasmine hissed softly
"I didn't have a choice! He found out about my trip and he made me tell him everything… You know how intimidating your brother can get!" Stephanie whispered back
"He's gonna flip if he finds out I'm staying at Stephen's house." Jasmine said
Stephanie smiled, looking at her best friend, "Ooo, we're on first name basis with the detective already?"
Jasmine glared at her, "Not funny, Garcia-Colace."
"Okay, okay. I'm sure Randy wouldn't find out." Stephanie said
Just as she said that, the two guys turned to look at them.
"You've been staying at his house?" Randy said
"You were saying?" Jasmine whispered to Stephanie.
The two girls closed up the gap between Randy and Stephen.
"They couldn't find a safe house for me so I was staying at Stephen's house." Jasmine said
"Oh, really? Jas, you're a girl. You shouldn't be staying at a stranger's house." Randy said
"He's not any stranger. He's a detective, Randy." Jasmine said
Randy looked at his sister, "Whatever it is, you are not staying in his house anymore. You're staying at our hotel."
As if knowing she was about to protest, Randy said, "End of discussion."
He walked away from their little gathering and sat on the chair nearby to calm himself down. Jasmine was his little sister and he's been protecting her all his life. This was testing his protectiveness of her and he wasn't coping well. Stephanie touched Jasmine's arm lightly which made Jasmine relax a little.
"I'll go talk to him." Stephanie said
Jasmine nodded and as soon as Stephanie sat down next to Randy, Jasmine turned to Stephen.
"Stephen… I'm so sorry about this." Jasmine said
Even though Stephen had a short fuse and Randy's alpha-male was challenging his at that moment, he couldn't find any reason to light the fuse. He could understand why Randy felt this way. If it had been his sister who was involved, he'd be the same way too. As much as he didn't like the idea of not seeing Jasmine as often anymore, he had no choice but to persuade her to follow Randy.
"It's fine. Yer should listen to yer brother. He wants to protect yer." Stephen said
"But that's what you're doing too, right? Unless you had been letting me stay at your house for a different reason?" Jasmine said
Stephen laughed slightly, "Of course not! But, ah'd feel better if yer stayed with yer brother. Hunico may be able to track meh down but he wouldn't be able to track yer brother."
She looked at Stephen and he smiled, "Ah'll go pick up yer things from mah house. Yer go with them first."
Jasmine nodded and walked over to where her brother was. He smiled at her before turning around to walk to the car park.
"Hey, wait!"
Stephen turned around to see Stephanie running up to him.
"You're not seriously thinking of walking away without knowing where we're staying, right?" Stephanie said
"Oh, right. Where are yer stayin'?" Stephen asked
Stephanie chuckled, "I can see the appeal that Jas sees now."
Seeing Stephen's slightly confused face, Stephanie continued, "We're staying at the The Shelbourne Dublin."
Stephen's eyebrows raised, upon hearing the name of the hotel.
"I know. Expensive hotel. But, I don't do illegal businesses. My father pays the bills. So, don't need to do a background check on me." Stephanie said
"Point taken." Stephen said, "Please tell Jasmine ah'll give her a call when ah'm there."
Stephanie nodded as she watched Stephen walk out of the airport before turning around to head back to where Jasmine and Randy was.
An hour later, Jasmine received a phone call just as she was checking out the hotel's bathroom with an excited Stephanie.
"Hello?"
"Jasmine? It's Stephen. Ah'm downstairs in the lobby now."
"Okay, I'll be right down."
Jasmine put her iPhone into her bag as she walked towards the door of the room.
"I'm going down to get my stuff." Jasmine said
"Okay. I'll go check on Randy, next door." Stephanie said
Jasmine nodded and left the room as she took the lift down. The lift door opened and there standing awkwardly in the lobby was none other than Stephen.
"Hey." Jasmine greeted, walking up to him.
Stephen smiled, "Hey. Here are yer things."
Jasmine smiled, taking her stuff from him, "Thanks."
He looked around the hotel before looking at her, "How are yer holdin' up here?"
"Well, for one, I don't really fancy staying in expensive hotels so I'm kinda out of my element here. Secondly, I miss Estella and Mrs O'Malley." Jasmine said
Stephen chuckled, "Estella misses yer too. She wanted to come see the hotel but Mrs O'Malley said it's way past her bedtime."
Jasmine laughed slightly, "She could always come and visit me anytime."
Stephen nodded, "Ah'll be sure to pass her that message."
The two stood in silence for a few seconds until Stephen spoke.
"Ah should get goin'…" Stephen said, "Yer need to get some rest."
"Yeah. Of course." Jasmine said
Just as Stephen was about to turn and walk out, Jasmine held onto his arm.
"You're coming to pick me up tomorrow, right?" Jasmine asked
Stephen looked at her with a puzzled look which made her laugh a little.
"The picnic? You didn't take back your invitation, did you?" Jasmine said
Stephen laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "No, no! Ah mean, ah didn't take back the invitation."
"Good. Then I'll see you here tomorrow at 11am?" Jasmine asked
"Yeah. Ah'll be here. With Estella, of course." Stephen replied
Jasmine chuckled, "I'll see you then."
She tip-toed to kiss Stephen's cheek before giving him a smile, "Good-night, Stephen."
He smiled back at her, a little stunned as she walked towards the lift lobby. She gave him a little wave as she stepped into the lift and he returned with a wave of his own. As the doors closed, Stephen took it as his cue to leave.