Chapter 25

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Cheria shrieked, staring at Jon like he'd just grown 3 heads and tossed the sheets back, not caring if she was still naked. She was livid and it showed, her face crimson red with fury. "You son of a bitch! How could you do that without consulting me first?!" Then she realized why Jon had forced her into his bed and made love to her all night, tears swelling her eyes. "You're a real piece of work, Jonathan Good! Seducing your girlfriend into having sex with you for hours on end to where you exhaust her and she sleeps for 12 hours straight! Gave you plenty of time to pluck a hair out of my head and take it down to the office, huh?" Unable to look at him right now, Cheria had to get out of there and hastily pulled her clothes back on.

They were supposed to trust each other, but how could she when Jon just went behind her back like this?

"WHAT?!"

Jon watched her dumbly for a moment as she struggled to get into her clothes, her own tears and trembling body hampering her efforts. She had him twisted, that was for damn sure. Frowning, he stopped her from finishing with her dressing, pulling her back against him and pinned Cheria's arms to her sides when she tried elbowing him.

"Cher, listen to me - listen to me!" He was tempted to shake her; she was acting... like a damn teenager! "It's not like that, Cher, you know I-" Jon cursed when she stomped hard on his foot, but didn't let go. "Cheria, knock it off, damn it! Let me explain!" Sex her up to exhaust her? Where the hell had that come from?

"WHY? Why did you do it? Give me one damn good reason why you plucked a hair out of my head WITHOUT MY CONSENT! YOU BAS-" Cheria was cut off by his lips crushing against hers, the kiss brutal, forceful and passionate all wrapped in one delicious intense surprise. "I wasn't ready to do it yet." She whispered, giving into him again and stood there in his arms with her panties and t-shirt on, not worrying about her bra because it'd been too hard to put on during her freak out. "I'm not ready…"

The moment that DNA test came back and it showed they were related, this all had to stop. That's why she had tried to leave earlier, but Jon stopped and subdued her, making Cheria submit to anything he wanted. If all she had was mere weeks with him, Cheria would have to make the most of it and deal with her broken heart when or if Jon was her father.

"Cher..." Jon knew how she felt because it mirrored his own feelings. "Let's be honest, neither of us are ready, and we'd put it off, over and over again. There isn't enough time for us, Cheria." There never would be, even if they had forever and a day. It would never be enough. "It had to be done... before one of us changed our minds, or both of us. You know it had to be done." He kissed her again and again, tasting salt on his lips and knew she was crying. "Don't Cheria, please... this isn't the end of us. It doesn't have to be."

Cheria wanted to believe him with all of her heart and soul, but she couldn't. How could she? He was her potential biological father, after all. To ease his mind, Cheria pretended everything was alright and let him hold her, enjoying every moment she could. Needing to get both of their minds off of the impending DNA results, Jon guided Cheria back into his bed, using his techniques to make her submit to him. It wasn't fair, but Jon never claimed to be, not when he didn't know how long he had with the silver haired beauty beneath him.

The next day, Jon had to go to work and gave Cheria the day off since the shop was closed, but he had vehicles to finish up. Cheria immediately packed everything she had at Jon's in a bag and took off back to her Aunt and Uncle's house. She shut her phone off and asked them not to let Jon in the house if he stopped by. No more of her heart could be given to him and it was bad enough she had to see him at work since he was her boss. That's as far as their relationship could go until the test results came back. All Aunt Betty and Uncle Roy did was nod solemnly, watching their niece rush up the stairs with a shattered heart to cry herself to sleep again. She'd told them about what Jon did and they agreed it was for the best they find out the truth.

The test results couldn't come fast enough.

Coming home to an empty apartment, with no sign of Cheria, made Jon extremely confused. Hadn't Cheria said she was staying with him another night? Walking further into the apartment, Jon's blood began to slowly boil and the feeling in his gut something wasn't right rose to the surface. Over the past few months, Cheria had added little things of hers. Toothbrush, toiletries, stuff she enjoyed munching on, hell... he had even given her a drawer. If that wasn't a sign of commitment, he didn't know what was. But now, it was all gone. Jon tried texting her - nothing. Called, got the 'this phone is no longer in service' message. Then... then he had called her at home and what Roy told him made him hang up on the older man.

Jon's heart dissolved until there was nothing more than a black hole in his chest.

"You know, you don't have to work for him anymore if you don't want to, sweetheart."

"Auntie's right, we can cover your college expenses and everything, no problem."

As tempted as she was to take their offer, Cheria couldn't do it and remembered the commitment to pay off her vehicle Jon and Joe had miraculously rebuilt for her. No, she would be able to handle being around Jon. They had to stay professional though until the DNA results came back. The real kicker was tomorrow, the following day, Cheria turned officially 18 and she was an adult. She had no plans for the evening and planned on staying home, eating ice cream and drowning herself in chick flicks until she passed out. Monique had tried getting her to go out, but Cheria wasn't in the celebratory mood, not with everything else going wrong in her life lately. Shaking those thoughts out of her head, Cheria walked into the shop and went straight to her desk, submerging herself in work.

Joe glanced over at Jon, who was hungover as all hell. They both heard the bell and had a fairly good idea of who it was this early in the day. "Want me to...?" Hell, did they fire her? That seemed harsh, but... Cheria had totally wrecked Jon without a single word. No explanation.

"Let her work. She has a car to finish paying off." Jon muttered, fighting the urge to go demand an explanation from her. He wasn't in any condition to talk to her right now, not while his head still pounded with what felt like shards of broken glass in his skull.

Cheria didn't look any better, though she wasn't hungover like Jon. Instead, she had dark circles under her bloodshot emerald eyes from all the crying she'd done. Leaving Jon wasn't an easy decision, but it was one she had to make. If he was her father, they couldn't be together anymore and would have to try establishing a new kind of relationship, if he wanted to. Hell, he probably wanted nothing to do with her after she ripped his heart out of his chest with her actions. Maybe one day he would look back and understand why she did it. If the test results came back with them not being related, Cheria had no idea if Jon would take her back or send her packing altogether. It was a catch-22 and she hated feeling helpless as she did.

If those test results came back and they weren't related, Jon would be the world's biggest dick and unleash a verbal torrent of hell on her. Jon planned on remaining in one of two states for the foreseeable future: drunk and hungover. Either one generally meant he was a dick, especially given the circumstances. His train of thought was interrupted by Joe shoving him.

"What the fuck, man?"

"Go get coffee, Jon. You're a dick right now."

Coffee was in the office... that was not going to happen.

"Now. Or so help me, I will take a crowbar to your thick head."

The moment the door opened from the garage, every hair on the back of Cheria's neck stood up straight and she stopped typing for a split second before going back to doing her job. What she was supposed to do instead of screwing the boss – a man she was in love with and who was possibly her long lost biological father. Cheria kept her head down, avoiding eye contact with Jon at all costs, knowing it was him just by the scent alone. It made her heady and she immediately shoved all perverted thoughts away, refusing to let her mind go into the gutter.

Jon glanced down at her, noting her posture, how tense she was and snorted. Good. Granted, he had probably done wrong by going ahead and getting the tests done, but... at least he had come back, told her why and still wanted her regardless. Where had that gotten him? He was 30 years old and a chick barely 18 –It didn't dawn on him tomorrow was her birthday- had run out on him, breaking his heart. Getting his coffee, Jon promptly sat down in one of the seats meant for customers, when they had to wait, sipping it and watched her.

"You look like shit."

The amount of hostility and anger in his voice sent shivers throughout Cheria's body, forcing tears building to stay in her eyes. Why was he bothering her? Oh that's right, he was her boss and he could do whatever the hell he wanted in his shop. Cheria didn't know what to say to him or how to react to that comment, swallowing down her own pain and anguish. If Cheria glanced at him, she would fall apart and that couldn't happen while she was on the clock. Keeping it together long enough until she got home was her main goal for the day.

"I'll try to look better tomorrow." She replied somberly, not turning to face him and continued doing her work

Jon tilted his head to the side, smiling humorlessly. She would try to look better tomorrow... that was cute. It looked like she hadn't slept and he doubted makeup would hide those bags. He knew he wasn't looking all that hot himself, not caring. Obviously, Jon didn't have anyone to impress anymore. He drained his coffee and, instead of throwing it away in the little corner trashcan, he stood up and walked over to the desk, leaning over her to toss the little plastic cup in the waste basket under the desk.

"Not going to look at me, Cher?"

Shutting her eyes tightly when he used the nickname he gave her, Cheria couldn't stop the tears from sliding down her cheeks and quickly wiped them away. "I'm trying to do my job, Jon."

She kept her head lowered when he turned her chair around until it faced him. Why was he tormenting her like this? She had to cut ties with him until the test results. What didn't he understand about that? Jon lowered himself in front of her into a squatting position until Cheria had no choice except to look at him.

"What do you want from me?" She whispered resignedly, clasping her hands tightly in her jean short covered lap.

"Be straight with me, Cher," Jon reached out to brush a stray silver strand of hair off her forehead, letting his finger graze her cheek before dropping his hand. "Why'd you move your stuff out, basically make sure I have no way of contacting you at all and then come in here to work?" Because... it seemed... stupid. She was young; he'd make allowances for Cheria not thinking things through thoroughly. "Why'd you leave me?" He couldn't keep the hurt from his tone.

"I have a car to pay off along with college expenses coming up. That's why I'm here." Cheria answered his first question and hated hearing the pain in his voice with the last one.

She knew it killed him with what she did, but right now it was for the best. Being his potential daughter, everything changed if it was true what Martha said. Sleeping in his arms every night and making love to him knowing they could be blood - she'd said it all and he hadn't listened to any of it. Jon just kept saying nothing would change, but everything had to if they were related. His question wasn't answered and, on some level, he hadn't expected her to. Shaking his head, Jon pushed himself up, needing to put space between them. He had already crossed a lot of lines with Cheria, no point in crossing more, not when she was the one drawing them.

"I-If you don't want me to work here anymore, just say it and I'll find another job and pay off my stuff that way…"

"No Cher, you got a job here as long as you want it." He really was a sucker for punishment.

"Jon…" Cheria called out when he started heading toward the garage door and stood up, the small door connected to her desk being the only thing between them.

She wanted to ask him what happened if the test results came back negative and they weren't related. Could they go back to the way things used to be? No - no they couldn't. Cheria had broken the man's heart; how could he forgive her for that? Maybe looking for another job was the smart decision right now considering she couldn't even look at him and he was her boss. The flower shop would take her back, but it didn't pay nearly as much as this secretarial gig did. Damn it, what was she supposed to do?

"H-Here's a few vehicles that are coming in today. Figured you'd wanna prepare for them." She set the papers on the desk and turned back around, sitting in her seat to get back to work.

That hadn't been what she called his name for. She had meant to say something else, but apparently thought better of it. Sighing, Jon took the papers and headed back into the garage.

"Get your shit sorted?"

Where was that crowbar Joe had threatened him with? Jon was going to use it on his friend. "Don't man, just don't..." He passed over the papers, heading for the bay doors. "I need a cigarette."

Sighing, Joe looked down at the customer sheets and then back up, watching Jon's retreating form, his gaze shifting to the door linking to the office.