Chapter 7

The following day, Jasina stepped out of her car, wearing a denim blue jean skirt that went two inches above the knee along with a plain dark blue tank top, white Skechers on her feet, and blue sunglasses over her eyes. Trish had stated, emphatically, that she was not allowed to wear black to the barbeque so Jasina decided all blue would suffice. She reached in the backseat and grabbed her bowl of potato salad that was homemade, her late mother's recipe. Locking her car, Jasina headed inside, hoping she would survive this.

Lisa was walking down the hallway, carrying what looked like a pie in her hands. "Everyone is outback in the patch." The patch was a decent sized space of grass that the employees usually took their smoke breaks on, lunches, things like that. A grill was already going, a few picnic tables scattered about.

Trish was there in a summer tank dress, laughing and flirting with her date.

Steve was just happy to be there, in the presence of his new golden goddess.

"Thanks." Jasina walked out as the sunlight beamed down on her, glad she had remembered to bring her sunscreen.

Jasina looked around, seeing all of her employees, and walked over to set the potato salad down with the rest of the food. Everyone was talking and reminiscencing, having a great time, and Jasina was finding herself smiling for the most part. She said hello when she was greeted and turned around when Trish called her name, walking in her direction since she was being summoned.

"Jas, I'm so thrilled you made it!" Trish hugged her when she was close enough, grinning from ear to ear and gestured to the man at her side. "This sexy cue ball is Steve. Steve, this is my newest writer, Jas. She does the Ask Jade column I was telling you about."

"Pleasure to meet ya honey." Steve extended his hand to her, smiling. She looked a little familiar, but he shrugged it off. He'd probably just seen her before in the store or something.

Jasina slid her hand into his and shook it gently before releasing it, wondering if he recognized her. Apparently not, which was a good thing. "Nice to meet you as well." She replied softly, smiling at Trish, who was the light of the party. Jasina suddenly wondered if Mark was here and had to take a deep breath to calm down, looking around casually, sighing with relief when he wasn't. It was a Friday so he was probably covering the shop. Another good thing. "I'm going to go sit down." She smiled before walking off.

"She's an odd one."

"She's had a rough time lately, be nice." Trish swatted his chest playfully, trying not to giggle when he smacked her ass. "Behave yourself, I'm the boss here, I've got to look at least halfway professional."

Steve winked down at her, a smirk on his face. "Honey, you can be my boss any day of the week."

The rest of the barbeque went well. Jasina didn't really talk to anyone much, except Lisa, who was telling her about her pending divorce. She felt sorry for the woman and told her everything would be fine, that she understood what she was going through. Lisa was in higher spirits after talking to her as Jasina picked at her food, running a hand through her hair, keeping a smile on her face though for Trish's sake. She owed the woman a lot and this was the least she could do.

"Hey, we're going out for a few drinks, you are so coming with." Trish said as the festivities winded down, having given everyone the rest of the day off just because she was in such a good mood. Besides a few stray pieces, everything was done and ready for printing anyway. "So keep that smile in place for a little while longer, okay?"

"Trish, I'm not sure-" Jasina sighed when she was pulled up by the hand by the blonde bombshell who had managed to become her only friend, besides Lisa, and knew she had no choice.

Trish was very pushy when she wanted to be, but Jasina knew she was doing this because she wanted to help. Andy had even said she couldn't stay cooped up in her apartment, it wasn't healthy. Besides, a few drinks sounded nice, even though she wasn't the social type.

"You can ride with us." Steve offered, being nice and helpful because Trish had already warned him she'd plant her tiny foot right up his ass if he even so much as made Jas frown. "This way nobody is driving drunk." He had also been told he was the designated driver, which he had agreed on the stipulation that he got to take advantage if Trish got toasted. Trish had informed him he wouldn't be the one taking advantage.

"Oh. Um..." When Trish gave her those pleading brown eyes, Jasina sighed resignedly and nodded, shaking her head as she followed by Steve and Trish to his truck. 'God please don't remember me.' She silently prayed as she slid in after Trish, buckling up, and stared out the window. She sighed when Trish shoved her glasses up on top of her head and playfully glared, causing her friend to giggle before leaning against Steve. They made an adorable couple. Taking a deep breath, Jasina felt the truck started and pull away. 'Just a few drinks. Then I can go home.' She thought.

"So...any bar of my choosing?"

"Nothing too...redneck. It IS in public and I AM a well known editor." Trish joked, nudging Jasina lightly in the ribs. "Lighten up honey, it'll be fun. Maybe we can find you a date!"

"In a redneck bar huh?"

"I DID find you and you're a redneck, maybe the same thing will happen again for Jas."

"I don't date." Jasina stated, her voice a little stronger than before, though that smile never left her face. "Sorry hon. That's just who I am."

She stared out the window again and closed her eyes. She didn't want to screw someone else's life up, which was one of the reasons why Jasina preferred being alone. They arrived at a bar that was ten minutes away from the Houston Journal and Jasina stepped out, seeing Steve was helping Trish, and smiled before shutting the door. Emerald City. Jasina seen Trish was waving her inside and sighed before following. Honestly, why didn't she just respectfully decline? Oh that's right, she didn't have a choice in coming.

"Hold on, Steve. Go find us a seat. Girl chat." Trish kissed him on the cheek, patting his ass as she shooed him away before linking her arm through Jasina's. "It's all about the training." She joked, grinning when he shot her a lust ridden look. "Oh man..." She shook her head, snapping herself out of it. "Just...try to have fun, alright? I know you're not sociable and I know you're having a bad time, but...life can be fun, you just have to give it a chance."

"I'm trying, really I am." Jasina smiled at her sadly, patting her hand in reassurance. "I'm okay, Trish. Thank you for inviting me out. Maybe this is what I need."

Smiling was contagious when it came to Trish and Jasina found herself not able to stop as she was lead to the table. She was right, again. Jasina had to stop hiding from the world. Granted, she made a huge mistake, quite a few, but that was her past and if there was one thing Andy had drilled into Jasina throughout the past two years, it was the past cannot be changed. No matter what, Jasina knew she had to get back on the horse and ride. She had a feeling Trish was going to help her do that.

Steve was polite enough to let Trish sit in the middle at the square table, just so she could be by Jas, having a feeling Jas wouldn't be here if not for her bubbly friend. "I don't know what you gals drink so..."

"Beer." Trish said promptly.

He arched an eyebrow.

"Light, of course."

She nodded at Steve, silently telling him beer was fine, and while he went to go get drinks, Jasina talked with Trish about whatever came to mind. She thanked her once again for the opportunity and smiled when Trish said don't mention it again. Steve brought the beers back and Jasina sipped hers, not really much of a drinker. She'd been heavily into drinking during her addiction stage, but Trish didn't need to know that. Jasina let them talk while her mind wandered, wondering how Arielle was doing and quickly pushed that thought away. Arielle wasn't apart of her life anymore and she had no right thinking about her.

"Well... who is this?" Trish asked, smiling as Steve got to his feet, watching him embrace a man with auburn hair, long auburn hair.

"Mark, meet Trish."

Mark grinned, reaching down to pull her to her feet, shaking her hand. "I've heard a lot about you." His grin broadened when Steve coughed. "Something about a brilliant smile."

Jasina's eyes widened when she heard Mark's voice, swallowing hard, and couldn't believe this! Trish knew all about her past experience with Mark and she STILL invited him? This was too much. Jasina did NOT want to see Mark and he damn sure didn't want to see her. She quickly slid out of the booth while Trish had the men distracted, sliding her sunglasses over her eyes and ran out of the bar, not even caring how she looked. Jasina pounded pavement as the tears flowed, knowing she had to get back to the Houston Journal building to get her car so she could go home. She was so angry with Trish right now and thought about quitting just to spite her.

Trish knew damn well who Mark was, though she hadn't been aware Steve knew him and she was also quite aware when Jasina had taken off. "Excuse us for a moment, Mark..." She tugged Steve out of earshot. "Why didn't you tell me your friend was meeting us here?" Her voice was deceptively sweet.

"I didn't think you'd mind?"

"You two have fun." Rolling her eyes, Trish hurried out, hoping she could catch Jasina.

Jasina was an accomplished runner, though she hadn't done it in awhile, and arrived at her car in record time. She slid inside the turned the ignition on, peeling out of there, and headed straight home. The tears poured down her face, causing her vision to blur, and finally pulled over as she let the sobs tear through her body. Having a life in Houston was going to be hard and Jasina knew Trish was going to be mad at her for running out...fuck that! She was PISSED at Trish and wiped her tears away angrily before driving the rest of the way home. Once she arrived, Jasina locked herself in her room and cried herself to sleep, clutching her chest painfully.

Trish was ignoring Steve's call and Jasina was ignoring hers. Sighing, Trish tried calling again, this time leaving a message. "Jasina, it's Trish...AGAIN. Look, I didn't know Mark was going to be there, okay? I never would have insisted you go if I'd of known, please call me. Bye." She hung up, dropping down onto her couch. "Damn it."

~!~

The following day, Jasina walked into work, deciding she needed the job and she listened to the messages earlier that morning when she got up. "I know you didn't know." She quietly said, holding her hand up when Trish stood up from sitting in her chair in her office, sighing heavily. Her hair was down, as always, and she was wearing black dress pants with a black cardigan, white silk shirt underneath with black dress boots. She was wearing black eyeliner and looked like she hadn't cried herself to sleep the previous night. "It's alright. Let's just get back to work okay?"

"Lets." Trish replied, not knowing whether to be relieved that Jasina hadn't quit or just as cool as Jasina was apparently being, finally just deciding to be the boss. "You have mail waiting in your cubical in the front office." She said, sitting back down and shifting through some paperwork, a red pen beside an article she was editing. "And deadline is at four so...You know the drill, Jas."

Without a word, Jasina walked out and went to her office, after picking her mail up, and sat down in her chair after closing the door. She finished her article first before sending it to the outbox, knowing the mail girl came by every hour to pick up, and took a deep breath before opening the first envelope.

Jade

Recently, my little girl just found out I'm her mother. She's eight years old. I don't know what to do. I sent her to an adoption agency when I was sixteen, knowing I wasn't ready for motherhood. Now she won't even look at me because I'm trying to get in her life. How do I fix this and make it right?

Closing her eyes, Jasina took a moment before opening her laptop and typed her response to it.

Under these circumstances, the child is confused and doesn't understand what is going on around them. Especially at the tender age of eight. I understand why you did what you had to do, you were trying to do what was best for her and that's what matters. Don't beat yourself up over that decision. You were young and scared, you made a mistake. We all make them, but we also have to suffer the consequences. The best advice I can give you is to sit your little girl down and explain to her why you gave her up. Explain to her the benefits and tell her you love her with all of your heart, which I know you do.

~Jade~

~!~

Mark snorted as he read the new Ask Jade column, folding the paper in half. He knew damn well who Jade was and thought it was awfully damn wrong of her to even be printing that question let alone answering it. What the hell gave someone the right to walk back into a child's life after abandoning them? The woman in question should keep her ass away until her kid was eighteen and if the kid wanted to know her mother, then SHE'D look the mom up.