Jade had decided to meet up with Andre, under the agreement that Beck wouldn't be there. Jade didn't fancy seeing Beck.
Jade sat in a booth at the restaurant they were meeting at. Jade had her drink in front of her and twirled the straw in the drink.
"Having fun there, Jade" a voice said above Jade.
Jade looked up and caught sight of her best male friend.
"Andre!" Jade said happily. Jade and Andre hugged before sitting in the booth.
Andre looked exactly how Jade remembered him. The dreads and the same clothes.
"Jade, why'd you leave?" Andre asked her seriously.
"Don't tell anyone, but about 17 years ago I fell pregnant with Beck's baby. I was 18 but I didn't want to worry Beck, so I left. I ran to New York, by the way I saw the missing poster. In New York I could never hold down a job and then child services came and took my child away when she was just 2 and a half. I wrote that play, A Mothers Love, you know that premiered on Broadway. But after about a year and a half I was raped on a subway. I got pregnant and dropped out of the industry. Now my daughter is here and into HA," Jade finished.
"Jade, I'm so sorry, what was your child's name that got taken away?" Andre asked.
"Ivory Marie, she had my light brown hair and Beck's tan skin. I tried to find her but I never did," Jade sighed.
"Jade, how about I help you find Ivory, maybe Beck could help?" Andre suggested timidly.
"No, Beck is not going to help, no just no, I broke up with him over text, I don't want to face him," Jade said sternly.
"Jade, your daughter is going to the school he works at, you will see him," Andre attempted to explain.
"I have to go call my daughter," Jade announced. She walked away from the table and called Eden.
Eden answered, "Hello?"
"Hey sweetie, umm, listen I believe that my old friend is going to come over and he might invite my ex-boyfriend so you have been warned," Jade told her.
"You are strange, Mom," Eden laughed and hung up.
Jade walked back to her table that Andre was sitting at.
"Invite Beck, we're going to my place," Jade said demanding.
Andre nodded and proceeded to call Beck. Andre followed Jade in her car to her house. Jade sat in her car drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. It had been 17 years since she had seen Beck. The boy she was still in love with.
Jade pulled into her driveway and waited for Andre, few minutes later he arrived.
"Wow, West, nice house," Andre said in a joking manor.
"Shut up, Harris," Jade said.
Jade went up to the door and opened it. She found Eden sitting on the tan couch that the West's owned.
"Edie, come here," Jade said.
"Mom! Don't call me Edie, what if I started calling you Jadey?" Eden said.
Andre was full on laughing. This girl was exactly how he remembered Jade at age 14.
"What are you laughing at?" Jade asked.
"N-Nothing," Andre said trying to control the laughter.
"Eden, this is Andre Harris, Andre, Eden," Jade said.
Just then the doorbell rang. Jade ran to get it. Outside stood a guy with a plaid shirt, jeans, and chains that hung down from his jean pockets. Outside stood Beck Oliver.
"Jade," he said with a curt nod.
"Beck," Jade said back.
Beck stepped into the West house. It had a stark white wall and stark white carpet. How Jade managed to keep it that clean was beyond him. Andre could sense the awkwardness between everybody.
"Jade, we were going to try and find your daughter?" Andre said, trying to relieve the awkwardness.
"Oh, yeah, come on, the computer," Jade motioned.
Beck and Andre follow Jade through her house. They stop and stare at almost everything which is making it hard for them to actually get to the computer room. Beck stops at one photo in particular. In this photo is Jade, she's next to about a 1 year old girl. Jade is smiling more than anyone had ever seen her smile. The baby is staring up at Jade captivated by her face. In the background there seems to be walls peeling and carpets that are very dirty.
"Jade, who's this?" Beck finally asked.
Jade walked over to the photo with a hint of a smile. Jade remembers the day this photo was taken perfectly.
Jade had just woken up from a great night of sleep. Her daughter didn't wake up. This was the first time that had ever happened.
Jade walked into her daughter's dirty room. Jade scrunched up her nose in disgust. Her daughter defiantly deserved better than this but this was the best Jade could do.
"Hi, Ivy-girl," Jade smiled at her 8 month baby.
"Ma," Ivory said. Jade laughed and nodded.
She brought Ivory to the kitchen where she sat her in a high chair and proceeded to make food.
Later that day Jade had found an old camera she had lost. Jade convinced one of her neighbors to come and take the photo.
Jade and Ivory sat on the floor. Ivory looked up at her mother as if she was the most interesting thing in the world. Jade laughed at this. The camera had captured that moment.
"That's me and that little girl is Ivory," Jade explained.
"She surely was a cutie," Beck commented.
Eventually the three reached the room with the computer. It wasn't a desk top it was more of a lap top. That's weird. Thought Beck but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind.
Jade sat down at the computer and logged on after a good 3 minutes she was finally able to get on the internet.
Ivory Marie West. Jade typed that into the search box. Jade was determined to get her daughter back.
Scrolling through the search Jade finally found a girl who looked like her. Interested Jade clicked on the link. There was a lot of pictures of a girl with tan skin and light brown hair.
"That's her!" Jade shouted confidently.