Page 9 of Not Your Enemy

“Love you too!” I ended the call and looked up to see a sleepy Jade sitting at the bar-top.

“Morning!” I said kindly, not allowing myself to feel weird. I did nothing wrong.

“Good morning,” she replied easily before covering her mouth from a yawn. It was pretty cute how tired she was in the mornings.

I set the plate, coffee, creamer, and syrup in front of her before taking the seat beside her with my own items. Taking a bite, Jade moaned and looked over at me.

“Fuck, princess. I don’t even usually eat breakfast, but after you’ve been cooking for me, I feel like my day would be ruined without it. It’s delicious!” I blushed at her praise and tried to hide it by looking down at my plate.

“Thanks, I’m glad you like it.”

“You are so welcome,” she said with a full mouth.

We ate in silence for a bit, and I started thinking about my upcoming meetings for the day.

“May I ask you something? It may sound prying, but I’m not trying to be.” Curious what she might ask, I nodded lightly. “How is Jana doing? Like her job, her life, all that stuff. I haven’t heard from her in so long, and I just want to know if she’s okay.” Taken aback by her words, I contemplated my response. She seemed seriously concerned for her sister’s well-being, and that was just shocking to me based on what I’d known of their relationship.

“Well, she is busy with her job twenty-four-seven, but she absolutely loves it. She’s hella good at it too,” I stated beforetaking a sip of coffee. “Overall, I believe she’s happy.” I wasn’t sure what else to say, what would be too much to share from Jana’s perspective.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Jade replied, sounding down.

“May I ask you something?” I inquired. Might as well, since she seemed so open this morning. With a nod from her, I continued. “I know it’s a lot of different things. But I guess I want to know from your perspective what ended things between the two of you.” I bit my lip, thinking I might be pushing too far. She seemed to consider for a moment before speaking.

“I’m sure you know parts of the story, but anyway. Our parents kind of sucked, and they played favorites. We grew up competing for attention with them. There never seemed to be enough love for both of us, so we fought to be the one to get it.” I felt choked up at her words. Jana had told me a similar story, but this was a much more psychological view of things. It actually made sense to hear.

“There were plenty of times that I was mean to Jana. I hated her for a long time because I genuinely believed that she was my enemy. But looking back, we were being manipulated. If we were always competing with each other to be the best daughter, then we caused fewer problems for our parents, who didn’t have time for us." Jade shifted in her seat and then placed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“The sad thing about it all was that we could have spent all that time using each other as someone to lean on, but we were too focused on winning some imaginary game. If I could go back, I’d do so many things differently.” I couldn’t think of Jana ever mentioning wanting to do things differently. Her perspective was always that of a victim, but I’m sure that was valid.

“You can’t blame yourself for the choices your parents made. I mean, you were both kids. They should have done something, seen what they were doing to you guys and changed. That was out ofboth your and Jana’s control.” My hand hovered momentarily before I grabbed my plate and stood to walk towards the sink. I had wanted to reach out and comfort Jade, but I didn't want to overstep.

I was unsure how Jana would feel about my discussing this with Jade, but what I said wasn’t untrue. She looked over at me and gave me a small smile. Like some sort of gravitational pull, I couldn’t help but admire her beauty, such a resilient, intelligent woman who had survived so much. She was admitting her wrongdoings and taking blame for them, which was both revealing of her character and showed her growth. This was not the same Jade that Jana talked so poorly about; it couldn’t have been.

“If you’re asking what was the straw that broke the camel’s back, I really couldn’t tell you. It was more like a long list of things, and when Jana and I had the chance to split ways, we took it.” The whole situation broke my heart. They both deserved so much better than what they went through. Maybe I could help to be the bridge between the two of them, help them become cordial again at the very least.

Jade placed her empty plate on top of mine in the apron sink, her free hand briefly touching the small of my back. It took an embarrassing amount of strength not to lean in and savor it.

Chapter 7

It had been another long day of working claims and sorting junk. We’d determined that it made sense to come back around to the laundry room, kitchen, and living room at the end of our time here. So we’d been sorting through the cabinets in the dining room, trying to evenly distribute the china between Jade’s box and Jana’s. During my afternoon meeting, Jade went to a neighboring town and purchased bubble wrap so that we could pack up the pictures on the walls throughout the first floor.

Jade had stated that she’d keep all the family photos, and although I’d agreed at the time that Jana wouldn’t want any of them, staring at one of the two of them sitting with Santa had me questioning things. Taking a picture with my phone, I sent a quick text to Jana. Maybe not giving her the option to keep anything sentimental wasn’t the right move. More than that, maybe seeing some of these things would pull at her heartstrings a tad.

A knock at the front door pulled me from my thoughts.

“Coming!” Jade called loudly, making her way from the living room.

Curious, I moved from my spot in the hall and walked toward the foyer. I stood beside the staircase while she answered the door.

“Hey Hunter, come on in,” Jade said, opening the door wide to a plump man in overalls. His dark hair was sweaty against his forehead, and he looked like he’d run here.

“Sorry I’m late. I got caught up at the Harrisons'. Larry couldn’t seem to come to terms with my prices. Old stubborn ass.” Jade laughed and smiled at Hunter kindly.

“Well, I appreciate you coming by. Let me show you around, and you tell me what I’ll owe you. I’ll try to take it better than Larry.”

Listening to their conversation, it was clear this must be Crissy’s husband, the contractor. Jade showed him a few areas of the house she thought might need updating for selling purposes. After he took notes, he said he’d write her an estimate and email it over.

“Crissy wanted me to invite you over for dinner tomorrow night, said she’d love to catch up with you,” Hunter said as they headed back to the foyer.