Jude and Joy met in the kitchen the next morning, after a night of sleeping in separate rooms. Jude went for the coffee machine while Joy went for the refrigerator. They paused and turned to gaze at each other.
"Are you going to eat breakfast today?" Jude asked.
"Yep, I feel like it," she answered. "You?"
"Nah, I'll just have some coffee."
She nodded and proceeded to pull some ingredients out of the fridge. They stole awkward glances at each other, but neither of them spoke.
'You two are so childish,' Rieka drawled, and Joy felt her roll her eyes.
'Be quiet,' Joy hissed.
'Just talk to her,' Ash grumbled in Jude's head.
'Shut up Ash.'
Jude watched as Joy forked a piece of bacon into her mouth. Her face contorted, and she chewed for a little too long before straining to swallow. He took a sip of his coffee, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
"What?" She snapped, glaring at him.
"Nothing," he shrugged.
"Stop laughing at me."
"I'm not laughing at you," his lip twitched upward, and he covered his mouth with the coffee mug.
"Stop smirking."
"I'm not smirking."
"Stop doing whatever that is," she waved her hands at him.
He stretched the coffee mug towards her.
"You want this instead?"
"Yes please," she pouted, moving close to him and grabbing the cup. It was still warm and she sighed as she took a sip.
"Oh," she mumbled and reached for the breakfast plate, handing it to him. "For you."
"Thank you."
"So, I need to go to my dad's house. To just ask that woman if she's spoken to him."
"Why do you call her that woman?"
"Because I don't like her," she muttered, taking a sip of her coffee. "But it's okay because she doesn't like me either."
"How do you know she doesn't like you? She probably loves you like her own daughter and was worried sick about you."
"She didn't even send a text when I came back." She rolled her eyes. "Relatives I don't even talk to contacted me. And she's supposed to my mother."
"Maybe she was afraid you'd ignore her."
"Why are you looking for the good in her?
Because there's a little good in everyone. I mean, we do do bad things, but that doesn't make us bad people. Sometimes it's the situation that forces you to act in such a way."
She snorted, placing her cup in the sink. "You said do do." She paused to stare at him, a playful smile gracing her face. "Doodoo." She stretched the word.
"How old are you?"
"Old enough." She stuck her tongue out at him.
His head cocked to the side as he analysed her.
"Staring is rude," her grin became wider, "Jude," she chortled. "Rude, Jude."
"Y-You're back," he managed to whisper, though his mind was against him saying it. Afraid that if he said something like that, her walls would shoot right back up. She continued to smile at him, taking a few steps close.
"I said I would give this a try." She took his hand in hers. "And I will."
He leaned close and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Thank you."
"So, I need to go to my dad's place. Are you coming with me?"
"Yeah."
***
Joy's old home was in a very quiet neighbourhood, and each property was further from the next with their yards being extremely large. David Machekas mansion was built on a hill, overlooking his immense property below. There was a helipad on the roof of the house, his helicopter out, probably taken by his brother in law. There was a swimming pool, tennis court, a miniature golf course and horses.
"Welcome home," Joy glanced over to Jude. "Home sweet home."
Jude held his hand out for her and they walked up the granite steps, towards the mansion.
"Hello Joy," a bold man in a suit greeted her with a warm smile. "It's good to see you.
You too." She returned the smile. "Is my father's wife here?"
"Yes, she is." He brought his wrist to his mouth and bent his head to the side, mumbling something.
"Are you kidding me?" Joy scoffed. "I've lived here for all my life, you have to get permission for me to come in?"
"It's not like that. Mrs Macheka just prefers to know who's here," he answered, his expression apologising for him.
"I don't care. Open the door."
The man gave a slight bow and opened the door for her. His eyes narrowed at Jude whose face was a mask of nonchalance. The man let them through, but mumbled something into his wrist.
"She's with a man." They both heard him, and Joy fought the urge to roll her eyes.
"Joy!" A nasally voice echoed through the living room as the pair walked in.
The voice belonged to a tall pink haired girl. Her hair contrasted well with her caramel skin. She was slender, dressed in a flattering yellow dress. She pulled Joy in for a hug, a wide grin on her face.
"I missed you so much."
"Hey Grace." She pulled back, and gazed at her. She was fond of the spoilt little brat, but she would never admit it. And with the bad blood between Joy and the girl's mother she probably would never admit it. She had heard the conversations between the woman and her father, one of the reasons she had moved out. She was seen as a bad influence to Grace, so she started her company to prove a point, more to herself than to them. She could do anything alone, she did not need them. Especially not a mother.
"Where have you been?" Grace pouted. "Everyone thought you were dead. Why didn't you tell us you were okay?"
"Because she's Joy," a woman voiced, walking towards them. She stopped in front of Joy and folded her arms, an expression of disdain on her face. She was dressed in a long floral dress and slippers, her blonde hair tied in a ponytail. "Glad to see you finally found your way home," the woman said, raising a perfectly drawn eyebrow.
"Where's my father?" Joy asked in a modulated tone.
The woman let out a humourless laugh. "Of course, you wouldn't know. He's in Singapore. He left almost two weeks ago. The negotiations he was dealing with took longer than he expected, so he's staying there a little longer. Who's this?" She gestured to Jude who had been staring at the woman since she walked in while Grace was staring at him with her mouth agape.
"Is this the man Mandla was talking about?" The woman asked.
"Great, you already know him, so there's no need for introductions," she drawled. "You've spoken to my father?"
The woman's eyes lingered on Jude a little longer then fell back on Joy. "Of course, I have," she answered, turning and moving towards a couch. She crossed one leg over the other as she sat herself down, taking hold of a magazine that was on the small table in front of her. "Gracey go and serve Joy's guest a drink in the kitchen. I need to talk to your sister in private."
Judes eyes met Joy's and she nodded. Whether he was in the room or not, she knew he was going to be able to hear them.
"D-Does he know about me?" Joy asked, trying to maintain her cool.
The woman stopped flipping through the pages of her magazine and glanced up at her. "Yes," she said. "He asked me about you a week ago."
"W-What? Why didn't he come back?" She trembled.
"Maybe because he's tired of your games Joy," she hissed shooting up and throwing the magazine across the room. "We thought you were dead. Your father was in so much pain. He wouldn't sleep or eat for days and we had to rush him to the emergency room. Just when he was about to try and pick himself up... Boom! Another one of Joy's pranks."
"You think I disappeared on purpose?" Joy breathed. "Why would I do that? Why would I pretend to be dead? Why would I fall off a cliff on purpose? How dare you-"
"At eleven, you hid in the guesthouse bathroom and we searched for you for three hours. At fifteen you ran away from home when we got married, and we found you living with a fired maid. Sixteen you ran away again and we found you on a bus to South Africa. Seventeen you ran away again," she listed. "I dare, because I am sick of this attention seeking brat," she spat. "When you moved out I thought you'd grown up, but you're still the same. A twenty-five-year-old CEO who has the time to fake her own death. I would be tired of you too if I were your father."
Joy strained to swallow, blinking back the tears that pricked at the corners of her eyelids. "He's not tired of me. You don't know what you're talking about. My father loves me, I am his daughter."
The woman cackled, throwing her head back. "Why do you think he didn't stop you from moving out? If he loved you as much as you think he does, he wouldn't have let you move out. Or better yet," her voice lowered, "he would be here right? Why isn't he here? A vicious scowl formed on her face. This shows that he is done with you."
Joy felt a pang of hurt doused in anger make its way to her throat, clogging it. She closed her eyes which burned with something other than tears. "You-"
'Joy,' Jude spoke into her head, cutting her off. 'I think we should go.'
'How can she say that? What right does she have to say that? What does she know?'
'She doesn't know anything.'
'I feel like I'm going to...'
Externally, tears were seeping through Joys closed eyes, her hands balled into hard fists.
"Babe, pull yourself together. You can't shift here."
Her head tilted to the side as her stepmother continued to examine her with her eyebrows furrowed. Joy wiped her closed eyes and sniffed. She exhaled and opened them, composing herself. The woman's frown deepened when she noticed Joys gold coloured eyes slowly darken. When she shook her head and blinked a few times, Joy's eyes were dark brown.
"If you get into contact with him," she forced her voice out. It was low, but clear enough for the woman to hear. "Let him know that I'm leaving and I won't be back for a while."
"Where are you going this time?" The woman raised an eyebrow.
"If he chooses to contact me, I'll let him know."
Joy forced her feet to move towards the door, where Jude was now standing with Grace.
"Are you leaving?" Grace pouted.
"Yes," Joy croaked. "But I'll try and visit you soon." She took Jude's hand before Grace could protest and pulled him out of the house. Mostly using him as her support.
The walk to the car was quiet, and instead of hoping into the driver's seat, Joy sat herself in the passenger seat. She sniffed, and tried to swallow the lump that continued to harden in her throat. Her heart felt like it had been torn to shreds, and she wiped her dripping eyes as she tried to force her seatbelt on. The tears continue to fall, blurring her vision and she struggled with the seatbelt until Jude's hands moved to buckle it for her. She let out a sob, covering her face with her hands.
"Joy-"
"Drive," she whimpered. "Take me far away."