"Jessica." I turned around to see who the familiar voice belonged to and was happy to see Derak. I instantly got up and hugged him and began to cry. Thankfully the cafe was empty, and only James and another waiter were there.
As Derak made me sit, he said, "Jessica, I told you, I'm your brother and I will always take care of you. Honestly, I wish I had checked out before and maybe this day would not have come."
OK, this meant he found out something, and something that I may not like on hearing but I have to, so I took a sigh and said, "OK, Derak, what did you find out?"
"Well, I guess you already saw the news. It looks like whoever this Amanda is, but she has taken your place. And, Kyle is with her. They just announced him as her husband."
I took a deep breath, and said, "I know, I saw on the TV, but the voice was low so I couldn't hear the announcement. What did they say?"
Derak takes a deep breath as if was about to drop a bomb on me. So, I told him in a calm tone, "Derak, I won't cry, you tell me with ease."Derak takes another deep breath and says, "Your parent's announced their estranged daughter Jessica has forgiven them and is part of the family along with her husband Kyle Walter. Joel announced she is going to inherit his business, which the news reader said has a net worth of around 600 billion dollars."
"I know, he's the richest brewery tycoon in the world. Matter of fact, our reunion is also going to be held at one of his hotels."
Derak cuts my talk and says, "Jessica, I know you have billions of your own and you don't need his, but she is claiming to be you. She took your place as you. Did you know she visited your aunt at the hospital with your mother, lucky or unlucky, your aunt was asleep so they didn't talk to her. But, she could have harmed her, and she took the property your aunt bought for you. Jessica, I don't know what you feel for your parents, but, I can see the love they have for you and now they are being fooled, and your aunt's hard earned money belongs to her. I won't talk about Kyle till I find out the truth."
Though I really never wanted to have any concern about them, but yes this Amanda, would also be of no concern, but if she's going to replicate me, then that I won't allow.
Suddenly realizing, I asked Derak, "Derak, do you know how she proved she's me and forged my sign."
Derak takes a deep breath and says, "Jessica, from the detective I've put on her."
"What? A detective?" I asked in a shocked tone.
"Calm down, you want everyone to know." Derak says in a hush tone, "Yes, so far he has found out she's been following you for a while now and used the property and aunt's hospital visit as the proof, she's you. Your parents also brought it."
I scoffed as I said, "So, a sign is all they needed to prove she's their daughter?"
"Jessica, this is part of the information the detective found, not the whole. And she did show them your aunt."
"Oh, about that, Amanda came with my mother on March eighteen, my aunt wrote in my mother's diary (I saw Derak's confused look, so gestured to him to listen first) on March nineteenth that I'm Jessica and not the one who is with my mother. But Aunt Debra passed away on the twentieth. Derak, if my aunt had woken up, she would have told me. And, in the diary my mother wrote, 'they will announce about her and come back to take aunt with them. Now why they didn't come back and why announced her three years after finding her? It doesn't tally up."
Derak takes a deep breath and says, "Looks like there's more that needs to be found out than just facts on the surface."
I took the chance to speak before he could say anything else, "Derak, another odd fact that just came to my mind. My mother, she wrote a diary about when she was going to have me, leaving me with Aunt Debra, and why she had to leave. She also wrote, after my grandmother accepts Jessica, they will come back to take Aunt Debra. Now, since they already came and met my aunt, why didn't they come to her funeral? And, after that they never came again to visit her, especially when her daughter Jessica said she visits her often. And, last, but not least, it actually took my grandmother three years to accept her?"
Derak takes a sip of the coffee that James brought himself as a gesture as he knows Derak is Kyle's friend. Then he looks at me with a serious look and says, "Jessica this Amanda is no square play. It's round, all round. Another thing, I don't know if you noticed, now it's only an assumption, but when you met Kyle, he was in the hospital and his first love Amanda abandoned him. Then he fell in love with you and married you, for three full years. Now, he goes on a business trip and comes back with a divorce, and a few days later shows up standing beside her as her husband, and is telling you to wait for him."
Though I was confused, I still asked, "So, are you saying he knew about Amanda? And, what really bothers me, is since we do look alike, who's the substitute?" Realizing she was his first love, "OK, that's a silly question. After all she was his first love and I'm second."
"Jessica, the reason I called her first love was cause she's the only girl I knew he was with, and you are the only one for whom, in his words, 'Jessica is the one I can die for. Yes, Jessica, this is exactly what he said when we were speaking about loyalty." Derak says in a concerned tone.
A smile spread from ear to ear as I heard what he said to me. Seeing me, Derak says, "You still love him."
I took a sigh and replied, "Kyle is my first love whom I married. Obviously, it meant for a lifetime. So, forgetting won't be easy, but I'm no cry baby. If he can leave me, then I have no reason to cry for him. He's happy, I'm too. With or without a man."
Just then I got a call. Not being able to recognize the number, I looked towards Derak and said, "Derak, it's a number. Let me take it."
As I took the call, James came over and said, "Would you both want to eat anything?"
Derak sees I'm on the phone so he says, "Two cheese sandwiches and some fries. Oh, and more coffee please."
James smiles and says, "OK, coming right up."
As James goes, I say on the phone, "Hello, Jessica Jiles Walter. Who's calling?"
"Hello, Miss Jiles, regarding your apartment on Cliff Avenue, there are some documents pending. Could you please come over to sign them."
"Ah, sure, (I quickly say 'file, pointing to my purse. Derak understood me and removed the file out of my purse. I looked up at the consultant's name) Mr. Blake, can we have an appointment for tomorrow afternoon?"
"Sure, Miss Jiles, I'll be waiting then." As he disconnected, I looked at Derak and said, "The property consultant says some paperwork is pending and wants me to come over to sign them." surprised, "Derak, Amanda came to take the apartment from him, and now he's calling me. Are our phones connected in some way?"
"What? What do you mean by that?" Derak asked me in confusion.
"Derak, I thought she had already taken possession of the apartment, but looks like she hasn't. But, what I meant was, she came to meet him so she must have contacted him, and now he's calling me to come sign the pending papers."
Derak sighs and says, "Jessica, let's meet him first and then let's assume something."
The tone that Derak used was like I was a novice, "Hey, what's that tone you got?"
Derak leaves out a soft laugh, "Oh, nothing as such. Just, your and mine work fields are different. Yours is straight or legal, apart from Devon, but me, ours is a container shipping business and it involves a lot of illegal activity. You do know people use containers for a lot of smuggling including humans. I've seen my fair share of corrupt employees who have forged my sign and at times even tricked me into signing them. So, just a little word from a, well professional in this field, first watch, then assume and take action."
"OK, if so, then I'm to meet him tomorrow afternoon." I said in a calm tone.
"James, the bill please." James said as he took his wallet out.
"Hey, this is my hometown, I'll pay." I said stating my point.
"Yes, and now you're my sister, and I'm older than you. So, I'll pay."
As James took a hundred dollar bill out, I smiled and said, "Oh, in that case I should eat out more with my brother so my money is saved."
Derak smiles and then gets a serious look on his face and says, "Jessica, jokes apart, I meant what I said when I said, 'I'm your brother from now on. Actually, I didn't come here only to talk about what the detective told me. I also came to give you this."
He removes a file from his bag and hands it to me. I took the file and as I opened it, my eyes were wide open and they must be glittering as the papers were sharing transfer documents stating, 'I, Jessica Jiles Walter, am a holder of twenty percent of Phoenix Corporation. "Derak, what's this?"
"Jessica, these are shares of our company. The company was made by my dad, and then I took over five-six years back when dad wanted to retire. I raised the profit by eighty percent, so from that I am giving twenty percent to my sister. But, I am working on making my own company go public in a few days, then I'll hand you fifty percent shares of it, as that is mine and I can decide what and whom to give."
"Derak, gosh, you don't have to do all this. Your saying is more than enough." I was overwhelmed as I said this.
"Jessica, I want others to take this fact seriously, when I say, 'you're my sister. And, this is the only way. Now sign the papers, so my lawyer can finalize them and make the announcement. Oh, and my parents are dying to meet their daughter."
I choked on my coke as he said, "What? Daughter?"
"Yes, I hope you do know I'm an only child. But what you may not know, both of them wanted a daughter so badly. They were so happy when I told you about them. They've even set up your own room. So, you'd better pack a bag for the week, cause they won't let you leave soon."
Though I was an emotional wreck at the time, I smiled and I knew my smile must have been as bright as the sun, cause that's how I felt.
Easing the atmosphere, Derak says, "So, what's your plan till tomorrow?"
"Well, I intended to go back home and find out about him, but he called himself, so, yes let's go home first. It's been a while since I came." I said in a little frank tone.
Home Sweet Home
They say there's no place like your birth place and no matter what or how big place you begin to live in, your birth place is always special. Texanville is exactly the same. The warmth I get when I come here is like a mother hugging you.
As we stopped our cars in the driveway, we both got out of our cars. Looking around, Derak says, "Actually living in the countryside is special, It's so calm, unlike the city, horns and pollution. I mean look at that lake, it's actually blue."
I smiled at his comment as I understood, though it's been a few years since I shifted to the city for my business, but it still doesn't compare to Texanville. I went over to the door and opened the door. As we entered, I looked around and said, "Ah, I would tell you to take a seat, but they might be dirty."
"Dirty? Jessica, I personally come to clean with mom everyday." A girl says in a hurt tone.