Chapter 10

Jared's POV

Shortly after my shift started Michael left for his trip to New York and I watched Maeve walking him to the car that was waiting outside their home.

Michael carried Nicolas and gave him a quick kiss before setting him down. The little boy started climbing into the car while both his parents were laughing at him.

Maeve's smile never fails to amaze me. Whenever she laughs it seems as if she's laughing with all she's got. Her eyes smile just as much as her heart does.

Michael turned to his wife, his arms grabbing her waist pulling her closer before their lips molding together sad about their goodbyes.

It was a loving and slow kiss. They really took their time, not giving a care in who is watching them, although I might be the only one, everyone else seems to just ignore them, but how could they? Whenever I saw Maeve, I was mesmerized by her presence.

Their lips finally disconnected as Michael who was a little taller than Maeve pressed his forehead on hers, whispering something I couldn't hear.

Her eyes stayed closed when she suddenly started laughing and playfully hit her husband.

What did he say?

With one final loving kiss on her forehead Michael turned around and got into the car before small hands reached out of the vehicle, reaching for Maeve who immediately picked her son up before closing the door.

With Nicolas on her hips she waved at the car driving away until it was out of sight but she kept standing there a little longer. Our eyes met for a short second as her lips curled into a small smile and she waved at me as I pretended not to see her and turned around, to go back doing my job.

"Jared?" I heard her faint voice in the distance, but decided to ignore her since I was still angry at her behavior this morning.

*****

I stared at the monitor that was connected to the security cameras at the gate. A car that pulled over caught my attention. It wasn't unusual that fans come here to take a picture or wait outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Michael. As quick as the car arrived, it was already gone, they were probably just lost.

Suddenly an alarm went off and I looked over at my colleague.

"That's the silent alarm, main house" he informed me before getting up, ready to leave.

Maeve!

Jumping up quickly as well, we rushed to the golf carts, speeding to the house.

"I'm going in through the back" I told him.

"Ok, I'm taking the front."

We made sure to have our walkie-talkies on the same frequency just in case before parting ways.

In a case like this, we never know what to expect, that's why we try to be as quiet as possible until we know what's going on.

With my key, I carefully unlocked the patio door that lead to the dark kitchen.

Since I heard no noise inside the room, my hands started to search for the light switch and as soon as the light flickered on I jumped slightly at the sight of Maeve sitting peacefully on the counter next to the sink where the silent alarm is hidden.

"Hello there" she said with a straight face.

With my hand on my chest, I took a few deep breaths. "God, Maeve..." I whispered in between breaths.

"Did I scare you?" Her lips curled into a light smirk, she was enjoying this.

Instead of answering her question I asked "are you even in danger?" to which she replied by shaking her head.

"For fucks sake, Maeve!" I quickly grabbed my walkie-talkie and let my colleagues know, that I found her.

"Code green, I repeat code green, found her." When I finished, I turned back to her.

"The alarm is meant to use in emergencies only!" I was angry at her for take advantage of an security system the way she did.

"It was an emergency!" She raised her voice at me.

"Then what is the emergency?" I yelled back at her before we heard a voice coming out of My walkie-talkie.

"What happened? Where are you? I am back outside."

While I waited for an answer from Maeve, I crossed my hands in front of my body and slightly raised an eyebrow at her.

"You weren't talking to me-"

"That is not an emergency!"

"Well to me it is! I wasn't treating you fair this morning and I wanted to apologize but you completely ignored me!" She looked at me with hurtful eyes. "I didn't know what to do. Jared, I'm sorry I said that and I am thankful that you care so much, please can we go back to being friends again?"

We kept staring at each other for a second before I took the walkie-talkie to speak.

"Mrs. Jackson accidentally hurt herself."

"Is she ok? Do we need to call the doctor?"

"I made this cake for you, as an apology" Maeve held up a cake that looked like an apple pie.

My eyes flickered between her face and the cake before realizing "There's one piece missing."

"I... got hungry" she admitted causing me to laugh.

"Jared come on, I'm trying!" she whined.

At her attempt to get my forgiveness, I sighed and lightly shook my head before putting the walkie-talkie back in front of my mouth.

"No, we don't need a doctor but I'm going to stay here for a while to make sure she's ok" I said without breaking eye contact with Maeve whose smile grew large at my words.

Who can be mad at her?

*****

"This tastes delicious!" I let her know before grabbing another forkful of the apple pie that Maeve served us with some vanilla ice cream.

"Thanks" she smiled at her own piece of cake while the dimmed light on the patio where we were currently sitting made her look perfect, like an angel.

"Can I ask you something?" I blurred out before she looked at me, asking me to continue.

"You and Michael, how did that happen?"

Her face immediately lit up at the mention of her husband's name.

"You don't know? I started working for him in summer in 1987, a few weeks before the bad tour started-"

"You worked for him?" I was surprised.

"Yeah, I worked for him as a chef on his world tour, we fell in love while on the road. We had so much fun. I remember when we were in Australia we went on a road trip, just him and I... it was" she stopped for a moment, probably reminiscing about a beautiful memory.

"Anyway... It didn't end well, though" she then started laughing.

"Why? What happened?"

"We had the great idea to go sight seeing... in Sydney."

"OH... you got mobbed?"

She nodded with her eyes squeezed shut before admitting "I've never ran this fast in my life!"

Her laugh filled the quiet night's air.

"But hey you made it out, congratulations!"

"Yes, we did..." her expression changed into a sad one.

"What's wrong?"

"I got pregnant while we were in Australia."

"You did? Were you dating?"

"No, we weren't. Nicolas is the result of good wine and cheap tequila from the hotel bar."

"A one-night-stand?" I questioned to which she shyly nodded, her cheeks lightly blushing.

"When did you actually start dating?"

"Shortly after... that night... But only for a few weeks. Then we didn't talk for almost 2 months" she explained.

"And then?"

"Everything moved so quickly. I found out I was pregnant and I was scared to tell Michael, but he ended up being happy about it and we started dating again. I was over the moon when he proposed to me, we planned to get married before Nicolas' birth, but... but then I had the accident and our life became complicated."

"But... you made it!" I told her, knowing she probably needed the words right now.

"You know nothing!"

"What do you mean?"

"Being in a wheelchair was the least of my problems..." I stared at her but her mind seemed more focused on the night sky as I watched her admire the moon.

When she noticed I wasn't saying anything, she looked at me, catching me staring at her. She slowly licked her lip before speaking again.

"I was... addicted..."