One Wild Night



"So, tell me all about your date," Candace said excitedly as she got on Jade's bed, while Jade packed up the documents she had been studying.

"Where should I begin? The flower petals that decorated the floor? Or the romantic candle lit dinner on a rooftop? Or the sweetest chocolate written proposal to be his girlfriend? Or the fireworks?" Jade asked and Candace giggled.

"Okay. I believe now that Harry outdid himself. But details. Tell me all about it," Candace said with a grin and Jade was more than happy to oblige.

"Woaw! Six months?" Candace asked in surprise when Jade mentioned Harry's future marriage proposal.

"Yeah," Jade said with twinkling eyes.

"Told you I was going to be your twin sister in-law, didn't I?" Jade asked, and Candace giggled as the door opened and Sonia walked in without knocking since the door was slightly open.

"Yeah, you did say so," Candace said, and exchanged a look with Jade as Sonia joined them on the bed.

"Are you sure you want to get married to him, though?" Candace asked, switching to the purpose of her being there, since they needed information for Bryan.

"Of course! You needed to see how smitten she looked last night. If he had proposed last night, she would have said yes without blinking," Sonia said as she sipped from her glass of juice, and Jade laughed.

"Of course! And it's thanks to you that I got to realize there was something between us," Jade said, and Sonia smiled happily.

"You're always welcome."

"And it is thanks to me you made a move, remember?" Candace pointed out, reminding her of how much she had insisted Jade open up to Harry.

"Well, I was pretty much going to do that. But thanks to you too. That's why you are going to be my maid of honor when we get married," Jade said, and Candace giggled.

"Really? I get to choose my own color and style, right?" Candace asked, excited at the idea of being a maid of honor.

"Of course."

"Good. Talking about marriage, congrats Sony. I heard the wonderful news," Candace said, and Sonia gave her a wide smile.

"Thanks. Maybe you can give me some pregnancy and motherhood tips," Sonia said hopefully.

"Sure. All you have to do is ask what you want to know. And you do know there are pregnancy apps you can download now, right?" Candace asked, and Sonia nodded.

"Yeah. Bryan downloaded a couple of them already," Sonia said with a grin.

"He seems more excited about the pregnancy than you are," Jade said, and Sonia giggled.

"Yeah. It's hard to believe I was so scared he wouldn't want us to keep the baby. I almost had an abortion without his knowledge," Sonia confided, and both Jade and Candace gasped in surprise.

"Why would you ever think of doing something like that?" Jade asked in disbelief.

"That would have been really cruel to Bryan," Candace said, and Sonia sighed.

"Yeah. I was all up in my head. I just didn't think he would want us to keep the baby and I didn't want to put him in a difficult position of suggesting an abortion," Sonia explained.

"Some times we tend to magnify our problems in our head when they're really not as serious as we think. Effective communication and time are all you need to resolve most problems. Talk about it, and then give it time," Candace said, and Sonia considered it for a moment.

"That actually makes a lot of sense," Sonia said thoughtfully as she made a mental note to jot that down somewhere.

"Of course it does. I know what I'm talking about," Candace said with a smile.

"Yeah, right!" Jade said with a roll of eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Candace asked with a slightly raised brow.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," Jade said with a sweet smile.

If she said what she meant by that, they might end up deviating from the topic and miss the opportunity to get the needed information from Sonia, so she would leave that for later.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't go along with your plan, Sony," Jade said and Sonia nodded.

"Yeah. Me too. Bryan seems so happy," Sonia said with a small smile.

"Who knows? He just might pop the question soon," Candace said with a wink, and Jade giggled while Sonia shook her head.

"Nah! I don't think so."

"Why not? Don't you want to get married?" Jade asked curiously.

"Of course, I want to. But I'm not sure Bryan is ready for that. You know, having a baby is one thing. Celebrities do that all the time. I mean having baby mamas and stuff. Marriage is an entirely different ball game, and I don't think Bryan is ready for that yet," Sonia said with a shrug.

"But you are, aren't you?" Candace asked, and Sonia grinned.

"Of course. I hope to spend the rest of my life with Bryan," Sonia said, and Jade smiled to hide her relief.

"That means if he pops the question now you will say yes?" Jade asked just to be sure.

"Of course! What would be better than having our baby in the safe confines of marriage? Don't tell Bryan I said that, though. I mean, having our baby is great, marriage or not. But I also think it would be beautiful to be married and have the baby," Sonia said with a shrug.

"Sure. I get what you mean," Jade said with a nod, and Candace turned to Jade.

"So, now that Harry has gone to such lengths for just your first date, what would you like him to do for your marriage proposal?" Candace asked, and Jade raised a brow.

"Did he ask you to ask me this?" Jade asked with a teasing smile and both Candace and Sonia laughed.

"We both know, he didn't. Besides, I haven't really spoken with him since he left to pick you up for the date. He got back really late and was in a hurry to leave for the office this morning. There wasn't really anytime to talk," Candace said, and Jade smiled.

"Well, I trust Harry. I know whichever way he chooses to propose will be perfect. What about you, Sony?" Jade asked, and Sonia frowned.

"What about me what?" She asked in confusion.

"How would you like Bryan to pop the question? Would you prefer a private proposal or a public proposal? Want drama? I never really believed your fake engagement because I thought the proposal seemed too basic," Jade said, not wanting Sonia to detect anything suspicious about the questions.

Sonia giggled, "You won't believe I've almost forgotten all about that proposal. It seems like all that happened a lifetime ago," Sonia said with a wide smile.

"I would prefer a private proposal myself," Candace said, and Jade rolled her eyes.

"Of course. Anyone who knows you can tell," Jade said dryly.

"What do you mean by that?" Candace asked with a scowl.

Sonia giggled, "It means everyone knows you're a person private," Sonia said easily, "Well, I don't really care whether it is a private or public proposal as long as it's a diamond ring. And from Bryan, of course," Sonia said with a wink, and both Jade and Candace giggled.

"By the way, are you aware that Matt is downstairs?" Sonia asked Candace when she remembered she had mentioned it yet.

Candace's heart skipped a beat, "Really?" She asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Yup. I asked him about the model. He said he didn't kiss the model. She kissed him," Sonia said as she exchanged a look with Jade who grinned.

Jade liked that she was the one pairing with people to get something out of them and not the one in the dark.

"Does that matter?" Oblivious to the look exchanged, Candace asked. Choosing to act as natural as anyone else would act. It wasn't a big deal.

"Yes, it does. That means nothing is going on between them," Jade said easily but Candace said nothing.

"She used to be his ex, you know?" Sonia said, watching Candace closely while she pretended to be busy with her phone.

"Really?" Jade asked with interest, her gaze on Candace as well.

"Yeah. Bryan said things ended really badly between them since she tried to use Matt. So, I guess she is the one trying to get Matt not the other way around," Sonia continued.

"She must have realized what an amazing guy he is. Can't blame her for trying to get him back," Jade said, and this time Candace dropped her phone and glared at them both.

"Will you both cut it out? I'm not dense, you know? I know exactly what you're doing," Candace said, and Sonia looked at her innocently.

"What are we doing other than gossiping?" Sonia asked, and Jade shrugged.

"I guess we can gossip about anything but Matt," Jade said, and Candace rolled her eyes.

"Where is everyone else by the way? I didn't say hello to them because the house seemed really quiet," Candace asked to change the subject.

"Lucy's parents moved to her apartment since she isn't here right now. And my parents went to hang out with them," Jade explained, letting her change the subject.

"What about Samantha and the others?" Candace asked.

"Today is their off day. So they all went about their businesses. How is Jamal doing? How is Aaron?" Jade asked, and Candace was relieved that her plan had worked.

"They're good. Getting along really well. They're so taken with each other. It's going to be so much easier to move back to Sogal now with Aaron," Candace said with a happy smile.

"Harry is going to miss you all when you leave," Jade said, feeling bad for Harry.

"But that would give you more room to visit and stay over," Sonia pointed out, and Jade laughed softly.

"As much as I love spending more time with him, they are his family. He's going to feel lonely," Jade said with a shrug.

"Harry will be alright. And you can always make him feel less lonely," Candace said as she patted Jade's hand.

Jade glanced at her phone when it started ringing and she smiled when she saw that it was a call from Mr. Bateman, Jack's father.

"Excuse me," she told them as she picked up her phone and moved away from them before receiving the call.

"Can we meet?" He asked immediately she received the call.

"Sure. Where do you have in mind?" She asked, not minding that there was no introduction or exchange of pleasantries. She liked it this way. Straight to business.

"My office? Do you know where it is located?"

"I have never been there, but I'm certain I can locate it if you give me the direction," Jade said and hung up the call after he promised to text her the location and they agreed to meet in an hour.

"I'm sorry, ladies. This meeting will have to be adjourned. I have to get ready to leave for a meeting," Jade said as she faced Sonia and Candace.

"Is it about the case?" Candace asked curiously and Jade gave her the details.

"Alright. I need to leave now anyway. Let me know how it goes," Candace said as she rose to leave the room and Sonia did the same.

"Sure."

"You want to leave already? Why don't we join Bryan and Matt in the Den?" Sonia asked as she walked out of the room with Candace, shutting the door behind her.

"Sonia, do us all a favor and quit matchmaking. It's not going to work," Candace said, giving her a pointed look.

"Well, since you're both so sure it's not going to work, why spend so much time trying to avoid each other? If you believe you're over him, you should have no problem spending some time with me in his company," Sonia said with a shrug as they approached the stairs.

"I'm not avoiding him...."

"Then what are you doing?" Sonia cut in.

"Back off, will you?" Candace snapped at her.

"Do you know you're being very annoying right now? And I really don't appreciate it," Candace said with a scowl as they descended the stairs.

Sonia sighed, "Fine. I'm sorry. But I really think you both will make a very good couple...."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, alright? But please stop. And don't badger Matt like this either. It's really not cool. If anything is ever going to happen between us again it's going to be because we both want it, and not because of your matchmaking skills," Candace said, and almost immediately the words left her lips she regretted it when she saw Matt standing some feet away from the stairs staring at her.