One Day, Maybe. #NewAdult

Ch. 20: Jemma

  **Not Edited**
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      "Darcy," Came my assistant's Brene's voice through the phone's speakers. "Jemma is here to see you."

         "Great, let her in." I called back from the place where I stood in front of the huge glass window overlooking New York City. I seldom took the time to appreciate the beauty of the city that I had called my home for more than twenty years. Though I was standing there taking in the view, my thoughts were somewhere else entirely as I was about to do something that I didn't quite agree with.

          I loved Charlotte and respected her decision, but she wasn't looking at the full picture. And unfortunately, this alone was bound to cause more harm than good. Though I understood where she was coming from and in some level I completely agreed with, it was always best to keep your enemy closer.

          To me, allowing Jemma to see Bastian was just that, to keep an eye on her. It was best to know what she was doing than to completely be in the dark. Though Jemma had signed her parental rights away, she could still drag us to court under the pretext that she wasn't mentally stable, thus was forced to sign it.

        This, and the drama that would come along with it, was what I wanted to avoid. Money wasn't an issues. I could pay the best lawyers out there to fight the case, but who knew how long that process would take? Was Charlotte really willing to put our family through that? Especially since she was pregnant. What would all this stress do to her?

         She wasn't willing to listen. And after the whole thing with keeping the visitations from her, I barely had a leg to stand on when it came to the subject.

          What I was about to do was not going to be easy, taking those visitations away from Jemma after so many weeks would be ripping a bandage on a raw cut. It would be brutal and it would hurt. And knowing Jemma, she would want to retaliate. I just hoped we braced ourselves enough and were ready for what was surely to come.

        The door opened and a second later, Brene entered my office, holding the glass door open for Jemma who followed in.

          "James," she smiled as she approached my desk. I gestured for her to take a seat and waited until Brene closed the door to take a seat, myself. "I'm surprised you called me to meet here."

         "I imagine you fair well?" I asked, though I didn't care either way. I was civil with Jemma but by no means were we on friendly terms. She did things that I might have forgiven her for, but would never forget. I was giving her the benefit of a doubt to see if she had changed or was the same woman who poisoned her newborn baby, four years ago.

        Though she had explained to me that she was in a horrible head space and that she loved her child and would have never intentionally hurt him, if it wasn't because of how mentally unstable she was. I still had my doubts, like why was she showing up now after so many years?

         She said it took her years to get over what had happened and that seeking professional help was the first step she took to get her life in order. That at least I understood. Seeing as I had to do the same for myself to win Charlotte and be a better person. Something I was still on.

         "Yes, I'm well. Thank you. I'm happy you called me to meet as I have something I wanted to talk to you about."

        I frowned. What could she possibly have to talk to me about. I took a longer look at her and noticed how she kept flicking something seemingly invisible off her lap. She was nervous, but why? I knew I had that effect on most people, but Jemma? She's never shown that much nervousness toward me.