Start Again (Completed)

Chapter Four

"What are you doing here?"

Jasper closed my bedroom door, of course my mother thought we were sharing a bedroom like any other married couple. If only she knew we hadn't shared a bed in half a year and now she expects us to share my small double bed.

He was not allowed in it.

"Is that how you greet me after a three hour drive? Do you know shitty the roads are filled with potholes."

I scoffed, "You drive more for your meetings, so why are you really here?" I picked up some of my things off the ground and chucked it into my suitcase. Did he need me to accompany him to some meeting pretending everything was okay?

"Do you want some water?" I asked when he didn't reply.

Silence, of course.

Jasper was on the bed studying his phone carefully, the bridge between his eyebrows knotted as he studied what I probably think was another email. I gave up.

"Who's car is out the front?"

Jasper looked up briefly but was back onto his phone when he answered me, "Oh, the insurance company."

"Oh, what happened to our car?"

"Small scratch nothing big."

A small scratch wouldn't mean the insurance company would give us a new car. Did that mean there was an accident? My eyes ran over what skin I could see, I couldn't recognise any bruises or cuts.

"Are you okay?" I asked, hesitantly wondering if he was feeling alright to drive all this way here.

"I'm here aren't I." he muttered focused on the screen.

I clenched my jaw, why did I bother?

I dropped the subject, "Okay well go have a shower or something. I'll go help mum with the dinner." Whenever Jasper came over she seemed to have gone overboard with the food and then Jasper would come and eat less than me and we would have leftovers for the day.

"Ok." I heard a voice say, too fixated on his phone as I closed the door, and sure enough I could hear mum talking to herself in the kitchen as I walked in.

"Mum....don't over cook."

"But Jasper is here, I might make his favourite, the chicken and leek pie."

"He already had food at work so he won't eat much." I lied.

"Yes I will."

I looked over my shoulder, confused why he was in the kitchen. Wasn't he going to take a shower?

"I will always have room for your chicken pie Megan." I rolled my eyes, of course he would say that now.

Jasper walked past me, rolling up the sleeves on his white shirt that looked freshly ironed. Did he come straight from work?

As he walked me I smelt the familiar scent I had gotten used to, it used to mean comfort and home, now it was just familiar, bland, boring.

"Let me cut something up." he offered.

"Oh no Jasper, you get ready hun, I'll have it all ready in a jiffy." my mother waves a hand trying to usher him out of the kitchen. I stood there and watched.

"That's alright. I'll cut up these leeks."

"Oh thank you...Um Bella how about you set up the table. The crust of the pie is done and I already started the sauce so it won't be long." she finally gave up