Connexion

Part 105

Caleb watched the emotion in Jena's eyes, and again confirming he was right. She operates from a compassion-stance. Caleb pointed out, in a calm, laconic, drawl, "Yes, she is worried. The fact, you are working from home and the fact you have cancelled an invoice for a cake that generated great reviews. No complaints, no problems. But you told her to cancel the invoice!" He glanced over at Jena, and said with a sigh,"And Sophie said the twinkles in your eyes have vanished."

She asked in a taciturn tone, "Twinkles?"

"Yes, actually her words were 'sparkles'. But I know what she meant. I agree. Your eyes always had an inner glow. No sight of that twinkle at the moment. Even when you came to my office, I could see the fire in your eyes, now, no sparkle at all. No even a glint, no embers at all. That is not you. So my question is, what is going here?"

"Nothing." She muttered. That was not true. She just did not have the energy to fuel the sparks in her eyes, because her mind had other pressing matters to deal with.

"Another question."  His exasperation snapped the question out. "Have I caused this?"

"No." Sort of, she thought, but was sure this was not the right time to tell him about the situation. Especially as she felt vulnerable at this moment.

Trying to rein his exasperation, he said "Sophie thinks it has something to do with me, and something to do with the wedding. She things something happened between us at the wedding!" This was harder than he expected: trying to work out what had happened.

"Us? " She muttered. This is the problem. But again, she thought this was not the right time for this conversation, especially as she had not worked out a plan. In any case, he was approaching this from a blinkered position. Best to keep him blinkered. "You know we barely spoke at the reception because I was busy and you were a guest. I suggest you tell your sister that!"

Silence.

Caleb reviewed his memories of that night. "So, is that the reason? That we did not talk at the reception."

"No!"

Not point asking Julie or Jena, the question was who could shed light on the event? A few moments later, he frowned, as another memory surfaced. Caleb knew the man. He frowned, "I saw you talking to Mike."

"Mike?" She pretended she did not know the man.

"Jena! I know you know his sister was the bride. Mike, the youngest in the Jakings family, remember him. Brown hair, stocky, usually charming."

"Yes. So what?" She mumbled.

"You and I both know you were talking to him."

She flushed, as she tried to bank her embarrassment and concerns, perhaps the debacle origins stemmed from this, she reviewed the situation in her mind. "I understand that is acceptable." 

"What was not acceptable was the fact he made you cry." He said bluntly.

"I was not crying!"

"Close! He made you cry."

"No he didn't." Jena huffed.

"Yes he did. Something he said. I could see you were trying not to cry.  Mike is a good friend and I know he is a good guy! He is normally charming, friendly, is always polite. So what did he do? Why were you upset?" Even at that time, Caleb was tempted to approach at that time, because he was surprised by the protection-feeling that erupted in his heart. "I was making my way to you and Mike when I was stopped by the happy couple, so by the time they moved on, you were not there. You were definitely..."

"A speck of dirt in my eye." She lied blithely.

He ignored her red herring. "Does this have something to do with Julie? Did you talk to Mike and Julie? Did they upset you?"

"Of course I spoke to them." She said with sarcasm.

"So either Mike or Julie upset you?" He reiterated his question.

Jena reached for the bottle and topped up her glass and said nothing.

He growled. "Bloody stubborn!" He thought he was not handling this situation well, at all. This was the first time he has seen her being sarcastic or caustic. He glanced at Jena and announced, "Jena, either you tell me, or I phone Mike."

She said curtly, "I suggest you phone him or your girlfriend, but, perhaps you can do that, after you leave here! As I said, this is my down-time! And I have no intention of catering for your presence here!"

"You are really stubborn!" He got to his feet and reached for his mobile in his pocket, he muttered, "Headstrong!" He pressed buttons, and he watched Jena while he waited for the call to connect.

Their gazes locked. Neither said anything.

He thought Mike might be the best option. There was so much to sort out, and fixing this current situation might help him to resume his relationship with Jena. Trying to account for the sense of loss when he could not see her, or the adrenalin when she was there, had him down on his knees, praying that she'd give him a chance.

His call was answered.

"Mike, Caleb." Pause. Nod. "Yes. Thanks. Yes, meant to." Pause. "Yes." Pause. "I know." Pause. "A good time to chat, assuming I have not interrupted anything." Pause. "Good. Yes. You are right. I did have a good reason to phone you!" Pause. "Yes. A couple of questions." Pause. "Last weekend..." Pause. "No. I was thinking about the reception." Pause. "Yes, good reception. I spoke to your parents and they were delighted, and I know your sister and her new husband were ecstatic! All sung your praises." Pause. "Yes. I think you did a great job, it all went off without a hitch. All looked happy." Long pause. "Except Jena. I saw you and Jena." Pause. "Yes, Ms Silva, the person who made the cake." Long pause.

Jena could hear Mike's words when Caleb resumed his seat.

Mike said. "Oh, yes, I remember her. I spoke to her at the reception."

"I know. Did you have an issue with the wedding cake..."

"The cake? Why? Of course not. The cake was perfect. People raved about it. Actually my parents tell me, people who phone them, all talk about it!"

Caleb thought he should cut to the chase, "Mike, I saw you talking to Jena at the wedding. What did you say to her?"

"What do you mean? What I said to her?"

"What did you say to her?"

"Ms Silva said something to Julie, your plus-one at the reception and Ms Silva walked away. Julie looked shocked so I approached Julie. And based on what she told me, I had a chat with Ms Silva. I was sorry for Julie."

"Julie..."

Mike frowned as he wondered about this conversation and interrupted Caleb, "Didn't your date tell you about it?"

"If I understood you, are you saying, Jena was rude to Julie?"

"Yes, that is what Julie said. I thought Julie would tell you about it?"

"You didn't hear it? What Jena said to Julie?"

"No." Mike frowned again.

"Julie reported it to you?"

"Yes. Not sure she actually meant to tell me, but I could see that Julie was upset, so I asked her if she was ok. And eventually she explained." Mike asked, "Is there a problem here, Caleb?"

"Depends. Just trying to work out what happen. So, you told Jena what exactly?" His eyes roved over Jena and could see she was squirming.

"I told her, the cake was great, but being rude to a guest is unacceptable." Mike said bluntly. "We allowed contractors into the reception but expect them to be well dressed, blend in, and definitely not be rude to our guests! So I had a word with Ms Silva about her conduct and what she said to Julie. Julie was your plus-one at the reception and you were our family's guest at my sister's wedding. And Ms Silva was rude to her."

Caleb growled. "You had a word with Jena, about her conduct?" He shook his head. "Mike, from my position, she was close to crying."

"Who? Julie? She was not in tears, just upset..."

"I meant Jena. You had a word with Jena about her conduct?"