The Bodyguard

41.

present day

It had been a long time since Jasper sat face to face with his mom.

Up until now, the feeling was foreign — it had escaped him. And now, Jasper sat before her: the woman who he could hardly bring himself to look at without a sense of indignation washing over him.

She'd called him here; made him sit on the opposite side of her desk while her assistant came bustling back and forth. It was purposeful — the way she made him wait.

She'd yet to say a word to him, rather she was working as usual. As if his presence ceased to exist.

She could feel his growing irritation. His visible anger. His eyes that held such vexation, she could feel them piercing her as she worked mindlessly.

Jasper was never good at hiding his emotions. Annoyance, frustration were not exempt.

Even Karla's assistant felt the tangible tension in the room. She'd glance at Jasper every once in a while and see that his eyes never left Karla. Slow and calculating.

"That'll be all for now," Karla spoke sincerely, shooing away the iPad her assistant held next to her.

It had been close to an hour by now.

"Thank you."

The door shut behind her moments later, leaving an oppressing silence in her wake.

Karla's eyes finally met Jasper's. It was the first time she'd acknowledged him since he arrived. There was a sense of urgency behind his cold gaze that she could not make out.

Regardless, she didn't turn away

She didn't know what she was looking for. Maybe she was searching for something else behind his eyes. Or maybe she was searching for the pieces of him that she could still salvage.

The pieces that she broke.

The search was futile, anyway. As soon as she felt she had gotten through, Jasper's impenetrable expression took over.

Sometimes she wondered how he managed to have such an expressionless demeanor, but simultaneously tell her everything she needed to know.

"Don't look so damper," she spoke calmly.

It filled the quiet space around them just as effectively as it would had she been yelling.

"I'm ahead in every category, you know?" She began. "Each one. They love me. I'm going to be a United States Senator again."

Jasper swore he felt his spine tingle. The muscles in his jaw had yet to relax in the past hour.

"Is that why you called me here?" He asked. "To gloat?"

Karla gave him a weak smile and breathed through her nose. It could have almost passed as genuine.

It could've fooled the press. Her constituents. Her liaisons. Anyone who didn't grow up with her and know the secret behind every expression and tick of her jaw. Jasper didn't know if she'd genuinely smiled in a long time.

"Every single category," she ignored his previous comment. "But one."

Her face dropped slightly. A signal that she had no intention on making this conversation easy.

"Do you want to know what is it?"

Her son was silent. Not only because he knew it was rhetorical, but because he also knew nothing he said would be received.

"Family values," she answered for herself. "I am better than Bryce in every regard. I'm smarter than him. I'm much more well educated. I have made a name for myself out of nothing. But God forbid a woman have a couple rebellious children. Then her integrity is ruined. Then she's not fit to be a Senator. Then she doesn't have enough hold to keep her kids in line, let alone hold a seat on the Senate. Men get to abuse and screw their way to the top, but women? We have to be fucking perfect."