The Inheritances Game (Jameson Hawthorne)

The Fireplace

By the time I woke up half the day had already passed, I stretched before getting out of bed and heading to the kitchen. Every cabinet was full with food, I looked through everything to find something I felt like making before I finally got an idea. I was going to make French Toast. I looked up a recipe and got started, once done I sat down and started eating when I heard a door open.

"What's an anagram for the word naked."

It's 11:30 in the afternoon Jamie." I said sighing, he just shrugged.

"French toast yum." He said sitting next to me.

I slapped his hand away. "Make your own breakfast."

"Lunch." he corrected grabbing a piece as I glared at him. "I was thinking to start with searching for secret passages."

"Then codes?"

"Exactly." After hours of searching for any sign of a clue, Jameson finally stumbled upon a triangular mirror.

"Hey Cal come here." I joined him next to the fireplace where he was holding a triangular mirror. "How did I not think to check the fireplace. It's always the fireplace."

I grabbed the mirror from him, "What do you think it means?"

"Not sure."

"How do we know it is connected to the disk?"

"We don't." He said smiling.

I put the mirror on a side table, "We'll figure it out with Avery later, for now just relax." I set the fire and sat down watching the crackling fire, its warm embrace providing comfort from the chilly night. The soft glow of the flames illuminated the room, casting dancing shadows on the walls. Jameson just stared at me for a minute before sitting next to me.

"I can break, I can be clogged, I can be attacked, I can be given, I can be kept, I can be crushed, yet I can be whole at the same time. What am I?" I looked at Jameson, who kept his eyes on the fire.

I sat up, "A riddle."

"I like riddles." He said shrugging.

I sighed, "Jamie." I whispered; I really did like him. I couldn't keep myself from thinking about our last kiss and how much I wanted to kiss him again. I tried to not think about it, I tried to just be friends, I tried to pretend... But I couldn't. He wouldn't look at me. "Jae." I said again almost begging him to look at me. I put my hand on his cheek and moved his face to face me. I knew what I wanted finally.

"Cal" he sighed.

"Jae."

"Don't do this to me."

"I want this."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Really sure?"

"Jae how many times do I hav-" I stopped, our eyes met. I saw a knowing smile on his face which I instantly replicated.

As we leaned in our lips met once again, but this kiss held a different kind of passion—a mix of exhilaration and determination. The kiss conveyed the unspoken promise that we were in this adventure together, no matter where it led. The fire crackled in agreement, as if adding its blessing to the newfound resolve. In that moment, by the fireplace; we were partners in love, sharing our passion for adventure and each other in a place where mysteries were both uncovered and created.

We broke apart out of breath. "By the way the answer to your riddle is your heart." I whispered into his ear.

Jameson was about to say something when his phone rang. He looked at his phone before showing it to me. Avery.

"Answer it, I'll be back." He nodded and I headed to the bathroom, my cheeks were flushed, and my hair was a mess. I brushed my hair but it didn't get much better, I relented and put it up in a ponytail. Then I splashed some water on my face before heading back out.

"How's Tuscany?" I heard Avery ask.

"The birthplace of the Italian Renaissance? Full of winding roads, hills and valleys, where a morning mist rolls out in the distance, and the forests are littered with leaves so golden red that the entire world feels like it's on fire in the very best way? That Tuscany?"

"Yes," she murmured. "That Tuscany."

"I've seen better." He said shrugging

"Jameson!" I said sitting next to him. "What do you want to hear about first: Siena, Florence, or the vineyards?"

"Tell me about the villa."

"Your Tuscan villa was built in the seventeenth century. It's supposedly a farmhouse but looks more like a castle, and it's surrounded by more than a hundred acres of olive orchard. There's a pool, a wood-fired pizza oven, and a massive stone fireplace original to the house." I said.

"And when you checked the fireplace?"

"We found something." Jameson said.

"A clue?"

"Probably," Jameson replied. "But to what puzzle?"

"If you don't tell her, I will end you, Hawthorne." I said getting annoyed at his staling.

"And I," Jameson replied, "would very much enjoy being ended." Avery looked confused while my traitorous lips threatened a smile.

Tasting victory, Jameson gave the answer. "We found a triangular mirror."

"We'll figure out what the disk was. The world is the board. We just have to keep rolling the dice."

"Keep going. Keep looking."

"Got it."

Jameson hung up before turning to me. "Seems like we have unfinished business."

I yawned. "I don't think so, I'm going to bed." I said smiling coyly.

Short Jamesons Pov from before bc I felt like it

As I leaned in for a renewal to the long-awaited kiss with Catalina, the girl I had been secretly in love with for a while, a sudden, unexpected interruption shattered the moment. Just as our lips were about to meet again, the shrill ringing of my cellphone pierced the air, jolting us apart.

I fumbled in my pocket, cursing the untimely intrusion, and pulled out my phone. The name "Avery" flashed on the screen, and I knew it was the same call we get every night, but the timing couldn't have been worse.