Unable to wait until later to tell Jade all that had happened, since Harry knew how worried she probably was, the moment he got into his car, he dialed Jade's line and connected his phone to the car's Bluetooth device so he could speak with her as he drove.
Almost immediately, the call connected, "Tell me you are done with the meeting. How did it go with Aurora? Was she very mad?" Jade asked anxiously, and Harry smiled.
"Calm down," Harry said softly.
"I can't. I've paced around my bedroom so much that I won't be surprised if there is a crack on the floor," Jade said, and Harry chuckled.
"Well, the meeting was quite interesting and nothing as I expected. Aurora is wonderful," Harry said, deliberately stalling since he wanted her to sweat a bit.
"Aurora is wonderful? So one date with her, and you're in love with her now?" Jade asked with a hiss, and Harry chuckled.
"I didn't say that. I'm not. But I think Philip might be. I left them together," Harry said, and Jade paused.
"Philip?" she asked, trying to remember who that was.
"Yeah. You remember him, don't you? The guy we met at the restaurant the same night we met Tanya. The owner of Golden Lotus Restaurant...."
"Your friend who tried to hit on me because I'm Tom's sister?" Jade asked with a scowl, and Harry chuckled.
"I'm sure that wasn't why he tried to hit on you, but yeah. That's Philip."
"How did he meet Aurora? Wait, what exactly happened?" Jade asked curiously.
"Well, don't be surprised, okay? Aurora suspected all along that I was in love with you and you with me," Harry said, and Jade's mouth dropped open in surprise.
"That can't be true," Jade said in disbelief as she tried to recall all her conversations with Aurora to see if Aurora ever acted like she knew of her feelings for Harry.
"Well, it is. Thankfully she brought it up before I could, and...."
"I don't want a summary, Jonas. I want details. What exactly led to it?" Jade cut in impatiently as she sat in the middle of her bed with both legs folded under her.
Jade did her best to patiently listen to Harry tell her about his discussion with Aurora.
"She is moving to Ludus? She didn't mention that when we met," Jade cut in.
"Maybe that's because she is still thinking about it," Harry said and continued his story.
"Wait, what? She deliberately talked about getting married to you to get a rise out of me?" Jade asked in disbelief, and Harry chuckled.
"Yes."
"So I've been worried this whole time for nothing?" Jade asked as she let herself fall back on the bed and give in to the overwhelming feeling of relief.
"Obviously. She is smarter than you gave her credit for," Harry said, and Jade's lips curved in a relieved smile.
"She is crazy," Jade murmured and then sat up when she remembered what Harry had said about Philip.
"So, what's up between her and your friend?" Jade asked, and Harry continued the story.
"I don't mind learning how to fish for her sake. That's the least I can do to apologize to her and thank her for not making a big deal out of my fuck up," Jade said, and Harry smiled.
"I knew you were going to say that, so I agreed to a hangout. I'm going to talk to Tom so he and Lucy can join us. It would be the six of us."
"Does that mean Aurora and Philip are an item?" Jade asked with interest.
"Seeing how Philip offered to pick her up and escort her to the anniversary dinner, I suppose they might very well be on their way there. They were chatting like long-time best friends when I left them at the restaurant," Harry said, and Jade smiled in relief.
"I never knew people could hook up over something as ordinary as fishing," Jade said, and Harry chuckled.
"Do not let either of them hear you. I don't think they will appreciate you referring to such a sacred ritual as ordinary," Harry said, and Jade giggled.
"Your friend, Philip. He is single, right? I mean, unattached? The last thing I want is for her to get hurt," Jade said after a slight pause.
"I'm sure he is. Philip knows better than to toy with Aurora. I introduced her to him as my friend, so I'm sure he knows not to mess with her," Harry assured her with his gaze fixed on the road.
"So, I guess I get to be your date to the anniversary party?" she asked hopefully.
"There is no guessing. How about we go on a dinner date tomorrow?" Harry asked, and Jade's eyes lit up as she quickly got off the bed.
"A dinner date?"
"Yeah. I will pick you up by six after I get out of work," Harry said, and Jade threw her phone on the bed and screeched happily, making Harry laugh.
"Wait!" Jade quickly picked up her phone again when she remembered something.
"I forgot to ask. What about your meeting with Sara? How did it go?" Jade asked as she moved to her closet to see if she had something suitable to wear to a dinner date.
"It was smooth. You won't believe all the lies she told me," Harry said with a shake of his head.
"What lies?"
"I will tell you all about it tomorrow...."
"No! I don't want to spend my first date with you talking about her," Jade quickly cut in.
"Alright. I will give you the details over the phone when I'm less busy," Harry promised.
"I guess that means I'm not seeing you today then," Jade said with a pout.
"Yeah. I'm spending the evening with my dad, Candace, and Jamal," Harry said, and Jade sighed.
"That's fine. I will just have to go to bed early. That way, it will be tomorrow already by the time I wake up," Jade said, and Harry grinned.
"I love you, esquire," Harry said, and before she could respond, her phone buzzed with an awaiting call notification.
"I love you too. I have to go. Aurora is calling. Talk to you later," Jade said quickly as she disconnected Harry's call and received Aurora's call.
"Aura...."
"I guess you were on the phone with our sweet old uncle Harry?" Aurora asked dryly.
"I'm very sorry, Aura. It was not my intention to hook you up with him and then go behind you to get involved with him. Things just turned out that way," Jade rushed to say.
"Harry already apologized on your behalf, and he also promised that y'all will go fishing with me, so I'm cool," Aurora said dismissively.
"Are we really cool? No hard feelings?" Jade asked cautiously.
"Of course we are. It wasn't like I was dating Harry yet or anything. It was an honest mistake on your end, so I see no reason to lose a friend over it. Besides, Harry introduced me to a fine-ass guy who loves fishing," Aurora said with a girly laugh.
"So I heard," Jade said with an easy smile. She made a mental note to treat Aurora even better and take their friendship more seriously now.
"Phil asked me to have dinner with him tonight, and since I have nothing planned for the evening, I agreed. Can you do me a favor and find out for sure if he is single? I hate to invest my time or emotion in other people's men."
"You could ask him directly," Jade pointed out.
"Sure, I already did. He said he is single. I just want to be extra sure. After seeing how those women almost dealt with your brother's girlfriend, I don't want to be in any way associated with...."
"Harry wouldn't leave you alone with him if he didn't trust him," Jade said simply, and Aurora sighed.
"Alright. I will keep my fingers crossed. When are we meeting? You promised we would meet after my date with Harry," Aurora reminded her.
"We could meet today if you're not too busy...."
"I was hoping you would say that. I need to go shopping, and I want you to come with me," Aurora said excitedly.
"Shopping?"
"Yeah. I need to get something to wear. I have a date tonight, remember? I only came to Ludus with two date outfits. One for my date with Harry and the other for the anniversary dinner party. Why don't we go together, and then you can fill me in on how you finally got to realize you're in love with your old uncle Harry? I love to hear a good love story," Aurora said hopefully, and Jade smiled.
"Alright. Let's do that. I think I might also need a dress for my first date with Harry and for the anniversary dinner party," Jade said, and Aurora squealed excitedly.
"Perfect! Although I'm not very familiar with Ludus, I'm sure we can both find our way around," Aurora said, and once they had agreed on a place and time for their meeting, Jade hung up the call and let out a deep sigh of relief, feeling even more than grateful now that the whole thing had not blown over her face.
She was glad that everyone was happy.
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