Itty bitty lie

Three weeks after Colleen and Aidan's successful dinner, they decided to get together. Or rather, Aidan proposed and Colleen was thrilled.

His little brother, Jackson, wasn't too happy about this Aidan coming into his sister's life so suddenly. He keeps a discreet eye on him but is still happy that his sister has another person in her life.

Three weeks turns into three months and soon Colleen and Aidan are celebrating a year and a half of relationship. Everything seemed to be going well for them. But from the perspective of those close to her, nothing was going right.

Everyone knew Colleen for her outspokenness and her tendency to say too much when she's nervous. She doesn't like to be the center of attention, but will go out of her way not to disappoint those closest to her when she has a task to complete.

After a few months, she missed the weekly gatherings with her friends; she saw her brother more and more rarely and when contact was made, a completely different Colleen presented herself to everyone. A quieter, more monotonous wardrobe, a language that is almost the opposite of what she used to use.

Aidan was transforming Colleen, everyone could see it, everyone could see it. Another thing that was also common knowledge: Colleen would not listen to anyone who opposed her views. It was annoying, especially for Jackson who grew up with his sister. He had to do something, but didn't know what.

It wasn't another very rainy day, for Jackson this time, that his doubts about Aidan turned out to be founded. His umbrella didn't let him down on the way but he decided to ward off the torrent of water under a florist's yard. He tells his girlfriend, Elena, that he will be late for dinner but that he will make up for it with his favorite flowers. He then enters the florist and takes some daisies and some lilies in two bouquets composed for his Belle.

On his way out, he meets a friend of his girlfriend who keeps him for another ten minutes in front of the flower store; fortunately, almost nobody was passing by. While saying goodbye to the girl, he notices a car that is not unknown to him at the corner of the street. A young man gets out, carrying an umbrella, he walks around the car and opens the passenger door, a redhead gets out and sticks a kiss on the lips of the man who smiles back at him. The two of them quickly go to a restaurant and enter.

Jackson couldn't believe what he was seeing. He's not wearing his glasses, maybe it's an optical illusion? It's raining anyway... Or maybe it's the fatigue of those weeks of hard work on the model plans he had to complete in record time. He shakes his head and goes back to his occupations, three steps later, curiosity overcomes him and he decides to turn around to pass in front of the restaurant and hope, in all honesty, not to find what he thought he saw.

As he gets closer, it feels like the rain is getting heavier and heavier, he even feels like his feet are weighing tons. He finally gets to the glass door, under a sunshade, and notices that it would take him three months of salary to be able to pay for a whole dinner for Ellie and him in this kind of place. Just as he was about to turn his back and leave, one of the diner's employees opened the door with a smile. "Good evening sir, welcome. How can I help you?"

Jackson remained stoic in front of the other man, who tried hard to keep a smile on his face in front of an emotionless face. "I... I'm looking for someone I thought was coming in here." The employee urges him to continue but Jackson keeps his mouth shut. "Do you have an appointment?" "No, but I wanted to check... "A blonde woman wearing the same uniform as the young man appears next to him and asks what's going on. "Sir" she approaches Jackson. "Can I help you?" He looks up at her and swallows his saliva. "Believe me or not, but I think I saw my sister's boyfriend come in here with a woman on his arm. I didn't want to come in, but she's my sister and I don't want her to suffer any more if that's what's going on."

The two waiters look at each other and the man shrugs. The woman wasn't in a position to share information about restaurant patrons with complete strangers, but she'd been in that situation a few years ago and hoped someone would love her enough to show her the way. "What's his name?" She asks. Her friend gives her the stink eye and whispers something in her ear.

Jackson's throat tightens and he prays he's perfectly wrong. "His name is Aidan Cho." The woman nods and walks away. The other employee follows her directly. He stands by the door, contemplating the flowers he bought for Elena. If he was the one in that restaurant with someone else and Ellie was in her place, right now; how would this all end? No, he could never cheat on her. He loves her way too much.

A few minutes pass and the young woman opens the door of the restaurant and leaves, taking Jackson's arm.

"Look, I'm not supposed to do this and if my boss finds out, I'm fired on the spot. But, I understand the situation, at least helping another woman makes me feel good."

"My sister loves her very much, you know? I'm doing this for her sake." He smiled sweetly at her, but the pain was undoubtedly painted on his face.

"The man's name is Aidan Cho, as you said. And the woman... her name is Sarah Thompson. But he asked the chef to put a ring in the dessert he ordered for her. So before long, she will be Sarah Cho."

Jackson remains standing in front of the young woman. He couldn't believe his ears. He didn't remember thanking the blonde, nor did he remember arriving home.

Elena opens the door for him and smiles when she sees the flowers. "Oh they are b..." She looks up at her boyfriend and sees that he was not in his normal state. She takes the flowers and directs him to the living room of their small apartment. He sits on the arm of the chair and his girlfriend leans against him and strokes his hair.

"What do you have?"

Elena wasn't too worried about Jackson's condition. Once he came home just like that and started crying in her arms. After he calmed down, he explained that he saw a cane crossing the street with its twelve ducklings little by little. Like his father, Jackson's heart was sometimes in his hands. Crying at a movie or a cute scene.

Since he still didn't answer, Elena gave him a kiss on his forehead. "Did a bird die in front of you?" She asks softly. He nods his head no. Jackson's chocolate skin was a pale hue and Elena didn't like it. "Tell me what happens at the end Jack!".

The young man swallows his saliva and lifts his head to look her in the eyes.

"If you found out I was cheating on you, how were you going to react?" Elena's heart suddenly twisted with pain and she was surprised that it hurt this much. She had to admit that she loved Jackson more than she loved anyone else.

"Are you cheating on me?" She asks. The young man shakes his head vigorously. "No, never. But, if it did happen, were you going to wish you'd found out yourself, or were you going to wish someone had told you?"

"What if it happens? Are you planning to cheat on me Jack?"

"No Ellie, of course not."

"Then why are you asking me these stupid questions? Get to the point."

Gathering all the courage he could show at this moment, he gets up. He lowers his eyes on Elena's hands, takes them and presses them lightly.

"Do you think I should tell my sister that her boyfriend is getting married to someone else or should I let her figure it out on her own?"

Elena opens her mouth to say something but nothing comes out. Not even a sound. Aidan is cheating on Colleen? She never liked the Asian man and she felt it was mutual from the start. Unlike Jackson who wanted to see the good in everyone, she never tried to talk to him or smile at him after their first meeting. Deep down, she wasn't surprised. But it made her feel bad for Colleen, poor thing.

"What happened?"

So Jackson sets out to recount everything that happened without leaving out a single detail.

"So he got engaged today to this girl?"

"Yeah."

Elena walks away and goes to their room to get her computer. "What are you doing?" Jackson asks. "An investigation."

Letting her implement her idea, she asks him if he should let her brother, Emmett, know.

"Emmett would break his bones one by one, Ellie. Remember the time they met?"

Oh, that Elena remembers very well. Emmett didn't like Aidan either. He and Elena were careful not to share their opinion, but it was a losing proposition. The others were still skeptical two years ago. Now their intuition had a reason to be: the attitude, Colleen's retreat, her missed calls, the change. She held back a Machiavellian smile that only Emmett could have understood. Her poor Jackson was far too soft for that.

"That's why we need Emmett. Who's to say he won't deny it? We have no proof and the poor waitress could lose her job if we implicate her."

After a good ten searches on Facebook, Elena finds what she was looking for. She turns the computer towards Jackson who opens his eyes wide. It's a picture of a hand with a ring on it that's much bigger than what he could have given Elena even after five years of hard work. The person who posted it was "SarahTpsnChoi."

"How did you find her?" Jackson asks, very impressed.

"I have my sources." She replies with a smile.