Props and Mayhem

Emme was on Google Translate. She wasn’t sure how accurate it was, but she needed answers, fast. She scrabbled around on the bed for the package, not taking her eyes from the computer screen. She lifted the box of Jaffa Cakes from within and squinted to read the permanent marker message scrawled across its front. “’Te quiero’,” she murmured to herself.
Once the page had loaded, Emme scrolled down to read the Spanish to English translation. It said that Jaime’s message meant “I love you”. Emme wanted to throw the Jaffa Cakes across the room, but she didn’t, only because she didn’t want to damage the food. Instead, she kicked the original package off the bed.
And then she did the only thing she could do in a situation such as this. She called Jayne.
It was fairly late, but Jayne still picked up the phone, sounding tired but happy to hear from her. “Emme? What’s up? And perfect timing,” she added. “I was about to go to bed.”
“Oh, I’ll be quick, then.” Emme tucked her foot under her other leg. “I got a package from Jaime. And a note.”
There was a sharp intake of breath on the other line. “I thought he broke up with you,” said Jayne indignantly. She sounded hesitant to mention it and to bring up old wounds.
“So did I.” Emme sighed. “He sent me Jaffa Cakes with ‘I love you’ written on the box. It was in Spanish,” she explained.
“Is he trying to mess with you?” demanded Jayne. “What a jerk.”
Emme wasn’t sure if Jaime was trying to mess around with her. She didn’t want to think badly of him, but it was likely. He hadn’t treated her well when he’d broken up with her for no reason, after all. “I don’t know.” She sighed again. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“That’s probably the point.” Then Jayne’s tone shifted. She sounded calmer, gentler—more like herself. “Or he could have sent it to you when we were still all together in London. When you guy s were still—well, you know what I mean,” she finished hesitantly.
Emme wished she could simply dismiss it as this. “No,” she answered flatly, “it says it was sent from Paris. Their next show was in Paris.”
There was a rustling on Jayne’s end of the phone, as if she was unfolding a piece of paper or collecting old scraps of wrapping paper. “Oh. This whole thing is so weird,” she finally said. “Do you want me to call Jesse and see what’s going on? I’m sure he’d know.”
Emme shook her head, then realized Jayne couldn’t see her. She didn’t want to involve Jesse or any of the other boys. It was her issue, and, plus, being tossed out like she’d been was embarrassing. The fewer that knew of it, the better. “I have Jaime’s phone number. I’ll call him, and he can explain it.”
“Okay. Well, if you chicken out—or just change your mind—let me know. I really don’t mind.” She paused, laughing, and added, “and I better get at least one of those Jaffa Cakes.”
Emme actually cracked a smile. “You will.”

In Jayne’s words, Emme did chicken out at first. Only a little. But she didn’t call Jaime right away, as she’d intended. She went to sleep because she didn’t know what time it would be in Europe with the time difference, and then when she woke up, puttered around the house, doing whatever dumb tasks she could think of. She could feel herself stalling, but she just didn’t know how—or want—to stop. Finally, though, her mother suggested that she clean the bathrooms, since she was already being so helpful. That certainly snapped her out of it.
Emme went to her room and sat down, hard, on her bed. Her cell phone was clenched in one shaking hand, and she felt short of breath. She only hoped she wasn’t having a heart attack. She shook it off the best she could and dialed, pressing the phone against her ear.
“Hello?” He picked up almost immediately.
Emme’s face flushed at the sound of his voice. It was maddening that he could still make her blush. She was just glad that he couldn’t see. “Um, hi.” She didn’t know how to phrase her question without her being the one who sounded like an insensitive jerk.
“Oh, man, Emme?” Jaime sounded shocked to even be hearing from her.
“It’s me. And first off, I just want to say… I love you, too,” Emme blurted.
Oh, God. This was not going to help matters at all.