The Assassin's Folly

Jareth woke up on Wednesday with a splitting headache. He groaned and sat up. At first he thought he was naked until he saw his boxers. He rubbed his eyes, trying to remember what happened the night before. He glanced over at the clock on his bedside table. It was almost noon and there was a note written on a scrap of paper.

Jareth, before you freak out, nothing happened. Give me a call when you’re feeling better. – Zarah

He stretched, thankful that she had told him nothing happened. His clothes were placed neatly on the end of his bed and his shoes tucked under. He stood up and took an Advil with some water.

First he called his sister. “I am so sorry for getting drunk last night,” he said when she answered.

“It’s ok,” she said. “I understand. Did Zarah get you home ok?”

“Yeah. She left, though.”

She must have heard the disappointment in his voice because she said, “That’s good. Now you know she won’t take advantage of you.”

“I hope you’re right. She wants me to call her when I’m feeling better.”

“Perhaps you should give it a day.”

“Why?”

“Just trust me.”

“If you say so,” he replied. “I think I’m going to have Dad come over later. Do you want to join us?”

“Thanks but Jenny’s sick. The babysitter said she had a fever last night.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Give her extra love from her uncle.”

She laughed. “I will. Talk to you later.”

He hung up and sent a text to his dad, asking him to come by for dinner. He wanted to spend time with him, to remind him that even though Marcus was gone, Jareth was still there.

Hey son. I’d love to come over for dinner. I’ll be there at five.

Jareth confirmed that he received the text and began to tidy up his kitchen. He hoped Zarah hadn’t seen the mess his house was. Then again, it was dark so maybe she just went straight to his bedroom.

He decided on his father’s favorite food: hamburgers with homemade fries. They were done right about the time his dad arrived.

Jareth gave him a good hug and led him to the kitchen.

“I know it’s been a while since you’ve had this,” Jareth said, “so I figured I’d make you some hamburgers.”

“They smell delicious,” he grinned and sat down, tucking a napkin into his lap. “Peter is looking forward to working with you tomorrow,” he said after a few minutes of eating. “He has some ideas he wants to go over with you about the Christmas party and some plans for marketing.”

Jareth nodded, chewing on his burger. “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“When did you know you loved Mom?”

His dad stared at him for a long minute. He sighed, dipping a fry in ketchup. “Right around the time I mentioned I was poor,” he answered. “I had just figured out my concept for business loans and I was trying to find an investor.” He smiled nostalgically. “I remember it well: we were at a café and she was wearing a yellow sundress. When I told her, she just gave me a radiant smile, put a hand on mine, and told me ‘I don’t really care. Just as long as you follow your dreams.’ I asked her what if she was poor with me and she said, ‘Why worry about being poor when we can have our whole lives together?’” He dabbed at his eyes with his napkin. “I proposed not long after.” Jareth smiled. “Are we talking about Zarah?”

“I don’t know,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “There’s something about her, Dad. She’s beautiful, understanding, kind… She went through all that trouble to find out what happened to Marcus and took care of me. But I feel like there’s something I don’t know about her.”

His dad tilted his head to the side. “You think she’s in it for the money?”

Jareth shook his head, taking a gulp of water. “No. I was at her apartment and she’s definitely well off. It’s like there’s a secret she’s not sharing. But do I even deserve to know what the secret is? What have I done for her?”

“When your mother first got sick, I asked myself the same question. She stuck through so much for me. But I couldn’t remember the last time I did something for her. So, I went to the local jewelry shop – there was only one at the time – and got her a ring she had been wanting for a long time. I also got her a bouquet of flowers and some chocolates. You know, the cliché gifts.” Jareth smiled. “Then, I went home and proposed to her again.”

Jareth hadn’t expected that. “Why?”

“When we got married, we didn’t have the money for a ring. I gave her one that belonged to your grandmother. She cherished it, but I’d always wanted to get her a proper wedding ring. I got so consumed with business, though, that I never got the chance. You should have seen the joy and love in her eyes.” Jareth nodded, understanding. “So, find something special that Zarah likes and surprise her.”

“Well, I know she’s a writer,” Jareth mused. “I don’t know what she writes, though.”

His father grinned. “I have the perfect idea.”

-

Thursday seemed to drag on forever. Peter not only wanted to go into great detail about the Christmas party, he also wanted to pat himself on the back for his marketing ideas. Jareth didn’t have the heart to tell him that his ideas were seriously flawed. Peter was the Vice President and had been for ten years. As far as Jareth knew, Peter didn’t know the last thing about marketing.

“So, what do you think?” Peter asked after suggesting everything from a cheesy commercial to a bold bill board sign.

Jareth pretended to think. “Well, the commercial is a decent idea. But we already have several. The bill board concept has promise but we have to be careful.”

Peter frowned. “Why?”

“It costs a lot to rent a space for bill boards these days,” Jareth explained.

Peter scoffed. “Like we don’t have enough!”

“That’s exactly my point. It’s good to have big ideas but you have to remember everything else. You want to put so much information on there, Peter, but people won’t have time to read that going 70 miles an hour down the highway.” Peter’s face started to go dark. Jareth could tell he was getting mad. “But I’ll pitch the idea to Mr. Adams.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “You’re about to take over the company, Jareth. You’ll be making these decisions later. What, do you want to work your dad into an early grave?”

Jareth jumped to his feet, his jaw set. Peter seemed to realize his mistake and he went pale.

“You’ll address me as Mr. Adams,” Jareth said, trying to keep his voice even. “And you will never mention my father in any kind of conversation again, do you understand me?”

“I didn’t mean-” he spluttered but Jareth pointed to his office door.

“Our appointment is over.”

Peter gathered his papers up in a rush and almost ran out of the room. Jareth’s heart was beating hard as he glared at the door. Just then, his phone rang.

“What?” he snapped without looking at it.

Silence then, “Did I call at a bad time?”

“Shit. Sorry, Zarah,” he sighed and sat down. “I just had a really rough meeting, that’s all.”

“It’s ok. You wanted me to call you?”

“Oh, right. I’m trying to think of a gift for my sister but I’m not very good at flowers. What do you think she would like?”

“Personally, I’d get her roses.”

He laughed. “What, are those your favorite?”

She laughed, too. “Every girl likes roses.”

He nodded, jotting that down on a notepad.

“That reminds me. You said you’re a writer. What kind of stuff do you write?”

“Don’t laugh at me,” she warned.

“I would never.”

“Mostly romance,” she said and he made another note. “Why do you ask?”

“The roses thing just reminded me. Um, about Tuesday night….”

“Hey, don’t worry.”

“I’ve never gotten so drunk before,” he admitted shamefully.

“There’s a first time for everything.” She groaned. “Ugh. I’ve got to go. My manager is calling me.”

“Talk to you soon,” he said and hung up.

He pulled his notepad closer and began planning out his ideas for Saturday night.