Free Me and Mr. Write by Cassandra P Lewis

and of course she was in Thailand if she’s a friend of Steve’s too, that’s nothing to be angry about Rosie. You need to let go of these trust issues or you are going to lose him” I know she’s right, I just needed to vent.
     
    We sit for dinner at one large table; there are maybe twenty five of us here. Steve’s parents have been lovely all evening, telling me how happy they are to see Jackson finally settling down, so I’m pleased when they sit opposite Pip and I at the dinner table making conversation easy. Jackson is seated to my right, opposite Steve and Sasha has sat herself on the other side of him. I feel ok whilst Jackson is holding my hand, but when he releases it and turns his back slightly toward me to talk to Sasha, I feel a little rejected.
    I try to ignore the feelings and tell myself that he is just trying not to be rude, but when I glance up to see the look that Steve is giving the two of them, I know there is something that I haven’t been told. After the main course I reach for Jackson’s hand and he looks me in the eye with a smile,
    “Can I have a word please? In private…” Jackson eyes me curiously but stands and takes my hand again as we walk away from the table, I can feel eyes burning a hole into my back and I presume that it’s Sasha’s, maybe Steve’s too.
    “What’s up baby?” Jackson asks so affectionately that I immediately feel ridiculous for feeling so insecure,
    “It’s Sasha, I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me about her, am I wrong?” I ask softly, not wanting Jackson to feel like I’m attacking or accusing him. He looks away for a moment scratching the back of his head, and then looks back to me,
    “Ok, listen, Sasha and I are just friends. There are no feelings between us other than that of mates, you need to understand that” he looks at me as though he is waiting for me to acknowledge that I do, “But, yes we have slept together, in the past Rosie”
    I knew it so I don’t know why I feel annoyed, maybe it’s just that I can tell that she has more than feelings of friendship toward Jackson, but he has been honest with me as I asked him to. I close my eyes for a second and take a breath, when I open them Jackson is looking cautiously at me, I can see the worry in his eyes, he is unsure what my reaction will be,
    “Thank you, for telling me” I smile and hold out my hand for him to take as we head back to the dinner table. He is mine, and Sasha can’t do anything to change that.
     
    The wedding is beautiful, Annie’s smile lights up the whole room and Steve looks so happy and in love that I can’t help but feel inspired. After the ceremony the bride and groom and their families head out for some photos in the frosty gardens of the hotel, most of the guests stay out of the cold and drink champagne whilst watching the action out of the windows of the bar.
    Jackson is Steve’s best man and I smile as I watch them posing for photographs together, both pausing to blow on their hands and rub them frantically together in an attempt to warm them up.
    Annie has on a white wedding coat which contrasts with her dark skin and exotic beauty making her look quite striking as she smiles for the camera. Before long Steve calls for everyone that was at the Thai wedding to come for a photo, I watch as Sasha makes a beeline for Jackson’s side and stands inappropriately close to him, smiling and hunching her shoulders to show how cold she is. Jackson smiles and wraps an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her arm to warm her up.  There is something in the way that she looks at him, there is more to their relationship than Jackson has told me, I just know there is, and from the look that Pip throws my way she knows it now too.
     
    I refuse to cause a scene at the wedding and so resign myself to having a great night and asking Jackson about it tomorrow, but after sitting through Jackson’s speech with Sasha looking at him like a lovesick teenager and