Free The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson by Paige Toon

woman turns and goes out of the door without so much as a thank you from Wendel. The man’s manners are even worse than my own.
    ‘I have to tell you that I’ve imagined this day coming on numerous occasions.’
    I feel like I’m sitting in the headmaster’s office. I’m surprised when Stu speaks.
    ‘In that case, you will have had plenty of time to think about where we go from here,’ he says, and I detect a hint of sarcasm to his tone.
    Wendel clears his throat. ‘It’s not that straightforward.’
    ‘Have you told Johnny about me?’ I find myself asking. His eyes meet mine.
    ‘He knows,’ he replies, his tone neutral.
    My heart jumps.
    ‘Does his family know?’
    ‘I’m not at liberty to discuss that,’ he replies, making me shrink back into myself. ‘What I would like to know from you, is what you expect to come from this?’ He stops short of asking me if I can be paid off. But I know that’s what he’s thinking, so I answer his unspoken question.
    ‘It’s not about money,’ I tell him firmly. ‘I want to meet my real dad. I’ve always wanted to meet him, or at the very least know who he is. But my mum died nearly six months ago, without telling me who he was. I thought I’d never know the truth, but now I do I’m not going to miss out on this opportunity. So you tell Johnny Jefferson that he’d better come clean to his family about me. Because I’m not going away. I won’t be bought. I’m here. And he owes me the courtesy of meeting me face to face.’
    Without realising it, I’ve stood up, my body wracked with tension and my nose tingling as I stare him down from across the table. Whoa. I sit back down with a bump. Then I realise that Wendel is regarding me with something that I would almost call respect, if that didn’t sound so cringey. Maybe he’s not used to being spoken to like that. Well, like I care who he is?
    ‘OK,’ he nods, a hint of a smile on his lips. ‘I’ll speak to my client.’
    Why doesn’t he just call him Johnny, like everyone else does?
    ‘But in the meantime, it would be wise for you to keep this quiet. Don’t go talking to any journalists—’
    ‘As if I would,’ I interrupt.
    ‘If she’d wanted to tell anyone, she already would have,’ Stu backs me up.
    His faith in me is a little unfounded, as I discover the next day when Natalie stalks into work and insists that I go for lunch with her.
    ‘Where have you been?’ she demands to know as we sit in the coffee shop in the mall. It’s raining today and neither of us brought umbrellas so we don’t want to venture far. ‘Have you really had a stomach bug?’
    ‘Um . . .’
    From the look on her face, she knows I’m lying.
    ‘It’s true that I haven’t been feeling very well,’ I tell her.
    ‘What’s been wrong with you?’ she asks with a frown, sipping her milkshake through a straw. ‘Tom was asking about you last night, you know.’
    ‘Really?’ I instantly perk up. I’ve barely thought about him in almost two weeks – I’ve been so consumed with everything that’s going on. ‘What did he say? Where did you go?’
    ‘ Now you’re feeling better,’ she teases, tucking into her sandwich. ‘A bunch of us went round Aaron’s,’ she reveals between mouthfuls. ‘His parents have turned their garage into a games room so we hung out and played pool.’
    ‘What did Tom say?’ I urge her to get to the point.
    ‘He just asked where you were.’ She flicks her black hair back.
    ‘Did he say anything else?’
    ‘No. But he did look a bit disappointed.’
    I can’t help grinning as I pick up my own sandwich. But before I can lift it up to my mouth, I have a thought. ‘Was Isla there?’
    ‘No, she wasn’t, actually. I’m pretty sure they’re not together.’
    My smile pops back into place. ‘Who else was there?’ I ask as I take a bite. She fills me in on all the gossip.
    ‘You should have come,’ she says eventually, still sounding a little put out. She’s not used to me