One Wild Night

"So what did you do?" Aaron asked, and Jamal shrugged.

"I got a job. I asked a neighbour to give me a job, and she let me walk her dog every Saturday and Sunday," Jamal said, and Aaron smiled.

"She must be a very good neighbour," Aaron said, and Jamal bobbed his head.

"She is. She gives me cookies every time I bring back her dog," Jamal said with a happy smile.

"So, did they stop working late at night?" Aaron asked, and Jamal shook his head.

"No. She said I would need to rob a bank to get the kind of money that would make them stop working so late," Jamal said, leaving Aaron to wonder what sort of work they did at night.

They were not sex workers, were they? He hoped not. When Candace talked about the jobs she had done, she hadn\'t sounded like she did something like that. Or was that what she meant when she said he would cringe when she told him about some of them? He didn\'t want to imagine that his daughter could have been subjected to such a lifestyle.

Harry would know if she had led such a lifestyle, right? What would he do if that were the case? How was he going to be able to make it up to her?

"Does it hurt somewhere? Why are you frowning?" Jamal asked with concern when he noticed that Aaron was no longer listening to him, and Aaron blinked as he tried to return his focus to Jamal.

"I was just thinking about something. Do you know about your mummy\'s friend called Matt?" Aaron asked, and Jamal bobbed his head excitedly.

"He is an actor, and he owns a jet. Isn\'t that cool?" Jamal asked, and Aaron nodded.

An actor. That was indeed very cool. He could start by finding out the guy\'s surname and seeing his movies.

"It\'s super cool. So do you think your mom and aunt Andy like him?" Aaron asked, trying to be subtle with his question, but before Jamal could respond, Candace gave a single knock on the door softly.

"It\'s mom. Come in," Jamal announced, and Aaron looked at him curiously.

"How did you know she was the one?" Aaron asked when Candace walked in.

"That\'s how she knocks," Jamal said while Candace gave Aaron a pointed gaze.

"Matt is JUST a friend, and yes, Andy and I like him, so you don\'t have to ask Jamal about it," Candace said, and Aaron gave her a sheepish smile when he realised she had heard him.

"You said it is wrong to eavesdrop," Jamal pointed out.

"Yes, it is wrong. I didn\'t eavesdrop. I heard the question when I got to the door," Candace said defensively.

"Go wait in the living room with Tom and Harry," Candace said before Jamal could say anything, and immediately Jamal got off the bed and did as she instructed.

"I\'m sorry. I was only curious," Aaron said apologetically.

"And you think Jamal is the best person to answer your questions?" She asked as she sat on the single couch in the room.

"Are you going to tell me about Matt if I ask you?" Aaron asked, and Candace shook her head.

"I already told you the truth. He liked me and wanted to be in a relationship with me, but I was not interested in being involved with him, so I pushed him away. We are just friends now, and that is all there is to it," Candace said, and although Aaron had more questions on the subject, he refrained from doing so and decided to ask the most important question that was bothering him.

"Jamal mentioned that you and Andy work late into the night. Can I ask what job you do?" Aaron asked, and Candace looked at him for some seconds as she tried to organise her response so that Aaron wouldn\'t feel bad.

"When Jade told me about you and Harry, I didn\'t want to come with her. Apart from the fact that I was angry and felt abandoned, I didn\'t want to come mostly because I was too embarrassed and scared. I thought you both would be too embarrassed and not want to be associated with me when you found out the truth about me," Candace said and listening to her, Aaron\'s heart broke for his daughter as he concluded that she was probably evading the question because she was a sex worker.

"You are my daughter. I could never be ashamed nor embarrassed by you no matter what you did," Aaron rushed to assure her, and tears gathered in Candace\'s eyes as she smiled at him.

She got off the couch and went to sit on the bed beside Aaron when tears gathered in his eyes too.

"After meeting you, my worry is no longer about feeling embarrassed. I\'m more concerned that you would be sad and blame yourself, and that\'s not what I want. That\'s not what Harry wants, either. My life may not have been perfect, and though things weren\'t always easy, it wasn\'t all that terrible either," Candace added as she gave him a wobbly smile and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"I believe you made the most you could out of what life threw at you, and for that, I will always be proud of you," Aaron cut in before she could finish, and he embraced her.

"If you feel too embarrassed to tell me about your past, then you don\'t have to tell me about it. Don\'t worry. I understand. We can move on and make the future better," Aaron promised as he patted her back.

"We were both strippers. Andy and I. That was the only job we could find to take care of our bills," Candace said quietly as she pulled away from him to look into his face.

Deep down, she still felt ashamed and as difficult as it was to look into his eyes, she did. Somehow she was convinced that he wouldn\'t judge her and he wouldn\'t be ashamed of her.

Looking into her eyes, Aaron could tell that it had taken a lot of courage for her to voice that out. He knew they needed to clear this up, and once they were able to get past this, he would have his daughter.

As sad and heartbroken as he was about it all, he forced a smile, "You must be a pretty good dancer to do that. Between your brother and I, I\'ve never seen a worse dancer," Aaron joked, and Candace smiled.

"Don\'t beat yourself over it. We have all done something we were not proud of at one point in our lives or the other. I will tell you a secret I never told anyone," Aaron said, and Candace looked at him curiously.

"I\'m not sure I\'ve mentioned it, but I own a photography company. HAJ Studios..."

"You own HAJ Studios?" Candace asked in surprise since it was pretty famous in the country as most celebrities use their service.

"Yes. Each letter stands for Harry, Aaron and Jonas. It was formerly called AJ Studios, but after I had Harry and relocated, I changed the name when I started afresh," Aaron explained and then paused.

"I might have to change the name again now with you and Jamal in the picture," Aaron said thoughtfully, and Candace giggled.

"No, you don\'t have to do that. Is that the secret you were talking about?" she asked, and Aaron shook his head.

"No. The money I used to start up my first studio and get my first camera was drug money. I sold drugs in the street for survival. I\'m not proud of it. I never talk about it," Aaron said, looking into Candace\'s brown eyes.

"All I\'m trying to say is that you have nothing to be ashamed of. In the same way I left my past behind, you could also leave yours behind. I will support you with all I have to make sure you reach your goals, and you never have to do something you are not proud of," Aaron said, and Candace sighed as she embraced him, and Aaron sighed in contentment as he held her close to himself.

Candace couldn\'t entirely explain how she felt being in his arms like that. But she felt light. She felt safe in his arms, and she felt like she didn\'t have to try so hard anymore. She felt like a little girl without any worries in the world.

"Thank you," she murmured against his chest.

"How does CHAJ sound? The J could stand for Jamal instead of Jonas?" Aaron said, and Candace giggled.

"You should leave it as it is. I prefer HAJ Studios," Candace assured him.

"So about this Matt guy..."

"C\'mon! I already told you there is nothing between us," Candace cut in as she pulled away from him to glare at him and Aaron chuckled.

"Alright. Alright. I\'ve heard you for now," Aaron said and grinned when she raised a brow.

"For now?"

"How did Harry know about him if there was nothing?" Aaron asked, and Candace sighed.

"Matt is Bryan\'s best friend. Tom\'s brother Bryan," she explained when Aaron looked lost for a moment.

"Oh! So you met him at Tom\'s house?" Aaron asked, and Candace shook her head.

"No. We were friends before I knew Tom and Bryan. He assisted Jade with the case," She explained, and Aaron nodded.

"I see. Sounds like a decent guy," Aaron said, and Candace sighed.

She didn\'t want to think about Matt. She didn\'t want to give any room to sadness or regrets. All she wanted to focus on right now was herself, Jamal and her newfound family.

"Yeah. He is a cool guy. What about you? Why didn\'t you ever get married?" Candace asked as she lay on the bed with her head propped on her shoulder as she looked at him.

And just like that, both father and daughter sat there in the bedroom, talking like new friends and sharing as much important details of their lives as they could share at that moment as Aaron tried to catch up on the twenty-eight years he had lost, while Candace tried to learn as much as she could about her father.