Joe looked at Jessica oddly as if seeing her for the first time. He shook his head as he pressed the barrel of the gun hard into Raymond’s head, “He deserves to die.”

Jessica shook her head sadly, “No he doesn’t. He didn’t steal her from you. They love each other!”

“No,” Joe said the word curtly, “Charmaine and I were to be married. He got in the way.”

Jessica walked slowly forward and said, “They were together even before she met you.”

Joe was angered by that reminder and shouted, “Yes but he messed up! He had his chance with her. She belongs to me now!”

“Charmaine doesn’t belong to you or Raymond or anybody. She chooses to be with Raymond. Even if she married you her heart will still be with Raymond,” Jessica clarified gently.

Joe dropped his hands to his side as tears began to form in the corner of his eyes, “Why? Why can’t she love me?” He turned to look at Charmaine and miserably said, “I would have given you everything. Why can’t you return my love?”

Jessica spoke, her voice breaking, “Just because you love someone it doesn’t mean that person would love you in return.” She walked to stand in front of Joe and said achingly, “I have a confession to make.”

Joe looked down at her and was in awed by the warmth in her eyes. Quietly, he asked, “What is it?”

Jessica swallowed then took his free hand into hers as she held onto his eyes with her own, “I’m in love with you Joe.”

Joe broke into a wide smile of disbelief as he withdrew his hand from her, “No. How could you be in love with me? You don’t even know me.”

Jessica stood her ground and said with reserve, “I was captivated by you at first sight. Only I knew that you had eyes for only Charmaine. I kept quiet about it because I was ashamed of the way I felt for someone I barely knew.”

Joe too a few steps back, away from her and Raymond. “I don’t believe you.”

“It’s true,” Jessica cried out. “I understand how it feels to love someone and yet not get their love in return.”

Joe took another step back and now he was back at the couch where Charmaine lay. He lifted his gun and aimed it Raymond once again, “I don’t believe you. Now get out of my way.”

Jessica again walked slowly towards him, hoping to catch him off guard by her words so that she could somehow wrestle the gun out of his hand and spray him with the mace. “It’s the truth Joe. Why else do you think I’ve been coming out to meet you whenever you called? I was hoping that if I stood by your side during your most vulnerable times, you would begin to have some feelings for me.”

Joe saw a flash of metal in Jessica’s hand and stopped her in her tracks with a cold ruthless stare, “Don’t even try it,” he said calmly. “Open your hands,” he ordered.

Jessica shook her head as she gripped the tiny aerosol can tightly in her palm.

“I said open your hands!” Joe bellowed shaking Jessica’s posture so that she dropped the mace. The mace dropped to the floor and rolled to hit against the side of the coffee table with a thunk. Jessica looked up at Joe, terrified of being caught.

Joe waved the gun indicating for Jessica to move off to the side. She had no choice but to follow his command. When Raymond was again sitting solely on his own, Joe laughed. “Goodbye Raymond,” he said as he pulled the trigger. Charmaine screamed, “NOOOOOOO!”

Ron’s body fell on top of Raymond’s as Raymond became aware of what Ron had done. He cried out urgently, “Ron? Ron?”

At that moment, Michael’s men kicked in the door and wrestled Joe to the ground. They held him still as Michael walked in with Tavia. Michael glared scathingly at Joe and then punched him in the stomach. He turned to his men and issued an order, “Take care of him. I don’t ever want to see his face again.” His men nodded and then one of them picked up a sculpture from a nearby table and slammed it hard against Joe’s head causing him to go down. When Michael’s men were gone, Tavia quickly rushed over to Ron, “Ron?”

Raymond who was still tied to the chair screamed in agony, “Get me loose!” His eyes on Ron’s still form. Charmaine untied him and gave him a quick hug. Raymond hugged her close to him but pushed her back quickly to tend to his friend. “Ron?” He hugged his best friend as he cried, “Please be okay!” He looked up at Charmaine, “Did anyone call an ambulance?”

Before Chamaine had a chance to answer, Ron lifted his head from Raymond’s arms and looked at the faces of his friends, “Joe has bad, and I mean major bad, aiming.”

Raymond looked down Ron’s body and noted that there wasn’t a speck of blood on his friend, “You didn’t get shot?”

Ron got up and patted himself, “Nope. He missed me completely.”

Tavia jumped with joy as she ran into Ron’s arms. She slapped him on the arm and scolded, “You scared me! Don’t ever do that again.”

Raymond knew that he should be angry at Ron but at this moment he wasn’t. He was just happy and relieved that none of them got hurt. He turned to Charmaine and swept her into his arms. No words were spoken between as they stared at each other.

Michael walked to where Jessica stood watching the happy couples, “Our plan worked.”

Jessica smiled sheepishly at him, “You said it would.”

Tavia heard and asked, “Plan? What plan?”

Jessica looked at the four faces of confusion and said simply, “It’s a long story. All I can say is that Michael predicted everything and put his plan in motion. Everything came out just as it should.”

Tavia smiled and teased, “You and Michael planning behind my back?”

Jessica lowered her head with embarrassment as Michael walked up to stand very close to her. He took her hand and turned to face Tavia, “We have other plans in the works but you are not included in any of them.”

The two couples laughed as Michael kissed Jessica softly on her cheeks.