Jezebel Mallory Parker
There was little Jezebel really could say in that moment at the graduation after party. The girl was a factor, but there was so much else that had a bigger impact on how she was feeling. Fear, worry, guilt, heartbreak, loneliness, jealousy, take your pick, all were factors. When Jezebel left Sadie Monroe that day, it wasn’t a secret that they may not ever talk to each other again. Jezebel just couldn’t be around the girl who had everything that she had wanted, she just couldn’t. However, Jezebel left her with a few final words before turning away. “Sadie…” she began, saying her name so she would look at her. “Take care of him…”
In some ways, Jezebel’s life had changed so much since high school. Her life was in a stable place, and she even had a career going well for her. Work was something she could put focus on, it provided goals and structure for a life that had been so unstable. What really mattered though, was her family. Jezebel had so much of a family that mattered to her, Jess, Dan, even Val, but most of all Laurel. Laurel was Jezebel’s everything. Her entire world was her little girl.
Those first few months after graduation were hard, everyone she was close to was leaving, and Jezebel couldn’t keep her mind off of her daughter, though any time her mind went somewhere else, it wasn’t anything better. Slowly, things started to get better once Laurel was finally out of the hospital, even if it wasn’t easy. Jezebel was doing the best she could, trying to take care of her daughter, and figure out what her life was going to be. She took up the offer given by her father to work for Parker Industries, unsure if it was really what she wanted, not that she had any idea what she wanted anyway, but over time she knew it was the best for her, especially as she later on became co-ceo with Daniel after the decision to end Parker Industries and start anew, no strings attached for the company. She had a path for a career, and a daughter who was alive and for the most part healthy and growing up like a regular kid.
It was the next year that Valerie officially became a part of the Parker family, not just in marrying Dan, but the two even had a daughter, Veronica Charlotte. Though, it was by pure coincidence that the girl was born on Jezebel’s 21st birthday, so just as Daniel was able to have bragging rights for Laurel being named after him, she held the bragging rights of her niece being born on her birthday. Though, it was still crazy for Jezebel to actually see her brother married, and with a kid, a daughter especially.
“Jess needs you.”
That was all Jezebel needed to know. Even without any information, it was clear that whatever it was, Dan couldn’t help Jess, she needed Jez, so she did what she had to, and was by Jess’s side as soon as possible. “I know it hurts…” Unlike most who may try to comfort Jess offering sympathy, telling her she would be alright, Jezebel knew better than anyone how Jess actually felt. She knew the pain. She knew it would never fully stop hurting. Jez knew how a piece of Jess’s heart would never heal from that shattering, crushing devastation, just like there would forever be that part of hers left broken. Time doesn’t heal all wounds, it merely makes them survivable. Of all the people in the world, it was tragic that the cousins had this connection, this bond nobody else could, or should have to, understand. They both knew the feeling of not being able to be enough. That’s why Jezebel had to tell Jess about what happened when she was pregnant with Jordan’s baby, so just as only the two of them and Dan knew about Jess’s pregnancy and loss, they were the only ones who knew the full story about Jezebel’s. In the years since that day, the only people she ever talked to at all about it were Jess and Dan, and she hadn’t even told him about it until she was pregnant with Laurel, and needed to make sure he kept an extra close watch on her. Riker just found out about the pregnancy on his own, from reading the diary she had at the time and couldn’t bear to look at again, then told Jordan without the full story. Jezebel couldn’t bring herself to try to get him to listen to her, just to crush him even more. Knowing the truth would only bring more pain. She knew he wouldn’t blame her for losing the baby, but that only would make it harder.
Over the years, Jezebel did try dating, but it was easy to say that she didn’t have much luck when it came to her love life… Each time, the reasons why would change, but in the end it never worked out. It could be as little as a date or two, simply ending with just not matching well with the person, while other times it lasted longer. Sometimes it just wasn’t a relationship that could be forever, and some couldn’t work because the guy couldn’t handle how she had a more successful career than them and such a successful family, and then there were those that didn’t want kids or wouldn’t be a good parent. Having Laurel made dating more complicated, because Jezebel couldn’t just look for someone she cared about, she had to think about who she brought into her daughter’s life. Over the years, there weren’t many guys who Jezebel let meet Laurel, but that didn’t mean Laurel never knew that however much Jezebel tried in relationships, it wasn’t enough to make it last. In fact, even the longest relationship Jezebel had after high school, that lasted nearly a year when Laurel was around 5 years old, still couldn’t work out in the end, being at different points in their lives, so once again it was just her and Laurel. Romance didn’t seem to be in the cards for Jezebel, maybe it was a case of she had her shot at love and blew it, or she just had bad luck in her choice of guys, or just none would ever fit what she dreamed of.
Romance may not have been on Jezebel’s side, but she had her family that was so important to her. Family was everything, for her, and it was so important to Jezebel for Laurel to have a family that cared. Laurel was everything to Jezebel, there was Dan and Val, and Jess, so much family there that cared. Then, there was Mikel’s side. Jezebel and Mikel may have only been on friendly terms, mainly because of Laurel, but he made sure to visit. Even if he was never around as much as his daughter really needed him, he at least tried and had a relationship with her, which was all Jezebel really needed from him. Just for her daughter to be able to know her father. Mikel’s mother was even around to be involved in Laurel’s life, but there was still a whole other part of the family that had nothing to do with Laurel. Since finding out she was pregnant with Laurel, Jezebel hadn’t talked to her mother once. She hadn’t even seen that side of her family in years. The one person in the Sloane side of the family Jezebel even talked with in years was her grandfather. Disappointed in how his granddaughter followed her mother’s mistakes or not, he was still the only one who wasn’t entirely gone from Jezebel’s life. That is, until one day Jezebel just happened to be in the hospital, for Laurel, and someone who had worked around her grandparents since she was a little kid saw her mentioning how she missed seeing her grandfather around, sorry about what happened to him. The old heart surgeon had died of a heart attack earlier that year, and nobody had even told Jezebel. There hadn’t been a word from her grandmother or her own mother about it, even after months of him being gone. Yet another reason why Jezebel was glad to have nothing left to do with the Sloane name. Blood was unfortunately connection enough, and Jezebel never wanted Laurel to have to deal with a family like that. Jezebel would do everything possible to ensure that Laurel wouldn’t have to grow up feeling anything like how she did, that she had a family that loved her and would do anything for her.
10 years. 10 years since graduation. Just a little over 10 years since Laurel was born. It had been so long since high school. Life had so many ups and downs, in so many ways, and it had been a long time since most of everyone from high school had seen each other. That’s what made the reunion so complicated, knowing how everyone would be there. People she hadn’t seen in 10 years, especially a certain someone. Earlier in the day seemed so simple, just making sure her little girl was ready to spend the weekend with her cousin Veronica Charlotte, being looked after by Jezebel and Daniel’s father, so that Jezebel, along with Daniel and Valerie, who would soon enough be having their second child, could all go to their reunion without worry. Though, the closer it came to being there at the reunion, Jezebel couldn’t help but feel that sense of dread in a way, knowing that Jordan, and Sadie, would be there too. Even as Jezebel stepped onto that yacht, there was still that part of her worrying, both about Laurel, and how the reunion would actually go.
@benitz786 - Dan/Jess/Jordan/Riker mentioned
@CerealKiller - Val mentioned
@Madilfill - Mikel mentioned
@novella - Sadie mentioned