Secret Little Things That We Do

by: Shante' (Lex's-gurl#1)

Oh, and everything in blur color signifies a flashback....

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Angrily, Ebony stalked back and forth across her suite in the hotel, throwing objects here and there, not caring when they broke as they smashed the walls. Once again she was being blamed for something that she didn’t do. Sure there were a lot of things that she had done, but this definitely wasn’t one of them. She had told Jack not to do it, to wait and survey the area, but he had gone to try to break the lock on the fence anyway. And then he got caught. And now she was being blamed for it. Sure she didn’t try to help him once the guards came, but what could she do? They were seriously outnumbered, and she would have been captured herself if she would have gone running in to save him.

She had tried to explain this to them all, but of course they didn’t believe her. No, they all accused her of purposely getting rid of Jack, and called her a scheming witch who was only out to help herself. Yeah, like she would have ever been so stupid as to jeopardize her role of city leader by giving away the one person who could truly understand what they were dealing with. Yes, she was a scheming witch, it was true, but she wouldn’t have gotten rid of Jack. No, she needed him too much. He was the only one who knew enough about technology, and gadgetry, who could really help destroy this new tribe that had recently come into the city.

Besides, though Ebony didn’t really like Jack, she didn’t dislike him either. She respected Jack, because despite the fact that he was a geek, and besides his usefulness in helping her control the city, he was the only one in the tribe who Ebony considered to truly have a brain. Not like everyone else, who couldn’t get a clue even if it was tattooed on their foreheads, which is why it was always so easy for her to manipulate them. Which is a point that they all proved today when they accused her. For some reason whenever she was lying through her teeth, they always believed her. Yet when she did finally tell the truth they said she was lying. They all said that she only ever did things that would benefit her, anything that would keep her in power. But what in the h*ll would letting Jack get taken do for her?

All of them were really p*ssing her off, especially Ellie and Pride. They were the main ones doing all of the accusing. Ellie was whining, and Pride was busy spitting out his anti-Ebony propaganda about how they needed to get her out of power. Ebony wanted to kick both of their @sses, but instead she tried to use logic to try to reason with them. But of course those who lack brain cells can’t be expected to see reason. If it wasn’t for the fact that she needed everyone together to help fight the Technos she probably would have killed both of them then as she had tried to kill Tai-San long ago.

Ebony stopped pacing, and sat down in the chair behind her desk, which at the moment, was the only thing in the room that was still intact. Her head had begun pounding with a splitting headache, she was getting over heated, and for some strange reason all these thoughts about Jack were making her flashback to some incidents that had occurred during the time of the Chosen when Jack had been sent to spy on her, ones that she had long ago forgotten.

***************
Jack didn’t know it, but Ebony knew that Bray, and that b*tch Danni, had sent him there to spy on her. She knew that somewhere in the hotel there were bugs planted, and he was listening to every word she said. How else would Bray and Danni know the things they knew, like about the pool party that she had where she invited all of the tribe leaders except for them? No, someone was feeding them information, and the only person that could be was Jack, as he was the only person at the hotel who would have a reason for reporting back to Bray. Now she would only have to find out where these bugs were hidden, and catch Jack red handed.

Days had passed, and Ebony still hadn’t found them, but she was aware of one thing, she, and her every move, were being watched. At first she just thought that she was being paranoid as she knew that he was spying on her, but whether she was putting on her makeup, or even just swimming alone in her pool, she would glance up at the hotel windows and see him peeking at her. She knew that he was just doing what Bray told him to, but did he really think that she could be plotting something while rubbing on sun tan lotion? In all honesty, it was really beginning to creep her out, yet it also kind of excited her too.

And it was beginning to get worse. One day Ebony was back in her room looking for some clothes to change into as she had just gotten out of the pool, when she began to get the feeling that she was being watched again. This caused her to stop what she was doing and look around the room, but she didn’t see anyone. So she picked out her clothes, and had just undone her bikini top, when all of a sudden the door burst open, and Jack walked in. This startled her so badly that Ebony temporarily lost her trademark cool which she was famous for, and her hand immediately let go of the top, causing it to fall to the floor. Both of them just stood there stunned, both staring at each other, until Ebony noticed that Jack’s eyes were not looking at her face, and she immediately tried to correct the situation. But instead of throwing her hands up to cover herself, she just smiled. She was not going to let Jack get the upperhand, she was not going to let him embarrass her. So instead of throwing her hands up to cover herself and yelling at him, she just smiled, and decided that the tables would now be turned.

“Do you like what you see, Jack”, Ebony asked as she walked towards him.

“I…I…”, Jack just said, still frozen in place, and speechless.

“Well, do you?”…………………

*****************
“Well,....do I what”, Dee asked, coming into the room, and knocking Ebony out of her reverie.

“Oh, nothing”, Ebony said, not looking her in the eye, “I was just thinking to myself.”

Chapter 2:

Dee’s rambling was enough to break Ebony’s deep concentration, and allowed her to snap out of her daydreams. Ebony didn’t know what was wrong with her. No matter how hard she tried, she still couldn’t get that memory of those times with Jack at the hotel out of her mind. She guessed that deep down inside she was feeling a little guilty about letting Jack get caught, and maybe that’s why all these thoughts of him were surfacing throughout her mind. Or maybe the thought of having another person disappear was finally getting to her, and that was the reason for them.

Well whatever the reason for the memories flashing through her mind, Ebony just wanted them to stop. She could barely concentrate on the work that she had to do, like getting rid of the Technos, and that was just unacceptable. She needed to focus all of her attentions on the issues at hand, and she needed to get down to business.

“Ebony, Ebony”, Dee said, looking oddly at her.

“What”, Ebony asked, beginning to get annoyed.

“Were you listening to me”, Dee asked, “Because you told me to report back to you, but you don’t seem to care about what I have to say.”

“That’s because Dee”, Ebony said getting up from behind her desk, “nothing you are giving me is even worth reporting back. None of it is actual news, just simple market gossip.”

“Well, some of that market gossip could contain serious information in helping you keep control of this city”, Dee said, “or even something about the Technos’ weaknesses.”

“Well, how about you find those important bits first”, said Ebony, “and then give them to me? That way all the time you wasting here by giving me the dull bits, you could be finding out even more.”

“But….”

“You know, how about you go do that now”, Ebony said, “then I can get on with something truly important like making laws, or something like that.”

With that, Ebony pushed Dee out of the door, and slammed it shut. She was glad to be rid of her, as that girl was extremely annoying, and was grating on Ebony’s nerves. Why couldn’t it have been her who was taken instead of Jack? At least Jack wouldn’t have been that annoying. Damn it, Ebony yelled. Why did all thoughts have to lead back to the subject of Jack?

Ebony knew that she couldn’t work like this, and she wasn’t even about to try. Besides it was late. She might as well just call it a day, and go to bed. Maybe then she would wake up refreshed. She wouldn’t be as angry, and her mind would be clear. Just as long as she didn’t dream about him.

***********
Ebony could see the look of shock on Jack’s face as he continued to stand there, stunned, watching her as she walked towards him, naked from the waist up. Besides shock, there was another expression on his face, one of confusion. He couldn’t figure out the game that she was playing, and she doubted that his brain was even functioning at the moment to even try. She could tell by the mixed expression on his face that he had burst in here, expecting to get the better of her, only to find that the tables had been turned, and he was actually the one who had been caught off guard.

She continued to walk towards him, until eventually they were face to face, well actually, his face to her chest, but she would let that slide for now. So instead she decided to tease him, slowly circling around him, taunting him.

“What’s that Jack”, she asked, “You never answered me. Do you like what you see? Cat’s got your tongue?”

The questions seemed to have overwhelmed him, and stuttering out some nonsensical reply, he quickly ran out of the room. She just laughed at his fleeing back, and finished getting dressed, knowing that she would never forget the stupid look that had been on his face as he left. But just when she thought he was gone for good, his head popped back through the door.

“I just wanted to say”, he said, “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

*************
A beeping sound started to go off in Ebony’s ear, causing her to sit straight up in bed, interrupting her dream, and she was thankful for it. Despite what she had hoped, Ebony’s dream had picked up right where her daydream left off. Though she had wanted to forget him, even while she was in a deep sleep her thoughts wouldn’t stop revolving around him.

Ebony just shook her head, trying to once again forget about him, and decided instead to figure out what that noise was that had woken her up. It kept beeping, and it seemed to be coming from her dresser drawer. Getting up out of bed, she walked over to it, and opened the drawer slowly, expecting to find a bomb. Instead what she found was the Techno communicator that Dee had stolen from that one named Ved.

Ebony picked it up slowly, not knowing why it was beeping, or what to do with it.

“What is going on”, Ebony said, more to herself than to the communicator.

“Ebony, is that you”, a voice said coming through the communicator, “It’s me, Jack…”

Chapter 3:

“Ebony, is that you”, Jack’s voice said again as it came through the communicator.

Months had passed, and jack still couldn’t get over the good luck he had had. He could still barely believe it himself. Somehow he had managed to be able to steal a communicator from one of the guards that had grabbed him, and was now using it to give Ebony inside information on the Technos, and all the technology they possessed. He still remembered the sound of shock in Ebony’s voice when she had first heard him, and he was still laughing about it. But it was all worth it. He could now tell Ebony the exact information that could help her plot the next move against them.

It hadn’t been easy for him though. After he had been caught, he had been taken to some facility miles away from the city. While there he had found out about how some of the people there were being hooked up to some machines, in some sort of virtual reality, to be test subjects in some games. He too was going to be hooked up to the games, until the Techno leaders had realized the amount of knowledge he possessed about computers and machinery, and decided to reprogram him. As with the Chosen, the Technos too had recognized his potential. He himself was now one of the Technos. Thought they had tried to reprogram him, it hadn’t really worked, as he knew the machine that they were using too well, and could therefore get around it. But he still pretended that he was. This way he could hack into the systems, and get all kinds of inside information on their operation.

This worked well in that he knew exactly the Technos strengths, and their weaknesses, though as he came to find out, they didn’t have too many of those. They ran an efficient organization. In fact, except for the tests they ran on the people, Jack actually kind of liked the set up that they had going, and didn’t really mind being there. This was nothing like with the Chosen. He didn’t really fear for his life there with the Technos.

However though he liked it, he still missed life at the mall, and Ellie. Though she had easily pushed him aside for someone else, he still missed her, and wanted her back. Even so, despite this, he and Ebony had still agreed that they were going to keep their communication between each other secret. There would be greater risk of being caught if too many people knew about him, and he couldn’t take that chance.

But because of this, things had taken a weird turn. Though he had never really liked Ebony, for reasons that were obvious to all, he had begun to actually look forward to hearing the sound of her voice. She was really his only link to his life outside. While he told her about things with the Technos, she told him about what was going on back at the mall. He knew all about Ellie being sent away, and about the new additions they had to the Tribe. They had become almost like friends through their frequent communications, and he had begun to miss her as well. He couldn’t wait each day for them to meet up at the designated times, and he realized that she had too, as she never really had any friends before.

But that was all about to change, because he had just found the ultimate prize. He had just found some of the missing Mallrats. Now that Jack had succeeded in finding them, he had to somehow devise a way to free them, which was not going to be easy. It would be hard for him to figure out a way to help them all escape; all without having the rest of the Technos find out about him. And to get them he would have to travel far outside of the communicator ranges. He was going to have to cut off all communication with Ebony.

********
More months had passed and Ebony still hadn’t heard any more word from Jack. She knew why, she just didn’t think it would take this long. The Mallratz had already defeated the Technos, and life was starting to get back to normal, whatever that was. And so she guessed that he had found Ellie, and just decided to forget about all the others, and just go off with her. And Ebony guessed that that was all right, as she figured that was probably something she would do.

However, she just didn’t realize how much she would miss talking to him, and it had taken her awhile to get over not being able to talk to him every day. But now that was no, longer a problem, as she was with Jay now, and he was all that mattered. He was the only thing that she had on her mind now, well him and Zoot, who had recently decided to start terrorizing her by appearing in her mind, and driving her crazy. And of course her and Jay were having some problems, as Amber couldn’t seem to keep her hands off of him, but she would fix that. Jack was becoming almost a distant memory.

“Ebony, Ebony”, Mouse called, as she came running into Ebony’s room, “Salene told me to find you! The missing ones have come back!”

“Which ones”, Ebony asked, standing up.

“All of them”, Mouse said, “and Cloe and Ved, Ellie, and with some guy named Jack!”

Chapter 4:

Ebony still couldn’t get over the fact that everyone was now back. Watching them being hugged by everyone with tears pouring down all their faces, she couldn’t help but admit that she had actually missed them as well. She couldn’t help but itch to be able to hug them as well, as those like Ryan, Alice, KC, and Bray, were surrounded as soon as they walked in the door.

But although she had missed them all, while standing back, wrapped in Jay’s arms, she couldn’t help but scan the crowd, and look for one person in particular. The one person that she had missed the most, the one she wished to throw her arms around. Finally spotting his bright red hair above the heads of some of the others, she was about to let go of Jay, and do exactly that, until reality hit her and she realized that she couldn’t do that. She and Jack had never been friends before, she couldn’t just expect to walk up there and interrupt his reunion with people he actually did like. So instead she pulled Jay along and turned around, deciding to go back to her room, and letting the rest of them enjoy their moment. But while walking along the railing at the top of the stairs, she couldn’t help but look back down at them, and was surprised to see Jack staring back up at her. They each stood there for a few seconds, staring eye to eye, frozen and gazes unwavering, until Jack smiled and mouthed a greeting towards her. And in that instant something just came over her. She just smirked at him, and nodded, continuing to stare until Jay pulled her along down the hall.

***
Days had passed since the missing ones had returned, and everything seemed to get back to normal, or whatever was considered normal for the tribe. For the first time since the virus came, there was no battles being planned, everything was peaceful, and everyone was like one big happy family. Well, not necessarily happy, as there were still dislike and animosity held between some of them, meaning between Ebony and everyone else, but everyone had decided to push that all aside and get along.

But for Ebony, something was different, or really someone and it seemed like she was the only one who realized it. It was like some great transition had occurred in Jack. Something was different about him, but she couldn’t quite figure out what. It was like he had a new cool about him, a new attitude. Gone was the boy that she used to rule with an iron fist. Gone was the stuttering nerd that had been there before to be replaced by a forcefulness that she really couldn’t describe. All she knew was that he had changed, and he seemed to be eyeing her in the process. So much so that she had begun to avoid him like the virus as she didn’t know quite how to handle him yet. But that didn’t stop him from seeking her out.

“Hey Ebony”, Jack said one day a few days later as he came upon her in her room, catching her having just recently finished bathing and now wrapped in a towel.

“Jack, what the he.ll are you doing here”, she snapped.

“Oh, nothing”, he said sitting down on her bed, and laying back on it, “I just came to chat. You and I haven’t done much of that lately since I got back. It’s almost like you’re avoiding me.”

“Of course not”, she said, acting non-chalant about the fact that she was standing there virtually naked, “I’ve just been constantly busy doing something.”

“Doing something, or someone”, he asked slowly, watching her face carefully for her reaction.

Ebony had been trying to figure out what kind of game he was playing, and all of a sudden she knew. He was playing that game they used to play back at the hotel where he would try to embarrass her, and she would try to embarrass him, each trying to turn the tables on the other. Each one of them trying to be the one to have the last word. He thought that he could one up her by catching her here all vulnerable in her towel. But that was okay, she was a champ at this game. Just give her a couple of minutes, and she would have him running off to Ellie and the rest of the little kiddies where he belonged. Just like the last times.

“Well, now, that’s my business”, she said smiling, “Though I could ask the same of you.”

“And of course you would get a very interesting answer”, he said, “though at the moment I’m not very busy at all, unless of course you decide that you want to help me fill my schedule.”

“Well at the moment I seem to be otherwise engaged”, Ebony said, somewhat taken off her guard by their conversation, and knowing that it was time to end this conversation for good, “So if you will excuse me, I think it is time for you to leave. Unless, of course you are purposely trying to see me in my underwear, though I’m starting to suspect that you are.”

“What”, he asked, turning red and backing up towards the door, “Of course not! You’re just being silly!”

“Really”, she asked, knowing by the look on his face that she had won, “Oh, I am, am I?”

“Of course”, Jack said laughing over his shoulder, on his way out the door, “Ebony, you and I both know that you don’t even wear underwear.”

***
Jack couldn’t help but laugh some more as he pictured the look on her face as he had got that last jab in. It was weird. He had never really thought of Ebony as anything other than a bully before, but for some reason, since he had returned, she had been on his mind a lot. And even if he had, he would have never had the guts to do anything about it. But that had all changed now. He didn’t really know what had come over him during the time he spent with the Technos, but he had changed, and for the better. Oh, he knew that there was no way that he could ever get Ebony to go for a guy like him, even if he tried to wear her down. But he da.mn sure was going to have lots of fun trying. Oh yeah, lots of fun indeed.

Chapter 5:

“Ebony, you and I both know that you don’t even where underwear.”

Ebony couldn’t believe that she had let Jack get the better of her, but he had. He had shocked her speechless with that last comeback, and all she could do was smile at the implications of it all. This would have never had happened with the old Jack, the one who had been so shy and nerdy, who used to stutter around girls. But now he was different, not totally, but enough. He was still nerdy, but now he wasn’t so shy, and she sure as he.ll didn’t hear him stutter one bit during the conversation. No, he was cool, confident, and determined, though determined about what she just didn’t know.

***
Days had passed, and Ebony’s encounters with Jack were getting weirder and weirder. Since that incident, every chance Jack got, he would burst into her room whenever he thought that he could catch her in an embarrassing situation. Then the two of them would proceed to have a battle of words until one of them would turn red, and have to bow out in defeat. It had become something like a regular game for the two of them. Things were beginning to get out of hand, and Ebony couldn’t make sense out of it all.

So instead Ebony decided to just avoid Jack, and ignore him when she couldn’t. But this was very hard considering the daily little game that they played. She took care of this by making sure that Jay was around most of the time, which was kind of hard in itself since Amber was always trying to get her hands on him. This was making her life difficult, as it was no way that she could really keep an eye on Jay and Amber if her eyes was always focused on Jack instead. Jack was just becoming too much of a distraction, and that was something that she just didn’t need.

Ebony’s new avoidance strategy didn’t last more than a day, as Jack had figured out what she was doing and changed his strategy as well. Although seeing that she was attempting to keep him from coming around by always having Jay around, Jack decided that Jay’s presence didn’t make a bit of difference. He still came around anyway, smiling mockingly at the shocked look on Ebony’s face and the confused one on Jay’s face as he made sly references to their encounters throughout the conversations in private jokes, ones that he knew Jay didn’t get the meaning to. However, though Jack was able to still play his little games, as long as Jay was there Ebony didn’t mind as much since Jay still acted as a barrier between her and some of Jack’s crazier ideas. But Jack didn’t let this last too long either.

**
Ebony was sitting alone at a table in the café eating oatmeal, and reading a magazine, when Jack suddenly walked in. Ebony glanced up saw that it was him, and then quickly glanced behind her to make sure that Jay was still there, seeing that he was. Feeling well protected by the presence of her bodyguard, though he wasn’t paying much attention to her at the moment as he and Pride were having a heated a debate about the merits of technology, she smiled smugly and went back to eating. This didn’t phase Jack, however, as he walked right to the table and sat across from her. But he didn’t say a word, he just stared at her and smiled.
Ebony tried to keep ignoring him, she really did, but she could feel his eyes on her, and it was making her edgy. She couldn’t eat and read in peace. Every time she kept glancing up from her magazine, all she kept seeing was that stupid grin on his face, and it was driving her crazy.

“Da.mn it, Jack”, she whispered in a hiss, “What the he.ll do you want?”

“What”, he asked, “can’t a guy just enjoy the view?”

“No, not when that person is you”, she said.

“I’m just thinking about you naked”, he whispered, laughing.

“Why do you insist on playing these games”, she asked, slamming her fist on the table, causing the bowl to tip over, and splashing oatmeal over her fingers.

Ebony quickly turned around to look back at Jay and Pride. But they only gave them a cursory glance and then went back to their debate. So Ebony turned back, and attempted to pick up a nearby towel with her other hand to clean herself off, but Jack beat her to it.

“No, no, no”, he said, “since it was my fault, let me clean it up.” Then, as she looked at him warily, he lifted her hand and slowly licked all the oatmeal off of her finger.

Chapter 6:

Ebony just sat there for awhile staring at Jack, who was staring at her, while sitting there enjoying the sensations that she was getting as he licked her finger. She just watched him as he traced a line down the finger with his tongue, and as he lightly bit the tip of it. It was as if all time had stopped. There was only here and now, and she was enjoying every bit of it. Still caught up in the moment, she felt as if she couldn’t move, that she was frozen in place, but she didn’t care. The only thing on her mind was anticipation of what he was going to do next.

Jack, surprised himself that she didn’t seem to mind that he was touching her and that she hadn’t yet slapped him, decided to take this one step further. Continuing down her finger to the palm of her hand, where instead he began to kiss her hand and rub it against his cheek. But he decided that he couldn’t stop there, he had to move this up a notch. Lowering her hand from his face, he gripped it lightly, and gently pulled on her arm, which in turn pulled her across the table towards him. As her face came within inches of his, he lightly held her chin, lining her lips up with his. This was it, this was his big moment, Jack thought. He was going to do this, and nothing was going to stop him. But as his lips was about to touch hers in a kiss, Ebony, as if waking from a dream, suddenly remembered where she was, and who she was with, and stopped herself. Pulling back from him so forcefully, that she knocked over her bowl, and caused it to clatter to the ground. And she didn’t bother to pick it up, she just sat there staring wild eyed at what she had almost been about to do.

“Ebony”, Jay called from across the room, the clatter bringing his attention back to her, “What’s going on?”

But for a minute, Ebony didn’t answer him. She couldn’t answer him. She just continued to stare at Jack with that look in her eyes, until Jay called her name again, and she knew that she had to say something.

“Nothing’s going on”, she said, though not bothering to look back at him, “Jack was just telling me a funny story, and I laughed so hard that I accidentally knocked the bowl over.”

“Well, it must’ve been because you’ve never been the clumsy type before, Ebony”, Jack said sarcastically, still feeling a little exasperated that things had not worked out, “But if you liked that one, I’ve got a million more that I think you will find amusing.”

“Well, maybe a little later”, Jay said, “Ebony, you don’t look so good, maybe you should go and lie down.

Normally Ebony would have gotten mad if anyone told her what to, but she was still feeling so flustered at the whole situation, she thought that that was a good idea and didn’t bother arguing about it. She got up to leave, and Jay also seeing that she wasn’t going to argue about it figured that something must be wrong with her. So Jay hugged her to him as she passed him to leave, and told her that he was going to let her get some rest. He told her that he and Pride had decided to go over to the hotel to work on some things there and he probably would be gone most of the night, but he would see her later.

Ebony just let Jay hold her for a bit, before she pulled away. He told her that he loved her, and that's when Ebony knew that something was wrong with her and she really did need to lie down, because that whole time she was in his arms, she only had eyes for Jack. And the whole time he stared back her, she wished that it were his arms that were holding her.
**
Jack just stared back at her, wishing that she had not pulled back. Despite his previous thoughts, he now knew that he was getting closer than ever to breaking down her defenses. Just by the way that she had let him continue for so long, let him know that she was wavering. What had once been a game between them had now turned into something more. He knew now that he truly had to have her, and he was willing to up the stakes and pull out all the stops to do it. But he knew that he had to be patient. Seeing her with Jay just made him want to pull her away from him. But he didn’t. Instead he just sat there, and watched them, not saying a word. And as he watched her walk away from him and leave the room, he wished that he could go with her, but knew that she would not let him.

**
Following the strict orders, Ebony had gone straight to her room and got in the bed. She must have been worn out, because no sooner had her head hit the pillow than she quickly went sleep, knocked out for most of the night. But this whole situation with Jack must have really been getting to her, because instead of the peaceful dreamless sleep that she had hoped, she slept fitfully having weird dreams plagued with images of Jack. They were more like nightmares really. All of them were of her being torn between Jay and Jack, with her not knowing what to do. She ended up tossing and turning for the whole night, with the dreams continually repeating in her mind.

When she finally awoke, shivering, she was glad to notice that she was not alone, that Jay was back and his comforting arms were wrapped around her, holding her tight as she slept. She smiled, her dreams were stupid, they had no real meaning, of course she loved Jay. This is what she wanted, waking up in his arms, feeling loved, nothing else mattered. To prove this she turned over and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him lightly on the lips, though she could tell that he was still sleeping. His arms wrapped around her tighter, and she kissed him again. But as she opened her eyes fully, she realized that it was not Jay who she was holding, but instead it was Jack, and he was sleeping right next to her.

Chapter 7:

Ebony couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t Jay who was holding her and hugging her, keeping her warm, and comforting her. It was Jack. At first she thought that she was dreaming again, but his hands on her felt all too real. And that’s because they were really on her, all over her in fact, on places that she didn’t even want to think about. And his hands weren’t the only things on her. His whole body was stretched out along side her, with arms and legs completely wrapped around her. She could not believe what was going on. She tried to ease away from him and sit up, but he was holding her too tightly.

“Jack”, she yelled, “What the he.ll are you doing here?”

“What”, he asked, in slurred speech, waking up slightly, only to close his eyes again.

“Get up”, she yelled again, “and get out of my bed!”

“Hmm? Oh, morning, beautiful”, he said drowsily, before leaning down and kissing her lightly on the lips, and hugging him to her tighter, “Did you sleep well?”

“No, this is not social hour”, she shouted, trying to push him away, momentarily getting caught up in the kiss, “Now how about you get up and get out.”

“Well”, he said, “how about instead we play around here first for a little while, and then you go fix me some breakfast.”

“How about instead you leave now, and I’ll go fix myself some breakfast”, she replied, finally getting free of him, and climbed out of bed.

“Did anyone ever tell you that your beautiful when you’re angry”, he asked, ignoring her last statement.

“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re a pain in my a.ss”, she shot back, standing next to the bed with her hands on her hips.

“No”, he said, “But if it’s hurting now, come over here so I can rub it out.”

“Ugh, you are so infuriating”, she yelled.

“I like to think of it as being arousing”, he replied.

“Jack”, she said, appealing to his sense of logic, “Please go. Jay is due back soon, and I don’t want him to have to catch you here. That will just cause unnecessary trouble.”

“Fine, fine”, he said, getting up out of the bed next to her, “I know when I’m not wanted.”

“Oh, yeah”, Ebony asked, a little wary of him, “You do, do you?”

“Yeah, and I also know when I am wanted”, he said right before he grabbed her around the waist and kissed her hard and long, “and when you’re ready to admit that you do, come and see me.”

With that, Jack sauntered out of the room, leaving Ebony to just stand there staring at his retreating back, confused and shaken.
Chapter 8:

Ebony could not get over the fact that she had let Jack get the better of her again. This could not be happening. She was usually the one who left them hanging onto her every word and action, not the other way around.

She could not handle all of this anymore. She was getting to become really stressed out by all of this. She knew that this was not good, and that she needed to relax. So grabbing up all of her stuff, she walked down the hall to what you used to be a home renovation store but which now had recently had the bathtubs there hooked up to plumbing so they now could all take proper baths. Coming into the isolated room she was glad to see that it was empty and that she wouldn’t have to wait in line. She quickly turned and locked the door, put her stuff down and filled the tub up.

Settled down into the hot, bubble-filled water, she must have dozed off because the next thing she knew someone was getting into the bathtub with her. She didn’t understand, she could have sworn that she had locked the door, but someone was definitely here, there legs were touching hers. Sitting straight up in the water, she quickly opened her eyes to see who it was, although she already knew. In fact, she wasn’t the least bit surprised. This is just the kind of stunt he would pull. But that was okay, she was ready for him.

“Jack”, she sighed, rolling her eyes, “What are you doing here? Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Nothing could be better than this”, he said, smirking, “You need a bath, I need a bath. So why waste water? This bathtub is big enough. We could share. You have enough bubbles in the tub to modestly shield your nakedness from my perverted eyes, so don’t worry.”

“Fine, whatever”, she said laying her head back against the wall again, and closing her eyes.

“What”, Jack asked, shocked by her answer, “Is that it? You’re not going to argue about it with me?”

“Nope”, she said.

“You’re not going to even bother to hit me”, he asked, still not believing.

“No”, she said, “What would be the point? I could yell, but you won’t leave anyway. We both know that it would be like talking to a brick wall. So why waste the breath?”

“So”, he said, “I could just stay right here, and you’re not going to get mad or anything?”

“Nope”, she said again, “You could do whatever you want.”

With that she closed her eyes again, proceeded to ignore him, leaving him looking dumbfounded by the turn in tables. She couldn’t help but think how good it felt to be in back in control again. She had decided that she was no longer going to let him get to her, and that for now on she was calling all the shots.

That thought had only been in her head for only a couple of minutes, when Ebony began to hear movement coming from the other side and feel water sloshing her way. She was curious as to what Jack was doing now, but she was determined not to give him the satisfaction in knowing that she was thinking about him by opening her eyes. It didn’t matter anyway. She figured that he didn’t know what to do any more now that he could no longer rile her, and so he was going to leave. She silently laughed about that, but her laughs quickly turned to gasps as Jack moved up alongside her, and gently began massaging her neck and back.

“What are you doing”, she asked, reveling in the sensations.

“Massaging you”, he replied, “You told me that I could do whatever I want, and touching you is definitely what I want to do. So just sit back and relax. Let me handle everything.”

She wanted to tell him to stop, she should have told him to stop, but it all just felt oh so good, and she didn’t want him to stop at all. With his hands on her bare wet skin, she became like putty in his hands, and she didn’t care what he did to her, she was all his. And he knew it too, because soon as he saw that she wasn't moving away from him, he moved his hands from her neck to her back, and put his lips there instead. From there he slowly alternated between kissing her neck, to down to her shoulders, and then up on her lips. Now she knew that she really should stop him, but she just couldn’t, she was enjoying this too much.

“Ebony, are you in there”, Jay asked, his voice being heard through the door, “I saw that all your bath stuff was gone from the room, and Mouse said that she saw you heading this way”.

Ebony and Jack quickly stopped what they were doing, both of them in a panic. She quickly mouthed the question asking him if he had locked the door back when he came in. Jack couldn’t remember, and shrugged his shoulders. As if they were one body, they quickly glanced at the door to check, and were horrified to realize that it was not.

“Ebony”, Jay asked again, “Are you in there?”

Ebony was hoping that if she didn’t answer him that he would just go away, but she should have known better, because Jay began to open the door. Looking back at Jack she knew that they had no escape so she did the only thing that she could do, she pushed jack’s head and dunked him down under the water. She made sure that she pushed his body up against the side of the tub, and then leaned her own body over his as she leaned on the side edges of it. The position was okay in that it hid Jack’s body from Jay’s view in case he leaned over, and the bubbles didn’t cover enough, but it was bad in that she was now laying all over him. She just hoped that Jay would soon leave.

“Ebony”, Jay said coming into the room, “You are here. Why didn’t you answer when you heard me call?”
“What”, she said, playing stupid, “Oh, you called out? I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you. I must have fallen asleep.”

“Yeah, you do look a little out of it”, Jay said, “Are you sure that you’re not getting sick? You look a little flushed.”

“No, I’m not sick”, she said squirming, trying not to giggle, as Jack had started to tickle her and feel her up under the water, “It was just getting a little hot in here.”

“Oh, really”, Jay said, raising an eyebrow, “How about I get in there with you?”

“I would love that but”, she said trying to come up with a suitable excuse, while trying not to laugh in Jay’s face, “But I’m really worn out. I think that I’m just going to finish up in here, and go back to bed for awhile. I think you’re right, maybe I am getting sick, I have such a headache.”

“Oh, yeah, well maybe you should go lie down”, Jay said, “It’s better that I don’t get in here now anyway, as I promised Bray that I would go out with him to get more food. So rest up now, so we can play when I get back later.”

“That sounds like a good idea”, Ebony said, praying that he would just hurry up and leave, as she didn’t know how long she could hold the laughter in, and Jack’s hands were reaching dangerous places, “I’ll be waiting.”

“That’s good”, Jay said, before leaning over to kiss her on her forehead, and leaving.

Ebony waited a bit to make sure he had really left, before she let Jack come back up.

“You jerk”, she said laughing, as she slapped him up side his head, “Jay could have caught us.”

Jack came up sputtering out water, as Ebony had left him down there for a very long time, but he couldn’t help but laugh himself. Despite the injustice of having his head held under water, it turned out to be a very good place to be. He could touch her as much as he wanted, and she couldn’t do a da.mn thing but take it.

“But it would have been worth it”, he said, grabbing at her again.

“Well, I hope it was”, she said, pulling back from him, “Because that’s the last time you’re ever going to get a feel off me.”

With that, she quickly got out of the tub, wrapping a towel around herself as she did. She just laughed at the funny look on his face, and then she grabbed her things and walked out, leaving him alone in the now cold water. On her way down the hall and to her room, she wondered how long it would take him to realize that along with her things, she had taken his too. Laughing again to herself, she imagined the expression that would be on his face the moment he did.

It didn’t take her long to find out. She had just finished getting dressed, when her bedroom door burst open and Jack rushed in. Ebony couldn’t believe it, and she nearly fell on the floor laughing. It was better than she expected. Jack was standing there in a pink dress that was small on him, and looked as if it belonged to a little girl.

“Where… did…you…get…that…from”, she barely managed to get out through all her laughter.

“I almost got caught running down the halls, so I had to run into the old storage room which is where I found one of Patsy’s old dresses”, he said angrily, “I only stopped in here on my way to my own room to let you know that I will be getting revenge.”

“Hon, what are you going to do”, she asked teasing, “You’re going to try to steal my clothes next time until I beg you to get them back?”

“Babe”, he said, ready to run out the door and to his room, “when I get your clothes off of you, you’re going to be begging, but it won’t be to get your clothes back.”

Chapter 9:

Yeah, Ebony was definitely beginning to watch her back now. She was constantly looking over her shoulder, looking around corners, watching for any strange moving dark shadows. She was just waiting for Jack to jump out at her from behind and pull some stunt to get back at her for the naked incident, as what she called it. But so far Jack wasn’t doing anything, and in fact he seemed to be avoiding her. This should have calmed her down some, instead it only seemed to put her more on edge, as she was figuring that this was all part of his plan to have her lower her guard and then get her when she least expect it. Things had been going on this way for days, and her nerves were starting to be worn thin.

Ebony was just walking down the hall on her way back to her room from the café when out of nowhere an arm reached out, grabbed her, and pulled her into a dark corner. She was about to yell out when a hand was clamped over her mouth, and she was pulled up against a warm body. She begun to struggle until she realized that it was only Jack, just holding her and smiling lewdly. Instead of relieving her nervousness, it only heightened it, as she wondered what new trick he was about to pull.

“Why are you so jumpy, Ebony”, he whispered teasingly into her ear, “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

Ebony didn’t know if he really wanted an answer or not, but she kept quiet just the same. She was still trying to see where all of this was going to lead.

“You’re not? Oh, that makes me feel sad”, he said, although he didn’t sound sad at all, “Well, I’m glad to see you…and touch you too.”

“I just bet you are”, Ebony whispered, finally speaking up, “So what is it you have planned for me now, Jack? Come on, take your revenge, I’m ready for you.”

“I don’t want revenge”, he said smiling, “Just dinner…and a movie.”

“Dinner and a movie”, she asked skeptical, “and how are you gonna do that? There are no movies.”

“Let’s just say that I found this nice little Techno camera lying around somewhere”, he said, “So how about you make the dinner, …and together we make the movie?”

“I should have known”, she said angry, pushing him back and trying to walk away, “You can never be serious!”

“Alright, alright”, he said, laughing as he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him, “I was just joking, but I was being serious about having dinner.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that”, she said, not trusting a word he said.

“Yeah”, he said, “Look, the truth is though no one knows it, it’s my birthday, and this is how I want to spend it. So how about we call a truce, at least for tonight, a dinner truce. This way we both can have dinner without worrying about what the other is going to pull, ok?”

“Fine”, she said cautiously, knowing that she shouldn’t trust him, but not being able to help herself, “Fine, but just know that if you are lying, and this whole thing is one big joke, I will seriously kick you’re a.ss.”

**
Hours passed, and midnight had come, time for Ebony to be off for Jack’s dinner on the roof of the mall. Ebony didn’t know why she was even going. She was with Jay, she had no business having private rooftop dinners, even if nothing was going on between them. But that was the other problem, because though she may try to fight it, she knew that if she did set foot on that roof, something would be going on between them, and that was something that she just couldn’t do. But although she knew this, and knew that she should just go back to bed and forget the whole thing, in the end she got up, and got dressed anyway, and headed out the door.

She quietly slipped out of her room, leaving Jay sound asleep in bed. Silently sneaking toward the entrance to the roof, she made her way up the stairs. She was just about to come through the door, and let Jack know that she was there when she heard someone coming up behind her. Running through the door, she watched the play of expressions on Jack’s face as the smile he gave her when he saw her quickly turned into confusion as she backed away from him. Quickly hiding in the shadows, she waited for the intruder to show themselves, but she didn’t have to wait long.

Jack was just about to walk towards her to see what was wrong, when all of a sudden someone came through the door.

“Ebony”, Ellie called coming onto the roof, “Ebony? I know you’re up here. I saw you sneak from your room to up here. You better not be up to your old tricks.”

Ebony and Jack both froze at the sound of Ellie’s voice. They didn’t know what to do, as they were trapped there on the roof. Sure Ebony was still hiding, but Ellie knew that she was up there. But Jack, and a candlelit dinner, on the other hand, would be a complete shock to her, and then how would they explain it all?

Chapter 10:

Jack froze at the sight of Ellie standing there on the roof.

“Jack”, Ellie yelled surprised, “What are you doing here?”

“Ellie”, Jack said, “What are you doing here?! You’re an half an hour late!”

“Jack, what are you talking about”, Ellie asked, clearly confused, “Late for what? And you never answered me, what are you doing up here?”

“What”, Jack said, feigning surprise, “Ellie didn’t you get my note? For our candlelight dinner on the roof? That’s why you’re here, right?”

“Jack, I still don’t know what you are talking about”, she said.

“Oh, man”, Jack said, sounding disappointed, “I really screwed this one up, haven’t I? Ellie, I left you a note on your computer inviting you to dinner with me tonight to celebrate my birthday. I thought you got it, and that’s the reason I’m up here, getting it ready for you.”

“Jack, that’s so sweet”, Ellie said, fully believing his lie, “I’m sorry, I never got your note! If I did, I would have been here sooner Maybe there’s a virus on the computer or something. Or maybe Mouse was playing with it again, and accidentally erased it!”

“That’s okay”, Jack said, hoping to distract Ellie long enough for Ebony to be able to slip out of her hiding place, “You’re here now. Why don’t we sit down and eat?”

“Okay”, Ellie said, moving over to the table, “But wait Jack, I’m still confused about something.”

“What’s that”, Jack asked, already trying to come up with an explanation for any possible question that she may ask.

“Well”, she said, “This doesn’t explain why I saw Ebony come up here a few minutes ago. What is she doing here, and where is she?”

Jack was beginning to break out into a cold sweat. He had no idea how he was going to be able to answer either of those questions. It was like his mind went blank. He didn’t know what to say.

“Why don’t you ask me that”, Ebony said, quietly sneaking up behind Ellie, “Besides I could ask the same of you. If you didn’t get Jack’s note as you claimed, what could possibly your reason for being up here.”

“That could be easily answered”, Ellie replied with an attitude, “I got up to go to the bathroom when I saw you sneaking up here. I figured you were up to something, as you usually are, and followed you.”
“Well, for your information”, Ebony said, “I heard sounds coming from up here, and came to investigate. Little did I know that it was just some rats scurrying around in the dark.”

“Better a rat than a bi.tch roaming the halls”, Ellie said, her temper flaring at the person she hated most in the world.

“You know what Ellie”, Ebony said, beginning to take off her jacket, “I would say ‘let’s take this outside’, but we’re already out here. So let’s go!”

“Come on, Ebony”, Ellie said balling up her hands, “I’m not scared of you! Bring it on!”

Jack, seeing Ebony already aiming at Ellie’s face with a pulled back fist, quickly jumped between the girls to try to stop the ensuing battle. He knew that a fight between them would not be pretty, as both of them still had issues concerning that bombing incident. But despite trying to push each of them back, they quickly knocked him down to the ground, and started an outright cat fight. Well, actually it was more like bar room brawl, as the table and chairs that he had set up previously quickly became flying projectiles, being tossed across the mall’s roof.

After several attempts of trying to break between them, Jack finally gave up, and running, jumped on both of them, knocking them to the ground, and landing right on top of Ebony. Ellie just laid on the ground, the wind knocked out of her, leaving her gasping for breath. Both stunned, Jack and Ebony just stared at each other for a few seconds, with Jack enjoying every minute of it, realizing that they had to get up, before this caused more problems for them, but neither one of them moving.

“Jack, what the he.ll do you think you are doing laying on top of my girl like that”, Jay said coming onto the roof.

Chapter 12:

The first thing that Jack noticed when he walked into the café the next day was Ebony sitting at a table in the corner, holding a cold wash cloth on her neck. Laughing, Jack sat down at the table across from her, and immediately set in on teasing her.

“Aww”, Jack said, still laughing and rubbing the side of Ebony’s face, “Is my poor baby hurt? I see Ellie sure got in a few good licks last night.”

“Nope, but speaking of licks…”, Ebony said, looking disgusted, raised the cloth a bit so he could have a look at the big purple hickey on her neck, “Actually, my battle wounds came from me being molested on the roof last night. Gee, I wonder who could’ve done that?”

“Well, hey, don’t look at me”, Jack replied grinning, and looking left and right, “I was just an innocent bystander in this whole mess. Sorry, but I think you’ve got the wrong guy.”

“Uh, huh, that’s what they all say”, Ebony said, as she replaced the cloth with a bandage to cover it up, deciding to wipe the smile right off his face, “But I’ll soon have the culprit once Jay sees it, matches the mark to the dental records of every guy in the mall, and then comes after him.”

“You think Jay will come after me”, Jack asked, the smile quickly being replaced with a look of horror.

“I don’t know”, Ebony said, trying not to laugh, “You do have that overbite that will quickly identify you.”

“Oh, no”, Jack said thinking quickly, “Now I’ll have to leave the city, find another tribe, and get an alias. Wait, what do you think of the name York Montana?”

“What”, Ebony said, bursting with laughter, “You’re running for your life here, Jack, and all you can come up with is York Montana?! Come on now! You’re just asking to be caught.”

“What, no good, huh”, he asked, “Well, what about Giles Gordon, or….Michael Smith”

“You’re hopeless, Jack”, Ebony said, still laughing, “Just plain hopeless.”

“Well, I’m sorry”, Jack said, laying his head face down on the table, “but, unlike you, I’ve never had to come up with a fake identity before.”

Ah, stop your whining”, Ebony said, “You’re starting to sound like…”

“Well, well, well, what do we have here”, Lex said walking into the café followed by KC, “if it isn’t the Wicked Bi.tch of the West and the Pink Wonder.”

At the mention of the word pink, Jack quickly ducked his head, hiding his shame. By the look on his face, Ebony figured that Jack hadn’t been so successful in his attempt to keep the pink dress incident a secret. She tried not to laugh, as she attempted to match Lex word for word.

“Eww” she said, scrunching up her face, “I thought I smelled a foul odor coming this way. I should have known that it was you Lex, and your ever present boil on you’re a.ss, KC.”

“Hey”, KC said, offended, “What are you picking on me for, I just came to tell you…”

“We just came to tell you that Bray called a meeting downstairs”, Lex said interrupting.

“What about”, Ebony asked, forgetting her argument with Lex for the moment.

“Who knows”, Lex replied, “You know Bray, he’s always whining and nagging about something.”

“Well, what are we waiting for”, KC said, “Let’s go see what the Royal Highness wants now.”

******
Coming out of the café, and down the stairs, the four of them saw that they were the last ones to arrive, and that Bray and Amber were very excited about something.

“I knew it, they got their knickers bunched up about something”, Lex mumbled, which only the four of them could hear, causing them to all to laugh, “Now we’re in for another one of their boring speeches. I should have let the Technos put me out of my misery long ago, but now I see that they are going to do it for me.”

“What’s that, Lex”, Bray asked.

“Nothing”, Lex said, “How about we get this meeting started?”

Bray agreed, and as she realized who she was still standing next to, Ebony quickly moved away from Jack, and walked the short distance to stand next to Jay before anyone got suspicious. She noticed that Jay kept glancing at the bandage on her neck, and she was relieved when Bray started talking, before Jay could ask any questions. Her mind beginning to tune Bray out, Ebony could help but stare across the room at Jack, who was kept making lewd faces behind Lex’s back. She kept trying not to laugh, as she looked all around her to make sure that no one noticed what he was doing. She was just about to throw something at him, when she noticed movement all around her, and realized that the meeting was over. Realizing that she had missed the entire point of the meeting, she quickly questioned Jay to find out what had been said.

Jay just gave her strange look, and quickly summarized what had been said, which was that Bray and Amber had now decided that they wanted to have a celebration to mark the Technos defeat, and to symbolize that life was getting back to normal. And since it was December, they had decided that for once since the virus, that they were going to celebrate Christmas and New Years. Ebony was stunned. She didn’t know why the he.ll they would want o do something like that for. The old ways were in the past, and they should be left there. She was about to say that too, when Jack quickly walked by her slipping a piece of paper in the waistband of her pants as he went passed.

Lucky for Ebony, Jay hadn’t noticed the hand off, but she quickly walked away from him anyway, as she went to read the note. Unfolding the paper, she could see two lines quickly scribbled on the piece of scrap.

‘Presents? But what shall I give you? Oh yeah…the possibilities!’

Chapter 13:

Christmas day had finally arrived, and Ebony was still puzzling over the note that Jack had left her. Jack had been vague and mysterious about his plans in the note, and that’s what was bothering her. She didn’t know how to take it. Knowing Jack, it was going to get her in a lot of trouble. And it would be better if she stayed away from him. Things were getting too heated, too fast with him, and she for the first time in her life, she wondered if she could handle something this intense. The thought of how she lost all control around him, scared her, and she knew that she should keep away.

But that was the problem. No matter how much she tried to avoid him, she couldn’t help but be drawn to him. Her only defense was Jay. As long as he was around, she knew that Jack wouldn’t be. And that was her answer that would solve all her problems. Jay. She just had to make sure that she stuck to him like glue.

****
“How could you, Jay”, Ebony yelled throwing a glass of water in his face, “I can’t believe you! But you know, now that I think about it, I can. You are a cheating dog, Jay, and you will always be one. The signs were there, I just should have figured this out sooner.”

“Ebony, wait, don’t do this”, Jay tried to explain, as he wiped the water out of his eyes, “You can at least hear me out.”

“I’m tired of hearing your weak excuses”, Ebony said, as she walked into her room, holding the door so he couldn’t come in, “I’m just tired of everything. I’m tired of hearing your lies. I’m tired of arguing with you. And most of all I’m tired of looking at your face. So for now on, make sure I don’t have to see it.”

With that final word, Ebony quickly slammed the door, not caring if it hit Jay or not as she did so. This was supposed to be her shutting Jay out her life permanently, and with good reason. But even still her hand stayed on the doorknob and her forehead rested on the back of the door, as she could hear Jay continuing to shout his explanations through the door. She continued to rest there like that for long minutes, even after Jay had finally given up and walked away. Although a part of her wanted to fling that door open and run after him, she found that she could not cry over the loss of him. Sure she felt a bit of sadness that the one person that she had cared about for so long had treated her the way he had, but she deep in her heart she knew that she had lost him a long time ago, known it from the first time she saw him kiss Amber. And with this realization, came the realization that she had really stopped loving Jay a long time ago and she was glad to see him go, but was afraid that if she didn’t have Jay that no one would love her at all.

Even still, though she wasn’t that sad to see him go, she was still pi.ssed as he.ll that he left her the way that he did.

“Aww, what did silly little Jay do this time”, Jack asked, his voice piercing the silence in the room, “Aren’t you giving the poor guy a hard time?”

Ebony jumped and her head whipped around at the sound of Jack’s voice. She couldn’t believe that she had been in her room all this time and hadn’t realized that he was there. But there he was, lounging on her bed with that stupid smirk on his face.

“Jack, what the he.ll are you doing here”, Ebony yelled, “You scared the sh.it out of me!”

“Waiting for you, of course”, he said, “I would have announced my presence sooner, but you looked as if you were really busy with Jay, besides I had a really nice view of you’re a.ss from here, and didn’t want to give that up.”

“Well, I don’t think that it’s a good a time for you to be here right now”, she said.

“Actually I think that it is the perfect time for me to be here”, he replied, “You shouldn’t be alone right now. Come here, I’ll help you relax.”

Something about the way he said that, made her no want to trust him, and instead made her want to run away from him as Little Red Riding Hood ran away from the wolf. But despite the voices of logic in her head, she found herself drawing closer to him, wanting anything that he could give her.

Pulling her down to the bed, Jack made sure that she was laid back and relaxed on the bed. Then, with a smoothness that surprised even her, he flipped her over and straddling her back, began giving her a back massaged that was like nothing that she ever felt before. She knew that this could only lead to trouble, but she couldn’t help herself, he had complete control.

“So tell me”, Jack asked, “So what exactly did Jay do this time? Did you find him kissing Amber again?”

“No”, Ebony said, “I found him in bed with Trudy.”

Chapter 14:

The whisper soft caresses against her skin momentarily stalled as Jack tried to process what she had just told him.

“With Trudy”, he shouted, still not believing, “You’ve must have seen it wrong. No, not Trudy.”

“Yes, Trudy, Jack”, she said, anger flashing in her eyes, “I saw them with my own eyes. They were naked, with just sheets wrapped around them, and they were kissing. You can’t tell me that I got all of that wrong.”

“I just can’t believe that it was with Trudy”, Jack said, “I mean what happened to Amber?”

“I don’t know”, she said bitterly, “I almost wish that it was Amber. At least that would be something I understand. I just don’t get the whole thing with Trudy. I mean I never saw them look at each other.”

“Well, at least now, Jay is out of your life”, Jack said, resuming the massage, “Don’t think twice about him.”

“How could you say that”, Ebony yelled, “How could I not think about him. He cheated on me!"

“Yeah, and you haven’t exactly been Miss Faithful yourself”, he said smiling.

“No, but…”, she said turning over, trying to sit up.

“No, buts”, he said smiling, pushing her back down, “You know as well as I do where all of this is eventually going to lead.”

“The only place you’re going is down to the floor when I hit you for not getting up off of me”, she said laughing, shoving him back hard, “And I’m going to the café to get something to eat.”

“But wait”, Jack said pulling her back down to the bed, “Don’t you want your present first?”

“What present”, she asked, confused, not knowing what he was talking about.

“Your Christmas present”, Jack replied, “Don’t you remember?”

“I guess with everything that was going on with Jay, I just plain forgot”, she said, “Though I doubt Jay did, he seemed eager enough over Trudy’s gift.”

“Well, look, now you can be eager over mine”, Jack said, smiling wickedly.

“I don’t know if I want your kind of present”, Ebony said suspiciously, “I don’t really trust you.”

“What”, Jack asked innocently, “I don’t know what you mean. The present I have for you is legit.”

“Ok, fine”, Ebony said, still not sure whether she should trust him, “Ok, where is it?”

“Here it is”, Jack said, handing her a square box wrapped in shiny red paper.

Hesitating for only a minute, Ebony’s curiosity finally got the better of her and she took it from him, knowing that she should just leave it where it was, but was unable to do so. A part of knew why. She wasn’t really used to getting presents, and just the fact that Jack thought of her enough to get her one, whether or not it was part of one of his sick perverted plans, she was just happy that he thought of her.

Ripping off the paper, she was still scared to open up the plain white box. Deciding to just go ahead and take the chance, she quickly pulled it open, and was surprised to see that there was something actually in there. Though her surprise quickly turned to amusement, when she realized that under all the tissue paper was none other than that ruffled pink dress.

“What the h.ell is this for”, Ebony asked laughing, “What do you expect me to put this on and dance for you?”

“No”, he said, with that arrogant little smirk back on his face, “ Actually, its for me to where for when I come running out of here tomorrow morning?”

“What”, she yelled, shocked at his boldness, “What makes you think that you’re going to be here in 10 seconds, much less 10 hours? Sorry Jack, but if that was your plan, than I think that you need to rethink it. What you think that you can get me with your little sentimental gift?”

“Nope”, Jack said, never once dropping that annoying smile upon his face, “But when I give you the real gift that I have waiting for you, you’re going to be begging me to stay.”

Ebony didn’t know what to say to any of the outrageous statements that had just come out of his mouth. She couldn’t believe it. She had never seen this side of Jack before. Sure lately he had become bolder and bolder with his actions. But he had never been this forceful, this sure of himself. Once again that little voice inside herself was telling her that she should just back off, and end this right now, that there was no way that she was going to win this one. But once again, she couldn’t. She hated to admit it, but she was intrigued, and wondered just exactly this little game was going to end. The alarm bells were really ringing now, trying to hold her back, but she couldn’t stop herself from uttering the two little words that she knew would be the no turning back point.

“Oh, really”, she said, the challenge in her voice.

“Yes, really”, he said, the grin spreading across his face, “I think that you will love this present. Here, let me give it to you.”

With that, Jack pushed her back down on the bed, and slowly began kissing her. But his kisses didn’t last long on her lips. Ever so slowly bringing his kisses down her body, he stopped at her stomach, with him giving her so much attention that he seemed to be worshipping her. As she felt his warm breath across her stomach, she was about to protest at their being no real present, until Jack seeing her about to do this, finish setting his trap. She was just about to push him off of her, when she felt his tongue begin to lightly lick across her skin, until surprisingly she felt him use his tongue to coil something cool and smooth into the hollow of her belly button.

It was a shiny linked silver bracelet, that had the letters ‘E’ and ‘J’ dangling as charms from it.

“So”, Jack said, lifting his head, still smiling, “Do you still want me to leave?”

“No”, she said, pulling his head down, “Stay.”

Chapter 15:

Bright sunlight coming through the window, flashing through to her face, caused Ebony to slowly awaken. The light blinded her as she tried to open her eyes, until she eventually gave up, and left them closed. She stretched somewhat, unable to explain why she felt so relaxed, and yet worn out at the same time. Somewhere in her head was the answer, she knew, but it was still too early, she was groggy, and her thoughts wouldn’t orient themselves just yet. So instead she just laid there for a few minutes knowing that eventually it would come to her.

And it did. It only took a minute for the answer to come to her, but when it did, it hit her with a vengeance. Her eyes snapped open, no longer caring about the bright light, and her head whipped to the side, his bright red hair on the pillow next to her as proof of the events she remembered occurring last night. But still she didn’t want to believe it. Maybe it was all in her head. Maybe it was like the last time, and he had just merely fallen asleep next to her, and that was it. That had to be it. She would never go that far with Jack. Or would she? No it was only a harmless little flirtation between them.

But that theory was quickly shot to h.ell, when Jack, while still asleep, put his arm around her waist, and his head on her stomach. That was when she noticed the feel of bare skin against bare skin, and realized that she was naked.

Shocked, Ebony began freaking out, and immediately jumped out of bed. She yanked the blanket off the bed to cover herself. But she didn’t realize that Jack had been wrapped up in the blanket himself, which caused him to roll off the bed and hit the floor as she pulled the blanket towards her. Hitting the floor hard, with a thud, it wasn’t long before she heard mumbled cursing coming from the other side of the bed.

“Jack, what the he.ll are you doing here”, she yelled, wrapping the blanket tighter around herself.

“What”, Jack asked, rubbing his head as he sat up from the floor, “Don’t you remember? Or was it that bad, that you are trying to forget?”

“I thought that it was all a dream”, she replied.

“Wow, nice to know that you dream about me”, he said, “But nope it wasn’t, and you didn’t seem to mind then. So what’s the problem now?”

“What were we thinking”, she yelled, “I mean, I’m involved with someone else…..”

“Correction, used to be involved…”

“And you’re with Ellie”, she finished despite his interruption, “What about her, Jack?”

“What about her”, he asked, not understanding why she was acting like this, “Who cares about her? What about us?”

“What us”, Ebony hissed, “This is all getting out of hand. We should stop this right now…..”

Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Just when he thought he finally had her, she was backing away. He was getting angry, and he was about to try to talk, more like yell, some sense into her, when they were interrupted by some loud banging on the door.

“Da.mn, someone’s always interfering”, he hissed angrily, looking for his clothes.

“Ebony, Ebony, are you in there”, Trudy shouted through the door, “I need to talk to you!”

Chapter 16:

Both Ebony and Jack suddenly froze at the sound of Trudy’s voice at the door. The door was firmly locked, but for some reason, Trudy’s presence had caused Ebony to go into a sort of blind panic. Although if she really stopped to think about it, there was nothing to panic about. She didn’t even have to open the door, as she could have easily just ignored Trudy until she eventually went away. But Ebony was so panicked at the thought of being found out, that she really didn’t bother to think at all, causing her to quickly scramble to try to hide any evidence of what they had just recently been doing.

Ebony quickly began to get dressed while at the same time trying to make up the bed, which was kind of hard as the blankets were all over the floor and the sheets were all over Jack. Jack, still wrapped up in a sheet and trying to stop Ebony from stealing it from him, was trying to get her to calm down, by wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck. But Ebony didn’t have time for that, she picked up his clothes off of the floor, and pushed them into his arms, as she pushed him into her closet. Jack tried to resist going into the closet, but for someone so tiny, she was strong, and he was powerless to stop her. The next thing that he knew, everything went dark and he was sitting in a pile of dirty laundry with a sock stuffed in his mouth and a bra on his head.

Leaning back on the closet door, Ebony took a minute to finally calm herself down before the showdown with Trudy would begin. For minutes she just stood there, hoping that if she just ignored her, Trudy would just go away. But she didn’t, instead she just stayed outside the door, banging and calling Ebony’s name, begging to talk to her. Ebony knew that the only way to get Trudy to leave was to let her in. Besides, she knew that to not open the door would only cause suspicion to arise, as everyone knew that Ebony would never pass up a good fight, and to do so now would only bring about what she was trying to avoid. No matter what she wanted, she had to let the Bi.tch in. The Bi.tch? Yeah, that’s what Trudy was, and that was the perfect name for her.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly walked over to the door, and opened it, the sight of Trudy’s face immediately making her want to slap it. Still, although she hated Trudy, thoughts about her new predicament with Jack drew all her focus away from the Bi.tch, and instead of wanting to fight her, all Ebony really wanted to do was walk away. Jack had her so distracted, she really wasn’t even angry anymore. Trudy could have Jay.

Ebony couldn’t believe that those words had just popped into her head. Give up Jay? For good? She was shocked. Jack must have had her more confused than she thought. She had spent so much time crying over Jay, in between loving him that she couldn’t believe that she would now be so willing to give him up so easily, even if he had slept with the Bi.tch.

“Oh, its you, The Bi.tch”, Ebony said all calmly and nonchalantly, rolling her eyes, as if she had not just been all panicked and overreacting a few minutes before.

“What do you mean”, Trudy asked snidely, “You knew it was me, you just……Wait, what did you call me?”

“Huh, do we have to play these silly games”, Ebony said getting annoyed, “You act like I don’t have anything better to do than to stand here and look at your ugly face.”

“How dare you”, Trudy said outraged, “If anyone’s a bi.tch here, then its you!”

“What’s going on here”, Jay yelled, coming in the door.

Ebony couldn’t believe that he had the audacity to come near her after what had happened, both of them. But there they were, both of them yelling. Both trying to get their point across. Jay was trying to explain what happened between him and Trudy, begging Ebony to take him back. Trudy was yelling at Jay about how he could say it was all a mistake when they had apparently been sleeping together for awhile, in between her yelling at Ebony to stay away from Jay now that they were no longer together. The whole thing should have made Ebony mad, especially the part about how they had been sleeping together for awhile, and she should have kicked both their a.sses right before she kicked them out the door. But actually the whole thing just struck her as being very funny, and Jack certainly didn’t help matters.

Jack had quickly gotten bored sitting in the dark, stuffy closet, although he hadn’t been in there very long. He spent the first couple of minutes playing in her underwear, feeling like he had just discovered a guy’s equivalent of a gold mine. But he quickly got bored with that too, as using lace undies as sling shots to shoot at the closet door can only amuse someone for but so long. He needed to find something better to do. Listening to the fight raging on in the bedroom, he couldn’t help but be curious about what Ebony thought about the things Jay was saying. Slowly peeking out from behind the closet door, he first looked towards Trudy and Jay to make sure that they couldn’t see him, but it was okay, he was safe as both of them had their backs toward him. He then looked at Ebony, he could see her standing by the door facing him, and he had to admit that he was a little surprised by what he saw. He felt sure that with all the begging that Jay was doing, trying to get her to see how sorry he was, that she was sure to take him back. But no, instead she was just standing there, looking as if she was watching a show on television and the whole thing bored her and she wished that she could change the channel.

Jack didn’t know what to think. Was she just pretending that she didn’t care only to make Jay squirm a bit, and then go back to him later, just as she did all those other times that Jay had cheated on her? He just didn’t know. But then he looked in her face and he could see in her eyes that nothing that Jay was saying was phasing her in the least.

Ebony felt Jack’s eyes on her before she even noticed that his head was poking out from behind the closet door. She had told him to stay hidden, but no, there he was standing there, with a satisfied look on his face. She didn’t know what the he.ll he was happy about, but he was just standing there, still wrapped in his sheet with a pair of her underwear in his hand and a bra on his head. She didn’t know what he was doing in the closet, and she doubted that she even wanted to know. She just hoped that it wasn’t something perverted, because then she would have to go in there and beat him up.

She must have had a look of disgust on her face as she looked at him, because she saw him look down at himself with a look of confusion. He must have realized what he was still wearing as his face began to turn red, but it obviously didn’t bother him that much because he was still standing there, grinning like an idiot. She didn’t know what he was so happy about, she did after all tell him that it was over between them, that last night had only been a one time thing. But happy he was. She could see him making faces behind Jay’s back, and then he started to dance. She couldn’t believe what he was doing. He was twirling her underwear on his finger as he danced to whatever music that was playing in his head. He was slowly pulling off bits of the sheet, while doing a little striptease for her, just shaking all his parts, flexing his muscles, giving her some of his best sexy faces, which on Jack just translated to stupid.

Ebony was sure that her mouth had dropped open and hit the ground. If things had been funny before, they were even funnier now. She couldn’t help herself, she couldn’t hold it in anymore. Jack saw the look on her face, and decided to get back in the closet, but this time galloping inside as if he was a horse, and spanking himself. That was the final straw, she burst out laughing, so hard that she was barely able to breathe.

“What you think this is funny”, Jay yelled, “I bear my feelings to you and you laugh at them?”

“What”, Ebony said, getting angry, “Come on Jay, we both know that the only feelings you have is in your cro.tch, hence your relationship with the Bi.tch, I mean Trudy!”

“Now you listen hear, Ebony…”, Trudy said, offended.

“No, you listen”, Ebony said, even madder, “Both of you. I’ve been sitting hear listening to your cr.ap, and now I’m sick of it! So now get the he.ll out before I have the militia come in and throw you out!”

Both Trudy and Jay could see that she was dead serious and didn’t bother to argue any longer, and they left. Ebony closed the door and was about to let Jack know that they were gone, when Jack came waltzing out of the closet, fully clothed as if nothing had happened. Passing Ebony by, he walked to the door, but Ebony just whipped her hand out, slapping the door hard, and held it closed.

“Where do you think you’re going, Jack”, Ebony asked, looking angry.

“Um, well…”, Jack said, wondering what game she was playing, “Well, you right before they came in, you told me to get out, so now I am.”

“Oh, no, no, no”, Ebony said, leaning her body against the door, “What was all that you were just doing there in the closet?”

“Nothing”, Jack said, more confused then ever, “I was just being my usual naughty self, I just can’t help it, I’m just a bad little boy.”

“Yeah, I know”, Ebony said, suddenly getting a smile on her face, “And now its time for me to teach this boy some discipline.”

Chapter 17:

The sounds of quiet snoring slowly began to invade the droning sound of the chatting that was going on in the café, until everyone eventually stopped what they were doing and began looking around, searching for the source. It had started off slowly and quietly at first, but soon it began to invade the soft hum of the conversations that had been going on since everyone had sat down at the tables for their meal.

“What the he.ll is that sound”, Lex yelled, “And where is it coming from?”

“Well, it sounds like snoring to me”, Pride said, “And I think I know exactly where it’s coming from.”

With that said, Pride quickly pointed out to the lone table in the corner, which sat somewhat in darkness as it sat away from the rest. Looking over there, it didn’t take the Mallrats long to figure out who Pride was talking about as they could clearly see Jack laying face down on the table, and snoring loudly for all the world to hear.

Laughing to himself, Lex rolled up some papers and hit Jack in the head with them, causing Jack to jump up from the table surprised, waking up just as he fell off the chair and hit the floor.

“What’s going on”, Jack mumbled angrily, still slightly in a daze, rubbing his head, “Ow! What did you hit me for?”

“You were snoring, that’s what”, Lex said, hitting Jack in the head again with the paper, “How is a man supposed to eat with all that noise going on?”

“Leave him alone, Lex”, Salene said, ever the mother hen, “He can’t help it if he had a busy night last night. Probably working on the new security system, huh, Jack? Is that right? Is it that you’re just over worked?”

At her words, Jack began smiling to himself, trying not to laugh. He was over worked last night, but it sure wasn’t over some da.mn computers. Although Ebony had performed on command, he was da.mn sure that she wasn’t a computer. Nope, she was all soft skin, not a piece of hardware, and he had kissed all over her to prove it. This coming to mind, he couldn’t help but have the memory of last night flash back and forth in his head.

“Now its time for you to be punished”, Ebony said seductively, making sure that the door was firmly locked.

Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and his mouth dropped open, shocked at the turn in events. Not long ago she had just been saying that everything was over between them, that it was only just a one night stand, and now here she was, keeping him from leaving. Oh, well, he wasn’t about to pass up this opportunity, he wasn’t a fool, he wasn’t going to complain. Instead he just stood there, waiting for her to make the next move.

And she didn’t disappoint. Pushing him backwards as she slowly walked towards him, it wasn’t long before Jack felt the back of his legs hit the bed, followed by his back hitting the mattress as he fell back onto it. Before he could even get another thought in his head, she was on top of him, straddling him, kissing him as he had never been kissed before. After seemingly long minutes in that position, her kisses moved from his lips down to his neck, giving Jack his first opportunity to talk since this whole thing started.

“Da.mn, I love a forceful woman”, Jack said, the only words he was able to get out before she attacked his lips again.

“Oh”, Ebony said, with that same smile that she had worn at the door, “A forceful woman, huh?”

“Yeah”, he said, laughing back at her.

“Well, then you’re really going to love this”, she replied, suddenly ripping his shirt open, exposing his chest, and causing the buttons to fly around the room everywhere. With that she started kissing down his chest, making sure not to over look any part of him. Her lips had just reached the edge of his belt buckle, when she suddenly sat up, her smile growing wider.

“You know what, Jack”, she asked, “I just thought of something.”

“What’s that”, he asked, wishing that she would just continue.

“Wouldn’t you like to try this in your room”, she said.

“You’re right”, he replied, really thinking about it, “That place is just screaming for our attention. Come on, let’s go.”

Jack quickly tried to fix his shirt, and headed for the door, hardly able to wait until they got to his room. He had just stepped out into the hallway, when he realized that Ebony wasn’t following him. Instead, she was just standing there in the doorway, looking at him oddly.

“Ebony, come on”, he said, pleading with her, “What’s holding you back? Let’s go. Let’s not waste the mood.”

“Well, Jack”, she said, looking smug, “I said wouldn’t you like to go back to your room. You, as in you alone. I never said anything about US going back there.”

“What”, Jack yelled, “You can’t just turn me on, turn me off, and turn me back on again, then leave me cold! I need more!”

“Jack”, she said, the smile never once leaving her face, “This is your punishment remember? And it wouldn’t be much of one if you came out happy in the end, now would it? Now good night!”

With that she closed the door in his face, leaving him in the hallway in pure agony. He was still shocked by it all, and ended up standing there outside her door for a good hour, hoping that she would eventually let him back in. Seeing that that wasn’t going to happen, he figured that he had to resort to desperate measures, going back to his room to plan just exactly what he was going to do.

After waiting for another hour to pass, Jack quietly made his way back to her room. Picking the lock on her door, he quietly walked up to her bed, and looked down at her. She woke up instantly, but he was ready for her, and before she could do anything, he scooped her up, tossing her over his shoulder.

“Jack, what are you doing”, she asked groggily, as she hung there over his shoulder, trying to sit up.

“Its simple”, he replied, laughing softly, “I’ve been thinking about what you said, and you’re right, this would be much better in my room. Only this time, it will be you who will be punished.”

“You’re insane”, she said, still struggling, “I won, get over it. Now put me down!”

“All in good time”, he said, slapping her on the a.ss, “Now settle down, and stop fighting it. Take your punishment like a good girl, and you may get a reward at the end of it.”

“Oh”, she asked, curiosity getting the better of her, “And what’s that?”

“Simple”, he said, laughing harder, “Raw, primitive sex.”

Still smiling to himself at the thought, he couldn’t help but remember the contented look that was on her face as he left her sleeping, wrapped only in a sheet, now back in her own bed. He also couldn’t help but think about how he missed her, wishing that he was back with her at that moment. Nope, she was sleeping, and she needed her rest, although that had been hours ago. Now that he thought about it, he figured that it was time that he went to wake her up.

“Jack, Jack”, Salene called him.

“Huh”, Jack asked, still caught up in his thoughts.

“What wrong”, she asked, looking at him worriedly, “You look lost in thought.”

“Oh, its nothing”, Jack said, smiling devilishly, “I just remembered, there’s a place I got to be, and something I’ve got to do.”

Chapter 18:

The sounds of banging could be heard in all areas of the Mall, the repetitive thumping reverberating off the walls as the sound traveled down the hall. Those in the café could only tolerate the noise for but so long, as it slowly began to grate on all of their nerves. Over and over again, the sound continued, it sounded as if something was crashing into the wall. After about fifteen minutes of this, they decided that they couldn’t take it anymore.

“What the he.ll is all that noise coming from”, Lex yelled, slamming his bowl of cereal down on the table, causing its contents to spill all over, “A man can’t even have his morning breakfast without something going on! Can’t I get a bit of peace?!”

“I don’t know”, Salene said, looking confused, “But I’m beginning to get annoyed. I wonder what’s going on?”

“I wonder as well”, Pride said, standing up, “But it sounds as if it’s coming from Jack’s room.”

“Jack’s room”, Jay asked, looking around the room, “But what could he possibly be doing this early in the morning?”

“Like I said”, Salene replied, “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. We can’t let this continue any longer, its giving me a headache.”

They all stood up, heading out of the café, following where the noise was coming from, which was getting louder as they got closer. Pride had been right, it was coming from Jack’s room, the pictures on the wall outside of it was vibrating as to prove it. Lex began banging on the door, yelling Jack’s name over and over. The noise stopped abruptly, leaving the Mall in complete silence, and everyone wondering as to just what exactly it was Jack doing in there. After several minutes the door finally opened to reveal Jack in his pajamas, with sweat dripping off his face.

“Yeah”, he asked, hiding somewhat behind the door, as he looked at all the people standing outside his room, “So what’s going on? What’s this, a tribe meeting?”

“Jack, what’s going on”, Lex said, getting right to the point as usual, “What the he.ll are you doing in there?”

“What do you mean”, Jack asked, looking confused.

“He means what is all that noise coming from in your room”, Salene clarified, “Jack, we could hear whatever you’re doing all over the Mall, and we can’t take it anymore. We can barely hear ourselves talk. Now what are you doing in there?”

“You could really hear me all over the Mall”, Jack asked, looking amazed

“Yeah, we can”, Dee said, crossing her arms, “and we wished we didn’t.”

“Sorry”, Jack said, turning red in the face, “I was just having a little problem with the new computer system, and got frustrated, and started bouncing the basketball against the wall. I didn’t realize I was bouncing the ball that hard. I must have been angrier than I thought.”

“Well, if you want to beat something”, Lex said, still grumpy, “then beat your head in with a stick, but keep it quiet why don’t you?”

With that they all turned around and walked away, leaving Jack to stare at their backs as they went back to the café. Once he was sure they were gone, he closed the door, leaning his head back against it with his eyes closed as he did so.

“That was close”, Jack said, without bothering to open his eyes.

“You’re telling me”, Ebony said, as she came out of the closet, wrapped up in a sheet, “Why is it whenever we are together one of us usually ends up hiding somewhere, usually in a closet?”

“I don’t know”, Jack said, “But there’s got to be a better way. I don’t know if my heart can take any more of this.”

“Well, you know Jack”, Ebony said, walking towards him, “This could all be fixed if we just stop seeing each other.”

“No”, Jack replied, taking her in his arms, “Things are going too good between us for me to give up on it now.”

“Yeah, well I’ll see if you still feel like that in another week or so after you’ve had to be in the closet a few more times”, she replied, pulling away from him.

“Yeah, well, closets don’t bother me”, Jack said, smiling devilishly, “especially when its your closet, and you’re in there with me.”

“Such a dirty thought from a dirty mind”, Ebony answered, shaking her head slightly as she began walking to the door.

“Wait until you find out the other dirty thoughts I’ve had”, he said, laughing, “Those are downright filthy.”

“That I don’t doubt”, Ebony whispered back, opening back.

“Hey, where are you going”, Jack asked, confused as to why she was leaving.

“Jack, its times like these when a girl needs to just walk away”, she replied, blowing him a kiss, “Besides, you’ve had enough fun for the night.”
“But wait, you’re going out like that”, Jack stopped her, noticing that she was still only wearing a sheet, “Don’t you want to put some clothes on first?”

“Jack, don’t you remember”, she asked, raising one eyebrow, “You tore off all my clothing…”

Chapter 19:

”But Jack, don’t you remember? You tore off all my clothing...”

“Well, what do you need clothing for”, he asked coming towards her, “when I’m here to cover you?”

“I’m sorry to say Jack”, Ebony replied, laughing, as she pushed him away, causing him to fall into a pile of dirty clothes that was littering the floor of his room, “but your just not my style.”

Ebony just laughed as she ducked to avoid small bits of leather material and dirty socks Jack was throwing at her as she ran from his room, trying not to trip over the sheet that she was holding up in her hands. She kept looking over her shoulder to make sure that he wasn’t coming after her, knowing that he was already probably planning his retaliation, as she could hear him cursing loudly. She was so preoccupied with what Jack was doing that she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going that she felt her body slam into something hard as she turned a corner in the hall. At first she thought that she hit a wall, but as she felt arms holding her steady, she looked up and realized that she had just ran into Lex.

“Trying to feel me up again, Lex”, Ebony asked sarcastically, as she tried to think up an excuse for being naked in the hallway.

“Well, I would think that you wanted it by what you’re wearing”, Lex replied looking down at the sheet she was wearing, “or what you’re not wearing. Nice sheet by the way, is it big enough for two?”

“Shouldn’t you be finding that out from your wife, Lex”, she asked, still trying to come up with a good story, “or are we having problems in the home?”

“Tai-San’s just fine”, he said, realizing that she was trying to change the subject, “But you know now that I’m sheriff again, its my duty to investigate all suspicious activities.....like the fact that your running through the halls wrapped in nothing but a sheet. I would say that’s suspicious enough.”

“Only to perverts like yourself, Lex”, she said sarcastically, “but if you must know, I just got out of the bath.”

“And so you just wear sheets afterwards”, he asked, not believing a word of it.

“Only when I can’t find a clean towel”, she replied angrily, pushing past him, “Now if you’ll excuse me I better get dressed, as I feel a slight chill in the air.”

“Well, I still don’t believe it”, Lex said, laughing slightly, “but if you ever need someone to warm you up....”

“Then I’ll be sure not to call you”, she said, as she walked in her room as slammed the door shut.

****
Ebony was still thinking about almost being caught hours later. Things were now getting out of hand, and she knew that she had to do something about it. Things between her and Jack were getting out of control. She got silly and careless when it came to him, she would lose her head and things would just get out of control. And she couldn’t understand how she had let that happen. All she knew was that things had to change, and that everything now would be different. She would just have to stop seeing him. Sure, she had been saying that for awhile now, but this time she meant it, and would have to stick to it.

She was still saying this to herself as she was walking to the café, telling herself that she had to stick to her promise not to see him anymore. And she had been, for all of two hours. She had been avoiding Jack so far for the whole morning, keeping herself locked in her room even when she heard him outside her door knocking.. And if it was up to her, she would never come out her room again, as she knew that jack was probably somewhere out there waiting for her. But Bray and Amber had called a meeting in the café, one she knew that she had to attend, and she knew that she was now going to be severely tested.

And she was right, because as she neared the steps leading up to café, she saw jack sitting there on the fountain waiting for her. But she didn’t let herself panic, she just calmly walked by him, using the icy coldness that she had been known for before Jack changed her into a giggling school girl. But she knew that he wasn’t just going to let her get away with that, and she was right, as grabbed her arm pulling her onto his lap before she could get fully past him.

“Jack, let me go”, she said, trying to get up, “I have a meeting to go to, and I don’t want to be late.”

“No”, he said, not being deterred by her attitude, “Not until you explain to me why all of sudden you’ve been avoiding me.”

“Later, ok”, she said, still trying to get up, “Someone could hear us.”

“No”, he said, “You’re not getting away with that one. The only way you’re getting up is if you tell me.”

“Fine”, she said, sighing, and quickly told him about Lex, and what she had decided.

“So, you’re breaking up with me just because of Lex”, he asked, in disbelief.

“No, not just because of Lex”, she said, “because I’m tired of all this craziness between us.”

“But I thought that you liked this craziness between us”, he asked, proving it by kissing her lightly on her neck, which he noticed that she didn’t pull away from, “especially in bed, as you’re the wildest one it, and I’m just the innocent school boy.”

“Well, now you won’t have that problem anymore”, she replied, rolling her eyes, “because now you won’t have to deal with my craziness any longer.”

“No”, he said, holding her tighter, “I refuse to let it end like this, and I refuse to let you up until you change your mind.”

“I told you it was over Jack, and I mean it”, she said, pulling back from him, “What more do you want from me?”

“I just want some loving”, he yelled, rubbing her thigh, “Is that just too much to ask?!”

Ebony couldn’t help it, she just had to laugh, there was no reasoning with him. And Jack used that opportunity to kiss her like he had been wanting to do since she sat on his lap. And kissed her he did. He figured that as long as she was focusing on him and his hands, which was now roaming all over her body, she couldn’t possibly think about giving up on him. And he could see that it was working as Ebony ran her hands through his hair, pulling his head closer.

Everything was going good, and things were getting heated between them, until all of a sudden they heard a scream, a glass hit the ground and break, and opened their eyes to see all of the shocked faces of the Mallrats staring back at them in disbelief.

“Yeah, go Jack”, Lex cheered and clapped, “You keep her in line, and in a lot of other positions!”

And Jack and Ebony both realized that they had been caught.......

Chapter 20:

The sounds of screaming quickly alerted Jack and Ebony that someone else was there besides them, and they quickly broke away from the kiss that they both were beginning to really enjoy. Jack was so shocked to see all the Mallrats standing there, that he jumped up, causing Ebony to fall, with her sliding down between Jack’s legs, and hit the floor. Jack, ever the one to think with his crotch first rather than his head, found himself quickly forgetting all about the Mallrats being there, and found himself fantasizing about Ebony sliding down his lap again, and making a mental note to have her do it again later on.

Ebony looked up at their shocked faces, her eyes immediately locking onto those of Jay, who looked as if he was about to commit murder. She quickly looked away and focused on Ellie who was alternating between screaming and crying, while at the same time throwing anything that she could get her hands on. Amber, Bray, and Pride just stood there frozen, not knowing what to say or do. And Salene gave her dirty looks. All in all, everyone was stunned, and no one was taking it well at all.

“Ebony what are you doing”, Jay yelled in disbelief, and looking as if he was about to kill Jack except that Pride and Bray were holding him back, “Is this why you wouldn’t take me back? Because you’re seeing Jack?

“No, Jay”, Ebony said disgusted, “I didn’t take you back because you couldn’t keep you pants zipped!”

“But Ebony, I don’t understand”, Amber said, still looking confused, “So now you and Jack are together?”

“That’s what we all want to know”, Jay said, still trying to break free from his restraints.

“Well, I think that it’s a good thing”, Lex said, as Ebony ignored the others, “This will make Jack into a man. He needs a little hair on his chest.”

“Shut up, Lex”, Ellie yelled, barely controlling her anger, “She probably seduced him. That’s just like her. Always trying to take what is others!”

“I didn’t take anything”, Ebony shouted, angry herself, “Obviously he didn’t belong to you in the first place!”

All this conversation was going on around him, and Jack didn’t hear any of it. He was too busy having his dirty little thoughts, even though this was the worse possible time for them. Jack didn’t think so though. And his fantasy probably would have continued, getting ever more elaborate, as he got a good part that included nothing more than Ebony naked and some whipped cream, except that it was quickly interrupted as he felt a fist come out of nowhere and connect with his jaw, followed by another to his stomach, causing him to fall to the ground. He looked expecting to see Jay ready to beat the sh.it out of him, but instead was surprised to see Ellie standing above him with a look of fire in her eyes.

She was in a rage, and she was about to let Jack know all about it, but not before she picked up a glass that she had brought with her out of the café and broke it over Ebony’s head, causing the girl’s head to snap back and hit the base of the fountain. At the sight of that, Amber got her wish, as all of a sudden everyone in the room went quiet as they couldn’t believe what they had just saw. Shocked and staring, they didn’t even bother to ask Ebony if she was ok, as they stood back scared wondering what she was going to do. Even Jack found himself frozen on the spot, hoping that this all would turn out to be a dream, while at the same time praying for Ellie’s life.

They all watched as a cut slowly appeared over Ebony’s eye, and another on her cheek, causing each person to become more fearful, as each drop of blood flowed from the wounds. They found themselves holding their breaths in silent anticipation as Ebony carefully got up off the ground, and faced her attacker. Then with lightening speed in a move everyone almost missed, Ebony grabbed Ellie with both hands around her throat. And before anyone could even comprehend what was happening, Ellie was being strangled at the same time Ebony was drowning the girl in the murky stagnant water left over in the fountain’s pool. Still not comprehending what they were seeing, everyone stood frozen for seconds longer, just staring. Until they began to hear gurgling noises coming up from the fountain’s depths, and knew that there was a life that they had to save.

“No, Ebony don’t kill her”, Pride came, yelling, forgetting all about Jay as he tried to stop what was happening.

“Ebony, what are you doing”, Amber kept yelling as she tried to pull the smaller girl back.

Jay too momentarily forgot about his own anger as he rushed in. But Ebony, despite her tiny size, was strong and stubborn, and instead of loosening her hold, her grip around Ellie’s neck tightened, even as everything around her was going crazy. She could feel everyone pulling on her, trying to get her to stop, while Mouse and Brady were running around in circles screaming. Lex and KC just kept laughing while Trudy and Salene shouted insults her way, and Tai-San meditated for peace and group harmony.

It wasn’t until she felt Jack’s arms go around her waist and heard his plea in her ear, did she let go and allow Jack to pull her back, while everyone rushed to help Ellie out. Jack just continued to hug her, hoping to calm her further. Ebony turned in his arms, intent on hugging him back and telling him thank you. But she never got the chance. The words were just about to leave her mouth when all of a sudden she felt someone grab the back of her hair and drag her down to the ground. On the floor looking up she wasn’t surprised to see Ellie glaring back down at her. This was exactly something she would do, yet everyone always claimed that it was Ebony who was always seeking revenge. Trudy came running over to them cheering Ellie on, and Ebony used the opportunity to get Trudy also, and kicked her, causing her to trip and fall on the ground. Trudy decided that she wasn’t going to take that and joined the brawl, ganging up on her enemy.

Jack once again just looked on in shock as he watched the three girls rolling on the floor, fighting like a pack of wolves, each with their hands wrapped around the other’s throat. And once again everyone was screaming, trying to figure out what to do. Jack was finally about to jump in and try to break up the fight, figuring that he had to help his girl, even though she seemed to be doing fine on her own. But before he could he once again felt a fist hit his jaw, and this time he was certain that it was Jay. Another punch to the face and a glimpse of spiky blond hair confirmed it. But Jack wasn’t going to just sit there and take a beating. He gladly began returning every punch. And next thing he knew, he was rolling on the floor right next to Ebony.

“Lex, you’re the law here, do something”, Dee yelled, realizing that she couldn’t do it on her own, and that Pride and Bray needed help.

Lex, who previously had just been laughing at them all, figured that she was right, he had to do something. So seeing what was going on before him, he sighed, but knew what he had to do. He found himself reaching into his pants pocket. Pulling out a bottle of baby oil, he quickly began pouring it onto the girls as they wrestled on the floor, swirling the oil as if he was swirling icing on a cake.

With this going on, Jack was able to get free, and once again tried to help Ebony. However with all of her leather clothing slick with oil, he kept sliding off of her, which resulted in him momentarily flashing back to the fantasy he had about her earlier. Once again caught up in his thoughts instead of what was going on around him, Jay was able to drag him off again, and beat the he.ll out of him.

“Lex, what the he.ll are you doing”, Pride yelled,finally noticing what lex was doing as he felt the oil drip into his eyes as he tried to break them apart.

“Well, you told me to do something”, Lex yelled back, getting mad at their constant demands, but never once stopping the flow of oil, “What do you expect? I’m doing my job!”

“How the he.ll does baby oil help you do your job”, Amber shouted, getting fed up with the everyone.

“Well, its my job to restore peace”, Lex said, nodding his head, “So by using the oil, everyone will calm down, watch the girls wrestle, and realize that I’m providing a service to all......the gift of entertainment!”

“Lex, once again, your logic makes no sense”, Dee said, slapping him upside his head, “You’re just once again being the disgusting, perverted Lex we all know!”

“What, I’m not charging”, Lex yelled back, angered by their ungratefulness, “And that oil was valuable! I’ve been saving it since the virus, just waiting for the right occasion!”

“Well, I don’t care about how valuable it was or what you were saving it for”, Amber snapped, “Just help us stop the fight!”

Lex just sighed and dove onto the ground into the pile of bodies of the girls, deciding that he was going to just ignore the guys and let Pride and Bray handle that..
“Well, this isn’t all bad”, Lex thought with a big smile on his face, as he felt himself at the bottom of the pile.

Chapter 21:

It wasn’t until Amber grabbed a metal pot and began banging it against the staircase railing did everyone calm down and stop fighting, all briefly startled by the noise. Amber just stood there, glaring at them all, wishing, though not for the first time, that she had a bat to beat them with. She was sick of all the fighting, all the yelling, all the backstabbing, and all this showed in her eyes as she looked at Ebony, who she clearly blamed for all the current mess.

“That’s it”, she yelled, standing before them with her hands on her hips, still contemplating throwing the pot in her hand, “I’m sick to death of all of you! We’re supposed to be a tribe, but we can’t seem to go one day without fighting! Ebony, Jack, one of you please tell us what this is all about. Are you two together now or what? Because if you are, Jack, I must say that you picked a poor choice of baggage to deal with....”

~~~~~~~~~
Minutes later, Ebony found herself near running to her room, practically in tears, still not quite believing what had just happened. It wasn’t Amber’s smart a.ss comment that had her so upset, as she could handle that wh.ore as she always had, but it was what happened because of that that left her world feeling as if it had just spun out of control. Sure when it came to Jack, she was never really in control, but in her own way she could handle it. But she couldn’t handle this, and she had no one to blame, she had did it to her self.

She had stood there while everyone stared back at her with confused, questioning looks, and she did as she always did, she lied. She wasn’t even quite sure why she did it. Maybe it was because she couldn’t take looking at the bruises marring Jack’s beautiful face, or that she felt guilty for all the tears pouring down Ellie’s stricken face, or the fact that she thought that he deserved better than her. Whatever the reasons, and there were possibly many, Ebony stood there and denied them, him, herself. She herself hadn’t even recognized her own voice as she heard the words come from her own lips.

“There is nothing going on between me and Jack”, a near look of disgust upon her face, mainly because of the lie she was telling, but appearing to all as if she felt that way for him, “We just merely had a bet, and Jack won. The kiss was the prize to the victor...”

Even to her own ears, that excuse was lacking, but they seemed to believe it, after all what would the likes of her be doing with the likes of him? She could care less about what the other Mallrats thought about her, especially that cheating bast.ard Jay. But what she couldn’t take was looking over at Jack’s eyes, and seeing the hurt in them, and the disgusted way he looked at her as he heard the lies coming out of her mouth, believing that she was ashamed of him. No, that was something that she just couldn’t seem to take, and she quickly walked away, each step seeming to mirror the sound of her heart beginning to break..

~~~~~~
Jack angrily slammed the door to his room as he marched inside it, slamming it in Ellie’s face as he did so, who was obviously trying to follow him to talk about what had just had happened. He didn’t want to deal with her, or her ranting.

Ignoring her, and the banging on the door once it was closed, he sunk down onto his bed, trying to figure out what had just happened. Though for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what had. He thought things were going so great between him and Ebony, and he figured that the whole situation would finally give them a chance to be honest about their relationship, as he was sick to death of hiding it. But apparently according to Ebony, they had no relationship, he was merely a night time diversion, one she was too ashamed to admit that she had.

Although he had known from the beginning that that was all he was to Ebony, he still couldn’t help feeling hurt by it all. He thought that they were finally getting passed all that, that she liked being with him. Apparently he was wrong, and he would have to get over it, but the realization didn’t make it any easier. Standing up, he realized that the only way that he was going to be able to do this, was if he removed every trace of her from his life, starting with things from his room. Walking over to his closet, he picked up a box and began throwing things in it as he walked around the room., things that in some way, shape, or form, had to do with her, which was not easy, as everything in the room reminded him of her.

But as he began throwing in things like a pair of handcuffs, some thongs (he never did get a chance to wear those), chocolate syrup, and sheets from his bed (he was going to miss wearing those), he realized that all this was pointless. There was no way that he could keep himself from her, he had to see her, had to talk to her, see how she felt. And even if it turned out that it was all only just about sex with her, he wouldn’t care, he just wanted to be with her any way that he could get her. He needed her in more ways than just physical ones......

Hosted Fiction