Days Like
These
~Sequel
to Days Go By~
Final Part to Days Trilogy
Chapter 1
Jasina looked up at the
ranch and felt completely sick to her stomach, only having a small cup of
coffee with no food. She was afraid of throwing up and had half-expected
Randy to show up telling her Arielle's graduation was more important than his
work in Australia. When he didn't show up and Jasina knew she had to
leave or else she'd be late, it just broke her heart further.
Now, she had the
unpleasant duty of stepping out of the car and walking into the ranch with a
glowing happy Arielle, only to shatter her to pieces with the unfortunate news
of Randy's departure. Wearing a strapless turquoise dress that went to
her knees with a black sash around her waist, Jasina looked beautiful but
didn't feel it. If anything, she felt lower than scum, finally stepping
out of the car and heading up to the front door in her two inch black strappy
open-toed heels.
Mark opened the door
before Jasina could even reach for it, wearing a black suit and in the process
of fixing his tie, his hair slicked back and braided. “She's doing her
make-up.” He said by way of greeting, smiling down at her, the smile slowly
fading when he seen how she looked and was tempted to offer her a pick-me-up beer
or something. Stepping back, he let
Jasina into the house. “You look like someone shot yer puppy, darlin'. Bad news?”
“Dad, where'd you put my eyeliner?”
“Top shelf in the medicine cabinet, why can't you use yer own goddamn
bathroom?” He shouted back.
“Because you have to finish remodelin' it, duh!”
“Yer Mom's here!”
“Be right down.”
Jasina didn't acknowledge
the question and plastered a fake smile on her face. “You clean up nice.”
She knew this was a big
day for Mark, especially since he'd raised Arielle from infant into a beautiful
young woman who was graduating high school. Jasina had made sure she
looked her best, getting rid of the puffiness after crying so much, wearing
black eyeliner and clear gloss, wanting a natural look. Though, the amount
of sadness in her eyes was enough to tell Mark something definitely wasn't
right. Jasina nearly felt her heart crush at the sight of Arielle, seeing
how happy she was and didn't know if she could do this.
“You look amazing, Arie.”
“Damn straight I do.”
Arielle beamed, completely oblivious to her mother's mood, excited about the
day. She twirled in a circle, showing
off her dress before gently patting her hair. “What do you think? I made Dad curl the back for me.”
“Arielle!” Mark groaned, not believing she had just announced that. “I thought
we agreed that'd be between just us, lil darlin'?”
“It's Mom, who's she going to tell?”
Mark slapped his face.
“I'm gonna go finish getting around now that yer outta my bathroom.” He
announced, heading upstairs to give the women some time alone, knowing this was
a big day for all of them.
“You actually had him
curl your hair?” Jasina couldn't help giggling, wrapping an arm around Arielle's
shoulders as they headed down the hallway toward the kitchen. “I didn't even
know he could use a curling iron.”
They both laughed and it
felt good, even through the pain and heartache Jasina currently felt. She
didn't want anything ruining her daughter's big day and hated Randy even more
for what he was forcing her to do. Why did she always have to clean up
after other people's messes?
“You look perfect, Gary
isn't going to be able to take his eyes off of you, honey.”
“He never can.” Arielle
smirked, the cocky expression on her face totally like the one her father
tended to sport. “But today, he's going to- Mom, your eyes look weird.” She
broke off in the middle of her sentence, dropping down at the kitchen table
only to get back up, not wanting to ruin her dress. “Looks like you've been
cryin'. Don't cry, you cried at my
birthday party, you're supposed to be done cryin'.” She moved to hug her Mom
gently. “Happy day, remember?”
She simply hugged Arielle
back tightly, not wanting to muse her up in any way shape or form. “I know it
is, sweetie, you're right.” She pulled back and wiped a few tears away from her
face, being careful not to mess up her own makeup, seeing the confusion in
those emerald eyes. “Arielle, sit down. There's something I need to tell
you.” When she merely folded her arms in front of her chest, Jasina suddenly
had to sit down and lowered her eyes to the floor, clasping her hands in front
of her as more tears stung her eyes. “Sweetheart, Randy isn't coming to your
graduation today...or your party.”
“What, why?” Arielle's
confusion showed all over her face and then her expression turned panicky. The way her Mom was sitting, wringing her
hands and obviously fighting back tears had gotten her mind and heart to racing,
worry filling her. “Is he alright? Has
somethin' happened?” She demanded, unable to sit, feeling tension coiling in
her. She knew Randy sometimes worked
some rather dangerous assignments and had visions of him being shot, or
stabbed, in her head now.
“He went to Australia
this morning for work.” Jasina bitterly stated, trying not to sound resentful,
but it wasn't happening. This was her daughter's graduation day, where
she walked the aisle to receive her diploma, a year earlier and as
valedictorian. “He surprised me last night with the tickets because he was
going to take me with him. He completely forgot about your graduation and
it's nobody's fault except his own. I told him countless times and he
still went because he couldn't cancel.” She stood up from the chair, squaring
her shoulders and stared down into Arielle's eyes. “I'm sorry, Arielle.”
“HE WHAT?” Arielle
screamed, the worry evaporating into anger, hardly believing she had just spent
the last few seconds feeling violently ill at the thought of something
happening to him, when it turned out he was blowing off her big day for a damn
vacation! “He went to Australia?
NOW? TODAY? He couldn't get out of it?! What the fuck Mom?!”
Mark was slowly making
his way downstairs, wincing when Arielle dropped the F-bomb and wasn't entirely
sure he wanted to know what was going on, deciding to just stay in the living
room for the moment.
“Believe me, I reacted
the same way you are now when he told me. He said he couldn't get out of
it because he has 'obligations'.” She did the finger quotes motion, snorting
the same time her daughter did, both of them clearly livid at Randy Orton for
his selfish choices. “I told him if he loved us as much as he said he does, he
wouldn't go. He would stay here and simply tell them his family was more
important. He said he'd make it up to you and me, but...” Jasina didn't
even want to see Randy when he returned from Australia, taking a deep shaky
breath because she had to be calm for Arielle's sake. “I don't think...I mean...”
She decided not to say anything more, knowing Arielle was angry enough as it
was. “Don't let him ruin the biggest day of your life just because he's an
asshole, Arie.”
“No, Mom, you don't get
it. He HAS to be there! He helped me write my speech and I thanked
him in it for being one of-” Arielle was so pissed off and hurt that she was
struggling to speak without choking up and not cry at the same time.”Call him
right now and tell him to get back here!
He has to be here! He can't be in
Australia, not today.”
This was almost as bad as
when her Dad totally destroying her birthday party!! Arielle ran out of the room and upstairs to
the bathroom, needing both a minute alone to finish crying, since she had
started and to clean her face up, letting out an angry shriek. Randy Orton was a dead man and instead of
finding that as amusing, which is what he always figured he'd feel if Mr.
Perfect messed up, Mark found himself genuinely hating that the man had just
destroyed Arielle's day.
Randy had just hit HIS level.
Jasina simply sank back
down on the chair and put her head in her hands, letting a few tears of her own
fall. How could Randy devastate them like this, especially Arielle?
He meant so much to her and it took a lot for Arielle to let another man into
her life that almost matched her feelings for her father. Jasina had no
idea Randy had helped Arielle with her valedictorian speech and that just
angered her further, suddenly storming out on the patio to get some fresh air.
“Why Randy?” She whispered
heartbrokenly, Arielle's shriek still echoing in her mind, not helping matters
at all.
Mark was torn between
going to his daughter and going to his ex-wife, knowing he needed to make sure
Arielle would be alright. He had no
place in Jasina's life anymore, except as the father of her child. “Arie…?” He
knocked gently on the bathroom door, flinching when he heard her tell him to go
away, punctuated by something breaking, really hoping she wasn't 'remodeling'
HIS bathroom. Sighing, Mark headed back
downstairs and into the kitchen, passing Jasina a bandana. “He's not coming.”
“No.” Jasina really
didn't want to see the gloating look on Mark's face or in his beady green eyes,
not taking the bandana and refused looking at him.
She had no idea what she
was going to do now, if she could ever trust another man again. Hell, the
way Randy left, she didn't think they were over even though it felt that
way. As much as Jasina despised him right now, she couldn't help loving
the man who had managed to piece her back together after Mark shattered
her. Now he had shattered her and Jasina didn't know if she would be able
to piece herself back together without help. The worst part was she had
to destroy her daughter's big day, which made the hatred bubble inside of her,
overshadowing the love.
Mark wasn't gloating and
nothing but concern and sympathy showed in his eyes, knowing how hard it must
have been to trust another man with her heart.
He knew how hard it had been for Arielle to fully trust Randy, expecting
him to hurt her and after awhile, even Mark had figured the other man would
never hurt either of the women he loved dearest. Crouching down, he gently reached up and
moved her hands away from her face, beginning to wipe away the tears and little
specks of make-up that had smeared only a bit.
Jasina sniffled a little
and didn't pull away from him when he wiped her tears away, his warm hands
actually feeling comforting. Teal eyes locked with emerald green, not
believing the amount of concern coursing through them. Mark wanted to
kill Randy, there was no doubt in Jasina's mind about it, but he wasn't losing
his temper because he didn't want to upset Arielle anymore than she already
was. They didn't say anything and simply stared into each other's eyes,
something they hadn't done since their relationship ended.
“Mark, are you here baby?”
The moment was ruined by
that voice and Jasina instantly broke eye contact, turning to stare out into
the open land, while Mark went to greet his girlfriend, Shayla. Now that that moment was over, Mark bent down
to kiss Shayla's cheek, really wishing she would quit calling him baby. It felt a bit...retarded, being his age, his
size and getting called baby, but...he tolerated it.
“We're not leavin' just
yet, there was a problem and Arie's gettin' cleaned up.” Mark explained,
gesturing for her to take a seat.
Today of all days, it was
supposed to be a happy day and so far, it was sucking and he could see the
puzzled look on her face, pinching the bridge of his nose, not about to explain
it all.
Jasina was in hell.
Randy wasn't there while Mark had his girlfriend, who actually showed up unlike
her boyfriend, and that made Jasina sick to her stomach. When Arielle
called for her back inside the house, Jasina took a deep breath and headed into
the kitchen, her eyes only on her daughter as she walked past both Mark and
Shayla.
“Yes sweetheart?” She
asked softly, already feeling drained and the day hadn't even begun, having a
full purse of tissues for when they made it to her ceremony. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah.”
Arielle nodded stiffly,
her face remade and a complete mask of nothingness, refusing to feel anything
just yet because she knew it would be anger and more hurt and then the water
work process would begin all over again.
Arielle nodded at Shayla, who offered her a timid smile in return. How screwed was that? Her Dad’s girlfriend was coming but Randy,
her almost step-dad, was on his way to freaking Australia?
“I'm going to ride with
Mom, okay Dad?”
“Sure darlin', whatever you want.”
Jasina glanced back at
Mark and nodded at him with a tentative smile before wrapping an arm around
Arielle, guiding her out of the house. Gary was meeting them at the
ceremony because he had a few last minute things to finish up at the office
with Trish, promising he wouldn't miss the graduation. That was the last
thing Arielle needed was for her own boyfriend/soon-to-be fiancé to miss the
biggest moment of her life. They got in Jasina's car and drove away from
the ranch, Arielle having her graduation cap and gown hanging in the back on a
hook.
“I love you, Arie, you
know that right?” When Arielle just stiffly nodded, Jasina decided not to say
anything else, not even fighting the frown that crossed her face.
“Do I even want to know
what happened?” Shayla ventured timidly as she and Mark followed in his truck,
feeling waves of both concern and anger radiating off of him from where she was
sitting, knowing someone had hurt Arielle which was basically the equivalent of
signing their death warrant.
“Nothin' for you to be concerned with.
Just...focus on Arielle today, this is about her.”
Chapter 2
As soon as they arrived
at the high school, all thoughts of Randy vanished from her mind as Jasina
focused solely on Arielle, helping her walk inside with her cap and gown.
She smiled at the sight of Gary waiting for them and Arielle instantly ran into
his arms, hugging him tightly around the neck, a frown suddenly marring his handsome
face. Gary could feel the tension even
before he walked up to greet his girlfriend, the expressions on everyone’s
faces telling him that the mood definitely wasn’t cheerful.
“What happened?” He demanded softly, looking up at Jasina for the answer.
Jasina sighed and placed
a hand on Arielle's back, watching the anger fill Gary's eyes when Arielle told
him about Randy going on vacation instead of being here. The fire in the boy’s eyes was enough to
actually scare Jasina momentarily. She
knew Gary had a temper on him and had only seen it once since he’d returned to
town to be with Arielle. However, Jasina
knew without a shadow of a doubt that Gary would never hurt her daughter
physically or intentionally.
“Seriously?” Gary growled
once Arielle walked away from him, needing to get ready for the ceremony. “What
an asshole.”
Mark kept his mouth shut
as he approached with Shayla, agreeing with Gary wholeheartedly and shook the
young man's hand with a forced grin. Not
that he didn't like Gary because, surprisingly, he did; the boy had definitely
grown on him. No, the smile was forced
because he really wanted to kick Randy in the balls for being so stupid, for
pulling a stunt way too similar to his own and ruining another momentous day
for Arielle.
“He'd kick my ass if I tried kicking his, wouldn't he?”
“Eh...” Mark shrugged nonchalantly.
Once Arielle was fitted
into her cap and gown, Jasina snapped a few pictures, Mark and Gary involved
along with Shayla. Jasina wasn't going to be cruel to the woman, it was
good that Mark had moved on and found someone else. Shayla was even kind
enough to snap pictures of her and Mark with Arielle, the proud parents.
They headed out to take their seats, the warm sun beating down on them and
Jasina began snapping pictures with Arielle's camera, promising to use it
because it took the best. As the school march began, Jasina couldn't stop
a tear from sliding down her cheek as she watched her baby girl walk down the
aisle, the yellow sash around her neck signifying her valedictorian crown.
Arielle was bound and
determined to NOT let the absence of Randy spoil this for her, a smile
plastered on her face as she took her seat for opening ceremony. She had omitted the reference to him in her
speech, still unsure if she should leave it out or mention him, it wasn't like
he was there to hear it. She noted Toni
and her parents, Gary, her Mom and Dad and her friends sitting in the
crowd. Mentally groaning when she
realized Shayla had a camcorder out, Arielle kept the smile on her face since
her mom was snapping pictures.
Mark was going to have a
crying jag later on... his little baby was graduating and he couldn’t believe
how fast time had flown.
Once the opening ceremony
was over with -the principal talking along with some of the teachers-, it was
time for the announcement of valedictorian. Jasina was all smiles as she
kept snapping pictures, trying her best to steady her shaking hands while
Shayla continuing videotaping the momentous occasion. Gary sat beside Jasina and couldn't help
grinning proudly; remembering when he graduated from school after getting out
of juvie, wishing Arielle could've been there to witness his moment in the sun.
“And now, I am pleased to announce this year's valedictorian. She ranked
the highest in her class, graduating a year earlier than expected, with an
outstanding GPA of four point five. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me
in congratulating Arielle Marie Calaway.” The principal announced humbly, an
applause echoing throughout the graduating class.
“WOOO GO ARIE!!!” Gary roared while Jasina whistled with her fingers, all of
her friends stomping their feet against the bleachers while clapping wildly.
“My baby girl...” With everyone Jasina had been through, being here in this moment
for her daughter was worth everything and more.
Mark ducked his head in
order to brush away tears with his knuckles, listening intently to her
speech. He knew Randy had helped her
write it because she had told him so when he had offered his dubious
expertise. She had also told him he and
her Mom weren't allowed to hear it because she wanted it to be a surprise.
Well he was surprised,
wondering where this articulate overly-intelligent -he knew damn well she got
from her mother, on both counts- young woman came from. Her usually rough accent -that was from him-
was clipped and soft, a drawl that by no means ruined the overall intelligence
that emanated from her. He found himself
reaching around Gary's shoulder in order to place a hand on Jasina's, knowing
this was a major moment for her as well.
Jasina never took her
eyes from Arielle for even a second, placing her hand over Mark's, giving it a
gentle squeeze as tears slid down her face. The speech was beautifully
written and the fact that Arielle acknowledged her in it lifted Jasina's heart
in a way that was indescribable. She knew Mark felt the same way, both of
them sharing this moment and watching something neither would forget, not even
on their deathbed.
When her speech ended,
Jasina stood up and applauded loudly while snapping pictures, along with
everyone in the audience, even the classmates because they all enjoyed
it. The rest of the graduation followed suit, though when Arielle's name
was mentioned to receive her diploma, the biggest roar sounded from the
audience from all of her friends, family and the love of her life. Steve
and Trish were even there applauding, Trish looking beautiful and ready to pop
the kid out any day now.
When the ceremony ended,
the family went to greet Arielle and snapped pictures, exchanging loving
embraces. Even Jasina hugged Mark and snapped a picture with him at
Arielle's request, smiling brightly all because their baby girl had finally
graduated high school and was grown up.
The fact that their daughter would be moving in with her boyfriend in
just a few days didn’t bother Mark as much as he thought it would because he
knew Gary was a good man, who would take care of Arielle and protect her with
his life.
Not even realizing his
arm was still around Jasina, Mark pulled Arielle into them with his other one,
crushing both of them against him. “We are so damn proud of ya, Arie.” He
whispered in her ear, letting go when she let out a muffled 'thanks' and then
crushed Jasina against him without thinking twice, then set her back on her
feet releasing his grip. “Can ya believe she's graduated? Seems like just yesterday she was lockin' us
up.” He chuckled good-naturedly.
Shayla was a little
surprised when Arielle gave her a hug, having been watching Mark and Jasina,
though she did return it awkwardly. “I filmed everything.” She said with a
smile. “I'll have copies made off for everyone.”
Gary groaned, really not
wanting to relive that experience again, though he was relieved to see the
amusement in Mark's eyes, smiling when Arielle instantly came to him. “You have
no idea how proud I am of you right now, baby doll and how much I love you.” He
murmured softly, smiling when she simply kissed him on the lips.
“I know and now she's in love with the same boy who helped her lock us up.” The
irony caused both parents to laugh jubilantly; the hug from Mark definitely
needed and appreciated. “It seems like only yesterday she was no bigger than
your forearm and now...look at her. You did a great job, Mark.
She's absolutely perfect, smart as hell and beautiful.” Jasina sniffled,
letting the emotions get the better of her as a few tears fell.
“Well...the smart and
most of the perfection she gets from you, I just wiped her ass and kissed her
scraped knees.”
“Daddy...”
“There were a lot of them too...”
“Scraped knees?” Gary grinned, keeping his arm around Arielle's waist as they
turned to her parents.
“Dirty diapers.”
“Quit embarrassin' her Mark, she's turning red!”
Arielle took a deep
breath and shook her head, letting out a shriek when Toni all but tackled her.
Jasina laughed and
smacked Mark gently on the arm, shaking her head. “Behave.” She ordered
amusedly, knowing he would have plenty of time at the party to embarrass
her.
They all headed down the sidewalk
after Jasina snapped a few pictures of the trio and then of just Arielle with
Toni, not believing how fast time flew by. Jasina wasn't surprised when
Arielle asked if she could ride with Toni and Gary, nodding and slipped into
her own car, taking a moment to check her phone. No messages from Randy,
not even a voicemail. Sighing, Jasina tossed her phone on the passenger
seat and took off to the restaurant.
“So, is everything
alright now?” Shayla asked once her and Mark were alone again.
“Yeah, everythin's fine.” Mark assured his girlfriend. ‘For now.’ He mentally
added, knowing Jasina was keeping it together for their daughter’s sake.
“So, how does it feel to be graduated?” Toni demanded, glancing across the seat
at Arielle before quickly turning her eyes back onto the road.
“Freedom!” Arielle squealed out, grinning, Randy the furthest from her mind.
The party was underway
and Jasina instantly decided she was drinking tonight, having a glass of wine
to celebrate Arielle's big day. Gary was already planning on moving
Arielle in the apartment during the next few days and Mark didn't look too
happy about it, but a deal was a deal. She sat alone in the far corner
and just watched as her daughter mingled with all of the friends and family who
were invited.
It was a privilege being
here and yet Randy chose to go overseas instead of accepting the
invitation. The more Jasina thought about it, the more pissed off she
became and the more she drank, consuming nearly a bottle of wine herself within
three hours. She wasn't drunk, but felt pretty tipsy and cut herself off
since she had to drive home. All she could think about was how stupid
she'd been to actually trust Randy with her heart, trying not to sulk at her
daughter's party.
“I can't believe you're a
graduate...” Trish sniffled, for the third time, catching Arie on her next
round of the room, wiping away tears. “You can come to work fulltime!”
“Whoa honey, why don't you let her enjoy being free for a bit?” Steve
suggested, smiling at Arielle. “I'm sure she wants to take a break.”
“I, uh- Oh look, it's time to do cake and presents! See ya!”
Mark shook his head when
he seen Arielle darting away from a laughing Steve and confused looking Trish,
not even wanting to know as he stopped Shayla from helping herself to what
would be her sixth drink. “Uh-uh, switch to something with less alcohol.” He
ordered, refusing to let his girlfriend get sloshed at his daughter’s
graduation party.
“Why?” Shayla demanded,
raising an eyebrow up at her boyfriend, folding her arms in front of her chest.
“I want another drink, baby. It's a party after all.”
“It is my DAUGHTER'S
party and if you drink anymore, yer going to get toasted, embarrass us all, and
then I will drown you in that glass, we clear?” Mark said coldly.
He liked the woman,
really he did, but she reminded him of Steve in the drinking department. Only, unlike Steve, she didn't have the
social drinking thing curbed. He had
ruined his daughter's birthday party, there would be no coming back from it if
his girlfriend ruined her graduation party.
Two parties in one year, he'd never live it down.
Shayla stared at him in
shock, the anger registering in her blue eyes. “You seriously believe I would
ruin your daughter's party?” She was pissed and tossed the napkin in the nearby
trashcan, holding her hands up. “I'm leaving then so I DON'T embarrass
you. Good night, asshole.” She stormed out without another word, slamming
the door behind her.
Gary couldn't help
laughing at the way Arielle darted away from Trish, not blaming her in the
slightest, actually thankful to his boss for allowing him today off. “Baby
doll, that wasn't very nice.” He chastised playfully, wrapping his arms around
her waist, nuzzling her ear.
“I was caught between a rock and a hard place, much like you are now.”
Gary growled, smiling
when she shivered against him. “I can't wait for you to move in with me.”
“I bet you can't.” Arielle turned around, wrapping her arms around his neck,
staring into his dark eyes. “I can't wait either.”
“Arielle, it's time to do presents sweetheart.” Jasina interrupted with an
apologetic smile, having walked over after Lashonna informed her it was time.
Out of the corner of her
eye, Jasina noticed Shayla storm out of the building and didn’t even want to
know what that was about. She was very
tempted to kick the hell out of Mark’s girlfriend for trying to cause a scene
at her daughter’s graduation party, but swallowed it down. It was a good thing Arielle wasn’t that
attached to Shayla like she had been to Randy or that might’ve been another
terrible blow. Instead, Jasina just
handed Arielle presents and kept a smile on her face, luckily not a lot of
people noticing Shayla departure.
Gary could see the anger
in Mark's eyes and swallowed hard, keeping his eyes on his girlfriend, thankful
she was grinning from ear to ear.
That was the last time he
ever dated a woman that literally reminded him of Steve with less common
sense. The whole 'like Steve, lack of
common sense' thing probably should have been the indicator that there was only
disaster waiting, but...she had long tanned legs and a curvy ass. Mark moved towards the gift table,
effectively shunting Shayla out of mind and focused on his daughter. Wondering if she'd mind the fact that he
hadn't bought her anything, Mark instead gave her a gift card to use to furnish
her new apartment with Gary. Given the
amount of money on that card, she'd probably go into shock or start squealing.
Sure enough, when Arielle
opened the card to reveal the amount of ten thousand dollars, she let out the
biggest squeal and threw herself at her father, causing everyone to
laugh. Gary was stunned when Arielle showed him that it was a Visa gift
card, knowing they needed to furnish the apartment and blinked over at Mark,
not knowing what to think. Jasina couldn't have been happier, the
excitement and elation on her daughter's face enough to make her forget
completely about Randy Orton for the time being. She had a feeling Mark
was back to square one much like her and couldn't help noticing the irony.
Chapter 3
Arielle hid the present
from Toni, shooting her friend a dirty look and blushed when Gary tried to take
a peek, letting Toni come around and take it away so her parents didn't see
it. Her mind was still reeling from her
Dad's present, knowing that Visa card was good anywhere and then realized where
the money had come from. The man was
well off, but that was a lot of cash. It
was the money he had always saved for her college fund, which she now didn't
need because of scholarships and the internship. Thinking of the internship brought Randy to
the forefront of her mind and she pulled the two gifts from him towards her,
taking a deep breath.
Jasina looked over at
Mark briefly; seeing his eyes narrowed and knew he wasn't happy that she'd
brought the gifts from Randy with her. He'd left them in front of her
door with a note begging her to give them to Arielle on his behalf.
Jasina wanted to toss them, but that wasn't her call to make and reluctantly did
what Randy wanted. As Arielle began opening them, she had to pull away
for a second to gather her emotions, taking a deep breath and whipped her head
back when a gasp escaped Arielle's mouth.
“WHOA...”
“Holy cow!”
“More like holy shit, honey.” Steve grunted when Trish elbowed him in the ribs.
It was identical to the
camera Randy used, a Canon EOS 5D Mark, a three thousand dollar camera and she
remembered Randy telling her the only way he would ever buy her a 'decent'
camera was when he thought she was skilled enough to use one. This told her he finally believed she was
ready and she felt tears pricking her eyes.
Reluctantly, Arielle set aside the case and opened the second present, smiling
slightly at the sight of a briefcase like he carried, opening it. Inside was a camera case, folded tripod and a
portfolio. She pulled it out and opened
it, seeing all the photographs she had taken along with articles her photos had
been featured in.
Jasina could see a few
tears sliding down Arielle's face and immediately bent down to wipe them away,
not wanting her sad on this big day. She took the gifts away and set them
aside; knowing Randy not being here really shattered Arielle. There was
nothing Jasina could do and she hated the fact Randy caused her daughter pain,
never thinking he would.
The rest of the presents
were money, gift cards and other items like movies and books she wanted.
Jasina hugged Arielle tightly and nodded when she went to Gary, both of them
stepping outside for a moment for some air, Arielle holding the camera Randy
got her. Screw cutting herself off, Jasina went straight to the bar and
ordered a beer, her buzz wearing off.
Gary comforted Arielle
the best way he knew how, holding her tightly in his arms while she cried a
little over the camera, burying her face in his chest. “Shhh don't cry, Arie.”
He crooned soothingly. “You're supposed to be happy today...”
“Happy?” Arielle pulled back to stare up in his dark eyes, hers slightly red and
swollen. “How can I be happy when my Mom is heartbroken and Randy isn't
here? It's not right. Why did he choose Australia over us? I
thought he loved us more than that. He's such an asshole!!”
Gary sighed when she
stopped ranting and simply crumbled, squeezing the camera tightly against her
chest, the emotions in him starting to surface. He wanted to kill Randy
Orton for hurting his girlfriend this much. “I love you, Arie, always remember
that.”
Mark had no idea what the
big deal over the camera was because Arielle rarely discussed her internship on
a specific level with him. She just
usually glossed over the details and kept him in the loop without pulling him
inside it, no doubt because of the tension between him and Randy. There was always certain awkwardness there
and he knew Arielle sometimes felt conflicted since he was her Dad, but Randy
had also stepped up into that role on a level.
“She going to be
alright?”
“Which one?”
“Arielle. You know better, I don't ask
about your ex-wife. Trish usually tells
me shit even you don't know, I'm in the know man.”
After assuring Steve
everything was fine, Mark made his way over to Jasina, noticing she had
apparently decided drinking was on the menu and accepted a glass of wine he was
passed. He knew this was all Lashonna
was allowing inside her restaurant with so many underage kids around and it
would do, even though he wasn't much of a wine drinker. “Why didn't he come?”
He asked finally, knowing Randy was the reason Arielle and Jasina were both down,
wanting to seriously injure the man for hurting them.
Jasina snorted as she
took another swig of her beer, running the pad of her thumb around the rim of
the can, trying not to let anymore tears fall until she was home alone. “He
went to Australia for work. Said he forgot today was Arielle's
graduation.” She couldn't look up at Mark because she didn't want to see the
pity in his eyes that she knew was there, feeling her heart clench violently
with pain. “H-He said he had to go because he had obligations to fulfill.
He was going to take me with him and I normally would've gone in a heartbeat,
but...not today. He chose work over family, like always, and forced me to
hurt our daughter on the most important day of her life.” She finished her beer
and crushed the can, gritting her teeth through blurred vision.
“Why didn't you just lie
to her?” He asked curiously, holding up a hand when Jasina shot him a dirty
look. “Just hear me out, darlin'. I know
you don't like lyin' to Arie, but sometimes, there are times when you need
too. Like today. You could have told her anythin' else, but
the Australia thing until after the graduation party, where she wouldn't have
had to deal with the anger.” For example, he had lied to Arielle when her first
kitten had gotten run over and told her that the kitten had 'moved to Hollywood
to star in an animal movie'. She had
written that damn cat letters for a month and he had to send them out, but it
was preferable over the truth.
“I don't lie to my
daughter, no matter the circumstances.” Jasina stated evenly, wondering what
exactly Mark had lied to Arielle about, deciding it was none of her business.
“And besides, what hell was I supposed to tell her? He has no family to
our knowledge so saying he had a family emergency wouldn't have worked.
And she would've known something definitely was up when she went to the office
only to find him gone. Trish was the one who signed him off for the damn
trip so she would've simply gone to Trish and figured out I lied to her.” There
was no way Jasina was doing that, remembering her promise to never lie to
Arielle and refused to break it. She hadn't been a very good mother up
until Arielle was twelve years old, but she'd be damned if she wasn't totally
one hundred percent honest with her daughter.
“Yer call darlin', it was
just a question.” Mark rumbled, having seen the flicker of curiosity that
darted enough her face and decided he'd tell Jasina, maybe coax a grin out of
her or at least lighten her mood a bit. “When she was six, she had a kitten
named Mr. Butters; it was a girl by the way.
Poor thing got ran over out on the road while she was at school and I
buried her in the backyard. When Arie
came home and asked where Mr. Butters was, I told her that she had moved to
Hollywood to star in them animal movies and was gonna be a big star.” Mark
groaned at the memory. “I did it because she was really young and had some
mixed up ideas about death and I didn't want to see her hurt and cry. She dictated letters to me every other day
and made me mail them out. She would
literally make me go to the post office with a letter addressed to Mr. Butters
the Hollywood Cat and watch me give them to the postman.”
“Seriously?”
No matter how hard she
tried fighting it, Jasina started laughing and shook her head, the sound both
genuine and uplifting. Jasina could see Mark doing something like that
just to save their daughter from feeling pain, knowing she probably should've
done the same thing, but Arielle wasn't a little girl anymore. She was a
woman and would've been severely pissed if she found out Jasina lied to her
about why Randy had missed her graduation day.
“What did she do when she
finally found out the truth?”
“Are we talkin' about Mr.
Butters?”
Mark groaned louder. “She
never found out...”
“This lyin' bastard paid me to write Arie letters and sign them Mr. Butters, I
even dipped cat's paws in ink and stamped the letter with them. That girl had the best lie ever told to her.”
“Ssshhhh....”
“I'm sure she knows by now that you lied to her.”
“You did too!”
“I'm not her daddy and I was also well paid for it.”
Jasina was laughing so
hard, the tears in her eyes were streaming down her cheeks by now, holding her
stomach while doubled over. It took several minutes before Jasina finally
calmed down, Trish having joined them when she overheard Jasina laughing
hysterically and wanted to know what was up. “M-Mr. Butters...” She gasped out
and that's all she could say before she started laughing again, letting the men
explain it to her instead.
Trish had laughed herself
right into the bathroom, nearly pissing herself.
“WOW, I've NEVER seen her move THAT fast before.” Jasina blinked, not realizing
she'd leaned against Mark for leverage so she didn't fall over in her chair,
wiping her tears away. “Oh my god, you better never let her find out that Steve
did that...Then again, the cat should've died by now since she's seventeen
now...”
“Hell, Arie probably
figured it out at eight but never called him on it.” Steve chuckled, cracking
open his own beer and toasted Mark. “To the funniest lie I ever heard.”
Mark shook his head,
smiling in spite of himself and looped his arm around Jasina to keep her from
falling when she began laughing all over again. “I'm glad you find that
amusin', darlin'.” He rumbled, knowing he would never live this one down, but
it had been worth it to make her smile.
“That is the funniest
story I've ever heard in my life. You know what's sad too? I can
totally see Steve picking defenseless cats up off the street to dip their damn
paws in ink just to make it believable.” Jasina hadn't even felt Mark's arm
wrap around her, nodding when Steve offered her a beer, her sullen mood
definitely lifted thanks to Mark. “It also shows what a great father she has.”
“Couldn't agree with you more, honey.” Steve toasted that, both of them taking
long swigs of their beer.
“I swear if this kid doesn't come soon, I'm going to reach in there and rip it
out myself!”
“Umbilical cord and all?”
Beer spewed out of
Steve's nostrils.
“Thanks for a very
disturbin' mental image, darlin'.” Mark groaned, paling slightly.
“I'm serious, it's tap dancing on my bladder, using my ribs for a xylophone and
my lungs as a crack pipe...I'm about to get that cake knife and perform a
c-section myself, we even have liquor for pain relief AND antiseptic.” Trish
was completely serious as she spoke.
“Uh honey, why don't we not do that and I'll rub ya down instead?”
“Can you magically remove the baby so it comes out healthy, alive, and no
longer cha-cha-ing on my organs?”
“....no...” Steve hesitated.
“We're cutting it out.”
Jasina couldn't stop
laughing at Steve and Trish's antics, her eyes suddenly locking on Steve.
“You're a good man, Steve. You've been with Trish since day one and you
two were meant for each other. Keep that flame going, no matter what,
because you never know when it might go out.” Jasina held her beer up alone and
then downed the rest of it, feeling more than a little tipsy by now and excused
herself to use the bathroom, her own bladder crying out to be released.
Trish watched her friend
walk away and frowned, still not believing Randy had actually booked his trip
to Australia on today of all days, shaking her head. “If you ever hurt me like
that, I'll castrate you.” She threatened; sniffling as her hormones suddenly
erupted. “Because I love you with everything and I expect you to feel the same
way until we both die together, old and wrinkly.”
“He's not old and wrinkly
now?”
“Been tryin' to look at my balls again?” Steve groaned when Trish smacked him
and gently pulled her against him, kissing her tenderly. “Honey, you already
know I'm with you until the end.”
“Good, because I'd kill you otherwise.”
“And now that that's been said, I'll go somewhere else and pretend I didn't
hear that, just in case you DO wind up dead, Steve.” Taking a beer -screw the
wine- with him, he went to go see if Arielle had come back in yet, shaking his
head.
The party ended a few
hours later and Jasina was ready to call it a night, hugging Arielle and Gary,
making them both promise to drive safely. She headed out to her car,
still sober enough to drive home and couldn't believe what a fantastic, yet
heartbreaking day this was. She turned her head, watching Mark head
toward his motorcycle and frowned, wondering what he was thinking about.
They were both alone and
it sucked. They both deserved happiness
didn't they? Sniffling, Jasina slipped into her car and checked her cell
phone, once again no messages or texts from Randy. She was tired of
checking her phone and sped home, tears sliding down her cheeks the entire
time.
The party had gone
relatively well, all things considered, at least Mark thought so. Though he knew it was going to take a lot of
time for Arielle and Jasina as well to recover from the hurt Randy had dealt
them, wondering why the man hadn't cancelled the Australia trip or at least
postponed leaving until tomorrow. Then
Mark remembered he was going home alone, his girlfriend basically ending things
with him and groaned.
Chapter 4
Her blaring cell phone
woke Jasina the following morning, her head pounding from drinking heavily
after she arrived home. She ended up killing another bottle of wine along
with a full case of beer, trying to numb the pain in her heart somehow.
She reached over and unplugged her phone, still in her dress from the
graduation, trying to wake up long enough to answer the call.
“Hello?” She gruffly
said, feeling like a mach truck had run her down going one hundred miles an
hour, maybe even faster. She immediately woke up when she heard Trish
sniffling on the other hand, eyes popping open. “Trish honey, what's
wrong? What is it?”
“Sweetheart...I- I don't
know how to tell you this...” Trish began, her voice shaking and sniffled
again, sounding like she had been and was still crying, which she had and still
was. “Randy made it to Australia, Jasina.
He booked a charter flight to take him into the outback and...and...”
Trish took a deep, quivering breath. “Jasina, the plane went down. There were...no survivors.” She gripped the
phone so tightly her entire hand went numb, hardly believing what she was
saying, her eyes glossed over and could only imagine Jasina's reaction.
The cell phone slipped
out of Jasina's hand as it hit the carpeted floor, Jasina simply sitting there
with an open mouth and wide eyes, not even feeling the tears as they slid down
her cheeks. She couldn't feel anything, every part of her body felt as if
it was frozen solid in a block of ice. She breathed in and out heavily,
the shock overtaking every part of her. Trish's screaming over the cell
phone for her wasn't reaching her ears because Jasina couldn't hear anything,
couldn't see anything, feeling as though she was falling in this huge black
hole that never had an end.
“Jasina? JASINA!” Trish shrieked, not caring whose
attention she was attracting as she stared into the phone. “I'm coming over
there right now if you don't pick up the phone!
STEVE!”
When Trish had found out
about Randy, she had called him to come be with her while she made the call to
Jasina and had stepped out of the room to give her a moment's privacy. Now he came running back in. “What?!”
“I need to get to Jasina's, I think she passed out.” Trish hiccupped, tears
still streaming down her face.
He nodded grimly.
When Trish and Steve
arrived in record time, with a waddling Trish rushing up the stairs, they
discovered the door to Jasina's apartment was locked. Jasina didn't hear
the knocking and just kept staring straight ahead on her bed, her hangover
cured because of Randy's death. Randy was dead.
He was gone. Those
beautiful blue eyes she would never stare into again, never feel his arms
wrapped around her, never feel his warm lips against hers. All Jasina
could do was sit there with tears streaming down her face silently, not making
a single sound, everything crumbling around her.
Steve did try getting
management to come up and unlock the door, but no one could be reached. So...at his wife's urging, he kicked in the
door, stepping aside before he got plowed to hell and back by his pregnant
woman who was moving a bit too fast for his liking, still crying, and in a
panic. If she went into labor any minute
now, he would not have been surprised in the slightest.
“Slow down, Tri-” He shut
up when she threw him a deadly look, the tears staining her face no way
diminishing the effect.
Jasina didn't even flinch
or blink when her bedroom door was tossed open by her pregnant best friend, not
looking up or acknowledging the presence. It was only when Trish
approached her and placed her hands on her shoulders that Jasina finally
snapped out of her shock, slowly locking tearful teal eyes on brown. She
placed her hands on Trish's and gripped them tightly, her bottom lip trembling
and shook her head before finally breaking down, crying her heart out.
The shock had worn off and all Jasina could do was bury her face in Trish's
shoulder, crying turning to heart wrenching sobbing.
Steve stayed out in the
living room, listening to Jasina's sobs and felt his heart twisting violently
for her, knowing there was no way Trish was going to be able to soothe this
ache for her friend. He had no idea what
to do other than stay out of the way when he wasn't needed and be there when he
was. He was giving serious thought to
calling Mark, though what Mark could do was beyond him.
Trish just kept rocking
Jasina back and forth on the bed, holding her close, crying silently, not
knowing what to do.
~!~
Gary was confused to
arrive at the office, only to find out Trish had rushed out in a hurry with
Steve, his eyes widening when one of the co-workers explained to him why.
Randy was dead?! He swallowed hard when Arielle walked through the door
at that moment and immediately went to her, seeing the sparkle in her emerald
eyes.
“We have to get to your
Mom's, Arie.” He said grimly, grasping her hand. “Something happened...”
“Why? What happened?” Arielle asked while rushing
with Gary to his car, blinking.
Gary couldn't tell
Arielle what happened, still in somewhat shock himself. “Let's just get to your
Mom's first and find out what's going on.” He stated, taking her hand and
giving it a gentle squeeze, plastering a smile on his face. Gary wondered
if he should call Mark, deciding he would once they got to Jasina's and Arielle
was out of hearing distance. “I'm sure everything is fine, baby doll.” He hoped
anyway.
“You're lying, I can tell
when you're lyin' Gary, so stop lyin' and tell me what the hell is going on.”
Arielle demanded, knowing from the way his face was almost stark white there
was something seriously wrong. “Is it my Mom?
Is she okay?”
“That's just it, I don't
know if what I heard at the office is the truth. Your Mom is fine...” Physically
anyway, but if what Gary heard was reality, she definitely wasn't going to be
fine mentally or emotionally. He was still trying to wrap his mind around
it and saw the worried look on Arielle's face, watching her pull her cell phone
out. “Who are you calling, baby doll?” He swallowed hard when she mumbled
'Dad', pressing the call button and inwardly groaned.
Mark had no idea why
Arielle was calling him this early, she was supposed to be at work. Hell, HE was supposed to be at work and was
on his way out the door just as soon as he fastened his jeans. He was running a bit late.
“Darlin', somethin'
wrong?”
“I think so, we're on our way to Mom's.
Gary won't tell me what happened, but he said it was fine and he was
lyin'.”
“I'm on my way darlin'.”
“Did you HAVE to tell him
I was lying to you?” Gary demanded in a groan, ignoring the glare Arielle
flashed him and sighed heavily. “I'm not gonna get you upset if it's nothing,
Arie. That's why I wanna go to your Mom's first to find out exactly what
is going on.”
Why couldn't she just
listen to reason? Now her old man was probably going to crack him in the
face for lying to his baby girl. Gary didn't see any of this going down
well and turned the corner that lead to Jasina's apartment building, his heart
rate suddenly speeding up a little.
What if Randy was
dead?
What if everything he
heard at the office was the awful truth?
It couldn't be, it just
couldn't.
If there was nothing
going on, then he shouldn't have upset her by saying something had happened and
they had to go to her Mom's without telling her WHAT he had heard at the
office. At this exact moment, Arielle
figured it kind of served him right.
Mark skipped his truck
and went with the Harley, it would be faster and it was hard to weave a large,
extended cab truck in and out of clustered traffic. Whatever had happened, he had a feeling it
was bad and accelerated, not caring if he got pulled over. It'd be one hell of a chase because he wasn't
stopping.
When Gary arrived with Arielle,
Steve met them at the doorway, the look in his blue eyes sorrow-filled. “Hey
kids.” He gruffly greeted, not even able to be upbeat like he normally was in a
moment like this.
“Uncle Steve, what's going on?” Arielle demanded, not liking the look on her
godfather's face, feeling something bubbling in the pit of her stomach.
“Please...you're scaring me and so is Gary. What happened? Is Mom
okay?”
Just by the look in
Steve's eyes, Gary knew it was the truth and felt tears instantly sting his
eyes, having to step away to look out at the parking lot, feeling sick to his
stomach.
“Steve, tell me what's
going on?” Arielle demanded again.
When he just shook his
head and cleared his throat, squinting to make sure those were tears she seen sparkling
in his blue eyes and knew then whatever Gary hadn't told her was...something
she didn't want to know. Her stomach
began to do flip-flops, her breakfast threatening to resurface. When she looked at Gary and seen his
condition, she felt tears pricking her eyes.
“Please, someone tell me
what-” She jumped when she heard the Harley screeching and turned to see her
Dad pulling into the parking lot.
Mark dismounted and
caught her when she came running to him, hugging her tightly. “What's goin'
on? Is yer Mom alright?”
“I- I don't know...”
Steve followed along with
Gary, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder, knowing he was very close
with Randy. He looked at his best friend and blinked the tears away,
rubbing his bald head, something he did when he was extremely nervous or
upset. In this case, he was both.
“Arie, why don't you go
in the apartment with Gary so I can talk to your Dad for a sec.” He suggested
calmly, nodding at Gary when Arielle refused to leave her father's arms.
“Arie, come on baby doll.” He sighed when she snuggled further against her Dad,
her grip tightening on him and looked at Steve helplessly. They couldn't
tell her like this, especially not out here in the open. “Please Arielle...”
“He's comin' with me.”
Arielle said firmly, knowing whatever was going on up there, she was going to
need her Daddy and not ashamed to admit it. “Is Aunt Trish up there?” She
asked, looking at Steve.
Steve nodded helplessly,
glancing back towards the apartment and then sighed when it became clear
Arielle was giving up her grip on her Mark. “Alright, let's...let's go up.”
Everyone was acting like
someone had died... and it hit Mark like a ton of bricks. He had to actually stop just because the
realization had floored him. “Steve...it's not her, is it?”
Steve shook his head
again.
Gary held onto Arielle as
they trekked into the apartment, Steve closing the door behind him and sat down
on the couch, looking up waiting for the bomb to drop.
“Please someone tell me...” Arielle's ears perked up when she heard the sobbing
coming from her mother's room and immediately flew off the couch down the
hallway, stopping in the doorway. “Trish...”
Trish looked up with
tears sliding down her cheeks, not able to stop them and knew instantly nobody
had told Arielle what happened yet. “Oh Arie...I-I'm so sorry...” She whispered
softly, looking down at Jasina.
“Mommy?”
Jasina heard that and
instantly looked up at her daughter, extending her arms silently, holding
Arielle tightly against her while smoothing her hair back. “I-It's alright,
Arie...It's gonna be okay, I promise...”
Mark followed silently,
staying out of the bedroom and leaned against the hallway wall, looking
in. A very pregnant Trish was sitting on
the edge of the bed with her head in her hands while Jasina rocked Arielle back
and forth, hearing Arie asking what was going on. The look on Jasina's face...he had to look
away, staring at Steve who looked like he had no idea what to do.
Gary dropped down onto the
couch, staring at the floor without actually seeing it.
“Mommy, Mommy please tell
me what happened...I'm scared...” Arielle pleaded in a soft voice, holding onto
her mother and looked up into heartbroken glazed teal eyes, watching Jasina's
bottom lip tremble. “Oh Mom...”
“She doesn't know.” Jasina couldn't handle this and released Arielle instantly,
needing to get out of this room as she ran out. There was no way she was
breaking the news to Arielle, not about to hurt her daughter again and slammed
the bathroom door behind her, flipping the lock on it. “Randy...” She
whispered, clutching her chest tightly as she slid down the door, curling up
into a tight ball on the bathroom floor.
“That's it, I've had enough!!” Arielle snapped, standing up while wiping a few
tears away from her face, staring at Trish pleadingly. “Please Trish, nobody
will tell me what's going on. Please tell me!!”
Trish looked from Arielle
to Mark and Steve, who was also standing in the doorway, deciding she had to be
the strong one in this situation. “Sit down Arielle.” Jasina quietly requested,
taking both of Arielle's hand in hers, trying not to start crying again as she
began explaining what happened to Randy.
One minute he was against
the hallway wall, staring at the bathroom doorway that Jasina had flown
through. The next he had shot forward
and caught his daughter when she actually fell over backwards as Trish said the
very thing he had already come to know, cradling her against him. He slumped down to the floor, remaining
silent when she began hitting him in silent protest.
Steve went directly to
his wife, having been listening at the bathroom door...unsure of what he
expected to hear.
The sound of Arielle
yelling and sobbing at the same time completely shattered Gary's heart into
shambles, silent tears of his own falling, knowing she needed her father right
now more than him. He didn't mind. He had watched Jasina fly
through the living room to the bathroom, wanting to see if she was alright but
stopped himself. It wasn't his place. He didn't know what the right
thing to do was at this point, still not fully believing they would never see
or hear Randy again.
Trish slumped against
Steve, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly and felt him lift her with
ease on his lap, eight months pregnant and all. “I-I wanna go home...” She
whispered, knowing there was nothing more they could do for Jasina right now
and looked up at her fiancé pleadingly. “I wanna see Little Stevie.”
Steve nodded and carried
Trish out of the apartment down to their car, hoping leaving wasn't the wrong
thing to do.
Arielle cried herself to
sleep, exhaustion taking over and Mark had to call Gary to come take her,
unable to stand up from the Indian style position he had been sitting in with
her -now fully grown- in his lap. After
Gary had carried Arie to her bedroom, he gingerly pushed himself up onto his
feet and stretched, knowing he should check on Jasina, but honestly, what was
he going to say to her? The man she
loved was dead and he couldn't even begin to imagine how that must feel, not
knowing what he would do if the roles were reversed. Hesitantly, he walked over to the door and
raised his fist to knock, sighed and then placed his palm against the wood,
closing his eyes.
Jasina just lay on the
bathroom floor, staring straight ahead at the door, feeling numb from head to
toe, no more tears falling. How could Randy be dead? The last thing
she'd said to him...Jasina felt the guilt eating her completely alive because
she honestly thought they would work things out when he returned. Now he
was burned to ashes from a plane crash that was out of his control...all
because he'd chosen work over family.
Lying on the bathroom
floor wasn't doing anything for her besides making her hurt further, but Jasina
couldn't move an inch, the comfort of the cool tile floor welcoming. She
had no idea Mark was on the other side of the door, feeling her pain radiating
through it and probably never would. First she lost Mark and now
Randy...Jasina didn't know if how much more she could take before completely
giving up.
Deciding the best thing
for her would not be her ex-husband coming in and trying to console her after
just hearing about her boyfriend’s death, Mark walked out to the living room,
looking around the apartment. He noticed
there were a lot more pictures on the wall than there had been when she hadn't
been dating Randy and instinctively knew Randy had been the reason for the
upsurge, knowing that the man had basically been living there. Pictures of Jasina and Randy, Randy and
Arielle, scenery, the three of them...they had been a family and it was all
around him, visual evidence. Mark could
only drop down onto the couch, staring at a photograph of the couple, obviously
very happy with the way they were smiling at each other, not even looking
towards the camera.
Chapter 5
Around midnight, Jasina
finally peeled herself up from the bathroom floor, using the sink for leverage,
feeling completely weak and drained. Her stomach growled, but Jasina
ignored it, refusing to eat anything right now and couldn't even look at her
reflection. She unlocked the bathroom door and walked out, stopping at
the sight of her ex-boyfriend/husband sleeping on her couch, one arm thrown
over his eyes, one leg dangling off of it.
He stayed the entire
time.
If Jasina wasn't so
heartbroken and dead inside, she might've found this sweet, but right now all
she could do was throw a blanket over him before heading back to her
room. Then she stopped in the doorway, remembering when Randy surprised
her with the bed and slowly backed up from it as fresh tears began sliding down
her cheeks. She couldn't sleep in there. All she saw were phantoms
of her dead boyfriend and Jasina suddenly had to backtrack back into the living
room, lying down beside the couch and curled up against it, visions of her and
Randy dancing through her mind.
Mark had woken up when
the blanket had settled over him and gotten up, joints creaking from sleeping
on her too short couch. It was large,
but not quite long enough for him; he was nearly seven foot tall. He almost swung his legs right down on top of
her, but stopped himself at the last moment, staring down at her. She was awake, that much was obvious, and it
looked like she was trembling.
Carefully, he leaned down to pull her up, setting her beside him on the
sofa.
“You want somethin' to
eat, darlin'?” Mark asked softly, knowing she hadn't touched a bite all day
long, though he wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't hungry either.
“No...” Jasina whispered,
not trusting her voice at the moment because all it would do is crack, wiping
the tears from her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time. “What are you
doing here?”
Even through the
whispers, her voice sounded incredibly hoarse and rough from how hard she
sobbed, keeping her eyes on her lap, suddenly realizing for the first time that
day she was still in the dress from the previous night. But more
importantly, what was Mark doing here in her apartment this late at
night? She didn't even know he was there because her grief overshadowed
everything else going on around her.
“I'm here for Arielle,
and you.” Mark said simply, not even remembering falling asleep to be
honest. He had been sitting and staring
at that photograph of Jasina and Randy, that was all he remembered and thinking
about what had happened. Then the next
thing he knew, he was waking up with a blanket over him. “Why were you laying
on the floor out here?”
“I-I can't sleep in my
room...” She leaned forward and put her head in her hands, trembling slightly,
feeling Mark's hand rub her back soothingly. “H-He bought the bed for me...as a
gift...” There was no way she could sleep in that bed because his scent was
everywhere, which hurt her even more. Jasina just needed a moment where
she wasn't thinking about him, but this apartment had all kinds of memories of
her and Randy, including the couch. “I can't stay here...”
Maybe she could get a
hotel room or something, but this apartment made Jasina feel like she was
drowning, barely breathing. Mark had no
idea what to say to that, though he did understand. This apartment was filled with memories of
Randy and her life with Randy, he got that.
After a moment, he cleared his throat.
“Do you wanna come stay
at the ranch maybe?” Mark offered, knowing it was a long shot, but feeling like
he should offer anyway. That and she did
need to get out of here for a few days, it wouldn't help her any, not
immediately. “Arie will probably come home and you can have the guest room or
my room and I'll take the guest room…” He stopped rambling, clearing his throat
again.
Jasina slowly looked up
to stare at her ex, seeing how serious he was and wondered if that was such a
good idea. She was really vulnerable right now and Jasina planned on
spending several of her nights drinking in the coming days. Trish
explained to her through sobbing that Randy's body had been found, what was
left of it, and was being flown back to Houston for a funeral that Trish was
setting up. Jasina suddenly felt the need to get out of this apartment
even more and nodded, throwing her arms around Mark's neck, hugging him
tightly.
“Thank you.” She
whispered, beginning to cry again, her tears soaking his neck and collar of his
shirt.
Uncomfortable, but he
didn't push her away, instead wrapped one arm around her and held on
gently. He knew this was going to be a
messed up time for her emotionally, not to mention Arielle, and made a mental
note to shut down the shop for the rest of the week. He doubted Steve would be coming in and he
wasn't about to leave his emotionally distraught daughter, or ex-wife, by
themselves.
“Yer welcome, darlin'.”
Mark rumbled, gently prying her off of him and laid her down on the couch,
moving to stand and stretch. “Get a bit more rest and we'll handle what needs
to be handled in the mornin', alright?”
Jasina couldn't argue
with Mark even if she wanted to, the exhaustion overtaking her entire body and
nodded, her eyes already closing. She didn't feel the blanket covering
her that she'd given Mark earlier, her tear stained face shining in the dim
light that came from outside in the parking lot. Her hair was in complete
disarray and her breathing was uneven from all the sobbing she'd done.
Her chest would be killing her when she woke up, but for now all she could do
was sleep. Randy was in her dreams and Jasina ended up silently crying
while sleeping, wishing she hadn't been so cruel to him before he left.
Mark had figured out how
to use her much different from his coffee pot and made a pot of coffee while
everyone slept, sipping it while standing in her kitchen. He hadn't been able to go back to sleep but
didn't want to leave, or wake anyone. He
had used the bathroom to wash up the best he could, his hair pulled back into
as neat a tail as he could manage. He
had checked on Arielle and Gary, not minding that they were snuggled on the
same bed, Arielle's face just as tear stained as her mother's though not quite
as heartbroken.
When he seen Gary padding
out, Mark just nodded. “Mornin'.”
“Yeah.” Gary muttered,
still not believing it, not believing that Randy was gone.
A scream suddenly sounded
throughout the apartment as Jasina bolted upright on the couch, teal eyes
snapping open and looked around frantically. She'd scared the hell out of
Mark and made him drop the cup of coffee he had while Gary looked white as a
sheet, his heart still lodged in his throat. Her head snapped to the side
when Mark rushed inside the living room and immediately started crying again,
the reality nearly crushing her that Randy wasn't there.
He was really dead and
gone.
Her mother's scream had
awakened Arielle and she was currently standing in the hallway, eyes wide with
fright. “W-What happened?!” She demanded shakily.
Gary and Mark just stared
at Jasina, coffee pooling on the kitchen floor and Gary hesitantly walked
towards Jasina. “Um...” He had been about to ask if she had had a bad dream,
but that would have just been plain stupid.
“Nothin' darlin', yer Mom just woke up a bit rough.” Mark said after recovering
walking over to tilt Arielle's head back, not missing the sadness in her eyes
and glanced back at Jasina, highly doubting she'd be going back to sleep just
now.
“Mom...” Arielle slowly
approached the couch and sat down, placing her hand over Jasina's, knowing she
had to be strong for her mother right now. “You're okay, I'm here.”
Jasina nodded, trembling
slightly from the nightmare she just had, taking a few deep breaths to slow her
racing heart. “I'm...okay.” She squeezed Arielle's hand gently and slowly
pulled the blanket away, standing up on shaky legs. “I'm gonna go clean up,
would you mind getting me some coffee, sweetheart?”
“Yes, I'll bring it to you in the tub.” Arielle was already heading toward the
kitchen, Gary joining her to make sure she was alright.
Jasina glanced at Mark
briefly before heading into the bathroom, slowly peeling out of the two day old
dress, starting the bath water. She needed to be stronger than this
because Arielle was picking up the pieces and that wasn't right. If
anything, Jasina should've been picking up the pieces of her daughter, knowing
how much this hurt Arielle because she was extremely close to Randy.
Sniffling a little and fighting back tears, Jasina finished stripping and sank
into the hot water, drawing her knees up instantly to her chest.
“Here, I'll brew a fresh
batch.” Mark said, having drank pretty much the entire pot and that last cup
was now all over the floor. “Why don't you go get dressed darlin' while I clean
this up and get that goin'?” He had learned the coffee pot didn't take that
long to get going. “You can take her a cup in a second, give her a moment to
get over her dream.”
Nodding, Arielle headed
to go change, the front of her stained dark from crying and blowing her nose in
it.
“Pack up, ya'll are comin' home with me.”
“Even Jasina?” Gary arched an eyebrow when Mark nodded. “O...kay.”
Jasina looked up with the
bathroom door opened, expecting to see her daughter, but instead it was Mark
with a cup of hot java. She remembered what Mark offered the previous
night and Jasina honestly didn't know how to thank him, accepting the cup, not
even covering up because he'd seen her naked before. Hell, they'd been
married, divorced by abandonment, tried getting back together and lasted for
four years.
Now here they were again.
“Thanks.” Jasina murmured
softly and took a careful sip of the coffee while Mark set on the toilet seat,
staring at her with those unreadable green eyes. “Are you sure you want me to
stay with you? I can always get a hotel room or something, Mark.”
“Darlin', you'd be payin'
out the ass just to lay there and mourn, you can do that for free at my place. That and you'll be around Arielle, you two
are goin' to need each other these comin' weeks.” Mark said evenly, knowing
Arielle was supposed to bring in the coffee, but she had been changing, found a
shirt Randy had bought her and started crying.
He had hugged her, passed
her over to Gary and gotten Jasina's coffee himself, knowing how she took
it. They had been together for four
years after all. Agreeing, Jasina didn't
say anything more and knew she would be apartment hunting in the coming weeks while
she was staying at Mark's.
It was hard to believe
that she was about to stay in the same place she moved into for a week, only to
leave because her relationship with Mark had faltered. The irony was
simply too much and Jasina had to fight from crying, instead drinking her
coffee. She'd already washed her hair and body, but couldn't find the
strength to get out of the tub and definitely wasn't doing it while Mark was in
here.
Mark didn't linger. They had gotten their generic words and what
needed to be said, so he left, giving her privacy to finish up, or cry,
whichever, maybe both. He ran a hand
over the top of his head as he halted in the doorway to Arielle's room, his
heart breaking -more like the pieces of his heart re-breaking- at the sight of
her packing, or in the middle of packing, holding the camera she had received
just the other day at her graduation party against her chest.
Gary was helping her pack
up, deciding he would be staying at the ranch as well because Arielle needed
him just as much as her parents. He looked up and saw Mark watching
Arielle, keeping up the packing, kissing the top of Arielle's head while she
packed the camera away Randy gave her. Gary hoped she went with her
internship, having a feeling she would, even if it was only in memory of Randy.
Jasina stepped out of the
tub and wrapped a towel around her body, covering the rest of herself up with a
robe and walked out, heading for her bedroom. She didn't inhale because
Jasina knew the scent of Randy still lingered in the air, his cologne always
had made her heady. Jasina pulled just a pair of black jogging pants out
with a matching t-shirt, all black, and brushed out her hair, beginning to pack
up her things. She took two bags of clothes, her toiletries and makeup,
along with another bag of work clothes, shoes and jewelry, walking out of the
room, closing the door behind her. Arielle, Gary and Mark were waiting
for her in the living room, Arielle immediately coming to her side.
“We'll get through this,
sweetheart.” Jasina murmured, both of them walking out of the door with Mark
and Gary following, locking up the place before heading to the ranch.
Mark took his Harley,
following behind Jasina in her car, Gary driving Arielle's SUV since Arie was
in no condition to drive at all. He
trusted Gary so he kept his attention on Jasina's car, hoping she was good to
drive, knowing she was an emotional wreck at the moment. He was going to have a house full and didn't
mind, preferring them to be there then in a hotel, knowing both Jasina and Arie
needed to be around people who cared.
Of course, Arielle had
Gary to help her through this and Jasina had...an emotional Trish, who had
Steve call to let them know they had all the time they needed off. She was unable to talk at the moment
apparently. Mark had taken that call and
reminded himself to say something to Jasina and Arielle once they were settled
in.
Chapter 6
For the next three days,
Jasina stayed locked in the guest room, refusing to take Mark's master bedroom
because of the simple fact it reminded her of what they used to have. She
cried and only came out when it was time to eat, going out to buy herself some
liquor and only drank at night when Arielle was in bed. She preferred to
be by herself during this difficult time, trying to wrap her mind around Randy
being gone.
Jasina thought it hurt
when he walked out, after promising to make it up to her and Arielle, but that
was nothing compared to how Jasina felt now. Her entire world felt as if
it was ending and Jasina could only find comfort in the bottle, staring out the
window while taking shot after shot, trying to numb her pain somehow. The
funeral was in two days and Jasina wasn't looking forward to it, knowing she
would completely breakdown when his body was lowered into the cold six foot
hole. Drinking and crying was her way of grieving and, surprisingly
enough, Mark had left her alone for the most part.
Mark had left her alone
because it had only been five days since Randy had died and he knew it was
going to take longer than that to get past the intense grief she felt. He was also aware she had taken to drinking
at night after Arielle had gone to bed, but didn't say anything. If she started drinking around the clock,
then he'd step in.
She was eating whatever
he put in front of her, or some of it, so that was something as well. Arielle was moving around a bit mechanically,
but she would talk if a conversation started.
He knew she would heal faster than her mother, but that was also to be
expected. Mark had shut down the shop
until further notice, giving the few employees paid 'vacation' time, he and
Steve weren't hurting for money.
He had a family that
needed him.
The night before Randy's
funeral, Jasina finally stepped out of her room with a bottle of wine, wanting
some fresh air. She quietly made her way downstairs, into the kitchen and
outside on the patio, the full lit moon shining down with stars glistening in
the sky. Jasina wore a black nightgown that was spaghetti strapped, the
warm air feeling wonderful against her skin. Jasina still felt cold
though as she took a long swig from her wine bottle, just staring out at the
huge stretch of land.
“I know you're out there
somewhere. I can feel you all around me. I'm sorry for what I said,
I didn't mean it. I wish I could've found a way to stop you from getting
on that damn plane...” Her voice cracked as Jasina slowly walked down the few
steps that lead to the pool, taking another drink. “I love you so much.
You helped piece me back together when I was at my lowest and now...you're
gone. What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to live without
you?” Jasina slowly sank down to her knees, gripping the bottle a little
tighter in her hand. “I forgive you and I'll never stop loving you,
Randy. I'm so sorry I didn't say it when you left and now...I'll never be
able to tell you.”
From upstairs, Mark
watched and listened through his open bedroom window, staying out of the glass
and in the shadows, every light upstairs already out, but he wasn't taking the
chance. He had been relieved to see her
come out of the bedroom, or more specifically, hear her, but now...His heart
breaking for an entirely different reason.
He sat down on the edge of his bed and hung his head, his long hair
falling over his face and down his bare chest.
Jasina had genuinely
loved Randy.
Jasina felt incredibly
hot suddenly and stood up from the patio, setting her half empty wine bottle
down and peeled the nightgown off, tossing it behind her. A quick dip
would do her some good and Jasina dived in, slicing through the cool water,
knowing it was just her and nobody else. She stayed at the bottom,
holding her breath until she couldn't handle it, finally surfacing as oxygen
filled her lungs. The water mixed with her tears as Jasina swam over to
rest on the side of the pool, wearing just a black bra and panties, managing to
reach for her wine bottle as she took another swig.
“I lost Mark and I
thought it was over, I thought I'd never love again. And now I lost you
too. I have no idea how I'm going to come back from this, if I even can.”
Even though she was talking to herself, somehow, Jasina could feel Randy's
spirit surrounding her, closing her eyes before going under water again.
Mark made the colossal
mistake of getting up and peering out the window again, after he heard nothing
from her, wanting to make sure she was alright.
When he heard a splash, he almost thought she was trying to drown
herself and then he saw her swimming, relaxing.
When she surfaced, the relaxed posture was gone and he was tense all
over again. His ex-wife was down there
swimming naked, or almost naked; he was in hell and had to keep reminding
himself that she was grieving.
Jasina finally had enough
swimming and pulled herself up out of the pool, the bra and panties clinging to
every part of her body, the warm Texan air blowing over her feeling
great. She walked over and sat down on one of the nearby chairs, her
bottle of wine beside her, and began sipping it while looking up at the sky
again. Jasina remembered when Randy would have a glass of wine waiting
for her whenever she came home from work and they would end up sharing it while
talking about their days.
They always had great
conversation. He was completely honest with
her about everything and vice versa. They would make love after dinner,
if the kids weren't with them, or simply stay up watching a movie snuggled on
the couch together. Jasina leaned back and closed her eyes, letting all
the memories of her and Randy wrap her up in a warm cocoon, welcoming the
solitude.
The one and only thing
stopping Mark from going into a full on 'moment' was the fact that he knew she
was down there thinking about Randy.
About the time they had together, the things they did together and just
the mental image of Randy actually kissing her, doing things to her Mark had
done...problem gone. Having Jasina in
the house was beginning to make him realize something: He still loved her and
this wasn't exactly the right time for that revelation.
When Jasina woke up the
following morning to raindrops splattering on her, she realized she'd fallen
asleep outside on the patio after her midnight swim. It was
raining...fitting weather for what was going to happen today. Jasina
looked over at her empty bottle of wine and took it inside with her, padding
through the kitchen, having a feeling everyone was still sleeping. She
went upstairs and headed straight to her room, needing to pick out the outfit
she would wear to officially bury Randy. Because his body was in pieces
from the plane crash, there wasn't going to be a visitation, just a small
funeral with close friends since Randy had no family to their knowledge.
“Hey mom, can I borrow-”
Arielle had been up for an
hour, having had a hard time sleeping because of what day this was. She had already showered and was wearing her
black formal slacks and short sleeved blouse.
She froze at the sight of her Mom in nothing except her underwear,
drenched.
“What the hell?! Why are you naked and wet?”
Jasina jumped out of her
skin, immediately covering her breasts with her arm because she'd taken her bra
off after arriving in her room. “Christ Arie, you scared the hell outta
me! I fell asleep outside and went for a midnight swim. I just woke
up and I'm getting ready to hop in the shower.” Quickly grabbing her robe,
Jasina wrapped herself in it and sat down on the bed, crossing one leg over the
other. “What did you need?”
“I uh, wanted to borrow a
pair of your pearl earrings. Randy...”
Arielle hesitated, coughing and looked away awkwardly. “He said pearls looked
nice on me and I figured...” She shrugged, feeling almost stupid, but at the
same time… “It's silly, I know, but it makes me feel better.”
Jasina smiled for the
first time in days, which felt foreign to her and took Arielle's hand, giving
it a gentle squeeze. “He was right and I understand perfectly,
sweetheart. Hold on.” She stood and walked over to her small jewelry box
she'd brought with her, pulling out a set of pearls, tears stinging her eyes.
“He also said I looked good in them too, but I never believed him. He
gave these to me as a gift, I want you to have them.” Placing the pearls in
Arielle's hand, Jasina closed her fingers around them, blinking tears away.
“Mom, no... He gave these
to you. They're yours, I'll just borrow
them today and give them back after the...the funeral.” Arielle said, wiping
tears out of her eyes before smiling a watery smile. It faded into a frown. “Is it true that they
couldn't find any family for him? I know
we were his family, but...he didn't have any brothers or sisters? Or parents?
No one?”
Jasina simply shook her
head, taking a few deep breaths to slow her racing heart. “Trish tried, but had
no luck. We were all he had and I want you to have them, Arie. I
don't want them, I'll never wear pearls. Please, take them it'll mean a
lot to me and I know Randy would love for you to have them.” She wiped a few
tears from Arielle's face, kissing her forehead and hugged her tightly.
“Everything will get better, I promise.” Jasina couldn't fall apart with her
daughter, refusing to do it. “Is Gary and your father up?”
“Gary's in the shower and
I don't know about Dad, he went to bed late I think.” Arielle shrugged,
fastening the pearls in her ears, her hair already pulled back into a low bun
at the nape of her neck, looking older than she was. “I'll go check, you get in
the shower Mom, you look cold.” She kissed her mother's cheek, sincerely hoping
she wasn't about to make it a habit to fall asleep outside; she'd wind up
deadly ill from it.
Jasina was glad she had
her own bathroom and did as her daughter said, a warm shower sounding inviting
after sleeping outside all night. She hopped out twenty minutes later and
slipped on a simple black skirt that went two inches above the knee along with
a black dress shirt that had a scoop neckline with white trimming. She
pulled her hair back into a higher neat bun, a few tendrils framing her
face. She decided on simple black eyeliner and clear gloss for makeup,
knowing it would be gone from how much crying she knew would happen.
Slipping her black pumps on, Jasina took one last look in the mirror and walked
out, heading downstairs to the kitchen for some much needed coffee.
Gary soon came pounding
down the steps with Arielle right behind him, struggling with a tie -he had yet
to get the hang of them- and flashed a quick smile at Jasina, glad to see her
out of her bedroom, even if the circumstances totally sucked. “Morning.” He
greeted softly.
“Dad, today would be good!” Arielle called out over her shoulder.
Considering he and Randy
had had a semi-tense relationship, Mark wondered why he was even going. Oh yes, moral support. Huffing, Mark headed downstairs in nothing,
but black. Black slacks, black dress
shirt, and a black tie.
“Need help son?” He asked
when he noted Gary was having trouble with his tie.
“No, I think I got
it...” Gary flushed, embarrassed.
Jasina glanced over at Mark
and frowned, seeing his tie was crooked, shaking her head. Some things
never changed. While Arielle tried helping Gary with his, Jasina walked
over to Mark and took the tie from him, beginning to do it like old
times. He was never good at it, she always had to be the one to do his
ties whenever they went out, even before she ran away all those years ago.
“There you go.” Jasina
walked over to pour a cup of coffee, needing all the caffeine she could get for
today.
“Who taught you how to do this?” Gary asked his girlfriend with a small smile.
“My Mom.”
“Thank God, or else I'd
of been usin' clip-ons from day one.”
“You used clip-ons?” Arielle raised an eyebrow at her father.
His eyes narrowed,
knowing there was a joke in there somewhere.
While he was glad Arielle was ready to make a joke, Mark wasn't so sure
he wanted it at his expense. Arielle
just smiled sweetly, turning to make herself a cup of coffee, adding sugar and
creamer, the way Randy used to take his.
She frowned, realizing she had really looked up to him and had adopted
some of his traits, sighing heavily.
Jasina put her arm around
Arielle and rubbed her arm gently, noticing the way she fixed her coffee and
knew it was the same way Randy did. “Let's go sit down for a minute.” She suggested,
guiding Arielle away from the counter with their coffee in hand, leaving the
men standing there to get their own cup. “Talk to me, Arie. I'm here to
listen. I know I haven't been myself the last couple of days, but I'm
still your momma. So talk to me, get it all off your chest.”
“I miss him, that's it.”
Arielle shrugged her Mom off, knowing she probably felt guilty or something for
locking herself away, but Arielle understood why she had done it. “And I feel
bad about being so pissed off at him. I
was pissed and hated him, and he died.
We were both pissed with him.
It's like…God's punishing us for feeling that way.”
Jasina wanted to disagree
with her daughter and tell her god would never do such a thing, but in truth it
made sense. Randy left on really bad terms and ended up dead in a plane
crash. How many times did that really
happen to someone? Jasina didn't know what to say, frowning and was glad
when Gary approached them.
“I miss him too,
sweetheart.” She whispered softly.
“This isn't a punishment, baby doll.” Gary assured her, wondering why Jasina
hadn't said that. “This was a horrible accident, that's all.”
“That's right, it was an accident...” Hell even Jasina didn't believe that and
excused herself, needing some fresh air, letting a few tears slip down her
cheeks as soon as she was out of sight.
If Jasina believed that
then Mark was losing his 'bullshit' meter.
Leaving Gary to convincing Arielle, he followed Jasina outside, taking a
clean hand towel with him because he was only carrying a black silk
handkerchief tucked in his pocket and as it was his only one...yeah, no. He didn't say a word, just walked up behind
her, not touching her.
“God isn't punishing
Arielle and he is not punishing YOU, Jasina.
You know he doesn't work that way.
It was coincidence, nothin' more darlin'. Don't think you somehow did this.” He
couldn’t stay quiet, knowing that’s how Jasina felt at the moment and wanted to
assure her none of this was her fault.
“There is no god.” Jasina
whispered, wrapping her arms around herself as more tears fell, meaning every
word that came out of her mouth. “I don't believe there is, not after
this. What kind of god does this to someone? What kind of god
forces Randy on a plane only to crash and burn? Arielle is right, it's a
punishment; it's too much of a coincidence not to be.” She took the towel from
him to dab her eyes, speaking quietly so Mark could only hear her. “I've lost
nearly everything and been dealt a shitty hand of cards in my life, Mark.
There is no god, there's only life and death; nothing more.”
“Darlin', nobody forced
Randy on that plane. Randy went because
he felt obligated too, and I'm sure he hated himself for it the moment he
realized what he had done.” Mark said just as quietly, not about to let Arielle
or Gary overhear this conversation.
While he hadn't raised Arie to be religious, as far as he knew, she was
a believer, just not a regularly practicing one. “Nearly everythin' ain't
everythin', Jas, you still got Arielle and...Gary and Trish; a whole bunch of
people who care about ya.” He almost added 'me', but felt it wasn't appropriate
at all.
“I can't talk about this
anymore, Mark, please...” She stated, finally turning to stare up into his
green eyes, wishing she could believe the words coming out of his mouth.
Jasina just
couldn't.
Today she would be in
denial with anger, walking back inside the house to tell the kids it was time
to leave for the funeral. She knew Mark was trying to help, but nothing
he said or did was going to help her today. Jasina wasn't surprised when
Arielle followed her out of the house, both of them heading toward Mark's huge
Chevy Silverado that seated four very comfortable. Jasina sat in the
front while Arielle and Gary took the back.
Mark joined them a few minutes later, agreeing to let him drive them to
the funeral because of the emotional state Jasina would be in.
If she had tried to even
suggest driving herself, he would have knocked her out and driven anyway. Today of all days, none of them would be in
any state to do much else besides cry and walk.
As he had very little emotional attachment to Randy, that wasn't exactly
a problem for Mark. The silence was
pressing around them, making the generally quite comfortable Chevy feel cramped
and tiny. He damn near turned on the
radio, finally cracking the window.
Arielle was having
similar issues and was bouncing her knees, stopping only when Gary pointed out
she was kicking the back of her Mom's seat. “Sorry.” She murmured, swallowing
when the cemetery came into view. It was
Houston, a large graveyard, and the idea of Randy being buried there was almost
too much for Arielle to take as tears stung her eyes.
Chapter 7
Jasina just stared out
the window, watching the trees zoom by and took a deep breath when they finally
arrived at the cemetery. She slid out of the truck, straightening her
skirt out and could already feel the tears burning her eyes. It was a beautiful cemetery and Jasina wasn't
surprised when Mark walked over with an umbrella over them.
The rain was comforting
in some mournful way.
She turned around when
Trish and Steve came toward them, exchanging hugs and whatnot before they
headed up the hill to where a sleek black coffin sat. Jasina stopped
fifty feet from the casket and didn't know if she could do this, feeling Mark's
hand on the small of her back encouraging her while Arielle grabbed her
hand. Somehow, Jasina made her feet move up the hill, tears already
falling almost as hard as the rain.
“You can do this Mom,”
Arielle whispered encouragingly, feeling like she was all cried out of tears
and kept her eyes on her mother. She had
a hard time picturing Randy inside that coffin, knowing it wasn't him but pieces
of him, not liking that picture in her head. “We can do this.”
Mark and Gary fell behind
Jasina and Arielle, though Mark was always ready to reach out and place a
gentle hand on Jasina's back whenever it seemed like she would stop, not
pushing her, but offering comfort.
The entire funeral was a
blur to Jasina as she sat there staring at the coffin, wondering how it had
come to this. She felt numb and didn't even flinch when a few raindrops
hit her legs, Mark holding the umbrella so she wasn't drenched. She
didn't remember the opening statement from the priest, didn't remember standing
up to place a black rose on the coffin, though the tears never stopped.
It was only when the priest ended the funeral that Jasina slowly snapped out of
her daze, but didn't move from the seat. She stayed and watched as the
casket was lowered into the six foot hole, where Randy would stay until the end
of time, trying to keep it together.
“No.” Jasina whispered
when Mark asked if she wanted to leave, shaking her head, never taking her eyes
off of the disappearing casket for a second.
Giving her space, Mark
walked a few feet away, Arielle's soft sobs reaching him even though she stood
across the coffin, a bit away from it, holding onto Gary like he was her
lifeline. He stuck his hands in his pockets,
wishing there was something he could do for Jasina, but... there wasn't. Besides just being there for her, however she
needed him to be and, right now, she needed a moment to say final goodbyes.
“She's lost weight.” Trish whispered from her place nestled against Steve,
wiping away her own tears as Mark joined them.
“She's grievin' sweetheart.” Steve murmured, noting the change in Jasina as
well, frowning.
Jasina didn't care if she
was drenched from head to toe, slowly standing up from the chair and walked
over to stare into the dark black hole. “It should be me in there, not you.”
She pulled something out of her purse, holding a picture of her and Randy she
always carried with her, knowing she would have to find a way to let him go. “I
will never...forget you. You are unforgettable Randy Orton and I will
always love you. Don't give them too much hell wherever you are.”
She kissed the picture
and let it float in the six foot deep hole to land on top of the casket,
nodding when the men began shoveling dirt on top of it. Jasina stood
there for a moment longer and felt the wind whip around her, closing her
eyes. Knowing somehow it was Randy
saying goodbye to her, Jasina finally walked away from the casket with a tear
streaked face.
Trish was waiting for
her, smiling sadly as she opened her arms to hug her friend, rubbing her back
gently before pulling away. “You look like you need some solid sleep, sweetie.”
She murmured, knowing Jasina probably wasn't sleeping all that much, not that
she found that surprising at all. “How are you holding up Jasina? Honestly?”
“I feel dead inside and
numb. Still alive though.” She couldn't even crack a smile, having
stopped wiping her tears away because they mixed with the rain. “I wish it was
me in that coffin instead of him.” Jasina knew she should've died on several
occasions, but for some reason her life was spared more than once. “He didn't
deserve to die the way he did...We were so happy until Australia. I
suddenly hate Australia and want to blow the whole fucking continent to
smithereens.”
Jasina knew she was
probably scaring Trish with what she said, but it was the brutal honest
truth. Not much scared Trish and this
didn't either. Jasina had always felt so
strongly about things, whether positively or negatively, so this wasn't too
surprising. She simply nodded, trying to
be supportive.
“Right now you do, but it
won't always be that way, Jasina. Of
course, you would probably say the same thing to me if our situations were
reversed and I wouldn't believe a word you said, or want to hear it. Just...take whatever time you need, but don't
bury yourself in that coffin with him.
You know Randy wouldn't want that for you.” Trish said, hoping Jasina
listened to her because she would hate to lose someone so near and dear to her
heart.
“We'll never know what
Randy truly wanted in his life because our time was cut short. It's not
fair. It's just NOT fair! First I lose Mark and now Randy...when am
I ever going to be happy Trish? When is this so-called god finally going
to give me a break, if he even exists?” Jasina demanded harshly, the pain and
anger in her voice clear as day, saying everything she'd been thinking since
finding out about Randy's death and then some. “I don't believe there is a god
anymore and I don't know how much more I can take...”
“You can take anything
sent your way, Jasina, you always have and you will now. You just don't see it yet.” Trish said
evenly, her heart going out to her friend though she knew at this moment,
Jasina would not be appreciative of another hug or a shoulder pat. She was too angry, too hurt. “You have your
daughter and you still have Mark, whether you want him or not.” She blinked
when thunder boomed, feeling Steve drawing her back.
“Come on honey, it's
about to pour again.” Steve looked down at Jasina, nodding when she returned
his gaze. “Take care of yourself, Jas.” He actually meant that seriously,
having heard from Mark she wasn't doing so well.
When Jasina was frozen
and couldn't handle being in the rain anymore, she finally headed back to the
truck and slid inside, slamming the door as hard as she could. Her grief
was turning into raw anger, something she hadn't felt in a very long time and couldn't
even look back at Randy's gravesite or she would completely crumble. Mark
pulling away was a silent blessing as Jasina stared straight ahead, water
dripping from the tendrils that were pressed against her wet cheek, the clothes
clinging to her body like a second skin.
When Mark turned the
heater on, Jasina simply closed her eyes, leaning back against the seat as they
headed back to the ranch. They reached
the ranch around twenty minutes later and Mark was pretty sure it was going to
flood, something that only happened once in a blue moon. He helped Jasina down, whether she wanted his
help or not, feeling water sloshing around his ankles and made a mental note to
fill in the holes of his dirt drive.
Gary swept Arielle up
into his arms and hauled ass for the house, both of them shivering from
cold. Gary had the right idea and Jasina
looked like she might start screaming at the sky. Mark snatched her up and carried her towards
the house, his long legs covering the ground quickly.
Jasina didn't even have
time to protest as Mark got them both in the house within seconds, his long
legs definitely one of his better assets. He set her down on her feet and
Jasina stood there while he took his shoes off, cursing since they were full of
water. The heavens were opening up and mourning on the passing of a good
strong man named Randy Orton, there was no other explanation. She took
her pumps off and started padding up the stairs, tensing when Mark's hand
stopped her by grabbing her wrist, turning to look in his green eyes.
“What?” She asked in a
monotone voice, really not wanting to be touched at the moment, her teal eyes
emotionless.
“You'll get through this,
Jasina.” Mark said softly, knowing she was probably tired of hearing it, but...she
needed to hear it at the same time. She
needed to know there were people who believed in her and loved her, him
included. “You don't have to be alone in this, darlin'. We're all here for you, if you want us to be,
even me.”
His heartfelt words did
absolutely nothing for her, that's how dead inside Jasina felt and yanked her
wrist out of his grasp, her lips one fine grim line. “You don't have to be,
Mark. You have your own life to live. Don't make it an obligation
to be my savior. If you want to be here for someone, focus on our
daughter.” Walking up the stairs, Jasina barely made it to her room before
letting the tears fall, completely shattering as she dropped to her knees.
Fortunately, he was
perfectly capable of being there for both of them and he plastered a smile on
his face when Arielle came downstairs, out of her wet clothes and in a pair of
long sleeved thermal pajamas. “If yer that cold darlin', I can get the
fireplace going.” He offered, shedding his tie.
“Why don't I get the fire started and you go change, Dad? You're drippin' all over the floor.” Arielle
suggested softly. “Maybe you can talk Mom into coming down, we can make hot
chocolate or somethin'...”
Mark had a feeling the
only way Jasina would come down was if that hot chocolate had Bailey's in it.
Jasina did strip out of
her wet clothes, slipping on black pajama pants with a tank top, even opting
for socks since it looked like a monsoon was happening outside. She sat
on the bed with her knees drawn up, staring out the window, for once no tears
falling because she was sure all of her ducts were dried up. When she
heard a knock on her bedroom door, Jasina didn't acknowledge it, not surprised
when the door opened and Arielle stepped in.
“Mom?”
She looked at Arielle and
managed a very small smile. “Hey sweetheart, you look warm.”
“I am...Dad is making a
fire downstairs and I want you to come down. I've made some hot chocolate
for everyone.” Her emerald eyes were pleading with her mother, needing her
right now.
Jasina couldn't deny
Arielle anything and nodded, heading downstairs with her, their hands clasped.
Gary and Mark had both
changed into rather similar pajamas, both wearing fleece bottoms and thermal,
long sleeved shirts. Gary was wondering
if this might not be...wrong, on some level.
A cozy, roaring fire going, hot chocolate...and they had just come home
from Randy's funeral. Gary did smile
when Arielle came back down, Jasina in tow, though the smile faded at the look
on Jasina's face. She looked...dead.
Mark heard them coming
down, out in the kitchen boiling water, mugs already set out, knowing tonight
was not going to be an easy one to get through.
Jasina walked into the
living room and sat down on the couch, furthest away from the fire, letting
Arielle and Gary sit together on the loveseat. Mark had gotten new
furniture finally, remembering the old ratty couch he used to have, and stared
straight into the roaring fire. When Mark walked in with the tray of hot
chocolate and handed her one, Jasina took it with a nod of thanks, inhaling,
smelling something a little more than just chocolate. She glanced over at
Mark, raising an eyebrow, and sipped the spiked hot chocolate while staring
back into the fire.
“Mmm this is good, thanks Daddy.”
“Welcome darlin'.”
Mark’s was better though,
he had decided a shot of Bailey's was in order for him and Jasina. Carefully, he lowered himself down onto the
floor, stretching his long legs out towards the fire and felt a wave of contentment
washing over him as the warmth began taking away the chill the rain and the
funeral had embedded into his bones. It
was probably wrong to feel contentment given the day, but...he couldn't help
it.
It wasn't easy for Jasina
to sit there with her ex-husband, daughter and her daughter's boyfriend, but
she managed to do it somehow. Whatever Mark spiked her hot chocolate with
was working wonders and relaxing her body, which is what Jasina needed more
than anything. She curled her feet up beneath her as they all just stared
into the fire, the silence somewhat comforting while the rain continued
pounding on the roof.
Mark had no idea how long
they all sat there, but when he looked around, Arielle was asleep with her head
resting on Gary's shoulder while Gary was obviously struggling to stay awake,
his head resting on top of hers. Jasina
looked like she was contemplating her now empty mug and he figured he could use
a refill.
“Want another?” Mark
asked, his voice a low rumble so he wouldn't wake or startle the kids.
“Sure.” Jasina stood up
with her cup, handing it over to Mark while she walked over to gently tap Gary
on the shoulder, managing a small smile. “Go up to bed and take her with you
please. You two are bushed, it's been a long day.”
Gary nodded, looking down
at his sleeping girlfriend with a small smile of his own. “Thanks Jasina.”
Gary hugged her with one
arm before lifting Arielle with ease, carrying her out of there, whispering a
'good night' to Mark on his way up to Arielle's room. Jasina watched them go and was proud that
Mark hadn't stopped Gary, knowing it couldn't be easy for him to watch another
man cart their little girl up to her room. He handed her the fresh cup of
spiked hot chocolate and Jasina went back into the living room to sit in front
of the fire, Mark putting a few more logs on it.
Since Gary and Arielle
were no longer on his loveseat, Mark dropped down onto it, stretching his legs
out and smirked when they hung off over the side, but it was still
comfortable. The room was nicely warm
and the rain hadn't stopped. Mark didn't
dare look outside, pretty sure he'd find their vehicles sunk in mud, inwardly
groaning at the thought and chased it away with a sip of his spiked cocoa.
Jasina wondered what was
going through Mark's mind, chewing her bottom lip as she stared down at her
cup, sipping it since it was so hot. She hated feeling like this and knew
Randy would kick her ass if he caught her in this current state. Still,
Jasina couldn't just turn her emotions on and off like a light switch.
She was a human being after all.
“You look uncomfortable,
you can have your couch.” Jasina looked at him, her voice calm and soft, not
hard and cold like it'd been when they arrived back from Randy's funeral.
“No, darlin', I'm not
uncomfortable, I'm just thinkin' about tomorrow. I'm going to be hip-deep in mud trying to get
our cars unstuck, you know how bad it floods here when it rains like this. Thankfully it only happens once every so
often, eh?” About the only downside to his property, it was on a low point,
other than that, it was perfection.
“Right.”
Jasina ran the pad of her
thumb around the rim of the cup, knowing that was going to be hell for him to
do. That was if it stopped raining too and dried up enough. Jasina
knew nobody had to work so they were all staying in the ranch, though all she
really wanted to do was work to keep her mind off of Randy.
“So what happened to
Shayla?” Deciding to change the subject and put the focus on him, Jasina watched
him heave a heavy sigh. “You two looked like you were getting along and then
she stormed out of Arielle's graduation party.”
Mark could not stop
himself from groaning, rubbing a hand down his face and stared at her before
looking into the fire. “Shayla is the female version of Steve.” He said
finally, hearing her snort and nodded. “Only, whereas Steve doesn't drink
during work or heavily at events, she will.
She thought it was alright to get drunk at Arie's graduation party and I
wasn't havin' it. She got pissed when I
cut her off, called me an asshole and took off.
Ain't heard from her since, good riddance.”
“You would end up with a
female version of Steve, wouldn't you?” Jasina was feeling pretty good and
couldn't believe she was chuckling at Mark's expense. She finished her
hot chocolate and set it on the coffee table, letting out a yawn as he leaned
back against the couch, yawning slightly. “You better find happiness before you
get too old, Mark. Time is short, can't spend it by yourself unless you
prefer it that way.”
Mark almost came back
with a 'look who's talking', but managed to stop that sentence before it came
out. All things considered, that would
have been the ultimate mood killer. Instead
he drained his mug before setting it down on the floor next to the loveseat.
“I think I'll just...take
it one day at a time, darlin'.” He said finally, staring at her intently,
hoping she'd do the same.
No one expected her to
recover immediately, she could only take it a minute at a time, an hour at a
time and eventually a day at a time.
“Fair enough.” She stood
up from the couch and stretched, noticing the fire was dying down. “I'm heading
up to bed. See you in the morning.”
She walked out of the room
and upstairs to her room, leaving Mark alone with his thoughts, the Bailey's
definitely acting as a sedative. She
would have to thank Mark for the spiked cocoa when her mind wasn’t drowning in
grief. Jasina managed to make it to her bed, keeping her door cracked and
instantly fell asleep, wondering what the future held now that Randy was no
longer part of it.
Mark sat there, watching
as the fire burned out until it was nothing but embers. As tempting as it was to get up and stoke the
fire back to life and toss on a few more logs, Mark felt too...tired to
move. He was too tired to even head
upstairs, instead pulling the throw off the back of the loveseat and draped it
over his lower body before tucking his hands behind his bed.
One day at a time.
Chapter 8
“Mom?” Arielle called
out, walking inside the ranch with a big smile on her face, heading straight
for the patio since it was in the middle of the day. “Dad?”
“On the patio, Arie!”
Three months had passed
since Randy's death and Jasina had stayed at the ranch, not having the desire
to look for another lonely place to live. She paid Mark rent by slipping
bills into his wallet without him noticing, since the man always carried money
on him. She was shocked he didn't mind her staying at the ranch since
Arielle now fully lived with Gary. That didn't stop her from coming to
visit them. Jasina was currently sunbathing on the patio, having just
gotten off of work and smiled when her daughter came rushing outside. Mark was still at the shop, which is why
Jasina was taking full advantage of sitting by the pool with a grin.
“Hey sweetheart, what's
up?”
“Nothin', just wanted to
come check on you guys, make sure yer still alive. Neither of you ever call and visit.” Arielle
teased, dropping down into the other lounge chair and leaned back with a sigh,
kicking off her shoes. “Being a workin' woman is hard on the feet, I appreciate
you and Dad a LOT more these days.” She generally stopped in a few times a
week, mostly to check in on her Mom, who seemed so much better, but Arielle
could sometimes see the sadness still lurking behind those familiar teal eyes.
“You know we love you and
there's no reason for calling when you come over anyway.” Jasina pointed out,
having black shades on with a sky blue string bikini, one arm tossed over her
head, letting the sun seep into her tanned skin. “Trish is finally back from
maternity leave, how does Gary feel about that?”
“Trish's little girl is SO cute!!” Arielle immediately gushed, looking over at
her Mom with a smile. “Emily is amazing, Trish brought her in today for
everyone. Did you see her?”
“Yes I did, she is
adorable.” Emily had Steve's incredible blue eyes and Trish's dark hair,
definitely a knockout and already had her father wrapped around her finger.
“Steve is too cute with her too. He brought her over last night with
Trish and was so overprotective. Mark had to smack him upside the head to
get him to stop and then in turn, I had to defend Steve by smacking your Dad.”
“I'm with Dad, Steve came
in with her, so he could take her when Trish was ready to work and he was
growlin' at EVERYONE to be careful, even me!
Like I ain’t ever watched Stevie JR?” Arielle rolled her eyes and huffed.
“Just wait until I have a baby of my own, I'mma go round tellin' him to be
careful and growlin' at him, see how well HE likes it.”
“I hope that's not for
several years to come, young lady.” Jasina lowered her sunglasses as they slid
down her nose, looking stern for a minute. “Your Dad would have a heart attack
if you ended up pregnant before you were at least married first.” She pushed
her sunglasses up when Arielle simply rolled her eyes, both of them going back
to sunbathing, enjoying their mother/daughter alone time together.
“Poor Gary, he couldn't even hold Emily because everyone was hoggin' her.
And then Trish was immediately orderin' him around. It was hilarious.”
Arielle was still doing her internship with a new photographer/undercover
detective named Ted DiBiase JR, who wasn't nearly as good as Randy was, but he
would suffice. Not to mention he wasn't bad looking either. “I think
Trish was tryin' to talk Steve into letting Gary be her babysitter so she could
keep Emily at work with her, but Steve said that Gary had enough to be goin' on
with, what with also being her...mole.
Actually, Steve said bitch, that man has gotten bold as brass now that
she's not so hormonal, I'd forgotten about how he was when he wasn't worried
about his nuts being cut off, it's pretty funny.” She took a breath, having
been speaking rather fast. “But Trish doesn't want the baby with Steve at the
shop all day because the garage is nothin' but guys, which Steve took offense
too and I'm sure Dad will too since you know, he raised me. But I personally think you should talk Trish
into opening a daycare center on the floor, she could have Emily there with
her, but not interferin' with work and the other girls could also bring in
THEIR babies. What do you think?”
It took Jasina a few
seconds to process all of that, wondering why her daughter was so hyper and sat
up a little more in the chair, pushing her sunglasses up on top of her head. “A
daycare center?” She tapped her chin in thought, smiling at the thought and
nodded. “Yeah you know what? That's a great idea, Arie.” Jasina honestly
meant it, reaching down to take a sip of her sun flavored iced tea with one
lemon in it. “I don't blame Trish for not wanting Emily at the shop, but then
again look at how you turned out. You're beautiful and smart, somewhat
girly and you grew up around that shop, actually helping your Dad run it.
Emily could be the same way...though I think Trish would keel over dead if that
happened.”
“I love Trish, I honestly
do, but she has her prissy moments and it confuses me because she's with Steve
who is her polar opposite. Makes no
sense.” Arielle sighed, standing up to go get herself a glass of tea, taking
her Mom's glass in for a refill. When
she came back out, which was ten minutes later, she was in her old swimsuit.
“Can't tan properly in work clothes.” She laughed, handing over the glass and
settled back down. “Oh, by the way, Ted wore jeans to work today. The man has an ass that is very snatchable,
don't ever tell Gary I said that.”
“Arielle Marie Calaway!”
Jasina blinked when her daughter said that, immediately feeling her cheeks
flush, both of them having a good hearty laugh.
Jasina hadn't really
noticed Ted because she wasn't ready to move on to another man yet. They
either didn't work out or died, Jasina was contemplating cutting herself off of
men altogether. She could live being celibate for the rest of her
life. That's what toys were made for, which she had several of, though
Mark had no idea about them.
“I can't believe you just
said that! He's your teacher!”
“Oh come on Mom, I can look I just can't touch. And that man is
DEFINITELY touchable...” She immediately stopped when she heard her father's
voice calling for Jasina, smirking secretively over at her. “Hey Daddy, we're
out on the patio!”
“What she said!”
“And Mom just freaked
because I told her my partner's ass was snatchable.” Arielle added when he
stepped out to join them, smirking when he let out a ‘WHAT?’, calmly sipping
her tea.
“Arie, don't you think, darlin', yer a bit too old to be doin' that to us?”
Mark groaned, shaking his head at her smirk and pulled off his stained t-shirt,
having every intention of hosing himself down. “Yer SUV pissed oil on me when I
was changin' it, I hate that damn thing.”
“Well I LOVE it, so can I have it back?
I hate the loaner.”
Jasina couldn't stop
laughing even if she wanted to, shaking her head at her ex-husband, moving her
feet back and forth while he went to get the hose. “You know she's a grown
woman now, Mark. Gonna have to cut the cord eventually. And if she
thinks a man's ass is snatchable, more power to her.” Though, that didn't stop
Jasina from being shocked at how blunt her daughter was.
“Whose ass is snatchable?”
Jasina bit her bottom lip
to keep from telling Gary, especially when Arielle jumped up to hug her
boyfriend tightly, kissing him.
The only snatchable ass
Gary wanted was his girlfriend's, though he didn't dare do it in front of her
parents. “What're you doing here, baby doll? I went home and figured you
were here. Hey Jasina.”
“Hey Gary, she was checking up on me like always.” Jasina sipped more of her
tea, noticing for the first time how the sun glinted off of Mark's chest,
thankful she had shades on so he didn't know she was slowly checking him out.
“Apparently she thinks
Brad Pitt's ass is snatchable.” Mark joked, knowing damn well Arielle did not
find Brad Pitt snatchable so much as smackable, aiming the hose her way when
she shrieked at him.
When Gary pointed out he
was also in the line of fire, Mark considered that and returned to spraying
himself down, making sure to get the oil off his face and chest. Not even realizing he had soaked his already
skin tight jeans, they currently clung and outlined his muscular thighs to
perfection. Jasina definitely realized
and felt her mouth suddenly go dry, mentally shaking herself as she stood up
from the chair, pulling her shades off.
“Brad Pitt has NOTHING on
Jason Statham, Arie. Just saying.”
She winked over her
shoulder and walked past Mark, diving right into the pool, desperately needing
to cool off. Mark didn't want her and Jasina had cut herself off from all
men, refusing to get hurt again. That didn't mean she couldn't appreciate
her insanely gorgeous ex-husband, though it was at a hefty price. This
pool was blessing as she resurfaced while Mark began spraying at Arielle again,
both her and Gary disappearing into the house.
“Chickenshits!” Mark
bellowed after them, snorting and turned to roll the hose up.
“Up yours!”
“Yeah, up yours!”
“Is it me...or since they moved out, they've gotten insanely fuckin' cocky and
mouthy?” Mark asked, no real malice in his tone so much as amusement.
Gary and Arielle
had...exploded out of shells he hadn't been aware they were cocooned in,
knowing it was the excitement of being out on their own and it would eventually
pass. When he heard their cars pulling
out, he kicked off his boots and shed his jeans, wearing boxers beneath them
but since they were also soaked, not much was hidden from the imagination. He threw the damp clothing onto the patio,
not about to track water through the house.
“She is your
daughter.” Jasina stated simply, loving
the feeling of the water flowing over her, looking up at Mark and immediately
regretted doing that. He was just in his boxers...those long
legs...Jasina had to stop the naughty thoughts from entering her mind, instead
beginning to move all around the pool. “What did you expect her to do? Be
your perfect angel forever? That girl has an evil streak that damn near
matches yours and mine put together.”
Grunting, Mark sat down
on the edge of the pool and dangled his legs in the water, making sure
everything was tucked away properly in the boxers so he wasn't flashing his
dick or balls in her direction. “She was never a perfect angel, darlin', but
she sure did hide that damn evil streak pretty good until recently. She's definitely got yer mouth.” He smirked
when Jasina gaped at him. “What? I am nothin',
but good-tempered and PG-rated.”
Jasina laughed hard at
that and it was all condescending sounding, wondering if Mark was trying to
bullshit her or himself, maybe both. “Good-tempered and PG? You drop more
F bombs than anyone I know!! Steve can't even match your temper when
you're pissed off. Steve would be calling your bullshit right now if he
was here and you can get that innocent look off your face. You're
anything BUT innocent, Mark Calaway.”
“Darlin', unless you can
prove otherwise, I am as innocent as the day I was born.” Mark said sweetly, a
tone that did not suit him at all, his emerald eyes sparkling
mischievously. He began laughing, unable
to keep up with the charade; she knew him too well and PG was definitely not
his style. “Hell honey, I'm more of a mature audience’s only kinda guy.” He
teased, splashing water at her when she swam too close, not trusting her at
all; she'd get him if she could.
An evil gleam came over
Jasina eyes as she went under water, knowing Mark was watching her every
move. She could see him through the water, the chlorine not strong enough
to hurt her eyes, and watched as he turned his back for a split second.
That was all she needed. Jasina surfaced just beneath his feet and
grabbed his ankles, yanking as hard as she possible good. Mark was on the
very edge and ended up crashing in the water, Jasina already swimming away from
him and surfaced laughing.
“You looked like your ego
could use a cool down.” She smirked, knowing he thought she would splash him,
but Jasina was always full of surprises as she went under water again.
Going under water instead
of scrambling out of the pool was her mistake because Mark took advantage. Using his long legs and muscular arms, he cut
through the water until he had reached her, diving under in order to wrap his
arms around her and began to barrel roll, surfacing long enough for them both
to take a deep breath before doing it again, their bodies pressed together
tightly. When he finally let her go, he
was laughing when they both broke the top of the water, wiping water from his
eyes and flicked his hair back over his shoulders.
Jasina had to catch her
breath several times and laughed right along with Mark, splashing him lightly
in the chest. “You suck.” She muttered good-naturedly, knowing she had it
coming after pulling him into the water with her, her heart pounding much the
same as his.
Then Jasina noticed for
the first time the position they were in and felt her heart actually skip a
beat because her chest was pressed against his, his arms at his sides since he
released her and those intense green eyes were twinkling down at her.
What was it about her ex-husband that always turned Jasina into complete mush
and made her mind heady? She would never understand, having tried
figuring it out since the first night they met.
“See if you would've just
jumped in the pool, you wouldn't have had to use the hose.
Silly man.”
“Darlin', if I woulda
jumped into the pool without hosin' off first, I'd of ruined yer pretty
swimsuit with all the oil that covered me.” Mark drawled, his eyes moving down to
that blue bikini she wore. Lingering
over some of his more favorite body parts before remembering his manners, Mark
returned his gaze to her eyes, still grinning wickedly and shrugged one
shoulder when she gave him a look. “Just appreciatin' the suit, darlin'.” He
rumbled, swimming away from her in a lazy backstroke.
“Uh huh.” Jasina fought
back a full body shiver at the heated look he had, clearing her throat a
little. “Typical man, I swear.”
She swam toward him
splashing a little more, deciding it was time to get out before she ended up
raping him. Then again, Mark looked as though he'd be the dominant one
and Jasina immediately stopped her thoughts from heading in that
direction. It would only lead to trouble and heartbreak, two things she
wanted to avoid at ALL cost.
Chapter 9
“I'm getting out and
making something to eat, did you have any plans for dinner or is it whatever?”
She asked cordially, heading for the ladder.
“Being a typical man, I
did not, had a few for dessert though.” He rumbled, knowing he was pushing his
luck but could not for the life of him keep that comment to himself. “I brought
home steaks for the grill and some baking potatoes. Of course, I woulda had it started by now if
someone hadn't been distractin' and splashin' at me.” Mark used his arms to
pull himself out of the pool, standing up right and tugged his boxers back up
since they had slid down...rather low on his hips. “How's that sound?”
It took every ounce of
willpower not to look down at his boxers, Jasina keeping her eyes on his face
the entire time with a soft smile. He'd been really caring and comforting
over the past three months since Randy's death, even so much as holding her
some nights when she had nightmares of plane crashes...or of Randy in general.
Jasina hadn't pushed him away, needing the comfort more than anything, but now
that she was starting to feel like her old self again, she wondered if maybe it
was time to put the walls back up.
“You splashed at me
first.” She retorted, steaks and potatoes sounding wonderful, her hair matted
to her head as she ran her fingers through it. Little water rivulets ran
down her arms and chest, flat toned stomach and legs, grabbing her towel to
wrap herself in it. “Well if you don't start them, then I will because I'm
starving and I know you have to be. You're an eating machine after all.”
Why hadn't Arielle and Gary stuck around for dinner? Jasina wasn't sure
how to feel being along with her ex-husband, even though it had happened a lot
lately, though she'd usually be up in her room working or somewhere he wasn't.
“I'll get the grill fired
up, after I pull on some pants.” Mark rumbled, wanting to do two things: Snatch
her up and pull the boxers off his balls because being wet and sticking to him
was beginning to chafe. He idly wondered
if he could get her to rub...and that line of thinking was cut off. “Be right
back.” He grunted, walking past her into the house and headed straight for his
bedroom. Jasina was coming out of her
mourning, so it seemed at least, and he wondered if three months was enough
time before starting to...look at her THAT way again. Not that he had ever actually stopped, but
would never admit it to anyone, especially her.
“Maybe it's time to get
my own place.” Jasina murmured aloud, already feeling some kind of sexual
tension between the two of them, and couldn't act on it.
It'd only been three
months and Mark hadn't found another woman to be with, probably because of her
staying at the ranch. It wasn't right. She had definitely overstayed
her welcome and it was time to leave, to pick up the pieces of her life and
move on. Sighing, Jasina walked into the house a few minutes later and
went straight up to her room to change out of her bathing suit, slipping on
some white cotton shorts and a matching strapless top that had blue hem.
It was hot and Jasina
wanted to be comfortable, blinking when she looked in the mirror and realized
how long her hair had gotten. It was past her shoulders and most of the streaks
had diminished, probably because of how much time she spent in the pool.
She brushed it out and pulled it up in a black clip to keep it off of her neck,
wondering if Mark would ever turn the air conditioner on.
Mark only used the A/C
for Arielle and now that she no longer lived with him, he felt no need to use
it at all, loving the dry Texas heat. He
didn’t mind sweating, but couldn't stand coming in from the heat, walking into
a freezing house...that was a recipe for a stuffed and still runny nose for
him. Screw that. After pulling on a pair of jean cut off
shorts that hugged him like a second skin -downside to being his size,
everything fit like a second skin-, Mark headed back downstairs, his damp hair
still hanging loose. Though he had a rubber
band around his wrist for when he cooked to pull it back.
“Hey Jas,” He called over
his shoulder, deciding to ask her opinion on something he had been thinking
about for awhile. “What do you think about tearing the wall down between your
room and Arie's?”
Jasina was busy cutting
up some broccoli to add to the meal and ended up slicing her finger, not
expecting him to ask her something THAT random. “SHIT!” She dropped the knife
on the counter and held her bleeding finger to her mouth, sucking on it. Mark
walked over instantly and took her finger out of her mouth to survey the
damage, turning the sink on to run it under cold water, which would help stop
the bleeding faster. “W-Why would you want to do something like that?” She
asked, looking up at him with confused teal eyes. “I mean it's your house and
everything, but that came out of left field...”
“Sorry darlin', I guess I
wasn't thinking about how it would sound outside my head.” He laughed, keeping
her finger under the cold water while reaching for a clean dishrag. After turning off the water, Mark wrapped the
hand towel around her finger, applying steady pressure, mindful not to apply
TOO much pressure; he was a bit stronger than the average person after all.
“But Arie is moved out, and that guest room is tiny, you hardly got room to
swing yer legs out of bed without knocking them against yer dresser. I figured I'd tear down the wall and expand
that room…your room.”
That was definitely a
sweet thought and Jasina found herself melting a little, especially with how he
took care of her cut finger. He wanted her to stay here, that much was
obvious. Jasina wondered why though and chalked it up to
loneliness. Arielle was out on her own with Gary and that left Mark alone
with this huge ranch by himself, which was a little heartbreaking in a way.
“Are you sure you want to
do that? I mean, I know you're usually sure about things you want to do,
but...Mark, don't you want to find someone to spend your life with? Don't
you want to be happy again?” Jasina knew she was rambling, but couldn’t stop
the questions from dropping. “Me staying here is holding you back, whether you
realize it or not...and I was thinking of looking for my own place because it's
not fair to you to have your ex-wife living with you.”
“First of all, yer not
holdin' me back from anything.” Mark said firmly, staring down at her out of
intense green eyes. “I do what I want, when I want, and you know that better
than anyone. This is where I want to be
right now. I like havin' ya here, I'm
not used to an empty house Jasina; I'm used to someone bein' here. If you want to go, then go. Just... don't use 'holdin' me back' as yer
excuse, darlin'.” Mark wasn't being mean; if she really wanted to leave and
felt she was ready too then she should, but she didn't need to convince herself
if was for HIS own good. Jasina needed
to do things for herself. “But yer more than welcome to stay.”
“I appreciate that, but I
do feel it's time for me to leave. So don't change anything about this
place for me. If you're gonna do it, then do it for you. I didn't
mean to use holding you back as an excuse, that wasn't my intention.”
Jasina pulled the towel
from around her finger and saw the slit, walking away from him to get a
band-aid out of one of the drawers. Mark
kept them around because Arielle was extremely accident prone. She put a
band-aid on her finger while Mark went to start up the grill, Jasina watching
him and frowned, hoping she hadn't hurt his feelings. It was definitely
time for her to leave, Jasina would start her apartment hunt tonight online.
Mark contemplated the
idea of having the ranch to himself. He
could stay up late and play music as loud as he wanted too without waking
anyone up. He wouldn't have to worry about
waking up early except for work. He
could completely redo every room in true bachelor style...keep his fridge
stocked with pizzas and beer opposed to actual food…walk around
bare-assed...No. Nope. Couldn't see that suiting him for more than a
few weeks, maybe a month.
Shaking his head, he
headed out to start up the grill, wondering just how long it would take her to
find a new place. What the hell did she
need a place for anyway? She had one
here. He didn't bug her about being in a
relationship, didn't expect anything of her, the woman had it made.
She was insane.
~!~
For the next straight
month, Jasina looked for apartments and had zero luck, feeling as though her
head was going to explode. She couldn't find the right apartment, one
like Trish had found, and even asked for her expertise. It was like the
universe was out to get her or keep her bottled up with her ex-husband...either
way her luck SUCKED.
So Jasina kept living at
the ranch in the small guest room, refusing to destroy her daughter's room
because Arielle stayed there a few times out of the month. It wouldn't be
fair to Arielle. She shared dinners with Mark, even cooked for him and
they would talk about their days. It was almost as if they were together,
but they weren't, confusing everyone around them. It didn't matter
though, until Jasina could find her own place she was stuck at the ranch and
honestly, it could've been worse.
Other than the lack of
sex, they were practically a couple. If
Mark went out, he invited her along, be it for shopping or deciding a beer at
the bar opposed to his kitchen table was in order. He'd haul all the laundry downstairs to the
basement for her and then back up, she made sure he had matching socks since he
was in the habit of pulling on whatever he grabbed first, not overly caring if
he wore a black with a white.
When she needed his help,
he helped. When he needed hers, she was
there. They spoke regularly, laughed and
joked, cooked together...it was like being married minus the rings and the
sharing of a bed and bodies. That last
part only really bothered him whenever she'd break out the bikini to sun
bathe...and a few other times, like at night.
Jasina was practically his again, only nothing was official.
“You look like you had
another day with no luck.” Mark commented when he seen the frown on her face.
“I need a drink with a
large volume of alcohol, what does that tell you?” She grunted, setting her bag
down on the counter, having already kicked her heels off at the door. She
wore a pinstriped black and red skirt suit with a matching cardigan and short
sleeved red V shaped shirt beneath, taking the cardigan off instantly since
there was no air conditioner unlike the office. “I've decided I'm giving up,
not worth the stress and aggravation.” Jasina took the glass of brandy he
handed her and slammed it back, sitting down at the island while he cut up some
steak cubes. “Unless you have a problem with me living here until the day I
die? Because that's exactly what it looks like is going to happen.”
“Nope, no problem with
that darlin'; it's nice havin' a woman in the house. Reminds me I'm not allowed to trek mud onto
the floors or run around in my underwear.” Mark joked, knowing she had been
tearing up Houston looking for a new place to live. He had once considered suggesting she find a
new apartment in the same complex she had once lived in, but...that would have
probably gotten him a skillet to the back of his skull. “Pour me a glass, would
ya?” He smiled when she poured him a healthy measure, bending down to pick it
up with his teeth since his hands were a little...greasy and nasty. Tilting his head back, Mark drained it then
set the glass back down, smirking when she stared at him. “I'm a man of many
talents. I think I did that with a shot
glass once from your...” He trailed off, his eyes moving purposefully to her
chest.
Jasina immediately
snapped her fingers in his face, smirking when those green eyes met hers,
purposefully folding her arms in front of her chest. “My eyes are not down
there, Calaway.” She stated, crossing one leg over the other, her skirt riding
up her thighs just the slightest bit and cracked open the beer Mark had
procured moments before she walked in the door. “Besides wanting to go down
memory lane, how was the rest of your day?”
“Hold on...” Mark was now
blatantly staring at her leg, more to the point, the tanned expanse of thigh
she was so thoughtfully showing off.
When she raised the now opened can of beer threateningly, he grinned and
looked back into her face, his eyes twinkling in amusement. “Sorry Jas,
couldn't help myself. My day seems like
it went a lot better than yers. Steve
brought Emily into the shop today when he came in to pick up his paycheck,
tyke's growin' way too damn fast. She
looks like her momma. Thank God.”
“Oh behave, Steve is just
as good looking as Trish.” Jasina giggled when Mark's eyebrow slowly rose,
stopping in mid-cut, finding it incredibly amusing. “Trish is a lucky woman,
that's all I'm saying.” She took a long swig of beer and found it adorable how
Mark's stance suddenly became tense, his shoulders squaring a bit more, puffing
his chest out. She took the clip out of her hair and shook it out a
little, having recently had it dyed back to her natural honey blonde with a few
layers in it and it rested just below her shoulders. “So what are you cooking
for us tonight, chef?”
“Forget food let's go
back to the part where you think Steve is good lookin'.”
She thought Steve was
good looking? Steve was BALD, how was
that good looking? He would never
understand women. When she just smiled
sweetly at him, he smirked slightly, carrying the diced cube steak to the
waiting skillet on the stove, already drizzled with olive oil. He dropped the meat in and turned the burner
on to let it brown.
Chapter 10
“So... darlin', ya also
think Trish is good lookin’?” He teased in a low purr, wondering what Steve
would say to that or what Steve would do if he knew Mark had a very fleeting
visual of the two women together.
“Not in THAT way, you
pervert!” She threw a pan handle at him, feeling her cheeks flush slightly and
decided since he wanted to screw with her, she would screw with him. “She is a
beautiful woman and if I wasn't strictly dickly, I would go after her in a
heartbeat. Now Steve on the other hand...” Jasina began fanning herself
for added effect and had to take a long swig of beer, sighing wistfully. “That
man can wear a pair of blue jeans unlike any other. He just has one of
those snatchable asses and don't even get me started on his chest and arms, not
to mention his blue eyes. He could get away with murder with those damn
baby blues and he knows it. He doesn't realize it, but he has Trish
wrapped around his damn finger and I don't blame the woman. I'd be wrapped
too and baldness is hot on certain men, he is definitely one of them. Oh
and his voice...”
Steve sounded like he
constantly had a cock down his throat, his voice was growly constantly. Huffing, Mark turned his attention to the diced
onions, green peppers and tomatoes he had already cut before getting to work on
the meat. “So if you find that hot, then what the hell were ya doin' with
me? I'm the complete opposite of that.”
Granted, he didn't have a fat ass like Steve's, but...Getting the feeling she
was enjoying this a bit too much, Mark whirled around and crossed over to
gently take her arms, bending down so their lips were inches apart. “You havin'
fun getting me worked up, Jas?”
“As a matter of fact, I
am.” The hilarity shined in her teal eyes, but being this close to him sent her
heart suddenly racing, his hot breath on her face very welcoming. “Almost as
much as you were blatantly checking me out and trying to get me riled up.”
Jasina smiled and reached a hand up, tapping his nose gently with her finger.
“I was with you because you have an even lower voice than Steve's, which I
found incredibly sexy and your ass is better than his in anything you wear,
even those baggy overalls when you're working on the roof.”
“You know darlin'...I
think you should give them baggy overalls a try yourself...” Mark teased,
catching her finger between his teeth when she went to tap his nose again,
biting down gently before letting go and returning to the stove. He had to put a bit of space between them
before he sat her on that kitchen island and had his way with her right there,
smirking slightly as he recalled a few times they had been together in the
kitchen. “And if you weren't so damn provocative, I wouldn't check you out. Keep them legs covered up or I'll be
eyeballin' them constantly.”
“Provocative?” Jasina
giggled, not able to stop, wondering if he was serious. “I don't have a sexy
bone in my body. I'm accident prone like Arielle, poor girl gets it from
her momma.” Jasina slid from the chair as she finished her beer off, tossing
the can in the trash, her finger still tingling from Mark nibbling on it.
She walked past him and ran her hand across his ass, smirking when he jumped
slightly. “Still the same as I remember. I'll be right back, gonna change
into something more...provocative.” Jasina laughed all the way out of the
kitchen, shaking her head, deciding maybe she should cover up...as much as she
could since it was hot as hell in the ranch.
“Tease!” He shouted after
her, wondering if he was going to make it through the night.
He sincerely hoped her
idea of provocative consisted of wearing a gunny sack...then regretted thinking
that because Jasina would make a burlap sack look sexy. After giving the skillet a shake to flip
everything, he went to retrieve himself a beer.
It was going to be a long night, he could already tell.
After quickly showering,
Jasina contemplated what to wear and decided she deserved a little payback on
Mark, whistling innocently. It wasn't provocative...exactly, but he
definitely would notice a few things. She giggled as she slipped into the
blood red tank dress that went two inches above the knee, leaving her shoulders
bare and clipped her hair up because it was simply too hot to leave down.
She left her face devoid of makeup since this was her sleep attire for the
evening and padded out of her room, heading down to the kitchen, grabbing
another beer on the way.
Mark had his back to her
though he heard her coming in and cracking open another beer, busy finishing up
dinner, a loaf of French bread sitting on the counter for dipping into the
broth and juices from supper. “Hey, you want to grab the plates and start-” He
trailed off as he turned around.
Mark immediately wished
he hadn't and could not, for the life of him, keep himself from thoroughly
checking her out. If he snapped and
attacked her, it was going to be her own damn fault. He was THRILLED he was wearing his tight jeans
because the erection he suddenly felt being choked to death by the constraining
denim was sent straight from hell, courtesy of Satan herself.
“And start what?
You have to finish your sentence, Mark.” Jasina chastised playfully, already
knowing what he wanted and set her beer down on the counter. She walked
over to reach up pulling the plates down from the cupboard, the dress rising
just a fraction before lowering again. Jasina could feel Mark's eyes
boring into her and smirked before heading to the table, setting it up for just
the two of them. “Whatever you made smells amazing.” She complimented,
finishing up with the silverware and then went back to her beer, quite enjoying
being a little evil.
Fuck dinner, they were
going to wind up skipping right to dessert.
She knew what she was
doing, torturing him and the way he figured it, if she was enjoying teasing the
hell out of him, then she probably realized where this was going to eventually
lead. Going along with it for now, he
just grunted and poured the contents of the skillet into a rectangular, shallow
bowl and then grabbed the loaf of French bread, carrying them over to the
table. He then grabbed his own beer and
sat that down at his plate, walking around to pull out the chair for her.
“Tell me darlin', that a
night dress or a party dress?” Because it looked like it could go either way.
“I would never wear this
out of the house, you should know me better than that.”
Jasina immediately
reached for the food and began making her plate while Mark sliced the bread,
handing her two. She was starving and took a drink of beer, the sun
having set so there was a warm breeze through the patio screen door. Then
Jasina realized that Mark had taken his shirt off and had to stop herself from
running her eyes over every inch of his chest, having every part of it
mesmerized, keeping her eyes on her food as she blew on the first bite.
It was still pretty hot, though the temperature was nothing compared to how
high hers currently was. Mark preferred
being shirtless since most shirts were...constricting on his muscular large
form and, if she wasn't aware of that by now, then the woman was thick in the
head.
“I don't know...I could
see you out in it, with a pair of spiked heels and your hair done up.” Mark
drawled, dunking a slice of the bread into the broth, winking across the table
at her. “How is, darlin'? Your face is
flushed, didn't burn yourself, did ya?”
“Vivid imagination you
have.” Jasina commented, dipping her own bread in the broth. “It's delicious
and I'm flushed because it's hot in here.” He could take that however he
wanted, but she was too busy trying not to let her eyes linger on him for
long. She wiped away a drizzle of broth
off the corner of her mouth before going back to the main course. “And no, I
don't wear spiked heels, I'm not the hooker type.” She smiled sweetly at him,
owning some stilettos, but Jasina knew exactly what kind of heels he was
referring to, rolling her eyes.
“Who the hell said you
had to be a hooker to wear spiked heels?
Clear heels maybe, but not necessarily spiked. Besides... you don't even have to wear them
outta the house, if you ever felt the...urge...to wear some spiked heels, you
could wear 'em around here. Maybe vacuum
or do some dishes in them.” Now he was just outright teasing her, grinning as he
took a bite of his food.
Jasina raised an eyebrow
and chewed her food thoughtfully, contemplating what he said. “Really?” When he
nodded, the amusement in his green eyes very clear, Jasina decided she would
give him what he wanted as she took another drink from her beer. “What else
would you like seeing me do around here, Mark?” She asked curiously, her tone
sweet as honey.
Mark knew he was being
baited, he KNEW it, and like the idiotic typical male he was, he walked right
into it. “Well darlin', wouldn't say no to seeing you prancin' around in them
spiked heels in nothing but an apron.” He leered at her, snorting when her
eyebrow arched. She had asked and he
wasn't going to lie or shy away, he could play the game. Actually, he was being played most likely,
but it would be worth it. “And you could start sun bathin' in the nude, that'd
eliminate any...tan lines...”
“So basically walking
around nude is what you'd like.” Jasina summed up, looking very interested and
decided if that's what Mark wanted, that's exactly what he was going to
get. Of course she would make sure they were completely alone when it
happened, but being out in the middle of nowhere definitely had its perks.
“Heels, naked, apron...” She took another bite of food, still keeping the smile
on her face. “You should skip the boxers next time you go swimming so your
balls don't chafe.” She said while standing up, having finished her dinner and
walked the plate to the sink, trying not to start laughing.
Growling, he pushed away
from the table and went after her, taking the plate and setting it down a bit
harshly on the sink before whipping her around, feeling her hands instantly
landing on his chest. Not even thinking
twice, he bent down and brushed his lips against hers, his hands running down
her sides and then back to cup her pert ass, pulling her against him
tightly. After a moment, he pulled away,
his eyes darkened with lust.
“I'll take that under
advisement, darlin'.” He murmured huskily before heading outside, deciding a
dunk in the pool right about now would be in his best interest, otherwise he
was going to maul her.
Jasina stood there in
complete shock and slowly brought her hand up to touch her lips with her
fingertips, swallowing hard. The last man that kissed her was Randy...Jasina
knew it was pointless to start crying, but she couldn't help it, every part of
her body trembling from head to toe. She was just having a little fun
with Mark and he took it too far, too fast. She didn't even know he still
felt anything for her and was sadly mistaken.
Managing to get a hold of
herself, Jasina walked out of the kitchen slowly, wiping the tears away that
fell. She couldn't go through the pain of Mark again, remembering why
they broke up in the first place. Hell, they got along better apart than
they ever did together, which was cruelly ironic in itself. Jasina
decided against going to her room and simply decided to go for a drive,
slipping her pumps on that were by the door, grabbed her purse, keys and cell
phone, just needing some space to clear her mind.
He had stripped down,
following her advice, diving into the pool and resurfaced in time to hear her
car starting. Groaning, Mark swam over
to bang his head against the tiled ledge.
He shouldn't have done that...She had only been messing with him, not
inviting him to kiss her! Mark rubbed
his head and stared down at the water, contemplating drowning himself. He just hoped he hadn't set her back in her
recovery or something, knowing she hadn't just forgotten about Randy overnight.
Jasina ended up back at
her old apartment and looked up at the door, knowing Randy's apartment had been
cleared out by a few people Trish hired. She'd left everything to Jasina,
including his money, which was in a private account. Four months...Jasina
unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the car, closing the door as she made
her way toward the stairs, taking one step at a time slowly.
So many memories flooded
her and it was almost overwhelming at first, but Jasina somehow pushed through
the pain and heartache, walking toward her door. Trish had piled all of
Randy's things inside with Jasina's permission, refusing to let it be destroyed
by being tossed away. Taking a deep breath, Jasina shakily unlocked the
door and pushed it open, stepping inside as the musty smell instantly entered
her nostrils, the door closing behind her as she tossed her keys on the
counter.
Randy's things were
numerous, all neatly placed in piles about the apartment. The various cameras he had used over the
years, stacks of photo albums containing personal pictures and professional
images, the souvenirs he had brought back from the numerous places he had
been. His entire life had been placed in
Jasina's old apartment, parts of it he had kept from her because of how dark
those times had been, such as his time in Iraq and trips to Libya, places that
had been filled with despair that he hadn't wanted to bring her down with.
Set away from everything
else was a large scrapbook, a sky blue with silver gilt edges on the four
corners. All the pictures he had taken
of Jasina, all their articles they had done together. It was the 'shrine' she had joked about him
having, only it was real.
That was the first thing
Jasina noticed, something drawing her to it, and cried with every page she
turned. They were absolutely breathtaking, Randy's shots flawless, even
ones she didn't know he had. There was one with her sitting on the beach
with Arielle sitting with her, her arms wrapped around her, both of them
laughing with big smiles on their faces. He truly did love them and
Jasina had accused him he didn't. She felt terrible and clutched the
album against her, crying her heart out, but didn't dare get any tears on the
shrine.
“Randy, I'm so sorry...”
Jasina choked out, covering her eyes as she doubled over, the pain consuming
her all over again. “I'm so sorry...please forgive me...” She ended up lying on
the dusty couch clutching the album to her chest, crying herself to sleep.
Chapter 11
Arielle did not like
having to come here, but when her Dad called to say he might've upset her
mother and couldn’t get her on the phone, if she had any ideas where Jasina
might’ve gone, she knew she had too. At
first, she didn't even think Jasina would come HERE and had called Trish. Trish hadn't seen hide nor hair of her,
didn't even hear from her.
She had gone to the
Emerald City, knowing that was her Mom's favorite bar, nothing. She had gone to dozens of other places and finally...here. Arielle let herself in with the key she had
never given back and took a deep breath, stepping into the living room. After her eyes adjusted to the dim light that
came in from the covered windows, she spotted her mom laying on the couch, sound
asleep, clutching a book to her.
When the book tried being
pulled from Jasina's grasp, her eyes snapped open and clutched it tighter
against her. Both girls let out screams
of both fright and surprise. It took several moments before Jasina could
clearly tell who was in the apartment with her, breathing heavily.
“Arie?” She set the album
down on the couch, standing up. “What are you doing here sweetheart?” She
pulled her daughter against her, hugging her tightly. “Sorry, you scared the
hell out of me. Are you okay? Where's Gary?”
“Lord almighty mom, you
SCARED me! And Dad! And everyone else! We've all been playin' round robin trying to
get a hold of you!” Arielle hugged her again, squeezing tightly. “Dad said you
left last night and he thought he upset you, but he didn't say what he
did. When you didn't come back, he
called me, figuring you might've come to my place.” She pulled Jasina down onto
the couch with her, taking her hand. “Mom, what's going on? Why'd you come...here?”
The sun barely peeking
through the window curtain told Jasina she'd slept through the entire night and
then some. “What time is it?” She cringed when Arielle said three in the
afternoon, cursing. “Damn, I didn't mean to sleep THAT long.” Jasina let out a
yawn and was thankful she'd kicked her heels off sometime during the night
while sleeping, otherwise her feet would be throbbing. “Your father kissed me
last night after we ate dinner and...I sort of freaked out and ran out of the
house.” She couldn't meet Arielle's eyes, staring down at her lap, tears
stinging her eyes. “I know it's been four months, but...I didn't think he felt
that way about me still. I thought we were just friends and he was
helping me because he felt bad or whatever. I felt guilty and that's why
I came here, but that was definitely a mistake.”
It took Arielle a few
moments to process all that, trying to wrap her mind around her Dad kissing her
Mom, which did not seem so weird all things considered. They were married and obviously were
attracted to each other at one point.
She was living proof of that.
“Dad probably isn't ever
going to stop feelin' that way about you, Mom.” Arielle said finally. “I have
no idea why he kissed you though because he knows you don't feel the same
anymore. Do you?”
“I-I don't know.” Jasina
was so confused and knew that wasn't the answer her daughter was expecting to
hear, but it was all she could offer right now, standing up from the couch. “He
was my first love, Arie, so of course I'm always going to feel something for
him. But we don't work. We tried that for four years and all it
resulted in was both of us heartbroken and Randy...” She still had a hard time
saying his name, turning away as a few tears slipped down her cheeks. “Randy
gave me everything your Dad didn't. He gave me hope for the future,
promised me he would always be there and stitched the pieces of my heart back
together that your father broke.” She tossed her hands up in the air, laughing
ruefully. “Your mother has officially lost her mind.”
“No, not yet.” Arielle
said, sounding very serious and very grave, two things not normal for her.
Well, it had been after
Randy's death but over the past few months, she had begun returning to
normal. She would always love and miss
Randy, but she also knew he would kick her ass for mourning her entire life
away. Her Mom, on the other hand, that
had been an entirely different sort of bond, one that couldn't heal overnight.
“Are you going to move
out of the ranch?”
“I've been trying like hell
to find a place and I'm coming up empty. There's nothing out there, I've
looked everywhere. This apartment has a curse of some sort or something I
don't know.” Jasina knew she wasn't making sense and looked around her living
room at all the boxes, all with Randy's name etched on them in black marker.
“Your Dad even offered to knock down the wall between your room and the guest
room I'm staying in, but I told him no. I wouldn't feel right.
You're still his baby girl and you need a room at the ranch in case you need a
place to stay. Did your Dad say anything about what he did or did he
simply send you out looking for me?”
“Mom, if he wants to take
down that wall, he can. I rarely stay over anymore and I'm officially moved
out, it is his house.” Arielle chided gently, having a feeling her Dad had been
doing it to make Jasina more comfortable since the guest room as miniscule and
her Mom would have probably felt weird about sleeping in HER old bedroom. “And
no, he just said he upset you, I think he knew if he told me about the kissin'
thing, I'd of sent Trish that way to smack him silly. He asked if I had seen you, told me he
couldn't get a hold of you and I sent myself out lookin'.”
“No, your Dad doesn't
need to do that.” Jasina waved her off dismissively, trying to wake up and knew
she would need some java...at three in the afternoon. Then again, maybe
not. “Arie, with me staying there, he can't mingle with other women. It
would look pretty stupid for him to bring home a woman and have his ex-wife living
there, don't you think?” When Arielle reluctantly nodded, Jasina was glad
someone understood her point of view. “I will find my own place. I have
to, especially after what happened last night between us...” It was a kiss,
only a kiss, but...Jasina simply wasn't ready.
“Mom, just... out of
curiosity...” Arielle began slowly, knowing her Mom wouldn't like hearing this
and probably didn't need to hear it, but she was about to say it anyway. “What
if dad doesn't WANT to bring home another woman? Whether you're there or not? I mean, even though you two aren't together,
he could still go out on a date or somethin' or go back to some woman's
place. And I don't think he has.”
“It's none of my business
if he does or not. You're right, I suppose he could go on a date if he
wanted to...” So why hadn't Mark gone out to find another woman? Shayla
was the only woman that he tried having any kind of relationship with and after
the blowup at Arielle's graduation party, it was almost as if he'd given up. “I'm
sorry I worried all of you, the kiss just...caught me off guard, I wasn't
expecting it...” Jasina also didn't expect the intense feelings that came with
that kiss, all the feelings and love rushing back combined with the guilt she
felt over Randy's death.
Definitely wasn't a good
combination.
“So, if it was just a
kiss, why'd you run Mom?” Arielle asked curiously. She knew her Mom still thought of Randy, but
running because of a kiss seemed a bit...stupid to her. So she figured she was either just really
young or totally missing something here. “Why not just co-cock him one? Or did you feel bad? Or maybe you liked it and that makes you feel
guilty?” Arielle also might have been watching Dr. Phil again too much.
“Stop watching those
stupid programs that fill your head with false notions of what a relationship
is supposed to be.” Jasina ordered, rolling her eyes when Arielle waved her
off, sighing heavily as she walked into the kitchen to get some water. “I was
shocked, Arie. I was legitimately shocked and had to get out for just a
little while. I suppose I felt guilty because Randy has only been gone
for four months. We were together for only four months, which doesn't
compare to the four years I was with your father, not including before you were
born either.” Jasina knew she had to stop rattling, closing her eyes and gulped
down some much needed water, her throat suddenly dry.
“Sure it compares Mom,
you can love more than one person and you can love them differently but just as
intensely.” Arielle said, not quoting her daytime shows, but actually speaking
directly from herself. “Are you still going to move out of the ranch?” She
asked next, knowing if Jasina would, that kiss would probably ensure she
somehow found a new place within the next week or two. “You're not...movin'
back here, are you?”
“I don't know what I'm
going to do right now. I'm gonna still keep looking because I can't live
with your father forever. It's just...weird.” She didn't know what other
word to use, rubbing the back of her neck to try to ease some of the tension
from sleeping on her old couch. “It just doesn't feel like home, you
know? I want a place that feels like home with my taste and style.
I don't feel that at the ranch and I don't think I ever did, even when I moved
in for that week.” The only question Jasina really wanted answered was why Mark
had kissed her in the first place.
What was going through
that stubborn bull-headed brain of his?
“You and Dad are so good
together though, it's like you're married, but you're not, you know?” Arielle
shook her head, flipping her hair back behind her shoulders. “You two should
just rent a house in town and split it down the middle. He doesn't like livin'
alone and I don't think you do either.” This would explain why her Mom couldn't
find a place to live because, honestly, with the money Jasina had, finding a
suitable new apartment or even a house shouldn't have been a problem.
“Rent a house in town and
split it down the middle?”
Jasina actually
contemplated that, knowing Mark loved his ranch because of all the
property. She suddenly remembered the
patch of land he'd shown her four years ago on their first date. He was
thinking of building something out that way, though Mark never had, for what
reason Jasina didn't know.
“We get along better
apart than we ever did together, which is crazy because everyone assumes we are
a couple.” That didn't make a lick of sense and Jasina felt like bashing her
head against a wall, sighing. “I'll figure it out, but the first thing I need
to do is talk to your Dad.”
“Uh yeah, that would be
great because he hasn't stopped texting me the entire time I've been here. My ass is going numb from the constant
vibratin'.” Arielle said, reaching into her back pocket to pull out her cell
phone, her confidence that it was her Dad proven right by his name on every
text. “Oh wait, one is from Trish, just one though. You want me to call them and let them know
everything is kosher?”
“Call your Dad and tell
him I'll be there shortly. I'll call Trish, kill two birds with one
stone.”
She hugged Arielle again,
kissing the top of her head before stepping outside, needing some fresh
air. Jasina wasn't surprised when Trish answered on the first ring,
cringing when she began screaming and had to hold the phone away from her
ear. All Jasina could hear was something about thinking her maid of honor
was dead -the wedding was just a few months away- and missing work without any
explanation. When Jasina was sure Trish had blown all of her stack, she
slowly put the phone back to her ear.
“I'm sorry Trish, I
didn't mean to worry anyone. It was a complete accident...”
“You running off in the
night and not taking anyone's phone calls, worrying us all half to death, was
an accident?” Trish echoed, the anger draining from her tone since she had
pretty much gotten it all out already. “Jas, why didn't you come here or
something? Where ARE you anyway? I'm assuming Arielle found you or you seen
that I tried to blow up your cell.”
“I'm at my old apartment.
I came here last night because...something happened and I had to leave the
ranch for a few hours. I was only planning on being gone for a few hours
and...Something lead me here...” Jasina knew it was the guilt of Randy's death
that consumed her day and night, but wasn't about to admit that to anyone. “I
did bring my phone with me, but I forgot to take it off of vibrate and...Ended
up falling asleep on the couch.”
“Why did you have to leave the ranch?” Trish demanded, sometimes too observant
for her own good. “What happened? Did Mark bring a woman home or
something?”
Jasina sighed heavily and
closed her eyes, her lips still tingling from Mark's kiss. “Mark kissed
me...and I freaked out, left the ranch and came here...”
“WHAT?” Trish actually kind of wished Mark had brought home another woman
because that would have probably been a little bit easier for Jasina to deal
with -not to mention more expected- than a kiss. After taking a deep breath, she apologized
for screaming, again. “So, he...kissed you.
WHY did he kiss you?”
“How the hell should I
know?” Jasina shot back, the frustration built up ever since the kiss happened.
“I didn't even know he still felt anything romantic for me. I mean we do
have a daughter together, so there's bound to be some feelings left over along
with love. I will always love him, but...” Jasina looked back over her
shoulder, seeing Arielle was still on the phone with Mark. “I can't get hurt
again, Trish. I physically, emotionally and mentally can't handle anymore
hurt and pain. I've been contemplating going celibate actually...”
“You have absolutely NO
idea why he kissed? It just happened right out of the blue?”
“We were talking and
teasing each other like always, all in good fun. We ate dinner and I
stood up to put my plate in the sink, only for him to follow, turn me around
and kiss me.”
The conversation they had
and things mentioned might've had something to do with it, but there was no way
Jasina was telling anyone that...EVER. Maybe she had egged Mark on a little,
but again she never expected him to actually kiss her! Maybe a slap on
the ass or something teasing like that, but a kiss...Jasina had been totally
shocked and bolted, that was the bottom line.
“I really need to get my
own place before I end up in another bad situation. Mark and I are
finally getting along and not ripping each other's throats out. I don't
want to go back to hating him again, Trish.”
Trish could read between
the lines pretty well and knew there was a lot Jasina wasn't saying, but not
about to even contemplate what kind of talking and teasing they were getting up
to in order for Mark to decide a kiss was a pretty good idea. “Well...” She
coughed, clearing her throat. “Maybe it wouldn't be like that again, Jasina. You've both changed.” Obviously.
“Now I know you've lost
your mind and I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that.”
Had Trish really
forgotten how much pain and hurt Jasina and Mark caused each other?
Mark didn't want to get
married and settle down, she'd been with him for four years and absolutely
nothing happened. Jasina had fought not to let it bother her, but then
Randy came along and completely turned her world upside down in a good
way. She thought she would end up marrying Randy, but that wasn't in the
cards for them.
“Mark and I don't work
and we don't belong together. Not to mention it's only been four months
since Randy...” Jasina forced his name out, taking a deep breath. “I'm not
ready and I don’t know if I'll ever be.”
“So...it stands to reason
then, that talking and teasing, with Mark, might be a bad idea then?” Trish
suggested, coming back in a roundabout way to the reason Jasina had taken off
like a bat out of hell. “Because either he got caught up in what he thought was
a heated moment or he thinks you're ready to start...um, well, he thinks you're
ready.”
“That's why I need to get
my own place immediately.”
Jasina knew Trish was
right and knew she definitely wasn't ready to be in another relationship with
any man, whether it was Mark or not. Ted had actually asked her out and
Jasina declined. He turned his attention
to Eve and they both hit it off well thankfully.
“I did tease him, I'm not
going to deny it, but it was only because he was teasing me...” She groaned, hearing
Trish laughing and knew that was the WRONG thing to say. “Never mind, I need my
own place so please keep your eyes and ears open.”
“Oh sure, I'll do that.”
Trish clucked her tongue, the amusement in her tone very clear. “So he was
teasing you and you decided to get a little revenge, hmm?” She couldn't help
poking a little fun at her friend, hearing Jasina growl and decided to save it
for later. “Alright, alright I'm done, I'll behave.”
Meanwhile, Arielle was
giving her Dad the third degree, or trying to at least…
“Why did you kiss her?”
“At the time, it seemed like a damn good idea.”
“Well, Dad, your damn good idea wasn't such a damn good idea.” Arielle scolded,
leaning back against the kitchen counter. “You confused Mom to hell and back!”
Mark blew into the
phone. Great.
“So, new rule, if she
moves back...no more kissing her. Got
me? It's not good for her emotionally.”
“You've been watchin' Dr. Phil again, haven't you?”
“Why'd you kiss her?”
Arielle tried asking again.
“I can't tell you.” Mark
was NOT about to tell Arielle about the conversation they had or the mutual
teasing they had put each other through before he jumped the gun.
“So I'm to assume you kissed her because you're a moron then, Daddy dearest?”
“Arielle Marie, why don't you come out here and visit me awhile?” Mark
suggested through gritted teeth. She
wasn't too old to get her ass whooped. “I’ll give you an ass paddlin’ that’ll
make you think twice before talkin’ to me like ya are now.”
“Mom, I'm going to KILL
Dad!!” Arielle shrieked, storming back inside. “He thinks it's okay to give me
an ass paddlin'!”
“Did you forget you're still on the damn phone with me girl?!”
“Oops!” Arielle hung up.
“I'm going to kill Trish
too for making fun of me.” Jasina smirked when Trish scoffed over the phone,
promising to call later and hung up, mother and daughter looking at each other
flabbergasted. “Your father won't touch you, but I wouldn't go back to the
ranch right away.” She suggested, walking back inside the apartment to grab her
purse and car keys, wondering what the hell she was going to say Mark when she
got to the ranch. “What did your Dad have to say?”
“Besides a whole lotta
nothin' and threatening to bust my behind?
Mostly nothing. He was just
worried about you, wanted to know you were alright, if you were coming back,
that sort of thing.” Arielle rolled her eyes, scooping her SUV keys out of her
front pocket, jingling them thoughtfully. “What'd Trish say? I seen you holdin' the phone away from your
ear, she did the screaming thing, didn't she?”
“She screamed at me and
then some.” Jasina muttered, though she knew she deserved it, both of them
walking out locking the door behind them. She did grab the album that
Randy made with her and Arielle's pictures, one of his final gifts, refusing to
leave it behind. “Well your Dad won't need to worry long because I'm on my way
to go see him.” They hugged, Arielle needing to get back home to Gary, knowing
he must've been worried too. “Tell Gary I'm sorry, okay?”
“I will. Try not to have anymore panic attacks,
okay? Because if Dad calls me again, I'm
going to tell him to go out huntin' you himself.” Arielle was only half-kidding
as she pulled away. “I actually need to get to work, Gary is probably still
waitin' on me, unless he took his car...Alright Mom, I gotta go, I love you, be
good!” Laughing, she waved and then jogged to her SUV, wondering just what her
parents were going to do with themselves. “Probably have a bunch of awkward
moments.” She muttered, pulling out on the road.
Chapter 12
The entire ride to the
ranch Jasina was going over in her mind what she was going to say to
Mark. She glanced over at the album Randy made, placing a hand on it, and
wondered what the hell she was supposed to do. That kiss definitely awoke
feelings inside of her she hadn't felt since she was with Mark, her feelings
for Randy completely different.
Mark had her heart,
Jasina always knew that, even though Randy had tried stealing it away and
almost succeeded. She loved Randy and would never forget him, but Mark
was her number one love and always had been. She just wasn't sure if
she'd ever fully trust him after everything they'd been through together and
vice versa. When Jasina pulled up to the ranch, she didn't get out of her
car right away, simply staring straight ahead while slowly letting her hands
slide from the wheel.
Mark heard her car idling
out in the driveway from his spot in the garage, tinkering with his
motorcycles, the garage bay door open.
He didn't move, knowing going out there would probably make her shift
into reverse and leave or something. She
was going to have to come to him because when he took the lead...he messed up
apparently.
After Arielle had ended
their call, he had come out here to occupy his mind, having gotten very little
sleep, worried out of his mind for Jasina, more specifically: her mindset. He had no idea where she would go, assuming
Arie or Trish's, only to find out this morning that they hadn't heard from
her. Now he knew where she had been, in
her and Randy's old apartment.
Deciding this was
ridiculous, Jasina cut the ignition of her car and stepped out, leaving the
album behind for the time being. She still had on the tank dress and
pumps, having brought all of her clothes to the ranch when she left the
apartment four months ago. She pulled it down as far as it could go,
without flashing her boobs, and headed into the garage, pumps clicking against
the rocky pavement as classic rock blared throughout it. Maybe now wasn't
a good time to talk to him.
Mark was sitting on the
floor of the garage, several large pieces of cardboard beneath both the
motorcycle he was working on and him.
Wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a gray beater, his hair was
pulled back from his face by a blue bandana.
He looked up when he heard the clicking of her heels, his eyes level
with...that dress and tilted his head back to look up at her.
“I'm sorry about last
night, Jas.” Mark said after a moment, figuring the best way to kick this
conversation off was with an apology.
“There's no need to
apologize, Mark.” Jasina smiled down at him softly, trying not to notice the
way his jeans hugged those muscular thighs and ass, or how the beater looked
ready to shred off of his chest. Jasina was proud of herself for keeping
her eyes on his face, clearing her throat. “Let's just pretend it never
happened and...I'll try not to get you riled up anymore, okay?” She hoped that
didn't sound mean and rude, because that wasn't Jasina's intentions, just
wanting to make amends and move on.
“Sure, Jas.” Mark agreed
evenly, feeling proud of HIMSELF for how agreeable and neutral his tone of
voice was.
He wasn't entirely sure
if the word 'riled' was the appropriate term for what she had done to him last
night. Rock hard might have better
described the situation, but he wasn't going to provoke a fight or do anything
else to make her uncomfortable. He now
knew how that would turn out: With her heading back to the place she had been
happy with her now dead boyfriend. That
was a sharp reminder that she wasn't his, hadn't been in quite some time, and
apparently Jasina still loved a dead man.
The even tone of his
voice told Jasina that he definitely didn't like what she said, but respected
it, nodding back at him. “Good, I'm gonna go shower.”
She walked out of the
garage and into the ranch, deciding she would be leaving as soon as possible,
wondering why she suddenly felt a new hurt and urge to cry. It wasn't
because of Randy this time either. Jasina blinked them away and headed
upstairs to her room, pulling her pumps off and shut the bedroom door.
First a shower, then she would be hunting for a new place to live until she
couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.
Sighing, Mark leaned
forward until his head was resting against the Titan's gas tank, knowing he
wasn't going to be able to work anymore without screwing up the bike, which
he'd later have to kill himself for if that happened. Pushing himself off the floor, Mark headed
inside and glanced towards the stairs, knowing instinctively that she would be
looking to leave. Whatever peace and
pleasantness that had been between them before last night was gone and would
probably never be recovered.
He had messed up.
~!~
For the next several
weeks, Jasina threw herself into her work, trying to find a new place to live
and Trish's wedding. Whatever Trish needed, Jasina was there. She
spent a lot of time over at Trish and Steve's, deciding keeping her distance
from Mark was the right thing to do and best for both of them. She was
hardly there, only coming in late at night when he was either sleeping or
working on his motorcycles, barely seeing him. Dinners were spent alone,
there was no more sunbathing and no more taking advantage of a place that wasn't
her home.
Jasina wore mostly short
sleeved shirts and pants when she was in the ranch, not wanting to rile Mark up
or be provocative in any way. They were not together and the more
distance she put between them, the better off everything would be...even though
Jasina felt more dead inside than ever. She was like a robot, though
smiled whenever around people. As soon as Jasina was alone though late at
night, in her cold empty bed, all she could do was cry and think about all the
mistakes she made in her life.
“Just admit it, Jasi,
you're still in love with him.”
“Trish, not now okay?” Jasina had a really bad day and didn't need Trish
telling her how she felt because she still wasn't sure of it herself. “I agreed
to walk down the damn aisle with him at your wedding, what more do you want?”
“I want you to stop being stubborn and just tell him how you really feel.”
Trish stated, staring in the full length mirror with her wedding dress on,
having lost all of the baby weight. “You need to do it soon, he won't wait on
you forever.”
“What makes you think I'm still in love with him anyway? Or that he feels
even REMOTELY the same for me?” Jasina demanded, growling when Trish flashed a
cocky smile.
“Simple, I know you better than you know yourself.”
“I'm done discussing Mark
with you.”
“Oh come on Jasi, we're best friends and I know you're hurting and it's not
because of Randy anymore.” Trish stopped her friend from storming out of the
store, turning her around. “I'm trying to help you, don't you see that?”
“You're not helping me by constantly telling me that I'm in love with him, when
I don't know if I am!” Jasina snapped, tired of going around in circles with
Trish, tears stinging her eyes. “I have way too much shit to worry about right
now to deal with what I'm feeling inside, so please...”
Trish wanted to bite her
tongue, but something forced her to continue. “Mark still loves you, Jasina.”
She watched Jasina freeze, slowly walking toward her still in the wedding dress.
“Steve has been grinding into him for the past few weeks and Mark said he loves
you, but he thinks you don't love him because of Randy. This isn't about
Randy. You and Randy weren't meant to be obviously or he wouldn't
have...”
“Have what?” Jasina whispered, not masking her hurt and slowly turned around to
face her best friend. “Died? He wouldn't have died if we were meant to
be? Is that what you were going to say?”
“No, but...”
“We're done here.” Jasina walked out of the store.
~!~
“Might as well admit it,
you still love her and she doesn't love you, so yer miserable and making me
miserable too. Which is damn rude of you
since I'm about to be married.”
“Steve, I swear to God if you don't shut the fuck up and stop talkin' about
Jasina and me, I will cram this wrench up your ass and these bolts down your
throat.”
“Just callin' it like I'm seeing it.”
“Well stop fuckin'
seeing! I admit it, I never stopped
lovin' her, but she doesn't love me anymore and I'm not about to try to force
her to, so back off man!”
Steve let out a low
whistle. “Man, you are fucked.”
He stood up with the
wrench in one hand and the bolts in the other.
“You realize, if you cram
that wrench up my ass, it'll make us late for the tux fittings, right?” Steve
said, trying to sound serious but failing miserably, though he was backing
away. Trish and Jasina were doing
something involving their dresses and he and Mark had appointments for
later. No rental tux for his best man,
mostly because any suit Mark wore generally had to be custom fitted, kind of
like Steve's. “All I'm sayin' is you love the woman-” He ducked when the wrench
came flying at his head. “And she probably still loves you on some level, but
she's also-”
Mark hurled the bolts.
“Probably thinks she's
betrayin' Randy or something, or maybe she figures shit won't work with you,
cause you're so damn-” Steve ducked again, dodging out of the way when the tire
Mark had tossed rebounded off the wall behind him. “Violent.”
Mark hurled a tire iron
next.
“If you throw one more
goddamn thing at me, Mark, I'mma fuck you up so bad we'll have to prop you up
on a stick for the weddin'!”
Steve actually looked
like he meant it and Mark hesitated, lowering the second tire he had grabbed.
Steve was ready when Mark
threw it, not buying that 'thoughtful, maybe I shouldn't' look that had
flickered across his friend's face. “Warned you, son, now it's on.”
“Shit!” Mark grunted when
Steve tackled him, both men crashing onto the garage floor, instantly beginning
to tussle.
“Admit it, shithead, yer going to be stupid enough to let her walk away!”
“Fuck you!”
“You're like a damn kid! DON'T BITE!”
Arielle almost shouted
‘WHAT THE HELL’ when she seen her Uncle Steve and Daddy rolling around on the
dirty garage floor, throwing punches at each other, Steve shouting something
about Mark being a shithead. Her eyes
nearly dropped out of her skull when her Dad actually went low and dirty and
tried biting Steve. Hiding a smirk, she
whipped out her cell phone and set it to record.
“NOT THE BALLS! THAT'S A BITCH MOVE!”
“YOU BIT ME, YOU PATHETIC LOVE-STRUCK LOSER!”
Mark bit him again.
“CUNT! PUSSY! JUST ADMIT IT, YOU LOVE HER! STOP BITING!” Steve kneed him again.
They were fighting
like…girls.
Arielle had retreated to
the office, waiting patiently and listening as her Dad and Steve cursed each
other out, while also patching each other up.
When they walked into the office, she smiled sweetly at them. “Hi guys,
you missed your fittin', did you know that?”
Steve looked at the clock
on the wall, letting out a string of curses before smacking Mark between his
shoulder blades. “See what you did?!”
“It's not MY weddin', jackass.” Mark muttered, busy daubing a paper towel against
his split lip. “How long you been here, darlin'?”
“Oh...not long.”
Trish was sitting at home
with Stevie JR and Emily, trying to get them both to lay down for bed,
wondering why Steve was so late from getting home from the shop. She
heard her cell phone go off and thought it was Jasina, only for a video to
start loading via text. “What the hell?!” She practically shouted, groaning
when Emily began crying in her pack-n-play while Stevie kept coming out of his
room every five minutes. All Trish could do was sit there and stare at
the video of Mark and Steve fighting like...little school girls, barely making
out what they were saying. “Oh my god...” Now she was pissed and immediately
dialed her fiancé’s number, lips pursed tightly together.
Steve's cell phone went
off and as soon as he answered it, he groaned when his fiancée began screaming
at him at the top of her lungs.
“STEVE AUSTIN, YOU GET
YOUR ASS HOME RIGHT FUCKING NOW!! MR. PATCHES JUST CALLED AND TOLD ME YOU
MISSED YOUR DAMN TUX FITTING AND NOW YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DO IT UNTIL TWO DAYS
BEFORE THE DAMN WEDDING!! TWO DAYS!! YOU GET YOUR ASS HOME RIGHT
NOW AND YOU TELL MARK THAT IF HE DOESN'T GET HIS HEAD OUT OF HIS ASS AND MAKE
THINGS RIGHT WITH JASINA, I'M GOING TO BEAT THE HELL OUT OF HIM!! AND
DON'T EVEN THINK I WON'T BECAUSE I WILL!! I SAW HOW YOU TWO FOUGHT LIKE
TWO LITTLE PANSIES, GET YOUR ASS HOME RIGHT NOW AND HELP ME WITH THESE KIDS,
FUCKER!!” She hung up.
Arielle had heard every
word and bolted out of the shop.
Steve dropped the phone
and took off after Arielle. “GET BACK HERE TRAITOR!”
“It was too good to pass up, Uncle Stevie!” Arielle threw over her shoulder,
heading straight for her SUV.
Mark chased after them,
not very fast since he had been kneed in the balls a couple of times. “Don't
touch my kid, pansy!”
“I'm gonna break her fingers!”
“I'll tell Trish!”
Steve came to a halt
suddenly, groaning when Mark plowed into him from behind, both men toppling.
Arielle snapped a picture
before sliding into the vehicle, waving at them from behind the glass before
starting The Beast up and driving off.
She went straight home, knowing Gary was waiting for her, not surprised
when she pulled up to the apartment complex and he was waiting for her
outside. She hadn’t texted him the
video, deciding it would be better to show him in person and smirked at the
thought.
Her father and Uncle
Steve would NEVER live this down and Arielle would use the video as blackmail
if necessary. She greeted Gary with
their usual kiss and then told him to sit down while whipping her cell phone
out, not even giving him a chance to say anything. Once the video finished playing, all Gary
could do was gawk at his girlfriend in shock, eyeballs about ready to pop out
of his skull or so it seemed.
“You WHAT?” Gary was
laughing so hard, tears were rolling down his cheeks as he stared at the
picture Arielle showed him. “It looks like they're humping each other, baby
doll!!”
“I know.” Arielle grinned, then flipped her phone up so Gary could watch the
video again.
Gary was on the ground
rolling by the time the video ended for the second time, requesting a third
replay.
Chapter 13
Arriving at the ranch,
Jasina stalked inside and was glad Mark wasn't home because she was raiding his
little bar, desperately needing a drink. She went upstairs to change into
a bathing suit and headed down to the newly installed hot tub Mark
purchased. She poured herself a glass of wine and took the bottle with
her, deciding against hard liquor, and started it up before sinking into the
hot water. She kept her hair clipped up because there was a lot more
chlorine in it than the pool, the bubbles instantly relaxing her. If
Trish knew what was good for her, she wouldn't mention Mark or Randy to Jasina
for a very long time.
Even over the roaring
jets of the hot tub, Jasina could HEAR Mark cussing up a storm and blinked,
wondering what the hell happened to get him in that kind of mood. She was
on her second glass of wine and didn't move an inch, too busy enjoying the jets
plummeting against her back to care what Mark's deal was. It had to do
with Steve, that bald man always got underneath Mark's skin in some way.
Mark had no idea if
Jasina was home at this exact point in time, he didn't care. He hurt all over and as soon as the door was
shut behind him, he stripped down to nothing except the outfit he wore the day
he was born: His birthday suit. He was
covered in bruises, but it was his dick he was worried about, letting out a
sigh of relief when he seen it wasn't all...weird looking, just feeling a bit
tender. Groaning and trying to rub some
of the aches out of his shoulders, Mark headed straight for the patio, stepping
outside with everyone intention of soaking in the hot tub.
Jasina didn't notice Mark
come out because her eyes were closed, the wine doing exactly what she wanted
it to do, completely relaxing her along with the hot jets. All the stress
was gone for the moment and Jasina knew she could fall asleep in the hot tub if
she wasn't careful. Her eyes suddenly snapped open when she felt new
ripples in the water and lifted her head from leaning back against the ledge,
feeling her jaw drop at the sight of a rather large dick in her vision.
“Mark, what the hell?!”
She yelled, covering her eyes instantly and finished off the rest of her second
glass, turning her back to him. “Lord have mercy, didn't you see me in here?!”
“Nope.” Mark grunted, not
feeling apologetic in the slightest, not after the afternoon he had had. “I
know you and I ain't exactly on the most comfortable of terms right now,
darlin', but I'm comin' in there. Don't be lookin' anymore either.”
Easing himself into the
hot water, across from her, Mark folded his hands over his junk, tipping his
head back onto the ledge and closed his eyes.
He would never admit it, but Steve could throw one hell of a punch. He smirked slightly, at least he got to soak
in a Jacuzzi. Steve was probably getting
another ass kicking, this one courtesy of his soon-to-be wife.
Jasina's eyes narrowed to
slits at her ex-husband, not appreciating the cockiness of his tone. “Trust me,
I have no interest in looking.” She shot back swiftly and moved in the hot tub
to where her vision wasn't on him, sipping her third glass of wine while
staring up at the glistening stars. She would much rather look at them
than his wrinkly dick, that was for damn sure, and leaned her head back once
more to resume the relaxation Mark rudely interrupted.
“Good.” Mark grunted,
unable to play nice and she would have to settle with his attitude of leaving
her alone if she let him lick his wounds in peace.
Apparently Arielle hadn't
forwarded that video to her mother. Mark
silently sent a prayer of thank you up above because he was pretty sure she
would have at the very least given him some sort of messed up look. Not to mention, she hadn't even noticed he
was looking a bit...beaten up and vowed to kill Steve, if Trish hadn't already.
“How's the house huntin'
coming along?” He asked after a long silence, just to break it.
“It's coming, I'm hoping
to get a few calls back by the end of the week.”
He wanted her out badly
and Jasina contemplated just getting a hotel room and lying about getting a
place of her own...just so she wouldn't have to be asked anymore. There
was no reason for Jasina to look at him because that just caused trouble and
that's the last thing she needed right now. After her third glass of
wine, Jasina decided to call it a night and stood up in the hot tub, beginning
to move toward the stairs, letting out a loud yawn.
She could get some more
hunting accomplished before bed with her bottle of wine in her room. Mark groaned when she tripped over his
bruised -Steve was a shin kicking son of a bitch- legs, reaching out to catch her
before she toppled and cracked her head.
Instinctively pulling Jasina back against him, Mark reached out to
steady the bottle of wine before it spilled in with the water.
“You alright darlin’?” He
asked gently, shifting her so she was pressing against a bruise on his chest.
Jasina noticed how Mark
winced and pulled back, seeing the bruise on his chest for the first
time. It was the size of a baseball!! “What happened to you?” She ignored
him asking how she was, looking up at his face and saw his split lip, eyes
widening. “Mark, did you get into a fight with someone?” When he didn't answer
her, she purposely poked his chest on the baseball sized bruise, raising a
sharp eyebrow. “Ready to talk now?” She kept prodding it until he finally
growled, stopping her by wrapping his hand around her tiny wrist. “What the
hell happened to you?”
“Good goddamn woman, that
hurts...” Mark growled, refusing to let go of her wrist because she would
probably wind up poking him all over again and that area was now throbbing. “If
you must know, Steve and I got...into a bit of a scrap. Nothin' serious.” Though he really, really
hoped she never seen the video Arie had decided to make, not even wanting to
know what her reaction to it would be. “He looks worse.”
“Why in the world would
you get into a scrap with your best friend?” Jasina demanded, eyes narrowing as
she crossed her arms in front of her chest, prodding his chest again as soon as
he released her wrist. “He is getting married in just a few short weeks and you
decide to rough him up?! What the hell is wrong with you, Calaway?
You need to remove the stick from your ass pronto and apologize to Steve!!” She
shoved right on his chest for good measure to push away, shaking her head in
disgust. “You are his Best Man and you get into a fight with him, I don't
understand you anymore.” She climbed out of the hot tub and snatched the bottle
of wine from him, scowling.
“What the fuck,
Jasina? He picked the fuckin' fight with
me!” Mark roared after her, rubbing his chest. “Why don't you go shove a
goddamn stick up in yerself since apparently it's that goddamn time of the
month!”
That was about as close
to calling her an outright bitch as he was getting, groaning and sank beneath
the water. Why the HELL was he getting
beaten up tonight? Kneed in the balls,
punched to hell, and now slapped around by his ex-wife. He felt like...Steve, a bitch.
Oh it was war now.
Jasina could not believe
he said that to her and stalked right back over, standing on the second step of
the hot tub, but didn't get in. “You need to cool down, Calaway.” She proceeded
to pour the entire bottle of wine, what was left of it, right over his head and
tossed it in the nearby trashcan, smiling sweetly. “Have a nice night,
dickhead.”
Slamming the screen door
shut behind her, Jasina stalked up to her room, pissed beyond belief and could
swear smoke was coming out of her ears. Shove a stick up herself?
Jasina wasn't on her period and, even if she was, it was none of his damn
business!
“Stupid prick!”
“Thanks for the drink,
SWEETHEART!” Mark shouted after her, dunking right back under the water to
rinse the wine out of his hair.
Steve was dead wrong.
How in the hell he could
ever love THAT harpy? How could he love
a woman who just assumed she knew something and jumped in on the nagging and
being a bitch? Steve was wrong and Mark
should’ve messed him up worse than what he did.
“Fuck him...” Mark
snorted when he surfaced, groaning as he rubbed his chest again. “Damn it... I
hate it when that bald prick is right...”
Jasina took a shower to
try calming down a little and then started laughing at what she did to Mark
with the wine, not able to help finding it amusing. She changed into a
simple white nightgown and checked her phone for messages. Blinking when something began uploading,
Jasina thought it was a picture from Trish regarding the wedding.
“What...the...HELL?”
Her eyes flew open as she
watched the video of Mark and Steve rolling back and forth in the garage,
punching, kicking, biting...They were fighting like a bunch of women!!
Jasina could not stop laughing even if her life depended on it, especially when
she heard Arielle's voice in the background. She couldn't really hear
what they were saying, something about balls and biting...because Arielle was
moving around trying to get the right frame.
Mark stormed into the
house after officially turning into a prune, not really caring about being
naked, wet, and wrinkled because he didn't ache quite as much. Huffing, he snatched his phone up when it
rang, arching an eyebrow when he heard laughter coming from upstairs. The harpy must have found someone else in
pain to make miserable and have a laugh at.
“What?”
“Got to tell you Mark, I don't know if I can have you as my father-in-law, you
fight like a girl.”
“Love you daddy!”
He snapped the phone
shut, growling.
When Jasina finally
calmed down -she had to shut her phone in order to stop watching the video,
wondering if Trish saw it-, she headed out of her room just as Mark was coming up,
covering her mouth with her hand. Her quiet giggling quickly turned into
full blown laughter and Jasina couldn't even look at him without busting a gut,
stumbling down the stairs as tears streamed down her face. She was
definitely saving that video because if Trish hadn't seen it yet, she was going
to tomorrow at work.
Well, that answered his
question about if she had seen it, she had, and now he had three people
laughing at him. One his daughter, one
his soon-to-be dead future son-in-law and his ex-wife. He hoped Steve was fucking MISERABLE.
“Laugh it up, giggles.”
He called down the stairs, a case of beer in one hand and a cigar in the
other.
Needing time alone to
lick his wounds and heal his ego, Mark decided beer and cigar was the
ticket. Mark hated his best-friend,
simply hated him. First because the bald
prick was right. Second because the bald
prick hadn't shut up, therefore causing Mark to lose his temper.
Jasina had made two
sandwiches and grabbed another bottle of wine, also making Mark two sandwiches
because she honestly felt bad for yelling at him. That video showed
clearly that Steve had pushed him over the edge somehow. Steve was good at pushing Mark’s buttons
better than anyone, including her.
Jasina tried not to laugh as she headed up the stairs, stopping outside
his bedroom door.
“Giggles is here with a
peace offering.” She called through it, smirking when he growled ‘go away’ and
rolled her eyes, pushing it open, effectively ignoring his request. “Now
honestly, when have I ever went away, Mark?” She retorted, kicking the door
shut and walked over with the two sandwiches, holding her own in the other hand
along with the wine under her arm. “Come on, peace offering. I'm sorry
for what I said in the hot tub. I saw the video and...” Jasina had to
stop talking for a second before she started laughing again.
“Do...you...need...anything?” She slowly asked through giggling, covering her
mouth when her hand when he snatched the sandwiches.
“Thank you, now feel free
to leave.” Mark GROWLED at her louder, not about to tolerate her standing there
and laughing at him.
He had a feeling he was
going to get reamed out by Trish, laughed at by Gary and Arielle, and probably
heckled even more by Steve. He deserved a
LITTLE bit of peace and he couldn't get it in his house. His bedroom should be a goddamn
sanctuary! When she kept on trying to
stifle her giggles, he let out a few choice curse words, pulling on a pair of
cut off sweat pants.
“Jas...Darlin'...I'm going
to tickle you behind yer knees until you piss yourself.” He cautioned, not even
threatening anymore, green eyes glinting wickedly.
“Oh no you're not!!”
Jasina squealed and didn't move fast enough because Mark grabbed her around the
waist, dropping her back on the bed and began doing exactly what he threatened.
“Mark stop!!” She shrieked out in laughter, rolling on the bed and felt his arm
wrap tightly around her waist so she couldn't escape, squirming, doing
everything she could to get away. “If it wasn't you, you'd be laughing your ass
off too, you big mongrel!! If you don't stop tickling me, I will piss in
YOUR bed, Calaway!!”
“Piss in my bed and I'll
just sleep in yours, darlin'.” He threatened, though he did slow down on the
tickling, just in case.
Not completely stop, but
he did let her draw a few breaths. When
she said she was about to piss, he changed his mind and stopped, knowing that
while he would never let her live it down if she DID, she'd probably never
forgive him for making her do it. Nothing like being pass the age of thirty and
wetting a bed. Smirking, Mark let her
roll onto her back and stared down at her.
“Truce?”
Jasina watched his hand
extend and nodded, slipping hers into his with a smile, still giggling a little
from being tickled. “Truce. And you fight like a girl!”
She jumped over him out
of the bed and ran into the bathroom to empty her bladder, managing to slam the
door shut. If Mark wanted to tickle her while she pissed, that was on
him, but Jasina could only withstand the tickling for so long before needing to
empty her bladder. As soon as she flushed and washed her hands, Jasina
walked out only to be tossed back on the bed and Mark began assaulting her all
over again with the tickling.
“I lied about the truce.”
Mark informed her, smirking wickedly.
Payback was a bitch, and
she was a lovely shade of red from laughing so hard. Once again, he would tickle her mercilessly,
stop to let her breathe, and start all over again. When her hand found his chest, he retreated
with a groan.
“That's just playin'
dirty, Jas!” He groaned, kneeling on the bed and staring at her out of narrowed
emerald green eyes. “You. Play. Dirty.”
“It's the best way to
play.” Jasina shot back with a smirk, backing up on the bed a little and hadn't
realized her white nightgown rode up during his tickle fest. She got on
her knees and sat in front of him, holding her finger up threateningly, knowing
that definitely had to hurt. It was a nasty shade of purple and blue
mixed, Jasina had always hated seeing Mark in any kind of pain. “Come on, lay
back and I'll play nice for a change.”
He arched an eyebrow at
her, wondering where the hell that had come from, other than left field. Lay back and she'd play nice? Either it was a trap or a very weird come-on. When her hand approached her chest however,
Mark dropped down onto his pillows, half-propped and stared at Jasina through
half-opened eyes, nothing but slivers of emerald green showing as he took her
in. Her nightgown was riding up and this
felt like the other night, only this time, he wasn't about to scare her off
with a kiss.
The only way she would be
scared because of him was if she decided to smack him again. Jasina smiled and reached over him to the
nightstand, pulling out the jar of salve Mark always kept, because he got
frequent bruises while working on his bikes. She opened it up, the smell
of sandalwood and oak trees permeating the air, making her sigh. She took
a dollop of it in her fingers and scooted over closer to him, beginning to
spread the salve on his chest over the bruised area.
“I am sorry about
earlier. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything, but I also know your
temper and Steve very RARELY starts scuffles.” Unless it had to do with having
his beer stolen, then all bets were off. “And I'm also sorry about the wine.”
She quickly added, not meeting his eyes as she started rubbing the salve into
his chest, giving him a deep tissue massage because it would help with the
blood flow.
“You don't know Steve
that well, darlin'. He thinks provokin'
me is the most fun on God's green earth, next to fuckin' his wife that is.”
Mark watched as she massaged the salve in, letting out a soft groan of both
pain and pleasure. The fact that she was
rubbing him was definitely a perk. “Don't worry about the wine, it washed right
out.” He added as an afterthought. The
deep tissue massage hurt, but it would also feel better once she was done with
it. Then there was the other, more
pleasurable, feeling he was currently experiencing from her small soft skilled
hands.
“What was he provoking
you about?” Jasina couldn’t help asking. “All I got out of the video was
something about balls and biting.”
Jasina bit her bottom lip
so she wouldn't start laughing again, the amusement shining in her teal eyes as
she kept massaging his chest, enjoying herself a little too much, honestly not
meaning to do it as long as she was. She remembered doing this whenever
he'd come home from the shop, the salve still the same scent, reminding her of
the good days they had together. There was a lot of them, along with
incredible sex...and suddenly Jasina could feel her libido come alive, slowly
gliding her hands back and forth while pressing her fingers into his chest, the
swelling already fading.
Mark considered that,
almost tempted to tell her the honest truth, but...he wasn't quite that
distracted yet. He tipped his head back
against the pillows, letting his eyes drift shut and enjoyed the feeling of her
now just...stroking his chest. It was
almost like old times and, like old times, he could feel himself rising to the
occasion, groaning softly.
“Jas...”
She immediately stopped
when he groaned, holding her hands up. “What? What did I do? Are
you okay? Did I hurt you?” She couldn't stop the questions from leaving
her mouth, firing one after the other, teal eyes wide. “Oh god, sorry I didn't
mean to press hard. I know it hurts, it looks really painful. You
need some pain reliever to make the inflammation go away too.”
Now she was rambling and
went to say something else when Mark pressed a finger against her lips,
silencing her. There wasn't any pain
reliever in the world that was going to make this inflammation go away. Mark knew exactly what was going to make this
go away: His hand in the shower just as soon as he got her out of his room
before he did something stupid. Like
flip her onto the bed and screw her right through the mattress.
“You're not hurtin'
me...my chest...” He murmured, unable to keep his voice from dropping to a low,
husky baritone, his eyes clouded over with pure lust.
When she moved, he
automatically reached out to steady her so she didn't topple off the edge of
the bed, letting out a hiss from his clenched teeth as she brushed against
him. Jasina felt it. There was no way not to feel what she'd done
to Mark. She kept her eyes away from his
face, moving to where she was on her feet in front of him.
“I umm...I should go...”
That was really stupid to say, but Jasina honestly didn't know what the RIGHT
thing to say was.
“Yeah...” He whispered,
not really meaning it, and didn’t let go of her.
He was having a problem
downstairs that she apparently caused while trying to help him and he would
have to deal with it on his own instead of the old-fashioned way. Even though he knew he should, Mark was
unable to force his hands to break their grip.
Mark didn't want her to go to her bedroom, he wanted her to stay right
here with him, where she belonged. Not
in a room across the hallway, this could have been miles away as far as he was
concerned.
“Jasina, I don't want you
to go, darlin.” He admitted, knowing that wouldn't help his cause, but...Steve
had been right and what else did Mark have left to lose?
“I can't stay.” She
whispered, tears stinging her eyes and extracted herself from his arms, backing
away slowly. “I'm sorry, good night Mark.”
Jasina walked out of the
room and shut the door behind her, tears instantly sliding down her cheeks,
feeling her stomach tightening. Every part of her was screaming to go
back inside, to be back in his arms, but her mind kept reminding her of what
happened between them the last time they tried being together. Sex was
nothing but full of complications, but damned if Jasina didn't crave and want
it...almost needing it. She made it back to her own room and collapsed on
the bed, crying herself to sleep.
Groaning, Mark laid out
on the bed and then rolled onto his stomach, not caring if he was smothering
the problem in his shorts. While the
idea of hitting the bathroom was tempting, it was also...awkward. Considering she was right across the hallway,
if Jasina heard the water, she would probably know what he was doing in there.
“Goddamn it...” He cursed
into the mattress.
Chapter 14
Deciding against telling
Trish what happened with Mark was the best choice she could've made in her
life. Though both women couldn't help laughing and re-watching the video
of Steve and Mark fighting like women. It was going to be their own
personal blackmail if the men ever got out of hand, more for Trish than Jasina
because she wasn't with Mark the way Trish was with Steve.
The wedding was just a
week away and Jasina had no idea who her date was going to be, deciding going
alone would probably be best. She was avoiding Mark again, which was easy
because he'd been working longer hours at the shop, his way of avoiding her
more than likely. Jasina didn't care, she was too busy dealing with work
and trying to find an apartment, pleased when she finally got a call from a
reality named Sally.
Sally wanted to meet her
for a drink at Emerald City to discuss the possibility of renting a small house
that had two bedrooms and was in Jasina's price range. She agreed to meet
with Sally around six o'clock and groaned when she looked at the time, seeing
it was a quarter to six. Immediately packing up her things, Jasina rushed
out of the office and sped toward Emerald City, knowing if she blew this she
might not get another shot at getting out of the ranch.
John Cena stared around
the bar, Emerald City, curiously, virtually memorizing every aspect of it. His best friend had told him about this place
a time or two in a few of their once a month phone calls. He and Randy Orton had been friends for what
seemed like forever, though in actuality, just since college.
They had parted ways for
their respective careers, met up every now and again, but generally exchanged
phone calls or emails at least once a month.
John hadn't heard from Randy in MONTHS, which was not like his friend at
all. He was the responsible one, sort
of. So...with some time on his hands,
John had come to Houston. He just hadn't
anticipated his GPS being stupid and getting him lost twice.
Jasina walked hastily
through the door just five minutes after six, having to stop and get gas, otherwise
she would've been stranded, hoping Sally understood. She walked over to
the bartender, Timothy, smiling when he turned to smile at her. “Hey Timmy,
have you seen a woman come in by the name of Sally Morrison?” She asked, trying
not to sound irritated.
“No I haven't and nobody has asked about you.” Timothy hadn't seen Jasina since
before Randy died, not wanting to drag up horrible memories for her.
“Oh okay, well in that case just get me a glass of red wine.” Jasina hoped
Sally wasn't standing her up and paid for the wine, telling Timothy she would
be over at one of the booths waiting, heading in that direction.
John watched the
bartender, Timmy, as he turned to a woman who had just walked in. He had some funny stories and had been
entertaining John for the past thirty minutes with them. She looked like a businesswoman, casual
business maybe, but definitely had the professional look going whereas he was
laid back and casual in a pair of knee length cargo shorts and one of his
favorite baby blue sports jerseys.
“Jasina, this guy down here, his name is John Cena, and you have to hear him
talk. His accent is worse than ours.”
Timmy remarked with a smirk.
“I don't HAVE an accent,
YOU have the accent.”
Timmy set her glass of
red wine down before her, rolling his eyes towards Cena. “Maybe in YER neck of
the woods.” He purposefully drawled. “But down here, son, yer the one with the
funny way o' speakin'. Want another
beer?”
“Keep 'em comin'...hoss.”
“Sounds like a Boston
accent.” Jasina commented offhandedly, sipping her wine and smiled gently when
the blue eyed man name John turned to face her.
Deciding to take a seat
at the bar to wait for Sally, Jasina crossed one leg over the other, wearing
black dress pants with a red shirt with a black sash just below her breasts,
two inch black pumps on her feet. Her
hair was down, not having time to do it that morning and wanted to get out of
the ranch as quickly as possible. She’d
been avoiding Mark for the past few days, knowing eventually she would have to
face him.
“I've been to Boston a
time or two, just a lucky guess.”
“Boston accent, yes.” He
flashed a grin at her, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners and then shot
Timmy a look. “An UNDERSTANDABLE accent.”
Timmy mumbled something
that was so thick with an 'accent' that even he barely understood himself,
setting another beer down in front of John.
“Thank you, always appreciate it when someone proves my point.” John laughed,
laying out a crisp bill on the counter before looking back at Jasina. “I know
he sort of introduced me, but...” He leaned over to hold out a hand. “Cena,
John Cena.” He could not help himself from even adding a bit of a 'Bond'
overtone to that, he was naturally goofy.
Jasina laughed softly and
slipped her hand into his, wondering what the hell men were eating these days
because she was surrounded by behemoths it seemed. “Nice meeting you, Mr.
Cena. I'm Jasina Jameson.” She decided being polite couldn't hurt and
slipped her hand out of his, taking another sip of wine. “So, how is Houston
treating you thus far?”
“Well...” He shook her
hand firmly before letting go, settling back comfortably on his bar stool, the
grin never leaving his face. “Ask me again tomorrow and I'll let you know, I've
only been in town for about...” John looked at the watch on his wrist. “Four
hours, most of that in traffic.”
“What makes you think you'll see her tomorrow?”
John considered that,
then shrugged. “Nothing wrong with hoping, right?”
Jasina tried not to
giggle at Timmy's protectiveness, shaking her head. “What brings you to
Houston, Mr. Cena?” She asked, letting her curiosity get the better of her.
Honestly, he looked like
he could use someone to talk to, being new to the city and all. She knew
what that was like, remembering how awkward it was to find her way around
Houston when she returned after being away for over a decade. So many things
had changed...Jasina hardly recognized Houston, though now she knew the city
better than most.
“Just here to visit a
friend.” John said with a slight frown, remembering his beer and took a long
swig from it, smacking his lips before setting the bottle down. “And when I see
him, I'm going to kick his ass. He told
me that 'navigating Houston wasn't a problem', he lied. That or my GPS system secretly hates me,
which could be entirely possible, she's Swedish.” At her look, he began
laughing. “The voice, it's Swedish. I
haven't figured out how to change it yet and I need to because she sounds
really bossy, reminds me of my Mom. Only
twenty years younger and foreign.”
“Well no wonder your GPS
isn't working, Swedish can't be easy to listen to when it's telling you to go
East or West.” Jasina felt bad for the guy, wondering who this friend was and
it sounded as though John hadn't seen him in quite awhile. “Well good luck with
that, I hope you find your friend.” She looked past him to the blonde that
walked through the door, smiling, knowing it had to be Sally. “Excuse me.” She
stood up and walked over, the badge reading Sally Morrison. “Hello Ms.
Morrison, I'm Jasina Jameson, we spoke on the phone earlier today.”
“Oh yes of course, I was just about to ask the bartender if he saw you in here
yet. So sorry I'm late, the meeting ran behind, you know how that goes.”
Sally smiled, both women walking toward a nearby booth. “So Ms. Jameson...”
“Please call me Jasina.”
“Right,” Sally paused, pulling out some documents and ordered a glass of wine,
both women looking as though they needed a drink of two. “Well Jasina, I think
I've found the perfect place for you and it's just down the street from your
work.”
John backtracked over
that entire conversation, trying to peg where he had messed up. He should have elaborated: The accent -What
was it with accents today?- was Swedish and he had made her think the woman was
actually speaking Swedish. Now Jasina
Jameson probably thought he was the world's biggest retard because he was
complaining about getting lost when the GPS was apparently speaking
Swedish. He mentally called himself an
idiot around a thousand times while finishing his beer, shaking his head.
Jasina loved the place
just by the photos alone and immediately signed the documents, not even needing
a second thought. Whatever was wrong with the small house, she would take
care of it by hiring people if need-be. It was a small two bedroom house
with a small yard and one car garage, white with blue shutters and new carpet,
roofing, appliances, furnace and brand new A/C installed. Jasina shook
hands with Sally and made plans to go see her new house tomorrow, already
writing a check for the down payment, not wanting to waste any time. She
was ready to get out of the ranch, feeling like the biggest weight had lifted
from her shoulders.
When Jasina came back to
the bar, no doubt to tell him goodbye, or maybe celebrate her good news -she
was smiling the brightly- with another glass of red wine, Timmy found himself
returning the smile. It was infectious.
“You look happy.” Timmy commented, wiping out the inside of a mug. “Your Sally
friend must've had something good to say.”
“Yes she did.” Jasina was
beaming from ear to ear, celebrating by having another glass of wine, Timothy a
good friend of hers. “Right after the wedding I will have my own little house!”
She announced proudly, laughing when Timothy hugged her over the counter. “It's
right down the street from work and has almost everything new in it...and it's
in my price range.” She held her glass of wine up, knowing this was going to be
the perfect way to start moving on from Randy and having her own new beginning.
“So yes, this is some of the best news I've heard in awhile.”
“I'm glad for you, honey,
sounds like this place is just perfect for you.” Timmy said, still smiling from
ear to ear. He started to say something
but his attention was diverted by the resident drunk/slut. “Oh Lord...she's
spotted the new guy.”
Timmy rolled his
eyes. This was one of the many reasons
he liked Jasina. When she got drunk,
which was very rare, she wasn't trashy.
John was trying to dissuade this woman from raping him, his eyes
widening when she actually ran her hand down his chest to the crotch of his
denim shorts.
“Lady, I haven't even
known you for a minute and you're- HEY, HEY!” Now he was in a full-blown panic.
Jasina narrowed her eyes
at the drunk slut that frequented many of the bars around Houston, recognizing
her from the trashy bar her and Randy had gone to for their award-winning
article. Her name was Lois and she wore clothes that looked two sizes too
small on her...possibly more. Feeling
sorry for the newcomer, Jasina decided to help him out as she took a long swig
of her wine, smirking at Timmy.
“I'll take care of it.”
She finished her wine off and slid off of the stool, walking over, having a
soft spot for the new guy for some reason and snaked an arm around his neck
from behind. “Excuse sweetheart, but he's taken already.”
Lois narrowed her eyes,
knowing Jasina from around town, rolling her eyes. “You're not serious are
you?”
“You want proof?”
“Yeah.”
Jasina promptly turned John around on the stool and brought his face down to
hers, kissing him softly. Timmy did his
part in not giving away the ruse by turning away, mostly because he couldn't
hide the fact that his eyes had grown about three sizes larger. John wasn't entirely sure if he was just
'going with it' to maintain the charade or just responding to the kiss
naturally, but if she asked later why he had pulled her up between his legs and
moved his hands to the small of her back, he was going with the charade
bit. Jasina finally pulled back from the
kiss, Lois was furious and stormed out of the bar in a huff, tripping over her
own three inch heels in the process.
“What a whore.” Jasina
muttered, rolling her eyes and walked away from John to resume her seat at the
bar, asking Timmy for another drink. “Sorry, but you really don't want an STD
your first night in Houston. I hope you don't mind me helping you out.”
She flashed a sweet smile.
“Thanks…”
John was fairly certain
he wouldn't have gotten an STD because he wouldn't have taken that woman to
bed, not even if he was three sheets and five days to the wind. Unless of course, she had something that
could be transmitted via saliva. That
thought made him shudder.
“Yo Timmy, could I have a
glass of water, a shot of bleach and a Brillo pad?”
“Sure thing, stud.”
Jasina didn't let the
question bother her and shrugged, refusing to let anything sour her mood.
She finished the wine and decided three glasses was enough, needing to call it
a night. “See you later, Timmy.” She called over her shoulder, walking out of
Emerald City and headed toward her car, wondering when she'd get the chance to
tell Mark about her new place.
It didn't really matter,
he couldn't stop her from leaving the ranch and maybe a clean break would be
better than having another conversation. He wasn't going to talk her out
of it, the papers were signed and the down payment was taken care of.
Jasina was ready to finally have her own place, her own bedroom, kitchen and
could walk around naked if she wanted to.
It took John a few seconds to realize he might have just offended
Jasina, or made her think he was gay, by that comment of his and he practically
ran…Actually, he did run right out of the bar.
He spotted her getting into her car and groaned, waving his hands to
hopefully stop her.
“Hold up!” John shouted,
his feet pounding across the pavement before skidding right into her car,
groaning when he collided with it. “Stupid...rock...” He grunted, rubbing his
chin before looking down at her. “I'm not gay.
And I wasn't trying to...fuck that hurt...trying to offend you with my
mouth, I was thinking about the STD thing.”
Jasina blinked,
immediately getting out of the car to make sure he hadn't cracked his jaw, not
concerned with the small dent in her hood. “I didn't think anything like that
of you, Mr. Cena.” She slapped his hand away when he tried pulling away from
her, grabbing his sore chin to force their eyes to meet while she examined
where he collided. “Are you okay?”
“Lady, that hurts, you
mind?” John whined, jerking his chin out of her hand which only made it hurt
worse, cupping it tenderly. “I'm fine. I
just thought I might have offended you so I came running out and, like the
chump I am, botched it.” He laughed at himself, sometimes he could be smooth as
silk and others...the world's biggest clown.
Today he was a clown apparently. “I uh, dented your car...with my
chin...My mom always did say I had a head like a rock.”
“Your Mom was right and
don't worry about it. Did she also tell you that you're a big baby when
it comes to pain?” She smirked when he glared at her, reluctantly stepping back
to get back in her car, sighing when he stopped her. “You didn't offend me at
all, John.” Jasina decided being on a first name basis was appropriate. “You're
fine okay? I don't think you're an asshole or anything like that.
You can rest easy, okay?”
“Not really, I came out
to apologize and wound up breaking your car.” He joked, letting go of his chin
and grinning, knowing his chin was probably a lovely red color, surprised he
hadn't bit his tongue or broken anything. “Can I pay you for the damages?” When
she shook her head no, John frowned only to immediately start smiling again.
“Well how bout dinner? Can I take you
out to dinner?”
“You wanna take me to
dinner? Like a date?”
When John simply nodded,
Jasina had to think about it for a minute, remembering the last time she went
on a date. John reminded her a lot of Randy, which was both good and
bad. Was this a sign from Randy that she had to move on? For
months she had begged him to send her any kind of sign and nothing came
about...until now. There was a reason why she met John at Emerald City,
remembering all the times she'd shared a drink with Randy prior to them dating
and then falling in love.
“If it'll make you feel
better about denting my car, then sure you can buy me some food.”
What did she honestly
have to lose?
“Cool, we can go- Uh,
anywhere but here.” John wasn't about to bring her back to a bar for dinner,
not this one anyway. Especially now that
he knew there was a STD slut floating about, waiting to grab unsuspecting guys
by their junk after less than a minute of 'knowing' them. “I'll have to Google
a place, but cool.” He whipped out his cell phone. “What's your digits? Or would you prefer mine?”
Jasina couldn't help
giggling softly at how he asked for her number, waving him off when he looked
confused. “Sorry, go ahead and give me your...digits, honey.” She had a hard
time saying that word because of what she did for a living...it just wasn't
proper grammar, but Jasina couldn't deny how adorable John was.
Maybe he wasn't like
Randy after all, definitely not as articulate, which was refreshing.
John squinted his eyes at
her suspiciously. “Wait, I know this one...I give you my digits, you promise to
call and you don't.” When she arched an eyebrow at him and frowned, he held up
his hands. “Or maybe not. I can't help
it, you're a ho- attractive woman and I'm the goof who plowed into your car
after saying I needed bleach when you just kissed me.” He grinned broadly. “It
was a good kiss though, wasn't it?”
“Can't deny that one.”
Jasina was never one to lie and took his hand after pulling a pen out of her
purse, writing her number on it and blew so the ink would dry quicker. “If I
was planning on not calling you, I wouldn't be giving you my number first.” She
smirked when he blushed, folding her arms in front of her chest and smiled when
he handed over a card with his name and number on it. “And yes you are a goof,
but you're an adorable one that I find interesting. I don't just date
anyone. John. So take my...digits...and why don't you give ME a jingle
when you figure out where and when you want to do this?”
“So if I ah, jingle,” He
was going to either get slapped, blow this, or maybe both because he was
grinning like an idiot at that. “You tonight, you're going to be free, right?”
John honestly had no idea how long he would be in town, not expecting anything
to come of this, but he wasn't about to leave Houston without at least one date
with this woman. When she had stepped up
to plate and saved his ass, he had been instantly intrigued.
“You want to do it
tonight?” Jasina couldn't help laughing when he nodded, looking down at her
attire and decided she would definitely have to go to the ranch to shower and
change. “You'll have to give me at least two hours to go home and get
ready. I'm not going out on a date in my work clothes.” She stated
seriously, though the amusement in her teal eyes was something Jasina couldn't
hold back. “So you get busy with the Googling and text me the place and
time. I'll meet you there.”
“Yeah, I'll get busy with
ogling- I mean Googling and um, text you.”
John rubbed the back of
his neck, smiling crookedly. He had to
head back to his hotel, shower and change too, Google first though. He didn't blame her for the 'meet you there'
part, women had to be cautious. He
could've been a crazy mass-murder/serial rapist for all she knew.
“So, I'll text you and...
yeah. See you later then, Jasina.” He
began jogging backwards, grinning at her and sidestepped that rock this time.
“See you in a bit, John.”
She murmured and slipped back into her car, giggling at how cute he was,
pulling out of Emerald City's parking lot to head back to the ranch.
It was the wine, Jasina
was blaming her rash behavior on the alcohol. She had to admit, John was
a great kisser, though they wouldn't have a repeat of that on the date.
She knew it was fast, but if there was one thing Randy taught Jasina, it was
life was too short. She wanted to live. When Jasina arrived at the
ranch, Mark was there and she hoped he stayed wherever he was so she could get
ready for her date in privacy.
Chapter 15
This apparently wasn't Jasina's
lucky day because Mark was sitting on the couch, watching ESPN, though he muted
it when she came in, turning his head to look at her and offered a grin. Things had been...tense between them. That kiss, and then that night, things were
piling up fast.
“Hey darlin', how was
work?” Mark asked, trying to get things back to how they had been, before he
had kissed her. “How's tacos sound for dinner?”
Jasina pulled her pumps
off and chewed her bottom lip, wondering how she was going to break the news to
him about her date and the house. “Actually, I won't need to worry about dinner
tonight. I'm...going out to dinner with a client from the office.” Why
was she lying to him? The lie flew out of her mouth before she could stop
it and now Mark looked curious, which made this even worse. “So you'll have to
eat dinner by yourself tonight.” She didn't have time to chat and began heading
up the stairs to her room, needing to get ready for her date with John before
the poor guy thought she was ditching him.
“Since when do you have
clients?” Mark asked curiously, getting up to follow her though he did halt at
the foot of the stairs, cocking an eyebrow when she hesitated.
Last Mark knew she wrote
an advice column and relationship/addiction articles. Since when did that mean clients? He supposed it wasn't any of his business, he
was just curious, that curiosity not helped by the client bit. Not to mention going out to dinner with a
client?
“It's one of Trish's
clients that she personally asked me to take care of.” Mark didn't talk to
Trish often, so hopefully this wouldn't backfire on Jasina, flashing a quick
smile. “They are out of town and Trish asked me to handle it for her because of
wedding preparations. She also asked me to remind you that the wedding
dress rehearsal dinner is on Friday and if you don't close the shop down early,
she won't be happy with you. Now I really have to get ready.”
Tacos didn't sound good
anyway and Jasina had tried putting as much space between her and Mark as
possible, especially after he kissed her and then the bedroom incident. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Mark headed
out to the kitchen to put away everything he had set out, no longer feeling
hungry. The prospect of dress rehearsal
held absolutely no appeal to him and the idea of eating alone held even less.
John had found THE
perfect place and he even knew how to get to it. One long drive and a right turn, even he
couldn't mess that up. Feeling pretty
damn pleased with himself, he texted Jasina the location. Jasina received the text message and nodded,
never hearing of that place before, having just stepped out of the
shower. She decided on a simple midnight blue dress that had a ruffled
hem swaying just above her knees.
It was one-shouldered,
leaving her right bare and she decided on open-toed black heels that strapped
up her ankles. She curled the ends of her honey blonde hair, outlined her
eyes in midnight blue that matched the dress, and painted her lips in rose
petal gloss that made them shimmer. She clipped a simple blue stone
around her neck that hung on a silver chain and matched her silver ankle
bracelet and earrings. Nodding at her appearance, Jasina headed out of
her room and downstairs, completely sober.
Mark had returned to his
ESPN, with a beer in tow and was mid-drink when he seen her, sputtering. He had to bang his fist on his chest to clear
his pipes, the beer going down the wrong tube. “You look...gorgeous, Jas.” He
said, rasping a bit.
This client must've
been... something else.
It was a very good thing
Jasina hadn't been standing in front of him or else her dress would've been
ruined, blushing at his compliment. “Thanks Mark...” Concern filled her eyes
when Mark kept having to pound on his chest, knowing the beer must've gone down
the wrong pipe, her smile instantly returning. “Enjoy those tacos and ESPN,
I'll see you later.”
She began heading for the
front door and heard her cell phone go off again. It was another text from John making sure she
was showing up. The boy definitely needed more self-confidence. Mark arched an eyebrow when her cell went
off, seeing her smiling slightly and settled back against the couch with a
frown. He wondered if he could get Arie
to hit her mom up for information and then tell him...Probably not.
“Have fun.” He called
out, making it sound like he didn't care, which he didn't.
Not at all.
~!~
Given the style of this
place, John actually took care when dressing himself, dusting off his black
dress shoes and the only suit he owned, that he took everywhere he went -never
knew when he might need it. He hesitated
at the suit, it was pinstriped, and while he did look pretty darn good in it,
it might've been overkill. Sighing, he
hung it back up and went with a pair of brand new jeans that weren't baggy and
a white button up shirt, leaving the top buttons undone and foregoing tucking
the shirt in. He still looked good.
“If I get lost, it's a
sign I'm not supposed to be here.” John muttered, having turned off the GPS
because he couldn't take another 'turn right here' when he knew that wasn't the
right he was supposed to take.
Jasina arrived twenty
minutes later at the restaurant John told her to meet him and stepped out of
the car. Fluffing her hair a little,
Jasina locked up before heading inside with purse in hand. She barely got
to the front door when beeping sounded behind her, making Jasina turn around
and chuckled at John pulling into a parking spot of his own. He stepped
out and Jasina had to admit he cleaned up nicely, those jeans hugging him like
a second skin. He was definitely a looker, especially with those blue
eyes and she simply stood there waiting for him to walk up to her.
“I told you I would show
up.” Jasina stated as soon as he was close enough, giggling. “And I'll forgive
you for being late because you're new around here.”
“I winged it, my Swede
kept saying ‘turn right here, you missed your turn’ so I shut her off. Then there was construction and you look hot
by the way. Gorgeous, I mean gorgeous. Well, both.” His grin was firmly in place as
John took her in, his eyes lingering a second or two on her beautifully tanned,
toned legs. “Your gams are...” He whistled. “Bet you could crush a guy with
your thighs.” She either did exercises for her legs or was one of the those
rare, very lucky women with a natural inclination towards extremely sexy legs.
“My gams eh?” Jasina
didn't take offense to anything he said, blushing slightly, actually feeling
like a real woman for the first time in months. “You don't clean up so bad
yourself, white definitely suits you.” She winked and allowed him to guide her
inside the restaurant, both of them instantly seated in a cozy booth in the far
back to give them some privacy. She ordered a glass of wine while John stuck
with a beer, both of them refusing to get completely sloshed. “So besides my
gams and the fact I'm hot,” Jasina had to pause when he cleared his throat
awkwardly, lowering his blue eyes from hers. “What else has caught your
interest in Houston? And how is your chin doing? You have a little
bruise from the impact.”
“It takes more than
crashing face first into a car to slow me down.” John joked, toasting her with
the beer before taking a small sip, not out to get drunk or even mildly
buzzed. He'd wind up rapping to her or
something. Now THAT would be
embarrassing. “It's fine, thank you.” He hesitated. “I think I mentioned it
earlier? Maybe I didn't. I'm here to visit a friend, give him an ass
kicking or two. So, besides him, the
only thing in Houston that's caught my interest is...you.”
“Right your friend, any
luck with that?” When John shook his head, Jasina decided not to ask anymore on
the subject because frankly it wasn't her business and she wanted to have a
nice date with John. “Well you definitely caught mine too, so you can stop
being nervous. Be yourself, I'm just like every other woman out there.”
She winked, trying to ease the tension and sipped her wine while the waitress
came over to take their orders. The shrimp pasta sounded incredible and
Jasina couldn't pass it up while John opted for a steak and lobster. “So, what
do you do in Boston for a living?”
“I run a gym.” John said
promptly, knowing some women found that 'cute' while others thought he was a
meat head. He figured he was both. “I
bought it off the owner after working for him for years. I went to college and got a degree in
exercise physiology.” He grinned broadly. “Which is a real degree by the
way. What do you do here in Houston for
a living? I would say modeling, but...you
don't strike me as the air-head type.”
“You would be correct in
your assumption.” Jasina was glad he wasn't the judge them first type of man,
sipping her wine. “I'm actually a writer for the local newspaper. I have
my own article called 'Ask Jade' and I also write my own pieces about certain
topics.” She hoped he didn't ask her what kind because Jasina didn't want to
get into her past. That's one thing she was always afraid of when dating,
though the only other man she'd dated besides Mark was Randy...and now John. “I
have an associate's degree in journalism.” She added as if he needed to know
that information. “And owning a gym can't be all peaches and cream, so I
commend you for taking it over.”
“Nah, mostly it's body
odor and dudes wearing tight shorts, which is... disturbing.” John replied
cheerfully. “So Ask Jade, huh? Is that
your penname? Jade? Jasina Jameson and Jade, I like J's. Course, it helps my name begins with one.” He
winked at her. “Ask Jade sounds like an advice column, what kind of questions
do you get? Anything real weird?”
“It's mostly questions
from women regarding real life...and children...” Jasina remembered when she
received a letter from a little girl named Little Mermaid asking about her
father being lonely. Jasina had found out it was from her own daughter
and she cried for hours, a memory she would never forget. “Kids write in for
advice on what to do about their parents and vice versa. I even get some
from men regarding relationship scenarios and advice on what to do. It's
basically open to anything unless it's a sexual nature. We do know that
kids read the paper and don't want them getting wrong impressions.”
John's blue eyes were now
sparkling with wicked delight. “If you could, would you offer advice on sex? Kind of like Dr. Ruth?” He was teasing her and
keeping his voice low so he didn't attract unwanted attention or embarrass her,
his half-cocked grin letting her know he was just picking on her. “So, if I
write in and ask for advice, will it get printed in the paper?”
“As long as it's PG
rated, I could pull a few strings...” Jasina teased back, taking another sip of
her wine and couldn't believe what a great connection they had already. “Though
if you want private advice on sex, I suppose I could give you some. You
look like you don't need much though...then again you did ask for my...digits.”
She couldn't help laughing again, knowing he would probably get annoyed with
that. “I'm sorry, let me explain. When you asked for my digits, I was
caught off guard because I'm used to a guy saying phone number or just
number. Digits was definitely a first for me.”
It took a LOT to get John
annoyed and she was nowhere even near mildly annoying, he just laughed. “So I
popped your digit cherry, is that what you're telling me? I'm an original, from the 90's, so I guess
I'm retro, not original. I could have
said 'let me get your phone number', but it just doesn't have the same pop to
it. Wait a minute, because I asked for
your DIGITS, I might need sex advice?
That's not fair. I can dance and
you know what they say about guys who can dance.”
He was so full of life
and Jasina couldn't remember the last time she laughed this hard, her stomach
actually hurting in a good way. John was definitely a breath of fresh
air, one Jasina needed desperately and all of her problems seemed to fade away
at the sight of him. She wasn't worried or nervous about anything, not
like she'd been with Randy, though that was a lot of sexual tension
mounting. With John, he was easy-going, fun and caring, though if he
apologized for denting her car one more time, she was going to have to hurt
him. When their food arrived, it smelled fantastic and Jasina asked for
another refill on her wine, letting her food cool.
“So, you're a gamer
huh? That's not surprising, you look like you're a big kid at heart,
which is a very attractive quality to have.”
“Xbox, PS3 and I even
have a WII which is really boring when you're playing by yourself. I also take a PSP everywhere I go, so yeah,
you could call me a gamer.” John agreed, wondering why they were talking all
about him. “I figure it's good practice, you know, being a big kid myself. I'll have experience when I eventually get
around to having kids of my own.” He took a deep breath, inhaling his food.
“Mmm...What about you? Do you have any kids?”
“Yeah I do, a beautiful
daughter named Arielle. She just recently graduated high school a year
early.” Jasina beamed at the thought of her little girl and took a bite of her
shrimp pasta, feeling her eyes widen instantly. The taste...Randy
instantly popped into her mind and the fork slipped from her hand, clanging on
the plate, tears forming in her eyes. “Oh my god...” She whispered, remembering
the dinner Randy had surprised her with just a short month before his death and
immediately stood up from the table. “John, this has been great, but I really
have to go...”
She tossed some bills on
the table and began walking away, trying to keep the tears in and needing some
air desperately, suddenly feeling suffocated.
Automatically, John sniffed himself.
He didn't stink. John knew he
looked fine, he scraped his teeth and found nothing. Then he leaned over and took a bite of her
food, which was delicious. Frowning, he
got up and chased after her, catching her gently by the hand right outside the
restaurant door.
“Jasina?” John asked
softly, confused by the tears he seen in her eyes. “What's wrong? Did I do something to upset you?”
Chapter 16
“No...” That's all that
came out of her mouth before she burst into tears, feeling John pull her into
his strong arms and couldn't believe how this date had changed...all because of
her emotions. “I'm sorry, it's not you John.” Jasina sniffled, pulling away and
accepted the tissue he handed her, wiping her eyes. “My-My boyfriend passed
away around five months ago and...This restaurant...it's just a memory.
He surprised me with dinner at my old apartment one night and...This is the
food. I thought he cooked it, but apparently he got take-out from this
place...” It was definitely coincidental; Jasina suddenly wasn't hungry anymore
and she looked up into his kind blue eyes. “I ruined our date, I'm sorry,
John...”
Her boyfriend had gotten
her takeout and managed to pass it off as a home-cooked meal. That was slick and John felt appreciation for
that stunt. Then he felt bad because the
guy was also dead. Surprisingly enough,
John wasn’t upset or discouraged by this sudden turn of events, his heart going
out to Jasina for her loss.
“You didn't ruin our
date.” He told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and guiding her
outside, figuring some fresh air would do them both good.
“Sir...Are you coming
back in?” The hostess asked, interrupting them. “Because you have to pay for
the meal still.”
“Oh, yeah. My bad.”
John whipped out his
wallet, still staring down at Jasina.
Jasina managed to crack a weak smile, wiping a few stray tears away and
waited for the waitress to return with his card along with two boxes of their
food, John thanking her. John guided her over to a nearby bench and
Jasina sat down, crossing her ankles and kept her eyes lowered, trying to get
her emotions under control.
“Thank you for
understanding, John.” She whispered, feeling him lift her chin with his strong
hand and his lips brushed against her forehead, accepting another hug from him.
“Randy's gone and I need to get over it, but this really took me by surprise.”
“You don't have to get
over anything, it's obvious you loved, Randy was it? That's my buddy's name.” John smiled
slightly, but it was a sad smile. He was
sad, felt sad for her because how much she still hurt was obvious. “I bet he
loved you more then you knew...”
Buying take-out and
passing it off as home-cooking. The guy
either had no shame at all or was trying desperately to do something nice and
romantic. Given the type of food and the
type of woman Jasina seemed to be, John was going to go with the latter.
“I hope he did.” Jasina
whispered, looking up at the starry night sky, one of the things she enjoyed
about Houston.
For some reason, the fact
that John's friend Randy had the same name didn't make her question whether or
not it was her Randy he was searching for. Her dead Randy. There
was a lot of Randys in the world, even a few in Houston that she'd come across,
so she wasn't about to bring up her dead boyfriend possibly knowing John.
Granted, he was out of town, but that was just a coincidence and she wasn't
about to ask him either.
“I did love him and I
always will, but...he's gone and I have to move on.” She slowly looked up into
John's blue eyes, swallowing hard. “Please don't take this the wrong way, but
you are the first guy I've dated since Randy's death.”
It never even crossed
John's mind to ask her about her Randy, figuring the guy was probably from
Houston like she was. Randy was a rather
common name, so was John. Jasina
definitely was not though, he had never heard that one before.
“I am the first guy you
dated since he died...” John echoed, his eyes wide. “I'm not entirely sure if
that's a good or bad thing. I'm glad I'm
the first, but...now I feel pressured to not blow this and I already have.” He
had taken her to the restaurant her dead boyfriend had used.
He was such an ass.
“You didn't blow
anything, John.” Jasina assured him with a soft smile, knowing he was only in
town for a short amount of time and decided to just let everything flow as it
should. “I just don't want you to think I'm using you to get over him or
something like that. Honestly, I had no idea that he got food from this
place. It was a surprise dinner that I honestly thought he cooked and you
had no idea.” She moved to sit on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck,
hugging him. “You're a sweet guy, I'm sorry to have dumped this all on
you. So don't feel pressured or anything because you did everything
right. I just got emotional because...I didn't know he came here for the
food. It hit me harder than I thought...”
“Oh hey, I'm not...you're
not dumping anything on me, except yourself, which I so do not mind.” He gently
looped his arms around her waist, giving her plenty of room to squirm away or
punch him if she wanted too. “I don't mind, Jasina, if you want to talk about
him.” He said quietly, seriously. John
wondered if she had actually spoken to anyone about Randy, really talked about
him.
“I bet you don't.” Jasina
smirked, sitting sideways on his lap and actually felt comfortable doing so,
the fresh air doing her a lot of good. “I don't want to talk about Randy
anymore. It's time for me to let him go and move on, like I said before.”
She knew she probably sounded like a broken record and John was very sweet to
offer to let her talk about him, but Jasina wanted to enjoy life instead of
mourning her dead boyfriend. “I'm over him, I really am.” She meant it, Randy
was gone and she accepted it awhile back, smiling when John's dimples showed.
“The food just caught me off guard is all. Why don't we just go somewhere
else or maybe go somewhere to talk?” She suggested, standing up from John's
lap, extending her hands to him. “I don't want to end our date yet.”
“I would, um, invite you
back to my hotel, but that would seem like I'm trying to get into your pants,
which I would love nothing more than to happen, but I’m also not the type of
guy to push a woman into something she isn’t ready for.” He rubbed the back of
his neck thoughtfully. “What other places do you like to go to?” He wasn't
about to suggest they go wherever she was currently staying, remembering that
she had seen a realtor earlier in the day at Emerald City, so obviously she
didn’t have her own place.
“We could go back to your
hotel room, I don't mind.”
Her fingers slowly slid
down his shirt covered chest, before going back up to wrap around his thick
muscled up neck, teal eyes locking with his. She hadn't had sex in nearly
half a year. Jasina was going to go out
of her mind if she made herself celibate much longer.
“Whatever happens,
happens. We could simply talk and have a couple of beers or watch a movie
cuddling. Whatever you want to do, John. I don't think you're
getting in my panties though, I wouldn't have agreed to this date if I knew
those were your intentions. You're too sweet for those type of
intentions.”
She wasn’t however.
John stared at her in
silence, knowing an invitation when he heard one, though she had dressed it up
and given other options, but the invitation was still there. “Alright, we can
do that.” He said slowly, feeling her fingers playing with the back of his
neck, trying not to shiver as he stared into her eyes, knowing his were
probably darkening. “Though...if you keep playing with my neck, we're never
going to leave this bench.” He was a bit...sensitive back there.
She giggled softly,
stopping what she was doing and watched him stand up to tower over her,
wondering what it was about tall men that were attractive and downright sexy.
“I'll follow you?” She said suggestively, not waiting for his reply and walked
away toward her car, feeling the butterflies suddenly erupt in her
stomach.
What if they did have sex
and she was terrible at it?
It'd been at least six
months since a man last touched her, besides the kisses Mark had given her
recently. She didn’t consider kissing to
be sexual, not even when it came to her ex-husband. Jasina pushed those negatives thoughts out of
her mind and followed John out of the restaurant parking lot, glad he'd
remembered to take their leftovers. She would be hungry after this, she
simply knew it. Jasina checked her makeup in the mirror at a red light
and hoped she was doing the right thing, though her libido was overriding her
rational thinking.
John was giving himself a
pep talk.
He was really, really
hoping she meant what she said about really being over her dead boyfriend,
Randy, and not just using him to forget.
He scratched that, forced it out of his mind. She probably was lonely, though given how
beautiful and friendly she was, he found it hard to believe there wasn't a line
of men waiting on her.
He wanted her. She wanted him. It was simple as that.
“You got this.” John told
himself, squishing the nerves down, not about to make a total fool of himself.
Jasina was doing the
exact same thing John was, reminding herself she was single and could have sex
if she wanted. Randy was dead and she wasn't cheating. Becoming
celibate definitely was a mistake, one that Jasina planned on rectifying,
honestly not caring if John thought she was a whore or not.
If they ended up having
sex on the first date, well...it would only be the second time in Jasina's life
that it happened. The only other man she'd slept with on a first date was
her ex-husband, Mark. Jasina pulled into the parking lot of the hotel and
checked herself in the mirror one final time before stepping out, following
John inside to his room.
John ignored the arched
eyebrow the girl at the front desk shot his way, looping his arm around Jasina
as they headed for the elevator. Keeping
a distance from her would have made it look like he was trying to hide
something and he wasn't. He was an
adult, with no strings attached to him.
He could do whatever and
whomever he wanted, though he generally tried not to have sex on the first
date. Generally it did happen, he was a
guy after all. Once at his hotel room
door, he turned to stare down at her, bending down to brush his lips gently
against hers.
“If you've changed your
mind, now would be a good time to tell me.” John said, giving her an out.
One he hoped she didn't
take.
Jasina responded by
reaching up and began unbuttoning his shirt, her darkened turquoise eyes boring
into him, letting him know she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.
She could see it in his darkened blue orbs that swam with pure lust, gasping
when he suddenly pressed her against the door to kiss her again, this time a
little more passionate. Jasina instantly reciprocated, her fingers
massaging the back of his neck and felt the door open and close, her back once
again pressed against the door, only this time they weren't out in the
open. John lifted her up and Jasina instinctively wrapped her legs around
his waist, pushing the shirt off of him while he worked on removing her dress,
carting both of them over to the bed, stumbling slightly.
It really was a beautiful
dress. Though at the moment, it was more
trouble than it was worth and John had to fight to keep himself from just
ripping it off. Finally depositing her
on the bed, John finished tugging it away from her.
It was getting dark and
he wasn't liking that, so he reached out to flick on the light near the bed,
dimming it down. Just enough to see her,
a low murmur of appreciation escaping his lips.
Her undergarments and high heels...now that was sexy. He moved so he was hovering over her,
trailing kisses along her collar bone.
No words were spoken,
just the sounds of a sexual nature echoed throughout the hotel as Jasina
finally remembered how much she used to enjoy sex. She'd been so deep in
mourning over Randy that she hadn't even realized what she was missing out
on. John took his time with her and reintroduced her to a world she
thought was long forgotten.
Every part of her body
trembled with new life and Jasina actually saw stars explode before her eyes
when she came with John. He definitely was a stallion in bed and had a
lot of stamina, which she was used to because both Mark and Randy definitely
were not one minute men. From the foreplay, to teasing and tormenting her
body, to finally getting down to business...Jasina enjoyed every single second
of it, letting John know it.
She wasn't shy anymore.
John had noticed a bit
of...trepidation, like she was afraid she had forgotten the basics and realized
he was probably her first time back in the saddle so to speak since her
boyfriend's death. No pressure there. Once she had gotten over that
issue...mind-blowing was the best way to accurately describe the experience
between them and he knew he was pleasing her just as much as she pleased
him. He hadn't been lying about the
dancing and bedroom thing and he was proving it to her. If the moans, soft
sighs and gasps she made, along with the scratches she had left on his
shoulders and back, were any indication, her return to sex was explosive.
They had sex for hours in
all positions they could come up with, Jasina fully satisfied by the time they
were finally done. She collapsed on top of him, having finished their
fifth bout by being on top and felt his hands run up and down her back while
she buried her face in the crook of his neck. Their bodies were caked
with sweat and it felt amazing, Jasina knew she would definitely be sore
tomorrow, already feeling the delicious ache between her thighs.
She hadn't had sex like
this since Mark, Randy couldn't go more than twice in a night, though she
wasn't complaining. Jasina made it clear to John not to leave any marks
on her neck or arms. Only places where
only she would see them, Jasina knew had quite a few on her inner thighs, chest
and stomach, snuggling further against his rock hard body.
John didn't mind not
being able to leave marks on her, not visible to the public ones any way. That wouldn't have looked very professional
in the workplace, but he had definitely left...marks in places not generally
displayed to the public eye. He
definitely did not like being marked himself, it would be definite proof that
this wasn't the most realistic, kinkiest dream he had ever had.
“Damn...” John murmured,
clearing his dry throat and kissed the top of her head before dropping his back
onto the pillow, wondering if his heart was about to leap out of his chest with
the way it was pounding.
“I second that.” Jasina
chuckled softly, not having the strength to roll off of him and smiled when he
just tightened his arms around her.
For the first time in six
months, Jasina wasn't sleeping alone and it felt wonderful. Her bed had
been cold for too long and as much as she loved Randy, she also knew he wanted
her to be happy, to live her life. Her cell phone had an automatic alarm
set for when she had to get up in the morning for work and Jasina couldn't keep
her eyes open anymore, falling asleep against John, barely whispering 'good
night' before the darkness consumed her.
The fact that she was
obviously going to spend the night made John feel a lot better. It meant she hadn't been using him to forget,
because if she had been, she probably would have just had a guilt overload and
bolted. He murmured a good night back
and fumbled for the sheet, drawing it up over them. While the night would be warm, eventually
they were going to feel a slight chill from their bodies cooling down and the
sweat factor.
He was asleep almost as
quickly as she was with a smile on his face.
Chapter 17
“Wow, someone is happy
today.” Trish commented when Jasina walked into the office, Gary following her
as usual doing her bidding.
Jasina shrugged, not able to wipe the smile from her face, having gone back to
the ranch to change into work clothes after leaving John at the hotel.
She sent him a text apologizing, but she had to get to work and promised to contact
him later. She didn't want him thinking she was using him because that
was not her intention at all, genuinely liking him.
“Why wouldn't I be?” She
retorted with sparkling teal eyes, heading to her office with a cappuccino.
Gary raised an eyebrow, wondering
what was going on with Jasina and knew Trish was thinking the same thing.
“The hell if you are,
Teddy!”
“Watch me, Ariebelle!”
“Don't call me-” Arielle clammed up when Gary and Trish both poked their heads
out of Jasina's office door. “Sorry.”
“She's mad because I'm signing her up for a photography contest among Houston
interns.”
“I see...Good luck with that Arielle, no more yelling from either of you.”
Trish ordered sweetly.
Gary shook his head when
Arielle went to kick Ted in the shin once Trish's head was turned, snorting
when Ted retaliated. Randy Orton he was
not, but there was no denying his methods...worked. He shifted his attention back to
the...insanely happy Jasina, raising an eyebrow.
The entire day all Jasina
could do was smile brightly, which was contagious and actually hummed while
writing her articles and answering the 'Ask Jade' column. She never
thought having sex could make her this happy, but the littlest things in life
usually do. Not that sex was a small thing, but it rejuvenated her in
ways Jasina needed to be.
It was all thanks to John
Cena. Jasina owed him everything and
decided to thank him until he left Houston. She would start out by asking
him to be her date for Trish and Steve's wedding, hoping he accepted her
invitation.
At the end of the day,
Arielle strolled into her mom's office, arching an eyebrow when she heard
Jasina humming under her breath. “Mom, are you feeling alright?” She asked
curiously, circling around the desk to place a hand on her Mom's forehead,
checking for a fever. “Gary said you were actin'...weird, I didn't believe
him.” She was glad to see her Mom happy, which obviously Jasina was,
but...after a full day's work and she was STILL grinning? That just seemed...odd. “What's got you in such
a good mood?”
“Just in a good mood
today, honey. I've had a great day, nothing more than that.” Jasina
wasn't about to tell her daughter multiple orgasms and hours of mind-blowing
sex with her date was the reasoning for her happiness. “I'll try to be less
happy.” She joked, closing her laptop after saving her work, seeing the
skepticism on Arielle's face. “So I heard that Ted has enrolled you in a
photography contest?” Jasina changed the subject swiftly, grinning. “You will
win hands down, now you just have to figure out what to photograph.”
“I don't WANT to be in
this competition. I keep tellin' him I'm
not ready, but he won't listen. He says
'Well Randy had a ledger with upcoming events for the year and he was going to
sign you up, so I'm signin' you'-” Arielle clamped both hands over her mouth,
realizing she had just rattled off about Randy, though when Jasina's expression
didn't change, not even a twinge of pain in her teal eyes, she slowly removed
her hands. “Anyway, he's doing it.” She finished lamely.
“If Ted thinks you're
ready to do this, then you need to trust your mentor, sweetheart.” Jasina
simply said, the mention of Randy no longer hurting her and she knew why.
She was finally moving
on.
Jasina wasn't in love
with John by any means, but she did feel something for him or else she wouldn't
have had sex with him. Arielle would be confused for awhile, but
everything would come out in the open eventually and that part Jasina was not
looking forward to. John would be kept secret until the wedding at least.
“I think you'll do a
fantastic job.” She packed up her things and felt her cell phone vibrate,
knowing it was probably John since he knew what time she got off of work.
“Of course you have to
say that, you're my Mom, you think I'll do a fantastic job on everything. Mom, seriously, I don't want to do this. What if I bomb? I'm nowhere NEAR as good as Randy was or
Teddy is...” Arielle bent down to rub her shin, scowling. “And he KICKED me
with the toe of his cowboy boot, isn't that employee or intern abuse?” She shot
her Mom a trembling lip and wide hurt eyes, not mentioning that she
might've...kicked him first.
“I'm sure he wouldn't
have done that had you not kicked him first, Arielle.” Jasina shot back
seriously, folding her arms in front of her chest, knowing her daughter inside
and out. “I know how you are, you can't fool your mother. If you REALLY
don't want to do the photography contest, then go talk to Trish about it.
I can't do anything about it because I'm not involved in your internship
anymore. Though I will tell you that if you complain to Trish this soon,
she might take you out of the internship and make you do something
else...something you might not enjoy. Think about it.” Dropping a kiss on
the top of Arielle's head, Jasina walked out of her office, leaving her with
those thoughts.
“Mom, I already did talk
to Trish and she told me to suck it up!” Arielle shouted after her Mom,
groaning when she just got soft laughter back and slumped against the office
wall.
It wasn't like she didn't
feel honored that Ted wanted her to do it or that Randy had thought she would
be ready and that had been MONTHS ago when he had made that note in his
ledger. He had anticipated her being skilled
enough even then. But what if she
wasn't? What if she wasn't as good as
everyone thought she was?
“Come on Arie, I'll walk you down to your car and I'll tell you a really,
really amusing story about my first photo contest.”
“What kind of amusing?” Arielle looked up at Ted, suddenly interested.
“The kind of amusing that'll make you wonder how I even got this job.”
“What is going on with
your Mom?” Gary wondered, sidling up beside his girlfriend, who was laughing at
Ted over something he clearly missed. “She wasn't herself today.”
Ted frowned, looking down
at Gary. “What do you mean?” He knew about Randy's death and how Jasina had
been with Randy in a relationship, but not the details. He was shot down
after asking Jasina out on a date and decided not to bark up that tree again.
“I don't know.” Something
definitely was fishy. “Arie, why don't we go see your Dad? Maybe he knows something.”
“Yeah, yeah, so tell me how you completely botched the session, Teddy Bear.”
Ted wondered if he'd ever
get used to hearing that nickname. “Well, for starters, I-”
He looked at Gary,
hesitating before sighing. Ted knew
Arielle would just repeat it to her boyfriend anyway, so he might as well get
the humiliation over and done with now.
Arielle's eyes widened when Ted began listing off everything he had done
wrong to botch the session, which also included winding up with a bunch of
pigeons using him as a statue, an elderly couple nude, and a dog bite.
“No WONDER you lost,
didn't you even get the picture you wanted?”
“I was disqualified on the grounds of old woman nipple to the very left of the
frame.”
Gary slapped himself in
the face when Arielle doubled over laughing. “Are we going to go see your Dad?”
“Sure, give me a minute
to laugh at Teddy Bear...” She gasped, holding her side.
“Ariebelle...”
~!~
When Jasina arrived at
the ranch, she was mildly surprised to see Arielle's car in the driveway and
parked on the side of her, wondering what was going on. Probably
questioning Mark about her sudden change of mood. Though Jasina didn't care what people thought
and she wasn't telling them about her night of passion with John.
However, since Arielle
was here along with Mark, it was time to tell them about her new house she was
moving into just after the wedding. That's the soonest it would be ready
and Jasina was fine with that, planning on spending as much time with John as
possible while he was in town. She walked in the house, hearing talking
in the kitchen and took her pumps off before heading in that direction.
“I swear to god man, she
was just...perky and happy. It
was...nice but weird.”
“She was humming, at the end of the day.”
“Couldn't she just be happy to be gettin' off work?” Mark arched an eyebrow at
the kids.
“It's MOM, she loves her job.”Arielle pointed out.
“Maybe she's sick?” Gary suggested lamely.
“You know, that's what I thought, but she's not. Not unless being happy is a mental illness.”
Arielle stated, knowing something was going on with her mother.
“I think you two are makin' a big deal outta nothin', there ain't a law sayin'
she can't be happy.” Mark stated, though he couldn’t help wondering what was
going on with Jasina either secretively.
“Course not, but WHY was she happy?”
“I wasn't aware it was
against the law to be happy, but apparently it is.” Jasina said somewhat
defensively from behind them, having overheard the conversation and walked
inside the kitchen, the smile etched on her face a little tightened. “There is
a reason why I'm so happy and I was waiting for all of us to be able to get
together so I could announce it.”
Gary lowered his eyes,
feeling like an ass that they’d been caught talking about Jasina behind her
back like this.
“Well, we're all here together now.” Arielle demanded, refusing to back down as
she stared at her mother through slightly narrowed eyes. “What is it?”
“The day after Trish and Steve's wedding, I'm moving out of the ranch.” Jasina
announced, wanting to do this a little easier, but her daughter wasn't letting
that happen. “I found a cute little two bedroom house just down the street from
work and it was in my price range. It has new appliances and
everything. I've already put a down payment on it and signed all the
papers, but it won't be ready for me to move in until the day after the
wedding. So it looks as though you'll be free of me soon enough, Mark.”
At first, Mark had been
about to say 'SEE', because he had agreed with Jasina. There wasn't a law saying she couldn't be
happy, but after hearing her the news behind the happiness, he wasn't feeling
so...happy, himself. He didn’t want her
to leave and it clearly showed in his eyes and body posture, though Mark was
also a master at controlling his emotions.
If this is what Jasina truly wanted, he wasn’t going to stand in her way
from leaving, even though that was his first instinctive move.
“Darlin', I was never
worried about you livin' here.” Mark said after a moment, ignoring the gauging
looks Gary and Arielle were now giving him, not about to show them anything
besides calmness. He didn't need kids analyzing
him next.
“That's great Jasina.” Gary said with a smile, trying to make up being an ass
earlier.
“What do you need two
bedrooms for?” Arielle asked curiously. “Me and Gary, right?”
“Well yeah, I suppose you
and Gary, but mostly you because you are my daughter.” Jasina sounded amused as
she walked over, hugging both kids against her, kissing the top of Arielle's
head. “And I know you weren't worried about it, Mark, but it's time for me to
get out of here and live my own life.” Not to mention the sexual tension
mounting between them was suffocating and there was no way Jasina was making a
trip to insanity again. “So you happy for me?”
“Of course Mom...” Arielle felt bad for her father because she could tell he
wasn't happy about this sudden turn of events.
Gary decided to keep
quiet before he inserted his foot in his mouth again.
“Thrilled, this means I
can run around naked again.” Mark teased, not really into the teasing but... he
had to make an effort. Obviously she
wanted to be away from him and was psyched over her new little house with brand
new appliances and everything else. His
ranch...not so new and definitely not small. “Does it have a white picket fence
also?”
Gary winced at that,
though he was glad someone else had done the 'ass' thing, though it was Mark
so...he didn't bother making a derisive noise, not in the mood to eat the
table.
Mark stood up from the
table. “Sorry Jasina, that was out of line.” He apologized, not entirely sure
he meant it.
Normally, Jasina would've
snapped at Mark for that snide comment, but nothing was going to sour her mood,
simply smiling back at him. “If it does, it'll be easier keeping out
intruders.” She winked down at Arielle, deciding having her own comeback was
much better than losing her temper. “So, anything else you would like to know?”
“No...”
“Is that all you're happy about?” Arielle asked, looking up at her mother.
“Yes and please come ask me questions next time instead of going to your
father. He has enough on his mind and my life is none of his business.
Right Mark?” Jasina looked down when her cell phone went off, excusing herself
to answer the call.
“Bitch.” Mark muttered
under his breath, turning and storming out the patio doors, completely ignoring
the shocked looks Gary and Arielle threw his way.
“Wow...”
“If he manages to make it through the weddin' without blowin' it, I will be
VERY surprised.” Arielle said seriously.
“Well, let's give him a little cred- Okay, okay, no credit.” Gary backtracked
when Arielle shot him a deadly glare.
“Not that I'm complaining much, but did you know...you left a three inch long
scratch on me?” John said by way of greeting, amusement in his voice.
“Oops?” Jasina giggled
softly, heading up to her room to have a little more privacy, not wanting the
kids to overhear her conversation. “Sometimes I just can't control myself in
the bedroom.” That was her excuse and Jasina smiled when John chuckled, sitting
down on her bed while staring out the window. “You left some marks on me too,
though I'm definitely not complaining. I want to see you again tonight.”
Hoping she didn't sound too forward, Jasina couldn't help it, having thought
about their night all day at work, which explained her goofy smile and
happiness.
“I definitely want to see
you again, and try taking you out again, just not to that restaurant. You can pick the place this time, maybe we
can try the date thing one more time and see how that works out. Not that the sex wasn't great because it was,
it was off the charts great, but-” John stopped when he heard her chuckling.
“I'm going to get you if you're laughing at me, I will think of something
incredibly mean to do to you...though you might also like it...”
“You have NO idea how
much enjoy a little torture.” Jasina practically purred, smirking when John
groaned in her ear, the delicious ache between her thighs beginning to slowly
throb with life. “We don't need to go out anywhere, I'd be happy just to spend
some quality alone time with you.”
Didn't Trish say
something about Mark going out of town for a few days with Steve for a bachelor
party? She remembered vaguely, chewing her bottom lip, wondering if
bringing John to the ranch would be a good idea. If Mark found out, he
would blow a gasket, but Jasina was a born and bred risk-taker, a smirk curving
her lips.
Chapter 18
“Let me call you back and
I'll see if maybe you can come over to the place I'm staying at until my house
is ready.” She'd told John about her current living situation, though left out
a few details...like the man she lived with being her ex-husband. There
was no reason to give him that information. “Give me an hour okay?”
“Sure, take your time.”
John laughed, figuring he would use that hour to continue compiling his list of
addresses to go visit tomorrow since today had turned up absolutely nothing.
“Well...don't take TWO hours or I might get lost trying to come hunt you down.”
He teased, loving the sound of her laughter.
He knew he definitely did not love Jasina -he didn't buy into that love
at first sight crap, but did believe in lust at first sight-, but she was
amazing and he knew they could have something, even if it was just a brief
fling.
Jasina immediately called
Trish as soon as she hung up with John, trying to sound cool and calm. “Hey
honey, I have a quick question for you.” She said by way of greeting.
“Sure, what is it?” Trish was busy painting her nails while the kids were
sleeping, Steve in the kitchen making dinner.
“Didn't you mention something about Steve and Mark going out of town for a few
days for a bachelor party?”
“Yeah, they're leaving tonight after Steve is finished with dinner and helping
me with the kids.” Trish eyeballed her husband-to-be, having already laid the
ground rules down for the bachelor party. “Why have you heard something
different?”
“Nope, I was just making sure I heard you right at work.” Jasina had a clouded
mind all day, though she hadn't told Trish about John yet. “Thanks.” Jasina
hung up, calling John back instantly.
Trish blinked as she
stared at the phone, wondering what Jasina was up to.
“Why are you eyeballin’
me like that woman?” Steve demanded when his wife got off the phone. A bachelor party was supposed to be fun and
he was going to worry about his penis being cut off before his wedding. “I haven't
done anythin' yet!”
“Yet being the operative word, dearest.
You and Mark are still going, right?”
“Yes...” To Vegas, not that Trish needed to know that. Mark had been for Cancun, but Steve had
squashed that one, too many naked women on a beach.
“You had BETTER behave.” Trish warned sweetly, her brown eyes narrowed.
When John’s cell rang
five minutes later, he was somewhat shocked, but immediately brushed it off.
“So... it hasn't been an hour, I take it you have good news?” John answered
Jasina’s call instantly, not expecting it to be so quick.
“You can come over here
around nine o'clock.” Jasina figured that was when Mark would be leaving the
house, which was two hours away, keeping her voice down. “My roommate will be
gone by then and we'll have free reign of the house.” She smirked at the many
rooms that were in the ranch, though all she really wanted to take advantage of
was the hot tub, swimming pool and her bed. “I'll text you when it's safe for
you to come over. It'll just be easier for him not to know about you
yet.” She hoped John understood and didn't question her further, sighing when a
knock sounded at her door. “Gotta go, I'll text you.” She hung up and stuffed
her phone in her purse. “Come in.”
John sincerely hoped she texted
him an address sooner rather than later, simply so he could Google it and get
an hour head start on the arrival time, knowing his luck his Swedish voice on
the GPS would send him to Mexico.
“Kids left.” Mark said, pushing open the door, having recovered his little
temper issue, trying to keep the gruffness from his tone. “Arie said she'd call
you later. Darlin', I'm sorry about that
comment down there, I shouldn't have said it.
I knew you were lookin' for a place, but...you findin' one threw me off. Not to mention how happy you are about
leavin', guess I took it the wrong way when I shouldn't of.”
“It's fine Mark, didn't
even bother me.” She wasn't apologizing to him about anything she said, simply
sitting on the bed staring at him. “I don't know why you're so thrown off
considering I've been looking for a place for the past three months.” Jasina
pointed out, folding her arms in front of her chest, wondering when he was
leaving so she could see John. “And of course I'm happy to leave and have my own
space instead of constantly sharing with my ex-husband. I appreciate
everything you've done Mark, but the fact is we are exes for a reason. So
you shouldn't take me leaving any way because there should be no emotional
involvement in it. I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but you
need to understand that I came here as a friend in need and nothing more.
Now if you'll excuse me, I want to take a shower in peace.”
It took everything Mark
had in him to not lose his temper again.
Given that she had been
looking without success, the suddenness of finally getting a place had thrown
him off. Secondly, while they might have
been exes for a reason, that meant jack considering everything that he had done
for her. She needed a place to live to
get away from Randy's memory, he had given that. Mark had stepped up and helped her the best
way he knew how.
He gave her space, but
made sure she ate. He let her have her
nights of alcohol, but still watched over her to make sure she didn't turn into
a full on lush. As for what had gotten
INTO him lately, the woman was either the dumbest broad he had ever met -he
knew she wasn't- or just purposefully ignoring the fact that the night
everything had changed between them again -the night of the kiss-, she had been
teasing him just as much as he had been torturing her.
“Thank God I'm
leavin'...” Mark snorted, turning to walk out of the room. “Enjoy yer shower.”
“Have a good night,
Mark.”
Jasina slammed the
bedroom door and walked into the bathroom, starting up the sprays. Jasina
didn't miss all the hidden emotion swimming through his green eyes, knowing he
wanted to explode on her for what she said, but it was the honest truth.
Granted, she had been teasing him, but that was only because he wouldn't stop
torturing her! It was fair game and then he had to ruin it by kissing
her, telling her silently that he expected more out of this than just
friendship.
There was no friendship
when it came to Mark.
There was only lust and
power.
Jasina knew he expected
them to get back together and that just ticked her off because she thought he'd
helped her with Randy's death out of the kindness of his heart. Hell what
heart? The man only had a heart when he got what he wanted or when it
came to Arielle, but other than that he was a heartless prick. Jasina
sent John a quick text with Mark's address before jumping into the shower,
wanting to be fresh and clean before John arrived, seeing all the marks on her
body and giggled.
~!~
Steve was a bit confused
when Mark showed up earlier than expected, having JUST gotten the kids down for
bed. “Um, yer early and my wife is suspicious of what yer plannin'.”
“Smart woman.”
“Now Mark, I like havin' a good time as much as the next guy, but remember, I'm
about to be a married man…”
Mark smirked, deciding
this trip to Vegas was just what he needed to get all thoughts of Jasina out of
his mind. He wanted her in every way
and, yes, like an idiot he had assumed they would eventually get back together. He hadn't taken care of her for nothing after
all, he had done it because he cared for her.
And maybe a little bit of the motivation had been sexually related.
“Not me.” The tone of his
voice implied he was planning on getting rip-roaring drunk and finding a woman
to take his frustrations out on.
~!~
Jasina waited another
hour before contacting John, wanting to make sure Mark was really gone and
changed into her black bikini, having a bottle of wine chilling in a bucket of
ice. When the doorbell rang, Jasina walked down the hallway in a white
terry cloth robe that was tied loosely and went to mid-thigh, her hair up in a
clip. She hoped John cottoned onto the fact that there was a hot tub in
the ranch and brought his swim trunks...unless he planned on being naked.
That was a delicious thought as she opened up the front door, staring back into
those baby blues.
“So you didn't get lost
eh?” She remarked with a smirk.
“Nope.”
John grinned down at her,
his eyes devouring her body hungrily, imagining what was or wasn't beneath that
terry cloth robe. He wasn't about to
tell her he had memorized the route, she already knew he was a total idiot on
the GPS and directions thing. He made up
for it with more…interesting abilities.
He bent down to kiss her, smiling when she returned it with enough
passion to tell him they definitely didn't have a one or two time only thing
going.
“So,” He rumbled softly
against her lips. “You going to invite me in?” He held a small bag in his free
hand, containing his trunks and a few other things.
“Of course, you better
get your cute ass in here.” Jasina took his hand and guided him inside, pushing
the door closed behind them and locking it up before they headed down the
hallway into the kitchen. “I have some wine and beer since I didn't know if you
liked wine. The hot tub is ready too.” She poured herself a glass and
smiled when John opted for a beer, slowly removing her terry cloth robe. “Why
don't you go change into those trunks unless of you want to be naked?
Either way is fine with me.”
“Let me get a little bit
more relaxed before I go streaking.” John laughed, smirking down at her. “By
the way, I should warn you, when I DO get comfortable, I prefer being nude.”
Which was the honest to God truth, he loved going without his clothes. Of course, that wasn't legal outside of his
house, but he was still holding out that someday it would be. “So if you ever
show up at my hotel without calling first and I open the door naked, don't be
surprised.”
“Oh I won't.” That didn't
surprise Jasina in the slightest and she found it somewhat adorable, hopping up
on the counter. John stood between her legs and kissed her softly, her
hands instantly going to the hem of his shirt. “Mmm I think I know how you can
relax more.” She pulled his shirt up over his head, tossing it over his
shoulder and ran her fingernails gently down his chiseled chest. “There you're
not so...restricted now.”
“Uh huh...”
John was quite
comfortable standing between her legs, his eyes feasting on the bikini clad body
before him. He had seen her naked, but
in a way, this was much better. It was
leaving something to his already quite creative imagination.
“Eventually, I'm going to
put you in one of my jerseys.” He growled, bending down to nip at her
collarbone. “NOTHING but the jersey...” His strong hands were now massaging the
insides of her thighs very slowly, inching their way upwards, not in any hurry.
“Anything you want,
John.” Jasina purred, leaning back a little on the counter so he could get better
access to her neck, spreading her thighs more for him.
It was just sex between
them and Jasina was fine with that, refusing to develop feelings for a man who
lived up north in Boston. She leaned forward and began running her tongue
down the length of his chest, hearing another guttural growl escape him,
wondering if they would even make it to the hot tub. Her hands found the
button of his jean shorts, unsnapping them and shoved them down his long
muscular legs with her feet, moving her lips back up until he captured them in
a passionate kiss.
“Mmm hot tub time?”
“That or right here on
the counter...” He growled against her neck, pulling away long enough to follow
her gaze down, smirking. “Yes, that's because of you.”
John chuckled huskily, knowing
with his stamina, they'd be in the hot tub and many other places tonight,
hoping her roommate never found out, that would probably be awkward, for her,
not him. He doubted he'd ever meet the
roommate. Scooping her against him, he
felt her legs automatically wrapping around his waist and followed her
whispered directions towards the patio door.
“Jas, if you keep playing
with the back of my neck, I will pin you to the wall and fuck you right there.”
John warned her in a growl against her ear.
Jasina giggled softly,
knowing the back of his neck was one of John's most sensitive areas. “Promises,
promises…” She stopped for the moment, slowly slipping down his body long
enough to submerge into the hot water, onto straddle him with her arms still
around his neck. “Naked it is then.”
There was no reason for
him to have trunks, though that didn't mean Jasina had to be naked right away,
enjoying teasing him as their lips met in another hot kiss, steam rising around
them. If he really wanted too, John could
have ripped those bikini bottoms off of her with just one finger, or pushed
them aside, which was actually a rather interesting idea. Granted, there was no one around to see them,
but the idea of keeping her covered as much as possible with her clothing while
having sex with her…it reminded him of being out in public and trying to hide
what was happening, wondering if she would be opposed to that idea sometime
down the road. He leaned back against
the tub wall, his hands resting gently on her hips while she ground herself
against him, never breaking the kiss.
“Tease.” He murmured
against her lips, biting gently on her full bottom lip.
“Yeah look who's
talking.” She murmured, not even concerned with her wine because John was all
she needed at the time.
Making love in the hot
tub was amazing, along with the swimming pool...and couch in front of the
fireplace. By the time they made it to her bedroom, Jasina's body was
burning and John was the only one who could put the fire out, which he did
repeatedly. They ended up falling asleep in her bed, curled up completely
naked, her head resting just beneath his chin. Somewhere in between all
the different places they had sex, Jasina had asked John to be her date for her
friend's upcoming wedding and he accepted.
Chapter 19
John was up before Jasina
was, mostly because he was in a strange house and found that somewhat
awkward. Being in Jasina's bedroom
helped, but...it always took him a night or two to get used to a new place,
especially when staying over. Yawning,
he gently extracted himself from her and headed into the bathroom. Really pleased with the fact that she had her
own private bathroom, John was not up to pulling on his shorts –they were
downstairs now that he thought about it- and not about to walk around naked in
a strange house.
Arielle arched an eyebrow
when she seen the strange car in her Dad's driveway. “Well what the hell...”
She muttered, shutting off the ignition and slipping out of the SUV. She kept as quiet as she could as she headed
inside, using her key to let herself in.
“Doll, we have got to get some food...” John yawned as he walked back out of
the bathroom, freezing when he seen a young woman standing in the now open
doorway. “Um, hi...”
“Wow...” Arielle gaped with wide emerald eyes.
“Mmm what did you say,
John?” Jasina stretched and let out a loud yawn, slowly opening her eyes to
smile at him, though it faltered at the look on his face. Her eyes moved
from him to the doorway, immediately covering herself up, mouth dropping open.
“Arielle?! What are you doing here?” She
demanded, stumbling up to her feet and was glad John caught her, already
feeling her cheeks burning. Her daughter definitely had the worst timing
and Jasina was currently hiding John's naked body with her blanket covered one,
feeling as though her heart might leap out of her chest.
“I came to see if you
wanted to go have BREAKFAST with me, but it looks like you already skipped to
dessert.” Arielle said, torn between being disgusted at walking in on a naked
guy and her MOTHER, but also...the guy was pretty hot. Since she had been introduced to the joys of
sex, Arielle was able to better appreciate a fine specimen when she seen one.
“Next time you're havin' a sex party, maybe you should text me a 'stay away'
sitch.”
“Sitch?” Even though this was...strange as hell, that was funny and John openly
laughed, knowing this had Jasina's daughter.
“How dare you!! I'm
NOT having a sex party!” Jasina stated indignantly, elbowing John to stop him
from laughing, folding her arms in front of her chest. “You should've sent me a
text telling me you wanted to have breakfast or mentioned it yesterday when you
were here.” Jasina was tired of being mortified, snatching another blanket off
the floor and gave it to John before sitting down on her bed. “Arielle, this is
John Cena. John, this is my daughter Arielle. Would you give us a
few minutes please?” That question was directed at John, smiling gently at him
when he nodded.
“Oh no, please stay, you
are MUCH better looking than her.” Arielle insisted with a wink, loving how her
mother looked completely mortified.
What on earth was with
the woman and getting caught doing the deed?
Honestly? Or caught after doing
it. This was like déjà vu, remembering
the time she and everyone else had walked in on Jasina and Randy sleeping naked
on the couch. Arielle STILL had that
image in her head sometimes and knew Gary had the same problem.
“Dad doesn't know you
have him here, does he?” Arielle somewhat demanded. “He would blow UP if he
knew you had another man in his house.”
John turned to stare at
Jasina out of wide blue eyes before heading downstairs.
Information overload.
“ARIE!!” Jasina groaned,
burying her face in her hands, knowing John had no idea just who her roommate
was. “Of course your father doesn't know! He probably will now, but
that's okay because I still have my old apartment until my house is ready.” She
stood up angrily and began clipping her bra on along with pulling her panties
up, grabbing her robe to wrap herself in, knowing she would have some serious
explaining to do to John.
“Why would he know? I'M not about to tell him, are you fuckin'
serious?” Arielle wondered if her mother had completely lost her mind with her
current mindset. “He'd kill me just for bein' the bearer of the news!”
Arielle looked horrified
by the mere idea of telling her Dad about Jasina sleeping with some other guy
in HIS house. Oh HELL NO! He'd probably go on a killing rampage and she
shivered. One thing about her father was
when his temper spiked, it could turn deadly in a hurry. She still had the scar on her calf -he shot
her with a BB gun while trying to escape his wrath after locking him up with
her mother with Gary and Toni’s help- to prove just how far her father’s temper
could go when pushed.
“If you want some, more
power to you. I was worried I was going
to have to send you to a whorehouse or somethin'. How about I leave and you go down there and
be with the hottie? Mom,” Arielle walked
over to take her Mom's hand, knowing she was angry. “I mean it, I'm not tellin'
Dad.”
Jasina couldn’t help
breathing a huge sigh of relief, hugging her daughter. “Thank you, Arielle.”
She couldn't believe she'd gotten busted by her own daughter, knowing it was a
mistake to bring John to the ranch, but didn't feel up to holing up in his
hotel room again. “I'm not mad at you.” She pulled Arielle into a hug, knowing
it was time to come clean with her regarding John. “John and I are just having
fun. He's here out of town looking for a friend and he lives all the way
in Boston. He did agree to be my date for Trish and Steve's wedding, and
I will let them and your father know when the time is right.” She sighed softly,
pulling back to stare into Arielle's green eyes. “I hope you understand that
sometimes adults have sex just to have sex. There doesn't have to be any
feelings or emotions involved.”
“Mom, I love you, but
when you say things like that, I get pissy because I AM an adult. Please, quit thinkin' I'm thirteen. I get it.
You and John are just havin' a good time, which is fine. A bit of shame since he's so fine lookin’,
but...whatever.” Arielle said with a half-grin, wondering if either of her
parents would stop treating and talking to her like she was a child. “I have to
go, um...find something to do since Gary is expectin' me to be gone for
awhile. And I wouldn't tell Dad about
John...ever. Or at least leave out the
part about havin' him here.” Arielle really didn’t want her mother murdered for
scratching an itch by her father.
Jasina chuckled, knowing
her daughter was right and stopped Arielle from walking out the door, grabbing
her hand. “We can go to breakfast. John has some things he needs to do,
so I'm all yours.” It was the weekend after all, no wonder Mark had decided to
go out of town with Steve for a bachelor party. Trish was probably going
out of her mind with worry. “And I'll try to start treating you like an
adult. Sorry.” She snatched some clothes out of her closet and pulled the
jeans and red form fitting shirt on after removing the robe. “I'll need to
speak with John before we leave, do you wanna take my car or yours?”
“Mine and why can't he go
with us? I'm pretty sure I heard him
sayin' something about being hungry.
Though I could have misheard, I wasn't paying much attention...to his
face or what he was sayin', if you catch my drift.” Just seeing her Mom's jaw
hit the floor made saying that worth it and Arielle could NOT stop herself from
laughing. “What? I'm not allowed to
look?”
Well, there was laughter
coming from upstairs and that had to be a good thing, John thought as he
finished with his grooming, having used the downstairs bathroom for quick
shower and dressed.
“I guess you can...”
Jasina smirked, ruffling her daughter's hair and slipped some white tennis
shoes on before heading down to talk to John. “I'll ask if he wants to join us,
okay?” When she nodded, Jasina walked toward the kitchen and saw John was
finishing up getting ready, clearing her throat. “Sorry about that.” She
murmured, not sure what else to say and lowered her eyes, chewing her bottom
lip. “I'll understand if you want to end whatever this is between us.”
Who wouldn't after
finding out that she was rooming with the same man she'd made a child with?
“Because you have an
adult daughter?” This meant she was probably a bit older than him, and a
cougar…now THAT was kind of hot. John
grinned when she looked confused. “Or the fact that this is apparently your...ex-boyfriend? Ex-husband?
His house? I'm not gonna lie and
say I don't find that a bit weird, but...I'm not freaked out and I certainly don't
want to stop whatever we got going.” He walked over to cup her chin, staring
down at her. “We'll just have to stay at my place, casa de hotel. That cool with you?”
The biggest smile lit her
face and Jasina couldn't help reaching up, pressing her lips to his in a
passionate kiss, feeling his arms instantly wrap around her body. “Arie wanted
me to ask you if you wanted to join us for breakfast.” She hoped he did,
knowing this was treading on dangerous territory to bring her daughter around
yet another man, but Jasina had to roll with the punches. “You're hungry, I'm
starving and so is she. So come on, she wants you to come with. She
thinks you're hot and I'm inclined to agree with her.”
“She thinks I'm hot
huh? Is she legal? Because I'm thinking a mother-daughter-” He
stopped there when she punched him, rubbing the spot and began laughing again.
“Chill woman, pop a pill and relax, I was only messing with you. I'm not into the mother-daughter thing, just
the mother.” John kissed her forehead and pulled away in time to see Arielle
coming into the room. “Hello again.”
“Hi.” Arielle greeted sweetly, having overheard their small conversation. “So,
what's this about mothers and daughters?”
“She has no shame, does she?”
“No, I do not.” Arielle grinned impishly. “So, who’s hungry?”
They ended up at a local
diner that had incredible breakfast, Arielle picking the place out.
Jasina sat down with John and smiled when he took her hand beneath the table,
lacing their fingers together. She ordered strawberry stuffed French
toast with bacon and eggs while John went with the huge breakfast platter and
an omelet, neither woman looking shocked.
Hell, look who Arielle's
father was along with Jasina's dead boyfriend. Arielle decided on
pancakes with sausage links, eggs and a slice of toast on the side. When
Gary walked in, Jasina instantly tensed, feeling her eyes widen and could see
the shocked look in Arielle's as well.
“Gary, what are you doing here?” Arielle somewhat demanded, blinking.
“I saw your car...” Gary
said slowly, wondering what the hell was wrong with these women, not missing
the looks on either Jasina or Arielle's face.
His gaze finally shifted to the man sitting with them, an eyebrow
arching. “I'm not allowed to stop in?”
“Um...”
“The more the merrier!” John laughed, standing up from the table, knowing who
Gary was because Arielle had told him about her boyfriend. “I'm John, John
Cena.” He greeted, extending his hand.
“Hi.” Gary was trying not to be suspicious, but this was…just weird.
“John is in town to find a friend, he just arrived…the other day, was it?”
Arielle lied smoothly, her eyes on John.
“Few days ago.” John confirmed with a nod, getting back to his plate of food.
Jasina sincerely hoped
Gary didn't tell Mark about this, knowing how protective the man was of
Arielle, even though she no longer lived under his roof. “He's also a friend of
mine.” She added, smiling up at him and watched as Arielle waved the waitress
over to add Gary to the breakfast.
“So who is this friend you're looking for, John?” Arielle decided to change the
topic and keep it simple, seeing her mother physically relax.
Before John could say,
Gary had to give his order to the waitress when she came back to get it again,
having forgot to add his toast.
“John is going to be my date for the wedding.” Jasina announced, causing Gary
to spew orange juice out of his mouth while Arielle swallowed hers down the
wrong pipe, both of their eyes wide. “I asked him last night and I didn't want
to go alone...”
John had been playing it
cool and not announcing that he knew who Gary was, or that he and Jasina had
met before this seemingly innocent breakfast, mostly because he had seen the
looks on Jasina and Arielle's faces.
Deciding to just see how things went.
Now that it was blown out of the water, he raised his eyes to Gary who
was mopping orange juice off himself, passing over a handful of napkins.
“Here.” John offered
gruffly.
“Thanks.” Gary rasped, reaching over to thump Arielle on her back. “You alright
baby doll?”
“No...Ouch...”
“So...um, whose wedding is this again?” John asked after an uncomfortable
silence ensued.
“My best friend Trish and
Steve's.”
“My godfather's.” Arielle rasped out a little more, coughing from the orange
juice. “Damn...”
“Steve is Arielle's godfather because he's Mark's best friend.” Jasina
explained, seeing the comprehension dawn in John's blue eyes. “Mark is my ex,
Arielle's father, yes.” She confirmed, taking his hand again to rest on her
lap.
“W-When are you going to
tell Trish, Mom?”
“The next time I see her, probably not until Monday.”
“So, let me see if I got
this right...your best friend and your ex-husband's best friend are getting
married?”
“And she's the Matron of Honor, he's the Best Man.”
“And you want me to be your date, I'm down with that.” John didn’t have a
reason not to go with Jasina.
“Ballsy, aren't you? God that hurt...”
Arielle groaned, coughing.
“Better make sure she doesn't mention anything to Steve, not until you've had
time to break it to Mark.” Gary pointed out, knowing that was going to be an
explosion of massive proportion.
“Why do you three get this
tense look whenever he's mentioned?” John couldn’t help asking, wondering who
this guy was.
“You're a big man, right John?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“My Dad is bigger.” Arielle said seriously.
“With a serious temper.” Gary added, swallowing hard.
“He's just very
intimidating, but there's nothing to worry about. He's just a big brute
with a temper that WILL be checked at Trish's wedding.” Jasina didn't even want
to THINK about what would happen if Mark pulled the same stunt he had at
Arielle's birthday party, cringing.
“Trish will kill him if he ruins the wedding.” Arielle stated acutely, knowing
that her father's temper paled in comparison to Trish's. “She's actually
scarier than my Dad.”
“I agree with that.” Gary grinned when their food arrived, his stomach
growling.
“You are a brave man, John Cena.”
“How am I brave man?”
John was beginning to get
confused. First the ex-husband was a
brute, now the bride was, which wasn't so strange. John knew a lot of women who went nuts during
the wedding season and he couldn’t help feeling lost.
“I think we're scaring the guy.”
“Shaking in my Jordan’s.” Not a lot scared John. “Actually, you're confusing
me. Do I need to wear a bulletproof vest
or something to this wedding?” John wanted to be prepared, looking completely
serious.
“No, but it has to be a
suit and tie at least...”
Trish was very adamant
about the dress code at her wedding and Jasina had to make sure whatever John
wore met Trish's criteria. She decided she wasn't telling Mark about
John, he could find out on his own at the wedding. They had to walk down
the aisle together, it was going to be very awkward all around.
They finished breakfast
and parted ways, Jasina promising to call Arielle later on and knew Gary would
be asking a ton of questions about John as soon as he was alone with
Arielle. Jasina went back to the ranch to clean up from her and John, not
wanting to leave any evidence of what she'd done while Mark was away.
John went hunting for his friend, promising he would contact Jasina later on
after he was finished.
“You realize, if
you're...hiding something from your Dad, he's going to find out, right?” Gary
had been poking and prodding Arielle ever since leaving the diner, but so far,
she wasn't saying anything useful outside of what he already knew.
“He's not findin' anything out from me or you.” She said, shooting him a look
that told him if he breathed one word to her Dad, she'd have to kill him
painfully. “If he ruins Trish's weddin', Trish will feed him his balls.”
Chapter 20
It was the night before
the wedding and Jasina decided to call it an early night with John, wanting to
be in tip-top shape for Trish's wedding. They had a lot to do in the
morning, getting hair and nails done, along with last minute wedding details, wanting
everything to go perfect for the bride. This was a long time coming and being
the maid of honor, it was Jasina's responsibility to make sure everything went
flawless for Trish, knowing she would do the same thing if the tables were
reversed. Jasina walked inside the ranch, having everything of hers
packed up besides her maid of honor dress and took a week's vacation from work
for the big move that would happen in two days.
She was ready for it and
had a feeling Mark was too.
Mark was ready for this
to be done and over with. Trish and
Steve had been living together practically as man and wife for quite some time
now, he was a bit surprised they were finally tying the knot and a bit curious
why they hadn't done it sooner. He was
happy for them, but a bit on edge because Trish had warned him if anything went
wrong, she was going to hurt him. When
he had said he wasn't responsible for the other guests, she had mentioned the
cake knife and his balls in the same sentence.
“Jasina, read over this
and tell me if it sounds right.” Mark stated when he spotted her, having been
pacing in front of the fireplace -he had actually built a fire- in nothing
except a pair of light blue, skintight jeans, his hair cascading down his back
and shoulders. He held out the speech he
had written, part of the Best Man deal.
“Alright…”
Looking pressured was the
understatement of the century as Jasina took the piece of paper, sitting down
on the couch, and began reading over it. Being the Best Man wasn't all
wine and roses, there was a lot to go into a proper wedding...a Trish
wedding. Jasina finished reading the speech and looked up at him with a
soft smile, handing it back to him.
“That sounds damn near
perfect, Mark.” Jasina honestly meant it.
For the first time, she
noticed how the firelight reflected off of his glistening chest and outlined
his muscular form. His hair did
absolutely nothing to stop naughty thoughts from entering her mind. And
those jeans...Jasina suddenly felt warmer, especially when their fingertips
brushed together when he took the paper, keeping her eyes away from his.
“Don't be so nervous,
it's just a Best Man speech after all.” She half-joked, trying to lighten the
mood a little.
“Darlin', I wasn't
nervous at all until Trish informed me she had no problems in usin' my balls as
a cake topper.” Mark told her with a grin, feeling much better about the
speech. She was a professional writer
and he knew she wasn't about to lie to him to spare his feelings, so he took
her word for it. “Thanks Jas, appreciate it, darlin'.” He rumbled, folding it
up and slipping it into his back pocket, stretching his arms over his head and
yawned. “You ready for tomorrow?”
“Yeah, it's been a long
time coming for both of them. I can't wait for it to be official.”
Jasina was excited about
the wedding, even if she had to wear pink, because that's what the main color
was. It was Trish after all. She was girly girl all the way through
and Jasina didn't care what color of dress she had to wear as long as she was a
part of it. Jasina knew how hard Trish
worked on this wedding from the smallest detail to the biggest, so it was going
to be rewarding for everyone involved to see it come full circle.
“It'll be very uplifting
watching those two confess their love to each other in front of family and
friends.”
Mark snorted, dropping
down heavily on the couch and rested his arms along the back of it, stretching
his long legs out in front of him. “It'll be upliftin' to see them do what they
should’ve done five years ago. What's
the sense in waitin' so damn long if you know yer going to be together forever,
ya know?”
“Yeah I do, but at the
same time, they had to make sure they weren't doing it just because they had a
baby together. They had to be sure.”
Maybe the problem with
her and Mark was that had just jumped into marriage after knowing each other a
short period of time. Mark was a dare-devil and didn't normally think of
the consequences with his actions. Jasina stared into the fire deep in thought
while chewing her bottom lip, remembering how happy they were at one time and
how it had all fallen apart because of her secrets.
“They did the right and
smart thing by waiting.”
“Two kids and a lotta
years later...” Mark grinned evilly, then looked at her thoughtfully “ Just
think, Jas, if we hadn't gotten married, we'd probably still be together with a
dozen kids by now.” He laughed when she just stared at him. “Jokin',
jokin'! Half a dozen.” After enjoying
his little joke, he grew thoughtful again. “I'm glad they have a few tykes and
are sure...I always wanted a siblin' for Arie, but...she seems to have mostly
turned out alright, bit spoiled though...”
“It's not too late to
give her one, Mark.”
There was no malice or
anger in Jasina's voice when she said that, just pure thoughtfulness, looking
up at him with emotion-filled teal eyes. What would've happened had she
not run away and told him the truth? There was no way they could have
anymore children together because of what happened during Arielle's
birth. Did Mark suddenly forget that?
“You're still pretty
young, you could definitely find someone to have a child with.” It definitely
wasn't her, Arielle was her one and only, which both hurt and relieved Jasina
at the same time, her eyes turning back to stare into the fire.
“Oh hell Jas...” Mark
groaned, realizing what he had just said and,, more importantly, to who he had
said it, wondering if he was a total prick. “I shouldn't of said that, I-” He
took a deep breath, noticing that she didn't seem overly phased by his
callousness, but that could have been just a front she was putting up. “I
wanted her to have a brother or sister, but not just by any woman. I wanted it to be you and then when we found
out you couldn't have anymore, I just let it go. Yeah, I could’ve always had another child by
a different woman after the divorce, but it wouldn't of been the same. Besides, Arie was more than enough to handle. Two would have driven me into an early
grave.”
“Why are you doing this
to me?” Jasina stood up from the couch, shaking her head. “Y-You have no right
to say things like that to me, Mark.”
He wanted it to be
her. What the hell was that supposed to
mean? Why was he even dredging up
painful dashed hopes and dreams that she’d come to terms with long ago? She didn't and couldn't deal with the
emotional garbage he was throwing at her and had been every time they seemed
like they were getting along.
“I'm not kidding, what
the hell is wrong with you? You found out the day we had Arielle that I
couldn't have another baby. So why would you even say something like that
to me? Are you trying to purposefully hurt me? What do you think
you'll gain from telling me that you wanted another child with me and let it go
because you knew it couldn't happen. It would've never been the same
because it would've been impossible even if we did stay together!” Jasina
gritted her teeth and could feel the tears sting her eyes, clasping her hands
together. “I've moved on and I can't wait to get the hell out of here and away
from YOU!” She stormed out of the room and upstairs, not believing how
heartless her ex-husband could be, sniffling.
“Goddamn it!” Mark
cursed, slapping himself right in the middle of the forehead a bit harder then
he intended too, groaning in pain and hunched forward.
He hadn't meant it like
THAT. He had meant it as a sort of
compliment. You'd figure a woman would
be pleased to hear she was the only one a guy wanted to have his kids and since
she couldn't, he hadn't had kids at all...and he had totally messed up that
entire conversation with his fat mouth.
Mark used to be smooth and now he was...an idiot, a fumbling forgetful
idiot. He almost went to go apologize
then stopped, knowing now was probably not the time and any apology or
explanations he made towards her wouldn’t matter.
“What the HELL is wrong
with me?” He grumbled, suddenly needing a beer.
~!~
Personally, Mark wasn't
sure if sangria was his color, though since he kept his hair dyed and not the
natural red, there would be no clashing today.
He wore a tuxedo that had been especially tailored for his frame and it
was similar to Steve's, minus a few accessories and a slight variation in
cut. His undershirt was the sangria
color and so was his tie, though he sported a bit of gold in the form of a
white and gold silk handkerchief in his breast pocket. He also had a black vest over the sangria
shirt so the tie stood out.
Mark had trimmed his
goatee and mustache, even taking Arielle's suggestion for trimming his hair, cutting
only a few inches off, mostly dead ends anyway.
He had pulled his hair back into a neat pony tail in the center of the
back of his head and borrowed an old can of Arie's hairspray to ensure there
would be no flyaways. Gold watch,
cufflinks and he was good to go, he hoped anyway.
“Fuck, forgot the
shoes...” They were downstairs, Mark cursing under his breath as he headed down
to retrieve them.
Steve looked damn good
and Mark didn't hesitate to tell his friend the minute he seen him stepping
into the room reserved for the groom, knowing Jasina and Trish were somewhere
else in the building. “You clean up damn nice, Austin.”
“Not looking too bad yerself, Calaway.” Steve replied, adjusting his tie in the
mirror, wearing a suit very similar to Mark's except he had a gold vest on with
a gold tie, a white handkerchief with sangria trim in his jacket pocket. “Can't
believe we're finally gettin' married man, it seems like only yesterday we
met...”
Grinning, Mark walked
over to clamp a hand on his friend's shoulder. “About time you two made it
official, I worried ya might wait until you were old and gray.”
Steve snorted at that,
turning around. “Alright...Let's- you don't think she's going to get cold feet,
do you?”
“No, definitely not.” Given the seriousness Steve had put in that question,
Mark figured pointing out that Trish had invested way too much emotionally and
financially into this wedding ceremony to back out now. “She loves you, she's
not gonna get cold feet.”
~!~
The following morning,
Jasina was up and out the door before Mark could even bat an eyelash, not
wanting to run into him again. She was fully ready to delve into Trish's
wedding, refusing to let anything and anyone destroy her good mood. It
was Trish and Steve's day, nothing else mattered. John had texted her the
previous night wanting to know the time to meet her at the wedding and Jasina
gave him the time, hoping he had something that would pass under Trish's
approval radar.
The morning was full of
running around, getting nails done with rose petal colored tips and her hair
was done as well. Jasina refused to have any highlights put in her honey
chestnut locks, wanting to be natural and Trish had no problem with it.
It was swept up on top of her head in tons of spiral curls, a few tendrils
framing her face. Her makeup was natural tan and browns with pink
shimmering gloss.
Now she stood in front of
the mirror in the bridal suite of the chapel, smoothing down the front of the
dress. It was a sangria colored strapless satin A-line dress with a
pleated chiffon ruched bodice, the side draping over the stomach region.
The drape hung down the side of the dress, which added to the style.
A beautiful gold diamond
waterfall necklace dangled around her neck that matched her bracelet and small
diamond gold stud earrings. She didn't want anything too drastic and
slipped on her gold two inch open-toed heels that strapped up her calves, the
dress hiding them for the most part. All in all, she looked almost as
beautiful as the bride, admitting she was nothing compared to Trish.
Trish was radiant in her
wedding dress, which was a strapless A-line gown with beaded gold lace and had
a scalloped sweetheart neckline. It had a chapel train that had a gold
trim, her heels gold as well. She had a gold waterfall necklace on that
had little sangria colored stones in it along with matching earrings and a
bracelet, a sangria and gold clip in her brunette hair.
Trish definitely wasn't
traditional and wanted to incorporate her wedding colors in her dress, knowing
she did exactly that. Her hair was down in tons of loose curls with
natural browns for makeup, her lips painted a deep sangria, foundation hiding
any flaws. She looked absolutely stunning and Jasina knew as soon as
Steve saw her walk down the aisle, he would probably keel over from a heart
attack...especially since the wedding dress only went just to her knees and had
a gold lace hem, her legs too beautiful not to be shown.
“Are you ready for this?”
Jasina asked with a smile, fixing the train that hung down Trish's arms and
went just past her wedding stress, making sure she looked perfect.
“Born ready.”
“Steve isn't gonna be
able to keep his eyes off you.” Arielle beamed, standing in a simple strapless gold
satin dress with a sweetheart neckline and it was the same length as Jasina's
dress.
She had a sangria colored
sash around the waist for style and sangria jewelry, a simple necklace with
earrings and bracelet, sangria heels -special ordered- on her feet. The
rest of the bridesmaids looked exactly the same with their hair swept up like
Jasina's, the only hair being left down was Trish's. She walked over to
stand beside her mother, looking beautiful as ever and couldn't wait to see
what Gary looked like because he was one of Steve's groomsmen.
“I can't wait to see the
look on his face!!”
“I can't either.” Jasina looked up when a knock sounded at the door, plastering
on a smile at the sight of the Best Man.
“They're about ready to
start.” Mark announced, looking Jasina over with wide eyes.
He tried to remember the
last time he had seen her looking like this.
She had gone all out for Trish's wedding and looked stunning. He cleared his throat, looking to Arielle and
smiling at her, she looked just as beautiful as her mother. When his eyes finally landed on the bride, he
was speechless, his green eyes widening even more.
“Steve is a damn lucky
man, Trish.” He said finally, knowing Steve was probably going to lose his
marbles when he saw his bride.
Trish beamed with
sparkling white teeth, walking over to straighten Mark's tie a little. “Yes he
is.” She agreed, stepping back with a firm nod. “That's much better. It was a little crooked. You did very
well, Mark. Thank you so much for being patient with me through this
fiasco.”
“Wow Dad, glad to see you took my advice with the hair.” Arielle grinned,
walking over next to kiss her father on the cheek. “You look very handsome,
doesn't he Mom?”
“Yes he does.” Jasina had to take a drink of water before answering because her
throat suddenly became extremely dry, not wanting to sound hoarse when
speaking. “We'll be out in just a minute. Tell Steve not to faint until
AFTER the ceremony, please.”
“I think Gary might've
slipped him some whiskey into his drink to calm his nerves.” Mark said, bending
down so only Jasina could hear him.
Pretty sure Trish would
blow a fuse if she thought they were getting started on the reception
early. It wasn't that they were trying
to get Steve drunk so much as calm him a bit since the man had begun pacing
back and forth. Openly discussing every
aspect of his and Trish's life together so far and if Trish would still want
him once they were married. Steve had
been driving himself and everyone else crazy.
“Speakin' of, I got to
get back and make sure his breath is minty fresh. Five minutes and then we're walkin' down the
aisle.”
Jasina nodded, locking
eyes with him briefly and watched him walk out the door, exhaling slowly.
She immediately snapped out of it, even though Mark left a lingering scent of
his cologne in the air, which made her briefly heady. She nodded at Trish's sister, Margaret, and
her fourth bridesmaid, Michelle, LaShonna being in the group too. There
were four bridesmaids and a Matron of Honor, four groomsmen and a Best
Man. They all filed out of the bridal suite with Trish being last of
course, heading toward the entrance of the chapel, the doors shut so Steve
couldn't see his bride.
Chapter 21
John couldn't believe
that he had nearly been late for the wedding, knowing that wouldn't have made a
very good impression on Jasina's friends.
Not to mention after all the stories Arielle and Gary had wickedly
poured down his ear, he figured Trish might injure him severely. Though if he could sneak in without anyone
seeing him, as long as the wedding hadn’t started, John would be in safe haven,
thankful when he arrived the wedding was just about ready to commence.
“Sorry man.” He grunted
when he walked into another guy, frowning when he had to look up. This guy was in the groom’s party, that much
was obvious.
“Don't worry about it.” Mark said, waving him off. “Ya here for the weddin'?”
“Yeah, I'm not, um, late am I?”
“Nope, just go through them doors down there and grab a seat, if there are any
left.”
John nodded and headed in
the direction the man pointed, breathing a huge sigh of relief and didn’t
notice the door to the bridal suite open as the women began filing out.
“Mom, is John here?”
Arielle quietly whispered, not having spotted him when she walked out to go to
the bathroom, the bridal suite not accompanied with one.
“He should be, yes.
I haven't seen him yet.” Jasina murmured back, having told Trish that she had a
date for the wedding and nothing more than that. It was better that way.
“Did Gary...?”
“I told him if he uttered a word, he wouldn't have any balls in the morning.”
Jasina nodded and
couldn't help chuckling, all women turning to face the groomsmen as they began
pairing up. Arielle blushed at the way Gary looked at her while Margaret
had her own husband to walk down the aisle with. LaShonna had her
husband, which was a very good friend of Steve's, and that left just Jasina and
Mark standing staring at each other. When Mark extended his arm, Jasina
accepted it as she looped hers through his, standing in the far back since the
Matron of Honor and Best Man walked out after the bridesmaids and groomsmen.
“Did you manage to make
Steve's breath minty fresh?” Jasina murmured to him, staring straight ahead.
“He damn near swallowed a
bottle of Scope, which probably has more alcohol in it than the shot of whiskey
did.” Mark murmured back, his eyes also straight ahead though he had a smile on
his face. “Arie looks gorgeous, you know she's going to want a weddin' of her
own now, right?” He was only half-joking, having seen the way Arielle had
watched Trish handle everything and then today she had actually called it all
romantic.
John's eyes were fastened
on Jasina, wanting to let loose with a catcall or a whistle, but
refrained. He did notice that her
ex-husband -The Best Man, best friend of the groom, he had remembered- was also
the guy he had bumped into. Apparently,
Jasina hadn’t told Mark about him or else his brains probably would’ve been
splattered on the ground and walls of the building. Then again, John wasn’t exactly a small man
and could probably take her ex…maybe.
“Whatever she wants,
we'll give her.”
Jasina slowly made her
way down the aisle with Mark, the conversation cut short as they moved
flawlessly together. The dress flowed with each step she took and Jasina
couldn't help letting tears fill her eyes at the thought of her baby girl
getting married. Then she saw the look on Steve's face, the sheer love
shining in his blue eyes and knew without a shadow of a doubt that Trish was
his soul mate.
Releasing Mark's arm once
they arrived at the front, each took their rightful places, Steve never taking
his eyes from Trish for a second. Jasina wiped away a tear while holding
her bouquet of sangria colored roses with gold glitter on them, seeing the
brilliant smile on her best friend's face.
She hoped one day she had the same experience with her soul mate,
suddenly remembering her wedding with Mark and how beautiful it had been.
Mark could not believe
the way Steve and Trish looked, wondering if they had always stared at each
other this way and maybe he had missed it or was used to it so much that it
took an event like their wedding to make him recognize it. Either way, he could tell that no matter how
much they may have squabbled or argued over who wore the pants in the family,
they genuinely loved each other. He felt
a pang in his chest, knowing he was jealous of them and what they had.
Jasina felt the exact
same way, watching and hearing the beautiful vows they wrote for each
other. Trish had someone from the office help Steve with his, but she
knew it was ninety-nine percent from his heart. Jasina clapped loudly
along with everyone else when they were finally pronounced husband and
wife.
Steve actually dipped
Trish to passionately kiss her, making everyone laughing softly and cheer for
them. They headed down the aisle together as husband and wife, the bridal
party following suit with everyone throwing gold rice at them. There was
a huge black stretch hummer limo waiting for the entire bridal party, which
Jasina told John about, so he would simply meet her at the reception as they
all piled in carefully, not wanting to muse anything.
“You know Dad, don't even
think about peelin' that tie off cause there's pictures next once we get
there.” Arielle said when it looked like Mark was about to loosen up his
clothing, her eyes sparkling wickedly.
“Darlin'...”
“Would you help pay for my wedding?” Arielle asked out of the blue.
“Wait- what?” Gary blinked, wondering where THAT came from.
“Yeah, what- wait a minute, you don't want to marry her?” Mark narrowed his
eyes slightly at the boy.
“O-Of course I do, I just want to get to ask the question before she starts hitting
you up to pay for anything.” Gary clarified, folding his arms in front of his
chest.
“Might as well ask her
now because she's been wanting to marry you for quite some time, Gary.” Jasina
winked when Gary blushed, giggling softly and was stuck sitting next to Mark
the entire way to the reception.
“Calaway, don't even THINK about touching that tie.” Trish ordered gravely,
brown eyes narrowed.
Jasina full out laughed
when Mark's hands instantly dropped, accepting a glass of champagne, being
careful not to spill.
Trish beamed, everyone toasting her and Steve on their marriage.
“Told ya, Daddy.” Arielle whispered, grinning before turning to Gary. “If you
even THINK about proposin' to me today, I will gut you.” Arielle informed Gary
sweetly, under her breath so nobody else could hear.
Today was about Trish and
Steve, not them.
“Sweetheart, when I propose to you, it will definitely not be in front of your
parents.” Gary assured her.
“Did you ask them?” Trish asked her husband quietly.
“I thought you did?” When Trish shook her head, the newly married couple smiled
sweetly at their respective best friends. “We need babysitters.” Steve
announced without preamble.
“Preferably you both since Mark has more experience with babies and Jas, you're
great with Stevie.”
“Not to mention if Mark tries to let him stay up late or something...you'd stop
that damn quick.” Steve added helpfully.
Mark arched an eyebrow
slowly.
“It would mean so much to us...” Trish batted her eyelashes at him.
Jasina still hadn't told
Trish about finding a new place to live, not wanting to take any focus off of
the bride this week, and slowly looked up at Mark with wide teal eyes.
Just looking into Trish's pleading brown eyes was enough to make Jasina nod,
without even discussing it with Mark.
She would have to change her moving arrangements.
“We'd love to...” She
ignored the looks that both Gary and Arielle shot her, keeping her smile on
when Trish squealed while Steve shook Mark's hand.
What the hell was she
supposed to do?
Say no to the beautiful
pleading bride and groom?
“Great!! We have a list and their things...and for
Emily, she has a rash and-” Steve shut up when he realized Mark was staring at
him like he had lost his mind. “Sorry, I know you raised a girl, but...she's MY
baby girl.”
“Hey now! He did a really good job on me!” Arielle
defended.
“And your Mom did a great job at polishing you up into becoming a woman instead
of just a tomboy.” Trish teased gently, laughing when Arielle nodded her
agreement. “They're both great parents.”
It was everything else
they sucked at.
“I'll make sure Emily and
Stevie are well taken care of, Steve. So will Mark.”
They were great parents
together, but when it came to a relationship, there was a lot of complications
and...Jasina suddenly found herself delving into the past again, immediately
stopping when the limo came to a halt. Everyone piled out, Jasina taking
the list from Steve and kissed his cheek, wearing smear-free lipstick so there
was no mark left behind and then hugged Trish gently. They snapped what
seemed like a gazillion photos before finally heading into the hall, the bridal
party announced.
When it was Mark and
Jasina's turn to be announced, she didn't take his arm and simply walked out
when their names were called, waving to everyone before immediately heading in
the direction of John. Trish and Steve
were next as they waltzed into the room, the spotlight on them. They took their rightful place at the head
table, the room decorated in sangria and gold and looked absolutely exquisite.
John had followed
everyone to the reception, glad for the line of traffic to follow. It meant he wouldn't get lost. Not to mention he knew absolutely NO ONE here
besides Arielle, Gary and Jasina. He
knew Mark by sight now and obviously the couple with the spotlight on them and
in the obvious wedding clothes were Trish and Steve. When he seen Jasina heading towards him, he
smiled in relief and went to greet her.
He hesitated at taking her in his arms, wondering if that was a good
idea with her ex-husband lurking around.
“Probably not a good idea
to kiss you, is it?” John asked with a half-grin.
“Why wouldn't it be?”
Jasina replied, confused. “The photos are done and I owe you something for
looking as dashing as you do.” She smirked when John blew on his knuckle and
brushed his shoulder, giggling at how cute he was. He wore a simple black
suit with a dark blue dress shirt beneath, which brought out his sky blue eyes
nicely. “Come here.” She pulled him down for a soft kiss, making sure not to
muse up her look and sat down when he pulled out his chair for her. “Such a
gentleman, who would've thought?” She joked, laughing when he scoffed and
nodded at a waiter who came over with a tray full of different wines and
champagne, taking a glass of wine while John already had a beer in front of
him, barely touching it.
“Now you know for a fact,
I'm more hood rat than gentlemen.” John teased, nodding when Arielle waved at
him from where she and Gary were watching the dancing couple. “She looks
excited, first time being part of the wedding ceremony?” When Jasina nodded and
smiled quizzically at him, he shrugged. “I have three younger brothers and one
older, all married. I've been to several
weddings.” He took a sip of his beer, his eyes yet again appraising her
appreciatively. “And you are definitely the finest Matron of Honor I have ever
seen.”
Jasina blushed while
sipping her wine and placed her hand on his thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“Thanks, you clean up nice yourself, Cena.”
She winked teasingly,
accepting another soft kiss from him and leaned her head on his shoulder while
they made idle chatter. Arielle and Gary walked over to join them at the
table along with LaShonna and Henry, everyone wanting to know who Jasina's new
flame was. She introduced him as a friend, hoping John didn't mind that,
and was glad he didn't considering they were simply sexing it up with no
strings attached.
“Damn girl, where do you find these hunks?”
“Not sure.”
“Hunks, what am I?” Henry
teased, pretending to be put out and laughed when LaShonna gently nudged him in
the ribs with her elbow.
“You are my incredibly handsome husband, no hunk holds a candle to you.”
All John could do was
stare and listen to them, amusement written plainly all over his face. “She met
me in a bar.”
“That suddenly explains a lot.” Henry teased, winking at Jasina.
Jasina rolled her eyes,
knowing it was ironic since she'd met Randy and Mark in bars before engaging in
relationships with them. “Keep it up, Henry.” She never noticed Mark’s eyes
hadn’t left her.
“Will ya stop starin' and
just go over there?” Steve demanded, staring over at his Best Man, who was
brooding with a glass of beer in front of him. “Just ask her to dance.”
Trish had no idea who
Jasina was bringing for a date, thinking it would be someone from the office
and felt a little betrayed that Jasina hadn't told her about her new flame.
“What's his name anyway?”
“No idea, nobody knows him here.”
“Well, I think I'll just
go over and introduce myself.” The bride was already on her way over, Steve
following suit along with a reluctant Mark.
When John saw the bride,
groom and the Best Man coming their way, two out of three wearing stony
expressions, he knew he was going to be wearing a smile a bit harder than
usual. When Trish reached the table, he
automatically stood up. LaShonna bit her
lower lip nervously, glancing at Mark and then back to Henry, who was just
stepping away to let everyone else by.
Taking a cue from her husband, she waved at Jasina and retreated as
well.
“I'm Trish Austin, and this is my husband Steve, we're friends of Jasina's.”
She introduced politely, the smile never leaving her lips as his blue eyes
darted between her, Mark and Steve. The
poor guy probably felt like he was being ganged up on. “You must be
Jasina's...date?”
Jasina stood up along
with John, smiling softly and watched as John nodded, shaking Trish's hand.
“He's a friend of mine.” She clarified, placing a hand on John's and winked
when he simply looked back at her with those understanding blue eyes, staring
straight at Trish.
“A friend?” Trish tried not to sound condescending, but just the way Jasina
kissed John, it was obvious they were more than 'friends'. “Well thank you for
coming to my wedding, John. Tell me, how did you two meet?”
“Emerald City.” Jasina answered before he could. “He's in town to look for a
friend, but he lives in Boston.”
While Trish decided to
make small talk with John, obviously rooting for more information that what
either John or Jasina was willing to come forward with, Mark was getting bored
with the whole thing. He recognized John
as the guy he had run into right before the wedding and half-wished he had sent
the guy in the opposite direction.
Mostly because Trish was convinced that he was more than Jasina's friend
and Mark didn't like admitting that Trish was usually spot on about those kind
of things. Reaching out towards Jasina
with an open hand, he flashed her a charming grin.
“Darlin', feel like
dancing with the Best Man?” He asked in a slow drawl, extending his hand.
“Oh, then the photographs can get some pictures of you on the dance floor!”
Trish squealed with delight.
It was almost like Trish
was on his side.
Chapter 22
“Sure.”
Jasina knew what Mark was
doing and kept the smile on her face, even though it didn't reach her eyes,
slipping her hand into his as he guided her to the dance floor. Just as
his arm looped around her waist, ‘Four Seasons of Loneliness’ by Boyz II Men
came floating out of the speakers. It
was one of Jasina's favorites and she wondered if it was coincidental.
“I know what you're
doing, Calaway.” She murmured softly, reaching up to grip his arm lightly while
he took her other hand, their eyes meeting as they began dancing, the song
speaking volumes of its own.
His luminescent green
eyes were innocent as he stared down at her. “Dancin' with the Matron of
Honor?” Mark asked, the corner of his mouth quirking in just the barest hint of
a grin, the grin fading as he began listening to the song.
More specifically, the
words of the song.
Part of Jasina wanted to
run as far away from this dance as possible, but the more she listened to the
song, the more it told her and Mark's story. He had tried so hard to be
there for her during the hard months after Randy's death. Jasina thought
at first he was doing it to reap the benefits and take advantage of her
vulnerability, which is why she fought so hard against it.
Teasing him was very
wrong, Jasina didn't even know why she did it other than to get a rise out of
him purposefully or maybe she did it for a different reason. Maybe she
was hoping deep down that he still held some kind of feeling for her and he did
because of that simple kiss in the kitchen those months ago. Jasina
finally knew why she'd been so adamant about finding her own place to live and
it was because she was afraid of falling in love with Mark again, falling in
love again period.
Trish had turned her
attention from John and was now watching the pair dance, sighing softly as she
took them in. “You know who it should be out there?” She murmured, all too
easily picturing another man with Jasina in his arms.
“Who?” Steve asked his
newlywed bride and frowned when a few tears slipped down her cheeks, reaching
over to wipe them away.
Arielle sniffled a little
because she knew exactly who Trish referred to, feeling Gary's arm wrap around
her shoulders, comforting her.
“Randy Orton.”
John had been watching
Jasina and Mark dance thoughtfully, only half-listening to the conversation
from the newlyweds, Gary and Arielle, idly wondering if Trish had a problem
with him or something. His attention was
fully on Gary though, standing up from the table so fast his chair fell
backward. They did not just mention his
friend, the guy he’d been searching for since coming to Houston…had they?
“Did you say Randy
Orton?” John demanded, almost smiling with relief when Gary nodded. “Man, I've been
looking for him for a LONG time and he's been under my nose? You guys know him?”
“Um...we...knew him…”
John didn't catch the
past tense, shaking his head at his own dumbass self. He could have asked Jasina any time if she
knew a Randy Orton and hadn't, not even thinking about it. Why would she know him? Showed what he knew.
“Wait Jas and Randy are a
thing?” John demanded, blue eyes wide. “Were a thing?”
Arielle's eyes were
getting wider and wider, swallowing hard.
Trish swallowed hard,
remembering Jasina saying that John was here to look for a friend and looked
over at her newlywed husband, more tears filling her brown eyes. “Oh my god...”
“He doesn't know.”
Arielle couldn't even
speak, knowing her mother was about to get a rude awakening, her parents
dancing no longer the center of attention. “Uhhh...”
Steve wondered what the hell they were supposed to say to John, sorrow filling
his blue eyes, clearing his throat. “Come with me, son.” He stood up from the
table, which caught Mark's eye and John went with him outside of the reception
hall.
Trish locked eyes with
Mark, silently telling him not to let Jasina out of his sight until John
returned, covering her mouth with her hand. “He knew Randy...and it sounds like
it was personal...” She hoped Steve broke the news gently to John, excusing
herself to use the restroom to clean herself up.
“Mark, what's wrong?”
Jasina asked, looking up at him and had noticed a worried expression cross his
face.
“Nothin' darlin'.”
Mark smiled down at her,
unsure of what the hell was going on over there but from the looks of it,
nothing pleasant. He had seen Steve take
John off and away, knowing from the incredibly sad look on his friend's face
that it wasn't for a beat-down or a game of twenty-one questions. He could not think of anything that would
pierce the happiness of this day for Steve or Trish unless someone had
died. But all their friends and family
were here and this somehow involved John.
“You're lying to me.” She
didn't stop dancing with him though, refusing to be rude and cause a scene at
Trish and Steve's wedding, eyes narrowing slightly. “I can tell when you're
lying to me. I know you better than you know yourself. What's going
on?” Jasina turned her head briefly when Mark twirled her, noticing Arielle and
Gary were alone at the table, wondering where John had gone.
“Darlin', if I had any
idea, I would tell you, as it stands, my honest answer is: Nothin'.”
Mark had no idea what was
happening, therefore he could say nothing and mean it, pulling her back against
him. He frowned when he saw Arielle
gesturing towards the reception hall. He
cleared the frown quickly, not wanting to upset Jasina anymore; she seemed to
already be getting....peaky. As soon as
the song was over with, she was going in search for John, knowing Trish and
Steve must've said something to him to make him leave, frowning.
Don’t go too deep into
the flood
Don’t wade too long,
you’ll poison my love
Don’t shut me out, don’t
hold it all in
Don’t let my venom get
under your skin
Steve had no idea how to
even begin other than blurting it out, taking a long, deep breath. Very carefully and slowly, Steve began
explaining what happened to Randy.
Including his involvement with Jasina and how their relationship came
crashing down because of the plane crash.
It was very hard for Steve to relive and reiterate, but John deserved
that much considering how far he’d come to find his friend.
“There were no survivors,
son...I'm so sorry. We tried contactin' everyone and anyone who knew
Randy, but the man didn't give us much to go on.” Steve explained solemnly. “He
never once mentioned you or we would've contacted you immediately.”
“I would have KNOWN if
something happened to Randy, we were practically family.” John said after a
long moment of silence, his blue eyes impossibly large, his face pale. “You
must...you must have the wrong Randy Orton.
My buddy was about this high with brown hair and-” He trailed off when
Steve began shaking his head, his hand, which was now in the air, demonstrating
the height, beginning to shake.
Steve nodded solemnly,
placing a heavy hand on John's shoulder, feeling the man's body trembling
violently. “He was an undercover investigator for the local newspaper here in
Houston. He worked for my wife, Trish. He had blue eyes, stood over
six foot tall and...Jasina was in a relationship with him for four
months. They loved each other deeply. Randy took a trip overseas to
Australia and ended up in a plane crash.” Steve had to reiterate the awful
memory because John wasn't understanding, seeing the tears suddenly burn in
John's eyes. “His grave is in the local cemetery here in town.”
‘Cause every word and
every turn
Every sign points to your
hurt
With every hour you’re
drifting further away
Come make your peace,
come find your way
Come lay your wreath at
the altar of change
Don’t lose your step,
don’t break the bones
Don’t shoulder your
burden out there on your own
John snorted at that, not
bothering to hide the tears that were flooding his eyes and down his cheeks,
not ashamed of crying. Randy had been
his best friend since college. Yes, they
hadn't seen so much of each other over the past few years due to Randy's
constant traveling and John flying back and forth from LA to Boston for talks
of expanding his gym and fitness programs.
However, every month at least, they spoke at least once and now, it had
never crossed John's mind Randy might be dead.
Not Randy.
“His ashes you mean?”
John demanded bitterly, struggling to fight down the pain, the panic, the
overwhelming sadness that was threatening to engulf him.
Steve could only nod,
removing his hand from John's shoulder, seeing how truly broken up the man was
over Randy's death. “I'm gonna head back inside, give ya sometime by yerself,
son. I really am sorry...He was a really good man and Jasina loved him a
lot.” He left John with those thoughts and headed back inside the reception to
be with his wife, stopping when Jasina came flying at him and stopped her.
“Honey, you don't want to go out there right now.”
“Where's John?” Jasina demanded, yanking her arm out of Steve's grasp angrily,
having ran away from Mark as soon as the dance ended. “I don't know who the
hell-”
“Jasina, listen to me.” Steve ordered in a plea, his tone of voice grave, which
immediately shocked her out of her anger. “John was searchin' for his friend,
Randy...Orton.”
Jasina paled instantly
and felt her eyes nearly bug out of her head, staring at Steve bewildered. “W-What?”
“Jas...John was here
lookin' for a friend and that friend was....it was Randy.” Steve said gently,
reaching out to steady her when it looked like she was about to fall heads over
heels from shock. “He overheard us talkin' about Randy and...Well...he didn't
know.”
Steve knew he probably
wasn't the right person to have told John all this, but he didn't want a bit
scene either, this was a wedding. His
wedding. Trish's wedding.
Jasina couldn't believe
what Steve was telling her, tears filling her eyes. John was looking for
HER Randy the whole time they were screwing around and having sex? Randy
and John were best friends; John had missed Randy's funeral services and
everything because Randy hadn't told anyone about his family and friends,
including John. He never once mentioned a John Cena or else Jasina
would've contacted him immediately for Randy's services.
“I-I didn't know...”
Jasina stammered out, blinking as huge tears slid down her face, seeing all the
sorrow in Steve's eyes. “Go back to your wedding reception, Steve. I'll
find him. This is your big day, don't let this ruin it.” She had to be
the stronger person, wiping her tears away without musing her makeup too much
and headed out to find John.
Mark arched an eyebrow at
Steve when he seen Jasina taking off, having also seen her doing something to
her face, frowning slightly. He wanted
to ask his friend just what the hell was going on, but refrained because Steve
looked troubled enough and this was a wedding, Steve and Trish' wedding. They didn't need to look anything except
happy. Instead, he went for Arielle,
since she was also sporting a stunned expression.
John was sitting on the
ground with his back against the building, his knees drawn up and his face
buried in his hands, not caring who seen him crying.
‘Cause every word and
every turn
Every sign points to your
hurt
With every hour you’re
drifting further away
Don’t banish me then bid
me home
Don’t tell me where I
came undone
Don’t harbor love like
it’s all your own
Don’t linger over what
you’ve done
Don’t sink underneath the
weight of when you’re trying to carry way too much
When she found John,
Jasina didn't go to him right away, not exactly sure what to say to him.
How was she supposed to know the Randy he was referring to was the same one she
had a four month relationship with and still grieved for on occasion?
Jasina took her heels off and set them on the grass before making her way
toward a crying John Cena, her heart breaking at the sight and could already feel
tears falling of her own.
“I'm sorry, John.” She
finally murmured, watching his head slowly lift as tear-filled blue eyes met
sorrow-filled teal.
“You knew him...all this
time, he was your dead boyfriend...” John whispered raggedly, not bothering to brush
away the tears that flowed down his face, knowing it wouldn’t do any good as he
would only cry even more. “And I never once thought of asking you if you might
know him...”
Staring at her, he
realized full on that this was the woman Randy had loved. The one he had said he was going to marry in
one of their previous phone calls. John
had never even known her name because Randy had teased him mercilessly with it,
telling him to come meet her and find out himself. He had always put it off or something had
come up. This was HER and John had been
running around with her having one hell of a time.
Now he was paying for it.
“I know...” She lowered
her eyes from his and closed them briefly, knowing Randy hated them both at
that moment.
No, he was dead. He
was nothing more than a spirit and spirits didn't have emotions. Jasina
slowly moved until she was kneeling before John on the grass, scooting between
his legs and wiped his tears away with the pad of her thumbs.
“I'm sorry, John.
Randy never once mentioned anything about you because if he had, I would've
called you the second I found out about the plane crash.” Jasina sniffled,
trying to stay strong. “Even if I did know you were a part of Randy's
life...what we've been doing...I wouldn't change it, John. I wouldn't
change it for anything because...he's gone and I've had a great time with
you. I'll understand if you regret it because Randy was your best
friend...”
“No...I don't regret
it...it's...I don't know...”
John looked away from
her, struggling to understand what he was feeling besides the overwhelming
grief, and maybe even a hint of guilt.
Definitely guilt. He knew Randy
well enough to know that his friend wouldn't have wanted either him or Jasina
to grieve or feel bad for what had happened between them, but that didn't stop
him from feeling that way regardless.
“He loved you, really
loved you...and I knew about it. I
mean...I didn't know who you were at the time, but...he wanted to marry you,
Jasina...and we-” He shook his head, knowing dimly that this wasn't the time to
spill everything he was thinking because a lot of it was grief-induced.
“Don't say anything else,
please.” Jasina held her hand up to stop John from opening his mouth, taking a
deep breath, knowing this was the end of their fling. He found his friend
and now it was time for him to go back to Boston while she stayed here to once
again pick up the pieces of her abused heart. “I understand perfectly.” She
leaned forward, brushing her lips against his without preamble and pulled back
to stand up in front of him. “The cemetery is about fifteen minutes from here,
if you want to visit his grave. It's near the back with a huge black and
green mixed tombstone. Take care of yourself, John.”
That was her way of
saying goodbye.
And you never should have
let go
You could have joined in
the whole show
I never should have let
go
You never should have let
go
‘Cause every word and
every turn
Every sign points to your
hurt
With every hour you’re
drifting further away
Now you’re drifting
further away
‘Cause you’re drifting
further away
And you’re drifting
further away
Jasina watched him slowly
nod, cracking a hesitant smile before turning and heading back inside, picking
her heels up in the process. John
watched her walk away and knew he should probably stop her, say something to
let her know he wasn't trying to say goodbye, but...he couldn't. Everything was still too fresh and, honestly,
he needed to be alone right now.
Pushing himself to his
feet, John stuffed his hands in the pockets of his slacks and headed for the
parking lot. Eventually he would see her
again, maybe, and then they could try this conversation again. But he was hurting and had a feeling that
learning who he was in relation to Randy had hurt her all over again.
Chapter 23
After stopping in the
bathroom to fix herself up the best she could, Jasina finally made her way back
into the reception hall, sighing when Trish instantly came up to her, managing
to put a smile on her face. “I'm alright.” She said before the question could
even pop out of her mouth. “Sorry about that, honey.”
“What happened? Where is he?”
“Gone.” That smile never left, though Jasina felt like crawling in a hole and
never coming out again, but refused to ruin her best friend's wedding day.
“Let's talk about it later, okay? This is your wedding day, it's supposed
to be a celebration.”
Trish frowned when Jasina
merely hugged her and headed back to the table, watching her just as Steve
walked up to ask her to dance. “Do you think she'll be okay Stevie?” She asked
quietly while they swayed together, staring into his blue eyes.
“Only time will tell, honey.”
Arielle had sent both her
Dad and Gary packing with a threat that involved Trish's sisters and one of the
female guests, who had a bit too much to drink already, and a well spun story
that would definitely get both men on Trish's shit list. Once they had taken the hint and gone away to
brood and glare at her, Arielle made her way to her mom. Seeing the way too bright smile on her
mother's face didn’t fool her for a second.
“Mom, is everything
okay?” She asked slowly, already knowing everything wasn't.
“Let's talk about it
later, Arie.” Jasina softly requested, taking a glass of champagne off a
server's tray that passed her, sipping it gently. “I don't want to ruin Trish
and Steve's big day with meaningless personal stuff.” She sat down at the table
with Arielle still looking worried, winking to assure her everything was fine.
“Where's John?”
“Gone.” Jasina drained her champagne, knowing later on she would more than
likely cry herself to sleep.
“Mom, is it really a good
idea for him to be...out right now?” Arielle asked slowly, knowing Jasina had
basically told her to drop the subject for now and ignored it. “I mean he gets
lost all the time, even with a GPS and he's probably-” She shut up when she
realized she was probably going to make things worse for her mother, which
meant ruining whatever composure Jasina had left. “I'm going to go over
there...with- Hi Dad, I thought I told you to go away?”
“Darlin’, you go away.” Mark shot back, nodding when Arielle glanced worriedly
at Jasina and set down in Arielle's chair once she had vacated.
“I don't want to talk
about it.” Jasina didn't look at Mark when she said that, keeping her eyes
focused on the dance floor, just wanting to enjoy what was left of the
reception. “I'll talk about it later, but not at our best friends' wedding.”
If Mark so much as
uttered the names John or Randy, she would go to another table away from him,
not about to walk out of the reception. When another server passed by
with a tray full of alcohol, Jasina opted for the sangria wine, taking her time
with it. Nodding, Mark let her take one
sip of her wine before plucking the flute from her hand and setting it down on
the table. Ignoring the look Jasina shot
him, he stood up and took her hand, pulling her up with him.
“Come on darlin', put on
your best happy face and at least pretend to have a good time.” Mark tried
persuading, pulling her out towards the dance floor. If it was a slow song, he could dance and
since she obviously needed a distraction, what better way to do it? “Come on
Jas, one dance.” He coaxed when she appeared a bit reluctant.
“You already had a
dance.” Jasina reminded him, though she knew what Mark was doing.
Deciding it couldn't hurt
to dance again with her ex-husband and the Best Man, Jasina slipped her hand
into Mark’s. He was also stopping her from drinking, which both annoyed
and relieved Jasina all at once. She sighed when another good song began
floating through the speakers, Mark leading the way as he swept her across the
dance floor along with the other guests.
Arielle and Gary joined them moments later.
“So what if I already had
a dance, there a rule sayin' there's a limit?” Mark teased gently.
“I suppose not.” Jasina
admitted softly, enjoying the feeling of being in his arms and immediately
pushed those thoughts away. After the
John disaster, Jasina wondered if maybe she was meant to be alone since every
attempt at having a boyfriend backfired.
Hell, John wasn't even her boyfriend and THAT even backfired!! “So, what
do you think of us being a team for the week with Emily and Little Stevie?” She
asked just as Mark twirled her, pulling her back into his arms.
“So long as you don't try
to tell me how to handle a baby, I think we'll get along just fine.”
Mark was only half-joking
because a lot of women still liked to heckle him about his methods. Even though, as far as he was concerned,
Arielle had turned out just fine, a bit mouthy, but given who her parents
were...that was to be expected. Not to
mention, Jasina had been there for the later years, thank God, so Arielle had
definitely turned out better than anticipated.
“We'll be fine, darlin',
it'll do us some good to have munchkins around.”
“I hate to burst your
bubble, but I am still moving into my new place tomorrow. I tried calling
to reschedule the move in date, but my realtor couldn't do it. If I don't
move in, I'll have to give up my house and lose my deposit.” That wasn't
happening, not after how long it took her to find it. “So you'll have to keep
the kids for at least a few days so I can get my things moved from the ranch to
my new place.”
Trish and Steve had
totally sprung this on her and if Mark couldn't help her out, then she would
simply hire someone or tell her friends to find someone else. For once,
Jasina was thinking of herself instead of everyone else around her, needing to
get away from the ranch and any memories she had with her exes. If that bothered him, Mark didn't show it,
simply shrugging his massive shoulders while never missing a step of the dance.
“That's fine, take all
the time you need.”
Mark wasn't a complete
idiot when it came to children and decided right then and there to not mention
this to Steve or Trish since they would probably flip out. Then again, that sucked to be them, springing
this at the last minute. However, they
would also owe him and Jasina because this was a major deal to dump on someone
with only a few hours notice.
“Thank you, Mark.” Jasina
smiled genuinely up at him, not able to wait to move out of the ranch. “I have
a moving truck coming at nine AM tomorrow with movers who will take care of
everything. I have several stops to make on the way to the house because
I bought all new furniture for my new place.” She explained, actually sounding
happy about the move and knew Mark would be busy with an infant little girl and
a boy toddler. “I'm sure they'll enjoy spending quality time with their Uncle
Marky.”
“Emily thinks pullin' my
hair is the best thing ever and Stevie is going to learn how to drive a hammer
and nails.” Mark's green eyes lit up at the thought, envisioning giving the boy
a small hammer to bang things with at home, which would in turn drive his best
friend and new wife right up a wall. “Yeah...we're going to have a damn good
time. The kids and I will stay outside
in the mornin' to keep out of the way.”
Jasina could see the evil
glint in Mark's eyes and knew he would purposefully show the kids ways of
making their parents' lives miserable. When the dance ended and another
song began, Jasina just kept dancing with Mark, both of them making small talk
about what the next week involved. It was time for the cake cutting and
Jasina laughed when Trish shoved cake in Steve's face after he smashed some in
hers lightly. Once everyone had a slice, it was time for Trish to toss
the bouquet, all the women gathered around...only for Jasina to catch it, her
eyes widening slightly.
She hadn't even tried
catching it, the flowers simply landed in her hands and Jasina immediately
flashed a smile when cheering followed. Then it was Steve's turn to toss
Trish's sangria colored garter, delving his bald head beneath the dress and
pulled it off with his teeth, hearing cat calls and whistles behind him.
He then tossed it over his shoulder, wiggling his pale eyebrows at Trish and
chuckled when she gave him a heated look that promised naughty things to happen
on their wedding night.
Arielle began giggling
when the garter landed right on her Dad's shoulder and then onto Gary's head,
since they were standing shoulder to shoulder away from the men and yet...
“Nice throw Steve!”
Mark was staring down at
his future-son-in-law, smirking. “You're next.”
“Jasina caught the flowers and it hit YOUR head...” Gary muttered, blushing
when he got whistled at, pulling the garter off his hair.
Jasina giggled softly at
Gary, kissing the top of his head while she went off to laugh with Arielle,
both of them finding it amusing. The rest of the reception was great with
great memories and moving moments. Trish and Steve took off for their
honeymoon, Steve thrusting a list at Mark quickly about what to do regarding
their children, before slipping into the limo that would take them to the
airport. Jasina promised Trish that everything would be fine with her
children, knowing the woman would worry anyway.
Once they were gone,
Jasina decided to call it a night and headed out of the reception with the rest
of the bridal party. The hummer limo took them back to the chapel, where
all of their cars were waiting. Jasina headed back to the ranch first and
finally let the few tears slip down her cheeks, looking over at the passenger
seat where the beautiful gold and sangria colored bouquet lay, wondering what
kind of message the universe was trying to send her.
Mark was going to KILL
Steve and Trish for this.
The idiots had packed
bags for their kids, which was great.
However, he had no place for Emily to sleep and he hadn't even thought
about that until he was inside his ranch.
With Emily in one arm, little Stevie draped over his shoulder, Mark had
several bags and a pink diaper bag hanging from his forearms.
“Christ...” He muttered,
managing to kick the door closed behind him with his foot.
Finally deciding that he
was just going to make JR up a bed on the loveseat, Mark was sleeping on the
couch with Emily on his chest. He'd get
her a play pen -or whatever they were called these days- in the morning. Jasina had stopped at the store, knowing Mark
didn't have anything for Emily, and walked through the door about an hour
later, carrying a pack-n-play. She walked into the living room, seeing
Mark was settling down on the couch with Emily, still in her Matron of Honor
gown and began setting it up while Mark simply stared at her with wide green
eyes.
“I figured you'd gotten
rid of Arielle's baby furniture, so I stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up this.”
Jasina said, looking at him. “It's a playpen, but it comes with an attached
bassinet and changing table. It’s called a pack-n-play.”
Mark groaned softly,
watching her and then arched an eyebrow. “What the hell does it need all that
for?”
It looked like a playpen
only with a mini table on top and a scooped soft bucket. When Jasina tried pulling the now sleeping
Emily off his chest, he had to bite his lip when Emily latched onto his now
loose hair. He didn’t want to wake
either her or Stevie.
“Here.” Mark grunted, reaching
up to begin the untangling process, remembering how Arielle used to do the
same. “What would I do without ya, darlin'?” He rumbled once she had Emily in
her arms, sitting upright.
“Precious little
angel...” Jasina cooed gently to the baby girl in her arms, rocking her a
little when she squirmed slightly. “That's my girl.” She gently set Emily in
the bassinet and covered her up with her baby pink blanket, smiling softly when
the little girl instantly fell back asleep. “Come into the kitchen so we don't
disturb her.” She whispered, taking Mark's hand and guiding him out of the
living room since Little Stevie had just gotten to sleep too. “I'm having a
little toddler bed delivered here tomorrow for him so you can put him in the
guest room and keep Emily with you in your room in the pack-n-play.”
“Jasina, you don't have
to do that, it's no trouble.” Mark said softly, not wanting her to spend a wad
of money when he would only have the kids for a week or so. “We can make
do. I was planning on puttin' Stevie in
Arie's old room, I think I still have the bedrails I used for Arielle when she
moved out of her crib...” Somewhere...in the basement...or was it in the
garage? He shook his head, stifling a
yawn. “Appreciate it though, let me pay you-” He frowned when she began shaking
her head. “At least let me pay for half.”
“No, it wasn't that
expensive so don't worry about it. The most important thing is they both
have places to sleep that are comfortable and safe.” Jasina stated, pouring
herself a glass of wine, desperately needing it after the day she had.
She still couldn't believe John was Randy's best friend...and Randy never
mentioned him once or anyone up north for that matter. “Thanks for keeping the
kids for a few days, I'll do my half at the end of the week once everything is
settled in my new house.” Jasina honestly wanted to forget about meeting John
Cena and everything she'd done with him, hoping Mark never found out about
their night of passion in his house.
“Don't worry about it.”
Mark shrugged, deciding
since he no longer had to worry about Emily sleeping on him he could shed the
shirt and began unbuttoning the dress shirt he had only managed to
un-tuck. His shoes now hidden under the
couch where he wouldn't have to see them for at least another six months. Once he had the shirt undone, he stopped,
deciding to leave it on for now, not wanting to make her uncomfortable given
the night she had had.
“How're you holdin' up?”
Mark asked quietly, having sort of gotten the story from Arielle.
“I'm as good as can be
expected.” Jasina answered honestly, looking up at him sadly. “I wasn't
even in a relationship with John, but...I felt a connection and it was because
of Randy.” She could already feel the tears building, stopping them from falling
because Jasina was honestly tired of crying. “I'm just trying to get through
all of this and...Every time I feel like I'm getting somewhere, I keep failing
at every turn.” She took another sip of wine to calm her nerves, pinching the
bridge of her nose. “Hopefully this house will finally give me some peace of
mind and help me move on completely from everything.”
He was gathering from the
way she had said all that that Jasina was done seeing John. Mark was surprised to find that instead of
having a pleased, satisfied feeling about that, he felt sympathy for her. She wasn't having the best luck with
relationships this past year.
“You're not failin' at
anythin, Jasina. Shit eventually has to
get better.” He said after a moment, figuring if she had hit rock bottom then
the only direction to go from there was up.
“Yes I am.” Jasina shot
back softly, lowering her eyes from his and moved to pull herself up on the
counter, holding her glass of wine. “Ever since we split up, I haven't had any
luck. The guys either die on me or I screw them for shits and giggles,
only to find out that they know my exes.” She laughed bitterly, shaking her
head and finally let a few tears fall that she simply couldn't hold back. “You
are the only relationship that I had longevity with and the worst part of it
all is that John told me Randy wanted to marry me...”
That hurt her more than
anything because Jasina wasn't aware that Randy felt THAT strongly about
her. It made her realize how ridiculous their final moments were together
when they should've been loving instead of heartbreaking. Sighing inwardly, Mark got up to retrieve a
dish towel since his handkerchief was in his now discarded suit jacket and he
wasn't carrying his usual bandana in his back pocket, not in these slacks. He held it out to her, kneeling down by her
chair and pressed it into her still hands, wondering why he was always passing
her something to mop up her tears.
“He loved you,
darlin'. Even I could see that.” Mark
said softly, knowing that wouldn't help, but…it was true. “He'd want you to be
happy.”
She'd heard it so many
times and Jasina was tired of it, not bothering to take the dish towel while
Mark wiped her tears away. “Don't you think I want to be happy? I've been
trying everything in my power to move on and be happy, but at every turn I've
been knocked down. I'm sick of it. I'm tired of having moments
where I THINK I'm happy, only to come to harsh realizations that it's all a
hoax.” Jasina slowly looked up at her ex-husband, seeing all the concern and
sadness swimming in his green eyes, suddenly not able to stand it. “I'm going
to bed, I have to get up early for the movers and you need all the rest you can
get because of the two munchkins.”
Mark nodded, knowing him
showing her sympathy was probably the very last thing Jasina wanted right about
now. That and his advice, both things
she could do without no doubt. He
wondered if maybe she should just leave Houston altogether, but then scrapped
that.
She wouldn't leave her
job or Arielle and he didn't blame her.
He also did not want to see her go, but knew better than to admit that
outside his own head. She had made it
known that they were over, several times.
“Yeah, good night darlin'.”
Mark said finally, deciding he would move Emily and Stevie upstairs tomorrow,
they could all sleep in the living room tonight because he had no
interest in relocating the now set up pack-n-play.
Chapter 24
The following morning,
Jasina was up after getting zero sleep because she had spent the night crying
and having nightmares of Randy and plane crashes. John was even in one
and died in a plane crash, which is when Jasina decided she wasn't going back
to sleep. She spent the majority of her morning drinking coffee and
directing traffic to the movers, making sure none of her furniture was damaged
and that they didn't damage anything in the guest room. When the final
piece was packed into the truck, Jasina turned to Mark and managed to flash a small
smile, extending her hand to him, watching as his swallowed hers like always.
“Thank you for letting me
stay here.” She said appreciatively, smiling. “I'll never be able to repay you
and...I'm sorry about everything that's happened.”
Mark had brought the kids
in when he seen the last of Jasina's things being loaded into the back of the
moving van, knowing she would be leaving as soon as possible. “Anytime darlin'
and don't be sorry.” Mark said, squeezing her hand gently before letting go.
“Is Aunt Jazzy leavin?” JR asked, tugging on Mark's jeans to get his attention,
smiling when his giant uncle looked down at him then pointed to his aunt.
“Yeah lil man she is, but yer going to see her real soon, okay?” Mark grinned
when JR nodded and hugged Jasina before letting go, showing her his new hammer.
“He even gets to take that home with him.” Mark chortled evilly.