Ginger sat with her chin propped on her hand, watching the young Cherokee man across the table from her. He was leaned back in his chair, with his feet crossed and legs straight out in front of him, playing with his empty beer bottle. “That girl has been checking you out for the last hour. You should go talk to her!”
“Do you have to try to hook me up with a girl, every time we go out?” Hawk pulled the label from the bottle.
Ginger sighed and tucked a long strand of red hair back behind her ear. “I truly believe your mother hugged you too much, as a child.”
“And could you not psychoanalyze me, please?” He balled up the paper and threw it at her.
She dodged, laughing, then retorted, “But it’s so much fun!”
“Look, just because I don’t grope all over every woman that walks by, doesn’t mean I’m impotent. I’ve had my fair share of relationships, Ginger. I respect women, unlike Liam, and I don’t care to sleep with every beautiful woman I meet, like Han. We’ve been friends for nearly twelve years. I would’ve thought you’d have figured me out by now.”
“I could tell you what you were going to have for breakfast in the morning, but I’m clueless, as to what you want in a woman.” Ginger sighed and stood up. “Alright then, you are on your own. I’ve got a fine-looking man waiting for me over by the pool table.” She gave a little twist back and forth, then asked, “How do I look?”
Hawk smiled, “As beautiful as ever.”
“Don’t wait up!” She bounded across the crowded bar, to where her date was waiting.
Hawk pushed the glass back toward him. “I’m not in the mood, Liam.” He leaned up and put the empty bottle down. He put his elbows up on the table, and he ran his hands through his short, black hair.
Collin walked up to the table, as Liam continued, “I don’t know why ye don’t feck her and get it over with. She’s a whore, Hawk.”
Collin put a hand on Hawk’s shoulder, as the Cherokee flinched at Liam’s derogatory statement. “That’s enough, Liam!” Collin’s usually light Irish accent deteriorated with his sudden alarm at Hawk’s trembling shoulder.
“What? I’m just sayin’. I’m tired a seein’ him get all broody when she runs off with some Yank for the night. He needs ta grow some balls, and give her a good, hard feck.”
“I’m going home. I can’t deal with his shit, right now.” Hawk stood up and turned to walk off.
“Don’t forget! Meetin’ tomorrow mornin’ at ten.” Collin looked apologetically at Hawk, as the Cherokee turned back to the table.
“Yeah. I’ll see you guys, tomorrow.”
Collin and Liam watched, as Hawk crossed the room to leave. The young man had to pull a very drunk college girl off him before he made it halfway across the room. Collin turned to Liam, his Irish temperament rising in him, “Do ye think that, maybe, ye could show a little restraint in the way ye talk about Ginger in front of Hawk?”
“Why should I? He should know what she is, by now.”
“Because we all work together, and I’ll tell ye now, I’ll ship yer arse back to Ireland, before I’ll let ye run either of them off. Just because ye’re my cousin, doesn’t mean I have ta let ye do and say what ye want. I’ll send ye back to the family on the isle, and ye can find work with one of them.”
“Ye’ve been hangin’ with these Yanks far way too long. Fifteen years in the States and ye’re startin’ ta act like ‘em. I’m goin’ ta find me a whore that’s worth a poke. Ye can have this conversation without me.” Liam drank the shot he had just poured, threw the glass on the table, and left.
Han saw the heated exchange from where he was sitting at the bar. He leaned over to the brunette that he had been talking to, and whispered in her ear, “I’ll be right back; I need to check on my friend.” She ran her hand through his shoulder-length black hair, as he kissed her cheek. Han walked over to where the older Irishman sat at the table and took a chair beside him. “Hey, man! What’s up with you and Liam?”
Collin grumbled with annoyance, as he fingered the shot glass, “He’s bein’ an arse, as usual. He called Ginger a whore to Hawk’s face.”
“Oh, shit! Hawk didn’t swing on him?”
He flinched. “If I hadn’t walked up ta the table when I did, he probably would have.”
“It might bring Liam down a few notches if he got his ass kicked.”
The Irishman laughed, and took the shot of whiskey, “Findin’ someone good enough ta do that would be difficult. He was a champion fighter back home. Could have made a name for himself, if he hadn’t been such a shoibag. He pissed off the wrong people, and they ended his career.”
“I’d like to put an end to his arrogant attitude. Are you going to be alright?”
“Yes. I think I’m goin’ ta see just how drunk I can get, and then walk the ten blocks home.”
Han laughed, “You should, at least, see if one of these fine ladies will escort you.”
“Let’s see how drunk I get, first,” he said smiling at his Korean-American friend.
“Your loss, man. I’m taking that brunette out of here in about five minutes.” He nodded toward the girl at the bar.
“Well, ye had better get back ta her, before she gets tired of waitin’ for ye.”
Han smiled, “You know, your accent has a habit of sneaking up on you when you drink. Women happen to think that’s sexy.” He winked at his friend, then headed back to his date. Collin watched, as Han walked back to the woman, and whispered something in her ear. The brunette walked off, and for a minute, he thought that his friend had been turned down. A moment later, though, she returned with a blonde woman. Han put his arm around them both and left the bar. Collin shook his head, laughing to himself.
“Did I just see Han leave with two women?” The Russian accent caught Collin by surprise, and he turned to see Peter standing behind him, holding a bottle of vodka, and looking toward the door.
“Ye know Han.” He looked toward the door, then back at Peter. “What are ye doin’ here? I didn’t think ye were comin’.”
“Jackie spent the last hour begging me to come out with her. She did not want to be alone. For all of her superior intellect, she can still be such a child.”
“Don’t let her hear ye say that!” Collin laughed, shaking his head. “She’s still very young. We tend ta forget that, most of the time.”
“I shall see you in the morning, my friend. I need to get over to our table, before she runs off, and leaves me here.” Peter walked to where Jackie was waiting.
Collin drank a while longer, watching his friends that remained at the bar. He wondered how much longer he would be able to keep them together, with so much drama and tension growing within the group. Liam, as much as he loved his cousin, was a self-centered, womanizing asshole who rubbed everyone the wrong way. Han, while respecting women, did not believe in conventional relationships or draw boundaries, when it came to sleeping around. He had already had a fling with both women in the group and had caused a lot of drama when he and Ginger split up.
Peter had been a wonderful addition to the team, with his background in Catholicism, the occult, and audio/video engineering, but he was infatuated with Jackie, the youngest in the group. Jackie was barely twenty-one. She graduated from MIT at seventeen with a master’s in computer sciences, engineering, technology, and programming, then Cornell at nineteen with a bachelor’s in parapsychology and a master’s in historical research, that gave her an uncanny ability to find obscure information. Collin knew that she had been carrying on a secret relationship with Han, and she was completely oblivious to Peter’s feelings.
Hawk and Ginger were a handful on their own. They had been friends long before Collin had asked them to join the team and brought a lot of baggage with them. Ginger was openly promiscuous, but she was an incredibly valuable asset with her doctorate in psychology, bachelor’s in parapsychology, and her research skills. Hawk was a Cherokee spiritualist and sensitive with a doctorate in occult and paranormal research studies. He was completely in love with Ginger, who was either oblivious or wouldn’t admit to herself that he had feelings for her. Ginger’s failed tryst with Han caused some serious tension between Hawk and Han, who had been close friends, during their last year at Penn State.
Collin sighed, as he thought of all the drama that had transpired since he started the group almost two years before. He knew that them being on the road a lot and spending so much time together was bound to cause some tension, but the level of complexity astonished him.
He downed the last shot of Irish whiskey and decided it would be best to leave. He couldn’t drink too much more, or he wouldn’t make it home. The bar was still teeming, so it took him several minutes to maneuver his way through the crowd and make it to the door. He was thankful for the coolness of the night air, as he finally made it outside. It tingled on his clammy skin, sobering him up a little. He took a deep breath to clear his lungs of the smoke and alcohol from the enclosed building, then set off to walk the ten blocks to his apartment.
He nearly ran head-long into Liam, as his cousin came stumbling out of the alley, followed closely behind by a disheveled, giggling college girl. “Jesus Christ, Collin! Ye feckin’ gave me a fright!”
“Ye’re the one stumblin’ out of an alley,” Collin grumbled, as he stepped to the side, and continued his walk home.
“Where ye goin’?” He waved the girl back to the bar and fell into step behind Collin.
“Home, Liam.”
“Ye’re gettin’ ta be an old fart if ye’re leavin’ the bar this feckin’ early,” he said with a smirk.
Collin turned on Liam, his ire brought on by the drink and worries about the group, “I come ta the bar ta drink with friends, not buck some stranger in an alley, and insult everyone who knows me. I‘m gettin’ so tired of yer shite! Ye don’t care about anyone, but yerself. Where do ye get off bein’ such a selfish arse? I brought ye ta The States, and gave ye a job when no one else wanted ye! Go get yer hole and leave me be!”
“Feck ye, Collin! Ye’ve been as crabbit as a cat ta me far the last few months. Ye got some nerve callin’ me selfish, when ye up and abandoned yer family to live with these feckin’ Yanks! I didn’t ask far this feckin’ job, ye offered it ta me.” Liam turned and headed back toward the bar.
“Liam, wait!” Collin waited for him to turn back around, then continued, “I’m sorry, I was out of line. Ye have ta understand, this group is my livelihood, and ye’re doin’ everythin’ ye can ta ruin that for me. These people are our co-workers and friends; stop tryin’ ta push everyone away.”
“Look, Collin, I’m a feckin’ arse! Always have been, and always feckin’ will be. Ye feckin’ knew that before ye feckin’ invited me here. I’m not tryin’ ta feckin’ ruin yer career, at least not on feckin’ purpose, I’m just bein’ me.”
“Try not bein’ such a shoibag, at least with the team… for me, please!”
Liam sighed, and conceded, as he studied the pained expression on his cousin’s face, “I’ll try ta feckin’ do better tawards the feckin’ team, but I won’t make any feckin’ promises.”
“That’s all I can ask of ye. Now, I’m goin’ home.”
“Want some feckin’ company? I’ve had a few schoops and fecked me a whore, so I’m feckin’ done far the night. Besides, goin’ back inside would only mean feckin’ trouble, once the whore’s feckin’ boyfriend finds out where she’s feckin’ been.”
Collin shook his head and smiled at Liam’s nonchalant, and cocksure attitude. “Sure. Anythin’ ta keep from havin’ to bail ye out of jail tonight.”
* * * * *
The young African-American woman was fidgeting with her phone when Peter reached the table. She had long black hair parted to the side and cut to frame her face, accentuating her beauty and her striking hazel eyes. “Here you go.” He set two glasses and the vodka on the table, then sat down across from her. “You did see him leave, yes?” He poured the drinks and handed one to her.
“Yes, I saw him.” She sighed and looked up at the Russian. “Han has a way of getting my attention. Especially, when he walks out with two women.”
Peter smiled sadly at the attractive girl. “You are too smart and beautiful to waste your time with someone who does not care for you.”
“He cares, Peter, just… not the way I want him to. If he had known I was here, he would’ve been more discreet about leaving with them.”
“Perhaps, you are right. Drink up! Tonight, I will let you drink, until you have forgotten him, and then I will take you home, and tuck you into your bed.”
“And will you be joining me in my bed?”
He stammered nervously at the forward question. “I do not think that would be very wise, Jackie.”
She laughed at his response and watched the handsome blonde haired, grey-eyed man squirm uncomfortably in his seat. “Is it because you’re fourteen years older than me, because we work together, or because you’re afraid of me getting hurt?”
“Pick one. They are all very good reasons.”
“It’s just sex, Peter, not a marriage proposal. I don’t fall for every guy I take into my bed.”
“May we change the subject, please?”
She looked away from him, then, a little ashamed of her teasing. “I’m sorry. I’m just…” She stared into her glass.
“It is alright, milaya moya. Perhaps, you will understand my situation, one day.”
Jackie looked up at his words. She watched his face, carefully, but he didn’t look up from the table. She narrowed her eyes, as she asked, “Peter, why did you come here with me?”
“Because you begged me to come with you, and so that you would not be here alone if he left with another. You are my friend, Jackie, and I care, when you are in pain.” He looked up at her, then, and took a drink of vodka.
“Thank you, Peter,” she said quietly.
He let Jackie finish off the bottle by herself. He was stunned that she could still stand, after so much. He had seen men twice her size pass-out from less. She drank and danced until the bar closed, dragging him out to the dance floor for the occasional slow song. Then, Peter helped her to his car to drive her home. She passed-out before they even left the parking lot.
Peter carried Jackie up to her apartment, and into her bedroom. Pulling back the covers, he laid her on her bed. He pulled off her shoes and jacket, laying her head gently on the pillow. He pulled the covers over her, then sat down on the edge of the bed, beside her. He leaned over, and brushed the strands of hair from her face, whispering, “Lyublyu tebya vsem sertsem, vsey dushoyu.”
“Ti takaya milaya.”
Peter froze at the sound of her voice speaking his mother tongue. “What?”
She opened her eyes and smiled at his shocked face. “I said ‘you are very sweet.’ I wouldn’t have thought you would need a translation.”
“You can speak Russian?” He looked away from her, embarrassed.
“I speak, read, and write ten languages fluently, not counting English. Computers, engineering, and science are not my only passions, Peter.”
“Why did you not tell me?”
“You didn’t ask.” Jackie sat up, and asked, “Peter, why did you tell me that you love with all your heart and soul? Was it because you thought I was asleep, or because you didn’t think that I would understand you?”
She could barely hear him, as he answered, “Both.” Peter cleared his throat and said, “I should go.”
She grabbed his arm to stop him from getting up. “You didn’t turn me down because you were afraid that I would get hurt, you turned me down, so you wouldn’t.”
“That is not the only reason, no. There are also my religious beliefs, the fact that we do work together, and your age. I am not a fool, Jackie. People your age look at me as an old man. I could not ask you to look at me any differently than they do.”
“I’m not like the people my age. You and the rest of the team know that better than anyone. You’re my friend, Peter. If you had told me how you felt, I wouldn’t have thrown Han in your face, like I’ve been doing for the past year.”
He looked at her, and replied, “I am a grown man, milaya moya. I know that your infatuation with him will not last forever. I am in love with you, but I am your friend, first and foremost. I will be here for you, whenever you need me to be, no matter the pain it will cause me.”
She pondered his words in silence, measuring her reaction to them and her feelings for Han. She looked up at Peter, then, and stated, “One day, my feelings for him will be gone, and when they are, I want to know, if I could love you, too. You’re a good man, Peter.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. She lightly wiped the lipstick from his face with her thumb. “You’re welcome to stay here.”
“Jackie…”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” She looked down, gluing her eyes to the bed. “Sometimes, I just… I don’t want to be alone. I usually call Ginger or Han, but…”
He lifted her chin so that he could see her face. “I will stay, but only for a while.”
“Thank you.” Jackie moved over in the bed to give him room to lie down.
Peter walked over to the door and turned out the light. He went back to the bed, slid off his shoes, and laid down beside her. He, then, pulled her over to him and wrapped his arm around her, so she could put her head on his shoulder. He gently stroked her hair, and she slowly sank back into unconsciousness. His eyelids drooped, and he stopped stroking her hair, as he drifted off into sleep.
* * * * *
The warmth of the rising sun on Peter’s face woke him. He realized that he had accidentally fallen asleep and wondered if he would be able to get up, without waking Jackie. He looked down at her face, peaceful and content, and he could not bring himself to leave. He lay there for the longest time, watching her, her beautiful face lit by the golden glow of the sun.
Jackie shifted, and groaned, then lifted her hand to her temple. “Oh, God!”
Peter chuckled. “I was afraid of that. You drank that entire bottle by yourself, save for the one glass.”
“I’m gonna be sick.” She jumped from the bed and ran down the hallway to the bathroom.
He heard her vomiting, and after a few minutes, got up to check on her. She was sitting on the floor in front of the toilet, her arm propped on the seat and her head resting on her arm. He reached above the toilet and pulled down a bath cloth from the shelf. He wet it with cold water, rang it out, and knelt down beside her. “Here, this will help.” She turned her head toward him, and he dabbed her face with the cloth.
“Thank you.” She took the rag from him and wiped her face and neck.
“You get cleaned up, and I will fix you something to get rid of your hangover.” He pushed a strand of hair from her wet face, then got up, and went into the kitchen. It took him a few minutes to find everything he needed for the remedy. He heard the flush of the toilet and the water turn on in the bathroom, followed by the pecking of a toothbrush on marble. He mixed his mother’s concoction in a glass and had it ready for her when she came into the room and sat down at the bar. “Here you are.”
She took the glass, looked at it disgustingly, and asked, “You’re kidding, right?”
He chuckled. “I am afraid not. Drink up, it will make you feel better.”
She picked up the glass, and chugged it down, as quickly as she could manage. He smiled, as she put the glass down on the bar, “Oh God, that was straight nasty, Peter! What was in that?”
“You do not want to know. You should be feeling better any minute now, though.”
Jackie’s nausea dissipated, and the pain in her head began to ease. “Oh, my God, you’re right! I do feel better. You have to tell me what you put in that.”
He smiled at her, and replied, “One day, maybe, I will. Right now, you need to eat. I will fix us something, yes?”
She nodded her consent, and watched him, as he made strawberry pancakes. He was moving them from the skillet to her plate, when she said, “You stayed longer than you intended.”
“I fell asleep, and when I woke, I was afraid I would disturb you if I tried to leave.” He slid the plate of pancakes in front of her.
She grabbed his hand before he could pull it back. “I’m glad you’re still here.”
He pulled his hand from hers and turned his attention back to the pan. “You should eat those before they get cold.”
She ate slowly, while he finished cooking his breakfast. “So, how are you a hangover aficionado? I hardly ever see you drink.”
Peter smiled, “I am not. My father was a mean drunk. My mother perfected the remedy over many years, to keep him from having such a lousy temper. I was seven when she taught it to me. My father had broken her right hand, which made it very difficult for her to prepare the herbs.”
“I’m sorry, Peter, I had no idea. You never talk about your childhood. I just thought…”
“It is alright, milaya moya. It was not until after my sister died, that my father gave up Vodka. We were much closer, afterward.” She could tell that he wasn’t really paying attention to what he was doing. He turned off the stovetop and went to move the cast iron skillet from the hot eye, but the handle was scalding. He dropped the pan, cursing, “Sukin syn!”
Jackie jumped up and ran around the bar to where he was standing. “Let me see.” She grabbed his wrist and opened his hand to see how badly he was burned. “Okay, it’s not that bad.” She pulled him to the sink and turned on the tap. “Let the water run over it for a minute, I’ll be right back.”
“I am fine, milaya moya.”
“Please…”
He gave in when he saw the worried look on her face, and she ran down the hall to the bathroom. She ran back into the kitchen a moment later, carrying a roll of gauze, a clean towel, and a bottle of aloe. She jumped up onto the counter beside the sink, then turned off the water. She spread the towel in her lap and held her hand out to him.
“I told you, I am fine.”
“Give me your hand!” He sighed and moved over in front of her so that she could tend to his injury. She wrapped the towel around it and dabbed carefully around the burn. “I’ve never heard you swear before.”
“I try not to make it a habit.” He smiled at her.
She picked up the aloe, opened it, and squirted a fair amount into his palm. She carefully massaged it into the burn. “I always keep this around the house. I burn myself all the time when I try to cook.”
“Try to cook?” He raised his eyebrows and looked at her sideways.
She giggled, saying, “I’m a genius at a lot of things, but cooking is not one of them.” She wrapped the gauze around his hand and secured it by tucking the end carefully under one of the layers. “There, all done.”
He put his good hand under her chin to lift-up her face. “Thank you, milaya moya.”
Jackie slid her hand up his forearm to his hand under her chin and ran her other hand around the side of his neck. She pulled his hand from her chin and his face to hers, kissing him. Peter forgot himself the moment her lips touched his. She released his hand and wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her fervently, and as her arms closed around him, he locked his arms around her, pulling her tight to his body.
Her legs winding around him surprised him and took his breath away. That split second of startling clarity made him realize what he was doing. He pulled back, breaking free of the kiss. “I am sorry, Jackie. I cannot do this.” He pulled himself free of her embrace and backed to the other side of the kitchen. “I must go.” He hurried from the room, heading down the hall.
“Wait!” Jackie slid off the counter and fell into step behind him. “Peter, what’s wrong? Please, talk to me!”
Peter turned to her, as they entered the bedroom. “Milaya moya, I love you, but I cannot do this. I take my religious beliefs very seriously, and I almost compromised everything that I stand for.” He grabbed his shoes and sat down on the bed to put them on.
“I don’t understand.”
“It is not just sex to me, Jackie. It is a physical, emotional, and spiritual bond that is made between two people, who love one another. To me and the church, it is a connection made between a man and his wife, as God intended.”
Jackie’s jaw dropped open, and she choked out, “Are you saying you’ve never…”
Peter laughed, as her reaction broke the tension, and he held his hand out to her. “Come, sit.” He waited for her to take his hand and sit down beside him on the bed. “When I turned seventeen, I married a girl I had met in church a few months before. We had fallen in love with one another. It was the happiest I had ever been. We were married for just over a year when she became pregnant. We were so excited. She was seven months along, when she became ill, and a few weeks later, they were both gone.” He looked away from her, then.
“I’m so sorry, Peter.” Jackie laid her head on his shoulder.
“I was devastated and did not know what to do. I went to Father Superior and begged him to let me become a priest. He believed that I was acting solely from grief, and offered me an opportunity to study here, in the United States. He told me that if I still wanted to become a priest after I finished college, that he would support me in my decision.
I had intended to go back, even after all of the other things I had learned…” he turned to look at Jackie, then continued, “until I met you. I let myself be pulled in, because I am in love with you, and I want to believe that you could love me, too. I want that connection with you, milaya moya, more than you will ever know, but I cannot let it be made into something immoral. I am old fashioned, and I do not expect you to understand. It was a mistake to stay here last night, and I should have known better.”
“No, it was wrong of me to ask you. You told me how you felt, and why you turned me down. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of your feelings when I don’t feel the same. You’re my friend, and I’ve been a selfish brat. I’m so ashamed of myself.” She turned away from him burying her face in her hands.
He turned her back to him, pulling her hands away, and grabbing her face in his hands. “Do not blame yourself, Jackie. You are young and have much to learn about yourself and life.” He let go of her face and took her hands. “I will always be here for you. If it brings you to me in the end, then I will be the happiest man in the world. If it does not, then I will have gained a true friend, in which to share my life with.” He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed them.
“You’re a fool to think that I couldn’t love you; that anyone couldn’t. Give me some time to get over him, and then you can have my heart, all of it.” She wrapped him in a hug.
“I will be here when you are ready.” He kissed her head.
Jackie pulled away, smiling mischievously, and asked, “But could we talk about the no sex thing?”
Peter laughed and stroked her cheek. “Absolutely not.”
“Ugh,” she threw herself back on the bed, “you’re killing me!”
He stood and held his good hand out to her. “You are incorrigible.” She took his hand and let him pull her up. “I should go.”
“What about breakfast?”
“Jackie…”
She put her hand over his mouth. “I promise I won’t attack you in the kitchen, again.” She took her hand away, but saw he was about to protest, so she added, “Please, Peter! You have to eat, and it’s already prepared.”
“Alright, but I am leaving, afterward.” She giggled and led him down the hall to the kitchen.
Buzz! Buzz! The doorbell surprised her. She usually didn’t have company so early, unless they had spent the night. She turned to Peter with a confused look, and said, “Hold on. I’ll be right back.” She went to the door and opened it to find Han standing in the hallway, with his usual charming smile.
Jackie’s smile vanished, as she asked, “Han, what are you doing here?”
“I came to see your beautiful face, of course. Can I come in?”
Peter walked to the door. “I think, maybe, I should go for now.”
She turned at his voice, and asked pleadingly, “What about breakfast?”
“I will get something from home. I will be upstairs if you want to ride with me to the meeting.” He looked at her apologetically, and put on his usual guarded smiled, as he left her apartment.
Han watched the exchange with confusion, trying to assess the situation he had just walked into. He waited for Peter to exit, before stepping into the apartment. Jackie shut the door a little too hard and walked past him toward the kitchen. Han asked in shock, “What in the hell was that?”
“Oh, what do you care, Han! You only come around a few times a month. That hardly gives you the right to ask me what goes on in my house.” She grabbed her plate and dumped the contents in the trash.
“Jeez, you don’t have to be so defensive. It was just a question.”
Jackie picked up Peter’s plate, dumping it out, then dropped the dishes in the sink. “And how defensive would you be, if I gave you the third degree about the two sluts you took home last night?” She turned on the water, and let it run until it got hot, then stopped up the sink.
“You were there?” Han flinched, as she stiffened while putting the soap in the water. “I’m sorry, Jackie. I didn’t…”
“I know,” she interrupted quietly. “I didn’t want you to know I was there.”
He walked up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her, then whispered in her ear, “I’m sorry. I would never intentionally hurt you, like that.”
“But you do hurt me, and I can’t keep doing this.” She turned off the water and reached for the rag.
Han grabbed her hand and pulled her tight against his body. “You don’t mean that.” He began to kiss her neck and run his hands gently along the soft skin of her arms. She began to feel her resolve weaken, as he moved his hand up her neck to her face, turning her, so that he could kiss her on the lips. He lifted her up onto the counter, kissing her excitedly, and then pulled her tightly to him.
His lips left hers and began working their way down her neck. “Stop,” she protested weakly. She took a deep breath and pushed him back. “Stop.” She kept her hand on his chest to keep him from stepping back up to the counter. “I’m serious this time, Han. I can’t do this anymore; it hurts too much! That’s why I asked Peter to go with me last night so that when you left with someone else, I wouldn’t fall apart.”
“So, he did spend the night.” He said, matter-of-factly.
She dropped her hand from his chest, and took a deep breath, before continuing, “That man took me out last night, and let me get shit-faced. He drove me home, carried me into my apartment, and put me into my bed. Yes, I asked him to stay, and he did. This morning, after I puked my guts up, he wiped my face, then fixed me a home remedy for a hangover. Do you know what he did after that, Han? He made me breakfast. In none of that time, did he try to have sex with me! I threw myself at him, like an idiot, but he wouldn’t sleep with me.”
Han smiled smugly, “The guy is either a monk or gay.”
Jackie slapped him before she could stop herself. Han grabbed his reddening cheek in shock. “Jesus, Jackie! What’s wrong with you?”
She could not bring herself to feel sorry for what she had just done; she could only feel the anger. She slid off the counter, and replied, “In the two years that you’ve been screwing me, did you ever do anything, other than get up and leave, when you were done? Peter is in love with me, Han. If you knew anything about what it was like to love someone, you wouldn’t be such an ass. That man has very strong beliefs that won’t allow him to run around sleeping with everything that moves, unlike you. He doesn’t judge you for your stupidity, and he deserves more from his friends than deprecatory conjecture. Get out!”
Han couldn’t believe what had just happened. He had never seen Jackie so angry before, and she had begun to cry. “Jackie…”
She slapped his hand away, as he reached up to wipe the tears from her face. “I said get out!”
He didn’t try to argue with her. He left the kitchen for the front door, with her hot on his heels. He turned to apologize, once he got outside, but she slammed the door in his face.
Jackie put her back to the door and slid down to the floor. She could not hold back the sobs any longer. She wrapped her arms around her knees, crying hysterically. She heard the rev of his car’s engine and the screech of the tires, as he sped away.
A few minutes passed, and she heard tapping at the door, followed by Peter’s muffled voice, “Jackie, are you alright? I am here, if you need me, or if you want, I will go back upstairs. I just need to know that you are alright. Please!”
She hated for him to see her so upset, but she needed him to hold her. Jackie pulled herself from the floor and opened the door. She fell into his waiting arms, as he shut the door.
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