Hi All,

Another editing of a short fluffy piece that was written quite a few years ago. Nothing but good romance and real life love. Enjoy.

Bell

Chapter 1

Not every day a woman gets to meet the man she was secretly in love with in college. A man whom she shared an apartment with for two years and who saw her at her worst and her best of days. He followed her through her baggy clothes stage to her blue hair accident and kept by her side, a constant friend.

They kept in touch through e-mails for more then 10 years and today; on her birthday she finally got the chance to see him all over again. She glanced at herself critically, cursing fashion designers for creating the extremely low cut jeans fashion and wondering if she could possibly clench her abdominal muscles harder. Maybe she should just put on her jacket; it might hide the small chocolate belly she developed in the previous month. Glancing around her, she gave up on the idea, it was far too hot for her to wear anything with long sleeves on, Jack Hudson would have to deal with her chocolate belly and she will gladly deal with his beer belly, after all, every men over thirty had one, no?

But of course, he just had to be as athletic as ever, the years seemed to do him only good and she was very happy with the soft chair she was sitting on, feeling faint at the sight of him. His jeans fitted him perfectly and the blue polo shirt was just tight enough to show that he most definitely didn't have a beer belly or any belly what so ever. His dark hair was shorter then she remembered and he looked extremely handsome…just like he did in college. Lowering her eyes, she was mortified by the flush that covered her cheeks, to her opinion, she hadn't changed at all since college, but that didn't do her any good and here he was standing at the entrance of the coffee shop, the same man she knew and yet very different.

She didn't even notice that he approached her and was startled to see a hand waving at her eyesight. "Jay?" He sounded unsure and she nodded her head dumbly, unable to find anything coherent to say. He looked confused for a moment and she smiled suddenly and rose from her seat, laughing when he hugged her warmly.

"Hey, Jack, it's good to see you again."

"It's been a long time." He patted on her shoulder and she backed away from him, realizing that she had been standing in his arms longer then he intended her to. He sat in front of her and ordered ice coffee, leaning backwards on his seat. "So, what brings you to Washington?"

Jay cleared her throat. "Well, actually…you…" She planned the entire speech in her head during her flight, but she never imagined it could be so hard to say it. He smiled a little and she forgot her speech all together, drowning in his warm and confused looking eyes.

"Is everything alright, Jay? Is there anything I can help you with?" Jack asked, instantly worried with the way her eyes seemed to glaze over. Hoping that she wasn't in some kind of trouble, he reached out for her hand, squeezing lightly.

"No, no…I'm fine…" She paused, biting her lips. "It's my birthday." She said and he raised his eyebrows.

"I can't believe I forgot, Jay, I'm so sorry. I promise a long birthday e-mail by the time you'll get home." He pursed his lips, guilt sinking in. "I wasn't the best friend in the last year, haven't I? It's just with the case load we've been having…"

"Jack, it's alright, really." She squeezed his hand in return. "I don't mind that you forgot but I brought you something."

"You brought me something for your birthday?" Jack was surprised to see her pulling an old looking parchment that was burned in the edges. He examined it carefully, his heart clenching as he remembered that night all those years ago. "I can't believe you kept it."

"I'm 32…" She chuckled nervously. "Time just flies by…"

Jack shifted in his seat, chuckling as he finished reading the parchment. "We were pretty miserable that night, weren't we? Allie dumped me and you got rid of what's his name…"

It was at that point that she realized he just didn't understand. He didn't understand and she would have to spell it out for him, wasn't reading the parchment enough to understand? Why couldn't he understand on his own? It was humiliating enough that she actually came to see him. She raised her head when he chuckled. "I can't believe we actually signed it…and treated it so seriously, promising to marry each other at a certain age if we won't be in a committing relationship…" The last few words seemed to stretch as he trailed off, lifting startled eyes to meet hers. "Jay?"

She cleared her throat. "Yes, that was pretty stupid." She smiled. "I just thought it might be fun if we remember it."

"You came all the way to Washington to show me a piece of parchment?" Jack raised his eyebrow skeptically, feeling horrible with the way her eyes wouldn't meet his.

She shrugged her shoulders, reminding herself that she was ready for being disappointed. "I didn't have a meaningful relationship in a while. Alright, more then two years would be more accurate." She smiled a little. "I just thought I should check to see if maybe I have a shot with you."

Jack bit his lips before responding. "I'm not in a meaningful relationship right now but I do have someone in mind and I would very much like to pursue a relationship with."

Jay smiled a little. "That's very honest of you, thank you; I guess I shouldn't have come anyway."

"What are your plans for today? We could catch up." He offered but she shook her head.

"No…I have some things I need to do." She took another sip from her ice tea and smiled at him. "You know, you shouldn't wait too long to pursue a relationship, Jack. You might end up like me…I should have make a move on you when we were twenty."

"You were interested in me when we were in college?" He sounded surprised and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Why must men be so dense? Yes, I was…I'm interested in you even now but obviously I'm a little late." She stood and he followed, pulling her into a hug.

"It was good to see you; I hope I didn't make things worse for you." He said softly.

"It's alright; I'll e-mail you when I get back home." She left his arms reluctantly and headed towards the street, trying to walk slowly and steadily despite the strong desire she had to simply run away. She wondered what she was going to do alone in Washington for a day, her flight for New York was leaving in the following morning and the airline company lost her suitcase somewhere. She took a look around and decided to do some sightseeing, she might be pathetic and lonely, but she will go and see the White House. Now, if only she had the slightest idea where to go…

She turned left and stumbled, the air rushing from her lungs as she collided with someone's chest (that was as solid as a rock). Something hot and dark spilled on her white blouse and she winced with pain as it burned her skin through the thin material. Someone reached out to her, his eyes worried. "You alright there, Sheila?"

He was just leaving Starbucks, intent on drinking his coffee on the way when someone knocked into him, making him stumble and spill the entire cup. Shocked from the impact, he balanced himself and moved to face the woman who was sprawled on the pavement. "You alright there, Sheila?"

"Who drinks black coffee on the hottest day of the year?" She snapped, leaping to her feet and hurrying towards Starbucks, heading towards the ladies' room. Stunned from her outburst, Bobby followed her inside, realizing that the hot liquid probably burned her skin. He headed towards the cashier, asking about a first aid kit and then headed towards the ladies' bathroom.

"Sheila, are you in there?"

"Of course I'm in here, where else would I be with a huge stain on my not so white anymore shirt?"

"I'm sorry…look, I brought you a first aid kit, there's some aloe Vera inside." He paused when he received no reply. "Can I come in?"

"No, you can't!" She practically squealed and he sighed, surprised when the door opened a little and a hand showed up. He bit his lips to stop from chuckling and handed her the small box, waiting outside for her to finish. When ten minutes passed he considered leaving but then he thought he heard her crying and decided to check on her, not caring at all that he was walking into the ladies' bathroom.

He found her sitting on the floor, her white shirt resting on the counter, the large coffee stain still very visible even though the water made the shirt transparent. She was crying, he realized suddenly and he reached out to touch her hand. "Miss?"

She jumped backwards, banging her head on the wall. "What are you doing here? This is the women's bathroom…I'm in my bra!" She exclaimed, covering the lacy material with her hands.

Bobby noticed that she was in her bra, he also noticed that it was a very sexy white bra with an interesting lace pattern, if she only moved her hand a little so that he could see the rest of the pattern…he shook his head, forcing his eyes to cooperate as he raised his gaze to look at her eyes. "You know, I've seen women without tops before…"

She opened and closed her mouth several times before rolling her eyes. "Good for you, could you leave me alone now?"

He eyed the wide red bruise that formed just above her breast. "Is that…"

"Yes…that's your cup of coffee." She replied sarcastically. "There's nothing I can do with that shirt, it was silk you know…well, at least that happened after I met him and not before." She paused, lowering her eyes. "On the other hand, maybe if he saw me in my bra he would have noticed that I'm a woman…"

Bobby glanced around nervously. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Can you turn back time?" She asked pitifully and he smiled a little.

"Sorry."

"Can you point me to the nearest mall or women's clothing shop? I thought I could use without my luggage until tomorrow morning, but I can't wear this jacket all day, I'll die from the heat."

"I'll tell you what, let me buy you something cold to drink and then I'll walk with you to the mall." He offered, raising his eyebrows at the suspicion he saw in her eyes.

"I don't know you." She said, creasing her forehead. "And your first impression wasn't that good."

"I'm Bobby." He offered her his hand, lowering it when she ignored him. "Come on, Sheila, it's the least I can do after ruining your shirt."

"What's with the Sheila? I never said my name was Sheila, why do you insist on calling me that?" She rose from her position on the floor, buttoning her heavy woolen jacket. "I wouldn't last a second with that jacket on…"

"It's just Aussie talk." Bobby shrugged his shoulders; trying not to show that he was offended by her outburst. He never met anyone who was offended with the way he spoke.

"Sorry." She bit her lips. "I didn't realize…I'm having a bad day, that's all." He smiled and nodded his head, accepting her hand and shaking it. "I'm Jay." She said, smiling when he grinned at her.

"Got it…Jay, not Sheila." He joked. "Orange juice?" He offered.

"Fresh please, with lots of ice."