Not mine, can't even begin to tell you what I'd do with em' if they were!
Summary---"Jordan needs some R&R after everything that has happened….even if it means kidnapping her in the middle of the night to get her to realize that."
Un-Crossing Jordan
"Well, I didn't get my promotion." I said from the doorway of Jordan's office. I startled her and she jumped in her chair when I spoke. I smiled an 'I'm sorry' for scaring her. Jordan looked up from her work and smiled sadly at me.
"I'm sorry Woody. It was because you wouldn't give up Dad, right?" she asked. I lied and shook my head no.
"It just wasn't my turn." I said smiling sadly back. I pulled my hands out of my pockets and stepped into her office. I could see her better in the light from her desk lamp. She looked like hell.
'You look like hell, Jordan." I said stepping slowly to the edge of her desk. She huffed and with some effort, raised an eyebrow at me.
"Gee thanks." She said turning her eyes back guiltily to her paperwork. She wasn't really doing anything but trying to ignore me.
I sighed. "Why don't you go home? You've had a tough couple of days." I said and started back for the door. Jordan laughed and looked up at me again.
"I've had tougher." She said and her voice cracked a little. I nodded and inadvertently looked down at the picture of her mom sitting next to her computer. Jordan didn't catch it, thankfully and I backed out of the room.
"Take it easy Jordan, okay?" I said walking backwards.
"uh huh." She responded quietly and continued pretending to care what was on the papers she was reading. On my way to the elevator I got an idea and decided to stop at Dr. Macy's office on my way out. He was sitting at his desk just like Jordan except for the fact that he probably actually WAS doing work. I stuck my head in and gave him a chance to acknowledge me before I spoke.
"What can I do for you detective?" He asked without looking up from his papers. I glanced briefly back at Jordan's open door.
"Mind if I come in for a minute Doc?" I asked quietly.
"Sure, come in Woody." He said and I hurried in, gently closing the door behind me. I waited until he finished the last three papers in front of him and then he sat back and stretched his arms behind his head, waiting for my question.
"When was the last time Jordan took a REAL vacation?" I asked softly and then before he could respond I specified. "And by vacation I don't mean 'took a month off to chase the brother of a friend of a cousin's girlfriend who knew some guy that said he knew something about her mother's murder." I said smiling weakly. Dr. Macy smiled in understanding and then leaned back and thought for a moment.
"Honestly, Woody," he said looking up at the ceiling and then back at me. "I don't think that in the time she's worked here, Jordan has ever taken a REAL vacation." He said and I nodded in understanding.
"Why do you ask?" Dr. Macy said narrowing his eyes at me curiously. I smiled widely.
"I was hoping you would ask that." I said and took a seat next to his desk.
Later that night, I crept slowly up the stairs to
Jordan's apartment. 'She was gonna kill me for this' was all I could think as
snuck slowly higher, making sure my sandals didn't clop as I walked. I held the
key to her door that her dad had leant me very still as I placed it in the lock
and turned slowly. I second guessed myself briefly on how good of an idea this
was only briefly as I opened the door and found her still dressed, curled in a
ball on her sofa asleep. 'Jordan needs some R&R after everything that has happened,'
I thought moving towards the couch slowly, 'even if it means kidnapping her in
the middle of the night to get her to realize that.' I thought as I gently ran
a finger along her cheek. She stirred slowly and then I suppose she realized
where she was and that no one should have been there with her, and she clocked
me on the side of my head.
"OUCH!" I yelped holding my head as the room spun like a top. Jordan's eyes
focused in the dark and she narrowed them at me puzzled.
"Woody!? What the hell are you doing here?" she asked in a whisper and sat up quickly on the couch.
"Oh my head's fine Jordan thanks for asking." I said sarcastically still rubbing where she had pummeled me.
"Well it serves you right!" she said louder now, "who sneaks into people's apartments in the middle of the night?!" She asked and turned on the light beside her. While she checked the damage she had inflicted upon my head, I explained to her how her dad was going away on vacation for a little and he had given me his key to her apartment so I could make her do the same.
"Wait, so….What?" she asked sitting back into the couch and beckoning me to sit with her.
"I'm kidnapping you Jordan." I said seriously. She
rolled her eyes.
"Oh really?" she asked, almost appalled but not quite there yet. "And what
makes you think I am going to go with you?" She asked folding her arms
defiantly. I smiled and stood from the couch.
"See, now that's the beauty of a kidnapping, you don't really have a choice in
the matter." I said proudly and Jordan stood from the couch as well.
"But I DO have a choice in the matter of whether I get fired or not." She said just as proudly as I had and I took her by the arm and grabbed her purse from the floor as I dragged her to the door.
"You aren't going to be fired, I talked to Dr. Macy,
he was more than happy to get rid of you for a few weeks." I said and continued
to drag.
"Hey! Wait a second slow down here Wood! Where am I getting kidnapped to and
don't I get time to pack?" she asked pulling her arm away from my grip. I
smirked and threw the strap of her purse over her head as I opened the door.
"Ummmm…..not telling and you don't get to pack at all, something tells me you
don't have much weather appropriate attire for where we're going." I said and
pulled her out the door, shutting the lights off as I went.
An hour later, we were flying somewhere over the east coast on our way to Key West. And Jordan was still hassling me to find out where we were headed. I smiled and shook my head no, returning my eyes to view of the rising sun out the window of the small propeller plane we were flying in.
"So, when exactly do I get to know where we are going Wood?" Jordan asked and I turned my eyes back to her and smiled. I looked up at the ceiling playfully and smiled.
"Ummmmmm…..when the pilot gives us the ten minute warning." I said and Jordan thought on this for a minute before nodding in defeat.
"Oh, alright." She said and laid her head back on the headrest, deciding to doze while she waited. I smiled at her before glancing back out the window at the sunrise.
A short while later, the captain came on to announce our impending arrival. Jordan awakened with a start and looked around a little befuddled. I laid a hand on top of hers on the armrest to settle her. When she was better aware of her surroundings, she looked at me expectantly.
"So? Where are we going!?" she asked excitedly and stretched her arms over her head. I smiled and looked out the window at the clear blue ocean. When I looked back at Jordan, her arms were still stretched over her head. She raised her eyebrows at me and I laughed.
"Key West. Very beachy…great for surfin'." I said and Jordan gasped happily, throwing her arms around me.
"Ahhhh!! The beach!? How did you find somewhere to stay on such little notice!?" She asked and leaned over me to look out the window. I smiled at her childlike wonder.
"Well," I said moving my head next to Jordan's and looking out the window with her. "My uncle Jimmy is something of a free spirit…lives nomadically all over the world. He's got a little villa, right on the beach, hammock out front, on the island. We used to visit him as kids, he taught me how to surf." I said proudly and Jordan seemed impressed.
"You can surf Farm Boy?" she asked glancing sideways at me smiling coyly. I just nodded.
"Maybe you can teach me how?" She asked hesitantly
and I smiled genuinely.
"I think I can work that in." I said playfully and Jordan smiled back as we
continued to watch out the window.
When we had finally left the airport and picked up a
suitable wardrobe for Jordan, I told her we had to make a quick stop at a
storage place after I picked up a key from a locker my uncle had left for me.
We got to the place the tag on the key said and it was a long term parking lot
kind of place. I led Jordan through the gate and an attendant there pointed me
in the direction I needed to go. I smiled when I spotted my Uncle's little
motorcycle and ran over and hopped on it. Jordan watched me amused and then
raised an eyebrow when I called for her to join me.
"For real?" she said and I revved the engine with a grin. I wagged my eyebrows
at her playfully and handed her a helmet. Jordan put it on and placed her stuff
in the saddle bags of the bike before climbing onto the back and wrapping her
arms snugly around my waist.
"Is there anything you can't do?!" she yelled over the engine and I smiled over
my shoulder at her.
"Wouldn't you like to know!" I yelled back with a smirk as we pulled out of the lot and sped off down the coast of the little island. Jordan relaxed quickly on the back of the bike and eventually let her chin rest on my shoulder. We didn't speak on the way. I wanted Jordan to enjoy the view.
We pulled off the main roads onto the sandy paths that led to the beachfront villas. I could see my uncles place through the thick, tropical brush and slowed a little to point it out to Jordan. She nodded against my shoulder as we neared the little path leading to his place. I stopped the bike next the sand path and Jordan hopped off as I kicked out the kickstand and hopped off myself. I pulled off my helmet and Jordan pulled off hers. I handed Jordan her bag and she took it quickly, looking all around taking a visual recon of the area.
"So what do you think?" I asked and Jordan turned
her head to me and smiled.
"It's beautiful Woody. Thanks. Really, it means a lot to me that you would want
to bring me here." She said laying a hand on my shoulder. I smiled and nodded,
flashing her my 'aw gawsh' smile. Jordan turned then and headed up the path to
the little white villa. I followed closely behind her and looked over the house
for any changes. It looked relatively the same. Sweet view of the beach which
was only about 40 feet from the back porch, screen door that was rarely locked,
canvas hammock out back, strung between two towering palm trees. Deck torches
at the four corners of the property and it looked like he recently re-painted
the shudders of the one floor villa a sea foam green color. Jordan quietly took
everything in as we approached the front door. I saw a note attached to the
screen and Jordan took it off and handed it to me.
"HollyWood,
Restocked the fridge with Corona and the sheets on the beds are new. Enough food for the week, if you're stayin' longer there's a little grocery store about 2 miles west. Surfboards and fishing gear's in the shed out back and don't forget, shower's outside, cold means cold and hot means cold…been meaning to fix that…
Stay outta trouble!
Uncle Jimmy
I smiled and looked at Jordan who was pulling the screen door open with a creak.
"Hollywood?…So Uncle Jimmy wouldn't happen to be Jimmy Buffet would he?" she asked with a chuckle and I looked down at the sand embarrassed.
"That's umm….what he calls…me…it's kinda a pet name…Cal's was…" Jordan interrupted me.
"Let me guess…California?" She asked with a smile. I smiled and nodded my head.
"Yes, it was California, and no, he's not Jimmy Buffet but we get that a lot." I said and Jordan just nodded and entered the house.
"SURE he isn't 'Hollywood'." She said from the doorway. I followed behind her, carrying our stuff.
"Uncle Jimmy he thought it was funny that my name was Woody so he just dropped the Y and added…" Jordan cut me off.
"Yeah, I get it Wood." She said and then asked where the light was. I startled her when I struck a match on the wall and held it up to light my face.
"Right here." I said with a smile and lit the candle closest to the door. I handed a few matches to Jordan and she wandered the room lighting candles as she went. When the room was reasonably bright, Jordan began to skim the picture-covered walls holding evidence of my Uncle's travels. There were pictures from Paris, Morocco, Mexico, Alaska, Ireland and just about every other corner of the Earth you could think of. She chuckled when she came across a bunch of family pictures and I joined her in looking at them.
"Awww….is that you?" she asked pointing to the pudgy little three year old in one picture straddling a surfboard, his mouth opened, screaming in terror as a man standing about waist deep in the ocean held onto both ends of the shortened board. I sighed and ran a hand over my eyes shyly.
"uh, yeah it is…I wasn't always such a water baby." I said chuckling and Jordan shook her head in amusement. I took her bag from her and motioned for her to follow me. We strode down a little hallway to the back of the house where I turned left into what was usually my parent's room when we stayed there. It was a cozy little niche with grass curtains and a dresser lined with different varieties of seashells that had been super glued onto the edges. A conch shell lay on top of the dresser under an old oval shaped mirror.
"And…and…here's the bed." I said flopping her bag down on the edge of the double bed. Jordan looked around the room and then threw me a lopsided smile as I had just stated the absolute most obvious. She looked out the window at the wide view of the ocean and I turned to the door and pointed to the room across from hers.
"And uhh…that….that's where I'll be." I said and Jordan nodded, still lost in the view of the sea. There were a few moments of silence and then I cleared my throat.
"So…how do you feel about a clam bake for a late lunch/early dinner?" I asked and Jordan finally turned to look at me.
"That sounds great." She said with a sigh and took my hand as we headed out to the back door.
We went through the simple kitchen to the back door and Jordan hurried out while I filled a pail with clams in the kitchen. When I had gathered all of the cooking materials we would need and laid two plates out on the little wooden table. I looked around for Jordan and she was lounging in the hammock, the sea breeze whipping her hair around her face. I smiled and put the pail down, strolling over to the hammock. Jordan slowly turned her head and smiled at me.
"Comfy?" I asked leaning on one of the palm trees and crossing my arms across the button down linen shirt I changed into. Jordan nodded and invited me to join her with a pat of her hand on the canvas next to her. I smiled and slumped down next to Jordan, casually wrapping my arm around her. She rested her head on my upper arm and sighed heavily.
"We're really secluded out here Woody, I looked around, and the nearest neighbors are about a mile down the beach in either direction. This place is perfect. Paradise." She said sleepily and I nodded.
"Yeah, paradise." I said with a yawn and let my eyes slip shut. I hadn't meant to drift off to sleep but with Jordan safely next to me and the sound of the waves crashing on the beach, I was quickly lulled to sleep. And just as I succumbed to my lack of sleep from the previous night, I realized from her even breathing that Jordan had fallen asleep as well.
Four hours later, I was awakened by the now setting sun in front of us over the top of the house. I blinked awake and looked down at Jordan who was still asleep, having at some point managed to swing a tanned leg over my own and one of her arms was thrown across my chest. It was a very possessive gesture, even for someone who was asleep and I smiled before running a hand down her arm gently. Jordan twitched and squirmed slowly awakening. She lifted the hand thrown across me and covered her eyes from the orange sun. Then she yawned and turned her head to look at me and smiled when she found me already awake.
"Hey." She said groggily and I yawned in response. "How long have you been awake?" She asked and I covered my own eyes from the sun.
"Not long." I said and leaned forward, bringing both
of us up into a sitting position in the hammock.
"Still up for those clams?" I asked and Jordan stood stretching her arms above
her.
"Sure, except I think we need to get some new
ones….the others have soured a little." She said leaning over the bucket while
holding her nose. I smiled and stood as well.
"I'll get some more." I said heading for the door. Jordan followed me saying
she was going to change before dinner.
I was just placing the plate of steaming clams on the table when Jordan opened the back door with a creak and stepped out. I looked up and scanned her new attire before she could catch me looking. She was wearing a pair of baby blue capris and a blue tank top with a hibiscus flower on the front. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she had white sandals on.
"You look rested." I said pulling a chair out from the table and gesturing for her to sit. Jordan smiled shyly and came to the table.
"So do you." She said sitting down and allowing me to push in her chair. I just smiled and sat down across from her.
"I can't believe you, Woody." She said suddenly about 5 minutes into our otherwise relatively silent meal.
"Can't believe what?" I asked with a smirk as I worked open a shell. Jordan chuckled and worked on a shell herself.
"This, all of this. That you would do all of this for me. No one has ever done anything like this for me." She said sadly then tried to laugh." I guess they just figured I was a lost cause. But you don't seem to have gotten that memo." She said taking a sip of water.
"I guess not." I said wiping my mouth as Jordan stood from the table and moved toward me. She bent forward and kissed me on the cheek, holding her lips there for a moment. When she pulled away, I could tell by her eyes that she was thinking. Thinking when you are Jordan isn't necessarily always a good thing so when she opened her mouth to say something, I cut her off.
"So you wanna go for a walk?" I asked with a sigh and Jordan smiled, looking at the ground.
"Sure." She said holding out her hand for me to take. I took it gently and she pulled me to my feet. I wrapped an arm around Jordan's shoulders to keep her warm and she wrapped her arm around my waist. I started towards the beach and Jordan smiled.
"Ooooo….he likes long walks on the beach too…how come some girl hasn't swept you up already?" She asked and I looked down at my feet.
I huffed and looked out over the now dark ocean. The moonlight was dancing across the waves.
"There was one…but…I…I messed that up." I said and Jordan seemed surprised. She looked up at me shocked.
"Oh, you wanna talk about it." She asked seriously. I shook my head nervously. "Have you ever talked to anyone about it?" She asked catching on and again I shook my head no.
"It was a misunderstanding." I said sadly and looked back out at the ocean.
"What was, Woody?" Jordan asked recapturing my attention. I turned my eyes back to her and sighed. I thought for a moment then started to explain.
"Remember how I told you I had gotten stood up by my prom date?" Jordan nodded. "Well, I was sitting out on my front porch, wallowing in self pity, and the girl next door came out onto her porch and she was crying. Her name is Annie. We've lived next to each other since…boy…probably since we were about 8. I just sat there, watching her cry. I didn't know whether to hurry up and get my ass into the house before she saw me, or to go over and comfort her. She was my friend that's what I was supposed to do. So I got up and walked across the lawn to her door. She was sitting in her porch swing in her prom dress. She looked up as I stepped up onto the porch, tux and all. I smiled and sat down next to her on the swing. I said hi and she just turned her head and smiled weakly at me. I pulled out that little hanky from the pocket of my tux and handed it to her. She took it and said 'thank you Woody.' I nodded and wrapped my around her. I asked her what happened and she told me that she and her boyfriend had gotten prom king and queen. I congratulated her and she shook her head. They had called their names and she hurried to the stage smiling away and looking around for her boyfriend. They couldn't find him anywhere. Then someone lifted up the cloth on one of the tables and he was passed out drunk under it. All of his friends started laughing at him. Everyone else started laughing at her. She was mortified. She ran all the way home from the school. I told her that I was sorry he had done that to her. That she deserved better than that. She looked at me then, and it was a different look than I had ever seen her give me before. She leaned forward and kissed me. When she pulled back, she looked me over and said, 'So do you.' She knew I had been stood up. I…just… smiled and kissed her back."
When I finished the happier part of my story, Jordan was smiling happily at me. "So where did you go wrong?" She asked narrowing her eyes at me. I let my own smile fade away and Jordan waited patiently for me to continue.
"We were together after that. Inseparable. She was my first love. A little over two years ago, we started talking marriage." I said and Jordan seemed surprised by this admission. I just nodded answering a question she hadn't asked out loud.
"I decided to go to her father, the local sheriff and MY boss, and ask for his permission." I sighed heavily, lost in the memory of that day.
"And what did he say?" Jordan asked quietly over the break of the waves only
feet away.
"He said….that no daughter of his was going to marry a cop. She deserved better than that." I said and Jordan shook her head at the irony of his words.
"So what did you do?" She asked laying her head back against my shoulder. I smiled and looked down at the sand, embarrassed to admit to Jordan that I was a runner too.
"Well, let's just say you and I may have been broken from a similar mold after all." I said and Jordan stopped and looked at me surprise written all over her face.
"You RAN!?" she asked incredulously. I nodded sadly and then shook my head and sat down in the sand. Jordan flopped down next to me and laid a hand on my shoulder.
"I didn't mean to hurt her…it was…just…" I trailed off lifting a handful of sand and letting it sift slowly through my knuckles and slowly fly away with the wind.
"Easier?" Jordan suggested finishing my thought with experience. I nodded and ran a hand through my hair. "I get that, trust me." Jordan said and I hoped she would continue by sharing a story of her own. There were a few moments of silence where I thought she might share something but then she stood and grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet.
"Come on cowboy…you have a big day of teaching me how to surf tomorrow." She said gently tugging on my fingertips to get my arm around her shoulders again. I complied and we started back for the house. When we were inside Jordan made note of the lack of a television. Then I made note that we would need to make our own entertainment then as I handed her a Corona from the fridge. I followed Jordan to her room and when she plopped down on the bed on her stomach, I took a seat on the floor letting my head rest on the mattress next to Jordan's head where it lay nearly hung over the edge. We stayed up half the night basically playing "20 Questions" about each other's childhoods. At around 2 am, I looked at my watch and announced that I better get some sleep. As I was leaving the room, Jordan requested an extra question.
"If you get another question, it can't be called 20 questions anymore." I said with a smile and Jordan rolled her eyes.
"Humor me?" she asked with a smile. I rolled my eyes back at her and she sat up excitedly on the bed. She had only had 3 beers and she was in quite a tipsy state. I nodded cautiously and Jordan pulled a pillow to her chest and settled into the mattress before she asked,
"Why didn't you bring any pajamas with you?" She asked and I rubbed the back of my head nervously and sighed.
"Because I don't have any pajamas." I answered and headed towards my room.
"But wait! Does that mean you sleep naked!?" Jordan yelled after me. I stopped and swung around the corner of her room.
"That's 22 questions." I said with a smirk and headed back to my room, leaving Jordan to ponder my response.
