Checking my hair one last time in my compact mirror as well as my make-up, I looked up at my cab driver and smiled, paying for my fare "Hey uh… do I look okay? Did the rain get my make-up?" I asked him. I know it was a stupid question but there was nothing wrong with getting a second opinion. The man turned around to look at me and I smiled nervously, awaiting his response. "You look fine honey, just keep your umbrella close," he replied with a polite smile, which made me sigh in relief. Thanking him for the ride, I stepped out of the taxi and immediately put my umbrella up to shelter myself from the rain. The taxi pulled away from the curb as I walked to the doors of the hotel and quickly went inside, putting my umbrella down and shaking the water off of it before putting it back in my bag. My high heels clicked on the marble floor as I walked on, over to the front desk "Excuse me," the receptionist looked up from the computer to look at me "I'm looking for a Mr. Jayden, he's expecting me," the receptionist looked back down at her computer and typed something. Did she just ignore me?

Before I could say anything more though, a man dressed in the hotel's uniform of red came over to me "You're looking for Mr. Jayden?" he inquired and I nodded "Oh, you must be Miss Bliss!" the man smiled "Yeah, Mr. Jayden said you'd be coming here, he's in the dining hall," I nodded a curt thank you to the man before I walked away. Oh god, why was I so nervous? My heart was racing and my hands were trembling. It was just dinner for crying out loud! Its not like its a date or anything… is it? I never normally got this dressed up or wore make-up this flashy. My red dress was short, shorter than the skirt's I would normally wear at the station, with red lace sleeves. For the first time in my life, for some reason, I had decided to wear the push-up bra my friend Miranda had bought me for my birthday. I really didn't need it seeing as I was a DD in size, but nothing wrong with looking appealing. My black high-heels were rather simple looking, but I normally didn't like wearing anything too high and the black went with my dress and clutch bag. It did actually feel quite nice to dress up though, since at the station, all I could do was wear boring office wear, and even then that didn't stop Blake from flirting or teasing me. So when I had been assigned to Jayden, I honestly felt like jumping for joy as that meant I got to spend time actually doing detective work rather than trying to pry Blake off of people whom he thought was the killer. Though I still had to do that, at least I had somebody to help me now. When I first saw Jayden at the station, I hadn't been assigned to him yet though I was aware that an FBI Agent had been sent to help us along in the investigation. He looked really out of place, especially in his clean and neat appearance. The first time I spoke to him, well, when he first talked to me was during his first day at the coffee machine, where a simple offer of the caffeinated drink had turned into a very pleasant and theorizing talk about the case. When I was assigned to Jayden as his assistant, I began to appreciate his greeting of "Good Morning Miss Bliss," instead of Blake's "Morning Sugar Tits."

Taking a deep breath I opened the door into the very large dining room where the bar was directly in the middle of the room and had multiple tables around the large room. There was a dance floor off to the right near some couches, in front of that was a stage where a band was playing some soft music that was easy on the ears. My eyes scanned the room, and I couldn't help but feel like a little lost child. I knew that the hotel was nice, but… I honestly felt a little bit under dressed with how some of the other women in the room looked. However to my relief, my gaze settled upon Jayden who was sitting at a table by himself near the grand piano in the room. He seemed to have spotted me too as he smiled and waved. I smiled back and walked over to my partner as he stood up to greet me "I was starting to think you wouldn't come," he pulled out a seat for me and I nodded him a thank you as we both sat down "You look… nice," he smiled and I couldn't help but blush at the compliment as his eyes ran up and down my form. "Thanks, you do too," I replied, noting that he'd put on a different suit that was similar to the one he wore at work, but this one looked more expensive. "I'm sorry I'm a bit late, traffic was terrible," I told him as I picked up the menu "The rain made one of the sewage pipes burst beneath one of the roads,"

"Sounds messy,"

"Not the messiest thing I've seen, but it smelled like crap,"

"Yet you smell like flowers," I blushed again at his compliment, but I knew he hadn't called me here just to chit-chat. Well, partially not to chit-chat anyway. The waiter came over and we both ordered our food, but we waited until he went away before we began to talk about the case.

"So, why don't we go over what we have so far, and we can go from there?" I suggested and he nodded

"We know the killer has a blue Chevrolet, and the license plate indicates that it was stolen by a known car thief with the nickname 'Mad Jack'," Jayden recalled. I frowned, that name rang a bell with me. It was about a year ago I remember when he had been arrested on a whim for tax evasion, but in the time between his arrest and the trial, Blake and I had managed to scrape up enough evidence to convict him of theft. But she did know that 'Mad Jack' was now on parole. "I can check over the database to see where Mad Jack lives now, maybe he'll know something, he might have seen the killers face if he went there himself," I suggested

"I doubt the killer would have shown his face, but its worth a try, might get a follow-up lead if Mad Jack does know something,"

The waiter soon came back to our table with our food and drinks, and my god was I starving! I didn't want to pig out in front of Jayden, but the beer-battered fish sprinkled in breadcrumbs just made my mouth water. As I began to eat, I couldn't help but notice Jayden's intense gaze, as if he were analyzing me. "You're an interesting person, Miss Bliss," he commented and I dared to look up. Deciding to humor him, I smiled and asked "How so Mr. Nahmen?" I couldn't help but giggle at his face when I tried mimicking his accent. He raised an eyebrow at me and ate some of his food before replying "You don't like my voice?"

"No, not at all," I quickly answered, hoping he didn't get the wrong idea. I smiled at him and told him the honest truth "I like your voice, I think its cute the way you talk," it was my turn to giggle again as his face went a little pink. Deciding to be a little flirty, I continued "Since I told you something, you tell me something you like about me," I rested my head in my hand by putting it on my cheek as I ate my food.

"Alright," he smiled, seeming to catch onto my little game "I like the way you walk,"

"The way I… walk?" I repeated, confused and he nodded.

"Yeah, when you walk your hips sway a little bit from side to side," I blinked in surprise. After a little more flirty conversation and eating, I finally felt like I could be myself around Jayden. Then again, I guess I really was always myself around him whereas at the station I was always on my guard. It felt relaxing and god knows did it feel refreshing. When we were finally finished with our food, Jayden suggested we go back up to his hotel room so that we could see if we missed anything in terms of clues, since he didn't have his glasses or gloves with him. I always made jokes about those things, saying that he looked like The Men in Black trying to be a mime. After splitting the bill, I walked with him over to the elevator. To my surprise, as we walked, he took my hand in his own. The direct contact made me blush and feel warm all over, making me feel like a little school girl holding the hand of her first crush.

As we stepped into the elevator, he pressed the button and the doors closed. Turning to him, I asked "Jayden… do you think Ethan Mars really killed those other kids and kidnapped Shaun?" he turned to me and answered with a sigh. "No, I really don't agree with Blake on that one, the man doesn't fit the killer's profile, or the ten-mile zone,"

"Thank god somebody agrees with me," I sighed in relief "I was talking to Blake about it, but once his head is set on something there's no changing his mind," I froze briefly when I felt his soft hand on my cheek, his fingers delicately stroking my skin, tilting my chin up to look him in the eyes. All I wanted was to lean into that warm, comforting touch, to melt into a puddle of goo when I saw the want in his eyes. "I don't wanna hear about Blake anymore," he whispered, I shivered when I felt his breath on my lips.

"Jayden…" I breathed out, trying to calm myself as I leaned up and he came closer…

Then suddenly he pulled completely away, putting his hand on the door and breathing heavily. I rushed forward, trying to figure out what was wrong. Was he having a panic attack? "Jayden?" I asked, putting my hand on his shoulder "Jayden, what's wrong?" my voice frantic when I could have sworn I saw his hands trembling. When the elevator door finally opened, he stumbled out like he was drunk all of a sudden. He hobbled down the hallway on shaky legs and when he turned to open the door to his hotel room, I saw how bloodshot his eyes were, making me gasp in horror. "Jayden!" I called out, running after him, barely managing to get inside the hotel room door before he slammed it shut. He stood in the middle of the room, his hands running over his face like he was checking it was still there. I called for him again but he just lurched forward into the bathroom, slamming it in my face. "Jayden! Open the door!" I banged on the white door frantically "Jayden Please!" my pleas were met with silence for a what felt like too long. My mind ran through the worst possible scenarios, was he having a panic attack? A heart attack maybe? Asthma? Was he even conscious in there?!

My mind finally calmed down a little when I heard the shower going, I sighed in relief and slumped against the door.

I took a few minutes to calm myself, maybe he had some medication here somewhere and left it here by mistake? I decided to look around the room and I eventually found a very small tube of a weirdly colored powder. It wasn't labeled or anything, so I untwisted the cap in curiosity. There was no way I was about to put something in my mouth that I didn't know the name of, so I brought it to my nose for a quick whiff of a scent. A weird, sharp sensation ran through my brain and I nearly dropped the tube when I choked out a strangled gasp. I screwed the lid back on and put it back where I'd found it on the chair. Now I was no expert, but I wasn't an idiot. Turning to the door, I knocked once again "Jayden… please just listen to me, I'm not gonna bullshit you," I breathed "I have no idea what you're going through, but you don't have to do this alone, you're trying to get off of… whatever that blue stuff is right? Let me help you out," after hearing no answer for several minutes I decided to press on with my forehead against the door "Jayden, ever since you walked into the station and introduced yourself, I've admired you, the way you handle yourself so calmly, the way you handle every situation, how you don't lose your cool… but I bet you don't think you're strong because you're reliant on the drug, you are so wrong Jayden, please… you're the only person who can solve this case, this investigation needs you," I felt myself tear up, a small tear running down my cheek as I thought about Jayden pushing daisies because of some stupid drug "I… I need you…" I whimpered, my voice cracking with need. After a few minutes of hearing nothing but running water from the shower and my own sobs, the door's lock released. Taking a deep breath to compose myself, I opened the door and walked inside the black and white room.

I turned the corner to see the man I had been about to kiss a few minutes ago, curled up against the wall beneath the jet of the shower. His nose was bleeding, and his eyes were the same color as my dress. He was as pale as the white wall behind him. It broke my heart to see the man I adored so much in this condition. I rushed forward before he could say anything, throwing myself to my knees and wrapping my arms around him, holding him as close as I could beneath the freezing cold water. I felt his arms slowly wrap around me, his shoulders trembling as his tears added to the water that was soaking my dress, making the fabric cling to my skin. My heart was still racing from moments earlier, but it felt like I couldn't breathe, especially when I choked out his name "Norman," he pulled back slightly so I could see his face. Oh god, I hoped I would never see him like this again. I would get him off of that horrible, horrible drug even if it killed me. "I-If you can't get off of it, for yourself, then get off of it for me…" I begged him. I don't know how long we stayed there under the water, holding each other, crying for each other. The only thing that interrupted that moment, was our stolen kiss. With no hesitation this time, he kissed me, and I kissed him back. Time slipped away like the water running down around us, nothing could take this away from us. When time finally resumed again, it was when he pulled back slightly from my lips to whisper "I need you too, Jennifer Bliss," before time, as well as our clothes slipped away whilst our kiss evolved into something, much, much more powerful.