The next day, Hyde was at work anxiously awaiting Jackie's arrival. He would look at the clock hoping that time would go by a little faster so he could see Jackie again. Every time a customer asked him a question he would fumble with his answer, at the register he was messing up the change and Randy and Leo were taking notice.
"Hey uh…you ok today boss?" Randy asked.
"Yeah. What makes
you think I'm not?"
"Well man…you're pretty screwed up
today." Leo said.
"I'm pretty screwed up?" Hyde asked.
"Look…Hyde I know things have been weird for you since your friends have been gone…but…if you want to talk about it…Well…I'm here."
"Gee Randy…that'd be great. Then we can have a sleepover and talk about our new crushes too!" Hyde said in a girly voice.
"Look I'm just
saying…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm fine."
"Oh
hey man I forgot to tell you something."
"What is it
Leo?"
"Loud girl called."
Hyde's head shot up and he
looked anxiously at Leo which Randy noticed.
"Jackie called?
When? What did she say? Does she want me to call her back?"
"Your
getting pretty excited about your ex calling you. I thought you said
you hated Jackie." said Randy.
"Whatever. Were
friends now that's all."
"Whatever you say boss."
"Leo
what did she say?"
"Oh…she said something about her boss and
staying late at work."
"You mean she's not coming over here
later?" Hyde seemed extremely upset.
"Nah man…she'll
just be late."
"Oh…that's cool."
Hyde walked away and
Randy followed him curious as to what he was up to.
"So when did you
and Jackie become friends again?"
"Why are you so
interested?"
"Why are you being so uptight about this?"
"Do
you have some sort of crush on Jackie or something Randy?"
"No.
I just don't want to see her get hurt again."
Randy glared at
Hyde and walked into the back room to do some paperwork. Hyde glared
after him and sat down on his stool at the counter when Leo came up
to him.
"You ok man?"
"Leo
can I ask you something?"
"Sure man, but I swear I'll put
the money back tomorrow."
Hyde glanced up at Leo and thought of
responding to his comment but just shook his head and laughed.
"What do you think
of Jackie?"
"I don't know how I feel about Jackie man. But I
do like Loud Girl."
Hyde laughed. "You
do?"
"Yeah man…she's cool. She's tough, and she can yell
man."
Hyde laughed again and nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah
she sure can."
"Plus she seemed to make you happy man. And
now…you don't seem happy."
"You think she'll forgive me
for what I did to her?"
"What'd you do to her?"
"I
married Sam…and treated her like absolute shit for a year."
"Wow
man that's heavy. But who's Sam?"
"She's…oh never mind
you won't remember this conversation anyway. Would you mind
watching the register for a bit?"
"That's cool."
"Alright.
Thanks. I'll be back in a bit."
Hyde went to the back room to
get his coat and keys and Randy glared at him.
"Where you
going?"
"Out."
Hyde didn't even look at Randy; he just
left and went outside to the Camino. He drove around for about an
hour to clear his mind. Randy often spoke his mind, but Hyde hadn't
expected him to say something like that, to defend Jackie. He sighed
and realized if he ever wanted to get back together with Jackie he
was going to have to come up with a pretty damn good plan to win back
her trust. He headed back to Groove's just as Randy was closing up.
"Hey boss. How was
your drive?"
"Fine."
"You want me to finish up
here."
"No. I'm staying here for a bit anyway. You can
go."
"Oh ok."
Hyde walked behind the register and started
to count the money; Randy looked over at him and sighed.
"Hyde…I didn't
mean to upset you before."
"You didn't Randy. It's
fine."
"No its not. I just mean that Jackie is a good girl,
she doesn't deserve to have her heartbroken again. But…if you
really do love her and she is what you want this time…than go for
it. Although it's not going to be easy."
"How do you even
know what happened between me and Jackie?"
"Well when me and
Donna were going out…one night I went over to her house but she
wasn't there. Jackie was there and we started talking…and
drinking…and before I knew it she was a drunken crying mess telling
me the whole story. It's a pretty rough story."
"Yeah it
is…I screwed up pretty bad."
"Yeah you did."
Hyde
glared at him and Randy backed off a bit.
"Sorry…well I'm
gonna head home but good luck with Jackie. And just…don't hurt
her ok? She deserves to be happy…and so do you."
He smiled at
Hyde and then took off. Hyde turned on a Zeppelin record and started
cleaning up. About a half hour later he heard a knock on the door and
jumped up excitedly and ran to the door unlocking it, his smile
brightened when he saw Jackie standing there.
"Hey. Sorry I'm
so late. Did Leo tell you I called?"
"Yeah sort of." She
smiled. "Come in, its cold out."
Jackie walked into Grooves
and took off her coat placing it on the couch before turning back to
look at Hyde. He was standing closer to her than she expected and she
jumped slightly.
"Oh…sorry."
"No…no
its fine."
"So uh…how was work?"
"God it sucked. This
new job at the radio station sucks. I mean Donna got to be on the
radio…all I do is file records all day around weird creepy old
men."
"You file records? Interesting…"
"Steven how is
that interesting? It's like one of the most boring things ever."
"Well…I mean…I
was just thinking that you know…Leo doesn't do much around here.
And I could use an extra hand…and since you have some experience
with records and your good with money…would you like to work
here?"
Jackie seemed taken a back and laughed nervously.
"I uh…well…are
you serious?"
"Yeah sure why not. I mean it would be kind of
fun wouldn't it? We could hang out when it was dull and Randy and
Leo like you. No more creepy guys hanging around you."
"Steven-"
"And
I'd pay you more than they do."
"Huh…alright then. I'm
in."
"Great!" Hyde's smile was brighter than she had ever
seen it before and she stared at him curiously.
"You're being
incredibly nice to me Steven."
"That's what friends do
right? Be nice to each other."
"Yeah I suppose so…it's
just…never mind." She put her head down staring at her
feet.
"It's just that I was such an ass to you this year
right?"
Her head shot up and she stared at him with teary eyes.
"Uh yeah…I guess
that's what I was going to say."
"I am sorry ya know. For
the way I treated you."
She smiled. "I know Steven. I know.
But that's in the past. Were moving onto our future as friend's
right?"
"Right…as friends."
"Your not going to like
make me do all the work around here are you?"
"Jackie you're
talking to me. I don't do work. So if you don't really work…I'll
still pay you."
She laughed.
"Good. I guess
I'll tell my boss tomorrow that I quit."
"Ok. You can come
by on Friday and I'll show you how to work everything, ya know kind
of training."
"Ok sounds good."
"Good. Are you uh…you
hungry?"
"Starved!"
"Want
to go out to get a bite to eat?"
"Yeah sure I'd love to."
Hyde grabbed his coat and turned off the lights and she grabbed her coat. Hyde smiled as Jackie walked by him out the door. Things were good…things were very good. He just had to find a way to not screw up now.
