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Chapter 20 – Think of Me
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Jackie was surprised that the telephone company came out so early in the day. Now she had hours of free time to dedicate to making her new apartment a home. But first on her list was Jackie time. She had spent so much energy making everyone else happy, she neglected herself.
"This is what happens when you don't come in for a cut!" Fez scolded gently. "Now I have to trim off inches so you don't look fuzzy." Jackie smiled at him in the reflection of the salon mirror. "I've been busy."
Fez sprayed some conditioner on his hands and dragged the foamy fingers through her tresses. "I know, we hardly see you in the basement anymore. I think Hyde misses you."
Jackie lifted a brow. "Steven talks about me?"
Fez met her gaze in the glass. "No. He doesn't talk much but I can tell he misses you. He used to make such a fuss about you being down there and bothering him but now he just looks at the stairs a lot."
Jackie digested this little piece of information. "I guess we're all growing up. Finally."
"I know – Kelso had Betsy all weekend and was a great dad. Brooke was even smiling when she picked her up. I think the romance is going good."
Jackie was glad. If her persuasion faded away, at least she knew that the good that they had done was going to stay. The Forman's business would still be prospering and Kelso was going to be a good father to his little girl. Jackie could tuck that little nugget of happiness into her heart and keep it.
"Fez…can I ask you a hypothetical question?"
Fez looked aghast. "You want to use that huge needle on me? NO!"
Jackie laughed, "No. You're thinking of a hypodermic needle. I just want to ask you a question."
"You promise no needles?"
She smiled. "I promise." Fez put down his scissors and swung her chair around so he could face her from his stool. "Okay Goddess, what's your question?"
"Fez, what if you were granted the best gift in the world and the temptation to use it for good or evil was up to you. The trick is that you don't know how long you get to use it or if you get to keep it at all. What would you do?"
"Is it a bottomless bag of candy?" he asked hopefully.
Jackie laughed, "No, it's not candy. It's special… like….knowing what horse to bet in the Kentucky Derby."
Fez rubbed his hands together. "Oh….if I knew that then I could be a really rich man!"
Jackie smiled. "No, you could only use the knowledge for good. Like you could tell a friend which horse would win but you couldn't use it for yourself."
"Well that's a terrible gift. Who would give a present like that?"
Jackie bit her lip. "What if it was given to you by someone or something you didn't know? You don't know exactly how to give it back - but that's not my real question. Would you use it to make someone fall in love with you?"
Fez replied, "Oh yes! As many pretty ladies as I could. You say it might go away? Then Fez would use it until it was all gone."
Jackie thought about how she and Eric were trying so hard to make Donna and Hyde feel something they probably didn't want to feel anyways and it all seemed to blow up in their faces. She sighed.
"Fez. What if you fell in love someone you never expected too?"
Fez combed the conditioned through the rest of her hair and spun her back to the mirror. "Jackie. If you fell in love using this pretend magic…maybe it was meant to be. Only you can decide if it's love or not. Now about the bottomless bag of candy…."
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"Steven, if you're going to get me a birthday sweater, at least get me one that fits!" Angie complained. "You're going with me to the mall. You didn't have a receipt and I don't know what store you bought it from."
Hyde groaned. "I hate the mall. I got it from Sassy Studio, god knows why I was even in there!"
Angie smile, "I love Sassy! Come on, it's lunch and I'll treat. Dad wants us to get along and this is the perfect opportunity." Hyde looked at his half-sister and wanted to protest but she was right – Angie was family and he liked being a big brother.
"Okay, let me tell Leo we're taking a long lunch. You better make sure they have beer."
Angie's laugh tinkled, "Oh Steven, you're so funny!"
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Donna was holding a table at the Pizza Oven café in the Point Place Food Court. Eric was going to meet her there for lunch. She was astonished at how pleasant he was and how much she actually like spending time with this new Eric. Today she wore a simple blue dress and some smart pumps. Not her usual attire but she wanted to look nice.
Eric parked in the north facing parking lot and hurried to the food court. He only got an hour for lunch and had to try this thing with Donna. He knew Jackie was here somewhere but couldn't read her. Damn.
Donna was sitting in a chair facing the door. She stood up when she saw Eric who looked so handsome in his company jacket and khaki pants. He seemed to radiate this confidence that she hadn't seen before. Eric strode across the room and gave Donna a kiss on the cheek. "Hope you didn't have to wait too long."
She sat down, "No, actually I just got here. They have some excellent sandwiches. I'm kinda getting tired of all of my Dad's pasta dinners." She admitted.
Eric smiled and picked up a menu.
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Jackie was standing at the window inside of Modern Chic dressing a mannequin with jewelry from Candace's Silver Strands jewelry store. She had been humming pop songs and chewing gum when she was suddenly aware that Eric was in the mall. She blocked him out with thoughts of Donny Osmond and Leif Garrett – typical teenage girl-at-the-mall thinking.
Now he was sitting with Donna who looked so pretty in the blue dress with a soft paisley pattern. She had even curled her hair. Jackie felt a twinge of jealously when he kissed her cheek. Stop it – this is what you asked for, she reminded herself.
She hooked the clasp of the rhinestone necklace around the dummy's neck when she saw Steven and Angie walking towards the Pizza Oven. Jackie had the urge to use her power to disrupt the little lunch. Maybe she could persuade Angie to choose a different restaurant or just leave the mall entirely.
Angie stopped as the hairs on the back of her neck rose. She shivered and when Hyde looked at her she just smiled and replied, "Just got a chill." As he opened the door, she looked behind her and knew she was being watched.
Grand-mama Barnett would tell her that she was being hexed. The Creole blood in the Barnett lineage would protect her. Angie had been hexed before and knew what this was…she just didn't know who it was from or why.
Hyde was surprised to see Forman and Donna having a friendly lunch together. It had been months since they were on any kind of date and he felt happy for Donna. It was almost like the strangeness of summer had gone and everything was back to normal.
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Jackie was trembling. While she was thinking of changing Angie Barnett's mind for her, the girl had some special power that boomeranged right back at Jackie. Was Angie a real telepath? Was that part of the reason why Steven couldn't always be persuaded? After work it was time to take a trip to the library! Jackie hurried through the maintenance doors of the mall carefully avoiding the food court. She needed to be far far away from Eric and Angie. It was getting dangerous now!
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Eric was getting ready for bed. He spent the evening with Donna and Bob watch some inane Celebrity Charity show and got home late. These infrequent dates with Donna were nice but he still didn't have the overwhelming feelings that he used to have. It was like they had grown up and grown apart. Donna was a great friend but not necessarily someone he wanted to sleep with. But then he was a guy and if the opportunity came up…..
The phone rang and he grabbed it up before Red could complain about Laurie calling late in the evening. "Did you and Pastor Dave have a fight?"
"It's me." Jackie said cradling the phone.
Eric sat on his bed feeling a tremendous amount of relief. It had been five days, 21 hours and 30 minutes since he had spoken to his best friend. "I've missed you."
"I saw you today." She replied.
Eric was surprised. "How come I didn't know you were there?"
"I blocked you. Donna looked so pretty. Was it a nice lunch?"
"It was pleasant. She's really busy with school and projects and why are we talking about her?"
"Eric, this is important. I think Angie's a telepath."
Eric was shocked "How do you know that?"
Jackie replied. "I saw her and Steven in the mall and I was trying to persuade her to go anywhere but the Pizza Oven and she heard me. I got stonewalled and it scared me. We need to steer clear of her at least telepathy wise."
"Well, I don't have that much contact with Angie, but Leo does. Maybe that's why Hyde is so damn stubborn."
Jackie laughed, "I was thinking the same thing. It's probably inherited, but his genes from Edna overpowered the Barnett ones so it's weak."
Eric almost shuddered, "Edna the lunch lady. God, if that doesn't strike fear…I guess you and Hyde are on your own in the romance department."
Jackie sighed, "Steven is such hard work…I don't know if I have the energy anymore to chase him. I have so much I still want to do while I have my Jedi. Hell, he can chase me." She declared.
"He'll have to run fast because I'm chasing you too." Eric said in a low tone that vibrated deliciously against her ear. Jackie giggled, "Stop it. You have a mission Eric."
"I'm just keeping my options open. So are you going to give me your phone number or what?"
"Not yet. I haven't decided what to do with you."
"Oh, I can think of a few things…"
Jackie gasped as a mental image flooded her mind. "Eric! You are bad!"
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