INTERLUDE 05: Get Over Yourself Sweetheart
Author's Note I: Takes place during "To Win or to Lose?" What Eva and Jet were doing before Alan began snooping around in Flynn's Arcade.
Warning: Mild sexual content.
(Friday, April 23, 2010 - Downtown Los Angeles - Jet's Apartment/Flynn's Arcade):
Eva and sex went hand-in-hand like no one's business. That's kind've how their relationship started. After pleasantries were done with, phone numbers traded, Eva had no qualms about getting right to the root of their attraction. The best kind of affection was often physical, it was also fun. Honestly, he was keen on thinking sex with her was the better than with his other girlfriends, but that was counting his chickens before they hatched.
They left ENCOM, a pair of chummy lovers, Eva perhaps overeager about showing her appreciation for boyfriend of now three years, to where he had to remind her to keep her eyes on the road or they would end up the companion piece of someone's side door.
At the arcade, he had no problems receiving and giving in kind, but he couldn't get lost in the moment like she could. Easy as it was to push the concerns away whenever Eva touched him, the thoughts never ceased to be. Every single thing he said to his father repeated over and over in his head, tearing at his fragile state of mind until he lost all sense of place.
In the shower of his girlfriend's affection and butterfly kisses, Jet could not stop thinking. "I'm angry at my father, and I don't know why." He was certain he thought the words, but the way Eva stiffened and pulled away from him told him otherwise.
Yeah, that's not what your girlfriend wanted to hear when she was trying to have a good time. Sitting upright where she lay next to him, she pressed her lips together and tossed her hair from her face. Eva reached over and grabbed the radio remote off the bedside table. Aiming true, she stopped Journey's Greatest Hits album with one click. Bracing herself on either side of him, she asked, "Amant, pray tell why are you thinking about your father?"
"I dunno."
"Do you want me to gag?"
He thought about cracking a joke then reconsidered. "No."
"I thought we were having fun?"
"We are. I just-," He sighed. "Hear me out for sec?"
She sighed. "I suppose I have to if I'm going to get any reciprocation."
"Har-har."
Crawling further out from under the covers, she settled herself under his right arm and on lay on her stomach. Out of habit, Jet pulled the sheet up around them to ward off the draft in his room. "What has the esteemed Mr. Bradley done to rattle you so?"
"Before I came to see you at ENCOM, I ran into him outside work."
"What was he doing there?"
"I guess he was coming to see me. He kinda ambushed me because I had no idea was going on your end of things with ENCOM and FCon. So, what started as a "hi, how are you?" went straight into the blame game."
"How do you mean?"
Jet hung his head slightly. "Um, remember when you told me that you were going to assist in the merger?"
New Year's Eve, 2009, ten minutes before midnight. They were at a ritzy party hosted by Crown and Baza, who invited her. They politely tolerated her boyfriend would be accompanying her. She remembered awestruck look on his face when she told him. Eva smiled, her fingers dancing across his chest. "You told your father, didn't you?"
"No, I told Lora," He corrected. "I don't know when she told him, but she did."
"So when things didn't go his way–"
"We got into a fight, he asked why I let you exploit me, and etcetera," Jet rolled onto his side so that he was facing her. "It was a nightmare."
"That man is hopeless, Jet. You know I'd never use you like that."
"It wasn't for a lack of trying, though, was it?" He asked. Eva shrugged her shoulders coolly. She tried once or twice to get him help her in a scheme or two, but he always seemed keenly aware that the benefits were more in her favor than his own and he was likely going end up the chopping block if they ever got caught.
Dillinger would pull her out trouble, probably cover her. Jet on the other hand? Well, he had an errant friend, a busy mother and an estranged father. They'd all probably spend the better part of their time telling him he should've never got mixed up with her before they felt pity enough to bail his ass out of trouble if they could. "I tested you, and you remained steadfast in your morals. I can't say I'm in love with–"
"Whoa, whoa," Now Jet was sitting up. "You love me?"
"I don't call you amant for no reason, do I?"
"Well, "lover" could mean a lot of things."
"Such as?"
"I dunno. A lot of things. I could be your boytoy, for all I know-"
Eva started to laugh.
"Eva I'm being serious."
"I know, that's why I'm laughing. No one commits to their boytoy, Jethro. That's why they're boytoys. They don't last."
"Oh, c'mon. This whole time we've been together, you never once told me "I love you"," Jet was grinning like a kid in a candy store. "You mean it?"
Eva pushed him onto his back and pulled herself on top of him. "Yes, I mean it. I love you Jet Bradley," She said, kissing him. "If you asked me to marry you, I would say yes."
His breath came out in a whoosh against her lips. "Wow! We're – we're going there?" He was smiling but his eyes reflected alarm.
Leaning back she regarded his taken aback expression. "Is – is that problem for you? Marriage?" Her smile was hesitant, nervous even.
He shook his head. "No, no. I Just – I never figured you for the marrying type."
"What kind of a woman do I strike you as?"
"The Unmarried Life Partner type. Makes ending things less complicated, no legal papers –" He gripped her waist, wiggling his eyebrows. "The consummate 20th Century Woman."
She frowned. "Are you always expecting me to end things between us, amant?"
"Can I be honest?" He sat up. She slipped onto the mattress but kept his grip on her waist steady. There was a pronounced silence between them before Eva finally nodded. "Yes, and it's not – c'mon, give a chance to explain myself –" His hands moved from her waist to her hands when she began to move off the bed. "Please?" Eva regarded him wearily, but settled down. "It's not because I think you're a heartless a bitch, or anything –"
"Bold of you to assume I'm not."
Jet couldn't stop the laugh that escaped him, and failed to recapture a sober expression. It got a giggle out of her, which was good as far as he was concerned. "Have you ever felt invisible?"
"Well, everyone does once and -"
"No, not like that. I mean, have you ever felt like you don't matter?"
She shook her head. She mattered to everyone she knew, even the people who hated her.
"Well, when I was a kid, I had this dream. More of a reoccurring nightmare, really. I walked out of the house, and went to the park. I stayed there all day, until it got dark. When I got home, it was raining. So, I run inside, and there's my dad sitting in the living room. I figure I'm gonna get the biggest dressing-down of my life, but he doesn't say anything to me, he doesn't even notice me. Then I realize… there are no pictures of me in the house. I don't have a bedroom, there's nothing. I'm nothing."
How melodramatic. "That's sounds horrible," She said.
He nodded. "But, that's not the worst part. The worst part is that he's on the phone with mom talking about Sam… and then Sam comes into the house with Uncle Flynn. Everybody was there, everybody was happy. But, I couldn't get them to see me. I was right there, and nobody saw me." Jet laughed. "I swear to you, Eva, I woke whole block. I didn't know I was screaming until I fell out of bed."
"Did you tell your parents?"
He looked down. "No. Dad wasn't home, Mom was in Washington. I didn't want them to think I was some baby who couldn't be alone, so I didn't say anything." Eva felt her stomach twisting in knots when he raised his eyes to meet hers. "You're the first person I've told."
That wasn't exactly a responsibility she felt particularly privileged to burden. "It was just a nightmare," Eva tried to reassure him.
"I know, but it comes back whenever another 'anniversary' for Flynn's disappearance comes around. It starts all over. I'm always waiting to disappear. I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop. But, then you say things like, "I love you", and it's like I matter. That's ridiculous, right?"
That's what he wanted to hear, she realized. To hear that his own notions, his own perception (or lack thereof) of himself were ridiculous and unfounded. Laying a hand on the side of his neck she leaned forward and kissed him slow, steady, urging him to do the same. Jet reciprocated. Pulling her close, he laid back down.
Leveling her lips to his ear, she said, "You know, there are so many ways of showing you care about someone without 'I love you' ever coming into the equation-" Her lips traveled down his neck. "-why get so hung up on it?"
Jet sighed, leaning into her kisses. "Just stubborn, I guess." He was waiting for her lips to move on, but she stopped. He opened his eyes and looked at her. "What's wrong?"
"Why did you tell Lora?"
"Because-" He shrugged. "Because, I felt like I had to. My mom spent so long working there. It didn't feel right not telling her. Plus, it's not like you asked me to keep it a secret, right?"
"No, I didn't," Eva replied. "But you know that's why your father confronted you, right?"
"No, I know why dad and I fought. He's powerless, he can't do anything effect change, so he takes it out on me because I know you," Jet shrugged. "Sammy, he doesn't give a shit, no amount of heartfelt speeches on Pops' part are gonna shake that kid out of apathy, but he tries anyway. He cares."
Eva reframed from pointing the similarity shared between father and son, and simply continued to listen.
"I'm still angry at him about stuff that happened when I was a kid, and I'm terrified I don't matter to anyone. I'm almost thirty. I should be over this already, right? I shouldn't be this angry, this terrified when I wasn't the one abandoned."
Eva shrugged. "Maybe. Then again, no one seems terribly eager about correcting your friend's behavior, are they?"
"No, not really, but he lost his dad. He has a right to be pissy sometimes."
"And similarly, so do you. You have every right to be angry with you father, you have every right to be terrified. I say you're plenty justified in your anger," Eva argued. "Be angry all you want. Anger is healthy, anger is good. If they don't understand that-" She laid her head on his chest in what she hoped as a genuine show of physical support. "-just know I'm always here for you, amant."
"Thanks, Eva. That means a lot."
"Je vous en prie*," She shrugged with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Now -" She pulled the remote out from the covers and pointed at the stereo. "–Where were we?" Jet smiled as "Only the Young" began again.
Raising her head she kissed the edge of his jaw. As she started moving down his body, Jet grabbed her by the waist and pinned her to the bed. Pulling the cover over their heads, Eva feigned a laugh as he began biting her neck. Out of his line of sight, she fought her hardest not to roll her eyes.
Men. Such fragile creatures.
(FIN)
Author's Note II: *Eva tells Jet, literally, "Please, don't mention it".
Updated: 9/18/2018 - 11/28/2018