Jake mumbled and turned over, the sunlight just beginning to peek through the window in his room. Had he forgotten to close the window last night when he collapsed on the bed and fell asleep? No, that wasn't cars and street noise... that was a phone. One hand swung up and knocked the phone off the table. Out of the reciever came a thin voice.
"Jake? Jake are you alright? Answer me dammit!"
"Alex?" He slid further over the edge of the bed as her voice registered in his still foggy brain. By calling, Alex had managed to disrupt a perfectly good fantasy about the lovely Sasha, a bushel of strawberries and a gallon bucket of cream. He picked up the receiver and rolled onto his back. "yeah."
"Well?? How'd it go?" Alex voice was chirpy and excited.
Jake rubbed his hand over his eyes and sighed. Of course, she had to be a morning person. "I'll tell you later when I've managed to wake up and get a shower. Do you realize that it's..." he looked over at the cloak and groaned again. "6:30 in the morning? What on earth are you doing calling me at this time of the morning? What if I hadn't been home?"
"Then I'd say your date went incredibly well." There was a hint of a giggle. "Come on Jake, dish the dirt!"
"We spent all night talking, Alex. Nothing else. She told me about the places she lived and some recent events in her life. I told her about growing up here in Chicago and invited her to play in the tournament Saturday. Satisfied?"
"Hell no! You mean to tell me that you go out with a dish like what Alex described and all you did was talk?"
That wasn't Alex's voice... Jake shot straight up in bed. "CODY!!"
There was a mix of laughter on the other end of the phone as Jake realized that he was on speaker phone with Monica, Cody and Alex, and that Alex must have told them everything about the two of them that she knew. He sighed, his cheeks blooming a furious scarlet as he reached over and slammed down the phone receiver. This wasn't turning out to be a good day already. Instead of a hot shower, he'd have to take a cold one thanks to one miss Sasha and that bucket of cream he dreamt about.
--
Across town at the same time, Sasche was waking up and stretching in her own bed. She'd tossed and turned all night. She wasn't sure if it was the two glasses of wine that she'd consumed or if it was Jake. She laid there for an hour or more after she closed the door on him and hugged her pillow tight. What if she was wrong to not kiss him? After that she'd realized she hadn't given him her telephone number. But that wouldn't be a problem, Alex Cross knew where to find her and she worked with Jake. Then there was the first dream. The one that sat her straight up in bed and gasping for breath. She hadn't had that dream in months... She was running, a cloud of smoke overtaking her as she ran away from it. She'd hugged her knees to her chest for an hour after that, trying to stop crying. When she'd managed to get back to sleep, she had a dream of Jake. Nothing fantastic, just that she was in a hammock, for once she wasn't cold. Instead she was warm and happy. Jake was with her, his arms wrapped around her waist and shoulders as they lounged in the gently swinging hammock. Sasche swore she could even smell the grass, the air and the flowers as they lazed. But she woke from that dream and started crying again.
Needless to say she didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night. So when she bopped into the diner to meet her brother for breakfast, she was in a less than exemplary mood. Sasche was dressed in a pair of jeans and a tshirt, combat boots and her leather jacket. She had a pair of dark glasses on as she plopped down into the booth across from her ever immaculately dressed and GQ quality brother. There were times she hated him for the ability to look good in a coat of mud and grime. There were also times she was glad that he did - it took the spotlight off of her and allowed her to slink off to be alone somewhere.
"Good Morning Sasche." Frank smiled and laid the paper down next to his coffee. Sasche just leaned back in the booth and kept silent.
Frank raised both eyebrows and looked at her. "Not talking to me? What did I do now?"
"Who says you did anything this time?"
"You obviously think I did. You're being less than pleasant. I've only known you to be nasty to me when you think I did something. So, what did I do?"
"You didn't do anything Frank."
"Then take off those sunglasses and have some cocoa."
Sasche slid off the dark shades and shrugged off her jacket. Frank stopped in mid-sip of his coffee.
"You, you took off your jacket..."
"yeah, so?"
"Aren't you going to get cold?"
"If I get cold, I'll put it back on." There were times when she wanted to smack him upside the head. Her brother could be really dense at times.
"How did your date go?"
"It went fine. I'm here and in one piece, so obviously nothing went wrong. I'm also in a sour mood because no action happened last night..."
"I didn't need to hear that much of it kid."
"I'm not a kid and you called my place three times last night to check up on me. Frank, I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. Why can't you get that through your head?"
"Here it comes." He sighed and put his coffee down. "I worry about you Sasche. You haven't been the same since Mother and Father died and definitely not since New York. You haven't been on a date in as many months either. It's almost as if your life socially had shut down after what happened. I love you and I promised them I'd take care of you."
"STOP!! Just STOP taking care of me!" She'd shouted loud enough that a few people turned to look and the diner had fallen silent for a few moments. "Frank, I know you love me and I know you promised, but don't. I've been on my own since I was 15 and shipped off to Juliard. I've lived in 5 different cities in 15 different years. I think I can take care of myself Frank. I've lived this long doing what I wanted and living the way I want to. I'm not you, Frank. I can't be the solid rock who's always dependable and always there to get someone like me out of a jam. So just stop and save yourself the ulcer. I always bounce back, no matter what hits me. Life's dealt me some damned harsh blows in the last 6 months and you know what? I'm still standing. Give me some credit Frank, please?"
"Sasche, it's more than that. You're 30 years old and despite having lived out in the world, you've been sheltered a lot. You went from dance school to dance academy, then troupe to troupe to troupe. I had finally begun to relax when you moved to New York and stayed there longer than 6 months. When you began dating that fireman, I was thrilled and hoped for nothing but the best for you. Terrible things happen to good people Sasche. And it's terrible what happened to you and Trey. But it happened. And you haven't been the same since. Just be careful, alright?"
Sasche sighed and nodded her head. She knew that Frank was only trying protect her.
"I need to ask you something Sasche."
"What?"
"Are you busy this Sunday evening?"
****
"Jake? Jake are you alright? Answer me dammit!"
"Alex?" He slid further over the edge of the bed as her voice registered in his still foggy brain. By calling, Alex had managed to disrupt a perfectly good fantasy about the lovely Sasha, a bushel of strawberries and a gallon bucket of cream. He picked up the receiver and rolled onto his back. "yeah."
"Well?? How'd it go?" Alex voice was chirpy and excited.
Jake rubbed his hand over his eyes and sighed. Of course, she had to be a morning person. "I'll tell you later when I've managed to wake up and get a shower. Do you realize that it's..." he looked over at the cloak and groaned again. "6:30 in the morning? What on earth are you doing calling me at this time of the morning? What if I hadn't been home?"
"Then I'd say your date went incredibly well." There was a hint of a giggle. "Come on Jake, dish the dirt!"
"We spent all night talking, Alex. Nothing else. She told me about the places she lived and some recent events in her life. I told her about growing up here in Chicago and invited her to play in the tournament Saturday. Satisfied?"
"Hell no! You mean to tell me that you go out with a dish like what Alex described and all you did was talk?"
That wasn't Alex's voice... Jake shot straight up in bed. "CODY!!"
There was a mix of laughter on the other end of the phone as Jake realized that he was on speaker phone with Monica, Cody and Alex, and that Alex must have told them everything about the two of them that she knew. He sighed, his cheeks blooming a furious scarlet as he reached over and slammed down the phone receiver. This wasn't turning out to be a good day already. Instead of a hot shower, he'd have to take a cold one thanks to one miss Sasha and that bucket of cream he dreamt about.
--
Across town at the same time, Sasche was waking up and stretching in her own bed. She'd tossed and turned all night. She wasn't sure if it was the two glasses of wine that she'd consumed or if it was Jake. She laid there for an hour or more after she closed the door on him and hugged her pillow tight. What if she was wrong to not kiss him? After that she'd realized she hadn't given him her telephone number. But that wouldn't be a problem, Alex Cross knew where to find her and she worked with Jake. Then there was the first dream. The one that sat her straight up in bed and gasping for breath. She hadn't had that dream in months... She was running, a cloud of smoke overtaking her as she ran away from it. She'd hugged her knees to her chest for an hour after that, trying to stop crying. When she'd managed to get back to sleep, she had a dream of Jake. Nothing fantastic, just that she was in a hammock, for once she wasn't cold. Instead she was warm and happy. Jake was with her, his arms wrapped around her waist and shoulders as they lounged in the gently swinging hammock. Sasche swore she could even smell the grass, the air and the flowers as they lazed. But she woke from that dream and started crying again.
Needless to say she didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night. So when she bopped into the diner to meet her brother for breakfast, she was in a less than exemplary mood. Sasche was dressed in a pair of jeans and a tshirt, combat boots and her leather jacket. She had a pair of dark glasses on as she plopped down into the booth across from her ever immaculately dressed and GQ quality brother. There were times she hated him for the ability to look good in a coat of mud and grime. There were also times she was glad that he did - it took the spotlight off of her and allowed her to slink off to be alone somewhere.
"Good Morning Sasche." Frank smiled and laid the paper down next to his coffee. Sasche just leaned back in the booth and kept silent.
Frank raised both eyebrows and looked at her. "Not talking to me? What did I do now?"
"Who says you did anything this time?"
"You obviously think I did. You're being less than pleasant. I've only known you to be nasty to me when you think I did something. So, what did I do?"
"You didn't do anything Frank."
"Then take off those sunglasses and have some cocoa."
Sasche slid off the dark shades and shrugged off her jacket. Frank stopped in mid-sip of his coffee.
"You, you took off your jacket..."
"yeah, so?"
"Aren't you going to get cold?"
"If I get cold, I'll put it back on." There were times when she wanted to smack him upside the head. Her brother could be really dense at times.
"How did your date go?"
"It went fine. I'm here and in one piece, so obviously nothing went wrong. I'm also in a sour mood because no action happened last night..."
"I didn't need to hear that much of it kid."
"I'm not a kid and you called my place three times last night to check up on me. Frank, I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. Why can't you get that through your head?"
"Here it comes." He sighed and put his coffee down. "I worry about you Sasche. You haven't been the same since Mother and Father died and definitely not since New York. You haven't been on a date in as many months either. It's almost as if your life socially had shut down after what happened. I love you and I promised them I'd take care of you."
"STOP!! Just STOP taking care of me!" She'd shouted loud enough that a few people turned to look and the diner had fallen silent for a few moments. "Frank, I know you love me and I know you promised, but don't. I've been on my own since I was 15 and shipped off to Juliard. I've lived in 5 different cities in 15 different years. I think I can take care of myself Frank. I've lived this long doing what I wanted and living the way I want to. I'm not you, Frank. I can't be the solid rock who's always dependable and always there to get someone like me out of a jam. So just stop and save yourself the ulcer. I always bounce back, no matter what hits me. Life's dealt me some damned harsh blows in the last 6 months and you know what? I'm still standing. Give me some credit Frank, please?"
"Sasche, it's more than that. You're 30 years old and despite having lived out in the world, you've been sheltered a lot. You went from dance school to dance academy, then troupe to troupe to troupe. I had finally begun to relax when you moved to New York and stayed there longer than 6 months. When you began dating that fireman, I was thrilled and hoped for nothing but the best for you. Terrible things happen to good people Sasche. And it's terrible what happened to you and Trey. But it happened. And you haven't been the same since. Just be careful, alright?"
Sasche sighed and nodded her head. She knew that Frank was only trying protect her.
"I need to ask you something Sasche."
"What?"
"Are you busy this Sunday evening?"
****