Torment of Paradise
Chapter 10
"Jess. Jess. I'm hungry Jess. Can you get me something to eat please?"
Wearily, Jess opened her eyes to see Adrian standing by her bedside in his pyjamas. "There's some food in the kitchen kid." she turned away from him going back to sleep. "Knock yourself out."
"But I want pancakes." now an insistent pulling came on her blanket. "Make me some pancakes Jess."
She groaned, sitting up in bed with a bleary glare at Adrian. "Let's get one thing straight again here; I don't cook; never have and never will all right? Have some cereal and milk. I think there's Fruit Loops or something."
"Can't you at least try? I thought you were cool." he pouted.
"Your shameless manipulation won't work on me or change facts. I don't cook Adrian." she glanced at that clock. "Lord child, it's seven in the morning!! Why the hell did you wake me up now? It's too early!!"
"I want to eat. And I want pancakes." his lips trembled. "I'll scream if I have to."
"Fine; you want pancakes?" she said giving him an evil grin. "You'll get your pancakes all right."
She stalked to the kitchen, pulling out the bowls and ingredients. Adrian stayed on the fringes of the kitchen watching what she was doing. As soon as everything was assembled out on the countertop, she turned to him.
"Get to it. You can make your own breakfast." she smiled at him.
"But..." Adrian started to fluster. "the pancakes aren't made yet!!"
"Of course not. You have to make them and-" she winced as a loud cry filled the kitchen. "Oh for bloody Heavens sake!!" she exploded as Adrian started to work himself up into a small tantrum. "Fine!! I'll make your bleedin' pancakes!!"
"Thank you Jess!!" he exclaimed before bouncing out into the living room to watch morning cartoons.
"Bloody fucking evil with no shame that's what I say." Jess muttered as she went upstairs taking an aspirin for her now throbbing head. Grabbing her cell phone, she went back down, dialling a number.
"Hello?"
"Morning Quatre." she said.
"Hi Jess. What's wrong? You don't sound like you're in a good mood this morning. Didn't you sleep much last night?"
"No. I got back here at four a.m. and guess who woke me up at seven? Lara's 'charming' little brother."
"No wonder you're cranky. Only three hours sleep." he said, with a slight chuckle. "You did agree to watch him you know. Is something wrong; you never call when you first wake up."
"Please tell me that you know how to make pancakes. I am at a complete loss here Quatre."
"You...don't know how to make pancakes?" he sounded a bit amazed. "Jess, it's the simplest thing on Earth."
"Quatre...if you had ever seen me cook you wouldn't be saying that. What do I do? I don't need another headache from Adrian here."
"Well first off do you have instant mix?"
"Yeah. I got it right here."
"Then use that. And follow the instructions precisely. Don't improvise or anything."
"OK." she started measuring out the flour. "So how are you doing? Did you go back to Arabia yet; face the music?"
"Um...not yet. I talked to Rashid though. He was...less than happy."
"Hmm." she didn't say anything measuring out the water now. "So when are you going to go back. Sooner or later they are going to give you a piece of their mind."
"I know they will. They're always been a great bunch of guy...but it's starting to feel a bit...smothering."
"Just ask then for a bit of alone time. I'm sure they'll give it to you Quatre; they're very reasonable."
"They won't be when they see what happened to me." he sighed.
"I know. Uh...Quatre?" she looked down in to the bowl filled with the dough. "Is the mixture supposed to be lumpy?"
"Lumpy? No; did you mix it all up evenly?"
"I mixed it." she looked down helplessly at the bowl. "God, ask me to pilot a suit; no problem. Blow up a base; piece of cake. But make breakfast like a pancake....no, far too hard for me to do properly, I get lumpy dough. I now remember why I let Duo cook before; he could actually do it."
Quatre chuckled at her muttering. "Would you like cooking lessons?"
"If you want a stove to go boom then yeah, sure, why not?" she laughed. "Maybe I won't singe my hair this time."
"You singed your hair trying to cook?" he sounded amazed again.
"I was young all right and I was trying to help my parents OK? And in the process made a complete disaster of the kitchen."
"What happened to it?"
"Um...ever see those cartoons where the whole kitchen is blackened and destroyed?"
"Don't tell me you did that." he groaned with a laugh.
"More or less." she replied a bit sheepishly. "I was nine, cut me some slack; I wasn't the greatest kid but I did my best."
"I...have no doubt." he snickered.
"At least you're making the effort to not laugh as much as you really want to." she muttered, trying to smooth out the batter. "Got work today?"
"Yeah. Not much though. How about you? When are you going to find a place for 'the current bane of my life herein so far' as you eloquently put it last time I talked to you?"
"I honestly don't know. The kid is a brat yes, but he's only got Lara and she's with Oz; I really don't know. I could take him to my parents' house. But I don't think they want to see me again."
"Why? What did you do? It couldn't have been that bad."
"Well...since I left my husband...I haven't really talked to them. I send them letters and stuff...but I haven't seen them in about two years now."
"In two years Jess? Why not? They are your parents."
"Well...adoptive parents really. But I still worry about them."
"So why don't you...oh." he paused. "You don't want him to find you right?"
"Exactly. My parents think that he's the greatest guy for me; I don't know if they still think that way."
"I'd say it's worth a shot; even if it is to see them once more and let them know that you're fine. They've probably worried themselves about you all this time Jess."
"I know Quatre. I feel so bad; but then I think about what would happen if he found me again and..." she gave a shudder. "I wouldn't be able to go back Quatre; I'd rather die than experience that again."
"It would take a lot for him to hurt you badly again. I mean you've grown now and may be a bit stubborn, but you'd live." he paused. "At least until I came and busted you out of wherever he was keeping you."
She laughed feeling her slight melancholy lift. "Gee...would the whole thing come with a horse and shining armour?"
"Hey...I'm just saying that if you need any help, give me a call all right? And if you want the armour then sure. I know a guy who sells horses; how about a nice Arabian one?"
"All right; can it be..." she paused for a minute. "how about white? Or maybe a nice brown? No...white; better effects with the sun glinting off metal."
"You sound like a movie producer." he laughed.
"Uh-huh. Coming to a theatre near you a dumb flick with absolutely no plot whatsoever." she chuckled sighing as she looked back down into the bowl. "Look Quatre, I'm gonna go now; this batter is still lumpy and I'm gonna run out and get doughnuts or something."
"They have doughnut shops in the French countryside?"
"Whatever; so long as it is edible food and not snails or frogs, I am happy." she replied.
"I can hear the smile in your voice. At least you aren't grumpy any more."
"Yeah. Talking to someone really helped." she put the bowl in the sink. "Duo would have just stayed out of my way and all."
"Hey, you're not crossing paths with Wufei today, so be glad. Did he really sit on you that time?"
"Yeah. Not like he apologized or anything." she sighed. "Where are you now? Still in England?"
"Yeah; I have a few more missions here and Duo's been shipped off somewhere else."
"Oh. Got access to a computer?" she asked.
"Yeah, I have my own laptop, but I never use it. Why."
"Start using it. I'll chat with you tonight OK?"
"Where?"
"I don't know. I usually go to the one on that search engine... you know the really big one with all that stuff? You'll know me when I sign on."
"I know that one. All right then, I'll talk to you later Jess. Bye."
"Bye Quatre." she flipped her cell shut, looking at the sad mess of pancake batter in the sink. "Adrian!!"
"Is my breakfast ready?!" he asked coming into the kitchen. "Hey...there's no pancakes!!"
"Let's get something straight here. For the past week, you've treated me like a maid; no more. You've been a spoiled brat; no more. You've just let me do everything; no more Adrian."
"Well Lara said you were going to look after me." he got a smug look on his face. That's what my envelope said when yours came too."
"First of all, your envelope was in my envelope and I caught you red-handed about to read my personal letter!!" she snapped, voice rising slightly. "Now get dressed Adrian. We're leaving here."
"I don't wanna." he crossed his arms, standing in the kitchen doorway. "I wanna stay here."
"Fine. But when I am done dressing, if you're not down here, stuff packed and ready to go, you can stay here and fend for yourself."
"You wouldn't leave me here alone."
She simply looked at him before going upstairs and entering her room once more and grabbing her towel. A quick shower later and she was done, in her room, packing her extremely slim suitcase. Pausing she looked at herself in the mirror; Sneakers, jeans, and a ruby tank top underneath the black holey shirt that Quatre had bought for her. Fingering the edge gently, she became lost in her thoughts for a second before snapping out of it and running down the stairs. Adrian was at the bottom, ready to go.
"Where are we going?" he asked a bit sullenly.
"You are going to stay with some people I know for a bit until your sister can take care of you herself."
"What about you? Why do you get to run around where ever you want?"
"I'm not." she said as she hailed a taxi and had them driven to the nearest train station.
"So where are you going?" he persisted as the cab started forward.
"Somewhere." she murmured. 'I'm going home.'
Driving sheets of rain beat against the window as the car sped through the narrow streets. 'What are they going to say when I just show back up? With Adrian in tow no less?' shifting slightly in her seat, Jess looked over at him before looking back out. 'Lucky kid.'
Soon enough the cab came to a stop. Paying the man, Jess and Adrian stepped out into the pouring rain, covered by their ponchos, eyes fixed on the large house before them.
"That's where I'm staying?" Adrian asked, facing her.
"Yes." she simply stood there for a few minutes before she put one foot forward. "Let's go."
Almost dumbly she walked up to the door alcove and rang the bell. The light behind the door suddenly went dark as someone stood in front of it. The sound of the lock turning echoed in her head as the door opened slightly.
"Can I help you?"
Jess looked to the door crack to see a Japanese woman standing there, waiting for an answer. She opened her mouth, but found no words coming out; what could she possibly say to make up for her absence?
"Is something wrong?" the lady asked as Jess made a slightly choked sound. "Do you need medical attention?"
"Jeez Jess say something!" Adrian hissed, nudging her with his suitcase.
"Jess-chan?" the lady stepped down onto the alcove step they were on, peering underneath the poncho hood.
'She's still as short as ever.' Jess simply towered over her now that she didn't have the added height of the doorstep. 'Oh man, this was a bad idea; they're gonna kill me for this. Or even worse...disown me.'
"Jess-chan!! It's really you!!" the lady exclaimed hugging her.
"Mama!!" she exclaimed surprised by her reaction. "Don't hug me!! I'm soaking wet!! Stop!!"
"Kami, don't you ever do that to us again!!" she admonished, tears in her eyes as she pulled back. "Come in, come in. Get out of the rain."
Hesitantly, she and Adrian stepped into the hallway, dripping water on the clean linoleum floor. Taking the ponchos, she snapped them outside a few times before hanging them up in the closet.
"Where did your mother go?" Adrian asked as they stood in the hallway.
"Probably to get my father. Which means I am in for the world's biggest lecture when he-"
"Jessica!!"
With a slight cringe, she looked down to the hallway end to see her father standing there; and he was still as tall as ever. The look on his face didn't tell her much. And when he came down the hall and stood in front of her the most she could do was gazed unflinchingly at him; she may have been young, but she had experienced far too much to be a dutiful daughter anymore. An eternity seemed to pass before her normally stern father did a very surprising thing; he hugged her also.
"Papa?" she asked a bit worried as she hugged back. "Are you OK? Did you take any cold medicine tonight?"
"See Noel; you never hugged her much before and you've gone and scared the child."
"Aiko, don't start with me." he replied good naturedly before looking back at his daughter. "You have been gone for two years Jessica. Two whole years and not once did we see you."
"I wrote. Practically every four days Papa, if not more. Please don't be-"
"We got all your letters. But not once did you say why you up and left so abruptly."
"Noel, you can lecture her later about these things. Who is this person beside you Jess?" Aiko asked.
"This is Adrian...Lara's brother. You do remember Lara right?"
"Yes. I never knew she had a sibling." Noel said looking at Adrian. "How old is he?"
"He's eight." she glanced down at him. "And surprisingly quiet for once in his life."
Adrian simply glared up at Jess but didn't say anything.
"Are you hungry Jess-chan? I just finished dinner."
"I'm fine Mama. Adrian might be hungry though. Are you?" she looked at him.
"A little bit."
"How would you like soup?" Aiko asked bending down to talk to Adrian.
He nodded his head, and followed her into the kitchen, leaving Jess and Noel alone in the hallway.
"How about we go and sit in the living room Jessica?" he looked at her, serious once more. "We can talk more now, if you want to."
Jess simply looked at him, feeling tears well up suddenly. She rushed up to her father and hugged him again.
"What's wrong?" he asked, looking down at Jess puzzled.
"I really missed you guys." she whispered. "And I mean really."
"Maybe we should talk tomorrow; you seem a bit tired tonight."
"I could use some sleep." she stepped back, wiping away her tears. "Gomen nasai Papa; I never meant to be away for so long but things happened and-"
"Tell me tomorrow Jessica." he said with a smile. "Go and get some sleep. I'll tell Aiko that you went up early."
"Arigatou Papa. Good night." she said, shouldering her bag and walking up the stairs to the room at the end.
Opening the door at the end, she gazed into her room for the first time in almost three years. There was the poster bed, red bedspread neatly tucked in, pillows on top and waiting for a head to rest on. The desk sat by the window, all the pens stuck inside the can, books stacked at the side. With a heavy sigh, she put her bag down, sitting on the edge of her bed, amazed almost.
"I'm back home." she murmured. "Back home; even if it is for a day or two."
Taking a quick shower, she came back and sat at her desk setting up her laptop. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she typed in the address and started clicking away. Soon enough she found herself in the chat room. And there on the screen was the name Sandrock.
"Jeez, you made it so obvious you know." she couldn't help but chuckle.
Then a browser popped up on her screen. "Sandrock: u were right anansi, I would recognize u."
"Anansi: u were pretty obvious urself u know."
"Sandrock: *laugh* so how did it go with ur parents? Were they mad?"
"Anansi: no, not at all. i think ill get the lecture tomorrow. *sighs and shakes head* Papa's gonna give me an hour long lecture any bet. u should have heard him when he saw me; he was like 'Jessica!!' scared me half to death!!"
"Sandrock: aww...need the horse and armour now?"
Jess couldn't help but laugh out loud as she typed back her response. She felt happiness radiate from inside her again, like when she had that dream that she could never remember. Nothing could possibly spoil what little she had gained for herself now.
Stretching her arms up high, Jess walked downstairs heading to the kitchen. "Morning all." she said seeing her parents seated at the table
"I'd more say good afternoon Jess-chan." Aiko said with a smile. "It's one thirty."
Jess glanced at the clock as she went about making her customary cup of hot chocolate. "Why didn't you wake me up? I never sleep in past twelve."
"You looked like you could use it." Noel said.
"Yes, you are a good one to talk; you got up at eleven." Aiko said nudging her husband.
"Er...yes well... she must have been very tired and all, so why wake her up?" Noel said, suddenly interested in his mug. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes Papa, I did." she sat down at the table, looking between them. "Did you get the newspapers yet?"
"Actually no. I thought you'd like to get it; I mean you do usually do that." Aiko smiled at her. "Then when you come back we can talk."
"All right." she sighed, knowing full well that was coming. "How's Adrian doing so far?" she asked as she rose from the table.
"He's out in the backyard playing. He seems to like it here." Aiko looked at Jess. "Does Lara want us to watch him for here or something?"
"We'll talk about it." she said. "I'll be right back."
Slowly, she walked down the hallway to the front door, opening it and reaching for the paper. But what she saw instead made her blood freeze over. The pair of cold grey eyes met hers, intense anger starting to flicker in their depths. She couldn't even breathe; she felt like her entire chest was constricted, she felt like bolting away and never coming back. She felt like she had died again.
Standing on the front door step, hand about to knock, was Samuel Orton.