Jhondie
It was kind of weird dealing with the clean up for all of this. It had always been just bad guys that needed to be arrested. Now we had hostages and my sister. And Katrina. I had to say, it was worth it to see Katrina after everything was over and all of the girls were safely out of the plane. She had always been so cool and confident. Now she was shaking and so scared that she wasn't even hitting on me. How funny was that?
The other girls were easy to handle. Justin called Eyes Only who said that he had just found out what the real cargo was but couldn't get to us. Two of his operatives in Seattle had been compromised trying to rescue another planeload of girls and they had to be saved before he could get the word out. No wonder the pilot on the plane knew that EO operatives would be the one coming after them. They were already working overtly there in Seattle. The boss thanked us for being able to get these girls out of the situation and said that he had a safe contact at the police department in Seattle that would call LAPD tonight and get good cops over here to make sure the girls got home. When I was fighting one of the guys outside of the plane, he tried to pull a badge on me and get me to put my hands on my head and give up. Can you believe that? Protect and serve. Yeah right. I hoped the boss knew for sure that his contact was good, because if anything happened to these kids again, someone was going to get hurt in a big way.
I talked to the girls and basically told them that real cops were going to be here soon. The men that kidnapped them were fakes. But they couldn't say how they were rescued, just that there was a big fight and the plane had to get turned around. I hated to lie to them, but I said that if someone knew who rescued them for real, we'd get killed so we couldn't interfere again and they would be off to Southeast Asia once more. That got them about an inch from hysterics, so the point was well made. We'd wait for sirens and then be gone with the night.
Speaking of hysterics, there was Katrina. Her and Kayla and Justin were next to the building, a little apart from the other girls. Kayla was all grins like this was the best day of her life. Kat on the other hand was sitting on the ground, shaking and babbling hysterically. She wasn't sobbing, but she was pale, jaw clinching, eyes huge and staring off into space. She looked up at the three of us standing there.
"Oh my God," she gasped out. "I almost...I mean I totally fell out...oh, holy hell, all of us could have been killed and you...you're just standing there like it's no big deal! What is wrong with you people?"
Kayla shrugged. "Well, it isn't a big deal to us," she replied back in her best big-shot tone. "I mean Kat, yeah you know how to throw and party and all that, but this is just the everyday stuff with us. I started hanging with you so I could have someone with a slower life than my sister has. If you can't handle it, it's cool."
Kat was still too shaken up to reply. She fished in a pocket and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. She looked at them desperately. "I'm smoking," she babbled. "Kay baby, you know me. I never smoke. Not even after sex. It's a stupid habit. I shouldn't be doing this but now I'm smoking. Oh, God." She tried to light the cigarette but her hand wouldn't stay still long enough to touch the flame to the end of the paper. In disgust she yanked it out of her mouth and threw it aside. "Hell with it. I've been meaning to quit anyways."
Mr. Helpful perked up beside me. "Oh, by the way, your car is a total loss. I think the license plate might be salvageable, but other than that, it's just a melted pile of scrap. Sorry." It would have been nice to see Kat start wailing, but the explosion of temper was funny itself. She blamed Kayla for dragging her out there and God for inventing fire in the first place. We were amused. She was not. Kay glanced up at Justin and gave him a big smile. She wanted Kat repentant for what had happened and I could guarantee that Kat truly wished she had never met Kayla much less dragged her to that party and tried to get it on with her. Scratch Kat of the ass kicking list. Sometimes there were better ways to hurt someone.
I caught the first sound of the sirens on the wind and the four of us scrambled to get out of there. I wasn't worried about the bad guys. They were all unconscious and locked in the building. One of the girls had the key and she wasn't about to let them out. The couple of windows were chicken-wire reinforced, so it was a nice neat little prison until LAPD could get there and question what they were doing shipping off pretty young teenage girls to brothels outside of the country. I had to wonder though if a single one would ever do jail time. How many girls had they disposed of like that and there wouldn't ever be a moment's punishment for them? I could tell Justin was thinking the same thing, but it all came down to the same answer. There wasn't anything we could do for those girls. Sometimes you really did have to save the world one person at a time.
One person to save was my dear little sister from our mother. Mom had left her alone that night so she could meet a couple of friends that wanted to take her out and celebrate the governor discussing in a press conference how he was going to push for a new educational bill next year that had a lot of Mom's recommendations in it. Kat had come over unexpectedly and Kay had tried to make her leave. Kat scoffed at the tape and said it was just fooling around and besides she had heard about a real party that was going down at this airport. Apparently it was some secret deal and the only reason she knew about it was that one of her boyfriend's buyers would make the deal from that airport, but he had been shut out the last couple of days. There were lots of girls there; just the kind of party that Kat thought would be awesome. Kay thought it would be too, but not for the same reason. She was thinking about what she had heard us talk about.
They had gotten to the airport and Kat tried to take off when she saw the guns. Kay responded that if they left, she was going to the cops with the tape. Got to love that kid sometimes. They had watched and realized that it wasn't a party, it was a kidnapping. That's when Kay called me and they had been caught. The guys had said they torched Kat's car, but she had been hoping they were lying. They weren't. And it was funny.
But there was still the issue with Mom. I called Mom on her cell and said that Kayla was with me. See, her boyfriend had called and was going to come over and Kay got really upset and called me because she was scared of what would happen and Mom hadn't answered her phone. I waited a beat and then was relieved to hear Mom sigh and say she had left it in the car. She had a bad habit of doing that. Mom was a little upset that my evening had been messed up, but I reassured her that it was fine and Kay was fine. I was going to drop her off soon and then spend the night with Justin. Fine by her.
We dropped off Kat at her place. Or at least someplace she said was hers. It didn't matter I guess. I think she was more or less eager to get away from us. I tried to give Kayla a lecture about why she better never do what she did again, but she got in before me and said that she didn't mean to get involved. She just happened to get something good and didn't want to bother us if it was just another party. She promised not to do that again since the guns really were scary, but she wasn't going to admit that in front of Kat. Good enough for me.
I did notice that Justin was really quiet for the whole trip. If he was asked a direct question, he somewhat grunted a reply. The Zack attitude had better drop by the time we got home. It was still technically our anniversary and we had a little time to celebrate left. It was like he was stewing over something but didn't want to talk about it in front of the kids. That was fine, but it was hard to tell because he kept looking pissed occasionally and then sad. Why were the men in my life so perplexing?
On the way back to his place, of course, yet another delay. The city was trying to do some rebuilding and the like, so they were repaving a few of the roads that desperately needed it. Now Justin really looked annoyed as we got detoured around the mess. I started to think about why he would be so upset. I mean, yeah, I was disappointed that we got interrupted, but come on. It wasn't that bad. Unless it was to him. Maybe he was thinking about us. About how things were always crazy when we were together. Even when we tried to have a nice normal night, it still went to hell. Maybe...maybe he knew that his career would always be crazy, so having a normal home life might be a better balance then, well, anything I could provide.
I think my heart fell into my chest when Justin glanced at a street sign as we snaked around the construction. I could see it in his eyes that he had made a real decision and then all of a sudden he hit the accelerator and pulled out of the traffic and whipped down a side street. He made a couple of turns and then pulled up in front of an old dilapidated building, looking at me directly for the first time since we left the airport.
"We need to talk," he said firmly.
Justin
All I said was that we needed to talk. I didn't know that was going to flip her out.
"No!" she cried out, her eyes getting glazed with unshed tears. "You take that back right now."
I blinked. "Jhondie, we really need..."
"No we don't," she insisted. "Nothing good has ever come when it's prefixed with that phrase. So you take it back and then take me to your apartment and...and..." Her words broke off as she fought back a sob.
What in God's name did she think I was going to say to her? Notes. Where were my notes? Buried in the trunk somewhere? I thought my jacket was in the back, but...crap...the ring had been pocketed, but my notes were somewhere else. "I wanted to tell you that things get really crazy with us," I started to say and then stopped because those were the wrong words.
"Things can be different," she blurted out quickly. "I know they will. I...I can calm down on things I do so getting caught isn't a concern like it is now and hide better and it won't be crazy then. I mean, there'll still be finals crazy, but that's normal stuff, not like now. We can make things work, you know that right?"
I blinked. Yeah, I sort of knew that. Then it hit me. Sure, I knew that. But I had never really told her. Tonight was going to be me proving that I knew for sure we would always make things work between us. I opened the car door and started to slide out. "Get out," I said gently. "Can't do this in here."
She got out on her side as I came around and took her hand; leading her behind the building we were parked behind. I had spent the entire trip driving Kat and Kayla back to their respective homes debating on if I should propose when we got home or wait until Mexico or what. Maybe plan another nice date out and then do it. Or my graduation night. That would be an awesome way to go. Get my degree and a fiancée on the same night. But then I had seen the road sign and it all came together so quickly I was amazed. Screw perfection. What else did I need but what I had now?
She looked around at the dingy alley where we were standing. I could see the recognition in her eyes when it finally hit her that we were at the place where we first met. Well, the place she first landed at my feet and advised me to take off before the shooting continued. "I want crazy," I said softly. "Because that's part of being with you."
"I know that's what you like now," she said so sadly, it broke my heart. "But in five years? Ten? We can't be kids forever."
I nodded and then reached into my pocket and pulled out the box, flipping the lid open. Her jaw nearly landed on the concrete as the diamond and emeralds sparkled brilliantly even in this dim light. "So we have two choices over the next five, ten, forever years. We either take the risk and grow together, or give up and grow apart. And I know what I want now and what I am going to want for the rest of my life."
"Jhondie," I said, wishing I had some of the notes that I had written. A million and one things to say that were important and I didn't want to forget. But it was just her and me and for some reason, that seemed more right that all of the planning and sparkle that I had wanted. No notes or script. Just from the heart.
"There's so much I wanted to say, but all I can't think right now is how much I love you." A tear slid down her cheek. Emotion colored my words, but I didn't care. It made it all the more right. "I don't know what's going to happen in the future. But I do know that because of you, I am so much more the man I never even thought I could be. You came into my life and made things clear that I didn't even know were clouded. You were my partner, and then became my best friend and then lover. And now...I would like to know if you would be willing to be one more thing. My wife." I suddenly dropped down to a knee, looking up into the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen in my life.
"Jhondie, will you marry me?"
Jhondie
I managed to get a squeak out. That was my response to what could be the most romantic moment in my life. A squeak. Sometimes, I can be the biggest idiot in the world. He wasn't trying to break up with me. The boy wanted to marry me.
I looked down at him, staring into those gorgeous blue eyes. I had never felt so overwhelmed in my life. Every nerve ending was on total overload. Yes, no, maybe, every possibility proceeding into the future like some quantum processor. And then it came back to just this moment. Justin and me. Crazy as ever, but that was us. And it wasn't a bad thing at all. It was our thing. We could stand together through the hard times. We could laugh and love through the easy times. As long as they were our times, then who cared about the rest? It would be me and him...and maybe a family of our own in there somewhere.
"Yes," I whispered, feeling hot tears of joy falling down my face. "Oh, God, Justin, yes."
A grin broke out on his face, his eyes practically illuminating. The ring slid onto my finger and I think I was laughing and crying at the same time as he stood, sweeping me into his arms. Our lips met in a passionate kiss and when we separated it was like I could see forever in his eyes. Who could have imagined that a single chance encounter could have brought so much happiness to two people? It was enough to make you believe in past lives, like we had lived and loved a thousand times and this time we had just recognized it in our hearts and ran with it.
"I will love you forever," Justin whispered, taking my face in his hands. He kissed the tip of my nose, my forehead and eyelids and then back to my mouth. "You really are the other half of my soul."
"I just can't believe there was a time that I was dumb enough to think that I didn't love you," I murmured. "You'll always be my best friend. And I can't think of anyone better than my best friend to be my husband." Both of us lit up at that word. My husband. His wife. Forever words. God, they sounded wonderful.
I glanced down at my hand, really looking at the ring for the first time. Holy Mother, it was beautiful. I smiled up at him. "So who's going to have heart failure when he sees the receipt for this?" I teased. We had a running joke on which of his accountants were going to need ulcer surgery or a bypass first.
"Actually," he replied, "All of them said that it's worth it. For once, we're all in agreement."
"That we are," I breathed. Our eyes met again and I knew that his arms were the place that I belonged. That we were.
It was kind of weird dealing with the clean up for all of this. It had always been just bad guys that needed to be arrested. Now we had hostages and my sister. And Katrina. I had to say, it was worth it to see Katrina after everything was over and all of the girls were safely out of the plane. She had always been so cool and confident. Now she was shaking and so scared that she wasn't even hitting on me. How funny was that?
The other girls were easy to handle. Justin called Eyes Only who said that he had just found out what the real cargo was but couldn't get to us. Two of his operatives in Seattle had been compromised trying to rescue another planeload of girls and they had to be saved before he could get the word out. No wonder the pilot on the plane knew that EO operatives would be the one coming after them. They were already working overtly there in Seattle. The boss thanked us for being able to get these girls out of the situation and said that he had a safe contact at the police department in Seattle that would call LAPD tonight and get good cops over here to make sure the girls got home. When I was fighting one of the guys outside of the plane, he tried to pull a badge on me and get me to put my hands on my head and give up. Can you believe that? Protect and serve. Yeah right. I hoped the boss knew for sure that his contact was good, because if anything happened to these kids again, someone was going to get hurt in a big way.
I talked to the girls and basically told them that real cops were going to be here soon. The men that kidnapped them were fakes. But they couldn't say how they were rescued, just that there was a big fight and the plane had to get turned around. I hated to lie to them, but I said that if someone knew who rescued them for real, we'd get killed so we couldn't interfere again and they would be off to Southeast Asia once more. That got them about an inch from hysterics, so the point was well made. We'd wait for sirens and then be gone with the night.
Speaking of hysterics, there was Katrina. Her and Kayla and Justin were next to the building, a little apart from the other girls. Kayla was all grins like this was the best day of her life. Kat on the other hand was sitting on the ground, shaking and babbling hysterically. She wasn't sobbing, but she was pale, jaw clinching, eyes huge and staring off into space. She looked up at the three of us standing there.
"Oh my God," she gasped out. "I almost...I mean I totally fell out...oh, holy hell, all of us could have been killed and you...you're just standing there like it's no big deal! What is wrong with you people?"
Kayla shrugged. "Well, it isn't a big deal to us," she replied back in her best big-shot tone. "I mean Kat, yeah you know how to throw and party and all that, but this is just the everyday stuff with us. I started hanging with you so I could have someone with a slower life than my sister has. If you can't handle it, it's cool."
Kat was still too shaken up to reply. She fished in a pocket and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. She looked at them desperately. "I'm smoking," she babbled. "Kay baby, you know me. I never smoke. Not even after sex. It's a stupid habit. I shouldn't be doing this but now I'm smoking. Oh, God." She tried to light the cigarette but her hand wouldn't stay still long enough to touch the flame to the end of the paper. In disgust she yanked it out of her mouth and threw it aside. "Hell with it. I've been meaning to quit anyways."
Mr. Helpful perked up beside me. "Oh, by the way, your car is a total loss. I think the license plate might be salvageable, but other than that, it's just a melted pile of scrap. Sorry." It would have been nice to see Kat start wailing, but the explosion of temper was funny itself. She blamed Kayla for dragging her out there and God for inventing fire in the first place. We were amused. She was not. Kay glanced up at Justin and gave him a big smile. She wanted Kat repentant for what had happened and I could guarantee that Kat truly wished she had never met Kayla much less dragged her to that party and tried to get it on with her. Scratch Kat of the ass kicking list. Sometimes there were better ways to hurt someone.
I caught the first sound of the sirens on the wind and the four of us scrambled to get out of there. I wasn't worried about the bad guys. They were all unconscious and locked in the building. One of the girls had the key and she wasn't about to let them out. The couple of windows were chicken-wire reinforced, so it was a nice neat little prison until LAPD could get there and question what they were doing shipping off pretty young teenage girls to brothels outside of the country. I had to wonder though if a single one would ever do jail time. How many girls had they disposed of like that and there wouldn't ever be a moment's punishment for them? I could tell Justin was thinking the same thing, but it all came down to the same answer. There wasn't anything we could do for those girls. Sometimes you really did have to save the world one person at a time.
One person to save was my dear little sister from our mother. Mom had left her alone that night so she could meet a couple of friends that wanted to take her out and celebrate the governor discussing in a press conference how he was going to push for a new educational bill next year that had a lot of Mom's recommendations in it. Kat had come over unexpectedly and Kay had tried to make her leave. Kat scoffed at the tape and said it was just fooling around and besides she had heard about a real party that was going down at this airport. Apparently it was some secret deal and the only reason she knew about it was that one of her boyfriend's buyers would make the deal from that airport, but he had been shut out the last couple of days. There were lots of girls there; just the kind of party that Kat thought would be awesome. Kay thought it would be too, but not for the same reason. She was thinking about what she had heard us talk about.
They had gotten to the airport and Kat tried to take off when she saw the guns. Kay responded that if they left, she was going to the cops with the tape. Got to love that kid sometimes. They had watched and realized that it wasn't a party, it was a kidnapping. That's when Kay called me and they had been caught. The guys had said they torched Kat's car, but she had been hoping they were lying. They weren't. And it was funny.
But there was still the issue with Mom. I called Mom on her cell and said that Kayla was with me. See, her boyfriend had called and was going to come over and Kay got really upset and called me because she was scared of what would happen and Mom hadn't answered her phone. I waited a beat and then was relieved to hear Mom sigh and say she had left it in the car. She had a bad habit of doing that. Mom was a little upset that my evening had been messed up, but I reassured her that it was fine and Kay was fine. I was going to drop her off soon and then spend the night with Justin. Fine by her.
We dropped off Kat at her place. Or at least someplace she said was hers. It didn't matter I guess. I think she was more or less eager to get away from us. I tried to give Kayla a lecture about why she better never do what she did again, but she got in before me and said that she didn't mean to get involved. She just happened to get something good and didn't want to bother us if it was just another party. She promised not to do that again since the guns really were scary, but she wasn't going to admit that in front of Kat. Good enough for me.
I did notice that Justin was really quiet for the whole trip. If he was asked a direct question, he somewhat grunted a reply. The Zack attitude had better drop by the time we got home. It was still technically our anniversary and we had a little time to celebrate left. It was like he was stewing over something but didn't want to talk about it in front of the kids. That was fine, but it was hard to tell because he kept looking pissed occasionally and then sad. Why were the men in my life so perplexing?
On the way back to his place, of course, yet another delay. The city was trying to do some rebuilding and the like, so they were repaving a few of the roads that desperately needed it. Now Justin really looked annoyed as we got detoured around the mess. I started to think about why he would be so upset. I mean, yeah, I was disappointed that we got interrupted, but come on. It wasn't that bad. Unless it was to him. Maybe he was thinking about us. About how things were always crazy when we were together. Even when we tried to have a nice normal night, it still went to hell. Maybe...maybe he knew that his career would always be crazy, so having a normal home life might be a better balance then, well, anything I could provide.
I think my heart fell into my chest when Justin glanced at a street sign as we snaked around the construction. I could see it in his eyes that he had made a real decision and then all of a sudden he hit the accelerator and pulled out of the traffic and whipped down a side street. He made a couple of turns and then pulled up in front of an old dilapidated building, looking at me directly for the first time since we left the airport.
"We need to talk," he said firmly.
Justin
All I said was that we needed to talk. I didn't know that was going to flip her out.
"No!" she cried out, her eyes getting glazed with unshed tears. "You take that back right now."
I blinked. "Jhondie, we really need..."
"No we don't," she insisted. "Nothing good has ever come when it's prefixed with that phrase. So you take it back and then take me to your apartment and...and..." Her words broke off as she fought back a sob.
What in God's name did she think I was going to say to her? Notes. Where were my notes? Buried in the trunk somewhere? I thought my jacket was in the back, but...crap...the ring had been pocketed, but my notes were somewhere else. "I wanted to tell you that things get really crazy with us," I started to say and then stopped because those were the wrong words.
"Things can be different," she blurted out quickly. "I know they will. I...I can calm down on things I do so getting caught isn't a concern like it is now and hide better and it won't be crazy then. I mean, there'll still be finals crazy, but that's normal stuff, not like now. We can make things work, you know that right?"
I blinked. Yeah, I sort of knew that. Then it hit me. Sure, I knew that. But I had never really told her. Tonight was going to be me proving that I knew for sure we would always make things work between us. I opened the car door and started to slide out. "Get out," I said gently. "Can't do this in here."
She got out on her side as I came around and took her hand; leading her behind the building we were parked behind. I had spent the entire trip driving Kat and Kayla back to their respective homes debating on if I should propose when we got home or wait until Mexico or what. Maybe plan another nice date out and then do it. Or my graduation night. That would be an awesome way to go. Get my degree and a fiancée on the same night. But then I had seen the road sign and it all came together so quickly I was amazed. Screw perfection. What else did I need but what I had now?
She looked around at the dingy alley where we were standing. I could see the recognition in her eyes when it finally hit her that we were at the place where we first met. Well, the place she first landed at my feet and advised me to take off before the shooting continued. "I want crazy," I said softly. "Because that's part of being with you."
"I know that's what you like now," she said so sadly, it broke my heart. "But in five years? Ten? We can't be kids forever."
I nodded and then reached into my pocket and pulled out the box, flipping the lid open. Her jaw nearly landed on the concrete as the diamond and emeralds sparkled brilliantly even in this dim light. "So we have two choices over the next five, ten, forever years. We either take the risk and grow together, or give up and grow apart. And I know what I want now and what I am going to want for the rest of my life."
"Jhondie," I said, wishing I had some of the notes that I had written. A million and one things to say that were important and I didn't want to forget. But it was just her and me and for some reason, that seemed more right that all of the planning and sparkle that I had wanted. No notes or script. Just from the heart.
"There's so much I wanted to say, but all I can't think right now is how much I love you." A tear slid down her cheek. Emotion colored my words, but I didn't care. It made it all the more right. "I don't know what's going to happen in the future. But I do know that because of you, I am so much more the man I never even thought I could be. You came into my life and made things clear that I didn't even know were clouded. You were my partner, and then became my best friend and then lover. And now...I would like to know if you would be willing to be one more thing. My wife." I suddenly dropped down to a knee, looking up into the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen in my life.
"Jhondie, will you marry me?"
Jhondie
I managed to get a squeak out. That was my response to what could be the most romantic moment in my life. A squeak. Sometimes, I can be the biggest idiot in the world. He wasn't trying to break up with me. The boy wanted to marry me.
I looked down at him, staring into those gorgeous blue eyes. I had never felt so overwhelmed in my life. Every nerve ending was on total overload. Yes, no, maybe, every possibility proceeding into the future like some quantum processor. And then it came back to just this moment. Justin and me. Crazy as ever, but that was us. And it wasn't a bad thing at all. It was our thing. We could stand together through the hard times. We could laugh and love through the easy times. As long as they were our times, then who cared about the rest? It would be me and him...and maybe a family of our own in there somewhere.
"Yes," I whispered, feeling hot tears of joy falling down my face. "Oh, God, Justin, yes."
A grin broke out on his face, his eyes practically illuminating. The ring slid onto my finger and I think I was laughing and crying at the same time as he stood, sweeping me into his arms. Our lips met in a passionate kiss and when we separated it was like I could see forever in his eyes. Who could have imagined that a single chance encounter could have brought so much happiness to two people? It was enough to make you believe in past lives, like we had lived and loved a thousand times and this time we had just recognized it in our hearts and ran with it.
"I will love you forever," Justin whispered, taking my face in his hands. He kissed the tip of my nose, my forehead and eyelids and then back to my mouth. "You really are the other half of my soul."
"I just can't believe there was a time that I was dumb enough to think that I didn't love you," I murmured. "You'll always be my best friend. And I can't think of anyone better than my best friend to be my husband." Both of us lit up at that word. My husband. His wife. Forever words. God, they sounded wonderful.
I glanced down at my hand, really looking at the ring for the first time. Holy Mother, it was beautiful. I smiled up at him. "So who's going to have heart failure when he sees the receipt for this?" I teased. We had a running joke on which of his accountants were going to need ulcer surgery or a bypass first.
"Actually," he replied, "All of them said that it's worth it. For once, we're all in agreement."
"That we are," I breathed. Our eyes met again and I knew that his arms were the place that I belonged. That we were.
