Chapter 2:
"I love you, Jen," Alex whispered softly as he caressed Jen's body. She looked at him in the eyes.
"I love you too, baby," she answered. She buried herself in his arms, and sighed. She was happy there, together with Alex.
An alarm rang somewhere.
Jen's eyes opened slowly, and Alex and the room they had been in disappeared. "It was just a dream," she told herself, as a form of morning salutation. "But it felt so real," she added.
She got out of bed, and walked towards her bathroom. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. She had to get dressed quickly, the last thing she needed that day was being told off by Alex for being late.
As she got dressed, she thought about her dream. She hadn't known it was a dream while she was asleep. But now, fully awake, she could remember it, details included. And awake she realized everything she wanted had happened, not like before, where dreams turned into nightmares, where Alex hurt her and left her alone, making her pay for what she had done.
No. This one had been sweet from the very beginning, and to the very end. It hadn't been a wet dream. It had been a sweet dream, where she and Alex walked by the beach, and sat down, hugging and kissing tenderly. He had whispered the right words in her ear, and she had been happy.
She could remember every little detail. That wasn't normal, not for most humans; the process of forgetting in the morning was backwards in her.
Initially, she had just the faint idea of dreaming about Alex.
Then she had started to remember some things about her dreams, the most important moments, and the amount of things she could remember had increased until, finally, she was able to remember every word, every action, and every /color/.
People didn't dream in color. She did.
And her dreams felt real, she could swear Alex had been there, wrapping his arms around her. She could feel his breath in her ear when he whispered words into it.
She was a bit scared, because she didn't know what was wrong with her. Maybe it was nothing, maybe it was really serious. That possibility didn't scare her as much as not knowing what was going on in her mind.
She ran out of her apartment and got on her motorcycle. She drove to Time Force, focusing now on her work, and on making Alex proud of being her tutor. Brynn had mentioned Alex was proud of her, but maybe she was lying.
***********************
Alex walked towards Jen's office. He knocked on the glass door, and she looked up, smiling faintly at his presence.
"What have you been thinking about?" he asked, with no specific tone of voice. Jen's first thought was that she had done something wrong.
"Why do you ask?" she asked back, a little fearful. //Please not another complaint, please; I've done my best, my very best,// she thought.
"You've been looking distracted all day," he commented. He was being strangely sweet; it had been a while since he had last treated her like that.
He looked at her, Brynn had been right. She was miserable for some reason, and Alex had the feeling it was beyond Wes. Way beyond him.
"It's just that this case is complicated, and I want to make sure I get all the details right. I don't want to miss anything," she answered, throwing swift, sideways glances at him, while the rest of the time she stared at her monitor.
"What are you checking out?" he asked, she suddenly turned incredibly nervous.
"Uh-uh, nothing," she said lamely. Alex raised his eyebrows and she shook her head, "I mean, it's nothing related to the case for now, we are stuck," she said.
Alex's eyebrows returned to their normal position, but he might as well have started yelling about just how useless she was. She straightened in her chair and said, rather proudly, "I have followed a couple of leads, and gotten in touch with my informants, but I haven't found anything, only dead ends." Alex shrugged.
"It'll come along," he said simply. Jen stared at him, with an expression on her face that resembled a bunny struck by the lights of a car. That usually was the part were Alex told her to work harder. This time, Alex leaned forward. "Jen, I need to talk to you, are you free right now? Do you think we could go and grab a coffee?" he asked softly as she stared.
She felt like a misfit girl, who was being asked out by the most popular boy in the high school. "Mm, sure," she said after a few seconds. Alex looked alarmed. She closed the file she was watching and stood up, slowly, clumsily.
"Hey, you sure you are ok?" he asked, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders. She looked at him, her eyes shiny. She nodded. Alex pursed his lips softly. //You've done it now, Alexander, he thought. The girl is scared of me, and looks like she's on the verge of tears all the time. I've ruined everything I helped her build, and I have the feeling she won't believe my words.//
******
They got to the coffee shop and sat down on a small table in a corner.
"Jen, I want to talk to you," he started. She nodded as if she had a knot in her throat. Her back was strangely stiff. The general impression she gave was that of holding back tears, and that was precisely what she was doing.
"If this is about Brynn, I've already met her. She looks very nice and I am happy for you both," she said all of it fast, as if fearing her voice would break if she didn't. Alex caressed her fingers with his. They were strangely thin and cold. He also noticed her hand, even while resting on the table, was trembling.
The waitress came over to take their order. He ordered a cappuccino; he had a need for sugar. She ordered coffee with milk. The waitress left.
"Jen, that's not the reason I brought you here," he told her. She looked away from him; she couldn't stand to look at him anymore. She took a deep breath.
"You want me to stay away from you, I know that you are with Brynn and--" He raised a hand to her lips; she shut up, looking at him in the eyes.
"No, that's not it," he said, he was beginning to get really scared. Something was wrong with Jen, and he had the feeling it was all his fault. "Jen, all I want is to apologize for the way I've been treating you." Now there were definitely tears in Jen's eyes. Her expression told she had been waiting long for those words.
"What?" she asked softly.
"I'm sorry," he repeated. She started shaking her head, first softly, but as he continued to talk she shook it harder, as if denying what she was hearing. "I've been treating you very badly, and I'm sorry, I didn't have the right to make you feel small, to humiliate you, I'm really sorry--" his voiced trailed off when he saw the tears running down her cheeks as she shook her head. "Jen, what the hell is wrong with you?" he asked.
She couldn't answer. Her sobs were long and strong. She was trying to fight them back, but they were too powerful. She broke into tears at last. Alex ran to her from across the table, and knelt in front of her, both of his hands on her knees, as she covered her face with her hands. Alex raised his hands to her arms and caressed them softly; she lowered her hands and looked at his face, so full of concern and, yes, pain.
"Jen..." He whispered her name softly and drew himself upward, holding her tightly. She cried on his chest, sobbing against his body, wrapping her slim arms around his waist.
People were starting to stare, but Alex didn't care. He soothed Jen softly, with whispered words and caresses on her back. He looked around helplessly, and then down at Jen.
//I wonder just how deep her pain is, he wondered. I wonder if this is all my fault.//
"It's not your fault," she said between sobs. Alex looked down at her questioningly.
"What was that?" he asked.
"That's what you just said, that this was all your fault. I'm telling you it's not," she explained, now that the sobs had subsided.
"No, Jennifer, that's what I just THOUGHT," he told her.
To be continued
"I love you, Jen," Alex whispered softly as he caressed Jen's body. She looked at him in the eyes.
"I love you too, baby," she answered. She buried herself in his arms, and sighed. She was happy there, together with Alex.
An alarm rang somewhere.
Jen's eyes opened slowly, and Alex and the room they had been in disappeared. "It was just a dream," she told herself, as a form of morning salutation. "But it felt so real," she added.
She got out of bed, and walked towards her bathroom. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. She had to get dressed quickly, the last thing she needed that day was being told off by Alex for being late.
As she got dressed, she thought about her dream. She hadn't known it was a dream while she was asleep. But now, fully awake, she could remember it, details included. And awake she realized everything she wanted had happened, not like before, where dreams turned into nightmares, where Alex hurt her and left her alone, making her pay for what she had done.
No. This one had been sweet from the very beginning, and to the very end. It hadn't been a wet dream. It had been a sweet dream, where she and Alex walked by the beach, and sat down, hugging and kissing tenderly. He had whispered the right words in her ear, and she had been happy.
She could remember every little detail. That wasn't normal, not for most humans; the process of forgetting in the morning was backwards in her.
Initially, she had just the faint idea of dreaming about Alex.
Then she had started to remember some things about her dreams, the most important moments, and the amount of things she could remember had increased until, finally, she was able to remember every word, every action, and every /color/.
People didn't dream in color. She did.
And her dreams felt real, she could swear Alex had been there, wrapping his arms around her. She could feel his breath in her ear when he whispered words into it.
She was a bit scared, because she didn't know what was wrong with her. Maybe it was nothing, maybe it was really serious. That possibility didn't scare her as much as not knowing what was going on in her mind.
She ran out of her apartment and got on her motorcycle. She drove to Time Force, focusing now on her work, and on making Alex proud of being her tutor. Brynn had mentioned Alex was proud of her, but maybe she was lying.
***********************
Alex walked towards Jen's office. He knocked on the glass door, and she looked up, smiling faintly at his presence.
"What have you been thinking about?" he asked, with no specific tone of voice. Jen's first thought was that she had done something wrong.
"Why do you ask?" she asked back, a little fearful. //Please not another complaint, please; I've done my best, my very best,// she thought.
"You've been looking distracted all day," he commented. He was being strangely sweet; it had been a while since he had last treated her like that.
He looked at her, Brynn had been right. She was miserable for some reason, and Alex had the feeling it was beyond Wes. Way beyond him.
"It's just that this case is complicated, and I want to make sure I get all the details right. I don't want to miss anything," she answered, throwing swift, sideways glances at him, while the rest of the time she stared at her monitor.
"What are you checking out?" he asked, she suddenly turned incredibly nervous.
"Uh-uh, nothing," she said lamely. Alex raised his eyebrows and she shook her head, "I mean, it's nothing related to the case for now, we are stuck," she said.
Alex's eyebrows returned to their normal position, but he might as well have started yelling about just how useless she was. She straightened in her chair and said, rather proudly, "I have followed a couple of leads, and gotten in touch with my informants, but I haven't found anything, only dead ends." Alex shrugged.
"It'll come along," he said simply. Jen stared at him, with an expression on her face that resembled a bunny struck by the lights of a car. That usually was the part were Alex told her to work harder. This time, Alex leaned forward. "Jen, I need to talk to you, are you free right now? Do you think we could go and grab a coffee?" he asked softly as she stared.
She felt like a misfit girl, who was being asked out by the most popular boy in the high school. "Mm, sure," she said after a few seconds. Alex looked alarmed. She closed the file she was watching and stood up, slowly, clumsily.
"Hey, you sure you are ok?" he asked, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders. She looked at him, her eyes shiny. She nodded. Alex pursed his lips softly. //You've done it now, Alexander, he thought. The girl is scared of me, and looks like she's on the verge of tears all the time. I've ruined everything I helped her build, and I have the feeling she won't believe my words.//
******
They got to the coffee shop and sat down on a small table in a corner.
"Jen, I want to talk to you," he started. She nodded as if she had a knot in her throat. Her back was strangely stiff. The general impression she gave was that of holding back tears, and that was precisely what she was doing.
"If this is about Brynn, I've already met her. She looks very nice and I am happy for you both," she said all of it fast, as if fearing her voice would break if she didn't. Alex caressed her fingers with his. They were strangely thin and cold. He also noticed her hand, even while resting on the table, was trembling.
The waitress came over to take their order. He ordered a cappuccino; he had a need for sugar. She ordered coffee with milk. The waitress left.
"Jen, that's not the reason I brought you here," he told her. She looked away from him; she couldn't stand to look at him anymore. She took a deep breath.
"You want me to stay away from you, I know that you are with Brynn and--" He raised a hand to her lips; she shut up, looking at him in the eyes.
"No, that's not it," he said, he was beginning to get really scared. Something was wrong with Jen, and he had the feeling it was all his fault. "Jen, all I want is to apologize for the way I've been treating you." Now there were definitely tears in Jen's eyes. Her expression told she had been waiting long for those words.
"What?" she asked softly.
"I'm sorry," he repeated. She started shaking her head, first softly, but as he continued to talk she shook it harder, as if denying what she was hearing. "I've been treating you very badly, and I'm sorry, I didn't have the right to make you feel small, to humiliate you, I'm really sorry--" his voiced trailed off when he saw the tears running down her cheeks as she shook her head. "Jen, what the hell is wrong with you?" he asked.
She couldn't answer. Her sobs were long and strong. She was trying to fight them back, but they were too powerful. She broke into tears at last. Alex ran to her from across the table, and knelt in front of her, both of his hands on her knees, as she covered her face with her hands. Alex raised his hands to her arms and caressed them softly; she lowered her hands and looked at his face, so full of concern and, yes, pain.
"Jen..." He whispered her name softly and drew himself upward, holding her tightly. She cried on his chest, sobbing against his body, wrapping her slim arms around his waist.
People were starting to stare, but Alex didn't care. He soothed Jen softly, with whispered words and caresses on her back. He looked around helplessly, and then down at Jen.
//I wonder just how deep her pain is, he wondered. I wonder if this is all my fault.//
"It's not your fault," she said between sobs. Alex looked down at her questioningly.
"What was that?" he asked.
"That's what you just said, that this was all your fault. I'm telling you it's not," she explained, now that the sobs had subsided.
"No, Jennifer, that's what I just THOUGHT," he told her.
To be continued
