AN: Lyrics are from the song "Scar" by Fuel

Chapter Three

Scars

Drag this frown from my face

Force a smile to take its place

I can pretend that I'm not confused

And I don't need the likes of you

Fall in, fall out

Break free, break down

One look …

One kiss, goodbye



Jack sat alone on the couch in his apartment. He surveyed the four

blank walls and the rest of the barely decorated room. It had the

unsettled look of a temporary residence. The truth was that he had never let

himself get comfortable here, this wasn't home, and the stark empty walls only

served as a reminder.

This was going to be his last week here. He and Teri

had decided to try and make things work and he had asked if he could

move back home.

He missed Kim and knew that she needed a father, not one that

stopped by every other weekend, but a real father and Teri was his wife

they owed it to each other to see if this could work again.

He had made all the preparations and had started packing what little stuff he had in the

apartment. There was only one thing left to do and he had never wanted

to do anything less. The sound of the front door swinging open pulled him

from his thoughts.

"Hey." Nina called from the entry way dropping her keys and jacket on

the table by the front door.



"Hey." Jack called from his seat on the couch and turning to face the

door.



"Don't get up. I'll come in there." She said making her way to the

kitchen. "Do you want a beer?"



"Sure." Jack answered thinking that alcohol would definitely make what

he was about to do easier.

Nina reappeared sliding on to the couch beside him

and handing him his drink. She took a long sip and the placed the

bottle on the table. She kicked off her shoes and pulled her legs up onto to the

couch; this was the first time she had gotten to relax all day and she was

savoring every second.



"Thank god its finally Friday." Nina said sighing contentedly.



"Bad day?" Jack asked placing his bottle besides hers on the table.



"Not bad exactly, just long and frustrating."



"Care to elaborate?" Jack asked forestalling the inevitable.



"No, I don't feel like talking about work, we do that enough at work."

Her mouth curled into a wry grin.

"In fact I don't really feel like talking." She said, leaning forward and kissing him.

Jack's body reacted before his brain could catch up. He returned her kiss passionately one of his

hands reaching up to tangle in her hair. For a second he was completely lost

in her, her taste, her smell, her obvious hunger for him, but finally his

brain started working and he realized that this would only make things worse.



"Wait." He mumbled against her lips, pulling back abruptly.



"What is it?" Nina asked arching an eye brow quizzically.



"We need to talk." Jack said suddenly finding himself unable to hold

her gaze.



"Ah, the four worst words in the English language. What exactly do we

need to talk about?" she settled back into the cushions of the couch trying

her best to look nonchalant. She could sense his hesitation and had a

growing feeling that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation.



"I can't do this anymore." Jack stated matter-of-factly, finally

meeting her eyes.

He hoped his voice sounded more certain than he felt.



"I assume by "this" you mean us." Nina said after a weighted silence.

Her voice was steady and strangely void of any kind of emotion.



"Yes, I am trying to get my life back together and I can't do that

unless I make things right with my family. I need to make a clean start and I

can't do that if…" suddenly Jack found himself unable to articulate what he

was trying to say, words just seemed so inadequate.

They sat in silence for a long moment. Jack tried to read her pale green eyes, he had seen so

many things in those eyes: calculation, desire, anger, laughter but now they

were unwilling to divulge their secrets to him. Finally Nina broke the

silence.



"Well, good luck with that." She said, slipping her shoes back on and

getting up.



"Don't go like this." Jack knew he should just let her walk away but it

seemed so wrong, so abrupt.

She turned to face him again, her eyes flashing dangerously.



"Oh I'm sorry Jack when you said it was over I thought that was my cue

to leave." She said her voice oozing with sarcasm. "Do you want me to stay

so we can hash out every detail of what went wrong? I mean it's been real and everything,

but we both knew it was just temporary."



"That's not what I meant." Jack said feeling himself start to get

angry.



"What then, Jack? Did you want one last f*** for old times sake." Nina's voice was still cold and mocking but she felt herself starting to lose

control and she knew she had to get out.

Jack didn't say anything. Nina shook her head.



"I'll see you on Monday. Let me know how the whole happy family thing works

out for you."

Without giving Jack time to respond, she was out the door.

Nina quickly made her way to her car, slipping into the front seat and

jamming her keys into the ignition. She felt the sharp sting of tears

clouding her vision one slipped down her cheek and she angrily swept it

away blinking back the rest. She had never cried over anyone and she was

not about to start now. Why the hell did she let him get to her like this?

She felt vulnerable and discarded, two things she had never felt before and

vowed that she would never feel again. She reached over and picked her cell

phone up off the seat next to her.

"Hello." A thickly accented Serbian voice answered.

"This is Yelena. Is your offer still valid?" Nina asked her voice void

of any emotion.

"Yes, of course. Have you reconsidered?"

"Yes." She answered in the same flat voice.

"Excellent. As soon as you deliver, the funds will be transferred to an

off shore account. If you don't mind me asking what changed your mind?"

"Nothing changed; I just realized that there's nothing really stopping me."

Nina forced a smile as she lied.

"We will contact you again shortly." The thickly accented voice said

and then the line went dead.

Nina tossed the cell phone back onto the passenger seat and started the car. She drove off into the black night with an

off-handed thought of how quickly everything could change.

--

*fin*