Chapter 7
That night both Jack and Janet slept like babies. Babies in love, Janet thought with a smile. She still couldn't completely believe that this was happening. With him. Last night at the Bistro had been incredible. They had kissed and simply hung out until the wee hours of the morning, and then they had snuck home. She had felt like a teenager again. Then, after they had gotten home without waking Furley, they kissed for a while longer before heading off to bed. She was glad now that Jack had read that letter, because by doing that and calling her on it, he forced her to question everything she ever knew and to take the biggest chance of her life.and she couldn't be happier. The next morning Jack woke up really early, because he had an idea for a special surprise for her.
*~* "Hey, Jack," said Mr. Furley. Jack was coming back with Janet's special surprise right then, and he really didn't need RF's remarks.
"Hello, RF," he said, trying to hide the flowers from him.
"What do you have there?" he asked, smiling. "A present for you tippie-toed someone?"
"Um.no. No, Mr. Furley.these are for Janet," he said nervously, hoping he wouldn't ask why.
"For Janet." He put his hands in his hips. "Why would you be getting Janet some flowers? Isn't that hat boyfriends are supposed to do?"
"Yes, Mr. Furley, I know. See.she had a really bad night a couple of days ago and she's still not over it. I just figured that I would try to fix it and cheer her up and see if I can't make her happy again." He loved making her happy. He loved making her smile. He loved making her laugh. He just plain loved everything about her. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to go make breakfast. See you around, I guess."
*~*
Jack opened the door to Janet and Terri's room, praying that she was still asleep. Thankfully, she was. He smiled. She was so beautiful, and sleeping didn't make any difference. He crept up to her bed, where he can lay the first special rose he had brought for her. Then on top of the bedside table he laid the second one, and on top of her dresser he placed the third one. Jack did all of this silently, and the only scare came when he tripped over a discarded shoe. Janet stirred, but simply rolled over and buried her head under her pillow. Jack smiled, made his way very quietly to the door, and then turned around to blow her a kiss before leaving the room. Heading to the bathroom, he got out his tape to fasten the fourth one on the bathroom door and left her another one next to her toothbrush. He left the others in various areas throughout the apartment. The sixth one was on the couch and the seventh one was taped to the kitchen door. Jack kept the last one to give to her personally.
Janet woke up about a half hour later when her alarm clock went off. She reluctantly rolled over and was surprised when her pillow fell upon something prickly and soft. She opened her eyes, and jumped back in amazement when she realized that a rose was inches from her face. She stood and picked up the rose, and on the white paper attached to the baby blue rose, she read "I." She smiled as he pulled it closer, bringing it to her nose to take a whiff. Just after she put on her pink fuzzy slippers, she noticed that there was another rose on the table next to her bed. She shook her head and smiled as she read the letter "L". On her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth, she noticed another beautiful baby blue flower on top of her dresser. "Aww, Jack." she whispered to herself before reading the third letter "O". Just as she turned to face the bathroom as she walked out of her bedroom she spotted another rose on the door. "I don't know what you're up to, Tripper, but I'm loving it," she said. She untapped the fourth rose from the door, and reads it. "V". I L.O.V. Janet had a feeling she knew what was next, but she still loved the fact that he was being romantic and impetuous. She entered the bathroom, looking for the fifth rose. After not finding one, she sighed and opened the medicine box to get her toothbrush out, and instantly smiled when she found the next rose. "E". Janet brushed her teeth and combed her hair a little and then she walked out to the living room, heading towards the kitchen. She was running her hand through her hair when she found another rose. She picked it up and read "Y". Then realized that there was another one stuck to the kitchen door. Jack heard Janet taking the rose he had bought for her from the door and reading out loud the letter "O". Janet opened the door to the kitchen, and was astonished to find Jack standing in front of her, holding the last rose that would spell the words "I LOVE YOU." Happy tears pooled her eyes as she walked over to him and into his open arms. "This is so wonderful." she whispered softly. "Thank you."
"You deserve it. You deserve everything," he murmured, kissing the top of her head. "And I'm going to try to give you everything, because I love you."
"I love you too."
He smiled. "I have the last rose, but you're going to have to work for this one, hon."
"Work." Janet scrunched up her nose, as if the word was a foreign concept. "Okay.so what do I have to do, cook or something?"
"No! I said work.not kill."
She chuckled. "You know what your problem is, Jack? I can never get mad at you. You are entirely too sweet for your own good. Anyway.what do I have to do?"
"You have to give me a kiss," he said as he slid the rose down his forehead until it reached his lips. "Right here."
She leaned over to give him a small peck on the cheek. "That is no good, Ms. Wood. Honestly, Janet.you're going to have to do a lot better than that."
Laughingly, she dropped the roses onto the countertop and lifted her face to his for a real kiss. It quickly became more intense as she opened her mouth slightly to give Jack's tongue access. Janet moaned softly as he slipped his hand under her nightgown, sending a shiver down her back. They both pulled away, breathlessly, when they heard the phone ring. Jack sighed, and kissed her nose. "Do you want to get that or should I?"
"Neither. We have a machine. If it's so important, they'll leave a message and call back later. Right now I just want to enjoy being here with you."
"Well, my lady, I think you have won the eighth flower," he said as he handed it to her
She smiled. "Thanks Jack. They're beautiful. Hey, you remembered my color! I just noticed that," she exclaimed, surprised. "How did you get baby blue roses?"
"My secret."
They were just about to kiss again when they heard Terri's voice. "Come on, guys, I know you're there. It's early, and you two have no lives to speak of, so you couldn't have stayed out all night. Janet? Jack? This isn't funny! Come on, if you don't pick up in exactly three seconds I'm going to call Missing Persons. You ready? One.two."
Janet squealed. "Terri!" Immediately, she rushed away from Jack and ran to pick up the phone. "Hey!" she answered, getting it before she had got to three. "How are things in Massachusetts?"
"I knew it! Hey, yeah.things are great here. Sam's mouth keeps getting bigger and bigger, but other then that everything is great I love visiting my family, but I kind of wish I was home," she said. "How about you and Jack? Are you doing good?"
"We wish you were home too, Ter."
"No, we don't," Jack interrupted, coming up behind Janet and wrapping his arms around her waist.
She tried to look annoyed but simply smiled as he began kissing her neck. "Honey, stop." She shook her head and tried to focus on Terri, but her boyfriend's lips on her skin were making it hard to think clearly. "Things are great here, Terri. Jack and." She pulled away from him, gently pushing him off her. "Not now.no, Terri, not you. Nothing's wrong. Really, not a thing. Jack's just making this phone call very difficult." she said, twisting out of his grasp and playfully swatting him with a pillow.
"Have you and Jack been having fun without me?"
"Well, he and I kind of have a special surprise for you when you come back," she said, giggling while Jack continued to plant small kisses down the nape of her neck.
"Oh really, what kind of surprise?" Terri asked.
"Well.uh, Ter, hold on, okay?" She covered the mouthpiece with her hand and turned to Jack, a pleading look in her eyes. "You know I love you, Jack, but just go away. Please? This is girl stuff."
He groaned. He knew what that meant. He knew what was coming. "You're going to talk about me, aren't you?"
"Please?! Just leave me alone now, and I'll do anything you want later. Within reason, of course." She loved him, but she didn't want this relationship to go too fast. "Come on, Jack, I'll make it up to you. I promise."
"Oh, all right." He made a face, the smiled and placed a kiss in the palm of her hand. "Love you." Then he walked into the kitchen.
"Love you, too," Janet whispered, watching him go. It was kind of scary, actually, how he could come to mean so much to her in a short time. She blinked then, suddenly remembering about Terri. "Sorry, Ter. We're good now. We can talk."
"So.how's everything been?"
"Great," she said, a little too convincingly.
"Janet.come on," Terri chided. "I know you better than that. I know when you're lying."
"I am not lying!! I'm simply just not telling you the whole truth."
"Janet!"
"Okay! You really want to know?" She nervously began twisting the phone cord around her hand. "Well.a couple of days ago this guy broke into our house, and.let's just say he wanted something from me that I wasn't going to give."
"Oh.Janet, are you okay? That's it, I'm coming home."
"NO! Terri, don't. Stay where you are, okay? I promise you, I'm fine. Everything's fine now. It only lasted about five minutes. I screamed and was lucky enough that some cops were around here. They rushed into the apartment and arrested the jerk."
"Where was Jack?"
"He came like a minute after the police showed up."
"And.."
"And what?"
"Well, come on! There's got to be more!"
"That night.God, I just felt so awful. So I asked Jack to sleep with me.and he did. He was so great. I couldn't of gotten through the last couple of days without him."
Terri snorted. "I'll bet."
"Shut up! I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong! Nothing happened!"
"But you wish something did."
"Well.maybe," Janet wheedled softly.
"I knew it! Told you!" Terri exclaimed with happiness. "I knew it! I knew that if you two were given the time, you'd realize your true feelings for each other! I knew you liked each other."
Janet laughed quietly, suddenly glad that Terri had called. She really needed a girl to talk to now. Jack was wonderful, and she loved him with all of her heart, but now and then, she really needed a good, old - fashioned girl talk. She was anxious to tell her friend about last night. "That's not all."
"There's more? Great, why do I have to be here?" Terri replied, disappointedly.
"See.ever since.ever since that night, Jack's been so protective of me. I'd come over to the Bistro after work, go up and wait for him and then we'd hang out for a while before going home. And.last night, we kissed. A real kiss. The kinds of kisses that most definitely mean something.that mean something incredible, " she said, leaning back on the couch as her mind wandered to last night. "Well, the night before that, we had kissed too, but yesterday's kiss was.I don't know how to explain it. It was like magic, like we were the only two people in the world and nothing else mattered."
"No way! You guys kissed? How?"
"Terri! I'm not telling you that!"
"No, you idiot. I mean, how did you find out you like each other? The short version, please. I'd love to hear it all, but this is getting to be a very expensive phone call."
"Well." Jack smiled to himself on the other side of the doorway as he listened to Janet launch into a monologue of their progressing relationship.
*~*
Jack arrived to the bistro late that evening, late enough so that Felipe was already scurrying about, hurriedly preparing the meal that would be served that night. They worked in silence for a few moments, until Felipe cleared his throat. Jack sighed. He knew what was coming. Sure enough."Jefe, I can tell by the look on your face that everything went well last night."
"If she loves me, then I guess it went well, didn't it?"
Felipe chose to ignore his friend's sarcasm, and pressed on for details. "Well?"
"Well, what? Felipe, I'm sorry, but there's not much to tell. And even if there were, I wouldn't tell you. I made a promise to myself not to talk about her."
"You always talk about your girlfriends. All the time. It actually gets a little annoying that way."
"It's different with her, okay? She's different. She's.I don't know, it's like she has all the little things that make her different than anyone I've ever known, that make her perfect, make her so wonderful. Loving her won't ever be enough."
"You sound like me with my Carmelita back when we used to be novios," Felipe told Jack, smiling in spite of himself.
"Yeah, well.you know what, Felipe? There is something you could do. I know we've technically only been together for about 11 hours, but I already love her more than anything. And this is our first Christmas together, you know, as a couple. New Years, too. Do you have any ideas on what we should do?"
"Do I ever!" The salad man became quite animated as he tossed idea after idea out there, and Jack had to admit that some of them weren't half bad. Jack considered some of the sweet and romantic choices, as he threw out the old-fashioned and sappy ideas. All in all, Jack was glad he had trusted Felipe with his feelings. Now he could only hope that Larry, his best friend, could take it the same way.
*~* That night Janet arrived at the restaurant a little later then usual. She had stopped by a photography studio to get something for Jack's apartment upstairs. She hoped he'd like it. "Hi, Jack," she said when she entered the kitchen, her voice soft and shy for the first time around him. She had a feeling that Jack had told Felipe about them, because he was smiling and his eyes kept darting back and forth between them. Janet didn't exactly mind, but she made a mental note to talk to Jack about that later.
"Hey, babe" he replied, as he kissed her cheek. "Today is kind of slow so you can just go on up, okay? I should be there in a while."
"Okay.hey, hon, I'm going to go upstairs, okay? Call me if you need any help." She turned around to go upstairs, but was stopped in an instant when Jack called her name. In one quick stride, he took her in his arms, covering her mouth in a passionate kiss. Janet's insides seemed to melt as she succumbed to the kiss, but she pulled away just in time. "Jack, not now. Felipe's right here. Later, okay?"
"You can count on it."
*~*
Upstairs, Janet took out the surprise she had gotten at the photography studio. It was her favorite picture of her and Jack, taken 3 years ago, at the time that they had affectionately called ACBC (after Chrissy and before Cindy.) Janet loved that picture, plus it was about only the good one of her. She was wearing a red blouse that hugged her in all the right places, and her favorite black skirt, that had a slit up to the knee. Jack, of course, looked as handsome as ever, wearing a blue dress - up shirt and brand new khaki pants. She put the picture in the frame, then slowly ran her finger along Jack's face. "How did we end up here?" she whispered, almost to herself.
"Where should I put it?" she wondered. Finally, she decided to put it on top of his desk, because that was where he did most of his work. That was where he would be sure to see it. "Hey." She greeted him with a bright smile as he walked in the door.
"Hey, sweetie," he said softly as he made his way to the bed. Jack took of his shoes and crawled on the bed until he was on top of Janet. They kissed for a few moments, but she could tell that he was a million miles away. Finally, she gave up and pushed him off her. "What's wrong?"
He sighed, rolled onto his side, and looked at her, propping himself up on his elbow. "We're alone, we're in a bed, and it's pretty obvious that we've got some strong feelings for each other. I just.I just need to know what you're comfortable with. Because I love you," he continued softly, touching her cheek. "I love you. I love you, and I'd never want to force you or make you do anything you don't want.or anything. I care about you too much."
Janet smiled at him. Her lower lip trembled, but she willed herself not to cry. "Jack.it means the world to me that you asked. I don't think you'll ever know how much. But.I'm so in love with you. More than anything, I just want you to kiss me right now."
"But -- "
"Jack? Shut up. I promise you, if we go too far, I'll stop you, okay? Just.please kiss me." Her voice was barely above a whisper now.
"Anything for you," he murmured, lowering his lips to hers. Her hands instinctively reached up to entwine in his hair as he held her close. She loved being close to him like this. The kissing went on for a few moments, until she pushed him gently away, breathless. Jack flopped on his back and noticed the picture frame on the desk. He looked at his girlfriend suspiciously. "What's that?"
"It's a picture of us together."
"Gee, thanks. I didn't notice."
She glared at him, but couldn't help but suppress a smile. "We took it after Chrissy left; don't you like it?" she asked, suddenly having a sinking feeling that he didn't.
"Of course I do," he said, taking her left hand, bringing it to his lips, and kissing her palm. "I love everything you do."
Janet smiled softly. "If you don't like it there, we can change it. As much as I'd like it, and as much as I want to, I can't stay here every night, and I just wanted you to have something to remember - us - by," she said between kisses.
"Well I love it." He stopped for a second to think, and then looked up at her again, nothing but love in his eyes. "You know what I was thinking?"
"What?"
"Well that after New Years we can.you know.redecorate this room. This can be like our own little hide - away, our own place. For when we want to be alone," he suggested.
Her face light up with the most natural smile that he had ever seen. "That sounds really nice. I'd like that."
They spend about an hour discussing their plans for the apartment. Janet wouldn't let them go home until they had, and who was he to argue? He'd take any chance he got to spend uninterrupted time with her. The two discussed everything from the color to the furniture. Jack let Janet decide on most of the arrangements. He couldn't help it; she was so cute when she was excited. Besides, he wanted her to be happy. He wanted it to be a perfect place for her. Somewhere that she could always feel good coming home to, and he knew that he would be perfectly content anywhere as long as she was next to him.
That night both Jack and Janet slept like babies. Babies in love, Janet thought with a smile. She still couldn't completely believe that this was happening. With him. Last night at the Bistro had been incredible. They had kissed and simply hung out until the wee hours of the morning, and then they had snuck home. She had felt like a teenager again. Then, after they had gotten home without waking Furley, they kissed for a while longer before heading off to bed. She was glad now that Jack had read that letter, because by doing that and calling her on it, he forced her to question everything she ever knew and to take the biggest chance of her life.and she couldn't be happier. The next morning Jack woke up really early, because he had an idea for a special surprise for her.
*~* "Hey, Jack," said Mr. Furley. Jack was coming back with Janet's special surprise right then, and he really didn't need RF's remarks.
"Hello, RF," he said, trying to hide the flowers from him.
"What do you have there?" he asked, smiling. "A present for you tippie-toed someone?"
"Um.no. No, Mr. Furley.these are for Janet," he said nervously, hoping he wouldn't ask why.
"For Janet." He put his hands in his hips. "Why would you be getting Janet some flowers? Isn't that hat boyfriends are supposed to do?"
"Yes, Mr. Furley, I know. See.she had a really bad night a couple of days ago and she's still not over it. I just figured that I would try to fix it and cheer her up and see if I can't make her happy again." He loved making her happy. He loved making her smile. He loved making her laugh. He just plain loved everything about her. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to go make breakfast. See you around, I guess."
*~*
Jack opened the door to Janet and Terri's room, praying that she was still asleep. Thankfully, she was. He smiled. She was so beautiful, and sleeping didn't make any difference. He crept up to her bed, where he can lay the first special rose he had brought for her. Then on top of the bedside table he laid the second one, and on top of her dresser he placed the third one. Jack did all of this silently, and the only scare came when he tripped over a discarded shoe. Janet stirred, but simply rolled over and buried her head under her pillow. Jack smiled, made his way very quietly to the door, and then turned around to blow her a kiss before leaving the room. Heading to the bathroom, he got out his tape to fasten the fourth one on the bathroom door and left her another one next to her toothbrush. He left the others in various areas throughout the apartment. The sixth one was on the couch and the seventh one was taped to the kitchen door. Jack kept the last one to give to her personally.
Janet woke up about a half hour later when her alarm clock went off. She reluctantly rolled over and was surprised when her pillow fell upon something prickly and soft. She opened her eyes, and jumped back in amazement when she realized that a rose was inches from her face. She stood and picked up the rose, and on the white paper attached to the baby blue rose, she read "I." She smiled as he pulled it closer, bringing it to her nose to take a whiff. Just after she put on her pink fuzzy slippers, she noticed that there was another rose on the table next to her bed. She shook her head and smiled as she read the letter "L". On her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth, she noticed another beautiful baby blue flower on top of her dresser. "Aww, Jack." she whispered to herself before reading the third letter "O". Just as she turned to face the bathroom as she walked out of her bedroom she spotted another rose on the door. "I don't know what you're up to, Tripper, but I'm loving it," she said. She untapped the fourth rose from the door, and reads it. "V". I L.O.V. Janet had a feeling she knew what was next, but she still loved the fact that he was being romantic and impetuous. She entered the bathroom, looking for the fifth rose. After not finding one, she sighed and opened the medicine box to get her toothbrush out, and instantly smiled when she found the next rose. "E". Janet brushed her teeth and combed her hair a little and then she walked out to the living room, heading towards the kitchen. She was running her hand through her hair when she found another rose. She picked it up and read "Y". Then realized that there was another one stuck to the kitchen door. Jack heard Janet taking the rose he had bought for her from the door and reading out loud the letter "O". Janet opened the door to the kitchen, and was astonished to find Jack standing in front of her, holding the last rose that would spell the words "I LOVE YOU." Happy tears pooled her eyes as she walked over to him and into his open arms. "This is so wonderful." she whispered softly. "Thank you."
"You deserve it. You deserve everything," he murmured, kissing the top of her head. "And I'm going to try to give you everything, because I love you."
"I love you too."
He smiled. "I have the last rose, but you're going to have to work for this one, hon."
"Work." Janet scrunched up her nose, as if the word was a foreign concept. "Okay.so what do I have to do, cook or something?"
"No! I said work.not kill."
She chuckled. "You know what your problem is, Jack? I can never get mad at you. You are entirely too sweet for your own good. Anyway.what do I have to do?"
"You have to give me a kiss," he said as he slid the rose down his forehead until it reached his lips. "Right here."
She leaned over to give him a small peck on the cheek. "That is no good, Ms. Wood. Honestly, Janet.you're going to have to do a lot better than that."
Laughingly, she dropped the roses onto the countertop and lifted her face to his for a real kiss. It quickly became more intense as she opened her mouth slightly to give Jack's tongue access. Janet moaned softly as he slipped his hand under her nightgown, sending a shiver down her back. They both pulled away, breathlessly, when they heard the phone ring. Jack sighed, and kissed her nose. "Do you want to get that or should I?"
"Neither. We have a machine. If it's so important, they'll leave a message and call back later. Right now I just want to enjoy being here with you."
"Well, my lady, I think you have won the eighth flower," he said as he handed it to her
She smiled. "Thanks Jack. They're beautiful. Hey, you remembered my color! I just noticed that," she exclaimed, surprised. "How did you get baby blue roses?"
"My secret."
They were just about to kiss again when they heard Terri's voice. "Come on, guys, I know you're there. It's early, and you two have no lives to speak of, so you couldn't have stayed out all night. Janet? Jack? This isn't funny! Come on, if you don't pick up in exactly three seconds I'm going to call Missing Persons. You ready? One.two."
Janet squealed. "Terri!" Immediately, she rushed away from Jack and ran to pick up the phone. "Hey!" she answered, getting it before she had got to three. "How are things in Massachusetts?"
"I knew it! Hey, yeah.things are great here. Sam's mouth keeps getting bigger and bigger, but other then that everything is great I love visiting my family, but I kind of wish I was home," she said. "How about you and Jack? Are you doing good?"
"We wish you were home too, Ter."
"No, we don't," Jack interrupted, coming up behind Janet and wrapping his arms around her waist.
She tried to look annoyed but simply smiled as he began kissing her neck. "Honey, stop." She shook her head and tried to focus on Terri, but her boyfriend's lips on her skin were making it hard to think clearly. "Things are great here, Terri. Jack and." She pulled away from him, gently pushing him off her. "Not now.no, Terri, not you. Nothing's wrong. Really, not a thing. Jack's just making this phone call very difficult." she said, twisting out of his grasp and playfully swatting him with a pillow.
"Have you and Jack been having fun without me?"
"Well, he and I kind of have a special surprise for you when you come back," she said, giggling while Jack continued to plant small kisses down the nape of her neck.
"Oh really, what kind of surprise?" Terri asked.
"Well.uh, Ter, hold on, okay?" She covered the mouthpiece with her hand and turned to Jack, a pleading look in her eyes. "You know I love you, Jack, but just go away. Please? This is girl stuff."
He groaned. He knew what that meant. He knew what was coming. "You're going to talk about me, aren't you?"
"Please?! Just leave me alone now, and I'll do anything you want later. Within reason, of course." She loved him, but she didn't want this relationship to go too fast. "Come on, Jack, I'll make it up to you. I promise."
"Oh, all right." He made a face, the smiled and placed a kiss in the palm of her hand. "Love you." Then he walked into the kitchen.
"Love you, too," Janet whispered, watching him go. It was kind of scary, actually, how he could come to mean so much to her in a short time. She blinked then, suddenly remembering about Terri. "Sorry, Ter. We're good now. We can talk."
"So.how's everything been?"
"Great," she said, a little too convincingly.
"Janet.come on," Terri chided. "I know you better than that. I know when you're lying."
"I am not lying!! I'm simply just not telling you the whole truth."
"Janet!"
"Okay! You really want to know?" She nervously began twisting the phone cord around her hand. "Well.a couple of days ago this guy broke into our house, and.let's just say he wanted something from me that I wasn't going to give."
"Oh.Janet, are you okay? That's it, I'm coming home."
"NO! Terri, don't. Stay where you are, okay? I promise you, I'm fine. Everything's fine now. It only lasted about five minutes. I screamed and was lucky enough that some cops were around here. They rushed into the apartment and arrested the jerk."
"Where was Jack?"
"He came like a minute after the police showed up."
"And.."
"And what?"
"Well, come on! There's got to be more!"
"That night.God, I just felt so awful. So I asked Jack to sleep with me.and he did. He was so great. I couldn't of gotten through the last couple of days without him."
Terri snorted. "I'll bet."
"Shut up! I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong! Nothing happened!"
"But you wish something did."
"Well.maybe," Janet wheedled softly.
"I knew it! Told you!" Terri exclaimed with happiness. "I knew it! I knew that if you two were given the time, you'd realize your true feelings for each other! I knew you liked each other."
Janet laughed quietly, suddenly glad that Terri had called. She really needed a girl to talk to now. Jack was wonderful, and she loved him with all of her heart, but now and then, she really needed a good, old - fashioned girl talk. She was anxious to tell her friend about last night. "That's not all."
"There's more? Great, why do I have to be here?" Terri replied, disappointedly.
"See.ever since.ever since that night, Jack's been so protective of me. I'd come over to the Bistro after work, go up and wait for him and then we'd hang out for a while before going home. And.last night, we kissed. A real kiss. The kinds of kisses that most definitely mean something.that mean something incredible, " she said, leaning back on the couch as her mind wandered to last night. "Well, the night before that, we had kissed too, but yesterday's kiss was.I don't know how to explain it. It was like magic, like we were the only two people in the world and nothing else mattered."
"No way! You guys kissed? How?"
"Terri! I'm not telling you that!"
"No, you idiot. I mean, how did you find out you like each other? The short version, please. I'd love to hear it all, but this is getting to be a very expensive phone call."
"Well." Jack smiled to himself on the other side of the doorway as he listened to Janet launch into a monologue of their progressing relationship.
*~*
Jack arrived to the bistro late that evening, late enough so that Felipe was already scurrying about, hurriedly preparing the meal that would be served that night. They worked in silence for a few moments, until Felipe cleared his throat. Jack sighed. He knew what was coming. Sure enough."Jefe, I can tell by the look on your face that everything went well last night."
"If she loves me, then I guess it went well, didn't it?"
Felipe chose to ignore his friend's sarcasm, and pressed on for details. "Well?"
"Well, what? Felipe, I'm sorry, but there's not much to tell. And even if there were, I wouldn't tell you. I made a promise to myself not to talk about her."
"You always talk about your girlfriends. All the time. It actually gets a little annoying that way."
"It's different with her, okay? She's different. She's.I don't know, it's like she has all the little things that make her different than anyone I've ever known, that make her perfect, make her so wonderful. Loving her won't ever be enough."
"You sound like me with my Carmelita back when we used to be novios," Felipe told Jack, smiling in spite of himself.
"Yeah, well.you know what, Felipe? There is something you could do. I know we've technically only been together for about 11 hours, but I already love her more than anything. And this is our first Christmas together, you know, as a couple. New Years, too. Do you have any ideas on what we should do?"
"Do I ever!" The salad man became quite animated as he tossed idea after idea out there, and Jack had to admit that some of them weren't half bad. Jack considered some of the sweet and romantic choices, as he threw out the old-fashioned and sappy ideas. All in all, Jack was glad he had trusted Felipe with his feelings. Now he could only hope that Larry, his best friend, could take it the same way.
*~* That night Janet arrived at the restaurant a little later then usual. She had stopped by a photography studio to get something for Jack's apartment upstairs. She hoped he'd like it. "Hi, Jack," she said when she entered the kitchen, her voice soft and shy for the first time around him. She had a feeling that Jack had told Felipe about them, because he was smiling and his eyes kept darting back and forth between them. Janet didn't exactly mind, but she made a mental note to talk to Jack about that later.
"Hey, babe" he replied, as he kissed her cheek. "Today is kind of slow so you can just go on up, okay? I should be there in a while."
"Okay.hey, hon, I'm going to go upstairs, okay? Call me if you need any help." She turned around to go upstairs, but was stopped in an instant when Jack called her name. In one quick stride, he took her in his arms, covering her mouth in a passionate kiss. Janet's insides seemed to melt as she succumbed to the kiss, but she pulled away just in time. "Jack, not now. Felipe's right here. Later, okay?"
"You can count on it."
*~*
Upstairs, Janet took out the surprise she had gotten at the photography studio. It was her favorite picture of her and Jack, taken 3 years ago, at the time that they had affectionately called ACBC (after Chrissy and before Cindy.) Janet loved that picture, plus it was about only the good one of her. She was wearing a red blouse that hugged her in all the right places, and her favorite black skirt, that had a slit up to the knee. Jack, of course, looked as handsome as ever, wearing a blue dress - up shirt and brand new khaki pants. She put the picture in the frame, then slowly ran her finger along Jack's face. "How did we end up here?" she whispered, almost to herself.
"Where should I put it?" she wondered. Finally, she decided to put it on top of his desk, because that was where he did most of his work. That was where he would be sure to see it. "Hey." She greeted him with a bright smile as he walked in the door.
"Hey, sweetie," he said softly as he made his way to the bed. Jack took of his shoes and crawled on the bed until he was on top of Janet. They kissed for a few moments, but she could tell that he was a million miles away. Finally, she gave up and pushed him off her. "What's wrong?"
He sighed, rolled onto his side, and looked at her, propping himself up on his elbow. "We're alone, we're in a bed, and it's pretty obvious that we've got some strong feelings for each other. I just.I just need to know what you're comfortable with. Because I love you," he continued softly, touching her cheek. "I love you. I love you, and I'd never want to force you or make you do anything you don't want.or anything. I care about you too much."
Janet smiled at him. Her lower lip trembled, but she willed herself not to cry. "Jack.it means the world to me that you asked. I don't think you'll ever know how much. But.I'm so in love with you. More than anything, I just want you to kiss me right now."
"But -- "
"Jack? Shut up. I promise you, if we go too far, I'll stop you, okay? Just.please kiss me." Her voice was barely above a whisper now.
"Anything for you," he murmured, lowering his lips to hers. Her hands instinctively reached up to entwine in his hair as he held her close. She loved being close to him like this. The kissing went on for a few moments, until she pushed him gently away, breathless. Jack flopped on his back and noticed the picture frame on the desk. He looked at his girlfriend suspiciously. "What's that?"
"It's a picture of us together."
"Gee, thanks. I didn't notice."
She glared at him, but couldn't help but suppress a smile. "We took it after Chrissy left; don't you like it?" she asked, suddenly having a sinking feeling that he didn't.
"Of course I do," he said, taking her left hand, bringing it to his lips, and kissing her palm. "I love everything you do."
Janet smiled softly. "If you don't like it there, we can change it. As much as I'd like it, and as much as I want to, I can't stay here every night, and I just wanted you to have something to remember - us - by," she said between kisses.
"Well I love it." He stopped for a second to think, and then looked up at her again, nothing but love in his eyes. "You know what I was thinking?"
"What?"
"Well that after New Years we can.you know.redecorate this room. This can be like our own little hide - away, our own place. For when we want to be alone," he suggested.
Her face light up with the most natural smile that he had ever seen. "That sounds really nice. I'd like that."
They spend about an hour discussing their plans for the apartment. Janet wouldn't let them go home until they had, and who was he to argue? He'd take any chance he got to spend uninterrupted time with her. The two discussed everything from the color to the furniture. Jack let Janet decide on most of the arrangements. He couldn't help it; she was so cute when she was excited. Besides, he wanted her to be happy. He wanted it to be a perfect place for her. Somewhere that she could always feel good coming home to, and he knew that he would be perfectly content anywhere as long as she was next to him.