Past the Point of No Return
Jess was paralyzed in pure amazement. He came back. He actually came back. Her tears had stopped, but she could still feel the heat of them against her face. In her life, no man had made such a promise and delivered. She was stunned. Her mind raced at light speed. Was she supposed to be mad at him for scaring her? Should she be ecstatic and jump all over him? Maybe she should cry? What was proper etiquette for such a situation? While she pondered such pressing matters, though, she began to slump out of pure exhaustion.
"Whoa there, I didn't mean to scare you too much." Jigen looked for her to laugh as she normally did, but he got nothing but a shocked look on her face. "Crap," he thought to himself, "I pissed her off…or something?" She wasn't showing any type of reaction. She merely stood there staring at him in utter disbelief.
"Why did you come back?" Jess finally asked quietly. She kept her eyes locked on his.
"I promised I would, so here I am." He searched her eyes looking for what could be the matter, but he was put to rest when the fire flashed in them again.
"Oh, that makes sense." Jess looked at the clock then back at Jigen. "Hungry?"
Our fedora wearing friend smiled and replied, "Yes."
To her, broken promises had been normal coming from men. The fact that he came through on one was pure insanity to her. Her main reference was her former boyfriend of two years, but even her dad had let her down on occasion. She had built up quite an arsenal against this disappointment. Never letting her hopes get too high was her main goal, which is why she didn't ever expect him coming back. But, there he was, sitting in her kitchen.
"My specialties include grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese…well, pretty much anything involving Velveeta is my specialty," Jess mused with a chuckle.
"Anything is fine. I pretty much eat whatever is friggin' put in front of me," the marksman remarked. He paused for a second and then added, "By the way, those are some pretty nice dance moves you have there." The last part was added with a smirk and a quick turn around from the stove by Jess.
"You saw that? Oh my god…" She began to turn crimson. Jess only danced around when she thought no one could see her. The reason behind this was her sad attempts were quite silly to watch. She had become very conscience of it when someone remarked that she merely twirled around a lot. From then on she only did her extreme dancing in solitude. This reflection into the past distracted her but what brought her back to the real world was the smell of burnt toast. "Oh, well son of a bitch!" Jigen just merely laughed at her transition from embarrassment to anger.
Their meal of burnt food lasted for hours as the two spoke a little on their past. The conversation had been going smoothly, but one thing still bothered the gunman.
"Why did you ask why I had come back? Didn't you believe I would?" He peeped underneath his hat to see her reaction.
"That's a long story, my friend, which involves a man and a woman scorned." She leaned back in her chair and stared into space as if she were watching the movie of her past being played.
"I know how that goes," he mumbled as he reflected on his own past. He snapped out of quickly, though, and added, "I have nothing but time, enlighten me."
Jess took a deep breath, fixed her stare, and began slowly. "There was a man I was once involved with, his name was Joe. I met him a few years back and we hit it off right away. We did everything together and had the best times of our lives doing crazy things. Nothing too crazy, just innocent fun. We grew throughout high school together as partners in crime and in love, as cheesy as it is to say. I told him everything. My hopes, my dreams, my fears, my secrets; he knew them all. A year and a half had gone by of us being completely devoted to each other with very few occurrences of real fighting. During this time, my folks were in the middle of a divorce and with no siblings to rely on; I turned to him as my tower of strength. This was a job he wasn't prepared for though. Joe started to become more distant from me. He began spending more and more time with a new girl who had entered our school and an old friend of his who wasn't much of a good influence on him. No longer was he my good friend, he began transforming into something that I can only assume was his true character. He broke it off with me after two years saying he still wanted to be friends. That was shit. Between my parents and the loss of his company I was a mess. But, my troubles were just beginning. Joe began dating the new girl that I had mentioned, and while I thought nothing much of her, I was going to soon be disgusted by every fragment of her. Between Joe, her, and his old friend they told me the worst things you could ever tell someone, but what it is I will never say as I have taken to the belief that if I never say, it will all go away. He was nothing close to what he was. Joe was the devil in my eyes. He told my secrets and exposed me for the world to see and laugh at. I attempted suicide twice that year." Jess paused and turned her face away as tears streamed down her face. "I have never trusted a man since."
Jigen's mouth tightened as disgust crept over him for this Joe character. "Sounds like this Joe guy is a piece of shit."
"Joe wishes he could be as good as shit." Jess glanced at the clock in the corner and noticed the time to be 6:15 AM. Her face softened as she exclaimed, "I have school today and I need to get ready. Feel free to just chill out in the house all day. Oh, and a dog sitter comes by around 11 AM so make sure to not be found." Jess went off to the bathroom to complete her usual routine of showering and over all cleaning in the morning.
"Well hell," thought Jigen to himself, "I wouldn't trust a man either if that happened to me." He then leaned back in his chair, pulled his hat even more so over his eyes and tried to catch a nap.
"You know," said the now tidy brunette, "you can just sleep in my bed while I'm gone. It's the room at the end of the hall and well, it's the only girlish looking room in the house. I'll be home around 2:30."
"Alright, I may have to accept that offer." Jess turned around and headed out to her car. Jigen watched her from beneath the brim of his hat until she was out of sight and then made his way to the aforesaid room and slept for a few hours.
At school, Jess entered wearing a very sanguine expression. Kim picked it up immediately as she could read her friend like a book.
"Either you just had sex or…OH MY GOD, HE CAME BACK!"
"I swear, how the hell do you figure this shit out?"
"Magic! Anyways, you must explain now!"
"Kim, shut up! I don't need everyone and their mother knowing what goes on with me." Jess then smiled broadly and added, "Even if it is flipping awesome!" The story of the night was related to her eager friend with much detail and much "awing" from the listener. As the school day was normal and boring, it does not need the same relating as the night received.
Upon coming home, Jess found her visitor flipping through the Yellow Pages.
"Listen, if you were that bored, you could have gone out and done something," Jess remarked with a grin.
"I just made reservations at the richest sounding restaurant I could find. Find something nice to wear and be ready to go by 7."
Jess was completely stunned. It was so out of the blue and remarkable that all she could do was stand there in complete shock. "Oh, don't do that. I don't want you spending lots of money on me, I would just feel awkward." She began fumbling over her words but was spared that embarrassment with a wave of Jigen's hand.
"Don't you dare feel bad. It's not like I'm poor; I just stole the Hope Diamond for god's sakes. Plus," he added with a smirk, "I feel bad for scaring the crap out of you last night. You were sweating like a whore in church!"
Jess couldn't help but laugh as she had used that same expression before. She complied with her benefactors instructions and was ready to go by 7 on the dot.
"Well, don't you clean up nicely." What Jigen saw in front of him was a rare occurrence of the referenced brunette all dolled up as the saying goes. In terms of clothing she wore a form fitting knit sweater with ¾ length sleeves of a creamy color. Her skirt was of the same color and flowed lightly around her knees. Dainty shoes and curled hair topped off the ensemble to create an image of natural beauty. She could take a man's breath away, which is what she did to our gunslinger. He put out his arm, "Miss Abraham?" and was responded with a, "Mr. Jigen!" and they were off.
The dinner itself was excellent. It was one of those places whose food is so expensive they don't even put the prices on the menu. This made Jess feel a tad better since she wouldn't have to see the damage done. The two laughed about silly things, both relating stories of their misadventures. Coming home was a tad quieter, but just as exciting as Jess could feel the sharp glances she was receiving from the man to her left, which caused her to blush immensely.
"Tonight was absolutely wonderful," Jess said as she unlocked the door and the two entered the house, "Thank you so much, no one has ever done something of this magnitude for me."
"Hey, it's the least I could do after scaring you." The two were silent for a moment. The gunslinger looked down at the brunette in front of him. She had her head down but he was still able to notice the small curls that outlined her face. He had let himself fall for her, he knew it, and there was no denying it anymore. Her demeanor, her experiences, her over all presence was intoxicating. Like he had confessed before, she made him drunk without the hangover.
Jigen put his hand on her arm and drew her a bit closer. She resisted a bit at first as flashbacks to old memories made her weary, but gave in finally as her trust in him pushed all inhibitions aside. Jess finally looked up, though a bit frightened, closed her eyes and let her instincts take over. The gunslinger leaned in and the two shared their first mutual kiss. This one last more then a second, though, as Jigen wrapped his arms around Jess' waist and the later wrapped her arms around his neck. Gravity was taken away from the impassioned lady as the gentleman swept her off her feet and made his way to Jess' room. She could feel his heart beating rapidly as she leaned against his chest and had to pinch herself to make sure it wasn't all a dream.
He laid her down on the bed softly and hung his hat on the bedpost. Her eyes were full of fire, but this time they were inflamed with passion. He removed his suit jacket and leaned forward to feel her lips once more. Softly at first, but as the fire in them both grew, it became more heavy and strained. His beard caused Jess to giggle as the whiskers touched her cheek, which put Jigen at ease. He had a need to touch every inch of her body, that intoxicating body. Clothes were being flung in every direction until there were no more to fling and all that was left were the two. For a moment he paused at looked directly into the eyes that had haunted him for days. Jess knew what he was asking, nodded, and kissed him as tears rolled down her cheek.
The two could never go back to just being friends after that night. When it was all over, Jess cozied up to the gunman who lay on his back with his eyes closed. He felt her presence close again and wrapped his arm around her. She nestled her head into the crook of his arm and wrapped her one arm around his chest. He could feel the soft curls of her hair that lay out on his arm and smiled.
"I had almost forgotten what complete happiness felt like," he mused to himself and slowly drifted off to sleep.
