For a moment, all I could do was stare out the window. Jesse? Here? Behind me, Rowan murmured, "Not now Dominic." Silently, I revised my score of her upward ½ a point.
Racing down the stairs and out the door, I threw myself at Jesse. As I sobbed into his shirt, I kept saying his name, over and over again. "Jesse" I cried "Jesse!"
"Querida" he whispered into my hair. "Shh, it's all right now" he said.
"Jesse, I…" I started to say, but stopped when Jesse started to speak. "No, you go first."
"Susannah, I don't know what you were thinking when you married Paul. I don't want to know" Jesse started, then stopped. He looked very uncomfortable. Maybe it was because I was hanging on him like a leech. He gets uncomfortable with PDA. There's really no one here though. Except for Father D. and Rowan. They wouldn't care, as they are busy exploring new forms of PDA (A.N. no, they aren't doing it. what made you think that?) and are otherwise occupied.
"What Jesse?" I asked him beseechingly.
"Well, considering you broke off an engagement with me to get engaged to Paul, I'd like to wait awhile…or at least a few days before resuming our relationship at the level it was at before you broke it off," Jesse continued, "But I still want to help you with your problems with Paul…and the priest and his girlfriend" he finished.
"Oh" I said, disappointed. "Well, I don't need much help with Father D. and Rowan. Paul's a bigger problem. I don't know what he's planning to do, but I need to get him the divorce papers by tomorrow night or he says he's going to "haunt" (finger quotations) me for the rest of my life, and I'm scared Jesse, what if he really does something to me, I mean, after high school he went back to his old problems, and I'm scared and…" flustered, I began repeating myself until Jesse cut me off.
"Susannah, don't worry. I'll go get some divorce papers for you to give him, and have someone follow Paul around. Relax, querida. Everything will be okay" Jesse consolingly said. Looking up at him through tear-stained eyelids, I really did believe it would be okay. See, this is why I belong with Jesse. He makes everything seem like it will come out okay, no matter what happens.
"Are you sure you're better now Susannah?" Jesse questioned. "I mean, I could go find Father Dominic and ask him to watch for Paul, in case he tries something during the night."
"No Jesse, I'll be fine. If Father D. comes, he'll bring Her, and no offense, but Rowan bugs me. I can't put my finger on it, but she reminds me of someone" I admitted. The girl just bugged me for no apparent reason. I hate it when that happens. I meet someone new, and I instantly dislike them, even though I know I should wait and get to know them better before judging them. My intuition is normally right though. Maybe I should pay attention…
Jesse started talking again.
"Or, we could call up CeeCee and ask her to come stay with you. Even better, we could ask Adam to borrow some of his police force for the night. I just want to make sure you'll be alright Susannah."
"Jesse, for someone who says he wants to wait awhile before getting involved in another relationship, you're sure acting like you care about me a lot" I replied.
Jesse blushed. "Susannah, I care about you more than you will ever know. That's why I'm suggesting you call someone, anyone who's not in league with Paul, and ask them to come over. Even better, ask if you can stay at their house" he concluded, and turned to go.
"Jesse, why don't you stay with me?" I suggested flirtatiously. How could I just walk away from the perfect opportunity to spend the night with Jesse? Come on. Though he thinks we should wait before getting together again, I feel that just one, maybe two kisses later, and he'll forget the whole waiting thing. Maybe. I mean, he is a gentleman. For all I know, he might refuse because he couldn't say no to my womanly charms…
"Querida, I really don't feel this is a good idea right now. Despite what I said earlier, I don't feel I could behave as a gentleman should if I stayed over" Jesse admitted, a pained look on his face.
"At least come inside and watch a movie" I pleaded, "I've got a few new ones, ones you haven't seen, like, um, Ferris Bueller's Day Off (A.N. my favorite movie), Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail (A.N. another good one), and, um, Ocean's 11 (A.N. from this point onward, most movies mentioned in any stories forthcoming are some of my favorites.) I could order some Mexican food, or Chinese, or something! Please Jesse, I promise I will give you no excuse to not behave as a gentleman should."
Jesse looked tempted to say, Susannah, I love you and I want to make love to you right now. Sadly, he didn't. Instead, he replied, "Do you have The Godfather?" (A.N. I haven't seen this one.)
"God, Jesse, get over it. That is one of the most boring movies ever" I teased. "Yes, of course I have it. You gave it to me, remember? Okay, revised plan. Will you stay with me until the end of The Godfather and one of my movies?"
"Sure. But I get to make dinner" Jesse agreed.
"Why? I can just order a pizza or something."
"Susannah, I like to cook for people. I don't often get to. Let me cook for you. What do you want?" Jesse questioned.
"Oh, I don't know. Cook what you cook best I guess. Or better, cook what I've got the ingredients for. We might be missing some key ingredients," I laughed, "And I'm not much of a cook."
"Okay, then I'll make chili, with cornbread, and apple pie for dessert" Jesse announced.
"Won't that take awhile?" I questioned.
"Not the way my mamá made it. She had a secret to baking pie and bread at the same time. I used to help her when I was a child," Jesse smiled. "But I was more of a hindrance than a help I'm afraid. I was always into trouble, burning my fingers and my mouth with hot soup, setting fire to the stove, breaking crockery, and adding things to the bread dough." He laughed. "I was more like el diablo that I named my horse after than like los ángeles my papá called my sisters, my hermanas."
"I don't think you could have been a devil Jesse" I replied. "You're too angelic."
A.N. well, did you like it? i wrote it all during school today, when i had spare moments. i think it could have been longer, but i hurt my foot during track today and can't really walk anymore, so it took awhile to get out the laptop to type it up and even longer to find my notebook. i've never written a chapter on paper before i've published it, and it's annoying, but i can't carry spot (my laptop) around with me at school. that would be nice if i could. thanks to all reviewers. once again, at least 5 reviews for this chapter before i post the next, which should be up in a few days if i get the reviews and if we have subs in science again. this chapter seemed shorter than the others...i wonder if it is? anyway, 5 reviews or more if possible! preferably more than 5, so i know that someone out there is reading this. thanks!
