A/N Just a quick note to say that I know I changed Jackson's last name in chapter one. I did have a purpose for doing this, it should be explained in a later chapter (if I don't lose my train of thought that is). Sorry if I've confused anyone, I hope you keep reading 

Chapter 3

Lux Atlantic Hotel: 7 weeks later

Lisa Reisert slowly hung up the phone in her office and stared out the window blankly. Her mother had telephoned to tell her that her grandmother Henrietta had just passed away. Lisa walked over to the window and stared out onto the water glistening as the sun set. She started to cry; she had been very close to her grandmother and was one of the only people who understood the pain she felt when her parents' marriage had fallen apart a few years ago. She turned back to the desk and picked up the phone to call her father and tell him the news. The end of the conversation came quickly between father and daughter.

"Dad, will you go with me to the funeral?"

"Honey, I don't think that will be a good idea; your mother and I haven't gotten along very well since the divorce."

"I know, but surely you both could put the past behind you for grandma's sake. She loved you very much dad, she would want you to be there."

"I'm sorry honey, I'm not going to go, but please do give your mother my condolences."

"Alright, fine," she said hurt and angrily as she hung up the phone.

Lisa then proceeded to call the airline to arrange a flight out for the next morning. At his house Joe Reisert stared at the phone. He understood his daughter was upset but he really had no desire to see his ex-wife and her new husband, even if it meant disappointing Lisa.

Lisa left the hotel with instructions to Cynthia to call her if she needed anything and then made her way out to the car. She held her keys in her fist listening to her surroundings for any strange noise. She felt a chill run down her spine though it was still warm out and quickly looked around. She had the feeling that someone was watching her though she couldn't see anyone; little did she know that on the other side of the street, sitting in a silver BMW there was someone watching her. Someone who had been watching her for the last 7 weeks and wondering where the free spirit he had once known had gone; wondering what had replaced her with this overly cautious, always afraid version of the woman he once knew.

She got into her car and drove home, Jackson not too far behind her. He knew there was no reason to rush; she would only go home. She never went anywhere interesting, never went on any dates; she just went to work, the grocery store or video store and then home every day. Her life was boring and predictable; in his own twisted way Jackson was looking forward to re-entering her life, if only to stir things up, to bring back his Lisa.

A week and a half later Lisa Reisert was in the taxi heading to the airport in Fort Worth to go home. The funeral had been a few days earlier and she had stayed a few extra days to help her mother go through her grandmother's things. She and her step-father had barely spoken to each other, both uncomfortable with the other. Her cell phone rang and Cynthia was speaking to her frantically because a reservation had been lost again in the computer and the guests were getting rather annoyed. Lisa stared out the window at the torrent of rain as it came down thinking that maybe she didn't want to go home just yet; she already hated to fly, flying in this weather would be worse.

When they arrived at the airport she handed the cab driver money for the fare and he got her bags out of the trunk. She nodded her thanks to him as she proceeded inside trying to calm Cynthia down and told her what to do about the reservations. She hung up her phone and took one look at the check-in line and was glad that she had arrived early for her red eye flight back to Miami. She stepped into the line and put her headphones into her ears to listen to her ipod. There was a ruckus in front of her; a male passenger was being rude to the service attendant. Immediately Lisa took out her earphones and went into manager mode to try to diffuse the situation.

"Sir, she has no control over how quickly this line moves, so why don't you just relax."

"Stay out of this," he said turning his attention back to the agent.

Suddenly a voice from behind Lisa spoke up.

"Sir, you heard the woman, the flight has already been delayed, don't give her an excuse to keep you from it all together," the voice said cautiously staring at the man with crystal clear blue eyes.

The man stopped his arguing and Lisa turned to face the man who had spoken; the first thing she noticed was his piercing blue eyes and his smile as he looked at her. Something about him seemed familiar though; she couldn't place what that might be.

"Thanks for that," she said smiling back at him.

"No problem. So are you on the flight to Miami?"

"Yes, this very delayed flight. Have any idea when we might actually take off?" she asked him

"Haven't got a clue; but that's why they created the Tex Mex. Best nachos in the airport; would you care to join me for a drink?"

Lisa paused before answering; his directness made her nervous, she suddenly felt very awkward.

"I'm sorry, I have some calls to make before we board; can I take a rain check though?"

Jackson pretended to be disappointed; he had expected her to turn him down.

"Sure, but last time I checked it was already raining out," he said smiling and leaning toward her ever so slightly.

Lisa laughed nervously and then turned her attention to the desk as an agent called her to come up. She turned back to him to say goodbye.

"Well, looks like I'm up. Have a good flight," she tried to say casually; but it came out slightly strained.

"You too, good luck with those phone calls," he said just as his own phone started to ring.

Once Lisa was finished checking in her bags she proceeded to walk away; a woman ran right into her and spilled her iced mocha all down the front of Lisa's jacket. She yelled back to her husband to get her another as she tried to help Lisa clean up. Lisa just plastered a fake smile onto her face and made her way to the washroom. Once inside she took off her jacket and dried her blouse the best she could; she paused momentarily as she noticed the scar just above her right breast. That afternoon came flooding back to her as she stared at it; she quickly shook her head though and reached into her carry on bag and removed a button up sweater to put on over the blouse. When she walked out of the washroom she happened by the Tex Mex and saw Jackson sitting at the bar with a drink and a plate of nachos in front of him; an empty seat next to him.

'What the hell,' she thought and walked over towards him.

"Is anyone sitting here?" she asked

"Not yet, have a seat. You must be a fast talker if you finished all your calls already," he said knowingly.

"Actually I decided that they could wait," she replied smiling at him.

There she was, his Lisa.

"So can I get you a drink; I'll bet I could guess what you like?"

"Okay, guess away."

"I'm thinking vodka; a martini maybe, no too common. A cosmopolitan maybe, no don't think so either. I'm gonna go with a sea breeze; am I right?"

Lisa was stunned, did she really seem that predictable.

"Close, I'll have a bay breeze please," she said directing her attention to the bartender. "That's some trick you've got there," she said.

"It's a good way to break the ice, though I do think this is the first time I've ever been wrong," he said smirking. "My name's Jackson by the way," he said holding his hand out to her.

"Lisa, it's nice to meet you. Is it Jack for short?"

"No. I haven't gone by Jack since I was ten years old. Last name's Rippner."

"Jackson Rippner…Jack the…oh," she said blushing.

"There you go."

"That wasn't very nice of your parents."

"That's what I told them; right before I killed them," he said with seriousness in his voice and eyes.

"Are you serious?" Lisa asked nearly choking on her drink (and not only because it was way too strong). "No you can't be serious?"

"No, I'm kidding. Though I did make sure to tell them that I wasn't impressed before I left," he said laughing.

They talked awhile longer; during their conversation though, Jackson's mind was also on the past, he couldn't help it being this close to her.

1994

At 7:00 Jackson rang the door bell to the Reisert residence and was greeted by Joe when the door opened.

"Come on in Jackson, she'll be down in a moment. She's got to make a grand entrance you know," he said laughing quietly.

From upstairs you could hear Lisa yell down to her father to stop teasing her. Wendy walked downstairs, camera in hand and smiled approvingly when she saw Jackson in his neatly pressed suit, corsage in hand. It seemed that time stood still when Lisa started to come down the stairs; Jackson inhaled a deep breath and held it. He had seen the dress at the shop, but it looked even more stunning on Lisa; her hair was styled in a French twist with a few tendrils of her auburn curls gently resting beside her face. She smiled radiantly at him as she took in his appearance once reaching the bottom of the stairs; he held his hand out to her and carefully placed the corsage on her wrist. Both were brought back to reality with the flash of a camera.

"Oh Joe, don't they look absolutely perfect together?" Lisa's mother gushed.

"Actually they do look rather handsome together. Alright you two smile for the camera."

"Do we have to Dad?" Lisa asked pleading, all she wanted to do was go.

"The longer you put this off, the later you will be to the dance; now smile," Wendy said.

Both Jackson and Lisa rolled their eyes but did as the parents asked and smiled. After what must have been an entire roll of film they finally left the house. Jackson held the car door open for Lisa and helped her in, closing the door once she was inside. He then went around to the driver's side and got in. When he turned the engine over soft jazz played out of the speakers; he reached over to the player to turn it off but Lisa put her hand over his.

"It's okay, I like it."

"Alright," he said.

They pulled out of the driveway and drove to the Lux Atlantic hotel where the dance was being held in one of the many ballrooms. When they arrived the dance was already in full swing, they entered the ballroom and a spotlight was suddenly upon them as they made their way down the stairs and towards Lisa's group of friends. When they arrived the girls squealed at how lovely each other looked and the guys all shook hands, rolling their eyes at their girlfriends' behaviour; Jackson had been accepted into the group because he was Lisa's friend so they all had a healthy respect for one another. Once Jackson had enough of talking about Rugby and the sort he gently placed his hand on Lisa's back to get her attention; drawing her toward him so he could speak in her ear.

"Would you like to dance?"

"I would like that; that is after all why we are here right?" she replied

He smiled at her noticing the way her eyes mischievously shimmered when she spoke to him; he then found his gaze fall upon her soft lips as she smiled at him taking his hand into hers. He led them to the dance floor just as a slow song began to play, he was grateful; he was not the world's best dancer. He placed his right hand on the small of her back, she placed her left hand on his shoulder and they held hands as he took the lead.

As they danced they became oblivious to everyone around them, all they saw were each other. They locked eyes and Lisa felt the blush rising in her cheeks; she tried to avert her eyes but found herself lost in Jackson's gaze. In his eyes she could see desire; was it desire for her, she didn't know? She felt him pull her closer to him so their bodies were almost touching.

He was also lost in her gaze. He found himself glancing down at her soft lips, painted with the slightest hint of pink lipstick; he pulled her toward him so they were almost touching from head to toe. He decided that if he was going to make a move, this was probably the best time; he didn't know how much longer he could control himself. He tilted his head slightly and leaned in to kiss her; gently brushing his lips against hers, waiting to see if this is what she wanted.

Lisa saw him tilt his head to the side ever so slightly and lean in; she also leaned into him and closed her eyes. 'Oh my god; is he actually going to kiss me? This is my first kiss, what if I'm a bad kisser?' she thought. Those thoughts went away the moment his lips connected with hers. The kiss was everything she imagined her first kiss would be; he was passionate yet gentle. He caressed her lips with his own, didn't try to force his tongue into her mouth like she had heard her girlfriends describe kissing to her.

As the song ended their lips parted; Jackson rested his forehead against Lisa's and looked into her eyes. They were both breathless and blushing. Jackson was the first to speak.

"So I take it that was okay?"

"That was better than okay, wow!"

"I agree; would you mind if I did that again?"

"Jackson, you can do that anytime you like," she said smirking at him.

Another slow song started to play and they just wrapped their arms around each other and swayed to the music.

2005

Jackson was brought out of his trip down memory lane by the boarding call announcement for their flight. It felt as though hours had gone by while he reminisced, though it had only been a few minutes; he was amazed that he'd actually kept up the conversation between him and Lisa.

"Sounds like we are getting out of here," Lisa stated.

"Guess so," Jackson heard his cell phone start to ring again. Picking it up and glancing at the caller id he opened the phone and then turned to Lisa, "I'm sorry I do have to take this. Enjoy the flight Lisa."

"You too Jackson, thank you for the drink."

"You're welcome," he said as she walked away. Taking his phone he listened to the voice on the other end, "Yeah I'm ready here, it's a go then. I'll wait for the confirmation then," he said and hung up the phone.

He got to the gate before Lisa and boarded the plane; taking his seat in 18F he once again took the photograph out of the book and looked at it. Seeing her come down the aisle he put the photograph away; a sudden feeling of dread fell upon him as he thought of what he had to do to her. He was grateful that at least she hadn't recognized him; she was after all his first and only love.

Author's Note: So how am I doing so far? It's been a long time since I've seen the movie so I had to make up my own conversation for them trying to remember the gist of it at least. Review and let me know if I should keep going or not…I'll try to update quickly.

Thanks to ipredictaRIOT, BregoBeauty, Dave-The-Laugh's-NewHotness and SolitaryWanderer for the reviews.