Sometimes…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!

Chapter Two

Her phone rang, disturbing her mid-morning nap. After her run, she had stumbled into the apartment and then crawled into her soft bed. Lisa groaned and groggily answered it.

"Hello?" she muttered, her green eyes half-closed and her mind sound asleep.

"Lisa, honey, are you still asleep?" questioned Joe Reisert. It was only the beginning of a day filled with phone calls from him checking on her. She was lucky that he respected her need for sleep enough that he waited until around, according to the clock, 10:20am to start calling her.

"Now dad, if I was still sleeping, I wouldn't have answered the phone," mumbled Lisa, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep. But it was too late. She was already waking up. Darn it, she really need to start sleeping at night like a normal person. As if she could ever be normal.

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine, dad. Honest."

"If you say so," sighed Joe. He decided not to ask if she were sure. That tended to piss her off and she seemed edgy to begin with. "I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me today."

"Just say when and where and I'll be there," Lisa agreed, stretching as she made her way from her cozy bed to her closet. She tried to avoid looking the full length mirror, knowing that she was a mess—her loose-fitting and light weight tee shirt and shorts rumpled and her hair in a knotted mess that had once been a type of a cross between a ponytail and a bun. Now it was just a rat's nest from her restless nap.

"Okay. How about noon at that diner that you like so much?" Joe suggested, picking a casual setting.

Lisa nodded, pleased with the choice, "Sure. See ya then."

"Bye, Leese."

"Bye-bye, dad," Lisa said, hanging up. She sighed and stared into her closet. She really had no ambition to meet her dad for lunch, but rather than start a two-hour discussion with him, it was easier to concede and meet him for lunch. Now, she just had to hide her state from him. The circles under her eyes could be hidden with make-up, her toned, thinning frame with loose-fitting clothes—which would help conceal her gun—but how to hide her wandering thoughts about Jackson? She could not help but think about him every day and especially kept wondering if each day would be the day that he would finally return.

Lisa quickly showered and dressed in a pair of black slacks with trusty heels, a nice light blue blouse, and a black blazer to hide the .45. Her curly hair was damp, but she did not have the time to blow-dry it out.

She grabbed her keys and sped the way to the diner in her modest car, praying that she would be early. If she were even a half-a-second late, Joe would start to worry about her. It was nice that he cared so much, but he really needed to start learning to let go. If he had been a pestering worrywart before the red-eye flight, he had become ten times worse since that fateful night.

She ran into the diner at 11:58am and slid down into the booth across from her dad. The worry on his face dissipated as he realized that she was unharmed and on time.

"Hey, honey, how are you today?" he asked, smiling. He was very glad to see her.

"Fine, everything's fine," she murmured with a smile, sliding her blazer off and taking care that the gun remained hidden in the pocket as she laid it down beside her along with her purse.

"No one's following you again, are they?"

"Dad!" Lisa exclaimed, surprised that he would bring up Jackson. "There's no one too follow me, unless there's something you're not telling me."

"No, he's still recovering. But I'm worried about you, Leese. You stay shut up in your apartment all day long…it's not healthy."

"Daddy, did you forget that I run at least twice a day, go to the firing range several times a week, and take self-defense classes? That's not exactly hiding in my apartment."

"I know all that but still…you need to have a life," Joe's voice was very worried.

"I do have a life and it will only get better once Jackson's gone."

"Lisa," his tone became stern. "You're not planning on doing anything rash are you? Such as killing Rippner in the hospital?"

"No, I'm not stupid, dad. But if he comes after me, I will kill him," she insisted, her hand unconsciously reaching out to touch her jacket, her slim fingers tracing the cool metal of the .45 through her jacket. "He's done enough damage and I'm not about to let it continue."

"Okay…" he said solemnly. He was not pleased with Lisa's decision, but he knew that when it came to Jackson Rippner that Lisa was best left alone. She had kicked his ass once, so who was to say that she could not manage it twice?

They were silent for the rest of the meal. Joe did not dare bring up his concerns for her again and Lisa did not dare speak about Jackson. Finally, they were finished eating and it was time for them to go their separate ways.

"Bye, daddy," she said warmly, hugging her father tightly as she stood up from the booth, her purse in hand. "Thanks for lunch."

"Bye, Leese. Be careful, honey."

"I will," she promised with a smile before leaving the diner.

Lisa jogged to her car, eager to get home and change for an afternoon run. She was already late for her self-defense class, so she would just enjoy the rest of the day on her own. She unlocked the door and started the car, before she realized that her jacket was still inside the diner and along with the reassuring gun. She left the keys in the ignition and raced back to diner.

She had barely left the side of the car when it exploded, throwing her backwards into a brick wall. Her head pounded and she groaned.

Her world was growing dark and her first thought was someone just tried to kill me. She knew that she could not hang around the fiery car. She slowly started to run away from the fireball that had once been her car. She made it a few streets before she collapsed and her sore head was bashed into a sidewalk.

That's when it all went dark for Lisa Reisert.

Author's Notes:

Sorry to leave a cliffie, but it sets the stage for Jackson's arrival. The next chapter will be up as soon as I finish rewriting a chunk of it and editing it. It'll probably be up tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far—your reviews made my day! Enjoy!