Bad Things Happen
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!
Chapter Nine
"No, no you couldn't have," Lisa said, shaking her head in disbelief. Jackson did not have feelings about anything or anyone. He was emotionless and logic-based, right? He was not human enough to feel emotions or have feelings for anyone. Right?
"Would I lie to you? What could I possibly have to gain from lying to you?" he suggested, his voice smooth and she seriously wondered if he was toying with her again.
"Nothing. There's nothing to gain unless you want sympathy or you think that I'm going to crawl into bed with you because you had 'feelings'. And neither is happening."
"Smart, Leese. You always were the bright one," he smiled.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she demanded. Why did he insist upon playing these games with her? What was wrong with just being open for once?
Like she was open herself. What a hypocrite she was being.
"You were the smartest of all my victims. You were the only one to fight back that way—to try and outsmart me. You did it, Lisa. You beat me." Jackson applauded after his little speech and Lisa's green eyes showed her confusion. What was he talking about?
"I never tried to outsmart you. I was fighting for my life and my father and the Keefes. But what about you, Jack? What made you do it? Why did you lose? Were you not strong enough? Quick enough? Or did you just not care—" Lisa taunted him and he quickly put an end to it by covering her mouth with his hand.
"Let's get something straight, shall we?" he said, an evil, sadistic glint in his crystal blue eyes. "It was my job. I had no attachment to it other than wanting to save my own pathetic skin, got it? But then you, you changed everything."
Jackson's hand slipped off her mouth and he shoved both his hands in his long hair and closed his eyes for a moment. He sighed deeply before continuing, "It wasn't supposed to end this way. You were to make the phone call and then we would go our separate ways after the flight. I wasn't supposed to feel anything for you."
Lisa's heart leapt into her throat as it raced; the beating forever quickening. She was stunned. What had she done to Jackson? What had he done to her?
"I'll admit that I liked you at first, until you went psycho and threatened my father. I still liked you afterwards until we neared the end. The bathroom—I snapped then. That was the line, Jackson, and you crossed it. You did this to yourself," Lisa said quietly, trying to keep her boiling emotions out of it.
"Nice try, Lisa. You and I both know that this isn't what I wanted."
"Then what did you want? Me to roll over and do tricks? Lick your shoes? Be your dog? What the hell did you want from me, Jackson! What do you want from me!" Lisa screamed as she punched at the wounded manager in her fury, her fists weakly striking him. "What do you want?"
"Ssh, ssh, Lisa," Jackson whispered in her ear as he firmly grabbed her in a hug and her hands became wrapped in the material of his pinstriped suit jacket. Her body shook with sobs and anger. He gently rocked her and tried to calm her down. He knew that she was having problems with accepting the situation that they were both currently in. He was too.
It was extremely awkward to be comforting his former captive and it was relaxing at the same time. It felt, right and normal to have her in his arms.
He had never wanted to have feelings for her or for anyone. Great managers could not afford to have feelings for anyone. In his line of work, feelings equaled failure which in turn equaled death. He had learned to turn off his emotions years ago and had never run into any problems until Lisa Reisert came around. Now, he was conflicted and confused for the first time in years.
Part of him wanted to grab onto her and never let her go despite what she might be feeling or thinking and another part of him told him to kill her because she had wrecked his life, lost him his job and put them both on the run for their lives. He wanted to hate her, but he could not find it in him to do so.
He had been attracted to her since he started watching her but it was meeting her in real life that did Jackson Rippner in. Speaking with her up close had been the final straw. Having her smile at him—at him!—and laugh with him had released the floodgate of emotions that he had kept at bay for years.
His cold exterior and ability to forgo emotions had been the key to receiving his position in the first place. Logic had reigned supreme ever since his parents' deaths. There had been no room for emotions.
"That's what I told them—before I killed them," he told her in the airport as they sat at the Tex-Mex bar.
What if he had not gone insane and killed them in a fit of rage that day? Would things have been different? Would he still have become a manager? Would he have meet Lisa under different circumstances?
Jackson would never know and it was useless to ponder the countless 'what-if' scenarios. All that mattered was he should have never had feelings and now, now they had messed up their lives. His dumb mistake could potentially cost them both their lives. Not that Lisa had not played a major roll in landing them both in deep shit, but he was the one that crossed the line.
The lines had been blurred in the shades of grey that he viewed the world in. It had all been black and white when he was a kid, before…
"Jackson," Lisa called, breaking him out of train of thought. She had stopped crying, even though her eyes were red-rimmed and her cheeks tear-stained. She was still beautiful. But he could not tell her that.
"Hmm?"
"Why? Why was it me?"
"It's rather simple, Leese," he smirked, falling back into his comfortable, manipulative skin. "You fought back. You're my match."
"Well it doesn't matter because as soon as we're out of danger, we're going our separate ways," she insisted. Lisa Reisert could not afford to admit that she might still have feelings for him.
"Sure. I promise."
"Good."
Author's Notes:
The confusion deepens between them. Lisa's probably embarrassed about breaking down in front of him, but she's been under a lot of stress. I hope everyone likes this chapter and I'll try to have the next chapter up tomorrow.