Ch. 2

Hyde: " Tom, I told you to never file Abba under the same category as Zeppelin that just isn't right man, I think it might be against the law!" he was sarcastic and serious all at the same time.

Tom: " I'm sorry Mr. Barnett, it won't happen again! Please don't fire me!" Tom said with a huge scared look on his face.

Hyde didn't want to fire him, he knew that this kind of mistake would occur. That's what he gets for hiring teenagers!

Hyde: " It's alright, Tom, and how many times do I have to tell you to call me Hyde! Mr. Barnett is too much of an office name, never call me that!" he now yelled at Tom.

Tom: " Sorry Mr. Hyde, I mean Hyde." He said shakily. " I will fix the records."

Hyde: " Just don't let it happen again" You can go ahead and go home, I'll fix the records." Hyde told Tom as he grabbed the Abba records from his hands. " I've got to lock up the store early anyway, I got some place to be!" he said as he filled the record in the correct location.

If it were up to him, he wouldn't even carry Abba records in his stores! He hated them. Just then, he remembered how Kelso's girlfriend Jackie had loved Abba! He hated them, not to mention her! Hyde finished refilling the albums and locked up the store and headed home.

(several hours later, about 10:30 p.m. Jackie has just arrived outside of the Apartment building. It is a nice, fairly large high-rise building. She looks at her letter from her agent. Her condo should be on the top floor, one of two condos located on that floor. The other was already occupied (by Hyde) She would have preferred to have the whole floor to herself, but she was lucky enough to even get this condo. Anyway' Jackie goes up to her condo and sees someone quite familiar).

Jackie: " man it sure is good to finally be here!" she said to herself as she rummaged in her carryon for the key her agent had given her. She finally found the key and unlocked the door. The condo was glorious. Very crisp, and classy. The decor was very nice, and chic. She decided to draw a bath and then go to sleep. She had plenty of time to unpack in the morning. She also decided it would be best to go shopping for a whole-new wardrobe.

Meanwhile, across the hall….

Hyde had gotten home about twenty minutes ago. He had gone to dinner with one of his half sister Angie's friends.

Hyde: " That's the last time I let Angie talk me into taking one of her friends out!" he vowed aloud. The dinner had been terrible. All the girl did was talk about philosophy and how wonderful the government was. Which Hyde was totally unprepared for. He ended up leaving early before he got into a shouting match in the restaurant.

Now, as he sat down on the couch after a hot shower, he grabbed the newspaper from the end table. He quickly put the paper down upon hearing loud music coming from across the hall. It was Zeppelin, The Song Remains the Same, one of his favorites. " Hmm must be the new neighbor. I didn't know they would be in already" wonder that it is?" Man, now he was really curious to see who was living across the hall from him. Maybe he would introduce himself tomorrow.

Back at Jackie's"

Jackie: " Oh crap! I forgot to call Kitty to tell her I made it. I better call right now before I forget again." she said with a rush over to the phone. When she picked it up she realized that she hadn't any service yet. " damn it! Now what. Ooh maybe the person next door has a phone, I saw lights on in there when I was outside. I'll just go over and ask if I can borrow it. It will be the perfect time to introduce myself too." She said. Jackie quickly gathered her robe on and tied it tight around her waist. Her hair was still wet, tendrils lightly dripping and curly around her face. She walked out into the hall and over to the door across from her. She knocked on the door. No one came so she knocked again. Just as she was about to turn to go back inside, she heard a voice" "I'm coming! give me a damn second!" It was a man's voice, a very decent sounding man's voice. He was a little rude though. "Maybe he was asleep, oh crap, what if I woke him up." Jackie thought to herself.

Jackie: "Um, I'm sorry, I'll just go home." She called from outside of the door.

Just then Hyde opened the door. As soon as it opened and the girl that stood outside of his door came into full view, he froze immediately. This looked like Jackie Burkhardt, but what the hell would she be doing in New York!"

Jackie: "Steven Hyde, Is that you?" She asked, surprised, but breath taken by how ruggedly handsome he had become. He had a full beard and mustache and his blue eyes were in full view, not to mention his chest. He stood in that doorway with nothing but a pair of jeans on.

Hyde: "Yeah, do I know you?" He knew who she was; he just wanted to make it look like he didn't really know her. He tried to pay as little attention to her when he was still in Point Place as possible. When Kelso first brought Jackie to the Forman's basement, he was immediately drawn in by her beauty. He found himself burning her every chance he got. It was sort of the more adult way of flirting. Like when they were in elementary school and the boys would chase the girls that they liked around school or be their personal bullies. That's what he had done to Jackie. Now that he thought about it, he was sure Donna or Eric probably knew he had been slightly attracted to her then, but he would have never told them he was.

Jackie: "oh, I see you are still a jerk, it's me Jackie Burkhardt, the most beautiful girl in Point Place High. I was with your friend Michael Kelso when you two were juniors and I was a sophomore, don't you remember me" " she was half angry with the fact that he didn't seem to remember her and half hurt.

Hyde: "Na, I remember you, you were always loud and annoying! You seem a little quieter now." he said jokingly, he figured if he acted a little like the way he did when they were in Point Place, this would not be so awkward for him.

Jackie: "Oh, it is kind of late, did I wake you up or anything? I'm really sorry if I did, it's just that my phone is not working yet and I promised Mr. Forman that I would call Kitty as soon as I got to my new house and I had forgot so can I please use your phone?" she stopped to catch her breath, she had just started blabbing. It must have been his eyes. She had made the mistake of looking right into those sapphires as he was talking to her a few minutes ago, that did her in. She just wanted to hurry up and use the phone and then get the hell back to her place. She looked down and realized she was only wearing her robe and her hair and make-up were a mess. What the hell was she thinking coming over here looking like hell!

Hyde: "Oh, sure, yeah, come on in. The phone's right there, next to the couch." he moved aside so Jackie could come in. He pointed over to the table next to the couch where the phone was.

Jackie dialed the Forman's number and was connected with Kitty shortly after.

"Yes, Mrs. Forman, I am perfectly fine here, everything is beautiful. no, no, I will call you as soon as my phone gets turned on, okay, good night."

Jackie returned the phone to its cradle and quietly turned around to face Hyde. She suddenly felt embarrassed for her appearance and shy because of the sight of his bare chest. Jackie thought to herself, "Wow, look at his body, it is so HOT! I haven't seen a man so physically fit before, in my life! And that beard, I normally wouldn't think that was hot, but that just looks so sexy on him and his eyes, OH crap, he is looking at me!"

Jackie was snapped out of her daze by the realization that Hyde had been staring at her, for how long, she did not know. He had busted her gazing at him, this was obvious by the smirk he had on his face.

Hyde: "so, would you like something to drink, a beer, coffee, waterman, what the hell, she probably wouldn't drink beer, he thought to himself. Why did she have to look so good? She looked ten times better than he had remembered. She had grown into a beautiful young woman.

Jackie: "Actually, I really should get home, plus I'm not even dressed for conversation so I'll just take a rain-check on that drink." she was panicked now. She wanted to stay and have that drink, but she didn't want to sit there on his couch with nothing but a bathrobe on. The sexual tension she was feeling was already fierce enough.

Hyde: "Well, then go home real quick and change. Besides, it's early! You can't be going to sleep already!" for some reason, he didn't want her to go home yet. He wanted to catch up with her on everything that has gone on back home over the past three years. He kind of knew the major events already. Red and Kitty kept in touch with him constantly. Kitty was always letting him know what was happening between his friends. The major break-up between Jackie and Kelso, Kelso had cheated on Jackie with Laurie. Or the time when Eric and Donna broke up and she was dating Kasey Kelso! That was a pretty dumb move on Donna's part. Of course, now, she was back with Eric and they were moving to Madison to start college. Now, Jackie, he wasn't sure why Jackie was here. He kind of remembered Kitty mentioning something about Jackie moving to New York during his last conversation with her. He never thought they would run into each other in such a big place, but with his luck, she had to live right across the hall. Now, he had just told her to go home and change and then come back over so they could catch up on things. Was this really a good idea' I mean come on; she looks really hot, really, really HOT! Not at all like he had remembered.

Jackie: " Well, I guess I could use a little company on my first night in New York. I don't know anyone and it is really quiet at my place. I'll go get something on and be back over shortly." she stated as she got up and walked towards the door. " thanks for letting me use the phone! She paused shortly, " see you in a while." She walked out and across the hall. Hyde watched her disappear into her apartment, closing the door behind her.

About an hour passed before Hyde heard a soft knock on his door. He got up and opened it to find Jackie standing there in a pair of jean shorts and a soft blue tank top. Her hair was dry and left down, around her shoulders. She had a light application of make-up on her face, nothing too dramatic, besides, it was already about midnight.

Hyde: " hey, come on in. You look nice. Here sit down and I'll get you a?" he was about to ask her what she wanted when she answered for him.

Jackie: " a beer will be good, I could really relax after all of the stress I've been under." she sat on his couch and grabbed one of the huge pillows and placed it on her lap.

Hyde went to the fridge and grabbed two beers out. He removed the caps and walked over to the couch. He handed Jackie one of the beers and then sat down next to her on the couch. He could tell she was ready to talk, about what, he wasn't too sure.

Hyde: " so, what brings you to New York?" he really wanted to know the answer to this question first.

Jackie: " OH, actually, I am launching my mega modeling career here. I have already done a few make-up commercials and magazine shoots, but now that I graduated high school, I can really put all of my focus into modeling." she was so excited.

Hyde: " wow, a model, huh? That sounds pretty cool" he thought it was kind of typical of her type. Given the fact that that was all she talked about when he was in Point Place.

Jackie: " so, what have you been up to, You know, since you left Point Place three years ago" Why did you leave? What have you done?" she had so many questions to ask him. She was curious as to how he lived his life.

Hyde: " Well, I left Point Place because I knew that would be my only opportunity to get the hell out of that Hell Hole. Besides, I am running a successful business now. Last year, I met my real dad with the help of Red and Kitty. Turns out he was a major business man. He owns a chain of record stores all over the U.S. He turned four of them over to me, all of the stores in the New York area. I've been mainly running the one in Manhattan. It's bad ass!" he seemed really happy as he spoke of the things that he had been through while in New York.

Jackie: " Wow that sounds, great! You seem really happy!" he really did seem happy, he also seemed less bitter, not quite the same Hyde that she remembered from back home. " So what are you doing home on a Friday night anyway. The Steven Hyde I remember would have been out with some girl!" she was trying to dig for a reason as to why he was home.

Hyde: " Actually, I was out with this really lame girl. She totally ticked me off with her political crap so I left." he cringed just thinking about earlier. But now, this situation wasn't so bad. He had an old 'friend" in his apartment. Not that he and Jackie were ever really friends, cause they weren't. But it sure was nice to have someone from back home around him. He really missed Point Place.

He stared at her as she talked about a couple of guys she had dated after Michael. His eyes began to wonder over her body. He noticed that at some point during their conversation that she had removed the pillow from her lap and she was facing him. He looked down her body and noticed that she hadn't been wearing a bra. The sight of her nipples through her top flung him back into reality.

Jackie: " Steven! Steven! Are you listening to me?" she had to shout in order to grab his attention.

Hyde: " What, yeah, what did you say?" he was stunned. She looked so hot, he could barely breath.

Jackie: " Where is your bathroom?" she asked.

Hyde: " Oh right there." he pointed past the kitchen to the first door on the left.

Jackie got up slowly and sauntered past him to the bathroom. She opened the door and stepped inside.

Jackie: " Oh and I'll take another beer, please." she said as she closed the door.