The next few weeks seemed to fly by. The morning after his safe return, James found he had pulled his back a little more than he realized. Juliet spent the weekend nursing him. He was not a good patient. The only time he actually listened to her medical advice without complaining was when she made him sit still for a back massage. When the following week rolled around he hobbled into work and was met by Horace. Apparently the "incident" as they were now calling it meant that the community would go under a lockdown until they cleared all sectors. James tried to point out that they had security cameras to do that, but Horace was not convinced. Now that Juliet had explained what the Hostiles might be up to he agreed to do whatever it takes…just so long as he meant he didn't have to go out in the jungle with his back like it was.
The following week he was feeling better, but Horace was still breathing down their necks. They had already cleared a record number of areas, but that wasn't enough for the little man. So while James was stuck at work 24/7, Juliet had plenty of time to herself. She was back to her morning "me time" and would catch up with Amy in the day. Unfortunately that still meant she spent her nights alone, waiting and hoping he might show up to find her by the water. One night she decided to accept an invitation from Amy and came back late to find he was waiting for her in the living room.
"You're past curfew young lady."
"That's funny. I'm pretty sure you've been past your curfew for two weeks now."
"Well I'm home tonight and I've been waiting all night for you."
She smiled at his tantrum, before announcing, "I'm sorry James. I'm tired. I'm gonna head to bed."
"What am I supposed to do," he whined.
"It looks like you're already reading. Why don't you do that?," she said incredulously.
She couldn't believe he was pitching a fit about her having one night out when she had been left alone for going on two weeks. She understood he was busy, but he seemed like he was purposely avoiding her. She decided he must have been annoyed by her being so overly protective and figured giving him space in return might be best. She just thought he might miss her a little. Instead he seemed to stay out even more. And now he's home one night and bored and expects her to entertain him? Let him figure it out.
"Wait!," he called after her.
She popped her head back around the corner.
"Yes James?"
"Are you mad at me?"
She wasn't expecting this question. Was she mad at him? Maybe. She didn't know the answer. So instead she replied with, "Goodnight James."
He sat completely confused by this interaction. Not only that, but his back hurt again. He tossed his book down and headed for bed.
The next week was even worse. He had started coming home earlier, but things were now awkward between them. They still spent nights reading together, but he kept glancing up to see if she was paying him any attention. And she did the same. If it hadn't been for the sub that came in the next day, this might have gone on for another week. Instead James woke up to find a package with his name on it sitting on the front porch. He smiled when he saw it because he knew it was exactly what he needed…a peace offering. He grabbed the unopened copy of Carrie and waltzed back into the kitchen to wait for her to wake up.
When she came into the kitchen he was waiting expectantly with a big smile on his face. She scrunched her brow trying to figure him out. Then she saw he had something in his hand as she got closer. He pushed a cup of coffee towards her and held out his hand with the package.
"Is that for me?," she asked, knowing full well it was.
"Hmm, mmm," he hummed.
She took it while sitting down to drink the coffee. "You want me to open it?"
"Only if you want to read your favorite book," he grinned, revealing the surprise.
He watched her face light up as she looked at the package again. She tore it open like a kid on Christmas morning. "You didn't!"
"I sure did. And there should be two in there. One for me and one for you."
Her face was gleaming, "we can start a book club with this many copies!"
"Only if there's snacks," he teased.
She pulled the two hardcovers out, handing one to him and holding the other to her chest.
Her eyes gleamed with happy tears as she said, "Thank you so much! I cannot wait to read this…or for you to read it!"
He was glad she was still including him in the reading plans. He studied her face and returned the smile before asking, "So you gonna tell me why you've been mad at me?"
She looked up from flipping through the book, taken aback by his question.
"What?"
She was playing dumb. She knew she was partly to blame for the last week. He gave her a look that said she wasn't fooling him.
"I don't know. I…you pissed me off," she said honestly.
"Why?," he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"I don't know. Maybe it's not fair of me to be mad. After you left me here to worry about you out at the Hydra, you left me in the dark again for another two weeks…I just…"
Now that she was saying it, she thought it did sound unfair. It was his job afterall.
"I was working!"
"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't say it was rationale."
He sighed. He thought about how she looked that night he had come back from the hydra. He had tried to keep all the Hostile shop talk from her, but now he realized that just made her worry more.
"Nah, I guess you're right. I should have at least checked in."
"And you can't just expect me to entertain you when you're bored," she added, getting it all out on the table.
He laughed at her this time. "When did I ask you to entertain me?"
"The other night when I came home late. I'm allowed to have other friends you know!"
He looked at her curiously this time. The word 'friends' stuck in his mind. Was that all this was to her?
"Alright then. I won't ask you to entertain me. Can we at least be on speaking terms again? It's driving me crazy not to talk to you."
She smiled, finding this conversation very refreshing. "Only if we can agree to be honest with each other from now on."
"Deal!"
"Plus, we have to be on speaking terms if we're going to discuss this book."
The next two weeks were some of the best they had spent together since arriving in 1974. They read the book and talked about it endlessly through the night. He hadn't read the book since he was in high school. As a teenager, the main character had always seemed to be a weird scary villain he didn't quite understand. Reading it now he saw her in a totally different light. He found himself feeling immense empathy for the character, even after she went on a mass killing spree. After reading it, he decided this was the second time he had been wrong about someone.
Finally, they resumed their normal evening routine and he suddenly made a habit of making her breakfast before work each morning. The only problem with all this was he was not entirely sure she didn't just see him as a big brother. Some nights he'd try to catch her eye while reading, but she'd be too engrossed in her book to notice. He had on more than one occasion tried an innuendo or two out on her, only for her to brush it off and walk ahead of him on the beach. It was driving him mad.
He was lost in thought about the situation one day as he was searching another sector for hostiles. He was so preoccupied, he didn't notice the tell-tale signs of someone watching him until it was too late. Richard Alpert stepped out of the jungle, right in his path. Jim pulled his gun as quick as he could, but Richard pointed in a couple directions to signal that he wasn't alone.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Jim, lowered the gun, but kept his finger next to the trigger.
"We're not here to fight. Just to make a deal."
The radio in his pocket came to life. "Miles to Lafleur, over."
Richard looked at the radio and dared him to touch it.
"Look Mr. Lafleur. We just want to talk. It won't take long."
"Alright talk." He was getting annoyed with this.
"You stole one of our men recently."
"We didn't steal him. He was caught stealing from us."
"Alright, well. The reason he was here. He didn't finish his business."
"I should say not."
"We need you to help us finish it."
"Why the hell would I do that?"
"Cause you said it yourself, you're not part of the Dharma Initiative. What we're asking for…it's hardly anything at all. It could be very profitable for you if you help us get what we need. One simple thing and you could leave here a wealthy man. No strings attached."
"I ain't trying to leave."
"Look Mr. LaFleur. All we need is the passcode to the station you call the Tempest. You could be gone on the sub before they ever find out who gave it to us."
Jim sighed in frustration. In a previous life this offer might have been one worth taking. Right now though he was pissed. He didn't want to leave the island and be wealthy. There was only one thing he could think of that he wanted right now and he was pretty sure Richard Alpert could do nothing to help him out with that. On the other hand maybe he should thank him for bringing her here in the first place. At least now he knew she was right, they were trying to kill everyone with that damned station.
He finally spat out his reply, "Look Mr. Alpert, I'm not interested in your offer. Maybe one day you'll find a spineless sap who'll take you up on it, but right now you're on my terf and I've got every right to shoot you all."
"Oh I doubt you'd get us all before we killed you."
James knew Richard probably wasn't going to die, but it didn't mean he couldn't feel pain.
"Well, how about you leave so we don't have to find out how many of you I can get before I do," he threatened, pretending to be crazy enough to do it.
"Alright fine. If you ever change your mind you know where to find us."
"Sure thing."
Richard quietly stepped back into the jungle leaving James to recover from the shock of the encounter. He picked up his walkie to finally answer Miles.
"This is LaFleur."
"Jim, where you been man?"
"I was taking a leak. What is it?"
"We thought we saw a hostile on one of the security cameras. It looks like it was out where you are. Did you see anything?"
James decided he didn't have time to deal with this. "All clear here," he lied.
"Alright, well when you get back I think Juliet was looking for you."
"Okay, I'm heading back now."
He checked his surroundings one last time to be sure they were really gone and headed back home. He'd have to deal with any security footage later. Right now he needed to decide whether to tell Juliet or not. It was a long ride back and so by the time he arrived he knew he had to tell her. They had agreed to be honest with each other. And as much as he didn't want to worry her, he knew if he didn't tell her she'd be pissed. He told her that night out on the dock. She took the news better than expected. He couldn't be sure, but she almost looked proud when he told her.
"So maybe that's why they recruit Ben one day," she posited.
"Yeah, let's hope that's how long they have to wait until one of these Dharma folks turns again."
"Well, promise me we'll be gone from here by then."
"You got it."
The way she smiled at him made his stomach leap. He was glad he told her. It felt good to be honest. He wondered what she would do if he was honest about one other thing he wasn't telling her. He looked away, deciding it would have to wait.
