Author's Note: trudes that review honestly sounded like its meant for this chapter. So I'm interested to know what youll say for this chapter. And you can go ahead and message me bout a job for jackson.
If i have any other followers then i changed the title to Under Lock and Key. I think it really fits what i have planned.
Also i just want yall to know my phone doesnt do italics or bold so if something is in caps its supposed to be one of those two and if it has slashes around it then its a thought that needs to be italics
song for this chapter is I Hate Everything About You by Three Days Grace. I kept hearing this song and wanting to use it cause it fits Jackson and Lisa so well so i used the song.
The next morning Lisa woke up to her alarm beeping. She slammed her hand on the snooze button, just wanting it to shut up. Before she could fall asleep again she forced herself upright. She glanced to her left to see Blake still asleep. Lisa slipped out of bed and into the bathroom. She got dressed, fixed her hair and makeup using as little light as possible. She'd gotten used to having to get ready for work in the dark on days that Blake wasn't up yet. Once dressed she walked down the hall, to the kitchen.
She started some coffee while fixing some eggs for herself. She ate in silence, sipping her coffee. Mornings like this gave Lisa a lot of time to think, sometimes too much. Sometimes she'd be thinking about work, or family, maybe a time when she and Cynthia could go out for a bit. This morning her thoughts were on the breakout. Blake had said they could easily catch the people who'd escaped. But what if he'd been saying that so she wouldn't freak out? He had admitted he saw Jackson but said Gunther dealt with him. That meant Jackson was trying to get out, but for what reason? Lisa sighed and set her fork on the plate. I'm thinking into this way too much. Standing from her place at the table she grabbed her dishes and took them to the kitchen.
She walked out to the garage and climbed into her saturn. Starting it up she flipped on the radio. The drive to the hotel was fine until the radio played "Keep Me In Mind". She hadn't heard it in a long time, five years actually. She quickly changed the radio station to something else but the song had already brought back memories she'd buried. The last time she'd heard the song was also the last time she'd seen Jackson. She'd tried to avoid it but all the memories were flooding back. The flight, him chasing her to her dad's home, the breakup, every bad thing that happened between them. But also the good, every date, kiss and happy moment spent together. When she pulled into a parking space at the hotel she banged her head on the steering wheel. For a minute she just sat there, letting the memories of Jackson run rampant. With a sigh Lisa sat up and glanced at her watch. 6:45. Lisa muttered a curse word under her breath before rushing inside. She clocked in and gave Cynthia a small smile as she rushed past. When she got to the conference room she sighed, everyone else was already in there. She quickly composed herself then walked in.
Jackson looked up from his newspaper, watching Lisa as she rushed through the lobby. He'd gotten there early, not sure when she'd be in. Apparently today 6:46 is late, judging by her fast movements. He noted that she didn't even stop to say hello to Cynthia. He'd be waiting around in the lobby for as long as Lisa was here. Maybe he'd drop her a note. He shook his head, dismissing the thought. No, its too soon. He pulled the paper back in front of his face. He couldn't help but wonder what made her late. She's normally on time for everything. It was too early to blame her lateness on traffic and sleeping through an alarm wouldn't be an acceptable excuse.
Quite some time later he saw Lisa come back into the lobby. She greeted her friend appropriately now and then got to work. He had to smile, her job often times reminds him of his own job. They're both managers. Of much different things but they both had others in their control with jobs to do. He spent several minutes watching Lisa interact with the rest of the hotel staff before realizing that he was staring and pulled the newspaper in front of his face again. He continued to watch her, but without staring after that. It wasn't until he heard her behind him talking to Cynthia that he starting paying explicit attention to her.
"I'm worried Cynthia, John wouldn't give me a straight answer." Jackson smiled at the sound of her voice, but didn't dare turn to see her face.
He heard a sympathetic sound from Cynthia "I'm sure it's fine Lisa."
'I don't know, John normally gives me straight answers. He should have out right said 'don't worry Leese, Jackson's locked up' but he didn't." Jackson smirked to himself that he still had such a strong impact on her. He'd been out of her life for five years and she's still scared of him. The only thing he wasn't liking was the continual mention of Blake. Lisa belongs to Jackson, not to Blake.
"Lisa you're over thinking this. He was probably just tired and didn't want to go into detail. You've been married for a year, you shouldn't be doubting him." Jackson's smirk fell. She'd been with the cop for a year? In his opinion that was too long.
"I'm not doubting him I'm just...I'm worried." Lisa said.
"Come on, we haven't seen any sign that you even have a reason to be worried." Cynthia said. Jackson thought about leaving a note again. Hmm maybe it's not too soon to leave a note.
"I know, I shouldn't even care. After five years there's no reason Jackson would even still care about me." she said, sitting down on a chair.
Jackson heard Cynthia take the seat next to her "He chased you and tried to kill you, its understandable that you're scared. Just don't let that consume you okay? I saw you after you broke up with him and you were devastated. Please don't let emotion do that to you okay? John needs you, I need you."
Jackson could just imagine the encouraging smile on the ginger's face.
Lisa nodded "Alright. I'll try, for you."
"Good, cause we need to get back to work." Cynthia said.
Both women stood and walked off. Jackson smirked and watched as Lisa walked up to the front desk. She was trying to keep calm for Cynthia, not Blake. Sounds like Blake didn't mention our encounter and she's not doing this for him. I can have some fun with this.
The rest of the day was slow, Lisa didn't get off until 7pm. At that point Jackson pulled out a note and wrote on it "I still care Leese." and gave to a woman at the desk with the request to give it to Lisa in the morning. He walked out to the parking lot and climbed into a silver Beamer. He drove through town, headed to Lisa's place. Upon arrival he found that Lisa hadn't gone home. So, after five and a half years you're finally coming out of your shell are you? He wondered. He ran through his brain, trying to think where she might have gone. The only places that came to mind were her dad's place and the cafe. Putting his car in gear he drove off, headed for her dad's place. When he arrived and saw the saturn sitting outside he parked down the road a few houses. Not so out of your shell then. He mentally remarked to himself.
Lisa sat down on a couch in her dad's living room. Joe walked in with two cups of coffee "Here you go honey." He said, handing her one cup.
She smiled and took the cup. "Thanks."
Joe sat down across from her. "So what did you want to talk about?" He asked.
Lisa sighed and took a sip of her coffee. Over the past five years Lisa had stopped pretending to be fine around her dad when she's not. "There was a break out at the confinement center that Jackson is supposed to be at. I asked John about it last night but he wouldn't give me a straight answer."
Joe frowned "Do you think Jackson got out?" He asked.
Lisa shrugged "I don't know. I'm just scared John might have lied to protect me."
"I don't think he'd do that."
Lisa groaned and set down her coffee. "You sound like Cynthia! No one expects he would because he's the good cop, but what if he's trying to protect me, but in the wrong way?"
"Lisa I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." He said apologetically.
Lisa sighed "I know you didn't. I've just been stressed all day cause I can't get my brain off Jackson and the hotel is having staffing problems and there's a lot going on right now."
Joe reached over and put a hand over her's. "I know. Why don't you just stay here and relax for a while okay?" Lisa nodded at him, "Alright. I'm going to run to the store and get some stuff. I'll be back soon okay?"
Again Lisa nodded. "Alright. I'll see you when you get back."
Joe smiled and said "Alright see you later." As he walked off.
Lisa sighed and grabbed the tv remote and turned it on. She flicked channels in an attempt to find something to watch but found herself distracted by thoughts of Jackson. Giving up on tv she left it on a random news channel. She let her thoughts wander, but they never strayed from Jackson. Every thought about how badly he'd treated her, every reason she had to hate him. All the nights she'd woken from nightmares of the red eye flight. Every tear she's shed, scared of him turning a cold shoulder to her.
For a moment she actually paid attention to the tv, they were talking about the breakout and gave a list of people who'd escaped. Her heart skipped a beat when Jackson's picture showed up on screen. In that moment she was mixed with joy and fear. Fear that he would try to come after Blake, but joy that he might be looking for her.