6

Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

Chapter 223 Girl Talk

Acting on impulse, Tara called Elliot Oswald to get Scarlett's number. She didn't want to call Jax to get it because she didn't want him to think she was using that as an excuse to talk to him.

They met for dinner at a small Mexican restaurant on the outskirts of town. Scarlett waited until the waitress had deposited chips, salsa and iced teas.

"Thanks for the invite. I don't mind staying in a motel except when it comes to meals. I really need to find an apartment. What do you like to eat here?"

Tara opened the menu and looked at it. It was almost exactly as it had been ten years ago. She liked that some things didn't change.

"I haven't eaten here in ten years, but everything is good. I love their shredded beef tacos and their cheese enchiladas."

"That's what I'll get, a combination plate with one of each."

"That's what I'm getting too," Tara said, closing her menu.

The waitress came and took their orders.

"I told Jax that you and I were going to try to be friends. He was OK with that."

"I'm sure he was surprised. My past is a little embarrassing. I used to pull hair and fight a girl if she looked at Jax. I've grown up a lot."

"I think there's just something about high school that brings out the worst in everyone. I hated my high school years."

"I had this plan that I would meet you and find out that you aren't the kind of girl that would hold Jax's attention for long or I would get friendly with you and try to sabotage your relationship," Tara said, trying a new strategy, complete honesty.

"I suspected there was more to it than you suddenly wanting to be my friend. I told Jax that I thought you were back in town either because your career was in trouble or you wanted him back. I wasn't surprised when you went to see him and tried to get him back."

"We're not getting back together."

"I know," Scarlett said. "It also has nothing to do with me."

Tara nodded.

"Yeah, I got that from Jax too. It was strange that Jax suddenly had more insight about relationships than I did. I wasn't expecting that."

"Women are supposed to be the ones who do all that."

The waitress using pot holders put bubbling plates of Mexican deliciousness in front of each. She returned and refilled their iced tea glasses and left.

Tara inhaled the warm spicy scent of her dinner from the refried beans with melted cheese to the enchilada sauce. It brought back so many memories.

"Mmmm," she said. "There's just something about Mexican food. People talk about comfort food and meat loaf and mac and cheese, but give me Mexican food any day. That's comfort."

Scarlett laughed.

"That's scary because I feel the same way."

"I've been doing a lot of thinking. I thought when I left Charming I would meet a guy like Jax without the flaws. It didn't happen just bad relationships, so I decided to come back to Charming. There was an opening at the hospital in my specialty. I thought it was fate telling me to go get Jax.

"Now, I think it may have been fate telling me to come to Charming, face my past and move forward to my future. I can see now that I was in love with the Jax from the past and I don't know who he is anymore. Seeing him and hearing him say those words hurt, but I needed to try one last time. He's right though. He and I are over. We are different people."

"I'm sorry that you're hurt."

"It's good because I'm not going to carry on with this fantasy about Jax and me. I've been holding myself back. I'd really like to be friends with no ulterior motives."

"I hate the idea of us being friends and feeling like I'm hurting you by being with Jax."

"There's always pain with heartbreak. Seeing you with Jax and knowing that you two are together helps me because I am finally being forced to quit living in my fantasy world and see reality. I'm going to feel heartbreak whether or not we're friends. I'll get through it."

"If we're friends, I'm not going to tell you about my relationship with Jax."

"That's fair. I wouldn't expect you to tell me everything about the two of you. I never really had a friend in high school that I told that stuff too anyway."

"OK. Let's try it."

They ate their combination plates making small talk about the delicious food.

"Saturday, Elliot called me to check over Tristen," Tara began after she had cleaned her plate. She watched Scarlett monitoring her reaction. "She told me that you had saved her. Almost immediately she realized she'd made a mistake because she isn't supposed to mention you. Don't worry. I'm not going to say anything to anybody. I was just wondering why. If I were guessing, there's someone you don't want to know where you are."

"Doesn't every woman have a psycho ex in her past?"

Tara laughed.

"I've got one too," she admitted.

"Jax knows about my problem. He and David came up with the story about an unnamed person to help me."

"I'm glad they did that for you," Tara said. "You shouldn't save a child and then end up having a psycho ex show up to hunt you down. You had to do some fast thinking. I don't think I would have put it together in time to have saved her."

"My back injury helped out. Jax and the guys went on a roller coaster kind of ride and I can't do that, so I was walking around when I saw the clown with Tristen. I'd met her earlier and it didn't make sense for a clown to take a little child into the woods. I couldn't stop the clown. I can't walk very fast and I can't fight. Fortunately, David was close. He told me to get Jax and the guys for back-up."

"I'm sure he hated that, but Hale always tries to do the right thing. Saving a child was more important than who saved her. Now, SAMCRO and Jax are heroes," Tara said with a smile.

"I feel bad for David because he took a beating and he was brave. He knew when he went into the woods that he was outnumbered. I didn't know at the time that he wasn't armed."

"I like Hale," Tara said. "He's the guy you should fall in love with because he's really a good person, but your heart and brain just won't get in sync."

Scarlett smiled. "That's exactly it. I like the way you put it—your heart and brain won't get in sync. I do have something I want to ask you about Jax. Was he ever violent with you?"

"Has he hit you?"

"No, but since my psycho ex I'm really sensitive to abusive men."

"Jax was never abusive. He never hit me. I hit him a couple of times. I was drunk and it was stupid. Even then he just restrained me. Sometimes we had screaming fights. He would hit things but never me. When I told him about Bela's death and that whole thing, he punched a wall. I knew he was going to do it so I pointed to an interior wall so he wouldn't mess up his hand when he punched it."

"Funny how ten years later that didn't change."

"Jax is a violent person. That's the MC life, but not with girls. He could have changed, but it would surprise me."

"You passed my test. I was wondering if you would lie to me about that hoping I'd dump him. I don't see Jax as violent. I've pushed him a bit to test him and he's really calm and controlled with me."

"I don't blame you for testing me. I'd be suspicious too."

"Last night he came to my motel room after a clubhouse celebration with a prospect who was driving him. He fell face down on my bed. The guy propped Jax on his side. I was afraid he'd vomit and choke. While he was asleep or passed out, I decorated his abs a bit."

"I have to say it—Jax is actually hotter now than back in my day. He's much more cut and chiseled. What did you put on him?"

"A sailboat and some flowers."

They laughed together.

"You may be facing some payback," Tara warned.

They walked out together. Tara gasped when she saw a man in a car.

"What's wrong?"

"That guy looked like my psycho ex."

"Do you have a gun?"

"Yeah."

Scarlett grabbed her keys and removed a small yellow canister from her key chain.

"Here, take this," she said handing Tara the slim canister. "It's pepper spray. Spray it in the eyes, nose and mouth in an "S" or "Z" pattern. It's for those times when you don't have your gun."

Tara took the canister, her fingers closing tightly around it.

"Are you going to be OK?"

"I'll be fine. I was probably wrong about the guy. I'm sure I'll be fine."

The words sounded hollow and unconvincing to Tara. She didn't believe she was going to be fine. If she had seen Kohn, he was coming for her and not in a romantic sweep her off her feet kind of way.

"****************************"

What punishment does Jax have in mind for Scarlett and who wouldn't want some?