Chapter 11: After All This Time
Éire had noticed that her father and Gemma had kept her away from the Clubhouse since the weekend so, with that, she knew Jax had returned from Reno. Her father had kept her locked up since Friday but it was now Wednesday and she was going crazy. She rang Gemma to ask where she was. Gemma confirmed that she was at TM working and Éire asked was her dad there. With the knowledge that he wouldn't be there until evening, Éire informed Gemma that she was on her way over, hanging up before she could protest.
Gemma stood up in her office, lifting the shutters on the window. She could see Jax and Opie in the lot smoking a cigarette. Gemma looked down at the agenda and saw there was a pick-up scheduled for that afternoon. Bolting out the door, she scurried over to her son and Opie;
'Repo, Lodi, now.'
They both looked at Gemma, confused;
'I thought that was for this afternoon Mom?'
'Now, Jackson, go, both of you.'
Jax and Opie got the truck ready to go while Gemma stood watching from the office door. Opie turned around just before getting in the truck, giving Gemma a knowing look.
Meanwhile, Éire had gotten changed into a string top and a pair of denim shorts. She tied her hair in a bun and started walking to TM. She was nearly at the lot when she noticed a police officer ahead giving someone a ticket. As Éire got closer and the officer, who was leaning in the window in deep conversation with the poor guy, could hear her footsteps, he turned his head briefly and looked back at the guy again. However, he then stopped what he was saying to the guy and stood up straight to look at the figure again. Éire Morrow. He sent the guy on his way and walked toward her. Éire was smiling mischievously;
'Officer Hale.'
By this stage Éire had stopped a few metres from Hale;
'Éire Morrow… And what do the townspeople of Charming owe the pleasure?'
'Oh David, the sarcasm has never left you.'
Hale smiled and looked down at the ground and then looked back at Éire sincerely;
'It's good to see you home Éire. I spent a couple of years away from home. I know what it's like.'
Éire moved to sidestep Hale and stand on the opposite side of where she was previously standing;
'And thankfully you did David because now you can keep the good people of Charming safe from the bad guys.'
Éire winked at Hale and he suppressed a laugh;
'I hope you plan on staying out of trouble Éire.'
Éire began walking backwards. Still facing Hale she replied;
'Oh, you know me David.'
And with that, Éire swung around and headed for TM leaving Hale standing in the same spot shaking his head and laughing.
It seemed Hale, despite the sarcasm, was happy to see her. If Hale was true to himself, he'd admit that he had a soft spot for Éire. He had turned a blind eye more times than he'd like to admit when it came to Éire Morrow and her craziness. He stood there staring at the girl as she strolled in the direction of TM, hoping that the stint away from Charming had set her straight. He was older now and he was a better cop. He wouldn't be turning a blind eye again.
Jax and Opie pulled out of the lot and were driving down the road. Opie was just about to ask Jax if he knew why Gemma was so uptight about the pick-up. Turning to ask the question, Opie noticed that Jax's eyes were fixated on something, his brow furrowing. Opie followed Jax's gaze, landing on the 5-foot-6 girl who was standing on the footpath. She didn't notice them driving past as she was deep in conversation with Officer Hale. Oh, he won't like that, concurred Opie.
After they passed, Jax looked back in the mirror. Opie had recognised that it was Éire but Jax was still unsure. She looked different, her hair was darker and she looked older. Jax continued to look in his mirror until the figure was barely recognisable. After a few minutes he asked his best friend;
'Was that ?'
He slowly turned to Opie to get his response to which Opie slightly nodded his head, giving a tight smile. Jax had nothing further to say to Opie and remained quiet. This wasn't unnoticed by his best friend;
'How are you dealing with all that shit brother?'
Jax did not vocally respond to Opie, just sullenly nodded his head. He turned his head to look out the window. That was Éire. In Charming. After all this time.
Opie and Jax completed the pick-up. However, Opie was well aware of Jax's shitty mood since they had seen Éire. On the drive back, he decided to try and get his friend to open up about the situation;
'You know your Mom sent us out here because Éire was on her way over, right?'
Jax, with his hand on the steering wheel, looked at Opie. His tongue was pushed against his cheek and he raised his eyebrows, nodding his head, to show that he knew. He was well aware of his mother's hidden agenda as soon as he saw Éire near Teller-Morrow. Considering the simply reply he got, Opie decided to leave the conversation, not wanting to push any more of Jax's buttons.
However, it only took Jax a few minutes to decide that this was the time to vent;
'I don't know what they expect, Opie man, me and the girl used to live in the same fucking house, we saw each other every day. Yet, now she's back, they think they can keep us from bumping into each other? In Charming? Their just avoiding the fucking inevitable man. She's been back five fucking minutes and Hale's already sniffed her out!'
Opie smirked. He knew Jax would be pissed about the Hale thing. It had bothered him before, how lenient Hale was when it came to Éire and the reasons for this. Opie decided against acknowledging the Hale thing for fear of Jax losing it and instead asked;
'Have you spoken to Clay about it?'
'Yeah,' scoffed Jax, 'told me to keep my fucking hands off her.'
Opie didn't reply to this but instead looked at Jax with his eyebrows raised, questioningly;
'Opie, man, you know I ain't fucking stupid.'
'I didn't think you were stupid nineteen months ago either Jax.'
Jax clenched his jaw and pressed on the gas harder. The sooner he got out of this truck and out of his own head the better.
