Chapter 2 – The Past is Revealed

Previously…

Jack got to his check-in for his flight and sat down, as he had about a 10 minute wait until he could board. All he could think about was Elizabeth. Her beauty, her smile, her scent of lavender, how he didn't want to let her go. The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't stop thinking about her. He hadn't seen her in all those years and seeing her brought back memories that he had forgotten. Memories that he enjoyed.

Then he decided. He needed to find her and let her know how he felt. They had let each other go before in years past and he wasn't going to make the same decision again.

Jack took off running back from where he came, scanning the lines at each check-in for anything that said London on the sign. Running as fast as he could without running into anyone, he finally arrived at the gate marked London. He ran up to the check-in counter and asked if it had boarded yet. His heart sunk as the lady typed on a few keys and informed Jack that the plane had already boarded and was just getting ready for takeoff. Jack had to think quickly. How could he stop the plane and tell Elizabeth how he felt if it has already boarded for takeoff?

Then he realized. He grabbed his badge out of his carryon and flashed it in front of the lady. Being Chief of Police in the big city had its advantages and this was one of them. The lady quickly grabbed the radio and informed the captain to hold off on takeoff, as there was a police officer here at the check-in counter that needed to board.

Jack ran down the hallway to the entrance to the plane where the passengers boarded, waiting for the door to open. The door slowly opened and he made his way on the plane, scanning over the passengers looking for her.

A flight attendant came over to him, asking why he had stopped the plane from taking off, as the captain was wanting to take off as soon as possible to avoid any disruptions and to avoid any angry passengers. Jack informed the flight attendant that he was looking for a certain passenger, but that he didn't see her on the plane.

"Let me pull up the boarding database and see where she is sitting. Do you have her name?"

"Yes, it's Elizabeth Thatcher." Jack waited for what seemed like eternity before the flight attendant smiled and informed him that she was sitting in first class. The flight attendant showed him to first class and in front of him a few seats, there she sat.

He took a deep breath and thanked the flight attendant for helping him. He took a few strides ahead of him and came to the back of the chair that she was sitting in. She was reading a magazine and unaware of him standing behind him. But that would change soon.

"Elizabeth…"

"Jack! Wha…." Elizabeth spoke before Jack grabbed her and took her in a deep kiss. A kiss with such passion that Elizabeth felt like she was floating. A kiss that she didn't want to dare end.

A few seconds went by and Jack broke the hold.

Elizabeth, beaming from ear to ear, cleared her throat.

"Jack… What are you doing here? I thought you had a plane to board?"

Jack smiled and proceeded. "Elizabeth, as I was waiting for my plane, I did some thinking. Honestly, since I saw you, I couldn't stop thinking about you and leaving you just now was the hardest thing that I did, twice. I know a lot of years have passed between us, but we have something here." Jack motioned his hand back and forth between them and continued. "I don't want to let you slip away again from me. I want to give us another chance. And if it doesn't work out between us, then I will be gone out of your life forever. What do you say?"

Elizabeth stood shocked in front of him, unsure of what to say. Seconds ticked by and it seemed like eternity to Jack. She took a deep breath and smiled.

"Jack, I agree wholeheartedly. Seeing you earlier today after all those years brought back memories that I had forgotten, and honestly, that I wished I didn't have to forget. I'm not sure what happened between us, but like you, I want to give it another chance."

Jack pulled her in for a hug and a quick kiss before they were both interrupted by the flight attendant that had helped Jack earlier.

The flight attendant cleared her throat, clearly annoyed at the young couple in front of her. "Excuse me, we have a plane to take off and the captain wants to get going now. Either you exit the plane now or you, sir, will need to purchase a plane ticket to London." The flight attendant walked away, leaving the young couple to themselves for a few seconds. Both laughing as she walked away.

"Elizabeth, I've probably already missed my flight to Dallas by trying to find you before you took off, but I want you to know that I'll be here waiting for you when you return from London. Here's my cell number." Jack pulled a napkin from the tray and wrote his number down for her, handing it to her.

"Call me when you return and we can go from there." Jack gave her a quick kiss and, like that, he was gone off the plane.

Elizabeth sat down in her seat, touching her cheek lightly where he had kissed her, unable to hide the smile now evident on her face.

The entire flight to London, she never stopped smiling.

Her trip with Viola was wonderful. Elizabeth enjoyed her new nephew and enjoyed being in London as well for two weeks. Viola either had Elizabeth shopping, going to plays, sightseeing or taking her out to dinner. Before she knew it, the two weeks were up and she was flying back to Texas. Back to see Jack. Back to start their new life together.

Jack was anxiously awaiting her arrival at the gate, checking his watch every second, unable to contain his excitement of seeing Elizabeth again. He decided to sit in one of the chairs by the gate to wait, unable to pace the floor any longer.

20 minutes went by and he finally heard the announcement.

"Passengers arriving from London at Gate 2B. Thank you for flying Delta Airlines."

Jack jumped up out of the chair, looking for Elizabeth in the crowd. There she stood. People shuffled between them as they stared at each other from afar. The crowd seemed to disappear and it just seemed as though they were the only ones around. Slowly walking towards each other, both unaware of the people around them.

Elizabeth stood in front of Jack, unable to hide her smile. He reached out and rubbed her arms up and down. She took him in for a hug, not willing to let go until she wanted to. He was fine with that.

The crowd had disappeared and the only person left was the lady at the check-in counter. They finally broke from each other's grasp and Jack offered to carry Elizabeth's suitcase for her. They walked to the front door and to Jack's vehicle that was parked outside.

"Jack, as much as I would love to ride home with you, I have my own car in the parking garage. What if we head back to my apartment and we can hang out there?" Jack smiled and gave her a quick kiss.

"I'll wait until you come out of the parking garage and I'll follow you."

Jack pulled up to the edge of the parking garage and waited for Elizabeth to exit. After waiting for a few minutes, he saw her pull up in a small SUV and waved at him. He waved back and they took off towards her apartment.

Within 10 minutes, Jack pulled in beside of Elizabeth at her tiny home. Elizabeth had already got out of her car and was grabbing her suitcase from the trunk. Jack quickly walked over and stopped Elizabeth from picking it up.

"Here, let me get that for you." Jack spoke before freezing and looking into Elizabeth's eyes. Her beautiful blue eyes that anyone could get lost in. They slowly moved in for a slow kiss. The love was still evident between them.

Elizabeth and Jack walked into her house and Jack sat the suitcase by the front door. He slowly took in his surroundings. Her home was cute and just perfect for Elizabeth. He saw photos of her family on the bookshelf by the door of her family and friends.

"Would you like something to eat?" Elizabeth said, breaking Jack's thoughts.

"Yeah, sure." Jack said as he walked behind Elizabeth to the kitchen.

Elizabeth checked the fridge and then realized she didn't have any groceries since she had been gone to London for two weeks.

"I'm sorry Jack. I forgot that I don't have any groceries since I've been gone. Would you like some take out? I know a good Chinese place, that is, if you still like Chinese like you used to?"

"That sounds perfect. I still love a good Chinese dinner."

Elizabeth called in their order and within 15 minutes, the doorbell rang and Elizabeth greeted the guy and took their food. She brought it into the kitchen and set it on the counter, going through the contents.

"Here you go Jack, enjoy!" She handed Jack his food and they both sat on the couch and began eating.

It wasn't very long before both were anxious to talk. To talk and discuss what had happened to them many years ago. Elizabeth was the first to break the silence.

"Jack, what happened to us?" Elizabeth looked up and paused, looking at Jack with such regret.

"Honestly Elizabeth, I'm not sure. It seems like just yesterday we were happily in love, together, and life was going great for both of us. Then we got into that horrible argument and didn't speak again. How long has it been now, 12 years?"

"Unfortunately, it has been 12 years. 12 years of unhappiness caused by a silly fight." Elizabeth laughed slightly and started eating her food again. "You know, I can't even really remember what we were arguing about." Elizabeth said as she continued eating.

"I remember it clearly." Jack said as he sat the food on the end table and stood up in the living room in front of her. "If you remember, you were involved in that sorority during college and there was a big ball that you asked me to. You said everyone was going and that you wanted me to go with you because you couldn't go alone. I ended up telling you that I didn't want to go, so I went to shoot some basketball with some of my friends. Then after about 20 minutes of shooting basketball, the guys were getting on to me for having you go to the ball by yourself. So I went home, showered, changed and went to the ball to surprise you. Only, when I got there, I saw you with your hands on another guy and I just got so angry. I remember I walked over to you and you were shocked that I was there. You were trying to tell me who the guy was, but I just remember that I decked him right then and there and walked off. Of course, that made you mad, so you ran outside after me, screaming that I didn't have to punch him, but I was just so mad. After that, you threw the engagement ring back at me and stormed off and we never talked again. We never saw each other again until two weeks ago at the airport." Jack was pacing the floor as he looked over at Elizabeth, who was sitting on the couch with tears streaming down her face.

"Jack, I…" Elizabeth began to speak before Jack cut her off.

"No, Elizabeth. I never understood how you could do that to me. Seeing you with that guy tore me apart. I'll never forget that." Jack continued to pace the floor, finally sitting down on the couch.

"Jack, I tried to tell you who he was. You didn't want to listen to me because you were so angry. That guy wasn't anybody. He was one of my best friend's cousin that was visiting from out of town. He was clearly drunk and I kept informing him that I had a fiancé, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. Before I knew it, you came in all mad, punched him, I got mad at you for making a big deal out of it, tried telling you about it and you wouldn't listen, so I gave up."

Before Elizabeth continued, Jack interrupted her. "See Elizabeth? You said you gave up right then and there. It's like you weren't willing to fight for us even back then. At least I tried to fight for you. I stood up for your honor and decked the guy, but it was like a slap in the face to see you throw your engagement ring back at me! When you stormed off, a part of me went with you and I never opened my heart to anyone again." Jack took a deep breath and stood up again, grabbing his coat on the coat rack and proceeded to the front door.

"Jack! Where are you going? Are you leaving?" Elizabeth said as she stood up and practically ran after him.

Jack put his hand on the door handle and paused, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before turning around to look at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was crying. She didn't want to see Jack walk back out of her life again. She wouldn't be able to handle it.

"I just…I need some time to think, Elizabeth…" Jack told her. He took a deep breath and opened the front door, turning again to Elizabeth. "I just need to think about these old memories that are coming back." He turned back to the door and walked away, leaving Elizabeth standing in the open door frame, watching as he walked away again, uncertain of what would happen in the future.