Chapter 28

As Jack pulled over at the condo he felt excited of seeing Brooke. His kids were back home with his mom and Claire, so he had nothing to worry about. He didn't see Brooke leaning out of the window and quickly went into the building. While the elevator got to the 4th floor, he felt content. He knocked on the door and an overwhelmed Brooke opened it.

– Hey! –he greeted, giving her a big hug, and then kissed her deeply on the lips, happy of seeing her.

– Hey. – Brooke replied, flatly.

But Jack was too nonchalant at the moment to notice. – You had a nice sleep? How was your morning? –he asked, looking at the kitchen. It had only been one night and he already could feel Brooke's presence all over the place. He walked to the fridge and opened it.

– Fine, your place's very cozy. I missed you, though, I got bored. –she answered, trying to remain casual.

Jack found her answer very sweet, spontaneous as she was. He walked to her and hugged her. – I missed you too. –then he felt Brooke stiffen and when he looked in her eyes, he noticed something was wrong. – What's the matter with you? –he asked, thinking she might be still mad at him for the night before.

– Uh… nothing. Can I ask you something? –she told him, looking down.

Now Jack was starting to feel nervous. – Sure…

– Your wife… what was her middle name?

Jack looked at her astonished. Yet he knew she was eager for an answer and she wouldn't allow him to change the subject. – Diane… why you want to know? –he immediately asked back.

Brooke was getting more anxious. – Diane, huh?

­– Brooke, what's going on? –asked Jack, concerned.

– I just met Mrs. Florence. She came over… anyway, she kind of… well, her mouth ran out a little too much, I guess… She referred to your wife as Sarah… I thought she was mistaking at first, but then she assured me her name was Sarah. –she said, looking frontally to Jack, waiting for an explanation.

Jack froze and went pale. Damn Mrs. Florence, always a snoop, he thought. – Well, she's right. –he replied.

Brooke was close to lose it. She didn't understand a shit and thought it was a very bad moment for him to be metaphoric. – What you mean she's right?

Jack took a deep breath and sat on the couch, defeated, leaving her standing up. – Sarah was… my first wife. –he said, hesitant, rubbing his forehead, looking down.

Brooke was burning inside. His first wife? He had another wife? Good Lord! She didn't know how to react. Jack remained silent, hopping she wouldn't ask anything else. – You had another wife? How come you never mentioned it before? –she asked, amazed and somehow upset.

Jack took a deep breath. – Well Brooke, I… I guess there's still a lot to learn about each other.

Brooke nodded, knowing he was right. It was time to learn about Sarah, then. – What happened to her? –she asked, determined.

– She dumped me.

Brooke couldn't believe her ears. How could someone dump Jack? What kind of woman would do that? But then it came to her: maybe he did something wrong. That thought was even worse. She sat on the couch near Jack, seeking for his eyes. – Why? –she asked softly.

Jack thought for a moment. Now Sarah was just a vague ghost in his mind. He realized talking about her didn't hurt anymore. It seemed like their story together had happened millenniums ago. – Um… I didn't pay enough attention to her, so she found someone else…

Brooke just couldn't believe what she was hearing. – Why you didn't pay attention to her? You didn't love her?

Jack looked at Brooke and cast a wry smile. – Of course I loved her… very much. I just never proved it the way she needed.

– Why? ­–she asked.

– Uh… well, at that time I thought other things were more important. Like competing with my father. I was a workaholic and she hated it. We were never around each other and later on we were not talking anymore. By the time I realized our marriage was wrong and decided to do something about it, she left me. –he said, calm in his voice.

Brooke immediately felt sympathy for him. She knew exactly what it felt like. When she got promoted, Ryan complained all the time about her not giving him enough time. Then he cheated on her. She just couldn't get why people didn't understand how demanding a job could be. – I see… –she said, softly. – Then you found Kate… –she continued, finding a right moment to bring the other wife out.

When Jack heard Kate's name coming out from Brooke's mouth, he got tense. He refused to talk about her, he thought there was no use. It was a waste of time. Yet he knew Brooke was trying to find out about his past. He came out with a short answer. – And now I've found you. –he affirmed.

With that, Brooke knew he was shutting himself down again on his late wife's topic. It sure was tough for him to talk about her, she thought, and she didn't want to push him. His answer made clear to her that he was willing to move on. – Right… Anyway, Mrs. Florence seemed really happy for you. –she said, trying to lighten things up.

­­– Oh really? That woman, she's always sneaking around.

Brooke gave him a long look. – Yeah… Jack, I don't want to learn about your past by coincidence. It's not cool… In fact, it's very shocking. You should tell me all these things… –she said, somehow concerned.

Jack nodded, knowing what she meant. – I know. And I will, I promise. If there's anything you want to know, just ask me, okay? –he replied, but his look said otherwise, there were things that he would never tell her.

She knew he wasn't being completely honest, but she gave it a rest. – Fine. –she retorted, caressing his cheek. Then she gave him a sweet kiss. Jack soon deepened it and Brooke remembered the little quest she put forward to herself early in the morning, getting dressed in front of the mirror. Her cell phone rang just in time.

She broke the kiss and smiled playfully at Jack, as she noticed his frustration for the interruption. She got up and ran to the bedroom to pick up. She screened the call and answered right away.

– Hello? Terry! Hey! When did you get home?

When he heard her so excited, he soon joined her in the bedroom, pretending to look for something. Brooke continued speaking, nonchalant. – Yeah… mom complained because you were not home for Thanksgiving… How's dad? Uh-huh… Right… No, I'm in L.A.…I know, I know… Yeah, we'll talk about it when I get home, okay? Okay, take care. Love you, bye! –she hung up.

By that moment, Jack was staring at her from the door frame, intrigued. – That was your brother Terry or some other Terry you love? –he asked smiling.

Brooke burst into laughter. – My brother.

– Your dad's okay? –he asked.

Brooke realized he had been listening. – Oh, yeah, I just asked because I haven't talked to him since Thursday.

– You seem pretty close, your family… –he said, somehow longing.

– Yeah, we're really close. We all live in New York, I guess that helps. You find it weird?

– No, why should I?

– Some people find it weird. That's sad, huh?

Jack didn't find weird that Brooke and her family were so close. He found it amazing. He was watching her carefully while she was talking to her brother. The tone of her voice, the glint in her eyes, her smile, showed him the love and devotion she had for Terry.

He thought of his own family. As a child, he never had a brother or sister to share with, only Marc Silverman and some other friends. – Your parents get along? –he asked.

– Yeah, most of the time. They have days when they hate each other's guts, of course, but they've been married for almost 30 years.

His parents never got along. As far as he could remember, they were always fighting about his dad drinking, working late or even disappearing. Later on, they always argued using him as an excuse, his father attacking him and his mother defending him, just to bother each other. The thought of his father saddened him. – Your dad… you get along with him?

– Absolutely. He's my best friend, the greatest man I've ever met so far. –she replied as the glint in her eyes grew.

– He never wanted you to be a lawyer?

– Of course he did. –she said, giggling. – When I graduated from high school, he desperately tried to convince me of going to law school after college. He even promised me a brand new car and my dream trip to Europe, can you believe it? –she asked, a wide smile on her face.

– What did you do to get away with it?

– Well, I took the trip and when I came back, I just told him I didn't want to be a lawyer.

– And he accepted just like that? –Jack asked in disbelief.

Brooke looked at him, raising an eyebrow. – Um, yeah. It's not like he was going to make me, right?

After hearing that, he smiled wryly and looked down, remembering ironically how his father did make him become a doctor. – Of course he wasn't, but I mean, how he dealt with the disappointment?

– Um, well, I don't think he felt that disappointed. He saw I was really into journalism and he always knew I was good at writing. Then Terry decided to be a lawyer by his own will. That made it up for him, I guess.

Jack was overwhelmed by the picture he made of Brooke's family in his mind. It seemed so perfect… Then he realized families were supposed to be like that. The family he made with Kate used to be like that, all the opposite of the one he grew up in. He knew he would never make his kids become something they didn't want, like Brooke's dad. His line of thought went short when Brooke spoke.

– How about your dad? –she ventured, knowing from her days of Oceanic Flight 815 fan-from-hell that he died before the plane crash.

Jack frowned. – He passed away 10 years ago. –he replied, shortly.

Brooke looked at him tenderly. – I'm sorry.

– Yeah… me too. –and when he sensed Brooke was about to ask him if he got along with his father, he said: – He did make me become a doctor, but I don't regret it now.

– Good for you. I don't see you being something else. –she assured him.

He just smiled at that statement and saw a chance to change the conversation. – So, you want to go out?

– God, yes! I never spend so much time in the same place.

They left the apartment. Outside, it was a little windy and the sun shined above them. The road was covered with brown and golden leaves that kept falling from the trees. It was a beautiful Fall day. They decided to take a walk to the park down the street. Brooke immediately reached for Jack's hand as they walked, all naturally. He held her hand and it just felt right.

As they were walking, she decided to ask him what she wanted to know about him, as he suggested before. Her questions kind of worried him. He kept praying inside for her not to ask about things he was not willing to say. But for the moment she just focused on basics, so she learnt his birthday was the 23rd of June, his favorite color was red and he always had latte in the mornings. He told her about Marc Silverman, his all time friend, who now lived in San Francisco. Then she told him her birthday was on March the 6th. Soon they began talking about how old they were. They were already at the park by the moment.

– I'll turn 28, and you? –she said nonchalant.

That worried Jack somehow. – Man, you're so young! If I tell you my age, I'm afraid you'll run away from me.

– Oh, come on! You can't be that old. –she replied, mischievously.

– I am, believe me.

– Come on, tell me.

– I'll turn 40. –he said kind of ashamed, believing he was actually too old for her.

– Really? Well, you know, they say life starts at 40… –she said, smiling openly at him, hoping he actually believed that statement and wanted to start over with her.

Jack looked at her for a second and smiled, hoping it was true. Then he looked away, 'cause the truth was he felt like and 80 year old after all he had been through. – Yeah, they sure say that, but isn't it an issue? –he asked, concerned.

– What? The fact there's a difference of 12 years between us? –she asked back and Jack nodded. – No, I don't think age is an issue, not when people have so much in common and want the same things. –she replied. Then she thought for a second. – Unless you think I'm immature or something… –she corrected, frowning.

Jack stopped walking for a minute and held her close to him. Looking deeply in her eyes he affirmed: – You're not immature. I think you're the smartest and most driven woman I've ever been with.

Brooke smiled when he said that. Jack loved her smile. It truly showed the happy girl she was. Then he couldn't help but kiss her, cupping her face with his hands. When the kiss started deepening, a little spaniel dog came from nowhere and got entangled between their legs. Brooke couldn't help but laugh, knowing it had pissed Jack, giving her another point in the score of her master plan. ­– Hey! ­­–she said to the dog, high pitched and laughing, whilst caressing it.

The dog seemed to know her forever and kept moving its tail, playing with her. Jack had no choice but to let her go, so she could squat and pay attention to her new little friend. Then a boy around 10 years old arrived running, panting. – Marley! Stop bugging the lady!

– Oh, it's not bugging me. –she said smiling.

– I thought it had run away again, thanks for grabbing it.

– No problem. What's your name?

– Kevin.

– Nice to meet you Kevin, I'm Brooke. –she said to the boy smiling, still playing with the dog.

– He really likes you. –Kevin told her.

– Oh, I like him too, he's the cutest little thing.

Jack was witnessing the scene with a smile on his lips. Brooke seemed to be both a kid and a dog person. He couldn't help but picture her with his own boy, but suddenly he thought it was too soon for that. He was trying to figure out what he felt inside watching Brooke chatting with Kevin. He couldn't come to an answer, but so far he knew she had the quality of making him feel everything was alright. What he didn't know was that he was already falling in love with her.