Thanks for all the reviews, I've never gotten so many in only 5 chapters, I love you guys! :) This one is in Sawyer's point of view. Italics are flashbacks. Please review and enjoy...
Meet a beautiful woman, find out she's married, then hear out she's in the midst of a divorce, go on a second date with her, she almost drowns, you save her, you kiss her, then ya remember you n' her had a whole 'nother life for three years in the seventies--but she doesn't remember.
Son of a bitch...
"This view is nice. You were right." Her soft spoken, angelic voice uttered as she sat down on the dock, long, slender legs dangling into the water.
"You refferin' to the ocean or the sexy man right in front o' ya?" I quipped, causing her to look up at me with a smirk.
"I wouldn't call a pretentious southener sexy." She retorted, making me momentarily forget we weren't back in Dharmaville--the way we spoke to each other perfectly mimicked the way we used to--it was if nothing ever changed.
"Ya an' I normally wouldn't call an ingenious wiseass beautiful--but for you, I'll make an exception." I retorted to which she stiffled a laugh and commented, "You're a regular prince charming, you know that?"
"So I've been told once or twice."
"Yeah, by who?" She asked skeptically with a chuckle, whilst meeting her stunning blue eyes with my own.
"Just by some girl I used to date." I answered vaguely, leaving out the fact that it was in fact her who used to say those exact words.
"Have you ever thought about getting married?" Jules asked softly as I took a seat beside her on the couch. Miles and Jin were out for the evening, doing some late night work for Horace while Juliet and I, fortuitously, got the night off.
"Marriage is for suckers...never leads to no good." I replied mechanically, causing Juliet to face towards me with her face now serious. She then placed her hand to my arm and gently squeezed it before saying softly, "James, you don't have to lie to me. You can tell the truth."
"Alright." I said after registering her words, "I ain't never told nobody, but...I always wondered what married life would be like..." I paused to shrug, then concluded, "Too bad I ain't never findin' out."
"You don't know that--you could still get married one day."
"Who are ya kiddin', Blondie." I laughed, "For all we know, we're stuck on this island for the rest of our lives. Who the hell's gonna marry me here--Miles?"
She chuckled, her face lighting up from my statement, then said in all seriousness, "I will."
"You will, what?"
"Marry you." She answered simply, "In a few years, if we're still on this island and neither of us are dating, then we should get married."
"I'm 'sposed to be your backup plan?" I asked with a laugh, "I'm the best ya could get?"
"It's perfect. Think about it--we both tell each other everything, laugh at each others jokes, drive each other crazy with our annoying tendencies--it's already like we're married."
"With that logic, it's a surprise we ain't datin' by now." I replied, "Come to think of it, datin' you wouldn't be terrible--s'long as ya don't use your 'others' mind control on me."
"This your way of asking me on a date?" She asked and when I nodded she laughed, "You're a regular prince charming, you know that?"
Before I knew it, I somehow snapped out of my reverie and back into the present where Juliet was still sitting off the edge of the dock. She looked as beautiful and tempting as always, her hair blowing freely over her face and eyes scanning across the water.
"Get over here, Princess." I drawled out suddenly, grabbing her arm and pulling her up. She looked at me, her head tilted, as I pulled her close to me, her lips nearly touching mine when she suddenly pulled away slightly and whispered, "We better go pick up the kids."
"Kids?" I grunted out as she pushed away and started towards the car, "What kids?"
"Your daughter and my nephew." She said with a chuckle, "They're still at daycare, remember? We were supposed to pick them up..." she paused as she looked at the clock in her car, "Twenty minutes ago."
"Damn. Then we better get goin'." I proclaimed, joining her inside the vehicle and driving off to get the children.
When we arrived, the caregiver gave us a clearly ungenuine smile and said coldly, "You two are late."
"Right, sorry. We were just...we got caught up. Won't happen again." Juliet stuttered, just as both Julian and Clementine came running towards us.
"Auntie Juliet!" Her nephew squealed in delight, causing my eyes to unexpectedly start watering. Jules had spoken of Rachel and her nephew so often and with such pride that now knowing that she had finally got her wish--to be with them again--made me more than happy.
"Hey buddy. You have a good time here today?" Juliet asked, bending down to his level and putting her hand on his small shoulder.
"Yeah." The boy answered plainly, nodding his head up and down furiously to prove his point.
"What 'bout you, sweetpea?" I then asked whilst russelling my daughters hair, "You have a good time too?"
"Uh-huh...me and Julian played blocks."
"Yeah? You an' him seem to get along well." I commented, hoping that my observation was true. If everything with Juliet went as planned, then the two kids would be certain to see more than enough of each other--and it would make it a hell of a lot easier if they got along.
"He's nice." Clementine said with a shrug, "He gave me a cookie once."
"Yeah? He nice 'nough to invite over to mingle?"
"Huh? She then asked, confused, causing Juliet to clarify, "I think what 'daddy' means is, would you like to have a play date with Julian?"
"Oh." My daughter answered with a smile, "Sure."
"And while you two are playing together..." Juliet added, now glancing up at me, "Maybe James and I can have some fun of our own."
After a few more moments of chatter, Juliet realized she had best get her nephew home to his mother and swiftly sped off to her house. I decided to leave as well, and within a few short minutes, arrived at the front door of my own house.
"Auntie Kate!" Clementine squealed as soon as I got the door open, rushing to the woman standing in front of her with open arms.
"Hey kiddo." Kate greeted childishly, returning the child's hug, before looking back up at me, "Hey Sawyer."
"Kate. What are ya doin' here? How the hell'd ya even get in?" I asked with as much benevolency as I could garner, desperately trying to hide my anger at her for ruining my past life with Juliet. Since regaining my memories, this was our first time speaking face to face and was the first time throughout the day in which I was truly glad no one remembered but myself.
"I still have the key." She answered flatly, "Remember?"
"An' what's your reason for usin' it? There somethin' ya wanna tell me?"
"I already told you--on the phone this morning." She explained, "I got fired."
"Oh, well ain't that bad news." I replied, my voice clearly lacking sympathy, "But what does it gotta do with me?"
"I just..." She sighed, bringing her hand up to touch my arm, "I need someone to talk to."
"We both know when your upset, ya don't come over here to talk." I snapped, thinking back to all the times in this life where she would have a bad day--wheather her boyfriend broke up with her or she had a fight with her mother or she just felt lonely--and she'd come crawling into my house, kiss me, and make me think she actually cared--and I'd fall for it every time.
"Sawyer." She said in a warning tone, letting her hand drop down to her side, "What's going on with you?"
"I got a girlfriend now." I said simply, causing her to raise her eyebrows and ask innocently, "You mean that girl you went on one date with?"
"She's got a name."
"She's got a husband." She countered, "And do you really think it's a good idea to bring a new mother figure into Clementine's life this soon after her mother--"
"Don't tell me what's best for my kid, Kate." I growled out, not wanting to hear anything she had to say.
"And when did you start calling me Kate?" She asked breathlessly, causing me to answer without a beat, "Since I met Juliet. I ain't takin' any chances--I ain't ruinin' our relationship."
"What relationship? You barely know her."
"I know more than ya think."