A/N: Hello! Sorry to take so long to update, the holidays kicked my butt. Thank you SO much for all the reviews! Here's the next chapter, hope you like...
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Lynn Appleby was sitting cross-legged on her bed, finishing up her latest English paper. All she had left to do was to find some appropriate quotes to punch it up a bit, and she could do that later. For now, she was sick of thinking and was ready to goof off. She'd just give Rita a call and see if she could hang out for a while.
The phone rang at Rita's, helpfully interrupting her chemistry homework, which she had been ready to give up on anyway. That was one class that she really had to work hard to get decent grades in, and tonight, it was almost impossible to concentrate. The wild events of the night before involving Robbie kept sneaking into her thoughts, alternately disturbing her and amusing her. She really needed to visit with Mr. J to get his perspective on the whole thing, but apparently he wasn't home this afternoon, much to her disappointment.
"Hello?" she answered the phone.
"Hey, Ritzy, what're you doing?"
"Hating chemistry more than you can imagine. What are you doing?"
"Nothing, can I come over? My mom's trying to get ready for her book club this evening and she'd love to get rid of me for a couple of hours."
"Sure, come on over. Maybe we can bake cookies or something."
"Ooo, no wonder Robbie thought you were such a hot date, you really know how to spice things up...."
"Oh, right! Like you're Miss Excitement. You probably want to watch 'Leave it to Beaver' reruns, or clean the bathroom, or something."
"'I'll have you know, Leave it to Beaver' was an iconic masterpiece of American pop culture in the '50's!! At least, until Jerry Mathers hit puberty...."
"Yeah, he really uglied-up, didn't he? Well, come on over..."
"Ok, see ya...."
Lynne got her mom to give her a ride, and she happily strode up the stairs to the third floor. She was surprised to find a tall, slender man with long, wavy blond hair cheerfully humming to himself, sifting through his keys, about to let himself into the apartment next to Rita's.
Jack turned to face Lynne as she approached Rita's door. Lynne was at first startled by his scars, then amazed to see how handsome he was in spite of them; her open, honest face told him exactly what she was thinking, and a slow grin stole over his lips as he frankly looked her up and down. Something about the way he took her in, almost as if he were inhaling her, gave Lynne a weird and unsettled sensation.
"Well, hello there. Friend of Miss Rita's?" he asked pleasantly, his eyes crinkling and his lips twisting further into a knowing smile that made her feel both warm and slightly creeped-out.
"Uh, yeah. Who're you?" Lynne asked suspiciously. Rita never mentioned a new neighbor after Mr. Renssalear died.
"I'm...Jack. Rita calls me Mr. J. Say, you must be Lynne...Rita talks about you all the time! Nice to meet ya..." He ambled over and offered her his hand. Lynne hesitantly took it, and nodded. He had a firm, enthusiastic handshake that made her think of her crazy uncle Morty.
"Yeah. Well, she's never mentioned you..." Lynne stated crossly.
"Ah, probably ashamed to admit she knows such a disreputable character as myself. Can't blame her! Well, you girls have a nice evening." He nodded amiably, and went back to unlocking his door. Lynne waited until he was inside and then knocked at Rita's apartment.
"Hi, Lynne..."
"Rita! Who's that man?" Lynne demanded accusingly.
"Uh...who?" Rita realized that Mr. J must have come home. Blast it....
"That man next door!"
"Oh, uh, that's just Mr. J..."
"Well, he's creepy. Why didn't you tell me about him?"
"Creepy? I think he's kind of cute..."
"Oh, my gosh, you have a crush on him??"
"No! He's just really nice, he's not creepy...."
"He is, too, how'd he get those horrible scars?"
"I...I don't know, he never said."
"He looks like an axe murderer!"
"Oh, he does not! You always think the worst of everyone, and how do you know what an axe murderer looks like, anyway?"
"I mean, he looks like...well, I just hope he doesn't know when you're home alone, that's all."
"My God, Lynne, you are so weird. He knows I'm alone all the time! He never bothers me..." Rita was darn sure not going to tell Lynne about her relationship with Mr. J, she would obviously freak out even worse than she already had.
"Does your mom know about him?"
"Know what, that he exists? Of course she does! He's a perfectly nice guy, chill out, will you?"
Lynne frowned in disapproval. Rita had no clue as to the evils of older men.
"Well, you just better be careful around him, he's probably a sex offender or something."
"Lynne! You are so crazy, he is not!"
"Oh, yeah? What does he do for a living?"
"He's a consultant."
"What kind of consultant?"
"I don't know! But he's not scary, and I wish you'd just drop it. Come on, let's see what's on TV...."
The news came on, something about a body being found with its throat cut and left in a dumpster behind the main station of the Gotham City Police Department, making Lynne's eyes grow big. Rita knew that look, and quickly flipped around with the remote until she found an old episode of the 'Brady Bunch'.
"There, this is about your speed, isn't it Lynne?" Rita asked, teasingly.
"Oh, sure, make fun. But when your body's found in a dumpster somewhere, don't go crying to me."
"Jeeze...." Rita suddenly realized that she'd picked up that uncharacteristic
term from Mr. J, and guiltily shot a sideways glance at Lynne to see if she'd noticed. But Lynne had wandered into the kitchen and was poking around for a snack.
"Wow, doesn't your mother ever buy any food?" Lynne groused, disappointed by the lack of useful junk food options.
"Yeah, every Friday. Too bad it's only Thursday."
"Well, can we make cookies?"
"I was going to, but we're out of eggs. Hey, maybe Mr. J has some! I'll go ask him." Rita bounded toward the door, happy to have an excuse to see him, even if Lynne was certain he was a serial killer.
"Hey, wait a minute, you're going over there alone? No way, I'm coming with you!" Lynne asserted.
"Fine, but if you act like an idiot, I'll strangle you," Rita promised.
"Yeah, if your weirdo boyfriend doesn't do it first..." retorted her friend.
"Jeeze!" Rita exclaimed in aggravation, on her way out the door. Lynne followed closely behind her, pulling the door firmly shut.
Jack was already stretched out on his couch, thoroughly enjoying the news report when he heard a soft knock. He broke into a delighted grin; this should be good, he thought.
He opened the door to see Rita, adorable in a light blue, clingy t-shirt, and her rather dowdy looking, bespectacled friend, frowning furiously behind her. Rita gave him a big smile, forcing herself not to go in for a hug, even though the sudden desire to bury herself in his arms again made her insides ache.
"Hi, Mr. J! We were going to bake cookies, but we don't have any eggs. Could I borrow a couple?" asked Rita brightly.
"Eggs! Now, that's a interesting question...why don't you lovely ladies come in and let me organize a safari into the dark recesses of my refrigerator. I vaguely recall buying eggs sometime in the last century, around 1998, I think it was...." Jack left the door open, and headed to his kitchen. Rita started to walk in, but Lynne grabbed her shoulder, giving her a "No way!" look. Rita frowned back at her, shook off her grasp, and took a seat on Jack's couch. Lynne reluctantly followed, sitting protectively next to her friend.
"Well, bad news, my friends, I'm all out of eggs. What's the matter, you girls looking for a snack?" he asked.
"NO!" said Lynne, at the same time Rita said "Yes!" Jack almost laughed out loud. He was getting a kick out of Lynne's discomfort and was sorely tempted to do something to really put her over the edge, but he managed to contain himself.
"Well, I have an idea, why don't I treat you girls to some ice cream? I'm in the mood for something...cold...myself."
"Oh, that'd be great, Mr. J!" answered Rita enthusiastically.
"Rita! You are not seriously considering getting into a car with that man!" Lynne hissed in a choked whisper. Before Rita could answer, Jack began pulling on his jacket.
"Come on, ladieees, your chariot awaits....what do you like, Lynne, chocolate? Pistachio? Or are you more of a vanilla fan, hmm?" he quizzed mockingly as he held the door for them. Lynne just shook her head in exasperation. She wasn't sure why, but she did not like this man, not one bit. Even though Rita was right...he was cute. In a dangerous way...
They trooped down to Jack's car and all piled in the front seat. The car was old enough to have a bench seat with three seat belts, and Rita sat in the middle. She very much liked scooting closer to Jack, to give Lynne enough room. She smiled up at him and he winked at her.
At the ice cream shop, Jack had the girls order first, sending them to find a table while he paid. Lynne took the opportunity to voice her displeasure once again.
"Ok, Rita, you tell me again how he's not creepy," she demanded.
"What are you talking about! He's taking us for ice cream--what's creepy about that?"
"It's the way he looks at you! Like he's imagining you without your clothes on or something..."
Rita rolled her eyes.
"You're just afraid of everything, aren't you, Lynne? You don't trust anybody..."
"And with good reason! There's a name for grown men who hang around with young girls, you know...."
Just then, Jack came to the table, and Rita felt bad because she was pretty sure he had overheard the end of their conversation.
"Everything all right?" he asked mildly.
"Sure, Mr. J. We were just talking...thank you for the ice cream, by the way," said Rita.
"My pleasure! It's not often I get to enjoy such pleasant company, you know..."
The three wordlessly set about eating their ice cream. Lynne snuck suspicious glances at Jack from time to time, while Rita cast pleading looks at her, hoping she wouldn't embarrass her any further. Jack appeared to be oblivious to the tension, but was inwardly enjoying the silent exchange as if it were a tennis match.
"How'd you get those scars?" Lynne suddenly demanded.
"Lynne!" Rita hissed in horror.
"No, no, hon, it's ok, " Jack assured her. "I appreciate people who say what's on their mind. Well, it's an interesting story! Not too pleasant, though...are ya sure you want to hear it?" he asked, a frown of concern for their delicate sensibilities on his handsome face.
The girls glanced at each other, and then both nodded unflinchingly.
"Yeah, Mr. J...go ahead. I'd like to hear it," Rita encouraged gently.
"Ok, but if ya end up have nightmares, don't blame me! It happened way back when I was a kid. I'd just turned seventeen--hey, just your age, Rita!--my family and I went on a vacation to visit relatives in Scotland. Well, I was kind of a rebellious teenager, didn't want to hang around with my folks too much, you know, so I took off on foot one night to go into the little town near my aunt's house." Jack's eyes took on a faraway look and his voice deepened into a warm hum.
"I headed straight to the local pub. You know, drinking age is, like, twelve, over there, ha ha, and I bought myself a lager. Then another, and another. I got roaring drunk, and started flirting with this cute girl--she looked kind of like Lynne, here, come to think of it! Hey, kid, you got some ice cream on your chin. Here, let me get that..." Jack stopped to take a napkin to swab away a little dab of chocolate from Lynne's face. It had dried slightly, so he followed by grasping her chin and rubbing it away with his thumb, staring intently into her wide eyes behind the glasses. At his touch, Lynne felt a shiver rush straight through her.
"There you go, dear. Anyway! So, I'm acting like an idiot over this girl, and these two guys, these BIG, big guys, straight off the sheep farm, come up to me and tell me I'm messing with their pal's girl! Naturally, me being drunk and stupid, I mouth off to 'em. Well, they left." Jack paused for a moment, scraping the last dollop of ice cream from the paper cup with his spoon. Lynne couldn't help but watch in fascination as his tongue glided smoothly along the hard plastic, licking the creamy substance off in a slow act of almost reverent enjoyment.
"Mmm. Good stuff, huh? Anyway, the girl gave me the bum's rush when I ran out of cash, so I stumbled out of the bar, intending to head for home, right? I hadn't gotten very far, when the two sheep farmers jump me! They dragged me off into the moors and beat the crap out of me. Then this third guy shows up! Turns out, he's the girl's boyfriend, and damn, is he mad. So, he says to me, in this thick Scottish brogue, he says, 'What's wrong, boy-o? You don' look verrry 'appy! Let's put a smiiile on that face!'" The girls almost giggled at the butchered Scottish accent, and Jack himself was slightly grinning, but then he lowered his voice, and leaned in closer.
"Then....he took a knife out of his pocket. I'll never forget that blade, shining in the moonlight...it was kind of beautiful, just for a second...he had his buddies hold me down, one had my arms, the other, my legs. He kneeled on my chest, and stuck the knife in my mouth. And he did this to me," Jack made a gesture, indicating a crescent shaped cut in the air, first to the right, then to the left, orchestrating with a turn of his head in each direction. The girls were staring at him, horrified.
"I wanted to scream so bad, but realized I'd make it even worse! When he was done, they ran off and I passed out. I woke up in a hospital bed, all bandaged up. Took weeks to recover! And, lemme tell you somethin', it didn't look so good when the bandages came off, either. Can you imagine, lookin' in the mirror and not recognizing your own face? I used to be an ok looking guy, but then...sheesh, I looked like a freak! A goddamn freak, excuse my language, girls. Anyway, quite a price to pay for goin' after a little pussy, huh? Oops, sorry again! Shit." Jack's voice cracked a little, and shook his head ruefully. They were all silent for a long moment. Then, Jack brightened.
"Well, whaddya say, I better get you gorgeous gals home, it's gettin' late, huh? You ready?"
The girls nodded, and both got up to meekly follow him back to the car.
As they waited for Jack to unlock the car door from inside, Lynne looked at Rita.
"That poor guy! How horrible, God, can you imagine what he went through?" she said breathlessly.
"Yeah...do you still think he's creepy?" asked Rita curiously.
"Kind of...but in a nice way," Lynne asserted.
Jack smiled.
Damn. Why was it so easy?