A/N Still Own Nothing. Thanks to Notwritten for being my loyal reviewer.
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I wasn't really sure how to begin, so I grabbed an empty box from the kitchen and started with the big glass pieces that would rip through the garbage bags. I put on canvas gloves I had found in the kitchen. No one knows who put them there but they all used them when there was broken glass. I worked for about 5 minutes when Jareth lifted his head off the desk.
"Why are you doing that?"
"You made an awful mess, I am cleaning it up"
"It isn't your job to clean up my messes."
"Are you going to do it?" I was not sure that we were talking about the destroyed room or that fact that he pissed me off so badly.
"What did I do to make you so angry with me last night?" He finally said. He put on new black glittery gloves that were in his desk and got up to help me pick up all the shit everywhere.
"I knew you wouldn't be able to just sit there with your office in ruins," I said in mock horror. I didn't know why I felt better now. I wasn't the one who destroyed a room, but it made me feel better anyway.
"No, it was bothering me about five seconds after I did it. I did not know where to start cleaning it though. Thankfully you came to my rescue, but you did not answer my question."
"You don't answer most of my questions. Come on, Goblin King, you are not dumb and I am not the first female you have ever been with. You can't think of one thing that may have pissed me off last night. Did you even notice when I left?"
Jareth sat there for a second thinking. Finally he said, "When did you leave? You were next to me the whole night. "
I sighed, "No I was gone for almost 20 minutes. Maybe if you had taken your eyes off the bitch queen for even a half a second you would have noticed that I was unhappy from the moment she walked in." I was getting evil. I felt bad that I was saying such horrible things about this girl who seemed so nice. She had done me no wrong. She just existed and showed up.
I think Jareth was catching on to why I was angry and I think he liked it, "You were jealous." He smirked and leaned back against his desk. "You were jealous when she came in here today weren't you? Do you think I like her more than you?" His eyes were much too happy for my liking. I continued to clean up and was quiet for a bit before I answered.
"I know you do. You like me, but you love her. That's not the problem. You and I are friends. She is not good for you. She knows nothing about you and yet you are head over heels for her. You let her climb all over you and it takes a ton of effort for you to hold my hand. Not that I mind, this isn't about me and we aren't together but she did this to you." Oops I went too far.
"Did what?"
"Nothing, just forget it. I don't want to talk about it."
Jareth took my hand and asked again very nicely, "Did what? What could that child have done to me that made you so riled up?" He looked very curious as to what I had to say. I think he knew what I wanted to say, that she really screwed him up in the head, but I doubt he wanted me to say it.
"She is not a child. She is probably close to thirty. I would bet she is older than I am. And she is the girl you always talk of. The girl you claim you would have given everything up for."
Jareth actually looked relieved but nodded. I went back to cleaning and didn't speak again. I know I cried a bit more but Jareth did not say anything about it. Soon the place was back to normal. Well not really. The office was clean and mostly empty. Jareth came over to me and put the necklace back on me, "Would you still like to go out on Friday?"
I raised an eyebrow at him and smiled, "You put me through hell, and it is only fair I do the same to you. Call your guy friends." I walked out of the office with a smile. Everyone there looked very relieved.
The next few days flew by with ease. There were no arguments, no ex-girlfriends walking in, I was happy, Mark was happy, Valerie was happy, and Jareth was himself. It was a beautiful Wednesday morning when I got a couple of guests in my booth. I ran over and hugged my brother and his two children. I introduced them to Valerie and let get settled in while I took care of other customers. Jareth watched from the office but did not say anything.
I watched my brother carefully while I served other people. Dave knew that it would be awhile for me to get to him if he wanted to talk, but he was smart and came in towards the end of the lunch rush. He was 24 years old with a 6 year old daughter and a 4 year old son. I'll say this for him though; he is a really great father. They are two very well behaved kids. Well as well behaved as you can get for that age. My parents are not the type to shun their children away when they make mistakes. They took Carla in whenever it was needed. After the second child, Dave's girlfriend left and no one has seen her since. So Dave now has complete custody of both and couldn't be happier.
I finally got my chance to talk and walked over to their table. They were almost done eating. Little Jason was playing with his French fries instead of eating them now. They told me all about school and other kids and everything else little kids talk about.
"Who that?" Jason finally asked pointing to the office.
"Jareth, he owns the restaurant."
"I like the ball trick he was doing," Carla said also looking in that direction, "Why was he always looking at you, Aunt Felicia, were you doing something wrong?"
I looked back and she was right, he was looking at me. I shrugged and thought about it while they told me everything they thought I needed to know. I wondered if Jareth liked children. He was a neat freak and children are generally messy. I began to think about the gloves and wondered if he was a hypochondriac or a germaphobe or something. I decided against the hypochondriac because as far as I know he has never been sick. The germaphobe theory was definitely something to think about. As they were leaving Dave stopped me for a minute.
"I would keep my eye on that manager of yours. I think he might have a thing for you or maybe he is a pervert or something."
I laughed and walked them out the door and hugged my niece and nephew goodbye. I looked at Jareth again and remembered how anti-hugging he seemed when I asked about it. He hugged Sarah quite easily though. No, I was not going there again.