Chapter 2

By chance they seemed to keep meeting, the blue eyed boy with blonde hair and Isabella Swan. There was an undeniable attraction between them; she would look up and he down to his newspaper, and he would look up to her when he was sure she was truly looking at him. Across the subway train, from across the airport, from across a road, their eyes would undoubtedly meet. Yet neither of them acted upon it, for months.

. . .

'BIKER RESPONSIBLE FOR DEATH OF FIVE' read the front page of The Times, along with a hard-hitting picture of the car pileup the biker had been involved in. Apparently a driver had been forced to swerve off the road to avoid a biker, straight into the path of a goods truck. Isabella looked up from the headline with a burn in her stomach to find the face of a very handsome man of about her age. He was blonde and he wore rimless glasses as his brow furrowed in concentration. Isabella observed that there was no ring on his ring finger, but that his hands were as masculine as his face. She smiled in appreciation of the man who sat across the train carriage from her, absorbed in the text on the rustling, printed pages. Silently she wondered what he was reading, all the while contemplating what his interests were. Isabella Swan? Shaking her head she returned her attention to the pages of her book.

. . .

Jasper spoke animatedly with his new work friend Peter on the morning commute; it made a nice change from the newspaper. Peter was talking about his girlfriend of six months happily, bouncing off ideas with Jasper about what he could do for Charlotte's birthday. It was in May, a month away.

"So she likes Vampire Weekend a lot, and She Wants Revenge… but I don't know what CDs she has and which she doesn't," Peter babbled.

"Ask her to show you her CD collection, Pete," Jasper replied simply.

"But wouldn't that be a giveaway?" Peter wondered, casting his eye about the train carriage for inspiration.

"Well even if it is, she won't care. She'll be happy to see you thinking about it, right? Don't stress." Peter nodded in agreement just as his eyes lighted on a pretty brown-eyed girl who had her attention completely fixed on Jasper. She seemed to feel his eyes on her and quickly looked back to her book. Peter laughed under his breath at the girlishness of her demeanour, chuckled at how high school it was.

When they came to their stop, Peter made sure Jasper was aware of the attraction he had seen in the girl's eyes.

"Didn't you notice her?" Peter began as they stepped onto the platform.

"Who?" Jasper inquired.

"The girl who stared at you from the moment we got on, to the moment we got off?" Peter laughed at the shock on his friend's face, the complete and utter disbelief. Jasper's jaw even dropped. "Wow, you didn't notice at all?" he sniggered.

"No," Jasper replied shortly.

"Look out for the brown-eyed girl with a book, she will be watching you."

. . .

So he did, Jasper waited for Isabella Swan to step onto the train carriage each day of the next working week—offered her a smile when he saw her look his way. The sweet blush that spread across her cheeks, then to her breast, became a familiar sight to him. After two weeks, he plucked up the courage to ask her name.

"Bella Swan," she replied, a shy smile upon her face. "What's yours?"

"Jasper Whitlock."

And that had been the end of their interlude on the underground, at least for a Monday morning. It had been entirely to Isabella's shock he even acknowledged her existence that week. After all, three months had passed quite happily with his thoughts completely absorbed in the newspaper…

. . .

"Bella!" Jasper exclaimed as she walked towards him across the airport. He almost hadn't recognised her, dressed as she was in a light blue blouse and jeans; he was so used to seeing her in her skirted suit. She dragged a suitcase behind her, as well as a tall brunette with purple rimmed glasses. Isabella looked up in shock at her name being called, then focused her gaze on his face—there was the blush he had come to expect.

They happened to be boarding the same flight.

"Hello Jasper," Isabella replied hesitantly, noticing the inquisitive expression on her friend's face. "I didn't expect to see you here." She laughed under her breath, wondering at the strange twist of fate that this was.

"No, me neither." Jasper put his eyes on Isabella's friend, silently suggesting an introduction.

"Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners? Angela, this is Jasper who rides on the subway with me; Jasper, this is Angela, a good friend of mine." The two shook hands politely, smiling slightly though it didn't touch their eyes. Isabella couldn't help but be pleased by this… she wanted Jasper to herself.

"Nice to meet you, Angela," Jasper murmured, this sentiment she quickly reciprocated.

At this point, Jasper realised his error. He did not know Bella Swan, only recognised her as 'the girl on the train'. He did not know her age, her job… what brought her to New York. What could they discuss?

Thankfully, Angela alleviated the situation by pressing at Isabella with more details of their trip. Jasper was content to turn around and pretend he had never spoken to them, never even knew them.

At least it wasn't awkward.

. . .

Today Jasper was forced to stand on the train to work; there was a large group of school kids filling up the carriage so anyone who came on at his stop had no choice. At the next stop, he knew Isabella was to step on and anticipated her arrival. He was determined that today they would have a real conversation. So when the train stopped and the doors opened up, he was more than thrilled as Isabella was first to get on. She observed the carriage, filled as it was, with a crease between her eyes. He could almost imagine what was going through her mind. Damnit!

Exhaling, she leant against a pole on the end of a row of seats and gripped her briefcase tightly.

"Hello, Bella," Jasper called as the train began to move again. He worked his way through the people to stand beside her. She blushed as she looked up.

"Hello, Jasper," was her quiet response. She shifted as the train moved, desperate to keep her balance. It would be beyond embarrassing if she fell over in his presence; though she he hoped he might catch her.

"How are you?" he inquired gently, placing his hand beside hers on the pole.

"I'm all right, thank you. Are you?" She looked up at him through her eyelashes, though not to flirt—just to look at him. She was too nervous to really look at him. Jasper wasn't fazed.

"I'm good, too." He offered her the same smile he had been offering her for months, hoping that something different would happen each time he did so. But it was the same as ever: she blushed and then looked away. "I'd be even better if you'd look at me," he mumbled under his breath.

Isabella pretended she had not heard that.

"You always look so smart, Bella, I have wonder what your job is." She smiled at this. It must have been the briefcase that gave him such an inflated impression of her importance. It was not unlike those bankers in Wall Street might carry.

"I'm just an editor for an online magazine. It's nothing major, but I have to carry a lot of materials home. That's what the briefcase is for."

"Ah, right. That makes sense. What do you edit?" He sounded genuinely interested, which was beyond any expectations Isabella could have had.

"I usually edit the book reviews. I've worked my way up. Only a year ago I was writing those reviews, and then my boss decided it was time I got promoted." She laughed to herself; she had not meant to blow her own trumpet so loudly. Jasper looked impressed though.

"That's good. I never really got into books much myself. I guess I never read the right ones for me to get interested." Isabella's expression grew truly concerned at that. Who could go through life without the quiet solace that a great narrative created? It was certainly the only real retreat she had.

"That is sad. What movies do you like? Maybe I can recommend you a book that will suit your taste?" He looked taken aback by this, and Isabella wished she had not suggested it. "Of course, only if you want to."

He paused a moment as the doors opened and passengers got off and on. There were only two more stops before he had to go for work. "I'm only pausing because I'm afraid to admit that I don't have time to read. By the time I get home from work, I can barely stay awake to shove some dinner down my throat before I go to bed." Her eyes grew wide at this.

"What do you do?" she finally inquired.

"I'm a stock broker, unfortunately. But it pays." He smirked at that. "I do moonlight at some bars though, just to play the guitar and sing. It was my hobby in high school and I couldn't quite bring myself to give it up." The train screamed to a halt at that moment and one of the girls on the school trip fell into Jasper's chest. It was all she could do to grab onto his suit jacket and attempt to pull herself upright again. Of course, she had not calculated that he would be unable to support himself as well, holding loosely onto the pole as he was. The result was a human domino as he fell into another person; the old man behind him fell and so on and so forth until there were no more people left in its path to fall.

Isabella looked on in shock, almost unable to believe what had transpired. But when she did finally realise what happened, all she could do was laugh as she offered a hand to Jasper. The girl who had caused the whole event was so slight that it was surprising how much damage she had caused. She scrambled to her feet first, apologizing frantically to Jasper on her way up.

"I'm so sorry, sir! I don't even know what happened! One second I was holding onto the pole and then the driver just slammed on the brakes and I slipped." She did not even take a breath as she spoke. "I'm just really sorry about that, it was my mistake. Are you okay? I hope I didn't rip your suit, it was just such a shock I didn't really care what I grabbed onto…"

As Jasper get to his feet he quickly turned to help the old man up, who stumbled on his feet when they finally found purchase. All the while, Isabella was struggling to contain hysterical giggles. Typically, those who had fallen might have also laughed. But they were still in shock.

Eventually Jasper had to acknowledge the girl's apologies.

"It's fine, kid. No worries. My suit is intact and so am I. Don't think about it." And it was, though dusty on the back.

"You've got a little dust on your back there, Jasper…" Isabella mumbled as she went to brush it off. She ran her hands swiftly across the line of his shoulders and then in quick straight lines down his back. He didn't protest, but rather enjoyed the feeling of her hands on him, innocent though it was.

"Thanks," was all he said in return, though he paired it with a winning smile. Still the girl was anxious to make up for her mistake.

"Please, isn't there something I can do?" Jasper looked down at her. She could not be more than fifteen years old, yet she seemed more responsible than most girls he knew of that age.

"All you can do is go on your trip or whatever you're doing; don't think about the poor guy you knocked over on the subway. Forget about this whole thing. That's what you can do for me." He offered her a kind smile too. The deal was done. She nodded and moved back into the fold of the teenagers she had previously been sharing the carriage with.

"That was very nice of you. I know a few guys who might have demanded she pay his dry cleaning bill," Isabella said with a laugh.

"Bah," he scoffed. "No harm, no foul." At this point, the train came to a stop at Jasper's station. He looked out the carriage window to the busy platform then turned to Isabella again. "This is me," he said with regret. Still, he would see her again tomorrow.

"Yep." She smiled. "See you tomorrow. You'll have to let me know where I can see you play, soon."

"Will do!" he shouted as he exited the train and went on to his business. Isabella sighed and stifled another laugh at the image of the human domino and then moved her attention onto the work that lay ahead.

. . .

A week later they happened to be crossing the same New York road. Inevitably, their eyes met and each smiled. They had made arrangements to meet the next night; this was just a coincidence, and it seemed there had been so many of them. It was almost a joke.

The lights changed and Jasper crossed the road to greet Isabella.

"This is a pleasant surprise," he chuckled. She opened her arms to hug him. They knew each other that well now. She knew that he was 28 and liked rock music as he knew that she was 25 and liked folk music. She knew that he always got the paper in the morning only to look at the funny page. He knew that she read books on the way to work that were pertinent to the day ahead.

Small elements of the people that made up Isabella Swan and Jasper Whitlock.

"It's good to see you too," she murmured into his chest. She was only as tall as the bottom of his chin; the perfect height to rest there and weather the world. So she thought.

A/N: Long time no chapter. Sorry for that. I hope you enjoyed this and are willing to wait for updates. I can't keep up with this and have a chance at going to University this year, unfortunately. lol Hope you are willing to wait! Thank you to anyone who has bothered to get this far, I know my waiting times are crap. heh