Chapter 14
Deciding against telling Trish what happened with Mark was the best choice she could've made in her life. Though both women couldn't help laughing and re-watching the video of Steve and Mark fighting like women. It was going to be their own personal blackmail if the men ever got out of hand, more for Trish than Jasina because she wasn't with Mark the way Trish was with Steve.
The wedding was just a week away and Jasina had no idea who her date was going to be, deciding going alone would probably be best. She was avoiding Mark again, which was easy because he'd been working longer hours at the shop, his way of avoiding her more than likely. Jasina didn't care, she was too busy dealing with work and trying to find an apartment, pleased when she finally got a call from a reality named Sally.
Sally wanted to meet her for a drink at Emerald City to discuss the possibility of renting a small house that had two bedrooms and was in Jasina's price range. She agreed to meet with Sally around six o'clock and groaned when she looked at the time, seeing it was a quarter to six. Immediately packing up her things, Jasina rushed out of the office and sped toward Emerald City, knowing if she blew this she might not get another shot at getting out of the ranch.
John Cena stared around the bar, Emerald City, curiously, virtually memorizing every aspect of it. His best friend had told him about this place a time or two in a few of their once a month phone calls. He and Randy Orton had been friends for what seemed like forever, though in actuality, just since college.
They had parted ways for their respective careers, met up every now and again, but generally exchanged phone calls or emails at least once a month. John hadn't heard from Randy in MONTHS, which was not like his friend at all. He was the responsible one, sort of. So...with some time on his hands, John had come to Houston. He just hadn't anticipated his GPS being stupid and getting him lost twice.
Jasina walked hastily through the door just five minutes after six, having to stop and get gas, otherwise she would've been stranded, hoping Sally understood. She walked over to the bartender, Timothy, smiling when he turned to smile at her. "Hey Timmy, have you seen a woman come in by the name of Sally Morrison?" She asked, trying not to sound irritated.
"No I haven't and nobody has asked about you." Timothy hadn't seen Jasina since before Randy died, not wanting to drag up horrible memories for her.
"Oh okay, well in that case just get me a glass of red wine." Jasina hoped Sally wasn't standing her up and paid for the wine, telling Timothy she would be over at one of the booths waiting, heading in that direction.
John watched the bartender, Timmy, as he turned to a woman who had just walked in. He had some funny stories and had been entertaining John for the past thirty minutes with them. She looked like a businesswoman, casual business maybe, but definitely had the professional look going whereas he was laid back and casual in a pair of knee length cargo shorts and one of his favorite baby blue sports jerseys.
"Jasina, this guy down here, his name is John Cena, and you have to hear him talk. His accent is worse than ours." Timmy remarked with a smirk.
"I don't HAVE an accent, YOU have the accent."
Timmy set her glass of red wine down before her, rolling his eyes towards Cena. "Maybe in YER neck of the woods." He purposefully drawled. "But down here, son, yer the one with the funny way o' speakin'. Want another beer?"
"Keep 'em comin'...hoss."
"Sounds like a Boston accent." Jasina commented offhandedly, sipping her wine and smiled gently when the blue eyed man name John turned to face her.
Deciding to take a seat at the bar to wait for Sally, Jasina crossed one leg over the other, wearing black dress pants with a red shirt with a black sash just below her breasts, two inch black pumps on her feet. Her hair was down, not having time to do it that morning and wanted to get out of the ranch as quickly as possible. She'd been avoiding Mark for the past few days, knowing eventually she would have to face him.
"I've been to Boston a time or two, just a lucky guess."
"Boston accent, yes." He flashed a grin at her, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners and then shot Timmy a look. "An UNDERSTANDABLE accent."
Timmy mumbled something that was so thick with an 'accent' that even he barely understood himself, setting another beer down in front of John.
"Thank you, always appreciate it when someone proves my point." John laughed, laying out a crisp bill on the counter before looking back at Jasina. "I know he sort of introduced me, but..." He leaned over to hold out a hand. "Cena, John Cena." He could not help himself from even adding a bit of a 'Bond' overtone to that, he was naturally goofy.
Jasina laughed softly and slipped her hand into his, wondering what the hell men were eating these days because she was surrounded by behemoths it seemed. "Nice meeting you, Mr. Cena. I'm Jasina Jameson." She decided being polite couldn't hurt and slipped her hand out of his, taking another sip of wine. "So, how is Houston treating you thus far?"
"Well..." He shook her hand firmly before letting go, settling back comfortably on his bar stool, the grin never leaving his face. "Ask me again tomorrow and I'll let you know, I've only been in town for about..." John looked at the watch on his wrist. "Four hours, most of that in traffic."
"What makes you think you'll see her tomorrow?"
John considered that, then shrugged. "Nothing wrong with hoping, right?"
Jasina tried not to giggle at Timmy's protectiveness, shaking her head. "What brings you to Houston, Mr. Cena?" She asked, letting her curiosity get the better of her.
Honestly, he looked like he could use someone to talk to, being new to the city and all. She knew what that was like, remembering how awkward it was to find her way around Houston when she returned after being away for over a decade. So many things had changed...Jasina hardly recognized Houston, though now she knew the city better than most.
"Just here to visit a friend." John said with a slight frown, remembering his beer and took a long swig from it, smacking his lips before setting the bottle down. "And when I see him, I'm going to kick his ass. He told me that 'navigating Houston wasn't a problem', he lied. That or my GPS system secretly hates me, which could be entirely possible, she's Swedish." At her look, he began laughing. "The voice, it's Swedish. I haven't figured out how to change it yet and I need to because she sounds really bossy, reminds me of my Mom. Only twenty years younger and foreign."
"Well no wonder your GPS isn't working, Swedish can't be easy to listen to when it's telling you to go East or West." Jasina felt bad for the guy, wondering who this friend was and it sounded as though John hadn't seen him in quite awhile. "Well good luck with that, I hope you find your friend." She looked past him to the blonde that walked through the door, smiling, knowing it had to be Sally. "Excuse me." She stood up and walked over, the badge reading Sally Morrison. "Hello Ms. Morrison, I'm Jasina Jameson, we spoke on the phone earlier today."
"Oh yes of course, I was just about to ask the bartender if he saw you in here yet. So sorry I'm late, the meeting ran behind, you know how that goes." Sally smiled, both women walking toward a nearby booth. "So Ms. Jameson..."
"Please call me Jasina."
"Right," Sally paused, pulling out some documents and ordered a glass of wine, both women looking as though they needed a drink of two. "Well Jasina, I think I've found the perfect place for you and it's just down the street from your work."
John backtracked over that entire conversation, trying to peg where he had messed up. He should have elaborated: The accent -What was it with accents today?- was Swedish and he had made her think the woman was actually speaking Swedish. Now Jasina Jameson probably thought he was the world's biggest retard because he was complaining about getting lost when the GPS was apparently speaking Swedish. He mentally called himself an idiot around a thousand times while finishing his beer, shaking his head.
Jasina loved the place just by the photos alone and immediately signed the documents, not even needing a second thought. Whatever was wrong with the small house, she would take care of it by hiring people if need-be. It was a small two bedroom house with a small yard and one car garage, white with blue shutters and new carpet, roofing, appliances, furnace and brand new A/C installed. Jasina shook hands with Sally and made plans to go see her new house tomorrow, already writing a check for the down payment, not wanting to waste any time. She was ready to get out of the ranch, feeling like the biggest weight had lifted from her shoulders.
When Jasina came back to the bar, no doubt to tell him goodbye, or maybe celebrate her good news -she was smiling the brightly- with another glass of red wine, Timmy found himself returning the smile. It was infectious. "You look happy." Timmy commented, wiping out the inside of a mug. "Your Sally friend must've had something good to say."
"Yes she did." Jasina was beaming from ear to ear, celebrating by having another glass of wine, Timothy a good friend of hers. "Right after the wedding I will have my own little house!" She announced proudly, laughing when Timothy hugged her over the counter. "It's right down the street from work and has almost everything new in it...and it's in my price range." She held her glass of wine up, knowing this was going to be the perfect way to start moving on from Randy and having her own new beginning. "So yes, this is some of the best news I've heard in awhile."
"I'm glad for you, honey, sounds like this place is just perfect for you." Timmy said, still smiling from ear to ear. He started to say something but his attention was diverted by the resident drunk/slut. "Oh Lord...she's spotted the new guy."
Timmy rolled his eyes. This was one of the many reasons he liked Jasina. When she got drunk, which was very rare, she wasn't trashy. John was trying to dissuade this woman from raping him, his eyes widening when she actually ran her hand down his chest to the crotch of his denim shorts.
"Lady, I haven't even known you for a minute and you're- HEY, HEY!" Now he was in a full-blown panic.
Jasina narrowed her eyes at the drunk slut that frequented many of the bars around Houston, recognizing her from the trashy bar her and Randy had gone to for their award-winning article. Her name was Lois and she wore clothes that looked two sizes too small on her...possibly more. Feeling sorry for the newcomer, Jasina decided to help him out as she took a long swig of her wine, smirking at Timmy.
"I'll take care of it." She finished her wine off and slid off of the stool, walking over, having a soft spot for the new guy for some reason and snaked an arm around his neck from behind. "Excuse sweetheart, but he's taken already."
Lois narrowed her eyes, knowing Jasina from around town, rolling her eyes. "You're not serious are you?"
"You want proof?"
"Yeah."
Jasina promptly turned John around on the stool and brought his face down to hers, kissing him softly. Timmy did his part in not giving away the ruse by turning away, mostly because he couldn't hide the fact that his eyes had grown about three sizes larger. John wasn't entirely sure if he was just 'going with it' to maintain the charade or just responding to the kiss naturally, but if she asked later why he had pulled her up between his legs and moved his hands to the small of her back, he was going with the charade bit. Jasina finally pulled back from the kiss, Lois was furious and stormed out of the bar in a huff, tripping over her own three inch heels in the process.
"What a whore." Jasina muttered, rolling her eyes and walked away from John to resume her seat at the bar, asking Timmy for another drink. "Sorry, but you really don't want an STD your first night in Houston. I hope you don't mind me helping you out." She flashed a sweet smile.
"Thanks…"
John was fairly certain he wouldn't have gotten an STD because he wouldn't have taken that woman to bed, not even if he was three sheets and five days to the wind. Unless of course, she had something that could be transmitted via saliva. That thought made him shudder.
"Yo Timmy, could I have a glass of water, a shot of bleach and a Brillo pad?"
"Sure thing, stud."
Jasina didn't let the question bother her and shrugged, refusing to let anything sour her mood. She finished the wine and decided three glasses was enough, needing to call it a night. "See you later, Timmy." She called over her shoulder, walking out of Emerald City and headed toward her car, wondering when she'd get the chance to tell Mark about her new place.
It didn't really matter, he couldn't stop her from leaving the ranch and maybe a clean break would be better than having another conversation. He wasn't going to talk her out of it, the papers were signed and the down payment was taken care of. Jasina was ready to finally have her own place, her own bedroom, kitchen and could walk around naked if she wanted to. It took John a few seconds to realize he might have just offended Jasina, or made her think he was gay, by that comment of his and he practically ran…Actually, he did run right out of the bar. He spotted her getting into her car and groaned, waving his hands to hopefully stop her.
"Hold up!" John shouted, his feet pounding across the pavement before skidding right into her car, groaning when he collided with it. "Stupid...rock..." He grunted, rubbing his chin before looking down at her. "I'm not gay. And I wasn't trying to...fuck that hurt...trying to offend you with my mouth, I was thinking about the STD thing."
Jasina blinked, immediately getting out of the car to make sure he hadn't cracked his jaw, not concerned with the small dent in her hood. "I didn't think anything like that of you, Mr. Cena." She slapped his hand away when he tried pulling away from her, grabbing his sore chin to force their eyes to meet while she examined where he collided. "Are you okay?"
"Lady, that hurts, you mind?" John whined, jerking his chin out of her hand which only made it hurt worse, cupping it tenderly. "I'm fine. I just thought I might have offended you so I came running out and, like the chump I am, botched it." He laughed at himself, sometimes he could be smooth as silk and others...the world's biggest clown. Today he was a clown apparently. "I uh, dented your car...with my chin...My mom always did say I had a head like a rock."
"Your Mom was right and don't worry about it. Did she also tell you that you're a big baby when it comes to pain?" She smirked when he glared at her, reluctantly stepping back to get back in her car, sighing when he stopped her. "You didn't offend me at all, John." Jasina decided being on a first name basis was appropriate. "You're fine okay? I don't think you're an asshole or anything like that. You can rest easy, okay?"
"Not really, I came out to apologize and wound up breaking your car." He joked, letting go of his chin and grinning, knowing his chin was probably a lovely red color, surprised he hadn't bit his tongue or broken anything. "Can I pay you for the damages?" When she shook her head no, John frowned only to immediately start smiling again. "Well how bout dinner? Can I take you out to dinner?"
"You wanna take me to dinner? Like a date?"
When John simply nodded, Jasina had to think about it for a minute, remembering the last time she went on a date. John reminded her a lot of Randy, which was both good and bad. Was this a sign from Randy that she had to move on? For months she had begged him to send her any kind of sign and nothing came about...until now. There was a reason why she met John at Emerald City, remembering all the times she'd shared a drink with Randy prior to them dating and then falling in love.
"If it'll make you feel better about denting my car, then sure you can buy me some food."
What did she honestly have to lose?
"Cool, we can go- Uh, anywhere but here." John wasn't about to bring her back to a bar for dinner, not this one anyway. Especially now that he knew there was a STD slut floating about, waiting to grab unsuspecting guys by their junk after less than a minute of 'knowing' them. "I'll have to Google a place, but cool." He whipped out his cell phone. "What's your digits? Or would you prefer mine?"
Jasina couldn't help giggling softly at how he asked for her number, waving him off when he looked confused. "Sorry, go ahead and give me your...digits, honey." She had a hard time saying that word because of what she did for a living...it just wasn't proper grammar, but Jasina couldn't deny how adorable John was.
Maybe he wasn't like Randy after all, definitely not as articulate, which was refreshing.
John squinted his eyes at her suspiciously. "Wait, I know this one...I give you my digits, you promise to call and you don't." When she arched an eyebrow at him and frowned, he held up his hands. "Or maybe not. I can't help it, you're a ho- attractive woman and I'm the goof who plowed into your car after saying I needed bleach when you just kissed me." He grinned broadly. "It was a good kiss though, wasn't it?"
"Can't deny that one." Jasina was never one to lie and took his hand after pulling a pen out of her purse, writing her number on it and blew so the ink would dry quicker. "If I was planning on not calling you, I wouldn't be giving you my number first." She smirked when he blushed, folding her arms in front of her chest and smiled when he handed over a card with his name and number on it. "And yes you are a goof, but you're an adorable one that I find interesting. I don't just date anyone. John. So take my...digits...and why don't you give ME a jingle when you figure out where and when you want to do this?"
"So if I ah, jingle," He was going to either get slapped, blow this, or maybe both because he was grinning like an idiot at that. "You tonight, you're going to be free, right?" John honestly had no idea how long he would be in town, not expecting anything to come of this, but he wasn't about to leave Houston without at least one date with this woman. When she had stepped up to plate and saved his ass, he had been instantly intrigued.
"You want to do it tonight?" Jasina couldn't help laughing when he nodded, looking down at her attire and decided she would definitely have to go to the ranch to shower and change. "You'll have to give me at least two hours to go home and get ready. I'm not going out on a date in my work clothes." She stated seriously, though the amusement in her teal eyes was something Jasina couldn't hold back. "So you get busy with the Googling and text me the place and time. I'll meet you there."
"Yeah, I'll get busy with ogling- I mean Googling and um, text you."
John rubbed the back of his neck, smiling crookedly. He had to head back to his hotel, shower and change too, Google first though. He didn't blame her for the 'meet you there' part, women had to be cautious. He could've been a crazy mass-murder/serial rapist for all she knew.
"So, I'll text you and... yeah. See you later then, Jasina." He began jogging backwards, grinning at her and sidestepped that rock this time.
"See you in a bit, John." She murmured and slipped back into her car, giggling at how cute he was, pulling out of Emerald City's parking lot to head back to the ranch.
It was the wine, Jasina was blaming her rash behavior on the alcohol. She had to admit, John was a great kisser, though they wouldn't have a repeat of that on the date. She knew it was fast, but if there was one thing Randy taught Jasina, it was life was too short. She wanted to live. When Jasina arrived at the ranch, Mark was there and she hoped he stayed wherever he was so she could get ready for her date in privacy.