Rifiuto: Non Miriena
Thanks to Sara for reviewing 1.
She turned to him, arms crossed. "So the rumors were true."
He screwed up his mouth, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I was ten. Besides, Wall Street deserved it." Jo rolled her eyes, but turned her attention to the memory in front of them. He watched as his mom leaned against the counter, glaring at him.
"Well? What do you have to say for yourself, Zane?"
"Wall Street deserved it?"
Zane chuckled, and Jo shook her head. "Only you would think of a response like that." Jo said; Zane just smiled, moving closer to listen. She followed behind, silent.
"Wall Street did not deserve it, Zane! And... how the hell did you even manage to crash the stock market anyway?" The boy ducked his head. "If you tell me you hacked into the system, Matthew, I'll-"
Jo turned to him. "Matthew?" He groaned softly, turning to Jo. "Seriously?"
"Yes, it's my middle name, and yes, I usually heard it when I was in trouble." He replied. Jo held up her hands, unable to hide the grin appearing on her pretty features. Zane couldn't help thinking of how pretty she was when she was grinning; he could see two deep dimples, one on either side of her smile, that made her look absolutely adorable. Suddenly, he wanted to wrap her in his arms and spend the next thousand years kissing those dimples, but his own voice pulled him back to the matter at hand. She chuckled softly, leaning close. "I think it's cute."
He glanced at her, smiling.
"Come on, Mom, it's not like Wall Street needs the money-" The boy got off the stool, going to the fridge and pulling out a can of soda. His mom yanked it out of his hands.
"That's not the point, Zane! The point is that you just crashed the entire New York Stock Exchange! If that doesn't send us back into another depression, America will be lucky!"
Zane watched his younger self roll his eyes, and lean against the fridge. "I just thought..."
"Thought?" The boy shrugged.
"That if the stock market crashed, then everyone would be on the same level." He moved away from the fridge and went to the island. "That Dad would be on the same level as us." After a moment, his mother went to him, taking his shoulders and turning him to face her.
"Is that what this is about?" She swallowed. "Zane... why didn't you tell me?" He shrugged. "Oh sweetheart... I know, it's not fair that your dad left us and remarried, and that he had another family... it's not fair, I know. But we didn't have a choice. We're doing the best we can. Between... my performances and the teaching I'm doing, we're pretty well off, compared to others. But if I'd known... Zane..."
"I don't want to be like him."
"What do you mean?"
"Cold, heartless, who cares about no one but himself." His mother gave him a small smile.
"Oh Zane, you aren't like him. If anything, you're the exact opposite."
"But what if-"
"Now you listen to me, Matthew." She took his face in her hands and stared into his eyes. "When it comes right down to it, you need to look for inspiration. And when you don't have any, you need to look elsewhere. And when it comes to being reliable- well, you're dad wasn't, and isn't. You need to learn to rely on yourself. You rely on yourself, and you'll be just fine. Okay?"
He nodded. "Okay."
She smiled at him, reaching up to brush his hair out of his eyes.
Jo glanced at him, he was watching, lost in thought. "So that's why you were always a loner. Your dad abandoned you and your mom and started a new family, and you felt like you couldn't rely on anyone-"
"I still can't." He whispered, glancing down at his shoes. His head snapped up as she took his hand.
"You can rely on me. You know that, right?" She asked, slipping into his arms. He swallowed, nodding.
"Yeah, I know." He wrapped her in a hug, burying his face in her neck. He breathed in the scent of her hair, felt the silk of her skin, and pressed a firm kiss to her neck.
How- in the other timeline- had he ever let this beautiful woman go?
By the time they broke apart, the memory had faded, replaced with a new one. Jo heard her own voice, and she pulled away, turning to find herself walking the halls of The Point, a freshman on a tour with one of the sophomore cadets.
"So, are you... seeing anyone?" A fourteen-year-old Josefina stopped, turning to her superior officer. The question seemed to catch her off guard, and she took a deep breath.
"Um... uh... n... no. Why? Are you?" He shook his head.
"No."