Onto the next chapter! I'm going to try and do a mixture of sweet moments and moments with drama...because its coming up soon...review please!
Jake felt relief when he ran. A burst of energy and being out in the open. He missed it. Running was usually part of his daily routine before the Cordon. The air was fresh and unlike at the gym, the scenery changed. He was playing Katie's iPod she had lent him. Not exactly his choice in music and he chuckled at the many Glee covers she had. Much to his annoyance, he actually liked a few of them.
He turned the corner of Katie's road after running close to 10 miles. His heart beating fast and his adrenaline up. He saw the neighbours out, some mowing their lawns and others getting into cars. He put his head down but someone had already noticed him and flagged him down. He couldn't appear rude, so waved and nodded. The man seem to want start up a conversation. He was middle aged, below average height and quite large. Jake stopped, out of breath and pulled his earbuds out.
"Hi there!" the gentleman said quite enthusiastically approaching him on his front lawn.
"Er hi" Jake smiled. He wasn't sure what this man wanted and it automatically got his back up. His home appeared to be diagonally across from Katie's.
"Oh sorry, i'm Hector White" and he put out his hand.
Jake shook it, "Hi Hector im-" shit. What was he going to say? "-Jake Middlemass" God where did that come from?
"Ahh Middlemass... Scottish heritage?" Jake frown. Shit. This is where his cop instinct should kick in.
"Er could be. Neither of my parents were. But its a possibility-"
"-I can help you out on that. Quite a historian and family history buff!" ok he needed to wrap this up. Hector looked to Jake and he wanted to let him down gently and walk away, however, out the corner of his eye he spotted Katie coming out of the house and collecting the paper off of the porch. He wondered if she knew-
"Hector!" she said with Glee and ran over the road, paper in hand. She reached them and surprisingly Katie gave Hector a warm hug.
"Well Miss Katie where have you been?" he asked, with a surprised look, "i got really worried for a while there. Thought you and the little one had got trapped in that horrible Cordon"
Katie looked at Jake from the corner of her eye but quickly answered, "Oh me and Quentin took a last minute trip to visit my old friend in West Virginia" that was good enough, surely he wouldn't question that?
"Didn't see your Mom then?" Hector asked and Jake raised his eyebrows. What the hell kinda question was that? But Jake waited, not interrupting.
Katie shook her head, "No. Not sure we would be too welcome as you know" she looked sad, but wiped it away, "but hey, anything new with you?"
Hector shrugged, "Oh you know me Katie. Always the same" he looked to Jake, "but i think there's something new you need to tell me about huh?" a laugh came from him. Jake really wasn't sure about him.
"Yeah erm this is Jake-"
"Its ok Katie, we've already been introduced" he looked to Hector who stole a glance at Katie and then Jake moved closer to Katie, she looked at him and obviously wondered why he interrupted her, "well sorry to cut this reunion short Hector but im taking the lady out this afternoon, so we need to get ready"
Katie nodded assuredly, but obviously didn't know what he meant. Hector now took the hint, "No problem. See you folks around!" and turned around with his paper and went back into his house.
Jake sniffed and watched him go before turning back to Katie, "He ever asks again i'm Jake Middemass ok?"
Katie snorted, "Middlemass? Where did you pluck that one from?"
Jake shook his head, "No idea. Look-" he took her hand and they walked back over the street to the house, "you seem 'chummy' with that guy. Whats his deal?"
Katie raised her eyebrows, "Whats his deal?" she was obviously confused.
"Well for starters him insensitively asking you about your Mom. He obviously knows about it-"
"-Jake stop right there" she leaned towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him, "Hector is a lovely man, has lived here all his life. Hes a gentle and kind to me and Quentin. Trust me. Sometimes he asks questions other people might not. Hes not great socially. So i give him the benefit of the doubt, and so should you. To be honest i think he as some problems...you know learning difficulties. I'm one of the few people that make an effort with him" she leaned up and kissed his chin, "baby i know its hard. But you've got to try and be less paranoid"
Jake couldn't believe it. He was being such and idiot, "I'm sorry Katie" he shook his head, "after the Cordon my back has been up as i had to question everyone's motives in there. I guess its just hard to get out of that routine"
Katie nodded and placed her cheek against his chest, "I know" she whispered, "it will take time"
He knew it would. It was natural for him to be defensive due to the line of work he was in, but being in that Cordon changed him in many ways. This one wasn't one of the good ways. He looked down at Katie kissed her hair and smiled, "I'm surprised your still hugging me. I stink"
"Oh sweetie i've been breathing through my mouth this whole time" she giggled and pulled away, "and after that hug i feel i'm covered in your sweat too"
Jake raised his eyebrows, "Shower?"
Katie put out her hand and he grabbed it instantly, "Shower" she agreed.
