Assuming Kim.
After my little shopping venture, I decided it was time to leave Westborough and head back to the hotel. An attempted mugging is enough for one day.
As I walk into my hotel, my shopping bag in hand, I realize I feel pretty fucking bored. And maybe just a little lonely...
Poolside with a book (yeah, I read) after dinner doesn't sound bad. Where to go though... Nah, I'm just playing. I'm going to have Jack cook for me two days in a row.
I could walk the two blocks, but in case you didn't know, Michigan is cold in December! I'm not a fan of cold.
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I'm not even standing at the Please Wait to Be Seated Sign for three minutes before a girl of maybe sixteen or seventeen approaches me.
"Table for..." the girl stops and stares, unmoving. That didn't take long. "You're Kim Crawford!" The girl whispers/shouts. She's excited but probably knows not to make a scene for me.
"Table for one please?" I smile at the shocked girl
"Uh, yeah, of course." She breaks out of stupor and brings me to a small table with a window view overlooking a picture perfect river. With the snow all around and the old but still active buildings, it looks like a Christmas card. "I'll be right back with a menu and water." The brunette smiles wide and is gone in a flash.
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Assuming Jack
I say this at least ten times a year, but this has to be the slowest day ever. We've had five tables in three hours. If we don't get some business, I may have to fight my friend Jerry just for something to do. He's the only dishwasher I know with a brown belt in karate.
I pick up a pick pickle between my index and middle finger, ready to throw it at Jerry when Sam the waitress runs in.
"Oh my God, guys! Oh my god oh my god oh my god!" Sam can't control herself.
"Sam, it's okay. Breathe. Breathe. I'll get you a cup of ice." Sam's anxiety is nearly as bad as mine. If one or the other of us has an attack, we'll sit down together with a cup of ice cubes and just munch and suck on em'. I don't know why it helps, but it does.
"I'm not having an anxiety attack, but I appreciate your concern." Sam smiles. If she was older, I think we would have a thing going by now. Her body is NOT sixteen.
"So what's the big deal?" Jerry asks, not at all concerned anymore.
"What's the big deal? WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL!?" She's doing her best not to squeal. "Kim Crawford is in our restaurant!"
"Who?" Jerry asks, completely unaware.
I put my head down and grab a handful of mushrooms already sliced. Just to pretend I'm doing something, I start dicing the shit out of them.
"She's only the greatest singer/actress ever!" Sam rolls her eyes. "How do you guys not know her?!" Sam sounds oddly pissed.
"Because we're twenty year old straight men?" Jerry offers like that's all we need. This is getting a little awkward.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go take a piss."
"Urgh. TMI Jack!" Sam goes one way and I go the other.
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Assuming Kim
Sam comes back with a menu and a glass in one hand, a water craf in the other. "If there's anything you need, please let me know." This girl's face has to hurt with the size of her smile.
She keeps standing there, smiling. I'm getting a little creeped out right now. I look around and I'm the only one here. "Slow night?" I ask, hoping some conversation will ease the awkwardness.
"SO dead!" the waitress exclaims. Friday is the only night we get really good business with the lack of snow we have now. We're usually packed with snowmobilers right now."
My eyes dart around and the awkwardness is back. "Would you like to take a seat?" I offer, pointing to the chair across from me.
"I would love to, but I probably shouldn't." she replied.
"Nobody's in here and there's four cars in the parking lot. I think you can take a load off for five minutes." I smile and she gives in. She's kind of awkward, but I have to give her that she's really pretty. I love that fiery red Irish hair.
"So what do you recommend?" I ask as I open the menu. "It all sounds really good." I can honestly say it does as my eyes scan the options.
"Oh, it's all good. Jack is a great cook." she says with emphasis and an eye roll. "I'd never tell him this, but he's SO HOT." Agreed kid, agreed.
I smile at her and ask, "So what's your name? You never told me when I came in."
"Oh, sorry! I'm Sam." Sam smiles and waves. "I can't believe I'm talking to Kim Crawford! This is really cool!" Sam whispers.
"So I'm thinking about dinner, but I'm not sure what I want. What's the special?"
"Hold on one second." Sam turns her head and shouts "JACK! WHAT'S THE SPECIAL!?"
I can't help but laugh aloud at this. I love this girl already.
"DON'T KNOW! HAVEN'T NEEDED ONE!" Jack shouts back. Are they always like this, or did Sam tell the staff I was here? "TELL HER I'LL MAKE WHATEVER SHE WANTS AND I'LL PRICE IT FROM THERE!" This is too funny.
Sam looks at me, expecting me to make up my own dish. My diet has been spot on, and I haven't had a cheat day in a while.
"I'll do the five cheese garlic bread, but with a burger on it?" I ask hopefully, a tight smile with my teeth clamped together. Sam is gonna judge me so hard.
"JACK!" Sam shouts.
"SAM!" Jack replies. They sound like an old married couple.
"GARLIC BURGER ON KAISER!"
"SHE TOO CHICKEN TO DO IT ON FRENCH?" What?"
"Do you want a single six ounce or two six ounce burgers?" Sam asks.
"I can do that?"
"Yeah. That's one of Jack's favorites." Sam smiles. "AND DON'T TALK TO KIM LIKE THAT!" So Jack hasn't told her we know each other.
"I'll totally go two burgers. I'll burn it off." I say with a small smile.
"GARLIC ON FRENCH! SHE'LL BURN IT OFF!"
"YEAH SHE WILL!" I feel like flames are scorching my face right now, I'm blushing so hard.
Before I can retort I hear a loud "WOOOO!" Was that Jack?!
"That was Jerry." Sam says as if she read my mind.
"Who's Jerry?" I ask.
"Jerry is our dishwasher tonight and Jack's vest friend." Sam answers. "He's pretty dense, but we love him." Is everyone in Northborough awesome? Besides that gas station attendant. He must of been from Westborough.
In seemingly no time at all, Jack shouts, "ORDER!" Sam jumps up and rushes off. She's getting a nice tip.
While Sam's gone, I see movement out of the corner of my eye. There's Rudy B-lining straight for me.
"Rudy, how'd you find me?" I ask suspiciously.
"I didn't turn on the tracker in your cellphone or anything." Rudy looks everywhere but at me.
"How'd you get here so fast?" Rudy never ceases to surprise me. Yes, surprise. Not amaze.
"I was visiting my mother a couple hours away." Rudy's mom lives in Michigan. Rudy looks around. "I love this place!" Rudy leans across the table and plucks my menu.
"You know this place?"
"Yeah, I used to own it before I went into managing and security.
"You owned it?!" What are the chances?
Sam comes back with my order and looks at Rudy. I can tell she's trying not to look hurt at losing her seat. She looks from me to Rudy, then back to Rudy. This guy bugging you? her eyes seem to ask.
"Sam, this is my manager and head of security, Rudy."
Rudy turns in his chair and smiles. "Hi Sam." Rudy offers her a hand. "Can I get a full rack of ribs and a basket of cheddar nuggets?" Rudy does know this place. "Put it on her bill." I glare at him, but I literally sign his paychecks anyway.
"Uh, sure." Sam turns and instead of leaving, shouts, "JACK! FULL RACK OF RIBS AND A BASKET OF NUGS!"
"GOT IT!" Jack shouts back. "SHE NEED THAT TO GO?" Ha! He thinks that's for me, too.
"IT'S FOR HER MANAGER, RUDY!"
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Assuming Jack
Did she just... nope. Can't be. But that's his order.
"SHORT DUDE WITH HAIR THAT'S MORE IN STYLE THAN HE US?" I yell. We've been communicating like this since Kim showed up. Kim probably asked her to join her. Maybe Kim is legitimately a great person and not stringing me on because she thinks it's funny.
There's hesitation before I get a "YEAH!" back. Me and Jerry both look at each other with wide eyes.
"RUDY!" We both shout as we drop what we're doing and run to the dining area. We stop on our heels and there he is sitting with Kim. She's still gorgeous and Rudy hasn't changed since last time I saw him two years ago.
Rudy must of heard us, because twists in his chair and beams right at us. He gets up and we run at each other, meeting for a group hug. "You're both still here?" Rudy asks un shock. "I feel like it's been forever!"
"How have you been?" Jerry asks, squeezing us both half to death.
"Been busy, guys, been busy." Rudy answers. We let go of each other and we all have the same stupid grin. You know what comes next! Three handshake from Kung Fu Cop '77!
Our focus is broken by Kim's burst of laughter. We all stop and shuffle awkwardly, scratching the back of our necks. Then Rudy starts scratching the back of my neck too... what the fuck?
I slap his hand away and I turn to Kim, then Rudy. "H, how?" I'm shocked. Rudy is Kim's manager?!
"Remember that business I started and sold this place and the dojo for?" Rudy asks, turning to us.
"Yeah.." It all comes back to me.
"Guess who picked me up." He motions to Kim, who looks confused, happy and maybe guilty? How can she do that in one expression?
"I saw an advertisement. I was just starting out and so was he. He chanced on each other and it worked." Kim's face turns to a smile and she shrugs.
"I saw the YouTube video of you and Kim doing karaoke and I had to come see you!" Rudy says, still high from our reunion. "You two both look good. Still doing karate?"
"You know it!" Jerry answers with a smile.
"So let me get this straight. Rudy was your boss and sensei?" Kim puts the puzzle together.
"Yeah. Jack was my best student, and he's a hell of a cook. Taught him everything he knows." Rudy beams. "Damn near adopted him when he ran away from home." Why did he have to say that?
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Assuming Kim
Jack ran away from home?! How long has he been fending for himself? "It's not like that." Jack shakes his head. "I'm the kitchen's baby boy. That kitchen was my first job. I started there not two months after I turned seventeen." My jaw would have dropped if it wasn't stuffed with Jack's cooking.
"There's a YouTube video of us singing. Karaoke?" Jack drops his head in his hands, trying to change the subject. That's great for now, but I think I want to talk to him about this.
The guys keep talking about old times and catching up while Sam sits back down next to me. "So how do you know Jack?" Sam asks, her voicing holding... bitterness?
"We ran into each other..." how I explain this while leaving out the part where I was taken by surprise and almost raped? "We ran into each other at a gas station." There we go. "We talked a little bit and he's cool, so we've hung out a few times." I say with a smile, but now she looks murderous. Oh my God, she's obsessed with Jack!
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The five if us spent the rest of the shift just talking and hanging out, getting broken up a couple of times by straggling diners, no more than fifteen in the three hours we were there.
10:00 rolled around and with how slow it us, Jack was all closed up and ready to go at 10:05. We said our goodbyes and promised we'd all do something tomorrow, Sam invited.
I'm sitting in my Jeep checking my phone when I look up to see Jack standing under the canopy of the restaurant. He looks like an abandoned puppy, standing there looking into the frozen rain! The wind is blowing the rain and I can see it soaking through his jacket. I'm not letting him walk a mile in this.
I pull right up to the canopy. I roll down the window and tell him, "Get in loser, we're going shopping."
Jack responds with "Oh my God, that is so fetch!" in his best Valley Girl. I throw my head back and laugh as he jumps in. Jack Brewer gets Mean Girls references! "What's up?" Jack asks, his voice going back to it's normal tone.
"I thought you could use a lift." I shrug, no big deal.
"I've walked in worse." Jack really doesn't like handouts or anyone offering him a hand.
"Why are you so stubborn?"
Jack chuckles and runs a hand through his damp hair. "That's just how I was raised. Accepting help meant you couldn't do it yourself."
"Is that why you didn't let Rudy adopt you when you ran away?" I ask, my voice hushing without me thinking about it.
"I love Rudy, but he talks too much." Jack chuckles again. I've noticed this is his habit when talking about something he hates.
"Where you ever going to tell me?"
"Wasn't planning on it." At least he's honest.
"Jack..." I try but he cuts me off.
"I don't need sympathy, Kim. It's great knowing you, but I don't need you to baby me, and I don't need your wallet."
"I wasn't..."
"Yeah. You were." Jack's eyes close and he breathes deeply. He is he like this?
"Can I please just..."
"You can be my friend, but that's all I need. Can we go back to where we were before you thought I was Oliver Twist?"
"No we can't. I can't do what I do while knowing you're exhausted and breaking." My voice cracks. I hate sounding like this, but Jack is just so... URGH!
"Who the fuck says I'm breaking?" Jack's fuming and for the first time he raises his voice.
"I can see it, Jack!" I shout back. "You're working hard and often, you're independent and you're putting yourself through college. There's no way you're not tired." I said softer.
"Don't pretend you know what I've been through, what I am fighting. I'm not going to assume you were born rich, but have you ever been so close to homeless that the only net you had was Jerry's couch? If I'm breaking, I fucking deserve it!" Jack shouts and pounds the dash board.
I jump when the airbag goes off in his face.
"Just take me home, please." Jack mumbles as the bag deflates.
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Assuming Jack
The ride home is dead quiet, and really tense. I just blew up all over Kim Crawford. I set of her fucking airbags! That was an honest accident.
"Are you mad at me?" Kim asks as she pulls up in front of my house. She's biting her lower lip and staring right into my eyes.
"I'm not mad at you, Kim. I'm... I'm mad that I'm the way I am. I hate even talking about it." I admit. Her face softens and so do I. "Really, I'm not mad." I assure her, patting her knee once.
"Good. I didn't want to make you mad, Jack."
"I know, Kim. You honestly care about me, and that's sweet. You just have to..." How do I tell her I'm not used to someone honestly caring about me when they don't have to? "Just give me time to adjust." That was lame.
"Okay." Kim smiles lightly. "Good night, Jack." Before I can react, Kim leans over and kisses my cheek.
When did THIS become my life?
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My phone goes off, causing me to pause Mass Effect 3. I don't play a lot of games because I don't get a lot of free time. I'm not even that poor, to be honest. Kim was right in that I work hard and often. I pay my way and I occasionally buy myself a little something. After I saved my first $1,000 I decided I deserved a used X-Box.
I open my phone and check my messages to see it's from Kim. Down for swimming?
You know it's midnight, right?
I paid the front desk guy to unlock the poor for us.
How much?
If I tell you, you won't come.
Fine. I'll be ready by the time you get here.
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I'm sitting on Kim's bed in my trunks and a Bobby Wasabi t-shirt. Kim comes out of the bathroom. Sweet baby J. Don't stare don't 's wearing a neon green bikini top and floral print bottoms. Her body is just… mmph.
"You ready?" Kim smiles and bites her bottom lip in that way that drives me nuts, she's turning side to side and fiddling with her hands. Why does she seem nervous? She has NOTHING to be nervous about.
"Yeah." I smile back, keeping my eyes locked on hers. Thank God she has a really pretty face because if she didn't I wouldn't be able to not keep my eyes trained on her figure. Everything about this girl is perfect.
We start for the pool with towels in hand. "So what made you think of this impromptu swim session?" I ask, keeping my eyes forward.
Kim shrugs one shoulder and tries to keep a disinterested face. "I was bored and thought you may be. You don't have to work till 11:00 this morning, so I thought we could hang out."
We get into the pool area, and as Kim promised, we're the only ones in sight. I tug my shirt off and turn around to see Kim's beautiful brown eyes glued to my torso. She could have at least tried not to stare like I had.
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Assuming Kim
As soon as he get into the pool area, Jack tugs tugs his shirt off, and I followed it's path all the way up. As I had already seen once, this guy is unreal. Fuck not staring. I knew he tried not to stare at me, but as Jack once said, 'What do I have to lose?'
"Kim." Jack says.
"Hmm?" I ask as I raise my eyes to meet him. He's pointing at his eyes with a knowing smirk. Asshole. I can play his game. Without a word, I turn and stand at the edge of the pool. I turn to look over my shoulder at him with the sexiest grin I can muster. I turn back to the pool and dive in with my best mermaid impression.
After a moment, I'm aware he hasn't came in after me. I surface where I had entered. I run my hands through my hair like the girls on TV do and I look t him with my playful smile again. "Not coming in Jack?" I pout. Jack quickly looks down at himself and dives in, clearly crashing into me. I didn't look down when he did, but I know what my little game had done to him.
While I think about my mind (and body) games, I make the mistake of losing Jack. It feels like some kind of weird Jaws remake in here. The guy's from Michigan, the Great Lakes State. Of course he can swim like a fish. I before I have time to get out of the water, I feel strong hands grab my side and I shriek as I'm lifted out of the water and thrown back in with a suplex.
I come back up to see Jack laughing his ass off. His eyes grow wide in the realization that my cheeks are puffed with water before I slap them with both hands to soak Jack's face. I turn and swim away to exit at the pool at the side nearest the hot tub.
As I lift myself out of the pool, I feel his eyes on my butt as if they were heat rays. I try not to, but I shiver under his gaze.
I walk to the hot tub and step in, slowly enjoying my tease work. "are you staying in there all night, Jack?" I try to keep my voice even.
"Yeah, pretty much." He says like it's a no brainer. He could just walk over here backwards…
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Assuming Jack
Here I am, standing up to my chest in a pool waiting till my hard on goes away so I can join Kim Crawford in the hot tub during our midnight pool rendezvous. Four days ago I would have laughed if someone would have told me I was going to be here.
"Jaaack!" Kim calls impatiently.
"My leg cramped." I lied. Kim's lucky. She can hide a lot better than I can in these situations. She doesn't have a six to seven inch problem. Yes I'm guessing. What kind of ego freak actually checks that, right?
"Just get in here, you big baby." Kim challenges me.
"Babies don't have this kind of problem!" I shout back.
Kim rolls her eyes. "I don't even care Jack. You're a guy, it happens." She just doesn't get it.
"Yes, it happens, but I'm staying in here."
"You really are stubborn." she giggles. She's enjoying this way too much. "I'm not going to think of you any less because you think I'm hot."
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Assuming Kim
"That's understatement of the week." Jack mumbles as he finally gets out of the pool in all of his shame… but at the same time all of his glory. Oh my…
I don't have much time to, as much as I hate to admit it, ogle. He sprinted into the hot tub. If he wasn't a black belt, he probably would have slipped and broken something.
After a minute of silence I found all too funny and Jack probably found awkward, Jack composes himself and breaks the silence. "Why am I actually here, Kim?" He doesn't sound pissed, but he knows I asked him down for a reason.
I sigh and bite my lip before giving in. I did notice him scoot closer just a little… "I couldn't let the night end the way it would have."
"I told you I wasn't mad." Jack said plainly. "We're good, Kim." He chuckles now and there's actual laughter in it, not the usual self depreciation behind it.
"Also," I start again, "I know I can't stay here forever. And I really like you…" I bite my lip and I can't look in his eyes. I've made the mistake of getting close to those eyes.
"Yeah, I'll miss you too." Jack admits and runs a hand through his water plastered hair. God… "When do you leave?"
"Tuesday morning." I can't stop the sadness in my voice, as much as I hate it.
Jack is right next to me, our legs brushing against each other. He puts his arm around me without permission, but I'm more than okay with it. I curl myself into his strong side and rest my head on his muscled shoulder. Every part of him is chiseled and perfect. Jack Brewer is a work of art.
"I think I can afford to call in sick to work and my classes tomorrow." Jack whispers into my hair.
"Jack, you don't have... " He cuts me off.
"Nope. I want to. I'm gonna." He smiles and our faces have never been closer. We're inching ever nearer. I can feel his breath on my face and he smells like the orange Tic Tacs he probably popped before I picked him up. By the heat in his eyes, I'm guessing he can smell the mint of my toothpaste I had used just after he said he'd go swimming.
"Maybe, maybe we shouldn't, Kim." Jack's voice was shaky and I KNOW he wants to kiss me. He wants to SO bad.
"Why not?" I challenge, my voice no stronger than his.
"Because I'm going to be stuck with this burning memory when you leave." Oh…
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I've got to stop listening to He Is We when I write...