hey peeps, as a little treat here's another chapter for ya'll
hope you all enjoy it and don't forget to drop a REVIEW
as a little recap from last chapter: Annie confronted Jon about his negligence and things got ugly
Jon woke up to find out that he spent the night sleeping on the kitchen floor, he could only assume that he passed out some time ago last night. The cans of beer scattered all over the floor informed him of the possible cause. He groaned when he remembered what he was drinking about last night, the haunting image of the brunette soared through his mind like an unpleasant plague. Of course he spent another night getting himself drunk to the point of passing out just to forget all about her. A part of him hated that damn woman. It's about time he got over her. But another part of him, the stupid part, still has that thriving desire for her. It craved to hear her voice again, to see her face, to smell her scent…
Rob approached the quiet man who sat across the ring, a frown decorated his face as he blankly stared at the ring where people currently trained. Sure, Rob had seen Jon angry over the little things in the past but never had he seen Jon so worked up over a woman, it amazed him, even Sami thought it was astounding. The beastly Jon who would laugh at his friends when their relationships don't work out and talk highly about love being non-existent was now caught under the spell too. Taking the empty seat next to Jon, Rob sat himself down and looked at Sami train with a group of other men in the ring, yelling out instructions and telling the group what they should do.
"I'm guessing she still hasn't cooled off?" Rob began as he turned his gaze back to the man next to him who sought comfort from his cigarette. Jon ignored his question and Rob perfectly knew that Jon is too damn proud to admit he's wrong, wrong about love and wrong about his opinion of the woman he tried to have. He found his match in the form of Annie and it's about time that a man like Jon, who could get his wishes easily, finds some damn hard challenge. "I'm guessing too that you haven't tried to see her and talk to her?"
"Fuck off Rob, stop sticking your nose in my business," grumbled Jon irritably.
Rob only chuckled in response, he saw that reaction coming from a mile away. Sometimes, it's Jon's pride that deprives him from allowing other people into his life. "He wants me to talk to you," Rob informed Jon as he looked over at Sami, "he's concerned that you haven't been yourself a lot lately after she dumped you-"
"Dumped me?" Jon repeated before bursting out in bitter laughter. "Dude, we were never together!" annoyed, he clarified, looking away from Sami in the ring to glare at Rob. "We never dated, never have and never will!" Now those words made Rob laugh this time.
"You two never dated yet you called her your girl?" amused, Rob reminded Jon, earning another glare his way. "Anyways, Sami thought that I can help you the most, after all, I have a lot of experience with women and unlike you, I have a lot of experience with women who aren't skanks, instead, I have experience with women like Annie and not women like that pornstar you slept with for a few times back in the day," Rob informed him. Jon's short patience was disintegrating but another part of him told him that Rob may be right. He hasn't involved himself with women like Annie in the past, instead, he was satisfied with the mere pleasures of one-night-stands and Annie is clearly not that type.
"What do you want me to do then, cupid? Enlighten me," muttered Jon under his breath.
"Well, for starters, maybe you should learn to admit it to yourself that you see the girl as more than just a fling," Rob started and when Jon sent a glare his way, he decided it's best not to anger the man any more than he already has. Clearing his throat, Rob wracked his mind for ideas. "If you want her to forgive you, the key, my friend, is romance. Bring her some flowers and chocolates, serenade her if you have to. Women have a weakness for everything romantic, it's the only way to stay on their good side, trust me…"
Annie rolled over the bed, her body was wrapped around the blanket, she could still smell the faint scent of Trina on the blanket which the woman made for her. She has been spending a lot of time lately in bed and Annie could only guess that one of the reasons for it was the fact that she has nothing to do. Lately, all that she'd been doing was hide in the house and wonder to herself whether she made the right decision when she pushed Jon away. A part of her claimed that her overreaction caused all this but another part of her told her she did the right thing, she'll be going nowhere with a man like Jon anyway. A man like Jon don't settle down, his life is all about having fun and enjoying only the pleasures of life.
The house was empty when Annie finally decided to leave the comfort of her room. A note left behind by her grandfather in the kitchen counter told her that he went out for the night with his friends. Somehow, she felt sad that she's all by herself for the second night in a row but another part of her felt glad because being by herself allowed her to think more deeply about things. While digging through the fridge for some left over foods to heat up for dinner, Annie was interrupted by the sound of a vehicle engine in the driveway. A couple of minutes later, she left the kitchen upon hearing a loud knock on the door. It's almost weird that her grandfather was returning so early from his night-out. However, to her great shock, it was a large bouquet of red roses that welcomed her, her face almost instantly turned sour upon seeing the person who held the bouquet.
"What do you want?" she chose her words carefully and pushed back the urge to leap into his arms and tell him that she missed him so damn much, from the underlying scent of tobacco that surrounded him to that cocky smile plastered on his face all the time. Annie had to bitterly remind herself of the reason why she's angry at him in the first place.
"That look on your face, I think you missed me a lot sunshine," his familiar raspy voice was laced with every bit of cockiness a human being could muster. "You know, I'm going to be kind enough to admit that it was my fault, I didn't took proper care of you back in the bar and I'm sorry, alright, princess? Are we good now?" Jon said, acting as if everything will all return back to normal the moment he apologised but Annie continued to frown. Noticing this, Jon shove the bouquet of roses in her hands to further demonstrate how sorry he was.
"Jon-"
"Hey, is it just me or you look even more blooming than the last time I saw you?" casually, he wondered out loud, his words caused the redness that crawled up her neck. Jon thought to himself that he may actually owe Rob something for such advice to charm the woman.
"Go home, Jon, you're wasting your time here," Annie destroyed Jon's thoughts that he may actually be succeeding in his attempts to return on her good books as advised by Rob. He frowned upon hearing her words, he kept it in his mind to beat Rob up to pulp when he sees him next.
"Annie, quit that will you! All this little mind games of yours, it's getting on my fucking nerves," since Rob's way didn't work, Jon decided to do his own way, the Jonathan Good way where everything always goes the way he wanted it to. "I admit it, I fucked up the other night, I was careless and I let you down but give me one more chance, I'll fucking show you the world, believe that," he told her, his blue eyes peered through her hazel orbs, almost hopeful that she'll finally stop with the hard to get act and forgive him.
"What exactly do you mean by saying you'll show me the world? Do you mean taking me out to the nearest seven-eleven for donuts and seducing me until I agree to have sex with you at the back of your car?" sarcastically, she exclaimed. Her words didn't impress Jon but irritated him further. This damn woman had been testing his patient a lot since their first encounter. Why can't she just be like every other woman that caught Jon's eyes, an easy whore available for just one night?
"No, how about you come along so that I prove you that your perception of me is wrong," he challenged but Jon didn't even wait for her response. He carried her, his action immediately surprised her and Annie's immediate struggles did very little to help her escape from his grasp. By the time Jon forced her inside her car, she gave up trying to escape and merely sat down with the torn bouquet of roses in her lap.
A few minutes later and Annie found herself listening to Jon sing along with the radio as it played 'Sweet Caroline'. He drove through the streets that led out of Annie's neighbourhood as she remained clueless regarding where he was taking her, hopefully not to another bar. She couldn't help the smile that crept between her lips as she listened to him sing, he can sing, in fact, he's quite an alright singer although she took notice of a few notes that were out of tune here and there but who was she to judge. By the time the song and Jon's singing session ended, he stopped his car in front of a diner, somehow, a wave of relief washed over Annie in delight that he didn't take her to another bar.
She followed him inside the diner, she was left with no choice but to because a protective arm was snaked around her. "Choose what you like," informed Jon, his dimples flashed as he looked down at her with a small smile on his face, captivating Annie, leaving her breathless from the sight of him. After a few minutes worth of waiting with Jon's right arm still around her while his left held the bag consisting of the food he purchased, they headed back to the car. Annie was now intrigued as she wondered to herself what he planned to do tonight. When he said show her the world, did he meant eat some shitty diner food in his car? She chuckled at the idea and refused to believe that it's what Jon has in store for tonight.
He drove the car further into the parts of town that Annie hasn't yet discovered while the radio murmured and informed them of some late night news. With the bag of warm food resting on her lap, Annie stared out the window and watched everything pass by like a blur as Jon drove someplace. Several minutes had passed with no words exchanged between them, it was when Jon stopped his car on the border that separated the town from the neighbouring town next door that he earned a curious look from Annie. "What are we doing here?" she asked him quietly as he drove his car away from the highway and towards the bumpy tracks that led to the open fields away from the main road. Jon didn't reply and it made Annie nervous. When he stopped his car a couple of minutes later, they were in an open grassy field.
"You're a nature girl, aren't you. Well, here you go, we're out here in the open, say hi to mother nature," there was mockery in Jon's tone as he reached for the bag of food on Annie lap. He took it swiftly and left the car, Annie watched him with a mixture of intrigue and irritation as he sat himself down on the warm hood of the car. "Are you going to get your ass out of the car or do I have to drag you out again?" he called out from outside impatiently and Annie found herself doing the former. It was the cool breeze that welcomed her as she approached Jon, here they were, in the outskirt of town hanging around in an abandoned land by the side of the road. However, from where they were, Annie couldn't hear the engines of the vehicles that would occasionally pass by from the main road, instead, all she could hear as she sat herself down next to Jon in the hood of the car was nothing but pure silence, not even the crickets were chirping at this late hour. The rustling of the plastic bag next to her earned Annie's attention as she turned to look at Jon. He dug through the bag, handing her the food she ordered and placing the food he ordered on his lap. They soon ate in silence and Annie liked it that way, she doesn't know what to say to Jon right now, let alone how to start up a conversation.
With her breath smelling like onion rings moments later, Annie felt satisfied after the big meal she had. While Jon sat in silence, Annie lazily lay back down on the hood of the car, staring up at the sky and admiring the dazzling diamond-like stars through the dark, navy blue colour of the sky. "It's beautiful isn't it?" Annie began, staring at the sky before her.
Jon smiled as he looked down at her. "Yeah, very beautiful," he replied but unlike what Annie assumed, he wasn't talking about the night sky. The car shifted under his weight when he followed her and noisily lay back down too, staring at the sky. All but his sense of sight was focused on her. "I heard you have a bucket list," he began, the sudden urge to know more about this woman took over the feeling of irritation that earlier in the week he was feeling towards her after her little tantrum in the gym. Annie turned to look at Jon, a sweet smile decorated her pretty face. Gently, her soft fingers trailed over his arm, the skin to skin contact sent an unfamiliar electric shock-like spark to both of them.
"Life's too short, everyone should have one," heartily, she responded. "You know Jon, I think our paths were destined to cross. It was kismet that brought us together. Do you think that it means something?" her gentle voice tantalised him but the meaning of her words frightened Jon. What was she trying to imply? "I've travelled a lot over the years Jon, people in my family would call me a wanderer who cannot find her place of belonging. I've met a lot of people throughout those years, I met a lot of friends and left them behind as my need for an adventure consumed me but to be honest Jon, you're the first one I've encountered who made me realise how lonely my life really is,' Annie told him softly and a hint of confusion crossed Jon's blue eyes when she broke their eye contact once she sat up. His gaze followed her as she got off the hood of the car and began walking back inside.
"What do you mean?" getting up too, he followed her. Somehow, he was starting to realise that this woman is so full of mysteries, so full of secrets that he felt curious to learn all about them.
"Oh come on Jon," chuckling with pretence happiness, she exclaimed. "I lived a boring life even if I've been to places that many people could only dream of to satisfy my desire to explore. I avoided the pleasures of life all these years, I don't drink for recreational purposes, I don't smoke to relieve my mind of the stress, I don't mingle with people for the purpose of getting all the benefits that their friendship could provide me, I allow people to use me as their stepping stone to gain what they want instead, I don't party to throw my troubles away and I haven't let a man into my life in fear that we'd both walk away hurt-"
"Then let me be the one to change that Annie," cutting her off, Jon interrupted, brows furrowed as he attempted to understand what was going on in that mind of hers. She is really one of a kind. Jon hasn't encountered a woman in his life so full of mysteries that it left him curious and intrigued.
"Are you saying that because you want to bed me or because you genuinely care for me?" she threw him that question, a question that caught him off guard and a question which he wanted to deprive her of the right answer. Groaning to himself, Jon held her shoulders with his hands tightly, holding her suspended. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, not knowing what to say or how to say the million things that raced in his mind. Blue eyes gazing down at her waiting hazel eyes, Jon lowered his head, allowing his hungry lips to meet hers. Under the moonlit sky, he kissed her with more passion than lust. He tasted her intoxicating taste as she held onto him weakly.
"Whatever you did to me Annie, it's enough for me to admit it to you that I care for you," he whispered against her lips when he pulled away, finally realising what he wanted to tell her.
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