“Oh yes. My best friend, Natalie, and I eat here at least once a week. Don’t worry about ordering, I've got a feeling I know exactly what you’d like.”
I felt relieved. I could hardly believe I was sitting across the table from Mollie. She tossed her wavy hair so sexily behind her shoulders and placed our order with the server. While we chatted about anything and everything, I had to wonder why she was here with me. I guess only time would tell, but in the meantime, I'd listen to what she had to say and decide if I believed it.
“So, you never really told me why you came by my place.”
“I'm a nurse, I just wanted to make sure you were alright, Jack. Like I said, I didn’t get to say goodbye.” She sipped on her iced tea and avoided eye contact.
“So, do you visit all your patients at home? What kind of nurse does that?” I chuckled, still suspicious. Could she really have just stopped by because she was a nice girl? The girls I knew would never do that.
“I don’t know if you remember or not, but I was there when you crashed. I thought you were dead, Jack. I think you’re a walking miracle and I guess I want to be sure you’re taking care of yourself. I don’t know your story, but you definitely got a second chance at life that day.” Memories of beautiful Mollie, leaning over me and saying my name over and over again, flashed in my head. I guessed it did actually happen. It wasn’t just a dream.
“Yeah, I remember pieces of it. I remember you being there, and I remember being pushed on a stretcher into the ambulance, but before and after that is just a blur. Were you there when I got to the hospital?”
“Yes, I was there.” She watched me intently, her voice soft and reflective. “I stayed until I had to go to work. You were in bad shape, but I guess you know that. How are you feeling now?”
Suddenly, I felt an urge to kiss her, but I knew that would be inappropriate so I just reached across the table and held her hand. “Thank you for taking care of me. I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t been there.” She put her hand on top of mine and squeezed. “And really, I’m fine. It’d take more than some stupid car wreck to take me out. Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome, Jack. I’m really glad I was there.” Her beautiful smile made my cock stir, but I mentally coaxed myself to behave. I didn’t want to think of her like that, but my dick trying to burst out of my pants had its own ideas.
Our server came back with trays of food, and after a few minutes of struggling with the tightness in my pants and the chopsticks, I finally got my first bite of real sushi. Now I knew what all the fuss was about. “This is delicious. It’s the first time I’ve ever had the real stuff.”
“I thought you said—”
“Wow, this is really good,” I answered, stuffing another bite into my mouth.
“Is this your first time eating sushi?”
“Yes…and no. I had a bad experience with sushi before, but this is really good, and I’m not going into details,” I laughed.
“Okay, no deets,” and my heart pounded when I heard her laugh. It was real laughter, she was real, and so very different from what I was used to. We talked about random things such as music, movies and oddly enough, books. We liked a lot of the same things including a fondness for 90s music and graphic novels. I guess, being a nurse, she wasn’t squeamish about the blood and guts associated with a zombie apocalypse.
After our meal was over, I was anxious to spend more time with her, but there was no way I was inviting her back to my house, and going back to her home was definitely not going to happen—not with her father there. I suggested that we go to Emerald Park, which was only a few miles away. The park was fairly new and not one I'd been to before. When we got there, we claimed two swings like a couple of kids but I wasn’t embarrassed at all and even though my shoulder hurt like crazy, I didn’t want her to know I was in pain. No sense in acting like a crybaby. “So, once you graduate, what type of nursing are you going to be practicing? I hear traveling nurses make good money. Have you ever thought of that? Get the heck out of this town. That’s what I’d do.”
“I’m going into pediatrics. I love kids and if I can help a kid get better, well that’s a good day, so I probably won’t be going anywhere.” I admired her commitment to children as I had a soft spot for the kids on my own street, but unlike her, I didn’t have to watch them die.
“It takes a special kind of person to help sick kids. I don’t know if I could do it. Not everyone can handle that.”
“Yeah, I’m working on that. My nursing instructors think I’m too soft, but that’s just what they think. I know sometimes a happy ending isn’t possible, but I can’t be cold and distant just to protect myself. I’m told that it will happen eventually—the coldness, I mean, but I don’t want it to. I want to always care. Do you think that’s possible?” She pushed her shoes into the sand below her, making her swing spin a little. She stopped to stare at me.
“I—uhm—I don’t know. I guess it is. I mean— I gave up caring a long time ago. What I’d like to know is, once you quit caring, can you find your way back? Can you change your destiny?” Randomly, I thought about the offer from Stockton that could change my life. “You know, I don't remember if I told you this before, but I got an offer from Stockton to race professionally.”
“You did? That’s wonderful!”
She was so happy, so upbeat. I wanted to kiss her right there. How could someone with so much love be here in the park with me? I didn’t want to be a downer, but I continued on, “Well, I thought racing was my destiny, but to be honest, I’m afraid to even call them back. The accident, drug tests and being laid up in the hospital may have killed my chances with them.” I sighed. The great Jack Fitzgerald was a fucking coward, too afraid to make a phone call.
“You should just call them. At least see what they have to say. It couldn’t hurt.”
I grinned at the beautiful girl beside me and wanted to change the subject. “Yeah, well—tomorrow. So what do you think? Do you think you can handle being a nurse with all those sick kiddos? People can only tell you what they think but only you know how strong you are.” I ran my hand through my messy hair. I couldn’t even imagine what it looked like and apparently, Mollie didn’t care either.
“What do you think? Do you think I’m strong?”
“Hell, yeah. You’re strong.” I suddenly felt embarrassed that I'd sworn at her. “I mean, yes, I think you’re strong. You were strong enough to help me and going to nursing school for almost four years has to take some strength, so I’d say, yes.”
“Thanks, that means a lot. I wish—well, never mind. Thanks.” Mollie blushed and twisted a loose strand of hair with her finger. I didn’t push her into talking. I wasn’t like that. I knew the value of keeping my mouth shut.
That was a painful lesson I’d learned over the years.
Chapter Nine — Mollie
The butterflies in my stomach were in full flight today. Just looking at Jack gave me goose bumps and I’d hoped he would have kissed me again by now. Dang! As we hung out on the swings, our fingers brushed and the electricity that ran through me was undeniable. When he’d touched my hand at the restaurant, I thought I’d have to change my panties and the last time we went out before the accident, he’d kissed me like a god. No man had ever done that to me before. No one. I’m not that easy to please so how could someone so very wrong for me feel so right? Soul mate?
As we sat on the swings, we talked about a whole lot of things. His life, my life. There was so much more to Jack Fitzgerald than I’d previously thought. “What about the drugs, Jack?” I asked, and he answered me with what I thought was sincerity.
“Mollie,” he said, looking at me then looking down again, then back at me. “You know how they say people learn what they live?”
“What do you mean?” Now he piqued my curiosity. I’d love to know what he’d lived. I mean, I‘d heard it from the doctor, but to hear it from Jack himself would be a different matter. That wouldn’t be gossip or hearsay.
> He slid off his swing. “You want to go for a walk?”
“Sure,” I said, as I jumped off the swing. “But what do you mean, people learn what they live?”
“I mean like you, for example. You’ve lived a high and mighty life and don’t take me wrong, I’m not criticizing that, but you don’t know what it’s like in the ghetto.”
“Yes I do!” I snapped back. “Remember, I work at the clinic in the heart of it.” He had some nerve to tell me about my high and mighty life!
“Yes, you do, but you get to go home at night in your BMW, to a very nice part of town, no doubt. The Village is my home. What I mean is…you live in a world I can’t even fathom, because I don’t know it. I’ve never lived in that world where food is always in the house, or the electricity comes on every time you flip a switch. I don’t know what you people do when the sun goes down. I don’t—”
“You people? What do you mean by that?” His words irritated me and I was starting to regret going out to dinner with him. Maybe he wasn’t right for me.
“I mean—oh, just forget it,” then he took my arm, swung me around and the next thing I knew, his rough hands were on my face, cradling it tenderly. He looked deep into my eyes and I didn’t resist. Suddenly, his warm lips were on mine and my arms curled around him, pulling him even closer to me—I didn’t think about it. I just sucked in his hot breath, the butterflies in my stomach fluttered once more and my knees went weak. God, his lips were so soft and hungry. “Oh, Jack,” I said, as we parted for a second to take a breath. He pulled away, breathing hard, then he pulled me against his warm body and kissed me again.
This time, it was more intense as his tongue danced in my mouth and his arms wrapped tightly around me. I couldn’t stop, and I didn’t want to stop. No man had ever made me feel so beautiful, so special, so wanted as Jack Fitzgerald had in that moment. All of the hurt and confusion melted away in that kiss.
He broke away, panting and cupped my cheeks as I looked into his bright, blue eyes. He said, “Mollie, I don’t know if we can ever be together, but I think about you all the time.” He swept a lock of hair from my face with his fingers, “And I know you’re too good for me, and it’s not like anything I’ve ever felt before.”
His eyes sparkled with hope. Or was that the moon reflecting in them? Time had passed so quickly and I realized it was already dark. “Jack, I—I don’t know what to say—” I wanted to tell him I felt the same way, but his drug use played on my mind and held me back. My heart told me yes, but my head kept telling me to run far, far away from him.
“We’d better get going,” I said as I looked up at him. I hadn’t realized how tall he was until that moment. He towered over me.
We walked back to the car, he opened my door then paused. The open door alarm dinged quietly in the background and made the moment seem more dramatic than it really was. “You know, Mollie, maybe this was a mistake. I’m really not a nice guy. I like you a lot, but I guess you’ve gathered that I’m kind of a mess.”
I interrupted before he started giving me any more reasons why I shouldn’t see him again and I remembered what Natalie’s Grammy said about Grandpa being a bad boy. See past the rough and tough and you’ll be able to tell his heart. If he’s got a good heart, he’s a keeper. “When you like someone, you just go with it. You don’t need to analyze it. You just go.” I couldn’t believe I was saying that to him. “And for the record, I like you, too. A lot.”
He looked straight into my eyes, maybe to check that I wasn’t kidding, and then he gave me an easy smile and climbed into the car. We talked some more on the ride back to his house and although we weren’t far away, the time just flew. He asked me to drop him off a few houses down and I obliged without question, as I knew he was embarrassed about his mom’s behavior, and maybe I was more embarrassed for him than he was.
When I pulled up to the curb, he put his hand on mine then leaned across and kissed me one more time. Once he got out of the car, he didn’t waste any time walking toward his house, and I knew he was anxious to work on his car. He told me he’d be up late working on the Camaro—it sure was a mess.
As I drove home, I thought about Jack and his mom. Surely, the two of them could be healed. She had to know she was breaking her son’s heart. How could she do that? There had to be more to Nellie than her boisterous demeanor and abusive language but after all this time, perhaps that kind of behavior was all she knew. I wondered if she was on some kind of medication, or her liver was so messed up from alcohol, that it her brain was toxic.
I pulled into my driveway, happy to see that Dad’s car was missing. I knew he’d be gone a few days, but I hadn’t realized his trip had come around so soon. My mind wandered back to Jack and my stomach started to flip-flop. As I sat the in the car and thought about Jack and the way he kissed me, I had an idea…
‘Is this still your number?’ I texted, not knowing if he’d answer. I wasn’t even sure if he still had a phone. I waited for his reply then realized what a crazy fucked up idea I’d had, and shut off the engine. I threw my phone in my purse, sighed an ‘oh well’ to myself, and walked up to the front door when I heard that familiar noise from my phone.
Ping!
I grabbed my phone so fast that I nearly dropped my purse in the process. It was Jack. Surely? I so hoped it was.
Mollie?
Jack?
Ya, what’s up?
Meet me in front of the trlr park in 15
Why? What?
Just do it k??
Ok sexy lady. 15 min.
C ya bye
I rushed back to the car and fifteen minutes later, Jack was in the front seat and we were on our way to my house on Snob Hill.
“You‘re crazy, Mollie. You know that?”
“Yeah, I know, but you said you couldn’t even imagine what my life was like and I want you to see for yourself how ‘we people’ live. If being wealthy is what you’re going for in your life anyway, you should come and see our world.” I flashed a big smile at him. I don’t know what had gotten into me, and I knew Daddy would kill me, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. I wasn’t about to tell him and I didn’t think Jack would either.
He put his hand on my leg and asked, “You’re sure you know what you’re doing? I don’t want you to get in any trouble on my account.”
“I won’t, no one is home for a while. I’ll show you around and then we can hide in my room.”
“Your room? That might be dangerous,” he chuckled. I did too. I knew exactly what he meant, and I didn’t know if I could say no when, and if, we ever got the chance.
We pulled up to my house and I heard Jack whistle. “Wow. This is your house? You live here? Dayum! I’ve seen something like this in those fancy magazines.”
“Yeah. Well, actually, it’s my dad’s house. I just live here,” I laughed. I didn’t want him to feel inferior, so I tried to be as nonchalant about the two-storey mansion as I could. I didn’t know if that would help him feel at ease, then Jack looked at me and asked, “You sure you want me to go in there? You’re not afraid I’ll take something, are you?”
“Wow! So you’re a thief as well?” I giggled. “Take what you want—it’s all immaterial to me!” We got out of the car, and as I put my key in the door and pushed the alarm buttons, he whistled again. “Okay, Jack. Now, you’re making me feel weird.”
“Sorry, I’ve never been to a house so big and beautiful. It’s not as beautiful as you, though.”
As soon as we walked through the front doors, a mixed feeling of excitement, despair, and sheer naughtiness washed over me. I had Jack Fitzgerald all to myself, yet I was terrified inside to even look at him! And my panties were getting wetter by the minute. I wasn’t an easy girl by any means, but if he decided to take me right here in the foyer, I’d let him.
His strong arms reached around my body and pulled me in close to him. “Thank you Mollie,” he whispered as he leaned down to crush his lips against mine. I dropped my purse and my k
eys— my body trembled in his arms. Was this love? It couldn’t be. Lust? I wasn’t sure, but I kissed him back then my hip grazed across the front of his pants and he jerked away slightly.
“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”
“Nothing, we are just in your front door and I—” I let go of him, shut the door and locked it.
“How’s that?” I asked. I kicked my heels off, took his hand and led him upstairs.
“Mols? You know, I wasn’t expecting this and I’ve been working on the Camaro so I’m kinda nasty right now. You should have told me and I’d have showered and got cleaned up for you.”
“No worries, you can shower here.” I pulled him into my room and his eyes widened. “You mean it? Me? Shower here?”
“Yeah, I have this huge Jacuzzi tub. It might help all your aches and pains. Don’t worry, I won’t look.” I grinned at the surprised look on his face.
He walked over to where I was standing, wrapped his arms around me and nibbled my neck. “And what if I want you to look?” he whispered, as he nipped my flesh.
“Jack, I—” His lips traced up my neck and over my jaw until they met mine. He slowly curled his arm around my waist and led me to the bathroom. I wanted to resist, I wanted to tell him I wasn’t ready; but I was. My body was hungry—starving for him. He turned on the faucet and steam rose as the warm water cascaded into the Jacuzzi tub.
“Mollie, I know this is really soon,” he said, as he slid my blouse over my head. He nibbled my neck and added, “But I’ve wanted you since the moment I saw you.” My whole body shivered as he planted little kisses on my neck and shoulder, and his hand moved down to stroke my hip. He stopped for a second and pulled his shirt over his head. God, his muscles were so hard. I gave him a little punch on his arm, just to test them.
“What was that for?” he laughed.
“Just checking those muscles are for real,” I replied, with a wink and a smile.
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