by craziebabe45
Copyright Page
This book was automatically created by FLAG on June 21st, 2012, based on content retrieved from http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2755989/.
The content in this book is copyrighted by craziebabe45 or their authorised agent(s). All rights are reserved except where explicitly stated otherwise.
This story was first published on December 24th, 2009, and was last updated on February 22nd, 2011.
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Table of Contents
Summary
1. Wake Up, I Need You
2. Coffee For Two
3. That Old Familiar Feeling
4. That Thing You Do
5. The Country Club
6. Compulsion
7. Interview with the Mistress
8. Ebb and Flow
9. Personal Space
10. Can't Take It Back
11. Beer Goggles
12. A Simple Kiss
13. Come What May
14. Way Too Late
15. Interview with the Mistress Pt II
16. Gummi Bears
17. Something Special
18. Three Small Words
19. Fainting Spell
20. Meant To Be
21. Hallway
22. Black Box
23. Mistakes Worth Making
24. FML
25. Closure
26. Author's Note
Summary
COMPLETE Jack and Lexi never had a typical relationship. After 2 years without speaking, he asks her to convince the new girl that he's ready to commmit. Throw in her hot brother & a past with secrets to unravel & you get a recipe for disaster SKOW WINNER
Wake Up, I Need You
Note: The characters, places, situations and events of this story are developed materializations of my imagination and therefore belong entirely to me. Distribution of this story is only permitted with my written consent, and any use of the aforementioned factors must be approved of also. Please do not steal; I shouldn't be punished for your lack of originality and dedication.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the name brands i.e. Nike, Coach, etc. that might appear in the story.
***IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: This story, Avoiding Commitment won a SKOW award for best villain! For those you that don't know, the Some Kind of Wonderful awards are romance based awards for online fiction.
* * *
Avoiding Commitment
By: K.A. Linde
* * *
Wake me up, I've been dreaming,
Because I haven't heard from you in days.
Hazy now, this fog just follows me around,
And it's only you that burns it away.
- Cartel "The Perfect Mistake"
* * *
Chapter 1: Present
Vibrations reverberated throughout the miniscule apartment. The sound dulled and then died, not even registering on the tiny figure wrapped in a heap of hand-me-down quilts her grandmother had sewn together during the Great Depression. Winter was far from blowing in on Manhattan Island, but that never stopped Lexi from surrounding herself with a little piece of home. Again, the electronic noise pierced the early morning silence. She groaned, nearly rolling off the twin sized bed. Her hand fumbled clumsily for the alarm clock, slamming on the snooze button several times before realizing that the damn thing wasn't even plugged in let alone set for an early Saturday morning wake-up call.
She peeled her eyes open searching desperately for the obnoxious noise before zeroing in on her crummy old cell phone. It was situated between a box of old photographs, last night's cup of coffee, and her laptop, which had turned itself off when she hadn't been kind enough to plug it in for the night. She stared across the room debating whether this or anything else was important enough to get out of her cozy nook this early on a Saturday morning as the third ring blared through the apartment. Shoving the covers off of her bare legs, she painstakingly stumbled out of bed, immediately stubbing her big toe on her nightstand. Swear words escaped her mouth and she barely kept from falling over as pain shot through her toe. Reaching out for the cell phone, she extended her arm and barely saved it before it vibrated over the side of the cluttered desk.
"Mmm hmm?" she mumbled groggily into her phone before succumbing to the throbbing pressure in her foot, and collapsing on the grey area rug she had borrowed indefinitely from her college roommate when she had moved out.
"Lexi." It was a statement not a question. The voice was vaguely familiar almost seductive, but it was ridiculously early so she wasn't going to blame herself for not immediately recognizing the deep masculine tone.
Lexi pulled the phone from her ear and looked at the time. She groaned when she saw it was only six; four hours before she had to be awake. The number glaring blindly from the screen wasn't programmed into her phone, but this came as no surprise. She had accidentally dropped her phone in a toilet two months earlier when left alone in a nightclub. The phone had miraculously survived, but none of her numbers had. She had spent the next week recovering: the numbers and consciousness.
The fact that she didn't recognize the number wasn't what perplexed her, but that it wasn't a local New York area code. Strangely enough, it was an Atlanta area code, and the only people she still talked to from home were her parents. When she had replaced the numbers in her phone, she hadn't retained a single Atlanta phone number other than those. After moving to New York two years ago, she had tried to let go of her past and move on to what she hoped would be a bright future.
"Lexi, are you there?" the unidentified voice repeated into the phone. "I know…"
"Who is calling?" she asked cutting him off abruptly mid-sentence. "Do you realize it's six o'clock in the morning on Saturday?" she questioned mystery man further. "Some people do like to sleep in," she spoke sharply into the cell phone adjusting her seat so as to assess the extent of her injury.
"Yeah, look, I'm sorry," he implored her. "I didn't mean to bother you. I would have never called if I didn't absolutely have to. I feel really bad about this Lexi. I hope you aren't still angry at me, but I really did have to call you," he said sincerely.
She almost felt bad for speaking so severely to him especially since she was too groggy to recognize the voice. And to be honest, she thought he sounded a little pathetic. She rubbed her tired eyes before allowing herself to speak again. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Who did you say this was again?" There was silence on the other line. She sighed heavily knowing that silence meant that this wasn't going to be someone she wanted to speak with. "Look I dropped my phone and it erased all of my contacts. You're not in my phone."
Silence ensued on the other line before he emitted a tiny sigh and said, "Lex, it's Jack."
Chill bumps broke across her arms and neck as his name registered and she was able to finally place the voice. The sound of her heart palpitating inside her chest could be heard out the door, down the hall and quite possibly outside in the nearby construction zone through the jackhammer slamming against the concrete…not to mention through the phone. Her mouth felt like she had been chewing on chalk all night and her stomach had suddenly been assaulted by butterflies whacking their tiny wings violently against her insides. All she could do was cough in disbelief. Her mind was whirling with indescribable possibilities for the purpose of his phone call - each new idea seemingly more ridiculous than the last.
Deep down, she knew her reaction was not only uncharacteristic of her usual cool demeanor, but also completely uncalled for. So what if she hadn't heard a word from him since their last encounter over a year and a half ago? That didn't mean that he couldn't drop her a line at six o'clock in the morning on
a random Saturday. After all, they had been friends…of sorts for nearly six years now.
"Look, I know I shouldn't have called so early. I didn't mean to intrude," he said quickly.
She was terrified that he might hang up after only a few short minutes of his time. "What? No. Of course you're not intruding. I just wasn't expecting…well you. I wasn't expecting you," she could hear how breathy and uneven her voice had gotten and wanted to kick herself with her hurt toe for being such a girl sometimes.
"Yeah. I'm sorry I've been out of touch." She didn't even want to think about what would happen if he had meant to be out of touch. Maybe he never would have called her again. "It's just that I need you."
She froze not able to comprehend what she had just heard. Her mind poured over the countless possible interpretations of this statement. "You what?"
"I mean, I need you here."
Her eyes bulged out. She could feel them drying out, but somehow couldn't bring herself to blink. She couldn't process what he was saying. He needed her? Not just needed her, but needed her there with him. Needed her home. She shook her head realizing she must be misunderstanding him. There was no way that after everything that had happened between them that he would ever call her like this. "I'm sorry…what?"
"I'm not getting this out right. It's kind of hard to explain. Do you have a minute?"
She glanced around her tiny room watching as specks of light began to filter in through the window. She visualized her planner, which was filled to the brim with meetings and luncheons Monday through Friday, and then her measly Saturday with only a haircut for company. All she had was time. "It's six o'clock in the morning. No sane person has plans this early on a Saturday. Go ahead Jack," she said letting his name roll off her tongue the same way he had…she stopped herself. No point in letting her mind venture there.
"Are you sitting down? This is kind of a strange story."
"Uh…yeah I am," she said glancing around her tiny apartment. Her bedroom walls were covered in cracking soft green paint that had probably been there since the dawn of time, and a collage of hooks and holes from previous tenants. Her floor was scattered with dirty laundry and destroyed textbooks. The sparse amount of furniture she had been able to haul up the seven daunting flights of stairs still managed to make the space look cluttered, something she had never quite been able to figure out. "So…uh…what is this strange story?"
"Okay well just hear me out, because I promise I wouldn't have called and bothered you if it wasn't for a reason I thought was worthwhile." He sucked in a long deep breath before continuing. "I've been dating this girl back home for nearly a year and a half," he began coughing a little at the length of time that they had been together. "She's really great. Actually, I think ya'll would get along. Anyway, she is really into uh…marriage. She talks about marriage all the time. It's like the girl was born to get married," he said all in rapid succession. "And…well…you know me."
She did know him. He despised the idea of marriage. The idea of being tied down to one person suffocating under the monogamous bonds forced upon you by a legally binding document. Knowing that after that moment, there was no turning back except, of course, for divorce. She was pretty sure that the only thing he hated more than marriage was the idea of divorce. Breaking up was disparaging enough without the added effect of divvying up possessions, possibly children, moving out, starting a new life, and not to mention court fees, custody battles, and worst of all, lawyers. She giggled a little on the inside at that last thought. "Yeah, I know. Mr. Anti-Commitment," she said only half-joking.
He breathed out heavily. "Well now that you mention that, that's kind of what it all boils down to."
"What? The fact that you have the capability of convincing and persuading women for an indefinite amount of time to hold out for you until you break their hearts?" she asked coldly. Really, she had no idea where this was leading. Why was he talking to her, of all people, about possibly marrying his girlfriend? He hadn't spoken to her in ages, and she was pretty sure her opinion on marriage was irrelevant to his decision. After all, her opinions on relationships, in general, had always been irrelevant.
"Yeah," he replied very softly into the phone. She almost hadn't heard him. "Yeah, that's what this is about." She waited for him to elaborate. After a brief pause, he began to explain the mess he had gotten himself into. "My girlfriend asked me if I wanted to marry her. Not like a proposal or anything," he quickly corrected, "more like a question to see where our relationship was headed. I didn't have an answer for her. I mean what kind of guy has an answer for that? But as you know…I mean because of my parents…the thought of marriage tends to make me run head first in the opposite direction. She pinned me down though, and said she would leave me that second if I didn't have an answer for her. That really took me off guard."
Lexi felt like she was sitting on the edge of her seat about to witness a train wreck. Any girl who had ever tried to pin him down for anything experienced instant rejection like a blow to the face.
"So I told her that was what I wanted."
"What?" she couldn't help asking helplessly into the phone. "You told her you wanted to marry her?" Her mouth was dropped open forming a little oh of disbelief.
He chuckled a little at her reaction. "I told her that I could see myself marrying her, but that I didn't want to commit to it just yet especially since we had only been dating for a year and a half. Luckily, she took that as a positive answer and didn't break up with me. Then comes the part of the story where you come in."
"Me? I don't see how I could possibly come into a story about you marrying someone else. What we went through wasn't exactly marriage potential Jack. It's not like I can tell you what you should do in the situation," she said jumping the gun before she would let him ask for any advice.
"No, Lexi" he chuckled softly, "she wants to meet you."
This, however, was not something she had been prepared for. "Jack, I'm really confused here. I think I must have missed something. The girl that you are dating that you want to marry wants to meet me. Why? I'm so…insignificant," she said trying to be earnest and sincere. She couldn't even think about the different times her and Jack had tried to find the time to form some semblance of a relationship. Nothing had ever worked, and the last time… She stopped herself again from entertaining the thought. The hole that Jack had been left still ached when prodded, and she avoided irritating the wounded feeling that crept through her.
"Don't say that. You know you're not insignificant." She let silence settle between them not wanting to be the first to speak next. After awhile of listening to her breathe heavily, he spoke again. "Anyway, she got this idea in her head that she wants to meet every girl that I've dated for any significant amount of time. She wants to find out why I was unable to commit to them so that she can figure out why I'm not committing to her or so she thinks. And don't go saying that this doesn't apply to you either because we didn't date. I never mentioned you to her, but she heard about you from Kate."
Lexi recoiled at the mention of Jack's ex-girlfriend. "So by the way you say that, I'm guessing you actually went through with this insane decision. You are letting this girl pick and pry through your past just so that you don't have to commit to marrying her right now?" This was low…even for him.
"It's not like that," he stated defensively. "I let her talk to them, because I wanted to show her that I had nothing to hide. Well when Kate mentioned you and I didn't, you can guess that she wasn't terribly happy."
Lexi help nodding even though she knew that he couldn't see her. Of course, she wouldn't be happy. Any female would be unhappy with the description Kate had probably bestowed upon her. Knowing the way Kate felt about her, it probably went along the lines of temptress, devious, manipulative, conniving, two-faced whore with a few added expletives just for good measure. "So Kate told her what happened which is how she got my name, but we were never um…together," she said not certain if that was the correct word.
&n
bsp; "She doesn't seem to care. She seems to think that since I didn't tell her about you, that you somehow must hold all the answers as to why I am the way that I am. I tried to tell her that the last I had seen or heard from you had been before we'd even started dating. This girl is almost as persistent as I am though. So, I guess what I'm saying is that I need you Lex," he said using his pet name for her. "I need you to meet Bekah and convince her that I'm worth keeping around."
Lexi rolled her eyes to the ceiling in exasperation. She didn't even want to consider whether or not he was worthkeeping around. But, nonetheless, she mulled the idea over. She was, in fact, overdue for an Atlanta trip to visit her family, but she had never had the intention of seeing Jack, especially not if that included being forced to parade around with his fiancé-to-be while explaining their history. Pass on that. "You've failed to explain how any of this is my problem," she stated as firmly as possible. "It's not like I can just dash away from my busy schedule to take a wonderful jaunt in the park with you and your girlfriend or fiancé-to-be or whatever the hell she is. I have other things to do. I'm kind of busy or have you forgotten?"
She could practically feel him cringe through the phone. "I know you're busy, but I thought that maybe since school hadn't started, you might be able to take some time to come down and visit."
"Actually, I got an internship for the summer. I have been working my ass off trying to save up for my last year. I don't even know if they would let me have the time off. I've never seen anyone take time off, and I don't particularly want to be the first one," she stated telling only a partial truth. The other three interns had all taken time off throughout the program, but it had been at the beginning before things had really started to pick up. Lately, no one had had time to breathe let alone think of taking a weekend rendezvous out of the state. She may have had nothing planned for the day aside from her haircut, but that hardly kept her from being on call.