“Oh, no, you didn’t!” Cordelia exclaimed followed by an eruption of laughter.
“Yea…I know…completely naked on the 50 yard line when the cops tackled me. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live down that homecoming.” Jackson said laughing at his crazy antics of his younger days.
“I can’t believe I missed you streaking at that game. How drunk were you?” Cordelia asked, her face red from laughing so hard at some of the stories Jackson had been telling her. Much to her surprise, the evening was progressing smoothly; Jackson always had the effect of calming her down in the past, he obviously retained that easy-going charm he had always had.
“Pretty drunk, I guess…I don’t really remember the streaking, I just watched a buddies video later the next day!” he laughed thinking back to the event, “So what about you? You do anything crazy in all that time,” he asked sipping from his cappuccino, “You were always the wild one of the two of us!”
“You have noooo idea,” she said, the smile on her face fading just a bit, “but, you know…I had fun in my own way,” she lied.
The two had been seated in the corner of Braggs Coffee House for nearly 3 hours now. For the first hour Cordelia had felt awkward and had been rather quiet. She found it much easier to relax and let her guard down as Jackson shared his tales with no questions asked about her until now.
His life seemed to be perfect and had done nothing but improve in the time that Cordelia had been gone. She sipped from her second cup of coffee since they had arrived and smiled as she stared into the all-too-familiar hazel eyes of his. They sparkled with life and his face lit up with animation as he told his tales.
Around 9:30 Jackson’s phone rang, interrupting a highly amusing story about his brother’s bachelor party. He answered without checking the caller i.d. still laughing at himself.
“Hello? Oh! Sorry, I must have lost track of the time; what time is it? Nine-thirty!? Oh, God, I’m sorry, babe…yea…no…no, I’ll be home soon—yes I’m leaving now…kay…love you, too.”
Cordelia’s heart sank a little, knowing that the fun night had just come to an end. “the fiancé?” she asked already knowing the answer.
Jackson nodded, “yeah, sorry. I really ought to go now, but I’ve really had fun,” he said standing up from the table.
Cordelia followed suit, “it’s fine, we’ve really been here too long anyways,” she said lying to herself and to him. She felt as if she had just begun to rekindle the close friendship that she had abandoned so long ago. She was discovering who he was all over again and she needed more time…she wanted more time.
The two walked outside together across the street where their cars were parked. Cordelia was quiet; her heart was welling with emotion. Tonight reminded her of old times; of how her life had been once upon a time. She didn’t feel as if Jackson was just some stranger passing by anymore.
Once she reached her car she hesitated, not sure if she should—if she could hug Jackson like she longed to do. Before she had even had a chance to reach her decision, Jackson reached out and pulled her in for a tight embrace.
She seemed dumbfound for a moment, not even reaching up to return the hug, but after a quick second she reacted and wrapped her arms around him. She felt his muscles underneath his shirt, just as solid as she last remembered. He held on tightly, almost convincing her that he felt the same as she did; like he didn’t want to let her go. Like he could finally breathe for the first time since she left…like he still needed her.
She felt her emotions ready to erupt and squeezed into the hug just a little tighter, trying to swallow the lump in her throat and blink away the tears stinging her eyes. Just as she felt his embrace begin to loosen, she couldn’t hold back anymore. The tears burst forth like a dam breaking. She broke down into what most would refer to as a sobbing mess: her shoulders shook with the force of her sobbing.
Jackson’s grip immediately tightened back around her shoulders, “Delia? What is it?”
“I..I…” she sniffled and tried to regain her composure but found it to be quite the struggle, “I’m…sorry,” she finally said as she pushed him away, “I’m so sorry, I have to go.”
With that she turned around to open her car door and quickly ducked inside, ashamed at her reaction. She looked in the side-view mirror and saw a confused look on Jackson’s face. He began to approach her door, but she threw the car into drive and pulled away from the curb, stepping on the gas hard enough that her tires squealed as she sped off.
To Be Continued! :) (see...told ya I'd post more!!)
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