"You Were Meant For Me" --- Part 4&5
by Kassandra
The song ended, and they were transformed back to the party. Thao just happened to walk by, and he held out his hand asking Brenda to dance. She accepted, and Jax walked off with one last smile.
Brenda followed Jax with her eyes as he headed towards the entrace. No, don;t leave!, she thought to herself. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't want to see him go. Brenda breathed a sigh of releif when she saw him reenter, but it was short-lived. A striking young blond hung on his arm, and they were both smiling. Brenda felt her face go pale.
Thao noticed it, and spun her around so that he could see what she was looking at. He nodded, understanding. "Brenda, it's not what you think," Thao tried to explain, since he saw that it obviously upset her. "Their relationship, is "
"No, Thao, it's none of my business," Brenda said, although she was dying to hear what he had to say.
Thao chuckled and gave her a grin. "You *know* you want to know." When Brenda didn't respond, he continued. "Their relationship is different. What I mean is, yes, he does love her." Brenda felt sick to her stomach. "*But*," Thao added, "I's just not the same. I've seen them together, Brenda. They're just good friends. He brings her to dinner parties, and she gets to meet all the right people. That's all." Brenda felt relieved, although she hated the reason she was worried in the first place.
****
An hour later, Brenda sat alone at the bar. Thao had to leave for London that night, and the Contessa had to mingle with her guests. Brenda watched was Jax and the woman made their way across the room, politely chatting with everyone. No matter what Thao had said, they were certainly *not* just friends. She clung to Jax's arm possesively, and he had an arm against the small of her back. Brenda hated herself for feeling jealous, she hated feeling anything at all. But she did. She wanted to storm across the room and tear Jax away from that that woman!
Instead, Brenda motioned to the bartender for another drink. He came over to her, and gave her a concerned look. But Brenda dismissed it and asked for another martini. She drank it in two sips, and smiled flirtatiously at a gentleman across the room.
****
Jax smiled politely at the executive, but couldn't really concentrate on what he was saying. His mind was a million miles away, well, actually, it was on one particular brunette across the room. When he saw Brenda get up and dance with some guy, Jax was less than pleased. He felt Julianne tug at his arm. "What?" he whispered as discreetly as possible.
"He asked you a question," she whispered back. Then, smiling at the man, she said confidently, "Oh, you know Jax would never tell you his plan of attack!" Jax threw her a grateful smile, and skillfully maneuvered them away from the man and towards a table.
****
Jax looked around the room. The party was dying down, and he decided to turn in for the evening. Julianne had already left an hour ago; she had to fly to Hollywood for a screen test. Jax was headed towards the entrance to get his coat when he heard loud laughter coming from the bar. Glancing over, he recognized Brenda. Her back was to him, as she threw her hair over her shoulder and continued giggling at something the bartender was saying.
Without even thinking, Jax headed towards her. He quietly took a seat next to her, and said nothing. After a few seconds, Brenda realized who it was. "Hi Jax!" she said cheerfully.
Jax gave her a look of concern. "You're drunk, Brenda."
Brenda laughed defiantly. "I'm not drunk Jax!"
But Jax could tell that she was. "Come on," he said, helping her off the stool, "I'll take you home."
"You Were Meant For Me" – Part 5
"No … Jax … I’m fine, I can … walk …" Brenda stuttered, as she started to slip.
Jax shook his head. "Brenda, how much did you have to drink anyway?" Seeing that she could no longer support herself just leaning on his shoulder, Jax gathered her up into his arms. Brenda leaned her head onto his shoulder and closed her eyes, a content smile upon her face.
The limo driver held open the door as Jax gently placed Brenda on the seat. She was quieter now, almost asleep. Jax slid in next to her, and her head drooped onto his shoulder.
The drove along in silence for about fifteen minutes, but then Brenda began to wake up again. Jax noticed that she had regained consciousness and handed her a cup of coffee. "Here, this will make you feel better."
Brenda shook her head, refusing. "You know I hate coffee, Jax! I won’t drink it, I won’t!" In this state, she was like a spoiled little girl.
"Brenda, drink it. If you don’t, you’ll regret it in the morning."
"No!" She shook her head vehemently. "You can’t make me!"
Jax almost laughed. "Fine," he said, "suit yourself." He put the cup back, and leaned back against the seat, staring out the window.
Brenda was quiet for a few seconds, but then she turned to Jax. "Alright, I’ll drink it." She said in a pouty voice.
Jax smiled, and gave her a triumphant smile. Brenda took two sips of the coffee and made a face. "Yuck!" She set the cup down and turned to Jax. "Hey Jax," she whispered, as if she had a secret. "Remember how you got me to eat yogurt in Malibu?"
Jax was quiet, and the smile drained from his handsome face. He simply turned towards the window and nodded mutely.
"Jax?" Brenda asked again. The alcohol was getting to her again, the coffee wasn’t helping, and she became more and more lost in her world. "Do you remember?" Her voice was almost impatient, as she looked at him with huge eyes.
Yes!, Jax wanted to scream, Of course I remember!. But instead, he nodded again and continued staring out the window as if the scenery was the most interesting thing on Earth.
"Oh," Brenda replied, a hurt tone in her voice, "I get it Jax. You don’t *want* to remember. You want to forget everything about me. I get it." She turned away from him and stared out the window.
"Wait, Bren …" But Jax stopped himself. He couldn’t. After all, he told himself, what was the point? It was not if they had any sort of future anyway. Let her think what she wanted.
A few minutes later, however, Brenda was riled up again. "Jax," she said, "I really am sorry, you know. I mean, for … well, you know …I never, ever meant to hurt you. I’ve never regretted anything more." She was on the verge of tears now. "Losing you … losing you was the worst thing that *ever* happened to me … I just couldn’t believe it …God, how could I be so *stupid*?" Brenda was sobbing now and Jax fought off the urge to console her. He couldn’t get too close, or he might never get out. Brenda continued, "How could I … why was I *so* stupid?!?!" Her head was buried in her hands as she cried.
Finally, Jax couldn’t take it anymore. "Look, Brenda," he said, "I … it doesn’t matter anymore … you know? It was a whole ‘nother lifetime ago …" But that wasn’t true and he knew it.
Brenda was beyond consolement now. She was sobbing uncontrollably, her head in her hands. "How could I be so stupid?" She constantly whispered under her breath. "How could I lose you?"
About half an hour later, they neared her hotel. Brenda had been quiet for about ten minutes, and Jax looked down at her as she slept peacefully on his shoulder. He almost hated to wake her, but they had just stopped. "Brenda," he whispered, shaking her. "Wake up."
Brenda mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep.
"Brenda," Jax tried again, "Where are your keys?" He figured that if he couldn’t wake her, he could carry her up.
Brenda just shook her head, and muttered, "… in … my bag …"
Jax looked around for her bag, but it was nowhere in sight. "Brenda, listen to me. Did you bring your bag? Or did you leave it at the party?"
She, of course, did not hear a word he said.