Usually the moment Nick woke up next to a girl the unsettling urge to escape overcame him. Often, it was so bad the could barely even look at her. At times a guilty feeling would engulf him but it was never guilt for his indiscretion. The guilt he always experienced was due to the fact that he knew he had put himself in this position. Maybe if he had told Melissa that he loved her more often, been more gentle or more attentive then he wouldn’t be alone.
It was his fault that he woke up to a stranger instead of her fragrant skin and warm touch.
This morning however all he could think of was how glad he was that he had been there to help Jessica last night. It didn’t bother him that she slept so close to him or even that her head was on his chest with her hands balled into tiny fists. Whenever he slept with other girls he hated it when they got too close. He liked his space. It made it a hell of a lot easier to escape in the morning.
Nick had been up for almost an hour staring aimlessly at the walls and then down at Jessica every so often. He wondered if when she woke up she would remember anything. Maybe she would be mad or uncomfortable he didn’t know. He ran over what he would say in case she didn’t remember. Should he mention her dream? What if she didn’t want to be reminded of it? Maybe she would mention it first. He hoped desperately that she would. Things would be a hell of a lot easier if she broke the ice.
Suddenly Nick felt Jessica stir slightly. Foolishly his first instinct was to pretend to be asleep. He closed his eyes quickly, not wanting her to catch him in the act of staring. After holding his breath for a few seconds he realized how utterly ridiculous he was being. What was he going to do? Wait until she got up and left? What if she went back to sleep?
Cautiously he opened his eyes hoping that Jessica wasn’t watching him. Unfortunately she was.
Jessica tried to bit back a smile at the sight of Nick’s embarrassment. She had caught a glimpse of the fluttering of eyelashes and knew he had been awake just a few seconds ago.
“Morning,” he ventured hoping she wasn’t going to give him a hard time.
“Morning,” she replied softly suddenly unable to look into his eyes. “About last night,” she began, her voice trailing.
“You don’t have to explain,” he said quickly.
Her eyes filled with gratitude, she looked up at him. “Thank you, “ she whispered before replacing her head of his comfortable chest.
When she had woken up, Jessica had insisted on making Nick a feast. It was her own little way of repaying him for the night before. He had to admit, she was an amazing cook.
“Well, I’m sure I have overstayed my welcome. The rain stopped a while ago,” Nick said with a smile as he helped her clean up the dishes. “I should go,” he added almost as an afterthought.
“You don’t have to you know,” Jessica told him shyly. “I could make you lunch,” she offered smiling.
“As good as that sounds, unfortunately I have to go into work today,” he told her. “But I’m going to take you up on that lunch offer soon.”
“Alright,” Jessica said as she walked him to the door, slightly disappointed that he wasn’t going to stay. “Thanks again for everything,” she said awkwardly as they approached the door.
Nick paused in front of the door and turned to face her. He stared at her intently and leaned in close and for a second Jessica thought he was going to kiss her. Something instinctively told her to move away but somehow she found herself rooted to the ground.
Instead of kissing her though, Nick reached forward and enveloped her in a warm hug. Jessica was surprised at first but soon closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of his arms around her. Almost after a minute, Nick let go of her and turned and quickly walked out of the apartment. All of a sudden he was in a hurry to leave. “Bye he mumbled, without turning around.
“Bye,” Jessica echoed softly as she watched him walk down the hallway.
Wearing her oldest and most comfortable pair of sweat pants, Jessica rounded the corner, mail keys in hand. She knew her mailbox would be full of junk. She hated sorting through it and only did once a month when she picked up her parent’s cheque. It was always the same thing over and over. No, she didn’t want to lose weight fast. No, she wasn’t interested in a special promotion. No, she didn’t give care if she had just won $10, 000. No, she didn’t give a rat’s ass if that special someone was just a phone call away.
She opened her mailbox sighing at the sight of familiar multicolored flyers. Luckily her parents cheque was amongst the flyers on the top. She removed it from the pile and noticed another plain white envelope behind it. Her address and apartment number were typed neatly in the centre but there was no name. There was no return address either she noticed. The postmark was recent. October 26th, it read.
She eyed the envelope in confusion. Who could it be from? Certainly not her parents. No one else knew her address though.
“Excuse me dear,” an elderly woman said her voice dripping with sarcasm as she waited expectantly for Jessica to move out of her way.
“Sorry,” Jessica mumbled half-heartedly as she turned and headed back towards the elevators and walked into an open one. The moment she got to her apartment, she slammed the door behind her and quickly ripped open the envelope – intrigued and a little nervous.
The letter was folded neatly on stark white paper. The entire page was blank except for a solitary line in the center of the page.
“Let the games begin," Jessica read aloud a slight tremor in her voice. Instinctively her eyes darted furtively about her apartment. She felt her pulse race as her hands begun to shake.
Stop it! she berated herself. She refused to be afraid. She had lived in fear for far too long. That’s why she had moved to New York City. She was safe here. Far, far away from North Hempstead.
It can’t be for me, she told herself. After all, there was no name on the envelope. Just someone’s idea of a joke. A sick joke - that’s all, she told herself before wadding the letter up and throwing it into the garbage.