“Wait!” the voice called again. Jessica’s step faltered slightly as she felt her resolve weakening. It made her blood boil to think he was actually audacious enough to come all this way after her.
In her mind, she imagined what would happen if she did turn around. He’d be there waiting for her, a pretentious smile upon his face and a lame excuse on the tip of his tongue. He’d wait for her to succumb to his charms and then try each and every trick in the book to get her to go back to his place with her. It wouldn’t work though. She was too smart for that. She wasn’t going anywhere with anyone.
As she approached her car, she heard the rushed sound of footsteps and felt her heart strangely quicken its pace. For a split second an unwarranted wave of terror washed over her. The feeling was all too familiar. Quickly, she shook her head attempting to block out the sound of his footsteps. Her eyes darted furtively around surveying the busy street. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to try anything with so many people around would he? Fumbling around in her purse, she pulled out her keys hastily. Nervously she fiddled with them as she tried desperately to open her car door. As the sound of his footsteps drew nearer she began to panic.
“Open!” she yelled at the door praying that it would co-operate with her. Panicking she threw a quick look over her shoulder. He was quickly approaching. She could feel her throat going dry as a lump began to rise. She felt trapped. She hated that feeling. “Stay the hell away from me!” she yelled with another worried glance over her shoulder. Suddenly her keys dropped and she felt her body tense. She stood dumbfounded, gaping at him awkwardly. Despite herself she felt her body relax slightly.
It wasn’t him.
Staring at him she vaguely remembered him from a few days ago. She remembered his eyes. They held her captive for a few moments. For some reason they seemed so familiar, so inviting. She inexplicably felt herself drowning in the depths of them when suddenly his movement broke her from her reverie.
Slowly, he moved towards her. Instinctively, she shrank back against her car, confusion registering upon her face. For a split second fear engulfed her body but it quickly dissipated as she saw him bend down and reach for her fallen keys. He stood up slowly silently extending his arm towards her. Cautiously she reached out and took them from him, half expecting him to jump at her.
“Thanks,” she whispered quietly.
For the next few minutes, they stood in utter silence, eyeing one another surreptitiously. Oblivious to the sights and sounds around them, it was almost as though they were lost in a world of their own.
Suddenly he spoke. “Am I making you nervous?” he asked, his voice low.
“No,” she whispered back desperately fighting to remain composed. As the words left her mouth, she noticed the amused smile that flitted briefly across his face. She watched in confusion as he eyed her dubiously, his eyes concentrating on her hands. Curiously she followed his gaze and realized that she was so tense that she was unconsciously twisting the bottom of her shirt into a large knot. Crimson blush crept across her face as her hands quickly fell to her sides.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice hinted with concern.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just fine,” she repeated nervously.
“You sure?”
She averted her eyes to the ground and nodded for fear that if she spoke her voice would betray her. Nervously she fiddled with a lock of her hair, wishing nothing more than to be inside the safety of her car. For some reason, his gaze was extremely unnerving. It was as if his piercing blue eyes were reading into her soul as they bore through her.
“Let’s sit down,” he whispered, gesturing towards a nearby park bench. “You shouldn’t be driving right now,” he added taking in her flustered appearance.
Taken aback by his forwardness, she looked at him expectantly, convinced that there would be a smug smile upon his face. She was surprised however when all she saw was concern. She continued to search his face for any inclination whatsoever that he had some ulterior motives. He appeared sincere, but she knew from experience better than to trust a friendly face. Despite herself, she found herself slightly curious. Curious as to why he had followed her and why he was interested in helping her. She was unable to fathom that a perfect stranger was so concerned about her. Eyeing him skeptically she nodded her head in silent agreement. Even though her every instinct told her to simply get in her car and drive off, she couldn’t. She was inexplicably drawn to him.
Slowly they moved towards the park bench. Jessica kept glancing nervously over her shoulder at her car, taking comfort in the mere fact that it was close by. When they approached the bench he sat down first. Out of habit, she sat at the opposite end of the bench leaving a considerable distance between them. Nick noted her that her body was tense and respectfully didn’t try to bridge the distance between them.
An uncomfortable silence permeated the air as they sat next to one another. With each passing moment, Jessica became more anxious. What am I doing? Nervously her eyes strayed towards her car as she clutched her keys tightly in her hand. I should just go, she thought to herself as she shifted uncomfortably.
Poised to spring from the bench and sprint towards the car, he suddenly spoke, catching her off-guard. “Are you going to tell me why you ran out of there like that?” he asked, his voice low.
“Why do you care?” she retorted instinctively, her tone harsh and somewhat bitter. The moment the words escaped her lips she instantly regretted them. She felt even worse as she searched his face and was greeted with a look of surprise.
“Sorry,” she mumbled almost incoherently. She felt her cheeks getting hot and quickly she diverted her eyes from his intense stare. Turning away from him, she gazed around, taking in her surroundings. She had barely even noticed what a beautiful night it was. The moon shone luminously in the dark sky which seemed to be magically sprinkled with brilliantly shining stars. “Why did you follow me out here?” she suddenly asked, her eyes still captivated by the stars.
“Well I figured that since you turned me down the last time I had to do something really extreme this time if I wanted to get you to come back to my place with me.”
Immediately, Jessica’s head whipped around, her eyes blazing. I was right. Why didn’t I just trust my damn instincts? A nasty retort was on the tip of her tongue she saw Nick’s impish grin and managed to bite it back. In spite of herself, Jessica found herself smiling. He was joking. Strangely, she felt her body relax.
Nick took in her smile carefully. She really was pretty when she smiled. As he watched her, her question resonated in his mind. Why had he followed her? He wasn’t sure exactly. All he knew was that one minute he was dancing with a beautiful girl and the next he was hastily telling her that he had to go. He hadn’t even thought twice about following Jessica. He’d just followed his instincts, guided as if by some unseen force. How could he explain that? He couldn’t. “So, tell me about yourself Jessica,” he asked changing the subject.
“You remember my name.” Of course he does. He probably remembers all the girls’ names. “Do you remember all the names of girls who turn down?” she added with a smile.
“Just the pretty ones.”
“I see.”
“You’re not from around here are you?” he asked curiously.
“No. I just moved here a few months ago,” she told him, suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable.
“So you’re here all by yourself?” he asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.
“Yeah.”
“You must miss your family,” he said sympathetically.
“A little,” she lied, averting her eyes to the ground.
“How come you moved out here all alone?”
“I needed a changed I guess,” she said, lying again.
“And what about your boyfriend?” he asked. He watched as her eyes clouded over and immediately he wished he hadn’t asked. He forgot that it was that very same question which had prompted her to leave last time.
Jessica sat in silence, uncomfortably fidgeting with her hands in her lap. Aware of his imploring gaze, she suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable. She didn’t like his personal questions. She didn’t have to answer them. It hurt too much to think about the past. She wouldn’t do it. Not when she had worked so hard to forget it. “Yeah, look I’ve really got to go,” she told him abruptly, her voice shaky.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t – “
“It was nice talking to you,” she told him quickly and she rose from the bench and began to walk away.
“Wait!” he called after her. Tempted to just keep going, Jessica turned around in spite of herself.
“Here. Call me some time,” he whispered, handing her one of his business cards.
Forcing a smile, Jessica took the card and began walking away. He was just like all the others. He wasn’t concerned about her. In the end he just wanted the same damn thing as all the others did. “Yeah right,” she whispered to herself as crumpled the card in her fist before she hastily stuffed it into her jacket pocket.