| "Jess...you never mention any family besides your grandmother.." he began and reached across my tiny table and took my hand, Where are they? Your parents I mean.." he asked and squezed my hand. I looked at my plate for a long time. I couldn't think of a way to tell him. "Jess, I'm sorry.." he apologized. "No, no Tay..it's okay. I just haven't had to say anything about it in so long, I don't know where to start." I took a deep breath. "Taylor, I have no idea where either one of my parents is..it was a really ugly and bitter divorce when I was about 6 years old, I went to stay with my grandmother and she raised me. My mother took me there, said she be back as soon as she could and Gram or I never heard from her again. I couldn't even find her when Gramma died to tell her... and as far as my father..well it wouldn't matter to me whether or not I ever saw him again. I don't know him and he was not fun to be around when I was little either.." I looked at him unable to continue. I hadn't told anyone about the whole thing, just that I didn't have family. My eyes stung with more tears, and I looked down at my plate again. I tried to pull my hand from his, to get up and move..clear dishes..anything to turn attention away from this subject...but he held on tighter and scooted close enough to put his arms around me. I laid my head on his shoulder and took another deep breath. He was stroking my hair with one hand and still had a firm grip on my other hand. "I'm so sorry, Jessie.." his voice trailed off. "Tay...it's okay, really..my Grandmother raised me and we were really close, but it was always just me and her, I just wondered what a big family was like. That's all." I sighed and wiped my eyes with my free hand. "C'mon, babe..let's get this taken care of...I should already be at work..." I looked at Taylor for a moment. "You know, I am in those buildings alone, and I only, fortunately, have one machine to work on... I shouldn't be too long, but you could come and keep me company? Then I have no other plans except to be with you all weekend... what do you think?" I asked with a smile. "I think I'll come with you," he grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. "I wanna see how talented you are with that toolbox..." "Taylor! oh god...you're nuts! " I laughed. "Okay, well let's go so I can get the hell out of there.." I shook my head still grinning as I walked down the hallway to put some clothes on. He followed me into the bedroom and I noticed he had gone and gotten his things from the car while I was asleep. We quickly got dressed and went to the car. |
| We got to the building I was supposed to work in and I turned the key in the lock. I could feel Taylor's breath on my neck, and all I could think of was that I wanted to get the damn machine taken care of so I could take him home with me. I opened the door and let him in, then locked it behind us. I grabbed my toolbox and went into the down machine room and found the machine and the list I needed. I rolled a chair up to it and kicked another one toward him and motioned for him to sit down. "Might as well get comfortable, babe," I told him. "this one has been a pain in the ass all week." He smiled and sat down to watch. I flipped open the tolbox and grabbed what I would need, checking the list again to be sure I wasn't missing anything. I worked quickly, but I was nervous because I could feel Taylor's eyes following my every move. I was almost finished when a particular screw decided to be stubborn and I couldn't get it to go where it was supposed to. I was so frustrated I almost forgot that Tay was there, I grabbed the bigger screwdriver and bashed the side of the machine to knock the cover into place. It still wouldn't go. "GODDAMIT!" I hollered and smashed it again. I heard Tay's fit of laughter and I looked up. "What?" I asked exasperated. "I'm sorry, Jess. Can I help you with that? Maybe you need an extra set of hands." he was still smiling. I rolled my eyes. "Hmm who has the temper, now?" I giggled. "OK, Tay, I need you to hold this so that I can get the screw through both plates." He did as I asked him and it finally fastened. "Thanks, Tay." I told him and started putting tools back in the box. I had that all done and I pulled the clipboard out and pulled the pen from behind my ear, and turned the machine on and ran it for a few minutes to make sure it worked. It seemed to be ok, so I marked the READY TO USE sheet and taped it to the machine. I beckoned Taylor to follow me out of the room. I switched off all the lights and we went out side. I locked the building, then sighed. "Finally! That was the only one that needed fixing, Tay. I worked my ass off in here all week so I wouldn't have much to do tonight." "Good." he answered, "That means I get you all to myself now, right?" "Yup!" I answered, then turned quickly. "That's weird...I thought I saw a car pulling out of here...there's usually no one around here at this hour." I said. I shook my head "Someone next door must have forgotten their paperwork or something..bummer takin' work home on a weekend... Oh well, let's get out of here. I don't want to think about work anymore." "Ok, baby.." he replied. "What do you want to do?" |
| I chuckled at him and said, "If you ask me that NOW we won't get out of the parking lot." I told him. He smiled back and said, "OOH baby..really?" he had the most devilish grin I'd seen on him yet. "Oh brother! Get in the car already...I know where we can go. It would be beautiful at this time of night. Gimme the keys, you..I'll drive. I want it to be a surprise." I gave him back the same mischevious grin he had just given me. He tossed me the keys and we got in and drove off. It took a while to get there, but Taylor had already figured out where we were going, by the time we were halfway there. He didn't let on, he was so sweet, but I knew he had it figured out. I decided to let him off the hook. "Figured it out yet?" I looked at him from the corner of my eye, and could see the grin spreading across his face, though he was trying to hide it. "Nope." was all he said as he struggled to keep from smiling. "Don't even try it, Taylor." I laughed."You know perfectly well where I am taking you...I can see you trying to cover. You are terrible at it." I laughed. "Ok you caught me. But you're right Jess. It will be beautiful out there tonight." he said. We drove on in a comfortable silence, but I kept having to watch how fast I was driving. I was known for having a lead foot, and the excitement of having Taylor near me was making it worse. Finally, we arrived at our destination. I pulled into the parking area of the beach and shut the car off. I turned to Taylor, "Let's go for a walk, it's a nice night and I bet the lake is pretty with the moon being so bright tonight." I said. "Sure, babe..." he said and got out of the car. I shut my door and made sure the car was locked. Then Taylor grabbed my hand and we walked toward the water. |