Chapter 14

Jesse

Jesse couldn’t help the way her heart beat furiously in her chest. She had only had one glass of wine, and most of the effects of the alcohol had worn off, and yet her head was still spinning. She had no choice but to attribute this to the presence of Hal Roberts so close to her.

She had to admit that she had never anticipated being quite so close to him for such an extended amount of time and had certainly not accounted for the way their interview had gone. And she really, really never imagined that she would be babysitting the drunk celebrity on a park bench. Although, from the progress of their conversation, she had the sneaking suspicion that he was not quite as drunk as he would have her believe.

Still, drunk or not, she was in a park with him, having to divulge the details of her horrifically inactive life. She was only mildly comforted by the fact that his own personal life seemed to be every bit as inactive and work oriented as her own.

This was small comfort, though when she had to take into account the way her heart was frantically beating in her chest. All through lunch, she had gotten a lot of insight into this man’s personal life and the deep struggle he had endured in the early parts of his career. While she didn’t have the heart to include all these details in her article, they were still rattling around in her brain, and Jesse knew that she would likely not ever be able to forget them.

It certainly didn’t help that every time she looked into his deep, green eyes, they seemed to reflect a whole new dimension of emotion. It was certainly a level of him that she had never even imagined before, and she couldn’t help wondering what had become of the young woman that he had lost before his career. It seemed to Jesse that he was still very much in love with her and that her memory haunted him to this day.

“Jesse?” Hal’s smooth voice called her out of her thoughts, and she shook her head to clear it.

“I’m sorry,” she said, blinking a couple of times to focus herself. “What was it you were saying?”

“I was asking if there were any coffee places around here,” he said. “I haven’t had any today, and my head is starting to hurt a little.”

“Oh, sure,” Jesse confirmed. “Once we get through the park, there’s actually a little place just around the corner, pretty close to my apartment.”

“Oh, yeah,” Hal said as if it was a revelation. “You did say this park was close to your apartment.”

Jesse vaguely nodded, feeling a slight sense of unease at the fact that he remembered such a detail.

“Yeah ...” Jesse cleared her throat and moved to stand. “We can head over to the café right now if you’d like.”

“Oh, sure,” Hal said with a smile and made to stand. Jesse felt both parts excited and somewhat nervous by just how much taller he was than she, but she worked hard to ignore her emotional reactions to him.

“This way,” Jesse said, moving further down the path and ignoring the prevalent ache in both her feet.

“Whoa, whoa ...” Hal chuckled from behind her. Jesse felt a moment of guilt and stopped in her tracks.

“There’s no hurry,” he said, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. “A little headache isn’t going to end me.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Jesse let out a soft laugh. “I guess I’m still just a little nervous.”

She looked up at Hal as she gave her admission and saw his face soften.

“Like I said,” he started, his voice considerably softer. “There’s no need for you to be nervous, okay?”

Jesse nodded with a small smile and then continued down the path, this time at a much more reasonable pace. She took a few deep breaths of the fresh air and felt herself calm.

After a short distance, they finally arrived on the other side of the park and back onto the sidewalk of the street. Jesse did enjoy the park, but she could not deny that there was a certain level of safety and comfort she found from being surrounded by concrete. She breathed a sigh of audible relief and heard Hal laugh beside her.

“I know how you feel.” He laughed softly as they proceeded down the sidewalk. “Nature is nice, but the city is home.”

Jesse thought that his words were nearly poetic, and she couldn’t help a smile spreading across her face as he said them. She said nothing, though, as she continued down the sidewalk toward the café that was less than a block from the entrance to her apartment.

Once inside, Jesse looked around in some surprise to see that the place, for the most part, was fairly packed. She guessed that she must not usually spend her time there during its busiest hours. Now, though, there were only two seats available in the whole store, and they were both on a small leather couch in a dimly lit corner in the back.

“Here, we order at the bar,” Jesse informed him, and he nodded.

Hal began to place his order, and Jesse looked around the café, somewhat paranoid that someone would recognize Hal. It seemed, though, that for the most part, people were busy on their phones or computers or talking amongst themselves. They were too busy to be bothered with another two people in the already crowded space of the café.

When Hal had finally finished placing his order, Jesse turned to order her usual drink of a caramel Macchiato. She heard Hal chuckle from behind her as she ordered.

“What?” she pressed, raising an eyebrow.

“Just so typical of you,” he said. “Just seems like a drink you would drink.”

“Well,” Jesse sighed. “You can’t judge a person by what they order at a café.”

“Well, you may be right about that,” Hal accepted and gave her a smile that made her stomach flutter. “Come on, let’s go sit down before that couch gets taken by some hipster couple.”

Jesse couldn’t help laughing at his all too accurate joke and followed him toward the single couch in the back of the café. Hal held out his hand, helped Jesse to take her seat and then settled into the couch beside her.

Jesse’s heart pounded. The couch was not exactly large enough for both of them, so the two were forced to sit very close to one another. So close, in fact, that Hal saw fit to put his arm around her, and Jesse suddenly found herself pressed against his side. She hoped vaguely that he couldn’t feel the rate at which her heart was pounding.

“Wow,” Hal said after taking his first sip. “This is actually really good.”

“I’m glad I didn’t disappoint you.” Jesse laughed. “I have to admit I’m a bit of a coffee snob, so I was pretty lucky to end up with such a lovely little shop so close to where I live.”

“Lucky indeed,” Hal remarked. “Is your apartment any good, though?”

“It’s good enough,” Jesse commented. “The walls are actually really good. I can’t hear anything going on around me, and nobody would be able to tell what I was doing inside either.”

Hal gave her a wry smile.

“Do you take advantage of that fact often?” Hal flicked his eyebrows at her, and Jesse felt her cheeks heat up almost instantly at his insinuation.

“Um, well, I guess,” Jesse stammered. “I mean, when I watch movies … loudly …”

Hal laughed and took another drink of his coffee.

“What about you?” Jesse tried to refocus the conversation. “Are your walls pretty good?”

“Very good, I should think.” Hal nodded. “Though it helps that I live in my own building with no other people. That way, I can have loud, incredible sex whenever I want.”

Jesse blushed at his crass remark but couldn’t help laughing aloud at his humor.

“I’m joking, of course.” Hal chuckled, mostly to himself. “Mostly.”

“Well, we’re grown.” Jesse shrugged, wiping a little at her eyes as she recovered from her laughter. “You’re entitled to do anything you want in your house.”

“That’s true,” Hal accepted and fingered the rim of his coffee cup.

Silence passed between them for a long moment, and Jesse took that moment to try and take stock of her situation. One of the most famous men in the world was sitting beside her, and though she was having a hard time believing it, she could tell that she was growing ever more comfortable with his presence there. A part of her mind counseled her to be careful and to guard her heart against the emotions she could already sense developing there, but another part was actively telling her to relax and just enjoy this while it lasted, for all too soon everything would be back to normal.

“Oh no,” Hal leaned over to whisper into her ear, and Jesse felt a shiver travel down her spine as his lips brushed against the shell of her ear. “Someone spotted us.”

“Someone spotted you, you mean,” Jesse clarified.

“Well, me and you together.” He chuckled.

Jesse looked up across the room, and sure enough, there was someone across the small café with their phone out. Jesse’s heart sank a little bit as she realized they must have taken a dozen photos by now.

“Oh no,” she murmured. “We have to get you out of here.”

“Don’t worry,” Hal said, his voice calm and rational. “I do this sort of thing all the time.”

Hal tossed his head back and finished off the last of his coffee, leaving the empty mug on the small stand beside the couch. Jesse likewise finished her own drink and set it down. Hal offered her his hand to help her up, and she took it. She couldn’t help noticing that around the small café, more and more people had begun to whisper and look in their direction.

Hal leaned down, put his hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear. “Are you ready?” he asked, and she could hear the excitement in his voice.

“For what?” Jesse asked, somewhat frantically.

“Run!” he whispered into her ear.

With that, Hal tightened his grip on her hand and took off. Jesse could only lurch after him as he dashed out of the small café. Once they were out, Jesse immediately headed toward her apartment out of habit. She didn’t dare to look back and see if they were being followed, as caught up as she was in the moment.

Once they were in the lobby, the two burst into laughter. The receptionist looked over at them with raised brows, but they both ignored her easily.

“That was fun.” Hal laughed as he stood up from his crouched position. He looked around the small lobby for a moment, and then looked back at Jesse.

“So this is your apartment?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling wryly.

“Um …” Jesse stammered for a moment but then decided there was not much use in lying. “Yeah, this is it.”

There was a moment of awkwardness that passed between them, and Jesse felt like she was the only one who could really relieve it at that point.

“Would you …” Jesse started, then paused for a moment to collect her nerves. “Would you like to come up and see my place? I mean, we’re here, so you might as well …”

“Sure,” Hal answered with a smile. “It’s good to see how the other half lives every now and again.”

Jesse could tell he was only teasing, and she laughed a little, in spite of just how nervous she was.

“Well, we’ll have to take the elevator,” Jesse said, gesturing toward the metallic doors.

“Ah, yes,” Hal nodded as they walked over to it. “I have one of these in my home as well.”

Jesse laughed. She couldn’t help it. It seemed that this man had a very charming sense of humor. It certainly didn’t help the tenderness she felt developing toward him. They got in the elevator together, and Jesse pressed the button to her floor. The doors slid shut, and silence reigned between the pair.

“Ah, who knows what sorts of things happen in here …” Hal said and flicked his eyebrows at her, giving her a wry smile.

“Should I be concerned for my safety with you?” Jesse asked teasingly and was somewhat taken aback by the suddenly serious expression that crossed his face.

“You never have to be concerned about your safety around me,” he said solemnly.

Jesse felt her emotions suddenly cloud, and she felt a blush rise in her cheeks again. Hal’s eyes were full of sincerity and intensity, and she knew that he wholeheartedly meant what he said. She looked down at the ground between her feet to spare herself the trouble of giving him a response.

Fortunately, shortly after he said that the elevator door slid open.

“Here we are ...” Jesse laughed nervously and stepped out into the hallway.

Jess could hear Hal’s footsteps behind her as she moved down the hallway toward the door to her apartment. Her heart pounded in her chest as she reached her door. She reached into her purse to withdraw her keys, but before she could find them, she heard Mark’s doorknob opening from within.

“Oh no,” Jesse whispered to herself as the door swung open and revealed her two neighbors leaving their house.

“Hey!” Jesse flinched as Mark smiled at her, and Tony waved.

“Hey,” she laughed nervously.

“What’s the matter with you?” Mark frowned in concern, obviously taking in her nervous state.

“Nothing,” she shook her head even as her stomach threatened to turn itself inside out.

“Okay then …” Mark said strangely as he and Tony stepped out of their home.

Jesse could only watch as Mark’s expression changed abruptly when he saw Hal standing in the hallway. His jaw dropped, and his eyebrows raised as he took in the sight of the celebrity figure occupying the hallway of the small apartment complex. Jesse was silent for a while as her friends’ eyes traveled between her and Hal.

“Mark, Tony,” Jesse finally spoke after clearing her throat. “Allow me to introduce you to my … to Hal Roberts.”