AHRI
“What’re you having today, Jack?”
Like the past three days, Jack skimmed the menu, trailed his eyes up my diner outfit then met my eyes and winked.
“You,” he moaned, licking his lip.
I rolled my eyes like clockwork.
Jack had came into the diner every single morning since he got back from his friend’s place. And each morning it was the same routine. He came in, asked for his special booth, and waited for me to pour his black coffee. Once that was done, he asked me about my bruise, and each time it was the same answer. I fell. Which I did, in some way or another. It didn’t matter how I got the bruise. Bruises were temporary, disappearing once they’ve healed. And they always heal. Thinking about my hip meant that I was wasting my thoughts on him. Something I couldn't afford.
Even though Jack had been here every morning at eight o’clock on the dot (but surprisingly couldn’t be this punctual the first time we met) we didn’t have much time to talk. Aside from what Jack ordered, occasional flirting, and a few updates on life. We kept our conversations light.
We haven’t even had sex since he got back. When I had a few hours to breathe or sleep in the afternoon, Jack was busy. I had been crazy horny recently—it’s been a week and a day since I’d fucked Jack. Yes, I was counting—so I resorted back to my three usuals. The shower head, number twelve dryer machine at the laundromat with my buttplug, and Sir Makes-me-Scream which was nearly as satisfying as it once was.
Way to jack that up, Jack.
Jack chuckled. “Remind me to fuck the stress out of you tonight.” He smiled.
Yep, we had to schedule a time for sex. I don’t work at Maddy’s tomorrow, and after Diablo’s shift tonight. I was fair game. Aka, Jack could do whatever he wanted to me.
Jack went back to the menu and ordered three full entrees, sides, and desserts he hadn't tried yet. This was the standard Jack order. What was more impressive was that he ate all the food off his plate.
I looked around the diner. The yellow booths emptier than they’ve been in the past few days. I took this as my opportunity for a Jack update.
“Are you still trying to find a tattoo artist to get your touch-ups?” My glance fell to Jack’s thick, veiny forearms covered in his dark art style tattoos, focusing more on the sea monster tattoo.
“Nah.” Jack took a long sip of his black coffee. He spread his long legs to the end of the booth, getting comfortable as always. Jack flexed his snake-like forearms, eyeing his Jack Skellington tattoo. “I gave up on that. I’m just going to go back to my original artist in Boston.”
“Boston?”
“Ya…” he made a two letter word sound like a full sentence. He nervously cleared his throat, rubbing the nape of his neck. “I used to live on the East Coast for a while. Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia, mostly.”
I hummed at this new information. “So, you were a chef back on the East Coast?”
“Nah, southern Illinois. Borderline Kentucky area.”
That’s about a five hour and fifty-five-minute drive by car from here. Seven-hour drive by bus. Same distance and location as Tavernville Penitentiary.
“So, umm, when are you going to Boston?”
“Probably in a month or two. My guy, Leo, blew up since the last tattoo I got. I’m going to have to schedule a full week with him. Make him touch me all over, and prick me with his vibrating toy until I’m beautiful once again.” Jack let out a raspy chuckle, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Sounds fun, but expensive.”
“Eh, I’ve been saving for seven years. I think it’s worth it.” Jack licked his lips. “Wanna join me for lunch? I’ve been told the third time's the charm.”
I tapped my pen on the notepad, making eye contact with Felicia. She was already watching us with a grin slapped across her face. Sheesh, every time I was with Jack her smile was wide and wicked, eyes small and malicious, and eyebrow arched with curiosity. I might as well have given her popcorn and told her to enjoy the show.
“Maybe,” I said while walking away.
I passed Felicia, and gave her a tap on the shoulder which was our little sign to come to the kitchen. I placed Jack’s orders, tended to my other customers who were about to leave—perfect—and waited for Felicia in the kitchen.
“Looks like you’re getting along with Prince Charming of Birch Park.” Felicia came in with her dirty dishes.
“You gonna stop stalking me?”
“Honestly, I can’t myself. You guys got that raw shit people spend their whole lives trying to find. I mean Devon and I are already on the rocks, and we just started dating two weeks ago.” She rolled her eyes, thinking about her new man being a pain in the ass. “You guys got all the subjects going on. Chemistry, physical fitness, art—all the fucking subjects.”
I laughed shortly, my cheeks turning pink.
“Can you cover my shift for fifteen minutes. I wanna take an early break.”
“To have lunch with Jack?” Felicia made her on-fleek eyebrows jump with joy.
I nodded, pulling my hair behind my ears.
“You really like him, don’t you?”
I pursed my lips, not sure how to answer that. I’d never really liked a guy. Fuck, I hadn't been with a guy in four years. I rarely had guys that lasted more than a week. It was just easier to have short flings than having anything long term. Hell, I don’t think any of my past flings knew what the meaning of the words serious, long-term, or faithful meant. In my defense, I had slim pickings and I was a stupid, horny teenager.
“He’s different.” I finally said. “…like a black butterfly.”
“Is that the nickname you gave his cock? Black butterfly?” Felicia showed all her teeth with a sassy grin, and I retorted with a eye roll. “Okay, my bad, Ahri. You’ve got fifteen minutes to do whenever you want on your mini-date.” She spoke in a cunning voice as she walked out. I didn’t even get the chance to tell her it wasn't a date.
I added my order to the queue and went back out to finish off the rest of the customers I had. Each time I looked over at Jack, he was staring at me with those amber eyes. I loved the way he looked at me like I was the only person in the room. Possibly even the whole universe.
I had to make two trips when I brought over Jack’s food. When I sat down with my plate, Jack didn't find his feeling. A full smile, showing off that crooked fang of his.
“So, third time's the charm?”
“Always,” I spoke nervously to my grilled cheese, tomato soup, and a chocolate milkshake. It was always my weakness if I had to order anything from the diner.
Jack took one glance at my food and slowly shook his head.
“What?” I snarled, but meant no harm.
“You eat like a twelve-year-old who was left alone for the first time.” Jack chuckled before he took a bite of his char-burger.
“That’s 'cause I wasn’t exposed to many foods when I was younger. I was lucky to have anything to eat at all.”
Brutal, but honest truth.
I dipped my grilled cheese sandwich into my tomato soup with full joy and no shame. Looking Jack in the eye, I took my first bite and moaned with bliss.
Jack tried to hide his happiness, but failed miserably. “So, what’s your favorite food?”
“Ramen.” I teased him, knowing very well how much Jack hated it. After I got my reaction from Jack, I told him the truth. “Grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. Always and forever.”
“Really? Why?”
I released a heavy sigh and looked at the orange cheese melting out of my sandwich.
“My sister used to make it for Luke and me all the time. After my grandma died, my dad drank a lot. He was too drunk to function or too high to grasp the concept that feeding your kids wasn’t an option, but a responsibility. So, Aurora took the responsibility.”
Jack rubbed his Docs against my knock-off Vans, giving me a small dose of affection. Spreading warmth all over my naturally cold form. This was a simple sorry-that-happened-to-you gesture. I let it soften my heart, adored it, and saved this exact moment for a rainy day mood.
“Seems like your parents were like most of my foster parents, except for Mama Baronski.”
Sometimes it was nice to talk to someone who understood.
Felicia was raised in a decent neighborhood so talking to her about anything family related was difficult. It’s like we’d grown up in two different worlds. Her parents were still together and in love, and the same thing went for Gomez. He lived with his parents, wife, and kids in a big house. Ten people and all.
I’d always wanted that.
A big family.
Most of my life consisted of either Aurora, Luke and me. Or just Luke and me.
“There were times where my dad wouldn’t come home for weeks at a time.” I paused. I didn’t talk about my childhood for many reason. Let alone with someone who could still be classified as a stranger. But I did. I opened up, knowing Jack would understand. “So, I stole…a lot.”
“Are we talking about your ‘something illegal’ here?” Jack’s face twisted into one word. Hunger. He wanted to feed his curiosity. And at this point, I gave it to him with a silver spoon.
“Yeah…” I confessed. “It’s easy money when you used to run track and rarely got caught.”
“Rarely? You’ve been caught?”
“Twice. First was a slap on the wrist. But the second time I went to jail. Spent almost a year inside while Aurora and Luke got some money to pay my bail,” I whispered, even though Maddy’s was filled with criminals.
Teddy was an ex-heroin addict who’d been to jail for possession, the chef got caught selling weed to minors, and Felicia once assaulted a cop. But got off easy because…sex. I could already hear Felicia giving her defense, “He was hot. I was broke.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Jack bit his lip and dropped his burger, eyes oozing with shock and bliss.
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not that big a deal, Jack. Everyone steals. I just happened to get caught. Plus, you pickpocketed my things. Remember?”
Jack laughed. “I remember. I practiced a lot when I was a teen. Even got around to stealing from high-end stores. Teen-Jack had a huge weakness for expensive Italian clothes,” Jack moaned, fantasizing about his clothes. “I just thought my baby girl was, well, a sweet little angel. That’s all.”
Ha, if only.
“I did it for money and food,” I growled, kicking away his leg as he tried to play footsie with me. “I had good reasons.”
Jack chuckled. “Let’s see; Luke was a troublemaker. Ahrianna was a troublemaker. Is it fair to assume that Aurora was a troublemaker as well?”
I stalled, taking the last bite of my first triangle sandwich. Even though I didn’t like talking about Aurora for depressing, heartbreaking reasons. I did. I spoke to Jack, taking in the fond memories of Aurora that I still played in my head from time to time when I missed her.
“She…she was practically a saint.” I took a deep breath. “She was younger than me by ten minutes, and I always made sure she didn’t have to worry about anything. I took care of the bigger responsibilities. Money and food. And Aurora took care of the cooking and cleaning.”
“And that’s why you don’t know how to clean a dish or pick up your clothes.” Jack almost scolded me. I retorted with a playful kick to his shin.
“What about Luke? What was he in charge of?”
“Being a kid. Being as stress-free as he possibly could. Not worrying about our dad.” I shrugged. “My sister and I basically raised Luke after our grandma died when we were eight. It was just us three, so we spoiled Luke. By spoiled, I mean, we did things a regular parent would do. We’d read to him, get him a new toy, or let him watch TV past ten o’clock with a can of pop. Normal things.”
“And your mom? Where was she?”
Getting high off of anything she could shoot in her veins.
“Living with her twin sister. She wasn't around much.”
Jack nodded. “Tell me more about Aurora? Was she like you?”
I shook my head. Dipping my grilled cheese in the soup, I took a nibble.
“No way. We were complete opposites. She was a blonde; I was a brunette. She was book smart; I was street smart. She was warm and fuzzy; I was cold and sharp. She was sweet; I was bitter—” I interrupted myself.
Not only did Jack remind me of Luke, but Aurora as well. It had taken me awhile to realize this. I cleared my throat and went back to eating my sandwich, trying to fight back the urge to cry.
“She was always smiling…always happy. Kind of like you, but ummm—it was more of an illusion.”
“Whaddya mean?” Jack’s voice, thick and soothing.
“She wasn’t really happy, not in the end at least. She bottled a lot of things up. Certain things she couldn’t tell Luke or me about. Things she assumed were better left unsaid. And things she assumed were better if she was no longer—”
Alive.
I couldn’t go on any longer, and Jack knew that.
“It’s fine, Ahri.” Jack moved his foot back to mine. The same warmth and compassion as before.
I cleared my throat, letting my memories fade away. “Thanks…so what about you? Any siblings—foster siblings?” I corrected myself quickly, remembering that Jack was an orphan that had been dropped off like a package with a drug problem when he was just a baby. Baby-Jack getting a shit life from the get-go. Although, somehow, Jack seemed to be doing alright.
Jack’s bright eyes and crooked-fang gave me sweet relief.
“I’ve had a lot of siblings. But only one comes to mind. Link—Lincoln. He was this quirky, nerdy, imaginative, smartass but pain in the ass kid. I was six when I met him, and he was only two. But for some reason, I liked him. Maybe it was because he was always trying to fight me or maybe it was because he was always with me, eager to learn. Either way, I liked him.”
“Mama Baronski said we were inseparable from the beginning. We had this bond, stronger than blood, but the government ripped us apart. By eight, we went to separate homes, then finally when I was thirteen we got in the same home.” Jack slouched down the yellow booth, looking like a bumblebee with his black clothes against the tacky upholstery.
“You didn’t see him for five-years?”
“Oh, of course I did. We were only a few blocks away from each other, so I visited him almost every day. I would check up on him for a few hours until I had to go home. If it were up to me, I would have never left him.” Jack paused, smiling to himself.
“On the weekends we would go to the library where I would help him with his homework. The little fucker was smart, just needed a push. People were still looking at his file, and I made sure he was up to date on his homework, projects, and grades. No one ever wanted to adopt a kid that gave two shits about his grades. Exhibit A.” Jack pointed at himself. “It was just one more problem people didn’t want to deal with after they’ve adopted.”
Moving my foot closer to Jack, I caressed his calf. A faint blissful sigh left his lips then began his second entree. A crispy chicken sandwich.
“You loved him, didn't you?”
“Hell yea. He was my baby brother, and no one could fucking tell me he wasn’t. Blood or not, we were brothers. We were more. I remember when he was younger he lived in his Ninja Turtle costume—Leonardo, the one with the blue mask—for months after Halloween passed. He would cry and beg for me to be a turtle with him. Then one day, I fucking caved.” He laughed, rolling his eyes.
“I grabbed a shitty old orange rag, cut out some holes in it and called myself Michelangelo to shut the brat up. Over the years, we dressed up every fucking Halloween. In the same fucking costumes. Link would put on the whole get up, I would put on the rag. Eventually, it was part of our tradition. No matter where I was or what I was doing. I was Michelangelo every single Halloween. No matter what.”
Jack had the whole, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover,’ down to an art form. Their were layers to him, no one ever expected, and they were addicting.
“What happened to Link?”
Jack tilted his head and swallowed his food. “The lucky motherfucker got the fairytale ending. Adopted by some filthy rich family that lived in Golden Ridge.”
“Damn. How the hell did that happen?”
“His new daddy went to the same elementary school Link went attended. Daddy went to visit his old school, to donate money or something like that and Link caught his attention. To be fair, he was the only ten-year-old kid in mid-November wearing his Halloween costume. He was running in the halls, kicking his legs up and pretending he had two swords, wielding them in the air as he fought invisible enemies.” Jack shook his head with a wide smile as he replayed the memory in his mind.
“Is that the friend you stayed with? Link?”
Jack winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “No. Haven't spoken or seen Link in eighteen years. By the time I got home the day he was supposed to leave, he was gone. His new parents came early that day and took him away before I got a chance to say goodbye. What was worse? They did it on purpose. His parents never liked me. Labeled me a punk, a savage, before they even knew my name.”
I nibbled on my sandwich, my heart squeezed painfully. Having someone leave you before you had a chance to say goodbye was possibly one of the worst feelings in the world. No goodbyes, no closure…no anything. Just abandonment.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
Jack shrugged. “That’s life. Shit happens that you don’t want to happen, but I’m sure I’ll find him.”
I nodded.
At least he was positive about finding Link.
We ate our food in silence. When Jack finished his sandwiches, salad and curly fries he stopped and looked at his chocolate cake.
Was Jack full?
“I have to ask, Ahri. Why did Luke go to prison?” Jack asked.
I coughed through my milkshake, surprised. The question was so out of the blue. “Mmmm—he didn’t do anything. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“So, like everyone else in prison. He was innocent?” Jack cocked a brow giving me a devilish grin.
I sipped on my milkshake and looked over at Felicia whose eyes were on us, giving me that same ridiculously happy face. She held her thumb up then down, trying to figure out where I stood. Right now, I was right in the middle. Slowly going to a thumb down mood if we kept talking about Luke and his crime, and the more I thought about Aurora or him.
I took a long sip of my milkshake, avoiding Jack’s amber eyes. They always seemed to lure me in like a trap. They made me want to tell Jack everything—the truth. They made me feel safe, and I wanted to trust him. But in reality? I knew better. I couldn’t. I shouldn't. Even though I wanted to so badly. And even though my black butterflies were telling me it was okay to trust Jack.
I couldn't.
“My break is almost up. I’ll be back with the check.” I slid out the booth, slapping the wrinkles out of my diner outfit.
“So, you’re paying, right?” Jack chuckled, snapping and pointing his finger at me like it was 1950’s.
“Ha. Ha. Funny. We’ll have separate checks.”
“Same check, baby girl. This was a date.”
A blank expression masked my face.
“No. No, this wasn’t. A date is a place where I don’t work, where you didn’t have lunch with your landlord's daughter just over a week ago, and it lasts more than fifteen minutes. Bonus, if you buy flowers, chocolates, and open doors for me. That will most likely lead to us fucking in the restaurant bathroom,” I spoke in a callous voice, even though there was a part of me that wanted all of that.
To be spoiled, pampered, and taken care of. Not worrying about anything and enjoying the company of a man who made my whole body melt with just one glare. But that was a fantasy. A princess fantasy that unemployed Prince Charming of Birch Park couldn’t make a reality. I already used all my ‘luck’ to be where I am right now.
“Wow, so many rules. Do we have to make this official and sign a contract as well?” Jack laughed through his question.
My dimple appeared and Jack went quiet just staring at me harder, licking his lips.
“I’m kidding, Jack.” I rolled my eyes.
Kind of.
Jack nodded, displaying a face that showed he wasn't convinced that I was joking. “I can give you all of that, baby girl…when you have a day off. Especially the fucking part.” Jack winked.
“Or we can skip the date entirely, and get down with the fucking. Tonight. Diablo’s. After my shift.” I bit my lip, leaving Jack with a little visual taste for tonight.
I walked away from Jack, but I couldn't help myself. I peeked over my shoulder, linking with Jack’s eyes like he wanted nothing more in this world than to just look at me.
I love that look.
I really loved that look.