Chapter 9

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Chapter 9

“Jackie, what's wrong?” Isaac said as I ducked away from his kiss for the 3rd time. “Why are you avoiding me?”

“I'm not avoiding you. I just don't want to rush in to things so quickly. I'm not sure exactly what my feelings are, and we barely know each other. I want to take this slow, work the kinks out along the way, ya know?” I asked, hoping he would understand. He got this thoughtful look on his face and was silent for a few moments. “Isaac?” I asked tentatively. “Isaac please don't be mad.”

“I'm not mad Jackie. I'm just a little confused. How long have you been feeling like this? I know this didn't come out of nowhere.” He said, sitting back against the arm of the couch and looking at me.

“For a few days. I didn't know how to tell you about this. Please tell me you understand. I don't want to rush into this, and have anything happen to muck it all up.” I told him, praying he would understand. He nodded slowly.

“I think I understand.” He said, looking down at his hands. “You know I would never hurt you, right? Seriously Jackie, you mean a lot to me. I don't want to fuck this up. You know that, right?”

“Yeah Isaac. I know that. Just, bear with me okay? I'm a little cautious when it comes to matters of the heart. When I was younger I was really careless with my heart.” I told him trying to make him understand better. “It isn't your fault, and it's nothing that you've done that has made me feel this way.”

“I know. Somehow, I know that.” He said.

“So are we ok?”

“Yeah.” He said nodding, and pulled me back over to him. “C'mere baby.” I laid my head against his chest. You know, sometimes I wonder what being in love is really all about. That night, just being next to Isaac, something else in my heart opened up. Though it might not be love yet, I knew that someday, if everything went right, it would be. I knew someday, if things turned out okay, I would be Mrs. Clarke Isaac Hanson. Someday, I would be happy. For now though, I was content being the 22 year old ex-movie producer who worked in a CD shop and smoked too many cigarettes, and smoked more pot than she should. The 22 year old who could drink any guy under the table, and the one who could name any band just by hearing the first few bars of their music. The 22 year old who was Isaac Hanson's girlfriend by some odd chance. Amber and Phil wandered into the living room and sat down on the loveseat. I smiled over at them, and Amber smiled back.

“So, there's a party tonight at Bill's. Wanna go?” Phil asked all of us. I looked up at Isaac.

“Up for a party babe?”

“Sure.”

“We'll go. Wait, is Nick still pissy about the whole Matt thing?” I asked, rather worried about a confrontation with Nick. Nick had quite a short temper and tended to blow up a lot.

“I don't think he is. Besides, the whole crew will be there. A lot of them miss you, they haven't seen you in a while.” Phil said with a smile. I rolled my eyes as memories of Crew parties came back to me. Everyone's drunk, dancing to country music, being loud, and passing out. Some people got the bedrooms, others of us just knocked out with each other on the floor. Fine times spent on those floors with some of the guys. Then again, they always considered me “one of the guys” until they were drunk, or lonely. A few girls who knew the crew used to call me the “Crew Screw Whore” because I had dated a lot of them. Never fucked them, well, except Dave, but just dated them.

“I hafta get a shower before we go though, we've been sitting here all day and I look like shit still. I haven't even gotten dressed in decent clothing all day.” I said, looking down at my hospital scrub pants and my big t-shirt.

“I still think you look good.” Isaac said, kissing my neck. I giggled and pushed him away.

“I have GOT to get in the shower. I'll be back in a few!” I said, dashing up the stairs. I grabbed my robe and towel, and headed into my bathroom. The hot water felt so refreshing as it ran over my body. I leaned against the cool tile and just let the water cover me. I must have been in the shower at last 45 minutes before Amber knocked on the door.

“Jesus! Get out of the shower already! Damn Jackie!” She said, and I heard her walk away from the door. I turned the water off and wrapped myself in my big fluffy robe. I walked out into my room, noticing it was fairly dark, but not really caring. I took off my robe and slipped on my bra, underwear, and baggy jeans. I rooted through a pile on my dresser looking for a shirt, and felt a pair of arms snake around my waist. I felt hot breath on my neck, then a set of lips. I leaned back against the body and stretched one arm above my head and around his neck. I knew it was Ike almost instantly. He pulled me tight against him.

“What's this all about?” I asked, grinding back against him.

“I missed you. You've been gone a while. I thought maybe I could catch you naked.” He said, a smirk evident in his voice. I snorted back a laugh and turned around in his arms. I pressed my mouth against his, our tongues twining together. He straightened up and picked me up off the ground, never once breaking our kiss. I finally was set back down and I broke away from him.

“I need to get a shirt on so we can go.” I said, stepping back from him and scanning the room for a shirt. I flipped on the light and looked in my closet. I yanked out my “I do Bad Things” black t-shirt with the letters written in rhinestones and pulled it over my head. It matched with my huge baggy wide-legs.

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I pushed play on the cd player and listened as the sounds of Indigo Girls filled the store. I saw Jason come out of the back office and roll his eyes. He muttered something about angry lesbians and grabbed the next stack that needed repairs. I was scanning in inventory that had been backed up for god knows how long. We still had 6,000 titles to put out on the shelves since we moved to the new store. I scanned in a stack and started putting them out. Chuk walked in from his lunch run and smiled at me.

“Working hard?”

“Hardly.” I said with a laugh. He laughed also and set the bags of food on the counter. “So, do we know who is going to play this Friday?” I asked, curious. Every Friday night we hosted a local band concert series.

“Um, I think Fallout, Worse For Wear, and Midwest Ballers.” He stated. I smiled hearing the familiar name of Justin's band. All of a sudden my music flipped off and the harsh sounds of Manson filled the air. I spun around and gave Jason a dirty look. Chuk rolled his eyes and shook his head. I stalked back over to the stereo, popped his cd out, and tossed it out the door.

“Bitch!” He yelled. I laughed loudly and placed Indigo Girls back on. He stormed back in holding his precious, now fatally scratched cd. “You're a stupid whore.”

“Ah ah ah.” I said, shaking a finger at him. “Better watch what you say, or you'll get a good knocking, again.” I said, thus sending Chuk into riots of laughter. “It's just not easy being me.” Causing the both of us to laugh harder as Jason continued to brood and sulk around the store. He was so easy to pick on! Around 5:30 is when I saw Amber pull into the parking lot and saunter into the store. I smiled as she all but flung open the door, as she always does, and her graceful presence faltered when she tripped over the rug. I started to laugh and she shot me a dirty look.

“If it isn't the brown one!” Chuk said, mocking Amber's name. Amber rolled her eyes and flipped him off good-naturedly. He laughed a little and went back to what he was doing.

“So, whatcha in here for?” I asked, knowing Amber hardly ever came down to work. I looked at her waiting for an answer. She looked at me with pained eyes, not knowing how to phrase whatever it was she had to say. “Amber?”

“You're mom, she's sick. Your brother called the house. She's really sick Jackie. I think you should go see her.”

“Is she in the hospital?” Amber nodded. Shit. My mom was a nurse. If she was in the hospital, things were serious. “How long has she been there?”

“Jim said about 3 days. You should get out there Jackie.” Amber said. I nodded. “I got you a bag packed already. I'll drive you to the airport. Phil and Ike will meet us there.” She said, rushing me. I looked over to Chuk, who looked extremely worried.

“Go Jackie. We'll be fine without you for a few days, if not more.” I smiled, hugged him, and ran out to Amber's car. We sped to the airport.