Jack looked up sharply, our eyes meeting as his curious look turned into a smile behind his darkened stubble. He was still ridiculously good looking, even this early in the morning and after a hard night of drinking.
‘Morning,’ he said casually, releasing the handle of the axe, leaving it’s blade lodged in the chopping block. The surface looked like it had taken a thousand hits in it’s time.
‘Hi…’ I smiled back, ‘I, uhh… I don’t really know what to say to you…’
‘What do you mean?’ He asked, wiping his moist brow and placing his hands on his hips.
‘Well… I only met you last night, and now I wake up in your house, and…’
‘Sorry, I wanted to take you home,’ he panted, catching his breath, ‘But you were so drunk that you could hardly speak properly. I had no idea where you were staying.’
‘Oh…’ I said, feeling my cheeks run red. ‘Sorry about that… I didn’t mean to place all that on you.’
‘That’s okay,’ he said, his voice almost a growl in the quiet morning air, ‘More than happy to accommodate you.’
I smiled back. ‘Look, there’s something I’ve got to ask you… We didn’t, uhh… I mean, we didn’t…’ I pointed back at the house as I spoke, trying to enunciate what I meant.
‘Fuck?’ Jack said bluntly, looking me up and down, a smug grin on his face. ‘No, why?’
‘Oh…’ I said, not knowing exactly how I felt right now. A little laugh escaped me at the bluntness of his words. ‘I couldn’t remember, I drank that much… And my jeans were slung over the end of the bed, so a part of me was wondering if you’d taken them off…’
‘No,’ Jack laughed, ‘That was you. You actually seemed pretty keen to be rid of them, if I remember correctly.’
I smiled uncontrollably, looking down at the floor, unable to meet his eyes because of how embarrassed I was.
‘Where is it that you live, anyway?’ He asked.
‘Just across the lake,’ I said, looking out across the still water. I made my way down the porch steps looking out at it between the trees. ‘I actually don’t think it’s too far from here.’
‘That’s good,’ Jack said. He took a few steps towards me, I unable to keep myself from looking his shirtless body up and down. A smile rose to his face as he looked over at me. ‘Did you just check me out?’
‘I- what? No…’ I said quickly, my heart racing as I tried desperately to keep my eyes on his face, or anywhere but on him…
He stopped before me, looking me in the eyes with that analytical gaze I vaguely remembered from last night. I hated that he spoke so bluntly about everything, how open he was, how it didn’t bother him in the slightest… But at the same time there was a feeling he was giving me that I couldn’t explain. I suddenly felt overwhelmingly aware of myself, of my mind and my whole body, like I was policing myself…
And, above everything else, I felt so intimidated… In a way that felt better than I could even explain.
‘Why’s that good?’ I finally asked.
‘Because it’s not far away from here, I can walk you back and get to work in good time.’
‘Oh…’ I said, ‘You’ve… You’ve gotta work.’
‘Yeah,’ he smiled, crossing to the porch railing and retrieving his shirt before putting it on and doing up the buttons. ‘It’s a Monday morning. That’s what normal people do on Monday’s, unfortunately.
So fucking cocky…
‘Make sure you’ve got everything and we’ll get going.’
And without another look he made his way over to the bar, his perfect body breezing past me as he did so, heading inside.
***
‘So why are you really in Watertown?’ Jack asked, a few minutes after we headed out of the front door of his lakehouse and took off along the quiet road the circled the lake, sauntering along in the clear morning air. He had pulled on a shirt and a jacket, and now we were side by side, his towering, dominant figure by me.
‘What do you mean ‘really’?’
‘Come on… Twenty-something girl like you who can spin guys heads whenever she wants, dull little town way upstate… It doesn’t really make sense.’
I looked over at him, seeing him smile back with that sarcastic, cocky grin he seemed to always have on his face in some shape or form.
‘It’s… Kind of difficult to explain,’ I said, running a hand through my hair.
‘Try.’
‘I’m…’ I started, not knowing what I was going to say exactly. I couldn’t really tell him, could I? I had come here to get away from all that, not to bring it down on me again. But then Jack was one of the most engaging, genuine people I had met in a long time… ‘I kind of…’ I sighed. ‘Look, you wouldn’t even believe me if I told you.’
‘Fair enough,’ he said.
‘Anyway, I should be asking you the same thing.’
‘What’s that?’
‘What are you doing here?’
‘Working, I told you last night.’
‘Yeah, but… You don’t seem like the type either.’
‘And why’s that?’
‘I don’t know… You just seem…’ and then I spoke without thinking, ‘You just seem kind of hot and not exactly the type…’ I clenched my eyes shut at the sound of my own words.
So that was what it was like when you don’t read rehearsed lines.
‘Oh, so you do think I’m hot,’ he laughed, sliding his hands into his pockets.
‘No, that’s not what I said-’
‘I think it was.’
‘Shut up,’ I laughed. For a moment I realised that I felt happier talking to Jack than I had felt for the past few days… Before I had to ask- ‘But, seriously, what’s the real reason you’re here?’
Jack paused for a moment as we walked, the smile falling from his face as he looked around at the trees and the lake. I couldn’t remember a whole lot of last night, but I did remember the same contemplative look on his face he had had when I asked him something last night… Although I couldn’t remember what it was.
‘I guess it suits me,’ he said simply, ‘It’s quiet. I can work during the day and relax during the night. And then do it all over again. Gives me time to think.’
For a second I almost asked what exactly he was thinking about, but decided against it. I had only known him since last night… Although I already felt like I wanted to ask.
‘Casey,’ Jack suddenly said, staring straight ahead.
‘What?’
‘Your friend’s name. It’s on that mailbox. I’m guessing this is your house?’
I looked over at the mailbox and sure enough read my best friend’s name – I had been so caught up in our conversation that I hadn’t even realised that we had reached the house.
‘Oh, right… Yeah, this is me…’
I hadn’t thought about my best friend last night, but she was about to grace us with her shameless presence, right now, as it happened.
We had stopped before the end of the path, about to say our goodbyes… I wasn’t even sure if I was gonna see Jack again, even if he was the only thing that I was thinking about right now. And then-
Jack and I turned out heads in the direction of the front door, seeing it open as Casey came stumbling out in a dressing gown… And she wasn’t alone.
Rory came out to… In exactly the same clothes he had been wearing last night at the bar. The embraced, smiling at each other before kissing wildly as both Jack and I stood there, mouths agape, staring at the two of them.
‘Casey?’ I said loudly, causing the two of them to quickly separate and whip their heads in our direction.
‘Heyyyy, Emma…’ She said, ‘… What, uhh… What are you up to?’
She turned back to Rory and said goodbye to him, before he set off down the path towards us.
‘Nice,’ Jack said flatly, shaking his head and smiling at Rory, ‘Come on, we’ve gotta get to work.’
Rory smiled at us both and set off down the p
ath, beckoning Jack to come with him as he took the walk of shame.
‘It was nice to meet you, Emma,’ Jack said, turning back to me and smiling. He stuck out a hand, which I shook in a formal manner, feeling the roughness of his skin in the process, his touch sending a warm shiver through me. ‘Maybe I’ll see you around town…’
‘Yeah…’ I said, ‘Yeah, maybe…’
The two of us looked into each other for a moment, caught in early morning air, before Jack smiled and nodded at me, turning away and heading up the path to catch up with Rory. He didn’t look back.
I watched him go, until he had turned the corner and drifted off out of sight. And then-
‘Emma. Abigail. Clarke. What the fuck was that…?!’
Casey came running down the path in her slippers from the house, standing next to me and looking up the road in the direction Jack and Rory had just gone.
‘The guy from the bar? Rory’s friend? Jack? You stayed at his house? What happened? Did you guys… No, you didn’t…!’
Casey glared back at me, open mouthed as she indulged in her imagination for a minute.
‘No we most certainly did not,’ I said, punching her on the arm. ‘Besides, how can you pull that on me? You’ve been caught red handed.’
‘Yeah…’ She said shamelessly, ‘We had a really good night, actually.’
‘I don’t wanna know,’ I laughed.
‘But you stayed at his house,’ Casey shouted again, enough to wake the birds. ‘What did he think of having Emma Clarke staying at his house?’
‘He didn’t…’ I said, ‘I didn’t tell him.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Yeah… What does it matter, anyway?’
‘Nothing…’ She said, ‘I just wonder what a lot of guys think to having a Hollywood A-Lister staying in their home…’
‘Shut up,’ I laughed, ‘It was… Nice. Just talking to him, you know. Like a normal person. I didn’t have to put up with any of that bullshit the way people usually act around me, like they’re trying to put on some kind of show. He was just… A guy.’
‘A really hot guy.’
‘Yeah… No! Screw you…’ I laughed, heading back towards the house, Casey’s feet pattering along behind me as she followed me back in.
Chapter Seven
‘Nothing happened!’
‘I still don’t believe you.’
‘There’s nothing to believe. I stayed over at his house because I drank too much and he had no idea where I lived. I was so wasted that I couldn’t even remember…’
‘I’m sure that was very attractive, Emma,’ Casey said sarcastically. ‘You sure it wasn’t a little rebound after everything with that jerk back in New York?’
‘No…’ I said, ‘It wasn’t anything like that. It’s like I said, it was nice being able to talk to a person who doesn’t see you as a concept, like some kind of idol to be worshipped. He has no idea what I do for a living…’
‘That must’ve been weird.’
‘No, it wasn’t. It was actually pretty cool.’
We walked at a casual pace through Main Street in Watertown, both of us carrying grocery bags in our arms filled with food and drink to last us at least a week. It had been an odd experience making our way through the little store, picking up things at random and deciding to get them, and by the time we reached the checkout the owner of the place didn’t seem to know whether to give us a delighted look or a confused one.
So now we were slowly making our way back to the house.
‘D’you wanna get a cup of coffee before we head back?’ Casey asked, ‘I could really use one after last night…’
‘You’re disgusting,’ I laughed, ‘Yeah, why not.’
We reached a small coffee shop and entered, something halfway between a franchise setup and a pleasant, countryside teashop, with small tables and flowers contrasting the modern equipment behind the bar and a big flatscreen on the wall, playing some news channel quietly.
We got our drinks and took a seat, finally getting off our feet for the first time in hours.
‘It’s a good thing we’re way out here,’ I said, taking a sip from my cup, ‘Imagine if I had walked out of the house in the city last night instead of here? My walk of shame would be plastered across the cover of every gossip magazine in the state…’
‘Excellent point,’ Casey smiled. She looked over my shoulder and up at the wall, her face suddenly falling flat as she focused in on something. ‘Oh, no…’
‘What?’ I asked.
‘Don’t look.’
Of course, whenever somebody says that the only thing you do, the thing you need to do, is look.
I turned around to see what she was looking at, immediately greeted with a plasma TV image of myself on the red carpet with Marcus, arms around each other. I could only half hear what was being said but the picture of turned into an animation of a sharp tear coming down between us in the photo, and the picture splitting apart.
Then there was a picture of my apartment building and a question mark next to it – it was then that I realised that it wasn’t a picture, as the camera view descended down to show the doors Casey and I had come stumbling out of yesterday morning. The photographers and reporters had dispersed.
‘At least they’re gone from outside your apartment…’ Casey said reassuringly. I glanced over at the baristas, moving my dirty blonde hair over my face, although neither of them were looking in our direction or at the TV.
‘I guess…’ I said, ‘Hopefully they won’t have figured out where we are…’
‘Hopefully…’ Casey said, ‘Anyway, gives you a chance to go and see Jack some more…’
‘Shut up,’ I laughed.
‘Okay, okay… You two just looked pretty cute together is all.’
‘We’re not kids anymore, Casey,’ I smiled, ‘And we’re not those people that comment on YouTube fan videos saying how cute co-stars are… Besides, we all know how that turned out in real life.’
‘True,’ Casey laughed, ‘But you did say how great it was being with a person who just talked to you like a normal human being… I mean, aside from myself. So why not just go hang out with him?’
‘Because there’s a massive disparity between us. I don’t mean because he works as a logger, I would go out with any guy who I wanted to be with… And I’m not saying that about Jack, I’ve only met him once. It’s just that I’d have to tell him about what I do and… Can you imagine his reaction? Everything would change. He’d become just like everybody else is around me – aside from you and my family.’
‘Just go and see him, Emma,’ she said, ‘It’s not gonna hurt, is it?’
I looked off to the side, taking another drink of my coffee and dwelling on the idea of it. Should I go and see him again? We had only met once, but since then I couldn’t take my mind off him… Was I really gonna do this?
Chapter Eight
Of course I was.
I couldn’t tell you what was driving me towards him. I couldn’t even tell myself. True, everything Casey had said about him was right and unadultered – Jack was ridiculously handsome and had a body I hadn’t stopped thinking about since I had seen him this morning, but it wasn’t just that, if it was that at all. He had an honesty about him, a genuineness that I hadn’t found in anybody aside from my close friends for longer than I could even remember.
Because he had no idea about my actual life… But did that mean I should have told him? I had no idea.
I took the path around the lake around 8pm, the sun setting on the horizon in the early evening breeze as I finally reached his house. His truck was gone, his lights off…
I made my way up to the wooden door, tapping my knuckles against it as I stood there in jeans, a t-shirt and a jacket and boots. I waited, glancing around, listening for any sign of movement aside against the backdrop of the birds tweeting and the trees rustling around me.
I knocked again and, after waiting half a minute, resolved that he couldn’t h
ave been here. I frowned and looked around, wondering where Jack could be… At work still? Surely he wouldn’t be there that late… Unless…
I didn’t even really think about it – I wanted to see him again. I set off for the bar where we had met almost 24 hours ago, where I had probably made a total idiot of myself. Maybe he would be there again, having a drink with Rory after work.
Watertown’s Main Street was just as lively as it had been the night before, the streetlights coming on, the quiet, charming place almost seeming like it had been set up by a film crew.
Haven’t had a reality check in a while, I thought to myself, smirking at the idea. And that seems like something I should be doing right now, considering how my life is starting to feel more and more like a movie…
But how was it gonna end up? That was the important part.
I headed for the bar, sauntering in through the doors with my head down, looking around for Jack or even Rory. I could see neither of them. My mood fell a little as I headed towards the bar, wondering if the bartender knew where he might be.
‘Excuse me,’ I said, leaning over to speak to the old, friendly man from yesterday.
‘Oh, back again, are you, dear?’ He smiled, ‘Thought you might have had enough for a lifetime last night…’
‘No, no,’ I laughed, ‘I actually just came to ask you something. I was here with two guys last night-’
‘Jack and Rory. Good guys, through and through.’
‘Yeah,’ I replied, nodding, ‘Well I was just wondering if you had any idea where Jack might be? I went to his house but he’s not answering…’
‘Ha!’ He laughed abruptly, ‘Monday night, there’s only one place he’s gonna be.
‘Where?’
‘The logging yards.’
‘You mean where he works?’ I asked, ‘Do they really work this late into the evening, in the dark with machinery like that?’
‘Haha!’ He laughed again, ‘Honey, he ain’t working. Might be blowing off some steam, but what he’s doing’s a lot more dangerous than working in the dark, I can tell you…’
Runaway Page 5
