Uncoiled (complete)

Earned Trust

There was a time in Deena's life when she did not fear anything. But in that moment even the sound of a car door being slammed shut somewhere in the distance made her jump. She locked herself in the guest bathroom, curled up in the tub, and waited ... well she didn't know exactly what she was waiting for. 

A light bulb? An idea? Something that she can do to get herself out of this dangerous situation (that she put herself in) and into one less dangerous. And leaving this apartment with no money or plan was certainly not an option.

Maybe if she can use his computer she can contact an organization that takes care of women who share the situation that she put herself in.

Satisfied with that idea Deena waited until it was extremely quiet - quiet enough to crawl out of the tub and into the apartment. She didn't find Jack anywhere. Eyeing the laptop sitting on the desk that he told her not to go anywhere near, Deena wondered if he would know she used it. She was smart enough to cover up after herself- three years in college and an associates degree has trained her competence, she hoped.

Walking towards the desk of doom, Deena examined the placement of everything. The sticky tabs, the papers splayed out over the laptop. It was obvious to her that the documents before her were the fragments of a working novel. For some reason there was an intimate feeling to having access to someone's broken work before they've gotten the chance to look over and correct it.

"What does Mr. Jack write about?" Deena wondered aloud- she reached for the drafts but stopped herself short. She was getting too distracted. Back to plan A.

Memorizing the placement of everything Deena removed the stuff from above his laptop one by one. She lifted the screen and turned it on. The screen came to life and she silently prayed he didn't have a password lock on it- he didn't. Not wasting time she clicked on safari and immediately entered private browsing. Deena went from page to page until she finally thought she found something suitable for her. 

There was a shelter for women five blocks from her current location. Looking around for a printer, she figured she might as well- there was one in the corner of the room. She ran towards it and turned it on, returned to the computer and clicked print. The damn thing was going excruciatingly slow. Panicking now, she jumped onto her toes, closed the tab and returned everything the way he'd left it.

As soon as the printer finished, there was a click on the lock. Deena grabbed the page, turned off the computer and sat on the old armchair stuffing the now folded paper in between the pants she found in the guest bathroom and her hips.

When Jack entered Deena had her fingers nervously intertwined on her lap and her eyes on the ground. She felt a pause near the door and then with a sigh, Jack closed it softly.

He walked towards the chair- each step making Deena wish the old thing would swallow her whole. Stopping in front of her, Jack cleared his throat.

"I want to apologize about earlier. There's no excuse for the way I behaved."

Deena's fingers tightened against each other.

"I know I must've frightened you-" Jack continued. "But I hope what happened doesn't influence your decision to stay or leave."

She tried hard to keep her eyes on the ground- but it seemed as though the damn curious things had a mind of their own. They slowly made their way up Jack's legs- and stopped at his hands. He had a bag with him. She made out a box and a few other stuff.

Jack cleared his throat again. "I got some stuff I thought you might need." He placed them on the ground as close to her as he would allow himself to go without frightening her anymore than he already has.

"Since those men are probably still out looking for you, it'd be best to disguise yourself somehow. I'm unsure as to how you'd want to do that so I bought a lot of random stuff." Jack pointed at the bag. He didn't wait for Deena to respond. Taking his laptop with him, Jack went into his room and locked the door behind himself. A distraught expression flashed across his face and for a second Deena thought that she may be the reason for it. But she couldn't be- he only knew her for less than a full hour.

Deena looked at the closed door before focusing on the bag in front of her. She considered leaving without looking to see what he brought. But she couldn't help herself- she would give this arrangement another try. Maybe he wasn't the asshole he made himself to be that morning.

Inside the bag was some makeup and hair dye. Eyeing the color she knew there was no way she would consider bleaching her hair. Large sunglasses- something she was intrigued by.. and a summer dress which made her heart drum quicker. The idea of a man clothes shopping for her- not just any man but the one only a door away from where she stood unsettled her.

Ignoring the flash feeling of intimacy, Deena focused on the obvious choice in disguise he made. Jack must watch a lot of action movies- his choices seemed preplanned. He didn't miss a thing - from a Hollywood perspective that was.

Deena grabbed the bag and went to the guest bathroom. She wasn't going to dye her hair. She liked it the way it was. She might have to cut it though- and this saddened her just as much as the thought of changing the color. But it had to be done. There was no way she would let them find and catch her without putting up a fight. And she knew that cutting her hair was going to be the smallest of the battles.

She put her hair in a ponytail and cut beneath the hair tie. Pulling on the dress, Deena silently prayed that it would fit. And it did-

When she finished, she threw her cut hair inside the bag and threw it into the wastebasket. By the time Deena walked out of the guest bathroom Jack was out of his room, his laptop on the desk, and fingers on his novel.

Minutes passed before he finally spoke, and when he did it was not what she expected to hear.

"I don't want you to think I'm keeping you here against your will- you can leave if you want. If you need anything you can tell me, you don't have to sneak around my own apartment-"

"I-" Deena tried to explain herself as soon as she realized he knew about her using his laptop. But Jack wouldn't let her.

"and think I won't know. I would prefer it if you tell me yourself."

She cleared her throat, frowning. How did he know- she was sure to erase all the prints.

More minutes passed. Jack straightened up and removed his hands from his papers- he finally looked at her. And she floored him. As soon as Jack saw that dress on the rack he knew it was hers- and looking at her now, his thoughts were confirmed. The dress was made for her body.

He was reminded of summer mornings in his childhood home. A place he hasn't been to in what felt like ages- he wondered if she smelled like it too.

Deena raked her mind for what to say- she stepped forward until she was within a professional distance.

"Hi, I'm Deena Masser." She gambled extending her hand for him to shake.

Frowning, Jack observed her searching her face for hint of a joke. When he found nothing. He took her hand and gripped it as softly as his body would allow.

"Jack Simmons."

**********
Thanks for stopping by and reading Uncoiled! Please comment, like, or share the story.