Fortuitous || Jack Steele [1]

eight

I remember you.

Seriously Mads? What has living with Max again done to you? Like I know he's lost a lot of brain cells but I didn't know it was contagious! Maybe I should move out again so it doesn't get worse.

Jack Steele appears taken aback yet watches me carefully and rather pensively. He's trying to figure out whether he knows me or not. I just stand there looking at him, unsure of what to say.

God, those eyes.

They hold a sort of hesitancy. He's a man lost in a fast moving world. The way his eyes present me with a need for guidance yet he doesn't ask anyone for it. Within his built up walls are emotions that are fortified by a protective barrier. He seems isolated, hiding away his fragility and replacing it with a welcoming outward appearance. The gentleness of his expressions is highly introverted. He's not frigid to those he first meets but instead just not open to them. He's secluded and doesn't wish to let anyone in until they splinter the glass that wishes to crack.

I spent years reading Max. I know his body language and his emotions. Jack is no different. I can tell that he's closed off unless you knock down his walls. He needs you to reach out to him, it doesn't work the other way round. Time it may take but in the end you'll unlock a whole new person who trusts you entirely. Someone who confides with you. Someone who shows you their inner weaknesses because they know you'd never use it against them. A connection you have to forge with him and you must be dedicated in doing so.

Jack Steele is a reticent person who only opens up when you make the time and show the effort to get to know him. To delve deeper beyond the reserved mask and discover the real him.

That's who he is.

The silence becomes unbearable, especially due to my constant need to talk or poke fun.

"Madelyn King. Nice to meet your acquaintance," I greet enthusiastically, taking his outstretched hand — it's warm and soft — which has slacked up a little bit. He doesn't say anything. "Hello?" I wave my hand in his face until I finally get a reaction.

"Sorry," Jack apologises, looking slightly embarrassed and a little awkward.

"You're all good!" My natural outgoing personality says. There's a pause between us.

"Wait, did you say King?" His eyes widen a little in slight recognition, watching me.

Typical. Always with the last name.

"Yes, I am the brighter, shorter and more intelligent of my siblings," I inform him proudly, standing straighter.

"Max always talks about you," Jack tells me, starting to get the gist of who I am.

"He talks about me? That dipshit better not've said anything bad or a grave is his next place of destination." Jack cracks a smile. Aww.

Jack scrutinises me whilst I'm lost in my own world.

His eyes are narrowed in concentration, his nose scrunching up. He focuses on my features in attempt to find something he recognises. I can tell he's biting his tongue inside his mouth.

Jack's expression changes suddenly.

"I remember you from somewhere too," he recounts, meeting my eyes. "You were at last year's jumper presentation, right?"

"I sure was," I smile, recalling the time when I couldn't stop looking at this man in front of me. "That's where I remember you from too."

"I did notice you with Jack Lonie earlier that night," he comments, unaware of how quickly I make a joke out of something.