The Night At his Place - Duskwood

03 - The Fight

I let the wave of anticipation pass over me, taking a moment to respond. I took a deep breath and replied,

"A little," I said.

'Maybe it's not Jake,' I thought to myself; after all, the clothes don't match what we agreed on. And if it was Jake, why would he have talked to Jessy instead of me? And what if it's a trick of Bloomgate and the rest of the police department?

"I see," he said, turning to look at the parking lot just like I was. Then, just silence.

I couldn't help but wonder; What is this guy waiting for? What should I do?

"Um... I'm waiting for my boyfriend...So... " I finally said.

'If he's Jake, he better say it now. If not, I won't waste any more time,' I thought.

"Oh, Now I get it," he said, realizing something. "The thing is... I am your boyfriend," he added with a shy smile, putting a lot of emphasis on the "I am". "Or are you really that mad at me?"

His words striked me like a lightning.

"I'm Jake," he repeated, looking at me with a faint smile.

I looked around, almost crying. I could smell his cologne and see his breath in the cold weather. Jake tried to hold my hand, but I didn't let him. It was all too good to be true.

"Prove it," I demanded.

Caught off guard, he looked confused.

"I'm wearing the outfit we agreed on," he said, sounding almost like he was asking a question.

"But you're not," I replied.

"Oh, right. I forgot the jacket in the trunk..." he said, looking around.

The trio of smokers was walking towards a car, and the women from before had long since left. So, aside from the people behind the glass windows of Aurora, it was just the two of us in an empty parking lot. He looked up as if pulling something from memory, then leaned towards me, saying:

"01040."

The numbers reverberated in my mind.

"And how did you recognize me, with so many people in the bar?" I asked to test him.

"I would never mistake your face. I have tons of pictures of you, including ones you didn't send me yet."

He passed the test. The almost emotionless voice was exactly what I had imagined. I threw myself into a hug, squeezing Jake as I fought the urge to cry.

"Why did you take so long? I thought everything bad had happened all at once," I asked without taking my face from his chest, feeling his heart beating fast.

"I had to delay, but I'm here now," Jake replied, hugging me back, stronger than I expected. I wanted to ask a thousand questions, but I thought it wasn't the right time. He continued:

"You look beautiful. No wonder so many guys are trying to pick you," he said, gently running his fingers through my hair.

"It was just some random guy."

"Doesn't Phil count?" Jake asked, to my surprise. At that moment, I had completely forgotten about Phil's existence.

"Not anymore. I've gotten too used to it," I replied, paying little attention to the question. I was too distracted by the woody scent and the warmth of Jake's embrace.

"That frequent, huh? So... We need to go back to Aurora," he said, as if thinking out loud.

This idea surprised me even more. I raised my face to look into his eyes, saying: