Tell Me 'Bout That Day In Dallas

Chapter Eight:

11:00 P.M. Mediterranean Sea (Greece)

Jackie was leaning on the deck's railing, alone, and blew a puff of smoke into the warm night air, the white cloud quickly diminishing into the clear, black sky. The stars were twinkling down at her as she brought her cigarette back to her lips; oh how she wished Jack could be here with her but she knew they couldn't always be side by side and she liked the alone time to just think and relax, but that still didn't keep her mind from wandering back to him. Always him.

She would always return to him. Her John F. Kennedy.

"Restless night?" Onassis called to her as he emerged from the ship's shadows and joined her at the railing.

Blowing out her smoke, before facing him with a small smile, she explained, "No, I just like the night sky."

"It is very beautiful out here," Ari agreed, turning away from her to look out, she did the same. "And you're in the middle of the sea; so there's no lights to worry about."

Jackie nodded and took another drag from her cigarette as silence overcame the two.

They listened to the wind and waves as the ship creaked for a few minutes when Ari turned back to her and placed his hand on hers, saying softly, "You don't need to be afraid of me, Jacqueline."

"I'm not," Jackie answered briskly, gently moving her hand out from under his, brushing away her hair as a polite excuse of moving it, before resting her arm across the railing, her hand safely tucked under her other arm as she held her cigarette to the side.

"Then why do you avoid me?" Ari asked, fully facing her as he rested his elbow on the rail. "Do you not appreciate my offering of transportation?"

"No, it's not that at all," Jackie answered as she turned to look at him, before carefully adding, "I appreciate your transportation but I like to have my space. As you can see, I was alone out here before you came."

"Do you truly enjoy being alone?" Ari asked, inching closer to her. "Or have you just been alone so often that it seems like the norm for you?"

Jackie felt like she'd been stabbed. Those words were truer than she liked to admit and she found herself whispering as she looked to the side at the black waves, "Possibly."

"You don't need to be alone, Jackie, or feel alone," Ari told her gently, his tone a sickening kind of sweetness, as he reached up and brushed back her bangs. "I can be here for you..."

Jackie shook away his hand and took a step back, and if it wasn't for the nicotine in her brain, calming her down, she was almost certain her temper would have taken over, despite her strong self-control.