What Jack Wants

Chapter Ten

The engagement party was in a few hours. Jack couldn't bring himself to even pretend that he cared about it. Jess had been handling everything by herself since he literally barked at her to leave him alone. He wired her the funds and asked her to do whatever she wanted with the party. His mother was going to show up and be happy, that was all that mattered to him. It didn't matter if Jack himself was miserable, he was doing what needed to be done. He was doing right by her, fulfilling her desires.

Jack looked at the time, he had barely two hours to sober up and play the doting fiance. The thought of it left a bitter taste in his mouth but it had to be done and that was what he was going to do. He walked to his kitchen and fixed a cup of coffee for himself, the amount of alcohol in his system was enough to knock a weaker man out. Alcohol had become his companion, he didn't know what else to do with his newly discovered feelings. It became clearer that he had been right from the beginning, love was something he had avoided like a plague. He remembered a time when his best friend had betrayed him, it felt like his world as he knew it was tossed. That was when he knew that emotions weren't a thing he wanted to dabble in. Even before then, he had been wary of women but that further sealed his resolve. Until a certain fiery woman came into his life and rocked his world. The thought of it had Jack draining his coffee in the sink and pouring himself another shot of whiskey. He needed to be blissfully numb if he hoped to make it through the engagement party.

Jack woke with a start as someone banged on his front door. It must be someone he knew if they got close enough to his door let alone to bang on it. He looked at the time. Shit, he thought. He was officially an hour late for his engagement party. He had fallen asleep fully dressed on the couch, hoping to catch a few minutes of sleep before the party but the alcohol made sure that he overslept. He unlocked the door and a clearly livid Ben charged in.
"What is wrong with you, man?"
"I'm sorry, I fell asleep and time ran away from me."
"How won't you fall asleep when you now drink like a freaking fish."
"Can we go now or are you going to stay here and yell at me all evening."
"Get your sorry behind in my car, I'm driving."
Jack had no argument there, he planned to drink even more when they got to the venue of the party. It was best for everyone really. That way, he wouldn't be bitter and grumpy, he might actually be friendly if he was a little inebriated.

They got to the venue for the party fifteen minutes later and even Jack had to admit, the view was stunning. Jess had great taste, who knew. Jack noticed his mother fuming in one corner and when to kiss her before talking to anyone else. He inherited his disdain of tardiness from her so he could imagine how disappointed in him she was at the moment. He couldn't blame her, he was late to his own engagement party. He would mad at himself too.

Jess walked to him the minute she spotted him, she didn't look too happy either. She was going to chew him out or at least try to so he quickly devised a plan that was fail-proof.
"You almost gave me a heart attack..."
But Jack's lips on hers silenced her. He grabbed her by the waist and slightly tipped her backwards, making a grand show of kissing his bride to be. By the time he was done, he had everyone's attention. Even his mother was beaming at him from where she sat. Hell, with that kind of performance, he almost fooled even himself, almost. Usually when he kissed someone that passionately, he was immediately turned on but the flaccid nature of the non-existent bulge in his trouser had him a little worried. Had Lisa taken that with her too? He was definitely going to test the theory later but at the time, he needed to focus and get the facade of an engagement party over with.
"What was that for?" Jess asked when he finally broke the statement-making kiss.
"It's our engagement party, we should act the part." Jack gave her another quick kiss before addressing the people who had been waiting on him.

Jack apologised to everyone for his late coming and basically blamed it on work. He gave a short speech about love and marriage that he was probably not going to remember in an hour and then told everyone to have a great time. He then made the rounds, said hello to everyone and spend a few minutes mingling. That way, when he finally retired himself to the makeshift bar, no one would miss him.