Torchwood

Chapter 33

“Not here please.” James has an embarrassed look on his face. We’re about to sit when my mobile buzzes again. It’s Jack. I push the ‘ignore’ button. We sit and James and I don’t say much. Amber is doing most of the talking. Jack calls me four more times. Each time, I push the ’ignore’ button. He starts texting me. “What’s going on?” Then, “Are you mad because I didn’t tell you I was back? I was working?” “Can we talk?” “Alright. If you don’t respond, I’ll come and find you.” “Alright. I’m coming to you.” I laugh. Amber looks at me. “It’s him. He’s coming here.” She rolls her eyes.

I respond to his last message. “Don’t. Just don’t. It’s a waste of your time to find me. I am moving on, so just leave me alone.” Amber gets up. “Sorry, I have to get back.” We all nod. “It’s okay.” She smiles at me. “You two behave and be nice to her. She and I are very close.” She points to me while giving the two men evil looks. Cody and James put their hands up in a defensive move and say, “We will. We promise.” They both laugh. Amber smacks Cody in the back of the head. “I mean it!” They nod again.

Amber walks off. “So, who’s coming here?” James looks curious. “Oh. Uh, no one important.” I give him a half smile. Cody stands up. “I’ll let you two chat. I’m gonna go be with Amber.” He waves at us and walks away. James smiles. “Sorry. I don’t really have much to say.” I chuckle. “Me either. We could just sit here for a little while…If you like.” He nods. Just then, my mobile buzzes again. “What do you mean? Why won’t you talk to me?” I ignore his message. “Hey. Want to head out and get some air?” I look up at James. “Sure. We can go out back.”

He stands up and holds out his hand. I take it and stand up. We walk towards the employee area behind the counter. Erik lets us through. “We’re headed out back.” Erik nods and moves aside for us to get by. Once we get outside, I take a deep breath. Ah, it’s nice and a bit chilly out tonight. I turn to James. He’s looking up at the stars. “It’s so beautiful.” He smiles. “Yes.” He looks over at me and smiles. I walk up to him and start kissing him. He doesn’t flinch or pull away. I slowly walk backwards until I am up against the brick wall. He follows, still lightly kissing me.

We really start getting into it. He’s not a bad kisser. I think maybe fifteen minutes go by. We’re still making out. I still have my back up against the wall, James is in front of me, his back towards the alleyway. He starts kissing my neck when I hear what sounds like a gun cocking. James stops. I look over his shoulder to see Jack pointing a gun at James’ head. “What the hell are you doing? I said. Jack has an angry expression on his face.

“I will shoot you if you don’t leave right now.” James slowly turns around and puts his hands up. “I am not leaving her here with you.” Jack moves the gun closer to James’ face. “She’s not in any danger with me here. So, you can leave now.” James doesn’t move. I put my hand on James’ shoulder. “You should go. He really will shoot you and I don’t want that.” James shakes his head no. “I’m not leaving you.” I put my chin on his shoulder. “Please. I honestly do not want him to shoot you. I’ll be alright.” He turns his head just a little and lets out a sigh. “Okay. Please be careful.” I nod. James starts to walk back to the door where we came out from.

Once he gets to the door, he takes one more glance back at me and Jack. I nod to let him know it’s okay. He nods back and walks through the door. “What the hell are you doing?!?” I put my hands on Jack’s shoulders and shove him back. He still looks angry. “Me? What about you? Making out with a guy you just met.” I scoff. “I told you to leave me alone!” I am so angry right now. I walk away. Jack follows and grabs my arm and turns me to where I am facing him.

“What is going on with you?” I pull my arm away and take a step back. “Well?” I turn and walk away again. He grabs my arm again. “Why won’t you talk to me?” He pushes me against the wall. He looks angry and hurt. I quote some of his conversation he had with Gwen. “I saw the end of the world. It doesn’t matter now. But after it was all over, I knew I belong here. What kept me fighting was the thought of coming home to you.” The look on his face. He knew what I was talking about. “How did you hear that?”

I sighed. When I heard that you had disappeared, I got worried. I used Torchwood’s server and the security cameras that are all over the hub. I set an up an alert so I would know when you got back. Since you left after getting back, I waited and watched. I used another program to tell me what was being said. I didn’t get Gwen’s side of the conversation, but I can guess.” I stared at him, watching his expression.

“I’m sorry. I told that to the others too…Well, not exactly like that, but similar. I told them I came back because of them.” He takes a step closer to me. I put my hand up to stop him from getting closer. “Don’t. Don’t stand there and tell me a lie. I don’t want to hear it. If you’ve told it to them, I don’t want to hear it.” I push him back a little. “Charlotte.” I move away from him. “No.”  I start walking through the alley to the front of the club. Once I get out of the alley, I look over to my left and see Jon. He’s not too far away.

Jack follows me. “Please talk to me.” I continue walking until I get to the street. I call out for a taxi. I feel arms wrap around me. Jack has wrapped his arms around my waist, lifts me up and carries me to where the Torchwood SUV is parked. As he carries me, I yell at him. “Let me go Jack!” I try and struggle, but it’s no use. He’s much stronger than I am. “Charlotte! Calm down. I just want to talk.” I shake my head. “I don’t.” He sighs. “Then just listen.” I scoff. “No.” Finally, he puts me down and pushes me against the SUV.

“Just listen.” He has his hands on my shoulders. I look down at the ground and then back up. He still has that look on his face. He can’t give me that look. I guess he realized that talking to me was no use, because he didn’t say anything. He’s just staring at me. Then, out of nowhere, he kisses me. I try to push him away. He pulls back just enough so I can see his face. Then his starts kissing me again. He steps closer to me and puts his hand on my neck. I finally give in and kiss him back.