Jasmine
James
Isabelle
Jasmine Banks never did anything half baked or quietly for that matter. Especially not when she was pissed off.
So, as she entered the coffee shop to meet her friend, she did not graciously step over the threshold, did not gently close the green painted door behind her and she certainly did not sit down elegantly.
No.
Jasmine (Jazz for her many friends and Jasminda for her few enemies) stormed into the shop, slammed the door so hard it shook in its hinges and knocked over several chairs (then picked them all up and apologized profusely to her other friend Joan; the owner of Joan’s Coffee and Cake) and finally flopped down in a chair.
Isabelle Parker barely looked up from ‘The war of the Green Lanterns’ and asked:
“What’s with the ‘tude?”
“I’m being kicked out. Evicted. Officially homeless.”
“Oh. So do you want to split a carrot cake? I’m not really eating so this is only my second.”
Jasmine’s dark brown almond shaped eyes turned to slits as she surveyed Isabelle who listened to 'Izzy' and loathed 'Belle'.
“Not even you can be this uncaring.”
“I told you months ago that this would happen didn't I? Did I not tell you that your ‘landlord’ was dodgy?”
“Yeah but still, a little empathy wouldn't kill you.”
Izzy snorted but otherwise ignored her comment.
“Look, you know you can always crash at mine, but you also know we would try to kill each other.
“Jamie is out of town and won’t be back for at least another month. Just stay at his.
He won’t mind and it will save you some cash and it will buy you time.”
Jamie (christened James) was Isabelle’s older brother who was some high flying business man and usually traveled across the globe.
He also owned an amazing apartment in a building with a swimming pool in the basement and a terrace on the roof.
This terrace almost spanned the entirely floor-space of the apartment and since he lived in the penthouse, it was only accessible by him.
Although of course Jasmine did not see Jamie as often as she did Izzy, she knew him well enough and he had always been laid back, funny and engaging.
On top of that he was not bad to look at. Not bad at all.
Opposite of her Isabelle burped.
Sometimes Jasmine thought she was friends with the wrong Parker sibling.
“So, what’s in it for you, what’s your angle?
“What do you mean, I’m simply looking out for my best friend.”
Jasmine stared at Isabelle, eyes wide, mouth agape.
“Ok, here’s my angle.
“Jamie is always winching about his plants. We kinda made a bet I can’t keep them alive while he’s away and most likely he’s right.”
“Anyway, if you move in, you can keep an eye on the plants ensuring my win.”
“God knows I need one badly, wonder-boy is perfect as always.”
“Hang on, so what did you bet over?”
“The Parker Prize. What else.”
Joan, who both girls were convinced had super sonic ears, yelled out from the back of the shop:
“What?”
“Two adults still making bets over a beaten up faux silver trophy” Jasmine muttered, more to herself than offering Joan an explanation.
“Oh”, came the response.
“You’re damn straight, I want it and I’m feeling lucky. And of course helping you is an added bonus.”
“I can taste victory now and it’s delicious.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re tasting your third slice of carrot cake, Jasmine offered dryly.”
“Whatev’, now tell me are you in?”
Jasmine sighed deeply, covering her right hand with her left and then resting her forehead on top.
She wasn't too keen on moving to Jamie’s – even though it was the best solution for now and it would only be temporarily.
But Izzy’s plan’s, as simple as they seemed, had an odd and very distinct way of turning sour.
Usually they would end in tears and more often than usually, she was the one crying. Like the time Isabelle swore she could cut Jasmine’s hair.
As if on cue, Isabelle said: “and this is not like when I did your hair.”
“Look Jazz, seriously what’s stopping you?”
“Then again you can always move in with that dude on the 2nd floor, you know the one who wears his Havianas with socks.”
“When can I move in?”
Izzy dug in her jeans pocket and fished out a set of keys.
“I gotta go packing, Jasmine pushed herself up and out of the chair and snatched the keys away from Isabelle.
“If you need a hand let me know, otherwise I’ll swing by later tonight and see how my little plants are doing.” She grinned and her pretty face lit up.
Approximately 30 minutes after her arrival,Jasmine exited Joan’s, leaving once again trail of destruction and chaos in her wake.
“What are you playing at Parker?”
For not the first time that day, Joan’s voice filled the tiny bright space of the shop and now it came from somewhere in the basement.
Isabelle, who had forgotten that Joan and her supersonic hearing probably came from the same planet as Superman, jumped in her seat and spilled coffee over her carrot cake.
“Jesus Joan, stop doing that.”
“You just moved your best friend, your romantically challenged best friend, into your only brother’s house.
“So I got ask, What are you playing at?”
“I’m running late honey, I’ll see you next week.”
And the door was slammed shut once again, its little brazen doorbell tinkling in despair and despondency.
**********************************************************
It had been a long week. A very long, stressful week which she had wanted to skip altogether.
Nothing out of the ordinary had happened, nothing too sad or too problematic yet non-descriptive isolated things had pilled up and it had been crap all round.
On Sunday she had lost her phone, on Monday she had ripped her favorite pair of jeans, Tuesday had nearly turned into Wednesday without incidents but then she twisted her ankle 2 minutes to midnight while climbing out of the bath tube.
Which meant that on Wednesday she was in pain.
Thursday she left the house, Jamie’s house without an umbrella so by Friday she was and in pain and had a nasty cold.
Today though, it was Saturday and she was ecstatic. She wouldn't leave Jamie’s comfortable, spacious flat. Not for anything.
She would stay indoors, with cups of tea, heaps of chocolate and covered under mountains of blankets.
She’d seen a nature documentary about shrews, living in cozy burrows protected against the harsh elements.
That was how she thought of herself today. A human shrew who was in between burrows and now house sitting an upmarket property.
Saturday came and went and Sunday did the same. Jasmine was blissfully unaware of the outside world, preferring to stay in her ‘burrow’.
She watched re runs of re runs, had long showers and even longer baths. She didn't cook and ate random bits of food which always involved cheese in one way or another. It was heaven.
**********************************************************
James Damian Parker wasn't a man to fill his head with unobtainable dreams.
As a boy he had dreamed of winning sports-matches at school.
As a teenager he had dreamed of asking out certain girls.
As a man he had dreamed of setting up a successfully business.
And tonight, as a man who had achieved all of the above, he dreamed of something very simple and very precious.
Tonight James dreamed of sleeping in his own bed. He dreamed of dreaming in his own bed.
And he would. He was close. The key was in his door, he only needed to twist it (why wasn't it locked?) and he would be inside...
A Sound. Ever so faint but unmistakably there.
Jasmine hoped she was wrong, prayed she had merely imagined it or it was something innocent, like a gush of air rustling the curtains or perhaps even a mouse. Please, please, please let it be a mouse.
It was silent now, but silence could indeed be extremely loud. Deafening even. Jasmine held her breath, focused. Listening intently to her surroundings.
In her minds eye, she saw her iPhone lying on the kitchen counter and she cursed silently.
There it was again, it definitely came from inside the apartment.
She guessed that whoever it was, was now already in the hallway. It was probably Jamie. It had to be.
He had come home early for some reason and Izzy had failed to tell her or didn't know. If it wasn't a mouse it was him, or perhaps Izzy. But Izzy would have phoned her and certainly would have called out to her. But what if it wasn't him? What if…
Shit.
Jasmine knew she had to make a decision. Face whoever it was head on or stay hidden and hope for the best. But she had no escape route, no phone, nothing to use to her advantage.
And why the hell was she dressed in nothing but Daisy Duke-like shorts and a crop top?! It made her feel even more vulnerable. Layering up meant opening the closet, and opening the closed equaled noise.
At this point, she was well aware that her only real advantage was that whoever was in the apartment did not know she was there or that she had heard them. A fact Jasmine was determine to keep that way.
But wasn't the best defense supposed to be offense? Or did that rule only apply in sports related situations?
Shit.
Was it really the best to meet her intruder(s) head on? The flat had some sort of alarm in the kitchen, if she could reach that, the noise would certainly alert the lobby - causing them to flee – hopefully. Jamie loved to cook, so his kitchen was very much the center of the house. .
The sound of footsteps this time, and Jasmine had decided. She took a deep breath and climbed out of bed. She would make her way into kitchen, she had to as that was the way to the door.
The roof terrace she had admired previously was now mocking her.
It would do her no good and unless she was Spiderman or some shifty character out of the other comics Izzy devoured, she would be trapped so the kitchen it was.
Her phone was there, the door was there, a choice of weapons were there and hopefully Jamie would be there too.
If he wasn’t, she hoped she would be able to snatch her phone and lock herself in a different room or even better, flee altogether.
It wasn’t much of a plan but it was the only one she had. Jasmine took a deep breath and headed softly to the door and stepped outside her room.
Within a few seconds she was in the kitchen and although she still banked on her visitor being James, adrenaline now rushed through her veins and she felt ready as ever to fight him off if she was wrong and it wasn't him.
Jasmine’s eyes had now adjusted to the darkness and she grabbed the closest thing she could find. A frying pan left on the stove, she was almost grateful for being too lazy to put it away earlier that night. Almost. Fabulous, she thought sarcastically.
Maybe she could use it as a shield, didn’t Captain America have one? She was spending far too much time with Izzy, this was the second thing comic book reference she had made in under 10 minutes she suddenly figured.
She closed in on the individual, he stood with his back to her, his head bend forward. Was it Jamie?
She couldn't be sure, she didn't see luggage but that didn't mean anything. Should she call out? But that would mean given up the element of surprise...
But suddenly He turned and the decision was taken for her and Jasmine struck Him.
He grabbed her wrists and managed to twist her body towards Him but she was quicker and ducked, held on to her pan and freed herself from His grip.
“Jazz?!”
O thank God. She jumped in Jamie’s arms and hugged him tightly; still clutching her frying pan.
For a moment he didn't say anything but he did hold on to her.
“It’s good to see you too Jazz”, he said dryly and Jasmine let go of him so abruptly that she would have fallen had Jamie not steadied her.
When Jamie was certain that Jasmine was stable on her feet, he said:
“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but why is it that I am seeing you?”
“What do you mean? Did she not tell you?”
“Who was suppose to tell me what?”
“IZZY!!!”
They exclaimed in unison before groaning in understanding and frustration.
“It really is very good to see you Jazzy, although I have to admit the circumstances could have been better”.
He briefly walked away and before Jasmine could wonder what he was doing, a dim light illuminated the kitchen.
James looked good, she thought. He wore a dark suit with a crisp white shirt underneath. His dark blond hair flopped messily over his forehead and his blue eyes looked at her intently. Then, he rubbed his face with his hands and suddenly he looked very tired. Jasmine felt a pang of guilt aside from her annoyance and utter anger with Isabelle.
“So, what else did my dear sister forget to tell me?”
“I’m uhm, in between flats. Izzy said you were away and I could stay here until you were back. I guess you’re back now huh?”
Jasmine chuckled but James was not a fool and no humour could be detected in it.
He hadn’t seen her for a while, the last time was probably about a year ago and that was very brief. She was smaller than he remembered, tinier as if she had lost some weight.
She wore nothing but a tank top, shorts and her feet were bare and now that the excitement had worn off, she was shivering. She was still holding on to the frying pan and although it wasn't exactly the come home he had expected, it did make him smile.
Jasmine looked everywhere but at him and he wondered what was going on in her head. He did know she looked sad.
“Look Jazz, I don’t know about you but I could use some tea before bed. How about I'll make us some and you put down your, uhm ‘weapon’ or were you going to cook me something?”
Jasmine laughed, a genuine laugh this time and James was relieved she seemed more at ease.
**********************************************************
Two cups of tea and 20 minutes later, both were ready to go to sleep.
“Well, this has been fun but I’m going back to bed, I’ll pack tomorrow morning.”
“Jasmine, hang on, why didn’t you lock the door properly?”
She suddenly felt very silly. She wasn’t naive perse, but just felt comfortable and protected in the highly secured building. It had doormen on call 24/7 and there were cameras all around so aside of course from tonight, Jasmine never actually had felt unsafe.
She explained this to James but he cut her off and gruffly said: “from now on, always lock the door.”
His reaction irked her. “What, do you lock it?”
“Jazz, when I’m not home bolt the door as soon as you’re in and use the chain. I will call if I’m late.”
She wanted to talk back to him but he simply followed up with a “goodnight” and that was that.
So she turned on the balls of her feet and made her way back to her room. Or rather, the room she temporarily occupied in the luxury apartment of her best friend’s freakishly handsome brother.
James woke up to the smell of freshly baked bread and followed it into his kitchen.
There, he found Jasmine with a steaming loaf of bread in between her hands which she placed next to a plate piled up with pancakes.
“Who would have thought you knew how to use a frying pan for other purposes than assault.”
“Funny. Listen, I’m really sorry Jamie. I've started packing.”
“Jazz, it’s fine. My dear sister may have been on to something. Despite her many flaws she’s right.
Stay until you found a place, it shouldn't take too long.”
He smiled at her now, his handsome features lighting up the space they occupied.
“Well, thanks. I have a viewing later on today and I’m hoping for the best.”
But the flat was a disaster at best and 3 days later Jasmine was not only desperate and distressed but also pissed off and slightly worried.
**********************************************************
“I’m still not talking to you,” Jasmine said absentmindedly to Izzy who was on the other end of the phone.
Jasmine was trailing through the classifieds yet again without much luck.
“Fine, just tell me how my plants are doing. Never mind, I’ll check them myself."
"Since you’re all in a huff you would probably sabotage me and cause me my well deserved win.”
Ten minutes later, the door opened and Izzy had joined Jazz.
Another five and the more rational of the Parker siblings entered the apartment.
“Ladies”, James said as he took off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves.
Jasmine barely looked up while Izzy, who had been eating an apple, walked over to her brother and planted a sloppy wet kiss on his cheek.
“So. What did you bring me? You do know that I've beaten your ass haven’t you?”
James ignored his sister's comment who was now leaning against the kitchen counter looking extremely pleased with herself.
Instead, he said: "Thanks for the pie Izzy. Tell Joan she's outdone herself."
“Jazz, have you actually moved since I've left you this morning?”
“I doubt it," Izzy remarked.
"She couldn’t tell me how my plants look and I actually had to let myself in.”
“If it wasn’t for your bad ankle I would have had to set you straight Chick.”
“Bad ankle?”
“Yeah, your flatmate there fell out of the tub a few days ago. She’s still limping but I suppose that’s what you get if you don’t see a doctor.”
“Anyway, I gotta jet. I’ll be picking up my trophy soon, and Jazz I found that book you wanted to read.”
“Thanks.”
Silence filled the room and before Jasmine could break it, Jamie had knelt in front of her, taking her injured foot in his hands and examining it.
“What are you doing?”
“Figuring out why you didn’t bother to get it checked out.”
Jasmine swallowed nervously. Jamie was too close, far too close and she couldn’t concentrate with him this near.
His warm hands burned her skin and his touch, although gently, set tingles down her spine.
“I’m fine Jamie, really it’s ok.”
But instead of him letting go of her foot, he rotated it slightly which caused her to winch.
She actually welcomed the pain as it distracted her from the close proximity of Jamie, who smelled divine and looked even better.
“Fine”. He mimicked her. “Ok, I’m happy to hear that, as it means there is no reason you won’t lock the door since you obviously have no problem getting up and opening it for Izzy or me.”
“But, just in case I’d suggest you see a doctor first thing tomorrow.”
It wasn’t an request and Jasmine knew it. She cursed under her breath and hated feeling so silly.
Jasmine had many good qualities but also loads of qualities which held her back in life.
For starters, she wanted to be a worldly woman, sensual and in control, not tripping over her own feet and lost for words when a handsome specimen was near.
So, she hadn’t mentioned her ankle and actually forced herself to walk normally whenever Jamie was near.
But stupid Izzy had to tell on her and now Jamie knew how clumsy she was.
Jasmine frowned and thought of a smart come back when James interrupted her thoughts and said:
“Don’t look so pissed off Grumpy. I’ll make your favourite.”