Next bit
Half an hour before closing Marissa began the clean up process. On Sundays Kira closed early, early by New Orleans standards, 11pm. It was a slow night so she didn’t mind cleaning up early. Suddenly Marissa realized that something was off. Her hand went to her neck, no keys. Quickly she checked her purse, still no keys. She looked every place she could have put them, but she knew it was useless, she knew where they were. They were sitting on her dresser. She went through every option, but they all came back to her making a call that she dreaded. She could call one of two people, she could call Kira and have her drive the two hours to close up for her, or worse yet, she could call the house, and the there was only one person there, Jason. Either way, she looked like a fool, it was wither look like an idiot to her boss or Jason. Easy, Kira had already seen her look foolish, more times than Marissa could count, nothing to loose by calling Kira.
Four calls and four busy signals later Marissa gave up. “Fine!” Marissa looked to the sky and silently cursed the fates, and dialed.
“Havenward residence.” So formal, Marissa mused.
“Jason, I’ve got a huge favor to ask.” Belatedly she added, “This is Marissa by the way.”
“I knew it was you. I was just heading out the door, what do you need?”
Marissa look a deep breath, “I need you to go up into my room. I left my keys on the dresser and I need them to lock up.”
“You left your keys?”
“Yeah,” Marissa affirmed sheepishly.
“Okay, I will be there in a few minutes with your keys.”
“Thank, I owe you.”
“That is a dangerous thing; having to owe me. You never know what I might ask in return.” Then the line went dead.
“Marissa stuck her tongue out at the receiver, “Idiot.”
****
Jason paused outside the door to Marissa’s room. He had been in that room hundreds of times, but for some reason he felt some unease entering it now that Marissa lived there. How many times had he stood in this same spot and knocked for entrance? That had been another lifetime, when the room had belonged to another woman.
Unhappy that he had allowed himself to dwell on something that could not be changed, he pushed open the door and went in. He would get in and get out as fast as possible. It took only a moment to locate the keys; they were right on her dresser just like she had said.
No wonder she had missed taking them in the afternoon, they were half hidden under a scarf. Jason moved the scarf to get to the keys, his hand froze. Sitting next to the keys was a box that had also been hidden by the scarf. It was small enough to be held in the palm of his hand and was inlaid on all sides with exotic woods and stones. Tentatively he reached out and brushed his fingers reverently over the lid.
The night was awash with sparkling color and alive with music. The most beautiful women clamored for his attention in their coy and flirtatious way. He could have had his pick of almost any women at the ball, but unlike others, he preferred to avoid the spotlight. He kept to the edges to watch and listen.
That was when he first saw her. She was standing off to the side, simply (in comparison to the others) but elegantly dressed. Her hair was a pile of living flames, and her eyes sparkled with the light of emeralds. He caught the flash of a smile and followed her gaze and saw an older couple attempting to discreetly sneak off together into the hedge garden. That little knowing smile was all it took; four months later she knew everything and amazingly enough she accepted them and him. Her birthday was mere days before Mardi Gras, and in the midst of the chaos of preparations he had given her a gift. A broach that he had specially made, it was nestled in a box covered with stones and gems he had collected during his many journeys.
Her eyes sparkled with tears she was too proud to shed as she told him she would treasure it always.
*****
Marissa paced as she waited. It was a habit that had annoyed her family. Her mother had always asked her why she couldn’t sit and wait like her brothers. Her grandmother would smile, pat her on the head and say she was born to be a wanderer, and wonder she had. She’d gone from place to place, job to job, moving where the wind took her.
In the midst of her musings on how much she had hated growing up in the swamp she heard the front door open, hadn’t she locked that? “Thank goodness,” she grabbed her bad and turned to go. “Did you get lost or-” the rest of her witty remark was lost when a mouth crushed over hers.
Crushing was the only way she could think to describe (if she had been able to think) how his lips felt against hers. She only had a moment to register that it was Jason kissing her before her mind went gloriously blank. His hands framing her face were like a vice, but not one she was going to fight.
As suddenly as he had kissed her, Jason pulled away. Marissa managed to look up with a rather dazed expression, she knew there was something she had wanted to ask, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember what.
Jason’s expression was clouded and dark, almost angry. “Take the car, I need to take a walk.” With that, he dropped the keys on the counter and left. The door slammed hard enough behind him to make the glass rattle.
The sound of the door was enough to snap Marissa out of her daze. Her first emotion was bewilderment, what had just happened? Once that wore off, she moved on to anger, what the hell had just happened? She grabbed the keys and almost slammed the door as Jason had, but fear that the old glass wouldn’t survive another violent attack, made her close it with more care.
*****
Marissa checked her watch, she had just enough time to toast a bagel and eat it before she had to leave for work.
“What the HELL did you do to my car?” A credit to her composure, Marissa didn’t jump at Jason’s enraged voice. Franny on the other hand, nearly dropped the glass of juice she was pouring.
Marissa kept her back to Jason as she continued making her bagel. “I asked you a question, answer me!”
After she finished spreading the butter she turned slowly with the utmost composure, and started to walk out of the room. As she was passing Jason she finally spoke, “In the process of kissing me, the slamming out of the coffee shop, you neglected to ask if I knew how to drive a manual car.” It wasn’t until she reached the door that Marissa allowed herself a small, satisfied smile at the stunned expression on Jason’s face.
Franny’s face mirrored that of her brother’s, “How come I did not see that?” Amusement was beginning to win out over her surprise.
“Go to hell,” Jason mumbled.
“They will not take me.”
*****
Franny was the one waiting for her as Marissa closed up that night. “So, how bad did I mess up his car?”
“Nothing that a good mechanic could not fix in a few hours. That car is sort of his baby, so do not take his outburst to heart.”
“Oh, I won’t,” Marissa let a small smile creep across her lips. “I was actually quite amused at his reaction. Served him right for ditching me with only the keys to his car.”
“Yes, that would be putting it mildly. I do not think he will ever make that mistake again.”