Till Life Do Us Part

Chapter 3

The persistent ringing of her phone was the first thing she heard as she opened her eyes. Hissing angrily, she glanced at the bedside clock, 10:28am. These days, she made it a point not to wake up before midday and so, she pulled the covers back over her head, grumbling to herself. The ringing finally stopped and her eyes fluttered close, and within seconds, she was drifting off again. She didn't make it far before the ringing started again. Cursing loudly, she picked the phone up and peered through bleary slits to make out the caller. All she saw was a blurry jumble of words. Giving up, she hit the receive button and put the phone to her ear. 

"Hello?" Her voice was croaky and dry but she didn't care. All the better for the caller to know he/she had interrupted something important. 

"Seems I interrupted your sleep." At the sound of Jackson's voice, her body went from cold to hot in one quick succession. This was the first time she was going to hear his voice since she quit a month ago. Now wide awake, she sat up on the bed and glared at her bedspread, trying to imagine it was the bastard instead. 

"What do you want?" Her voice was rock hard. 

"You've not tried to talk to me. So I thought I'd reach out to you first"

"And why the hell would I want to talk to you?"

"Danica......you aren't still mad at me, are you?"

She laughed dryly "Not in the least Jackson. I'm so happy right now, in fact your call had me squealing in joy". There was silence on the other end. He was smart enough to get the sarcasm after all, good for him. "I'm hanging......"

"With time you'll understand that I only did it to win you back Danica" His tone was dead serious "I thought you'd come back to me......begging. And I would have taken you back......and gotten you back your job".

Anger as sharp as a blade sliced through her. "This just proves exactly how much you don't know me. I would never beg you. Not even for my job and definitely not to be tied in a relationship with you again"

"Danica we were going good. Lord I was already planning on proposing to you, I had already gotten the damn ring!!! We were so good baby"

"No, Jackson. You were good. I wasn't. Not since you started slowly unraveling to me the manipulative monster you are" She heard his sharp indrawn breath on the other end and was glad her words had taken effect. "Don't ca....."

"I want you back baby"

She rolled her eyes and replied dryly: "Yeah.....I want me back too. Don't call me again". And she hung up.

                             ••••••••••••••••

All traces of sleep had evaporated after the call and so she grudgingly stood up to take a shower, unwelcome wisps of memories of she and Jackson wafting to her head in the solitude of the bathroom. Both of them vacationing in Venice, Cannes, Bora Bora and so many other places he had treated her to.....the way a slight dimple appeared on his left cheek when he smiled deep enough.....which he often did with her, working out with him.....waking up by his side feeling his strong arm wrapped tightly around her waist....there had been so many good memories within the first 3 years. Till Rania had come into the story. 

Bristling with the memories, she increased the temperature of the water and resolved to singing loudly to distract herself. She nearly cringed at the sound of her own voice but at least it got Jackson out of her head. Finally, she stepped out of the shower and noticed that a slight fog had formed in the room. The fog had nothing on her for that was how she saw the world half of the time when she wasn't wearing her glasses or contacts. Making her way to the mirror, she wiped the surface and squinted at her reflection. 

Her long blond hair hung thick and wet around her face and her skin was blotchy and flushed from the shower. Her most striking feature remained her eyes, which always seemed to glow faintly with an eerie light and tended to burn even brighter whenever her emotions were at their peak. Her gaze travelled down her body. She had grown slimmer within the course of a month........since she had lost her job. Her shoulders seemed even narrower than before and her collarbone stood out proudly, much to her own embarrassment. While she couldn't boast of bosom blessings, her B cup size definitely wasn't so bad. She took great pride in her mid section, the trim waist and well toned stomach that she worked to keep plane-flat with intense work outs. Even though she wasn't so happy with the little pile of more-than-necessary fat in her derriere, hips and laps, she had to admit they indeed gave her a feminine touch in contrast to her toned midriff. When her height was taken in consideration, the length of her legs were quite understandable. She wished she at least still had her mile long legs that had worked so many tricks for her with men and given her the height advantage she had always loved. Many decades and a lifetime later and she still loved having the advantage of height over anyone. Except it seemed life itself was having a great laugh at her by blessing her with this body....Octavia's body. She wanted to laugh out loud at the irony of her situation.

She took her time brushing her teeth and proceeded to her room to wear her contacts. Wearing them was usually the first thing she did every morning but today hadn't started off normal anyways. When she was done, she made a beeline for the kitchen. Turning on the coffeemaker, she walked over to the refrigerator and yanked it open. She was horrified to see nothing. Unless a week old box of Chinese takeout, a can of peas and a half eaten bag of pretzels counted of course. She hadn't even realized she had run out of groceries!!! Sighing in frustration, she slammed the door shut and poured herself a cup of coffee. She stood there indecisively as she gulped mouthfuls of caffeine and thought of what to do with her day, the same question she had asked herself everyday for a month now. She definitely felt agitated today and wanted to do something to get her mind off her horrible morning. She would hit the grocery store now and probably treat herself to a movie afterwards.....maybe dinner out in a nice restaurant? She had wallowed indoors in self pity and anger for so long now, a day out sounded good. Suddenly so excited to interact with the outside world again, she finished off her coffee and rushed to get dressed. Within minutes, she was heading towards her car.

Dressed in a baby pink cable knit sweater and tight blue jeans, she felt confident in her own way. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and she had dashed a light cherry gloss on her lips and applied some mascara. If by some weird coincidence she was going to run into Jackson McMahon, she was planning to at least not look as wretched as he expected her to be. On her way out, she had decided weird coincidence or not, she really really didn't want to run into him after all and had slapped on some dark Ray Bans. She doubted the sunglasses would do much to alter her appearance but at least it made her feel better.

The ride to the store was refreshing and she found herself smiling naturally as the wind whipped her ponytail around her face, tugging strands of hair free. Maybe she would go on a long drive today too, to the beach. Excellent plan!!! Filled with renewed energy, she barely stopped herself from skipping as she slammed her car door shut and went into the store. Her mood never dampened as she went about her shopping, deftly grabbing groceries and moving on primly to the next aisle.  

When she got to the chips aisle, she stopped herself just in time from squealing in delight as she saw her favorite flavor of Lays in sale. She grabbed a handful and hugged it to her chest dramatically. 

"I've missed you so much baby". She whispered. 

She felt a nudge at her back and turned to see an older couple just behind her, their filled trolley right at her heels. Realizing how weird she must have looked, she quickly stepped aside and prayed her sunglasses hid half of her embarrassment. What had gotten into her? Weirdly, the couple smiled at her kindly as they passed. Still embarrassed, she resisted the urge to face slap herself and turned back to the aisle. She threw in as many chips as her half filled trolley could carry and didn't stop till she heard a voice behind her.

"Woahhh.....that's a lot of chips". Something about the voice had her stopping. It sounded so familiar. Turning back, she came face to face with the most gorgeous man she had ever met. 

And she knew him. 

She had never forgotten the thrilling, toe-curling sensation that had racked her body when their eyes had connected from opposite ends of the police station 4 years ago. He had been gorgeous then and he still was, maybe even more so. She knew he recognized her too when his face gave in to a brief flash of surprise, and a wide grin spread on his lips. 

"Officer Pattinson....."

"Detective" She corrected on impulse before she realized she no longer held that title. But he didn't have to know that. She felt the familiar wave of self pity rise up her chest and she shoved it down with much force.

"Whatever it may be....it's so nice to meet you again. And in a grocery store!!!!" His grin widened and he whipped his shades off his face and stepped closer. ".....imagine that". And then looking into his eyes, she knew.

She knew why she had always felt a primal sense of aversion to him even though he had weirdly caught her attention like no man had before. She knew why he had always seemed oddly familiar. She knew why it had felt so right when she had heard her name from his mouth. As he stood no more than a few inches away from her, closer than he had ever been and she finally looked at him up close, realization hit her so hard she forgot to breathe for a moment.

She knew those eyes.