"Hi" Jenna squeaked.

Jeremy was right in front of her dressed in jeans and a leather jacket with a T-shirt inside. He looked good enough to eat and really mad. She scoffed in her head and thought if someone was to be mad then it should be her. He's the one who disappeared and never contacted her. He didn't have a right to be mad. She did. But honestly she was too shocked to  even tell Tony to put her down.

"Can we talk?" he asked then looking around added "alone"

"Actually we're about to close up." she replied still dangling from Tony's behind.

"Then I'll walk you home"

"We kind of have dinner plans" why couldn't he just leave? 

"Jennifer I really need to talk to you." his voice was impatient. "Could you please put her down?" he asked but it came out as a command and not a request.

"Uhm Jenna do you know this guy?" Tony finally asked finding his voice. The room had dropped to zero degrees and you could cut the tension with a knife.

"I know his name. Other than that, not really" now she was starting to get mad. The shock had worn off and everything else inside her body was boiling. Anger being on top.

"Jennifer"

"Fine.. You guys go ahead and I'll join you some other time." she told Tony and Jake then turned to Jeremiah and said "I'll just change."

She left the three men alone and it got awkward. Jeremiah glared at Tony with an expression that said 'put her hands on her again and I will ruin you' while Tony glared back with his own that said 'you don't own her'. Jake looked from one guy to the other and wondered if it was wise to start a conversation. From the moment Jeremiah had walked in and saw Tony's hands on Jennifer, there had been a mutual agreement that they were rivals. Jeremiah looked over Tony and decided he was only a kid and had absolutely nothing on him.

"So....." Jake started but they both cut off him.

"Don't"  "shut up"

He clamped his mouth shut and prayed for Jenna to hurry before the two men decided to exchange blows. They were both radiating animosity towards each other and looking over at Jeremiah, Jake decided the guy was too strong. If Tony got in a fight with him, he would up and leave them to sort it out themselves. No need to risk stray blows on his money maker.

"Am done. Tell Lily I'll see her Monday. Bye guys" she said then left with Jeremiah.

"That guy looks like that billionaire who owns Maxcorp." Jake said after they had left.

"No way. Why would a guy with so much money show his face around these parts?"  Tony replied hoping he was right or else he had no chance with Jenna. He liked her. She was sweet and laughed freely with no care in the world. But that didn't mean he could see that something was bothering her. There was sadness in her eyes and if he hadn't made a move on her, it was because he didn't want to rush things. He figured he could just wait until she was ready then he would ask her out. But seeing Jeremiah and how she had looked at him, he cursed his luck. He should have just asked her out the first night they met.

"Hey am done. Where's Jenna?" Lily asked coming from the back.

"She left with some guy. Said she'll see you on Monday" Jake answered her because his friend looked like he wanted to cry.

"Oh okay. Let's go then" Jake pushed Tony and he almost fell off the chair. Cursing he got up and they left.

"I'm sorry" Jeremiah said. He knew she was mad at him. Her face was so expressive and he could read ever emotion that passed thru it. That was why she had been on his mind ever since he last saw her. She was an open book.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. It's not like you owe me anything." Jenna told him trying to play it off.

He stopped her in the middle of the road and cupped her face in his hands. "Don't say that Jennifer. It came off careless, like you didn't care and God I want you to care. You couldn't have forgotten about me that fast."

"Why do you want me to care when you clearly don't?" she asked swatting his hands away.

"Just because I didn't come back as I promised you doesn't mean I don't care. That kiss we shared is still fresh in my mind. You are still fresh in my mind. Even when you're not there I still see you." he said pleading with her. He could see the hurt in her eyes and kicked himself for not reaching out sooner. He knew where she worked. He could have sent her flowers or something but he had been too busy. He spent two weeks with his family and then got called away on business. Even so, he shouldn't have waited so long to get in touch with her.

"Then why did you disappear? Three weeks Jeremy. I heard nothing from you for three weeks and I didn't know how to get in touch with you. At one point I convinced myself that I had just imagined you and you weren't even real." Jenna told him hating the fact that she was on the verge of tears.

"Give me your phone"

"What?"

"Your phone give it. I just want to save my number that way when I don't show up next time you can yell in my voicemail and leave me as many messages as you want." it was crazy how he said one thing and her anger dissolved. She handed him her phone and upon returning it she saw that he had saved his phone, office and home number together with his email address.

"Are we okay now? Because I've been dying to kiss you but don't want to risk you biting my tongue off." Jeremiah said trying to lighten up the situation.

"No you can't kiss me yet. You haven't even explained anything except for how sorry you are." she wouldn't let him off that easy. Three weeks was a long time. In fact for her it felt like centuries.

"True.... Let's go eat then I'll explain everything"

She thought they were going to a restaurant but the taxi they had taken stopped in front of a fancy apartment building. There was a doorman who opened the glass door for them and inside was a lobby that looked like the ones you found in office buildings. Jenna stopped and wondered why they were there. "What's wrong?" Jeremiah asked

"Why are we here?" voicing that out loud sounded stupid. But she wasn't stupid. Once bitten twice shy. And boy had she learnt that the hard way. 

"Relax. I live here and I promise you I just want to make you dinner and explain everything. I don't have bad intentions." Jeremiah told her sensing her fear. Later when he had smoothed things out with her, he would get down to the root of her fear. He said hi to David, the guy at the lobby and told him to include Jennifer Marbles in the list of his all access visitors. She could come and go as she pleased.

"Aren't you scared I'll rob you blind?" Jenna teased him.

"Nah. I would actually love it. That way I could hunt you down and lock you up preferably in my bedroom for the rest of time." he replied winking at her then pulled her into the elevator. 

"You're incorrigible." she murmured feeling her cheeks heat up. She had forgotten how easily he could make her blush.

The lift opened to a gracious wood paneled entry leading to the expansive living room with high ceilings. There was a large U shaped leather couch with a glass coffee table in front of it. To her left she could see the kitchen with a silver two door fridge. She wondered why he needed such a huge fridge if he lived alone. There was a glass door leading to a terrace with a covered patio, outdoor dining area and an outdoor kitchen for barbecue. She had walked to the floor to ceiling glass windows and when she turned around Jeremiah was still at the door with his eyes trained on her.

"You like?" he asked sounding almost nervous.

"Wow" was all she managed to get out. She'd never seen something so stunning.

"I will take that as a compliment" he smiled then took off his jacket and swung it over the sofa. "What would you like to eat?"

"Anything you have. Or we can just order pizza." she told him not wanting to bother him.

"No I promised to cook. How about some wine while I decide what to cook?"

"Okay. Sure." she was nervous.

"White or red?"

"White please."

He handed her a glass of chardonnay and poured one for himself. He preferred wine to spirits and dare he admit, he was a softie. Hard liquor made him soppy and stupid. Not that he would ever admit that out loud. Deciding on making salt and pepper chicken with spring Quinoa pilaf he got to work while Jenna sat on a high chair on the other side of the kitchen island sipping her glass of wine and watching him. Things were going too fast and he didn't care. He rarely brought women to his apartment but with Jennifer he felt like she belonged there.

"So..... " Jenna dragged it out giving him an opening.

"Yeah. My name is Jeremiah Maxwell." he stopped gauging for any reaction from her. She just raised her eyebrow and waited for him to continue. "I am 30yrs old and I had a twin but he died when I was four. I remember my mother clinging to me and saying I was all she got. Those were some rough years for her and I tried as much as I could to ease her pain but I remember feeling helpless because she had just lost her son. The only thing that would have even come close to taking her pain away was if she had her baby back and I didn't know where to get another brother from. This one time, I made a deal with my friend. Told him if he came and lived with us I would share everything I had. It was my poor attempt at trying to replace my brother and when my mom saw that she cried so hard and I felt bad. That maybe I should have asked someone else. She sat me down and told me that you can't replace someone and that she was sorry she made me feel like I had to do that for her. We returned Xander, that was his name to his parents and from then on my mom put her grief aside and concentrated on me. It was overwhelming having all her attention on me. Nothing got past her and when I hit puberty I started to push back. When she said right I went left. My dad was rarely home with all the business trips he went on. I didn't know what was going on, or why my mother always insisted I do things with her. I just felt suffocated then, and I wanted her to do what other mothers did. Shopping, tea parties, book clubs and the sort. I should have known there was a reason she kept pushing and pushing but I was young and stupid. One day I came home from school and she was on the floor writhing in pain. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me to just get her medicines. I was shocked that she even had any kind of medication. I mean I would know if she was sick right?" he stopped needing to catch his breath and push down the lump in his throat.

"Later that night I goggled the name of the pills. They were cancer medicines. That night I stayed up all night calling myself all sorts of names. Of course her time was running out and she chose to spend it with me. Not my dad or her friends or cancelling stuff off her bucket list. She chose me and I did everything to push her away because I thought I wasn't a child anymore and didn't need her constant attention. I broke down when I remember yelling at her one time and telling her to find something else to do in order to forget my brother. I cried for hours and when I couldn't take it anymore, I went to her and just sat down next to her looking at her face. She woke up and was startled to find me there staring at her. I apologized and she just smiled and said it was okay. But it wasn't okay. She was dying. I dropped out of school and started homeschooling. It was hard, watching her wither away and not being able to do anything. Every day the light in her eyes dimmed a little and reminded me that she didn't have long. I called my dad and told him everything not knowing he knew already. He didn't come home until two days before she died. I resented the fact that he knew mom was sick and just left. How could he? We had a falling out after my mom died. I was at my lowest point then and I did some pretty stupid shit that am not proud of. Two years later my father came home with a new wife. I resented them both for a while but Terry that's her name short for Teresa, was patient with me. She understood that I needed to be angry therefore signed me up for boxing class and said if I wanted to get rid of my frustration, hitting something was the way to go. Things got better and when she had my twin sisters I kind of had a reason to grow up and leave my anger in the past. And here I am." he finished and realized she was standing behind him with her hands around him. He turned around and hugged her.

"Am glad you trust me enough to tell me all that. But it doesn't explain why you disappeared?" she said smiling. It didn't matter anymore why he hadn't reached out but she still wanted to know.

"Terry is sick. Chronic kidney disease and we didn't know until it was too late. The doctors said you could be sick for years and still not know. She's starting dialysis soon. She insisted on going to a trip with my father before she became weak and ugly, Her words not mine. I don't know how long they'll be gone but they took my sisters with them. I wanted to go too but work didn't allow me. Plus I met this insanely beautiful woman and I couldn't wait to get back to her." he finished smiling back at her.

"Am sorry that your mother is sick. I hope she gets better soon."

"No it's fine. Besides am trying to find a donor for her so we have options. She'll be fine" he couldn't think anything else. Terry had to be fine. She had to be. "Now can I kiss you?"

Instead of answering him she stood on her toes and brushed her lips against his. He captured her lips and kissed her long and hard. He hadn't forgotten how she tasted or the little sounds she made when he angled his head. He got lost in the kiss and forgot about the food. She pulled back and he felt his annoyance rising. God help him but he wouldn't let her continue being mad at him after he had explained everything. "I'll send flowers next time and call you every hour on Skype. Please don't be mad anymore."

"Am not mad. But I will be if I have to eat burnt food." that snapped him into action.

"Sorry. But to be fair it would be all your fault." he defended himself.

"Oh? How so?"

"You distract me. Every time I see you, hold you, I forget about everything else. All I see is you."

She squealed and jumped on the inside but on the outside she was calm and composed. Barely. "Wow I could really learn to like you if you keep this up"

"I'll keep anything up if it means your approval." Jeremiah said wiggling his eyebrows. She didn't miss the double meaning.

"You're disgusting and am not hungry anymore. Give me a tour upstairs and if am lucky I'll forget your dirty mind long enough to get something in my stomach."

One hour later they sat down on the outside dining table to eat. Jeremiah had insisted on showing her every corner of his bedroom even under the bed. In reality they were just his excuses in order to push her on any flat surface and make out. Bed, floor, door, wall. She didn't even see anything except for his bedroom and when she realized he had no intention of showing her around, she pulled him downstairs. "It's beautiful out here." she said when they had settled on one of the chairs after they had cleared and washed the dishes.

"I agree. I love the view" she looked up to find him looking down at her. "Move in with me." Jeremiah said shocking them both.

"What?" she did not see that coming.

"Move in. Let's live together" he hadn't planned on asking her. In fact it just came out before he even thought about it and he was surprised he didn't want to take it back.

"Let's box this and discuss it later. Much later when you have no trace of alcohol in your blood."

He looked at her for a full minute then dropped it. He would eventually show her that he was serious. "Then stay for the night. Don't go"

"Jeremy" she sighed

"No it's not what you think. And you say I have a dirty mind. I just want to sleep and wake up to you. That's all, scouts honor"

"Okay boy scout. I see your hands wandering and I'll chop them fingers."

"Sir yes sir." he said saluting her.

"Nerd" even if she wanted to she couldn't turn him down. She wanted so very bad to wake up next to him. Everything was going too fast but she agreed that instead of being scared she was actually looking forward for whatever came next. Whatever it was.

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Wow. Too long or too fast?
Vote comment share.
I'll edit later so feel free to point out an errors.