*****JACK****

She looked different. The curls were gone. Her hair was now straight and dyed brownish around its ends. But her brown eyes still looked the same as five years ago.

   Her body had changed too.
She had gotten more curvy, and the tight clothes she had on tonight outlined it perfectly.

After the meeting, the elders had invited me for dinner. Well, everyone had been invited.
  They had planned all this, even booking an entire hotel for the whole night.

While my plan didn't go as planned(they hadn't signed the treaty yet), I was so damn happy Annie had made an appearance. Because gawd, she seemed so sexy than I remember. And if I was being honest, I never thought she would achieve all that she had. She had swept Black Blood like a tornado and taken whatever she wanted.

But there was a little someone on her way...Noah.

      "Mr Raynatt?" one of the three elders I sat with called.
I offered him my attention in a clueless gaze. "What is your opinion on the matter?"

Oh! They were discussing something.
But I had drifted off while secretly staring at Annie who sat at the next table with some more elders.
I really wasn't interested in whatever they were talking about. Heck! I wasn't even interested in their existence.

    "Excuse me." I placed my napkin next to my platter and rose.
Annie's eyes arrowed at my direction and I hastily acted like I didn't give a fuck about her being there.

Breaking off the eye contact, I made my way towards the door that lead to the bathrooms. I knew she would follow from the way she escorted me with her gaze.
   
The hallway was lit orange, giving it a little mystery unlike the rest of the dining area.

How long would it take before she came? I wondered as I stood outside the men bathroom door which was right opposite the women. Tik! Tik! The clock in my head moved. Three minutes, and all that I saw on that hallway was a tiny butterfly that was trying to flee from there.

   I huffed taken aback.

"You really have changed huh!"

Disappointed and struck with an injection of boredom, I made my way back to the dining area. Only to find her deep in conversation with Paul who now had joined their table.
  She flashed him a smile, right before our gazes collided.

My jaw clenched and my breathing paced up as my body prepared for a confrontation. But at the last second, I caged all that anger and headed straight for my table to bid those men a good night.
   I had no patience with Annie interacting with that son of a gun right now.

     "So soon?"

"Sorry. Something came up that needs my attention. I'll see you all in the next meeting."

With that, I walked my fuming ass out of that restaurant, ignoring the security at the doors bidding a good night.
   The hotel wasn't new to me. So were the employees.

Stan joined me as soon as I left he building.
  "Any problem Sir?"
He asked walking next to me.

"No. Go get the car."

"Right away Sir."

I watched him disappear towards the parking lot, leaving me by myself under the golden light cast by the humongous building behind me.

   Deep breaths.
My mind whispered in attempts of calming me down. And it worked.
I breathed in the fresh cool air that was hanging around.
  The climate was making way for winter, and I couldn't help but reminisce in the memories of Annie in those cute fluffy jackets and gloves.

Where had my innocent naive girl disappeared to?

      "Jack?" Annie's voice called out gently.

With hands tucked inside my hip pockets, I slowly turned around.

  She stood by the double doors next to the guard keeping watch.

It might have taken her forever, but she had finally followed me.
Her footsteps were faint and precise, which meant she had really mustered the way of a killer...be light as a feather.

   Her frame halted in front of me with our eyes still locked to each other.
Her beauty was still glowing like the rising sun that warms the world. Her dark skin looked even better and more radiant.

  "Long time no see." She smiled and some warm breaths gushed out and into the chilly air.

I said nothing, only looked deep in those eyes, searching for answers to questions I may never ask aloud.
  My first impulse was to grab her by her throat and kiss this badass bitch version out of her.

    "Sure." Was my vague reply.
I faced the roads a distant ahead and pulled on my 'whatever' persona.
  
A strange feeling crept in my soul.
We had known each other for at least six years, but now, now we felt like strangers.
I had seen the same conflict in her eyes when I studied them.
   It was even awkward being around her.

"Do you...um...do you mind if I ride with you?" She requested.

   "And what will Paul say about that?"

Silence.

I stole a glimpse of her face from the corner of my left eye, and saw the flicker of sadness.

   "It's okay if you don't wa-"

"Never said I don't."

Silence.

Annie dashed in front of me and grabbed me by the collar of my jacket then pulled me down. "Why you acting so cold towards me?"

   I huffed humored.
"Am I?"

She let go of my collar and I straightened.

  "Never mind. We're not what we used to be." The girl murmured while I fixed my clothes with one hand, then slid it back in the pocket.

   *********ANNIE*******

It had taken every ounce of control in my body not to smother my lips on his when I had pulled his head down to mine.
   Dear lawd!
Was I still trapped in the past feelings?

And what was I thinking asking for a ride from him?

Because you want to feel his presence even if it's in silence.

     Head lights flashed in sight, before a black Benz halted right in of us.
Out stepped the young version of Steve.

He did have his features, from the color of his eyes to the color of his hair.

   "Is he Steve's-"

"Let's go!" Jack breathed moving forward.

He walked in through the open door and shut it.
Holding on to the little dignity I had, I walked around the machine and opened my own door. So much for the gentleman version of Jack I knew of.

      His driver or whoever this younger Steve was, got behind the wheel and drove us out of there.

Different colored lights beamed their way in the car as it headed east at a moderate speed. The silence inside was worse than the time I lost fifty thousand dollars on a stupid bet with Paul.

   "Heard that you're developing some new weapons!" Jack broke the silence.
I heaved a mental sigh and turned my head towards him.

  "Nothing to talk about. Still in their baby stages."

"I'd like to see a bit of their development. From what I've heard, they'll be revolutionary."

My jaw dropped. He knew too much. But he would be Jackson Raynatt if he didn't. This is the man that knew me to the very day I received my periods. Knew the food to cook for me and the snacks to buy me.
I used to be his little princess. But now, now I was my own Queen.

    I didn't need his protection anymore.
And maybe that was what strengthened our bond back then.

     "Someday, maybe."

Jack's heard tilted to have his eyes on me. They were colder than the ice cubes in my freezer.

  "Do I not have the trust of the one I raised?"

The audacity. The pride in that voice, on that face.

   I smirked. "Depends with your intentions, Mr Raynatt."

"Mr Raynatt." Jack laughed. "And you should be? Miss? Raynatt?"

Fuck!

The Sabrina name seemed to not intrigue him.

    "I'm Sab-"

Jack's hand shot out straight for my throat. I caught his wrist with one hand and unbuckled with the other.
And before long, we were having a little fight at the backseat with the driver minding his business.

     "Grown faster." Jack grunted in the middle of it.

   "Fuck yah!" I grunted back.

I may have been fast, but he was stronger.
Even with that realization, there was no way I'd yield so easily to him.

   For two entire minutes, the backseats were our battlefield. I managed to jump on top of him and trap his hands between our abdomens, but he snapped them free before giving my own harsh twists till they were pinned on my back.

   Panting. A whole of of panting as we stared at each other.

I was still straddling him, seated on his lap with his face a few breaths away.
   Some sense of deja Vu struck and I tried to hop off of him but he pushed be back to lean against the driver's seat.

      "No matter how fast or powerful you become Annie, I will always be there. I'll always be your shadow that you can ever get rid of." Jack whispered.

My breathing slowed into place.
   "Oh yah? What if I walk in the darkness?"

He chuckled closing the distance between our face. Delicately, Jack rubbed his nose on mine before brushing his soft lips on mine as well.
   Buried feelings started exploding from the abyss of my heart.

     "I'll push you in the light." He whispered, his breathing hiking the more our close contact prolonged.

  Do it. Just do, it.
I cried as my eyes shut.
Yes. Yes. Yes. I wanted him to kiss me already. The edged tension was killing me.

Why was he hesitating so?

     "Get off of me!" Jack suddenly ordered releasing me.

My eyes flew open in astonishment.

   He was serious. The cold look on his face meant exactly as he had uttered.