Page 26 of Bad Star

Chapter Thirteen

It had beena few weeks since Jack had asked to Rainn move in with him. Rainn had tried to ignore the subject, but he somehow kept bringing it up in a conversation. She was waiting on him to show up and make her dinner that day in her apartment so she sat on the living room sofa reading a book. She wasn’t really concentrating on it; her mind kept thinking about Jack and when he would show up. She pressed the audio clock that was in the living room and listened keenly to it.

“The time now is 8:45pm,” the automated voice rang through the empty apartment and Rainn smiled when she thought of how she had made it ring exactly two minutes before.

Jack was only fifteen minutes away and her insides began to churn at the thought of him. She could already picture his lovely woody scent and the rugged beard that was carelessly distributed on his face. She thought of his warm embrace and the feel of his masculinity on her body. She thought of the way he always played with her tongue whenever they made out and the way he would let her head rest on his chest every time they were done making love and fulfilling each other’s desires. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the distant footsteps approach her door and Jack turning the door knob. She listened keenly to him as he took off his shoes and walked on bare feet to the living room.

“Hello beautiful,” he announced. Rainn could hear him carrying a handful of bags and guessed they were groceries. She listened as he walked over to her and placed a light peck on her left cheek.

“Hello,” she answered “You’re early” she added, as she listened to him walk over to the kitchen counter.

“I decided to show up early. God knows I have other plans with you later in the night,” Jack answered and Rainn could detect the innuendo behind those words. She let out a slight giggle and placed her book aside as she listened to what Jack was doing in the kitchen.

“What are you looking for?” she asked.

“The chopping board.”

“Top shelf to your right,” Rainn answered and listened as Jack opened the cabinet door and pulled out what he needed. Rainn’s kitchen was always organized and immaculately arranged, that was the only way that she could go about it without bumping into things and hurting herself.

“What are you making?” she went on to ask as the whiff of red pepper got to her nostrils.

“Stuffed peppers,” Jack answered “Wine?”

“Yes please.”

Jack walked over to where Rainn was comfortably seated with a glass of wine in hand. He gave it to Rainn who was waiting patiently for him and watched as she took a sip from it.

“Smooth, right?” he asked as he saw how her face lit up from the taste of the wine.

“Yes it is,” she smiled, after letting the wine caress her tongue and glide down her throat. Jack leaned in and placed a kiss on her lips and Rainn detected the scent of gin on his breath.

He waited for him to walk back to the kitchen counter before mastering the courage to ask him about it.

“How much have you had to drink today?” she asked bluntly.

“Not much.”

Rainn was not in the mood for a fight and decided to change the angle of the conversation to something else as soon as she got the defensive response from Jack.

“Tell me about your first encounter with alcohol,” Rainn asked. From the way he laughed at the question she knew that it must be a hilarious story.

“Well, I was a young man trying to experiment with everything,” Jack started “You name it! Pot, cocaine, cigarettes, ecstasy, speed, liquor, heroin; I think I tried out all the drugs that are known to mankind”.

“Meth?” Rainn asked curiously.

“Of course”

Jack let out a nostalgic but half amused chuckle when he said these words.

“But liquor became your poison?” Rainn concluded.

“Unfortunately it did.”

“So how did you not get hooked on the rest of it?” Rainn asked. She had now sat up, her back was still rested on the sofa.

“Various reasons actually,” Jack admitted “For most of the drugs, I was a peddler and could not mix business with pleasure.”

Rainn placed a hand on her mouth to cover her shock but it was a bit too late, Jack had noticed and only let out another laugh.