The flight back home departed the next morning on schedule. Promising to be back soon Jessica hugged everyone as they said their sad farewells. It was hardest to see Summer with tearful eyes and the little frown that pulled down the corners of her little mouth. It was heart breaking to see as Will, who had come along to see Jessica off, held her close for comfort. Jessica waved with a sad smile before walking away. I will be back soon…she silently reminded herself.
Once on the plane and after locating her seat, Jessica sat with her head back, eyes closed, missing this place already. It wasn’t necessarily the place but the people who lived here. Sure she still had her family in Calabasas but Robbie had been so busy with work it was hard to find time to spend with her younger brother anymore. She had her parents of course but they lived a different set of lifestyle that she really didn’t want to spend more time around than need be. Then there was Jason…correction, there had been Jason. Great…not even off the ground yet and he’s flooding back through my mind…she thought. He hadn’t tried to reach out to her since the night before she left for New York. So much for wanting to prove himself like he claimed he wanted to do in order to save their marriage. It was just another one of his lies he was now accustomed to. Not that there was ever any chance she would be able to forgive him. No, he played her for the fool and she would not allow it to happen again….her heart was just not up for that.
Drifting off into a deep slumber as the miles separating her from the pain grew closer and closer. Views of the happy times with Jason played across Jessica’s dreams. Jason smiling at her as he did when first setting eyes upon her during one of Prof. Gordon’s lectures on Challenging Laws. It was love at first sight and Jessica smiled shyly back before needing to look away. Jason approached her as soon as the class was over out in the crowded corridor hoping to get a name to go with the face of an angel. Offering his time to study with her Jessica agreed to meet at the coffee shop across from the school later that evening. The imagines faded to white nothingness still hearing the sound of his voice. “I would face anything if it meant you would give me a chance to claim your heart…” he had once said during those early study dates. Little had Jason known, her heart was already his for the taking. Another imagine filtered across as Jason stood hand and hand with her on the beach as they over looked the ocean’s waves crashing in the moonlight. The sense of being watched gave Jessica goose bumps as she looked up at her boyfriend seeing his intense eyes roving over her beautiful face as her hair danced in the wind. “You are gorgeous and I know I haven’t said this before but I’ve known for awhile…Jessica, I love you. I love you more than you could ever imagine.” Again those memorable loving imagines faded into bleak nothingness as his voice echoed again. “Marry me, Jess…I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” Jason had claimed the night he proposed as he gazed into her eyes right before making love to her one night. It was such a good dream and Jessica felt content as she snuggled up a bit more comfortably in her seat. Memories of their quickie wedding flittered across next as they ran through the halls at the court house giggling with excitement at finally becoming man and wife but instead of the happy memory she had of that special day her dream suddenly changed. Jason, looking down at her as the smile faded and the dazzle in his eyes lost their sparkle, dropped her hand before turning to slowly walk away. “Jason!” she called out to him but he never turned around as he continued walking to the entrance doors. “Wait! Don’t leave me!”
The flight attendant was knelt down aside Jessica’s seat gently shaking her arm trying to wake her up. Jessica’s eyes flashed open with a start. “I’m sorry Miss, but you were having a nightmare,” the attendant quietly announced noticing Jessica was out of sorts and had no idea where she was at the moment.
Taking a few deep breaths she looked at the kind older lady who was offering her a box of Kleenex finally remembering her flight. Jessica felt the moisture left on her cheeks from the tears she had unknowingly shed. “Thank you,” she said feeling embarrassed. Noticing that other passengers were glancing over at her didn’t help with the burning red tint on her cheeks. Trying to recover her composure by ignoring the stares she pulled out a magazine she bought at the airport reading every page in detail until their flight landed at LAX.
***
The drive from the airport to her parent’s house was long so Jessica cranked up the volume and sang along to her favorite playlist. The compilation was a mixture of different genres from Matchbox 20 and Katy Perry to classics from Aerosmith. Music was one of her passions and there was always a song that fitted her mood appropriately. Right now she was belting out the lyrics of TLC’s “No Scrubs” as she zoomed through the traffic on the busy LA freeways. Dancing around and singing as loud as possible, Jessica lost herself in the music and didn’t care about being embarrassed this time as people would turn and look her direction when she passed them.
Once home and wanting to keep the good mood flowing she flipped on her iPod and danced around while unpacking. Music was the cure. Of course it wasn’t going to take everything away, but it was enough to get the blood flowing through her veins and off her butt. Really starting to enjoy herself Jessica decided to make this a daily routine. Maybe even call up a few friends and go to the club for some drinks and dancing. This was definitely a time when she needed to unwind from all the stress in her life. Before she could change her mind Jessica picked up her phone and sent a message to her closest friends asking them out for drinks. No one knew what was going on yet so she would enlighten them when they were all together.
Her best friend Amy was the first to respond with a quick “Hells yes!!!” which always made Jessica laugh by her over-the-top responses. It had been way too long since she had a girl’s night out and Amy was ecstatic that Jessica was finally making some time to hang out and agreed to call up Meghan and Tory and give them the details they planned for Thursday night. Everything was set, the plans were in motion and Jessica was determined that the night would be epic.
With nothing left to do for the rest of the evening and with her parents gone to support one of their charity fundraisers, but mostly for the socializing, Jessica roamed the big empty house trying to find something to do as the good mood she had earlier began to diminish. There was nothing that looked appealing on television. It was too late to call Jackson and Robbie was at work. Walking over to the large overstuffed chair in her room, Jessica plopped down and scanned through her social media page which had been neglected recently. There were updates from her friends posting about their plans for Thursday night already which made her smile. There were new messages in the inbox from her friends, her brothers…and Jason.
“I miss you and I wish you were here…” one said.
“Jess, you don’t know how sorry I am. Please come back…” another said.
The one that brought tears to her eyes said, “I know I don’t deserve another shot with someone like you. I feel like I’ve lost everything since you left. You are the one who can save me, you’re all I need. Please come back to me…”
Jessica’s mood had shifted so suddenly without warning all she could do was sit there crying uncontrollably. Tears flooded out and the sobs racked her body as the world crashed down upon her once again. She had been a fool to think she could try to get over this so soon. Jason had been the love of her life and his betrayal had cut her to the core. There was no way to hide it or cover it up as she had tried to do the last few days. There was no cure to a broken heart, not when the wounds were so fresh. She pulled her legs up, burying her head against them with her arms shielding out any light as she released the fresh waves that washed down her face. With no one else in the house Jessica paid no mind to the loud wrenching sobs that echoed through her room and down the halls. She paid no mind to her parents who had arrived home and heard her moans as they walked up the stairs to their room. The door quietly opened, her parent s said not one word looking in to see if they could do anything to help their grieving child but there was nothing anyone could do to heal her broken heart. They left as quietly as they came as their daughter continued this pain alone.
“There must be something we can do, George,” her mother had said looking at her husband as they entered their room at the end of the hall.
“Beth honey, let her be. You are not to interfere. Jess has made up her mind; this is her marriage, her decision.”
“She just needs time, a little coaxing is all. She will realize Jason is a good man but if she waits too long he may give up and move on. Just think of the life she is throwing away over this. For goodness sakes, they’ve only been married for three months, how can they give up so quickly without even trying on making it work?”
George Tramane walked over to his wife, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Darling, Jessica is a grown woman and has a mind of her own. We will not interfere and will not judge her decisions. I will not lose my only daughter like I almost lost my oldest son. In all honesty, I’d like to get that Jason alone to show him exactly how I feel about the way he has treated our daughter.”
“I just worry about her future. I want her settled down and Jason has a promising future and will be able to provide for her,” Elizabeth carried on.
“Jessica has a bright future ahead of her too. She doesn’t need anyone to provide for her and even if she did we have all the proper documents in place and all of our children will be well cared for once we’re gone. She’s still young, she has plenty opportunities to find another husband. And if she doesn’t then she has Jax and Robbie to take care of her not to mention us. She will make it through this, you’ll see.” Jessica’s parents went to bed after that. George Tramane laid there in silence as he imagined different ways to hurt Jason Stanhope. Elizabeth Tramane however, contemplated how to bring these two back together.
Jessica continued weeping alone in her dark room. No one in the house rested much that night…
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