"You saw who? Jessie?", the man asked, standing up suddenly from the chair he was sitting on.
"Yeah, I did. She was walking with crutches and was with this other guy."
"She was with some other guy, eh?", Patrick asked, rage coloring his tone.
Harriet, the girl who claimed to have seen Jessie, nodded her head vigorously. Jessie had just disappeared into thin air about three weeks back.
"So, I'm here, waiting for the stupid bitch to show up and she's fucking other guys!", he exclaimed hitting his hand on the table next to him.
Harriet flinched. She had assumed it would be good news for both of them, but Patrick's reaction was alarming.
"Do you know the guy?", he asked, looking straight at Harriet.
"N-no", she stammered, "I've never seen him around".
Patrick nodded almost to himself, not trusting his tongue.
"Patrick? I thought you were going to be happy about this. I mean, you told me once Jessica was out of the picture, we were going to get together", Harriet said, tentatively placing her hand on his arm.
"Look at you getting all clingy", he said with a chuckle. "What we had- correction, what we did was just fucking. So go on your merry way, bitch"
Harriet's face turned sour, tears going down her cheeks.
"Patty-", she started, holding on to his arm.
"Let me go", he said quietly.
When she didn't do as he said, he removed her hand violently and pushed her to the floor. Then walked over to the liquor cabinet and removed a bottle of scotch.
After taking a huge gulp straight from the bottle, he wiped his lips and said, "Jessie, Jessie, Jessie... When I find you... Oh, when I find you..."
Patrick smiled, took another gulp and smiled in a sinister manner, ignoring the girl sobbing uncontrollably on the floor next to his feet.
After one last gulp, he put the bottle back in the cabinet, then walked out, banging the door behind him.
***
Theo looked at Jessie, who was currently sipping on some warm milk and reading a book. It had been two days since they had kissed and he could not get it out of his mind.
Just looking at her lips at the moment made him go mad with desire. It was almost as if a sexual being had taken possession of his body.
"Stop staring", he heard Jessie say. He looked up quickly and let out a chuckle when he realized he had been caught in the act.
"Can't. You look too beautiful", he said, then sat on the couch next to her.
She was wearing a thin tank top and shorts and her wild blue hair was pulled into a puff.
She grinned at his words and put down her book to look at him. They looked at each other for a while then burst out laughing, trying to cover their nervousness.
Jessie looked away and Theo took her face into his hand and turned her to face him.
"Don't get shy on me now", he teased.
"I'm not shy. You're just too hot. I mean, no you're not hot literally, like I'm burning myself. But you're, you know...", she said, gesturing, waiting for him to get the sense of what she was saying.
"I don't know, Jessie. And use your mouth. I don't understand hand gestures.", he teased, trying to hide the smile that was creeping on his lips.
"You're attractive!", Jessie exclaimed, then realized he was teasing her. "Ugh, Theo. I take that back. You are not attractive at all"
"I'm not?", he asked, leaning into her. She leaned forward unconsciously and whispered, "No, you're not"
"Should I prove you wrong?", he asked, also whispering.
Jessie nodded and her eyes fluttered close. Theo looked at her for a moment.
He put his hand gently on the side of her face and touched her lips lightly with his thumb. Jessie opened her eyes at that moment and Theo took that opportunity to observe her.
Her eyes were shiny and not quite brown, not quite black. And her smooth brown skin was glowing with a natural sheen. Her lips were plump, the pink lower lip plumper though than the darker upper lip.
"Will you kiss me or you're just going to keep observing me?", she asked in aggravation, fidgeting under Theo's keen stare.
"You're beautiful", he whispered reverently, then gently placed his lips on hers. Their eyes fluttered close at almost the same time; the feeling that the kiss brought was too strong.
Theo was not inexperienced by any means. He had had a lot of meaningless one night stands, where both parties knew what they were getting into, a simple fling with no strings attached.
He had kissed a lot of people, but no kiss he had ever had was quite like this one. It... it took his breath away. It was like he was a puzzle waiting for that last puzzle piece to finally come and make him whole. That was how he felt.
He removed his mouth from Jessie's and they smiled at each other, shy but bright smiles, smiles that said all they wanted to say in that moment.
"Go on a date with me?", Theo asked, smiling.
"Yes", Jessie whispered breathlessly and this time, she was the one to initiate the kiss, feeling bold. If someone had dared her at that moment to gamble $1,000,000 away, she would've.
It was not love, but still it was something... something magical.
***
Meanwhile...
Patrick had gone back to Harriet, realizing her importance. She was the only person who knew what the guy Jessie had left him for looked like.
Patrick smiled cruelly. It was not difficult to convince Harriet he was sorry and actually felt something for her. She was so desperate for his love that she took him back in the blink of an eye.
Now, all he needed to do was find Jessie and teach her a lesson. She had left him and caused him a great deal of embarrassment, even after he had chosen her over all the other girls vying for his attention.
He was going to make her understand that he was not someone to be played with and that he didn't take well to betrayal.
Soon... very soon.