I can't believe I did that! I wrote the introduction to the story and then forgot to copy it on the board. Good grief!Anyway, it's a good thing I went back to look. So, here's the story. Jack and wife, Laura/Irina, are in Hawaii on their delayed honeymoon.
This is my first romantic fiction. I hope you like it.
Feed back please.
As always these characters belong to JJ Abrams.
I’VE GOT TO SEE YOU AGAIN
Lines on your face don’t bother me
Down in my chair when you dance over me
I can’t help myself
I’ve got to see you again
Late in the night when I’m all alone
And I look at the clock and I know you’re not home
I can’t help myself
I’ve got to see you again
I could almost go there
Just to watch you be seen
I could almost go there
Just to live in a dream
But no I won’t go for any of those things
To not touch your skin is not why I sing
I can’t help myself
I’ve got to see you again
No I won’t go to share you with them
But oh even though I know where you’ve been
I can’t help myself
I’ve got to see you again
Jesse Harris from “Come Away With Me”, Norah Jones’ Album
Do I need to say anymore? Have you heard the music, the words…??
The tragic romance of star-crossed lovers on the verge of rediscovery…
JACK
Jack walked into his apartment and stood gazing about him without really seeing anything. It was as sterile as a surgical knife. Basic furniture without style or comfort: Sofa, a couple of chairs, small TV that was barely used, and a coffee table, which still looked new. No drapes, only mini blinds covered the windows. There was a colorless carpet on the floor that still looked new. A look into the bedroom would have produced the same perception: Jack Bristow was a man with relative few comforts. He stiffly avoided anything that smacked of an easy home life.
He walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. There was some milk, a half loaf of bread, some jam and a suspect piece of cheese. He trimmed the cheese and half-heartedly ate a small chunk. His mind was somewhere else.
She was being transferred from Langley today. They would fly her into Burbank, then take her by van to the center. The DCI, Arthur Devlin, had called to tell the center to expect her. She would be handcuffed and shackled as befitted a prisoner of her magnitude: spy and killer.
Why had she come back into his life?
She would be so close.
He undressed and dropped into bed, mentally exhausted. He wondered if he would sleep tonight. His mind was racing back in time to those years of their marriage.
That week in Hawaii after they had been married for three years had significantly changed everything. It was a promised vacation for them both: she from her job as an Assistant Professor of English Lit. at UCLA and he from his work with the CIA and the Christmas Project.
He moaned in his sleep. He remembered her so well. She was 24 and so beautiful. Sometimes he couldn’t believe how lucky he was! They had stayed at the Moana Loa Hotel right on the beach. They had one of the small cabanas that gave them the privacy they wanted. It was the promised honeymoon and it was that.
They had taken walks along the main street in Waikiki, sometimes hand in hand, sometimes with his arm around her slender waist. It had been obvious to everyone that they were honeymooners. They didn’t care. They kissed in public without shame.
Finally it was nearing the end of their week. It was stifling, almost steamy in the cabana. There was no wind and the skies were black with an impending storm. She had felt a little sad that their vacation was almost over. They put on their robes to walk outside the cabana to the beach, only a few steps away.
“Jack?” She had said wickedly. “Let’s make love out here on the sand.”
He had been surprised, but took her in his arms, kissing her hard. Then slowly, carefully lowered her to the ground. He undid the belt that held her robe together. She was naked, of course. He ran his fingers lightly over her body. He loved touching her skin. He kissed her again.
They made love on the beach. The storm broke. The rain came down in torrents…
Jack sat up in bed. His body was drenched in sweat.
He glanced at the clock. Two in the morning! Was she there?
He dressed and left the apartment.
IRINA
The van came to a stop. She sat quietly, unable to move. Her ankles were shackled to bolts in the floor. Each wrist handcuffed to the wall of the van. The door opened. It was raining. One of the marshals jumped up into the van and unlocked her. Another man joined the first. They quickly handcuffed her wrists together with a tether chain leading to the shackles around her ankles. They helped her down and started off to the building a few steps away. She refused to look like she was a prisoner. She kept her head up in an almost defiant manner. Still, she hadn’t expected anything else, even after she agreed to help the CIA to bring down SD-6 and The Alliance.
The cell doors opened and closed until they came to her cell. They took her inside, unlocking the shackles and handcuffs. They left her and disappeared in the direction they had come. She wondered what was next, then heard the cell doors open again. Someone was at the window. She turned, looking at a bald man.
“I understand you want to cooperate?”
“I told Director Devlin, I would only debrief with my daughter, Sydney Bristow.”
“Now look here!”
She stared at him. “That was the agreement. I suggest you check with DCI Devlin.”
He stared at her. Saw the resolution in her face. He turned and left.
Irina looked around, rubbing her wrists. She was tired. The bunk had no mattress, but that didn’t matter right now. She wondered if they turned the light off, or if they stayed on all the time. That was not new. She had gone through similar times, especially in the Kashmir Prison. As though reading her mind, the lights dimmed, but didn’t go completely off. She closed her eyes and was asleep almost immediately. She could smell something even dreaming. What was that fragrance and where had she been. It might be ginger. Mists swirled and finally parted.
Hawaii in ’74! She and Jack were on vacation. Warm tropical breezes and nights, the cabana on the beach. She turned in her sleep. She wanted to wake up, but couldn’t as the dream held her fast in its grip.
They had seven days to act like they had just been married when in truth it had been three years. They held hands; he had kissed her in public, and they walked with their arms about each other. They had been so happy during the week. She felt that it had been that last night, the rainy night, that Sydney had been conceived.
She had suggested going outside. It had been her wild idea to make love on the beach. No one would be around with an impending rainstorm about to happen. He had taken her suggestion without saying a word. His strong hands had lowered her to the ground. He kneeled next to her, untying the sash holding her robe together. She was naked beneath. He had run his fingers over her skin, then leaned over and kissed her thoroughly.
Irina sat up, sweating. She shook her head as though trying to clear it from the implications of the dream.
JACK
He entered the op center. It was fairly quiet with only a skeleton crew at work. He walked over to the security desk. No one was there. He punched in his operating code and password, then accessed the tape that had been taken earlier. He watched them bring Laura into the cellbock…no, he shook his head, no…Irina Derevko. She walked in a fettered criminal, but kept her head up not acknowledging any sense of guilt.
He turned off the screen, then walked over to the stairs that would lead to the cellblock.
At the guard door, he asked to be let inside to the guard room, identifying himself.
“Is there any way I can see the prisoner?”
“You can looked through the one-way mirror,” said the Marshal on duty. “I can’t give you access to the cell. She’s asleep.”
Jack nodded and stepped to the window. He looked down. Laura was below him asleep. He assessed the room. It was as sterile as his apartment. There was a toilet, wash basin, desk and chair and the bunk, which didn’t even have a mattress or a pillow. He looked again at her.
“My God,” he thought, “she’s still a beautiful woman.” He swallowed. He bit his lip and was about to leave, when there was movement in the other room.
IRINA
They were on the beach, the rain was pouring….
Suddenly she finally broke through the painful mists of the dream and sat up. She was sweating. Her heart was pounding. She stood up and turned to the one way mirror. Was he there?
Irina could feel his presence. Only Jack had the advantage.
