Jax sat on a bench and watched the hustle and bustle and the liveliness of the streets of Soho. Yellow cabs with "New York City" painted on them kept passing him by, but Jax didn't bother to hail any of them down. For some reason, something was keeping him there. Jax couldn't for the life of him figure out why he chose to stay on that bench. After all, it wasn't even a beautiful and nice day to be out. Clouds were forming in the westerly sky, indicating rain showers that night. A breezy August wind accompanied the dark clouds. A general sense of dread was hanging in the air.

Jax casually glanced up from his paper and looked across the street towards a Dean and Deluca coffee shop. Out of the shop emerged a beautiful blonde woman. She marched down the sidewalk with a cell phone in one hand and holding the hand of an adorable little brown-haired girl with the other. Businesswoman, Jax assumed. Maybe even a lawyer. He could tell just by her style of clothes, a gorgeous light blue ensemble, that she kept up with the latest fashions. But of course, it seemed like everybody in the neighborhood of Soho dressed trendy.

Then Jax studied the little girl. She was probably three or four and cute as a button, as most three and four year olds are. She had long straight hair and was wearing a small yellow shirt. On her back was one of those teddy bear backpacks. As he watched the lady stroll down the sidewalk, holding the child's tiny little hand, Jax felt sad. He couldn't help it. Every time he saw a mother with her child, it always made Jax think of what could have been.

"Zoey," Chloe said on her cell, "what do you mean that Miss Albright's wedding dress never got there? Her wedding is this Saturday!"

"Mommy, look at the kitty cat." The girl pointed to a smoky gray kitten that was sitting on the sidewalk.

"Yes, baby. Zoey, okay look, this is an emergency! Here's what I need you to do…hello? Zoey? Zoey, are you there? Hello?" Chloe looked at her phone and realized that the battery was dead. "Damn it! Mommy didn't say damn it!" Chloe said, suddenly catching herself.

"Yes you did." The girl teased.

"UHH! I hate these stupid cell phones!" Chloe looked up to see a pay phone just a few feet away from her. "Perfect."

Chloe walked to the phone and dug into her purse for some loose change. Within moments, she had Zoey on the line again. "Zoey? Sorry about that, my phone just died on me. Okay, I need you to do something for me. I need you to make a call to London…"

The girl got down on her knees and started beckoning for the kitty to come to her. "Here, kitty. Here, kitty, kitty, kitty. Mommy." She tugged on Chloe's skirt. "Look, Mommy."

"I see the cat, Molly. The number is in my desk. Zoey, if that wedding dress is not there by 10am on Saturday, then this is going to be a disaster!"

The kitten suddenly darted under a parked car. "Kitty, come back!" Molly called out.

Molly started to go after the cat, but Chloe suddenly caught her slipping away. "Molly, stay here, baby. You can't find it? Okay, don't freak, I have it in my address book. Hold on." Chloe reached into her purse yet again and pulled out a little book.

Molly took one look at her mother, making sure that she was focused on something else, and then carefully walked over to the car. She crouched down on the sidewalk, looking under the car. "Kitty? Where are you? Kitty! There you are!" The cat was under the car, but on the other side. The side by the road.

Molly slowly stepped off the sidewalk. Standing between two parked cars, she got down on her knees again. "Kitty! Come here, kitty!" The cat inched further away from Molly.

Jax glanced up from his newspaper again and decided that he really didn't want to read it anyway. And as he glanced up, he saw that same little girl he saw just moments before. She was looking under a car and trying to reach what appeared to be a cat. Where was her mother? Jax wondered. Then, the little girl walked into the road.

And Jax didn't think anything. He wasn't running on logic, only adrenaline. With a strength that Jax never knew he possessed, even after all of his years of running, Jax ran faster than he ever had before across that street.

Cars screeched and horns blared. Jax was almost hit in the process, but he kept on. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, although in reality, everything was happening pretty fast. Jax bent down and scooped up the child, pushing her out of the way of a moving car just in the nick of time. The car slammed on brakes, screeching loudly to a halt, the sounds of screeches and horns still reverberating through the air.

Chloe dropped the pay phone in all of the commotion. She turned around just in time to see her daughter being pushed out of the way. "MOLLY!" Chloe ran as fast as her legs could carry her, her heart pounding out of her chest every step of the way. "Molly! Oh, baby!"

"Mommy!" Molly cried.

Chloe gathered the shaking girl into her arms.

Jax breathed a sigh of relief, his heart still pounding rapidly. Everything was all right now.

A crowd began to gather, but Chloe was oblivious to it all. She cried uncontrollably as she thought of how close she came to losing her precious little angel. With tears-soaked cheeks, Chloe looked up and into the child's eyes. "Molly, don't you ever do that again!" Chloe said, choking on her sobs. "Don't ever go out in the street by yourself, do you hear me? You could have been hit by a car!"

"I'm sorry, Mommy," Molly said, starting to cry herself.

Chloe wiped away Molly's tears with her finger. "It's okay, baby, just don't ever do that again," she said softly. She then pulled the child in for another hug and kissed her forehead.

"Is she alright?" The driver of the car asked. "She just came from out of nowhere! And I tried to stop but…"

"She's fine. It's all right, she's fine," Chloe said weakly.

The driver turned to Jax. "How about you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. No harm done."

"Thank God you pushed her out of the way. I don't think I could live with myself if I hit a child, or anybody for that matter." The man breathed a sigh of relief.

Chloe gathered Molly into her arms and stood up. She then looked at Jax for the first time, suddenly realizing after her initial panic that this was the man who saved her daughter's life.

"You saved my little girl." More tears started to well in Chloe's eyes. She suddenly didn't know what to say. How could she possibly thank this man enough? With her free arm, Chloe threw it around Jax and embraced him.

Jax smiled. Her hug was unexpected. "I just happened to see her and it was just the right thing to do."

"He's a hero!" Someone called out from the crowd. The crowd applauded for Jax. Jax felt his face getting red.

A man from the coffee shop ran over to Chloe. "Miss Morgan, I saw the whole thing! Is you're daughter all right?"

"She is thanks to this gentleman." Chloe smiled at Jax. "I didn't catch your name."

"Oh, Jasper Jacks, but people just call me Jax."

"This is one good story the paper is going to have tomorrow!" The man said with a smile and walked away.

And then as quickly as the crowd had formed, it just as quickly dispersed and life in Soho went somewhat back to normal.

Chloe led Molly to a nearby bench. She had not realized that in the middle of everything, she had dropped her purse. Jax picked the purse off the sidewalk and handed it to her. Chloe smiled at him again and Jax sat down beside her. Chloe then took out some tissues from her purse and wiped away Molly's tears.

Jax watched Chloe and realized just how beautiful she really was. She had such a warm and caring smile, and it was evident from her reaction a few minutes ago that she had a great love for her daughter. Molly looked just like her, with the exception of the hair of course, which Jax figured she had got from her father.

"How can I possibly ever thank you?" Chloe asked, still teary-eyed.

"You don't have to keep thanking me. I just did what I had to do."

"Don't have to thank you? What are you talking about? You risked your life just to save my baby girl! I have to repay you somehow, I mean, not that I ever really could pay you back for what you have done for me, but still…"

Jax put his hand over Chloe's. "Hey, it's okay. Everything is fine now, disaster averted."

Chloe looked at him and smiled.

"I'm afraid I didn't get your name before," Jax said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. In all the commotion, I guess I forgot. I'm Chloe. Chloe Morgan."

Chloe Morgan? Why did that name sound so familiar? "Well it's nice to meet you, Chloe." They shook hands.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Jacks."

"Oh, please, just Jax."

"Mommy, I'm sorry I made you mad," Molly said.

"Oh, baby, I wasn't mad, just scared is all. You shouldn't go chasing stray cats in the road without looking both ways first. Molly, do you understand why I was so scared?"

"Because I was in the road?"

"Well, baby, that's part of it. When you went in the road, a car was coming, and if it had hit you, then you would have been hurt."

"I would've had an owwie?"

"You would have had a big owwie. But thanks to Jax here, he pushed you out of the way so you wouldn't get hurt. What do you say to him for doing that, Molly?"

Molly looked at Jax. "Thank you."

Jax winked. "No problem. That's my job, saving damsels in distress."

Molly laughed. "You sound like Richard."

Richard? Who was he? Boyfriend?

Chloe noticed Jax's confusion. "Your accent. I have a friend who is from Australia, too."

"Oh, I see. Boyfriend?"

Chloe laughed. "Oh no, just a friend."

Jax then looked up at the sky. The clouds were moving faster now. "It looks like a storm is coming. I should get going."

"Oh wait, you can't leave yet!" Chloe pleaded. "I have to thank you somehow for all you did."

"Really, I was just being a good samaritan..."

"Dinner! How would you feel about dinner? My treat. I know it won't come even close to comparing to saving Molly, but I have to do something to show you how grateful I am to you."

Jax smiled. Dinner with this beautiful woman didn't sound so bad, but Jax felt hesitant. It had been a long time since he had been out with a member of the opposite sex. "Well, are you sure your husband won't mind?" Jax felt stupid asking that question when he suddenly realized that Chloe wasn't wearing any rings.

Chloe just grinned. "I'm not married. Come on, we can eat anywhere you want! I'll pay."

Okay, Jax thought, how could he refuse that offer? Who could say no to a pretty lady who was begging to take him out for dinner? "Well, the problem is, I've only lived in New York for about two weeks now, so I have no clue as to where all the good places to eat are."

"Well that's no problem! What kind of food do you like?"

"All kinds actually. I'm not in any way a picky eater."

Chloe grinned. "Okay then, let me rephrase the question. What do you want to eat?"

Jax took a moment to think about it. After all, this was the first time that a woman had offered to take him out. "Well, I suppose Italian sounds pretty good."

"Alright, Italian it is then. I know the perfect restaurant in Little Italy."

"Alright then."

Chloe pulled a business card out of her purse and handed it to him. "Here are all my phone numbers so you have no excuse not to be able to reach me!" Chloe laughed. "How about tomorrow night? 7ish?"

"That's perfect," Jax said.

"Mommy, I felt water dropping on my head."

Jax and Chloe looked up at the sky, and sure enough, it was sprinkling.

"Oh great, it's starting to rain. We'll have to take a cab home," Chloe sighed.

The three of them stood up, Chloe firmly taking Molly's hand this time.

"Do you want to share a cab?" Jax offered.

"Sure, that would be fine."

"Okay, where are you headed?"

"Greene Street," Chloe said.

"Perfect, that's on the way."

Jax signaled for a cab to come. The cab passed Jax by.

Chloe laughed. "You'll never get a cab that way! Here, let me at it." Chloe raised her hand up in the air and shouted for a taxi, and then stuck two fingers in her mouth to let out a shrill whistle.

A yellow taxi promptly stopped in front of them.

"And that's how you hail a cab," Chloe said, smirking.

"Thanks, I'll remember that," Jax said, laughing.

"Well, this is our building," Chloe said when the taxi arrived at its destination.

"Hey, listen," Jax said, "since I know where you live and all, why don't I just pick you up tomorrow?"

"You have a car?"

"Yeah."

"You'll never find a parking space!" Chloe laughed.

"I always find a parking space." Jax said with a smug grin.

"Alright then, if you say so. I'll see you soon."

"Bye, Jax!" Molly said, waving her little hand.

"Bye, Molly."

Chloe grabbed her belongings and helped Molly out of the car. She closed the door and leaned her head towards the open window. "Jax, thank you again, for everything. You just don't know how happy I am that you were there just at that moment."

"You're welcome, Chloe. I'll be here tomorrow at 7."

Chloe smiled. "Okay. Bye."

"Bye, Jax!" Molly said again, smiling as her mother urged her to hurry up before it started to pour.

The cab then continued on its way. Jax smiled. He hadn't believed in fate until today. He knew there had to be a reason why he stayed on that bench, and that reason was to save that little girl. Jax then pulled out the card Chloe gave him from his wallet and took a closer look at it. It had the words "Chloe Morgan's Bridal Boutique" in bold, italic writing printed across it. And it was in that moment that Jax remembered where he had heard Chloe's name before.

To be continued…