FUTURE CONSEQUENCES Part 8
by: Angie
“No, that won’t do. . . . you call this unreasonable?. . . I can wait, I can redo the plan. . . good. I thought you’d like it my way. I’ll have my assistant call your assistant.”
<Click> Jax put the telephone down on its receiver. Running his hand through his thick mussed up blonde hair, he sighed heavily. Flipping through some papers, he picked up the phone again and made a phone call.
“Addy. . . yeah, I finished the deal, what’s next?” He paused, a wrinkle of frustration appeared on his forehead. “Nothing?” he asked in surprise. “What do you mean *nothing* is next?”
“Mr. Jacks,” Addy replied calmly, “you have completed ten deals in the past two days, unless you have a new take-over in the works I don’t know about, all our big projects are done. . . Sir, why don’t you take a break?”
Jax just sat at his desk in a silent shock.
“Mr. Jacks?”
“Addy, . . . Just, find me something to do. I’ll phone you back later.” Jax abruptly hung up the phone as he could feel his heartbeat speed up. Taking a deep breath, he got up from his desk, fiddling with his hands looking for yet another distraction.
“Music, yeah, let’s listen to some Music” he murmmered to himself as he flicked on the stereo system. Music flooded the room:
Another day is gone
I’m still all alone
How can this be?
You’re not here with me
<click> “Okay, maybe that’s not a good idea.” Jax muttered in sorrow. Burying his face in his hands he slowly walked over to the fireplacemantle. With his index finger, he traced the outline of the little yacht that sat in the middle of the centerpiece.
Picking up the yacht in his hand, a meloncholy smile crept onto his face a she thought back to the time Brenda won the yacht from his family. “I have to do this.” He said aloud as he put the yacht back down on the mantle.
*Ring Ring* the shrill sound of the telephone interupted Jax from his thoughts.
“Jax here.”
“Mr. Jacks. Well, theres a possible problem thats developing at Startek enterprises.”
“Startek??” Jax responded, intriguied, “Your kidding. I’ve been waiting for this!”
“Did you want me to get you the basic file on them?”
Jax paused, “Ummmm, why don’t you E-mail me the basics, and then I’ll decide if I’ll pursue it.”
“Sir?” Addy replied, confused at the response. Mr. Jacks had been wanting this company for months. He had a game plan all ready.
“You heard me Addy. I. . . . “ Jax took a deep breath. “I have to do something that I can’t put off any longer.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“So are you just going to stand there with that goofy smile or are you going to sit your bony butt down and listen?” Lisa’s eyes bored into Miranda, demanding her requests be followed through.
Miranda was a mess. “What is she doing here?” she thougth to herself. “What is she going to do to me now?” Lisa Jacks was the one person she had ever met that had the ability to make her feel like a helpless, person. Everytime she heard Lisa’s voice, her heartbeat sped up to a lightening rate, and it took everything in her to keep her body from shaking uncontrollably.
“Miranda?” Lisa repeated staring at her expectantly.
Cautiously, Miranda slowly walked over to the couch and sat down beside Lisa.
Lisa smiled evily, “Something wrong?” she asked knowing full well that Miranda was a helpless little twit around her.
Miranda cleared her throat. “This is ridiculous!” she fumed to herself. “How can one woman have this effect on me? She’s not bigger than me, or much than me, she’s *just* a person.” Gaining some confidence, Miranda finally spoke up.
“Nothings wrong Lisa. I have things to do, can we just get this over with?” Miranda asked giving Lisa her best *bored* look even though her heart was still beating rapidly.
Lisa stared at Miranda looking her up and down, trying to figure out what her nemesis was trying to do. She finally came to the conclusion that Miranda was trying to fool her into thinking she had a backbone. At the thought of this revelation, Lisa laughed out loud.
“What?” Miranda asked, confused at Lisa’s sudden burst of happiness.
“Oh, nothing Miranda.” Lisa gave her another wicked smile, before her sparkling eyes turned stone cold.
“Fine Miranda. I was really going to be nice, but you’re acting like a total idiot so I can’t. You know *exactly* why I’m here, and it’s not to get a cup of sugar from you.”
“Just spit it out Lisa.”
“Okay, here are the rules. You don’t go near Jax. You don’t call him, you don’t talk to him, you don’t even *think* about him, or I will make sure your like is an absolute living hell beyond what it ever was in Australia.”
Miranda was expecting this from lisa. But instead of getting scared, she got angry. “Wait a minute. Who are *you* to tell me this? Jax is *my* friend, and if I want to see him, I”LL SEE HIM!”
Lisa was slightly thrown by Miranda’s passionate outburst, but regained her composure quickly.
“*I* am Jax’s older sister, and the only person who knows what kind of a person you really are” Lisa spat out in response to Miranda. She leaned her body over to Miranda, grasping her wrists with her strong hands.
“Now *you* listen to me” Lisa growled. “I may have made a mistake of letting you live five years ago in that mine, but believe me, if you in *any* way go near Jax while he is trying to get over Brenda I won’t make that same error.”
“Will you please let go of me Lisa? My arms are losing their circulation.”
Lisa stared into Miranda’s eyes, and after a few seconds of what felt like hours to Miranda she let go of her wrists.
Miranda rubbed her sore wrist. “ I let you ‘blow me up’ in that mine five years ago because I had no choice. I wasn’t going to let Mac die. But I am *not* going to let you control me like that again. There is no way.”
Lisa looked amused. “*YOUR* not going to let me control you? I’ll let you in on a little secret” she whispered leaning over to Miranda’s ear, “too late.”
Miranda turned paler than Lisa thought possible, but she chose to ignore her brothers former wife and leave. She got up from her couch gracefully smoothing out the lines in her dark navy skirt.
“For your own good, I suggest that you never bring up what happened between us in Australia again Miranda. And if I were you, I’d take my threat seriously, because I am *Dead* serious.” She threw her head back in her trademark laughter that make Miranda shutter. “Pardon the pun.” Lisa said amused as she walked towards the door of the apartment. “I look forward to our next meeting. . . see ya later Miranda” Lisa finished as she closed the door behind her. She smiled to herself. It had gone quite well. “This will be easier than I thought it would be” she said outloud, as Lisa pushed the down button for the elevator with a smile that had an evil sparkle to it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
He had been staring at it for an eternity.
Taking a deep breath, Jax finally walked over to the tombstone and set a large boquet of pink tulips down.
“Hi” he said softly as tears welled up in his eyes. He fought them off, knowing he had to be strong.
“I know, it’s not your funeral, but I couldn’t say good-bye to you with all those people there you know? That’s the thing about us Brenda. We were *Always* in our own little world, and I had to say good-bye to you in that same place. The place where bestfriends talked with each other, and the place where husband and wife enjoyed each other. “ Jax paused, bringing his hand to the cold stone of Brenda’s tomb. He closed his eyes, desperately trying to feel the former warmth he always felt when he was near his wife. But he failed.
Jax wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “I don’t think it’s even hit me that your not here. Almost every part of me is screaming that your alive, and just away for an extended trip.” He smiled. . . “you know, I would do anything for that to be. . .No.” Jax cut himself off. This was about saying good-bye, not false hopes he told himself.
Jax took another deep breath. “You know, I came here to say good-bye to you, but I think I just realized I could never close you out of my life forever. So. . .I guess I’m here to tell you that I love you; always and forever. Nobody leaves for me. You will be engraved in my heart my entire life, and. . .” Jax fought harder to keep the tears away, “you will never leave me. Atleast in here.” He finished, taking a pink tulip and pressing it to his heart.
Jax got up quickly, smiling sadly at the grave of his wife. “I’ll talk to you soon.” He blew her a kiss, and slowly left the cemetery. For the most part, he felt content. Just being by his wife’s grave made him feel better. At least she was with him in spirit. However, the scream was still in his head, pounding in the back of his head. Repeating, over, and over, and over again until Jax *had* to acknowledge it. “What the hell is that scream?” he said to himself. “What’s wrong?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“NOOOOOO! NOOOOOOO!” The moans and screams had been endless.
“You know,” the man spoke up, “I’m getting really damn sick of the screams coming out of that person!”
“Who’s in there anyways?” the mans co-worker asked with curiosity.
“Got me. Boss just said to watch the person, so that’s what I’m doing. The noise began almost two weeks ago and its been annoying me ever since.”
“Aaah, don’t worry about it. The person in there will be staying there for a long time, the noise will quiet down eventually.”
“Aaaaaaaaaahhhh. . . . nooooooooo. . .. . .. “
The man sighed. “Well, I hope so.”