Page 40 of Reclaim

“I guess I’ll add this to my list of things about Jagger.”

It takes a few beats before he asks, “Is the list long?”

“Surprisingly,” I say, the smile on my face reflected in my voice, “it’s growing.”

The conversation flows, even through the grunts, shortness of breath, and pain. The pain is probably just me though. It’s unconventional, but it works. Taking away the pressure of sitting in front of one another, it’s almost like online dating, but you’ve already seen them.

“How’s Dakota?”

“Is it weird if I say too good?”

“Explain it.”

“No matter what she says, or how many times she reassures me, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. How does she not hate me? I don’t even remember my dad leaving, and I hate the prick.”

His avalanche of words is more than I expect. His time in jail is only just one of the many things that plague Jagger. “We all have a story, and sometimes there are similarities, or even shared experiences.” I hear him stop, and for some reason I do too. I can hear how hard he’s listening to me right now. “But that doesn’t mean her story is your story. We’re all parts of one another, but we’re not the same.”

Seconds pass, and the familiar sound of him moving picks up again. I give him time to process, hoping this doesn’t mean we’ve now taken two steps back.

“You stop running?” he queries, taking the attention off himself.

“Yeah, I don’t know how you do it,” I lie. My mind is more exhausted than my body. “I think I’m going to stop and grab a coffee.”

“Tomorrow, no coffee,” he commands.

“We’re doing this tomorrow?”

“Yes,” he says with finality. “We’re doing this tomorrow.”

* * *

“Lookat you with that smile on your face,” Taylah teases. “I take alcohol as a form of payment, in case you were wondering.”

“What am I paying you for?” I keep my head down texting, making sure I catch Jagger before his lunch break ends.

“Your smiles. You wouldn’t be on cloud nine if it wasn’t for me.” She sits on the edge of my desk, her favourite place to be.

“No, I wouldn’t be smiling if it wasn’t for the message Jagger just sent,” I retort.

She rolls her eyes dramatically. “Whatever bitch. How’s it going?”

“Fine.” I shrug, my body language the complete opposite of the smile beaming across my face.

“Wow. You must’ve had sex with him. Only someone who got some good dick smiles like that.”

“Taylah,” I shriek. “People can hear you.”

“Okay, so we’ll discuss the details quietly.”

“There are no details,” I hiss.

“Then what’s with the smile?”

“Nothing.” My phone vibrates against the desk, and I pick it up. “I just forgot how nice it was getting to know someone. Receiving a message, and smiling before you even know what it says.” I do the exact same thing I described, and read the words on my screen.

Jagger: You watch NRL? I may never give you up.

Trying not to read into his last statement, I respond quickly, letting him know he might change his mind if he saw me in action at a live game. I look back up at Taylah.“How are people not addicted to this feeling?”

---