Conveniently, the preserve Jed had been wanting to visit was located right behind Vanessa’s cafe of choice. What luck! Jed totally hadn’t made a mental note of that the first time they went, and then proceeded to fantasize about taking Vanessa when, someday, she finally saw the benefit of hanging out with him past work hours.
The trail Jed led them on started as asphalt, nestled between a tiny creek and a giant brick wall, separating it from the parking lot. The deeper they went, the more lush their surroundings became. The asphalt shifted into dirt, and on either side the two of them were enveloped by tall, towering maple and oak trees, with water on either side. Up ahead, there were wooden bridges, set in place for visitors to cross over the large pond and thickening creek. Within the water, and wandering all along the path, were doves, ducks, geese and swans.
Jed’s attention was drawn to two birds swimming together. Those were swans! He grabbed Vanessa’s hand, wanting to show her the scene.
“Do you see those two swans? See how they’re following one another? That means they’re mates.” Jed pointed to the birds as they swam in unison, bobbing with the current. Vanessa looked at them, and then back at Jed. With the hand holding and the sudden talk about romance, she wondered if he was trying to imply something. “They’ll even grieve each other if one dies. Isn’t that… beautiful?” Oh. Nevermind. With that, all her worries were quelled. Definitely not a romantic gesture to bring up death.
As Vanessa was formulating an answer, Jed’s attention had drifted once again. She observed him fixating on one of the many geese as it eagerly pecked at something unusually shiny. Jed flailed his arms near it, forcing it to come up defensively and reveal what it had begun to eat--a bottle cap! One of those sharp, metal ones with the grooves around the edges.
Jed ran over and grabbed the goose, who really, really wanted to swallow the cap whole. The goose, however, decided it would not be a willing participant in this life saving intervention. As Jed bear hugged it from behind, it vigorously resisted, thrashing and honking, trying its best to throw this strange intruder off of its back. Thanks to his hollow bones and a convenient gust of wind, the goose almost won, and Jed found himself airborne for a quick second amidst the struggle, before tightening his hold on the animal and shoving his fingers down its throat after the bottle cap. It wouldn’t be consuming any heavy metals today. Not on Jed’s watch.
With the noise levels increasing tenfold, other geese joined the fray, none too pleased with the sight of someone manhandling their friend. As Jed attempted to pry the first goose’s mouth open once more, one of the new geese opened its mouth and, with tomia bared, launched its head down to bite Jed.
“Jed!!” Vanessa cried out in warning, but it was too late.
Just as Jed successfully retrieved the bottle cap from the first goose’s mouth, the other goose’s beak made contact with his leg. He screamed, loud, but it was almost drowned out by incessant honking as the rest of the hoard started up--it was like a chorus of evil birds. As he attempted to escape, a third goose decided to join the biting brigade, running over and gnawing on him as well, before inspiring the rest of the hoard to join in.
“OHMYGOD!!!” Only after a few new holes were ripped into Jed’s jacket did he manage to get up and run. The geese chased after him, closing in with their necks quivering and their feathers rustling. Finding no other way out, Jed ripped his coat off, unbuckled his harness and took off, into the air. But—but wait!! Geese could fly!! A few followed him, but most decided to go back to their meeting place near the pond. Once they decided Jed was no longer a threat, the airborne ones landed, joining the rest of the group. Not a single one of them bothered Vanessa, who was running after Jed, picking up the items of clothes he discarded while on the run.
Once he knew for sure the coast was clear, Jed landed, slowly, and, panting, came back over to Vanessa, who was standing there with his coat and harness. While she watched him approach, the corners of her lips curled, involuntarily, as she fought back the forceful laughter that threatened to spew out of her mouth any second now. She couldn’t laugh at that!! What if he had gotten hurt?!?
“Sorry. I just … didn’t want it to eat that bottle cap.” He awkwardly took the coat back, and that was it. Vanessa couldn’t hold it in anymore. She burst out laughing at him, and she kept going until she was totally silent and her shoulders were shaking. She reached out to Jed for support, feeling as if she was going to fall over. He offered her an arm, and, after realizing her laughter wasn’t at him, but at an outlandish situation, Jed felt better and started laughing, too. Maybe he shouldn’t have pressed the goose so hard for a stupid bottle cap. It would’ve lived. He just had a soft spot for birds -- obviously -- and didn’t want to see one get itself sick.
“Jed!! I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you. I’m just…” Vanessa finally caught her breath and straightened out, shooting him a smile. “You’re really different outside of the ring!! I like this Jed -- the Jed that cries and does weird hand puppets and attacks birds. We should --”
Before she could finish her sentence, Vanessa’s phone began to ring. Despite Jed inwardly hoping she would just ignore it and finish her compliment, she took it out of her pocket and answered. He noticed the caller ID read: Titan.
Ugh. Of course.
“Yes? What’s up? Do you need something?” She asked into the phone, turning away from Jed. He couldn’t hear what Titan was saying, but Jed could tell it was loud. Frustrated.
“Are you sure you need me there to handle it?” Vanessa’s gaze shifted to Jed, guilty. She didn’t want to end their time together early -- he had been talking about the leaves for a while now.
For only a second, the voice on the other line de-garbled, and Jed heard Titan’s response. “Yes. Shouldn’t be a problem considering you work for me.”
Who did that guy think he was?? Why was he just bossing her around??
“Okay, okay. I’ll be right there.” With that, Vanessa hung up and started heading for the exit, calling someone else. Jed followed close along, listening to her tell her driver where to pick her up before clicking her phone off for good.
“I’m sorry, Jed! We’re gonna have to end it early. Let me make it up to you -- I’ll take you out tomorrow. Amon said you still needed to work on your cardio, right?” As they neared the exit, she began taking his borrowed coat off, handing it back to Jed. “So, let’s go for a jog sometime this week. ‘Kay?”
The proposition for them to spend more time together surprised even Vanessa. She had no idea what came over her, but, for some reason, she decided the best way to spend her time off was hanging out with Jed.
Oh no.
That was never a good sign.
Jed took his jacket back from her, and Vanessa’s car drove into the lot, parking itself in front of them. The driver got out, making his way towards the back door and opening it for Vanessa to hop inside. “Oh -- Okay!”
In response to his answer, Vanessa looked back at Jed. His eyes were sparkling with excitement, thrilled with her line of questioning. Another pit of guilt formed in her stomach. Sure, she had learned a lot about Jed today, she had gotten the chance to humanize him, but their talk today still left her with so many questions. No way she could pursue any kind of relationship with Jed until she was totally sure he didn’t see her as some inner city savior, here to whisk him away from his life of poverty and thrust him up into the limelight. Argh! This is why you never get personally involved with clients. Vanessa silently cursed herself for scheduling another hang out in a row and feeding into her subconscious desires -- Girl, where is your self-control?? You never lose your cool like this!
Wanting to end their day together quick as to not sully her good reputation, Vanessa offered a short:
“Great! Well… goodbye!”
Jed nodded. The two of them stood together, unmoving for another beat in the soft glow of the dusk sky. The air around them was cold, crisp, beckoning in the coming winter. Without a coat, Vanessa started to shiver, hard. Their eyes met once again, and she opened up her arms, offering him a quick, hopefully professional goodbye hug.
Jed leaned down, and Vanessa haphazardly threw her arms around his shoulders. Jed, though, slinked his arms around her waist, pulling her in tight, close, for a warm embrace. A soft gasp escaped her lips at the sudden grasp. The way he was holding her felt like a silent expression of gratitude, as if to say thank you for tonight. Thank you for listening. Jed rested his chin on Vanessa’s shoulder for just a moment, his face so close to her neck she could feel his breath, before letting go. He noticed her face -- Vanessa’s eyes were wide and her neck and cheeks had a subtle reddish tint.
The driver cleared his throat, tapping his watch, both snapping Vanessa out of her trance and reminding her of Titan’s deadline.
“See you.” Jed said at that, and Vanessa smiled, still in shock, before getting back into the car. As they pulled away, she looked out the back, before waving Jed a final goodbye.
Her heart and mind were both racing. Vanessa put her head in her hands, frustrated.
No. No! Noooo!!!
She could not be feeling this way. Not for a client!
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