They ate in silence. The atmosphere was not filled with tension, rather with a cozy understanding between them. Neither had to speak to be heard neither had to acknowledge the other to be noticed them.
After they finished Brian stood up and took Jessica's hand. He led her to down a long hallway and into another bedroom. He opened a huge closet and waved his hand for Jessica to see. "These are yours to take." He told her.
She shook her head. "No. I can't take these."
Brian looked at her, light shining within his eyes. "You must, they are a gift from me to you. I have no use for them. Besides a pretty lady such as yourself would look ravishing in these elegant designs."
Jessica blushed and bowed her head. She smiled a lopsided smile and gazed up at him through her eyelashes. "Really?" she asked.
He laughed and let her pass him to look through the huge collection. He stood back as she touched a piece of fabric here, pulled out a dress there, twirling in front of the huge mirrors. She pulled out a long white satin gown and paused, holding it in front of her.
…Jessica glanced up at the sound of her name and smiled. She knew who it was that was calling her. She knew that it was he and she was ecstatic that he had finally come. She bounded through the swaying palm trees and raced towards the other side of the island. Her feet never slowed, despite the unevenness of the terrain. She had been raised here, she knew that this was home. She could find her way through these old trails blindfolded. She slowed down as a form appeared before her, standing upon the beach, looking out at the ocean. She knew him…if only she could see his face. She reached out to his shoulder and he turned…
"Jessica, are you alright?"
Jessica shook her head. The gown fell from her hands. She slowly turned towards Brian. She was so dizzy. She reached out for something to grasp and he was instantly there beside her. She held onto him swaying unsteadily.
"Woah…"she said, as the world seemed to darken in color.
Everything came back into focus a few seconds later. She shook her head and the dizziness was gone. "I'm…fine." She said unsteadily. "Just dizzy that's all." He smiled and lifted her face up to his. "Yes, Jessica. You are fine…" his voice trailed off.
They stood there staring at each other. It seemed as if time stood still and destiny brought them closer. Jessica glanced away, breaking the mystifying hold he seemed to have on her.
"I'm going to take a walk on the beach." She told Brian behind her.
"Okay…the door is…" he started.
"To the left of the kitchen, down the hall?" Jessica asked behind her. She tuned around and smiled mischievously. "I got bored." She shrugged her shoulders and smiled when she heard him laugh behind her.
Jessica walked out onto the beach. The moon shined brightly overhead. The stars were still clearly visible, this far out of town. Jessica sat down on the sandy shore and just watched the waves. Whenever she had been angry or upset with her life she had always gone to the beach to watch the waves. The waves soothed her, to make her feel peaceful. Sometimes her life had been so bad that it hadn't worked, but usually the ocean didn't let her down.
Now she came down to understand her better. She needed to figure out her own mind. She wanted to understand her heart and what it was saying.
Jessica watched the waves beat upon the shore and compared it to her life. The waves were like the endless struggles that she had to face day by day, the endless battles. Even though the sand, which was like her, struggled and struggled to beat the waves, it was too weak. The sand never gave up hope and yet with each passing day the ocean ate away at the shore. Soon there would be nothing left not even her soul.
What Brian had said made sense. She needed to be able to trust herself and gain confidence in herself to truly be somebody. She needed to be able to trust in herself, to be self-sufficient and live on her own. She needed to learn to love herself better. She had no idea how to go about doing that, but she did have some clue as to where to start.
Jessica stood up and brushed the sand off her dress. She went to make her way up to the house and she jumped startled at the sudden dark form in front of her. "Brain!" her breathing slowed when she realized who it was. "You've got to stop scaring me like that!" she exclaimed.
He nodded in silent agreement and glanced out at the ocean. "This world has so much to offer you. I wish that you and everybody else would realize that."
"…I have, I think." She started.
He looked at her, the moon seemed to shine in his eyes and yet she saw brightness that couldn't have come from the night. "Yes." He smiled. "You have." He nodded to himself.
Jessica looked at the ground for a moment. "I…" she started, not sure how to go about asking him what she wanted.
She was caught off guard when he told her exactly what she wanted. "You'd like me to help you." he asked her.
She nodded slowly. "I…realize what you say is true. I understand that now. My life isn't the best I have…it isn't all that wonderful…but there are others out there who are worse off then I am. And my life can get better, if I make it…I….just…" she paused and threw up her hands in frustration. "I need to learn how…" she said, finally she bent her will and pushed back her pride and asked for help. She looked away doubtful.
He advanced slowly towards her, placing his hand under her chin. He turned her to look at him and smiled. "You've already begun. I told you before, Jessica Sinclair, that whenever you needed me I'd be there. Well I'm here now and I'm not about to desert you."
She gazed up into his eyes searching for some sign that he wasn't lying to her, that he wasn't like all the others. He smiled and so did she. He wouldn't desert her and she knew it.
Finally she had learned to trust someone, finally she had learned to ask for help. She was on her way…to finding herself…once again.