BACK WITH YOU
Chapter Six
Charlie shoved his hands into his coat
pockets and shivered in the morning cold. He looked once again toward the
street but did not see Jessamyn walking toward him. Sighing, which caused a
puff of visible air to escape his mouth, he began to shift his weight back and
forth between his feet. A dense fog had set in overnight and the temperatures
had dropped well below the norm. Charlie was absolutely freezing, having not
thought to wear heavier clothes, and was regretting saying he would meet
Jessamyn outside the library. He checked his watch for what seemed like the
millionth time, and saw that it was not quite ten. Knowing Jessamyn, she would
be right on time, not a minute before or later.
He shook his head and smiled; Jessamyn.
Knowing her had certainly been an adventure so far. She was definitely not your
average girl. Her stories of growing up in a small town near the coast in Maine
and all the fun and crazy adventures she had been through really impressed him.
Some of the things she had done on a dare or had gotten herself into certainly
rivaled some of his tales of growing up in New Orleans with all of its Creoles,
voodoo priestesses, fortunetellers, and all around French flair. He just loved
listening to her talk; her voice was so cultured and soft, musical even. She
had a real gift of story-telling that just drew you in, an artist with her
words. Plus, she wasn’t your typical giggly, no-brained girl like all the ones
that seemed to be around currently. She knew what was important and she liked
to have real fun. Charlie had no doubt that she would find her birth mother, no
matter what it took.
He was still thinking about her when suddenly
there was a tap on his back. He spun around and saw Jessamyn grinning at him.
Her cheeks were red with the cold and she was bundled up in an over-the-top
coat and scarf.
"Ready?" she asked cheerfully.
Charlie nodded and started walking up toward
the entrance, with Jessamyn right next to him. She looked like an overstuffed
teddy bear with her clothes, but he didn’t say so. It was endearing, really.
"You are right on time," he observed as he opened the door for her.
Jessamyn chuckled as she walked into the
library. "Would you be surprised if I wasn’t?" she asked, when
Charlie caught up with her.
Charlie shook his head. Of course he wouldn’t
be surprised. She grinned and then unbuttoned her coat as so not to get too
warm. "Where shall we start?" she asked, answering her own question
as she led him towards the local reference section. She had been here often
enough to know where everything was. It was nice; she didn’t have to bother the
silly librarian with questions now.
Quickly, she went over to one of the large
tables and set her purse upon it, claiming it as her own. Charlie looked her
over, wondering how on earth she could have so much energy right now. She
looked up and gave him an expectant look. Expectant for what, he didn’t know,
but he did look suddenly down at the floor, embarrassed that she had caught him
staring.
"Ah, I’ll go get some books," he
said quickly, blushing, before he rushed off.
Jessamyn watched him go. His mannerism
certainly had changed. It was strange, she thought, as she sat down in one of
the uncomfortable chairs. Before their little meeting last night, she was sure
they had just been friends. But now she what thinking that maybe he was
thinking of her as something more. He had come over pretty late for decent
company last night and she’d caught him staring at her more than once, among
other little things like holding the door open for her. That must mean
something. She smirked to herself. Well, well, well, Mr. Beaumont had developed
a tiny crush, had he? She could have some fun with this before she decided
whether or not she even liked the idea of Charlie being smitten with her.
Course, she would have to be careful; her suspicions might not even be right.
Before long, he came back, carrying three big
books. Sighing, he set them down in front of Jessamyn and then took his seat.
She turned the spines to face her and read the titles. They were all records of
the local businesses for the past three years. Grinning, she slowly moved her
chair closer to Charlie and looked up at him with a sweet, questioning look.
"How did you know these would be
here?" she asked in breathy, amazed voice.
Charlie swallowed as he noticed how close she
was. Dammit, what was wrong with him? He shook his head quickly and then said,
"Ah, I had to use them a while back for a paper."
"Hmm." Jessamyn sighed happily,
knowing the effect she was having on him. This was fun! But enough of it for
right now, she had work to do. She turned her attention back to the books and
pulled one of them off the top of the pile, handing it to Charlie. After she
had selected her own, the most recent list, she opened it up. She was
immediately met with a list of names and businesses, none of which had any
meaning to her.
"How do I use this?" she asked in
all seriousness. She couldn’t figure out which were titles of businesses and
which were people’s names, besides the obvious things like "Café Santa
Monica."
"The names of the owners are in the
back; there is an index. Just see if Dawson, Rose is back there and if none of
these books have her, then we can go onto something else."
Jessamyn nodded and then flipped toward the
back of the book. After finding the ‘D’ last names, she quickly ran her finger
down the list. Her heart jumped in excitement when she found a series of
Dawsons right in a row.
"Albert, Joseph, Marie…" She
quietly read out loud, getting nervous as she came closer to the end of the
list, this was it. Oscar, Paul, and then, holy mother of god, Rose! She was
right there! Jessamyn jumped up as her eyes widened in amazement. "Holy
shit!" she exclaimed loudly without even realizing it. Several people
turned around and shushed her, as well as giving her some disapproving looks.
Jessamyn just sat down, not bothering to apologize, and pointed at the name.
"She’s here, right there…see? Look!" she exclaimed, quieter this
time. Charlie looked over to where she was pointing, and he broke into a smile.
"Well, look at that!" he said,
proud of himself. But Jessamyn hadn’t heard him. She was frantically searching
for a page number. When she found it, she threw open that page and ran her
finger down the first column of names, and then the next. Dawson, Rose was at
the bottom of the page and Jessamyn could hardly breathe when she found it.
Excitedly, she read what it said out loud to Charlie.
"Dawson, Rose. Avid Readers Bookshop.
1913 West Sundance Boulevard. Owner: Rose Dawson. Telephone: 555-5555."
Jessamyn sat in amazement as she read the
words over and over to herself. How odd it was, knowing that her mother was now
just a cab trip or a telephone call away. She felt like she was going to throw
up and like she should scream in happiness at the same time. She couldn’t wait
to see her, but at the same time, she was nervous. What would happen when she
showed up? How would Rose react? This morning, she hadn’t had a clue where her
mother was. Now it was right in front of her face.
"Jess?" Charlie had noticed her
slip off into her little trance and he was slightly worried. He thought she
would have reacted differently, with more shouting and smiling. But she just
sat there with a strange look on her face, like she didn’t know what the think
anymore. Softly, he placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned toward him
quickly, as if just realizing that he was there. "You all right?" he
asked gently.
She nodded, still in her trance. She felt
kind of numb all of the sudden and she felt like she right get sick. Slowly,
she looked down at the floor instead of at Charlie. He was making her feel even
weaker.
Charlie reached out and lifted her chin up
with his index finger. "Hey…head up, young person," he told her,
repeating the phrase his grandmother had said to him so many times over the
years. The only difference was, when she had said it, it had been in French.
Jessamyn managed a smile. "I’m
sorry," she mumbled, finally coming back to reality. "It just shocked
me, was all." She shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. It
was so much at once, though, so overwhelming. "Thank you, Charlie,"
she finally managed to get out. She reached over and gave him a quick, innocent
kiss on the cheek.
He blushed a deep read color and bashfully
brushed away whatever was left of her kiss. "Don’t worry about it,"
he stammered, as he stood up quickly, closing up the books and then stacking
them in a pile. "What are you going to do now?" he asked, changing
the subject from the kiss and the thank you.
Jessamyn shrugged as she too stood up.
"I’m not sure. I can’t just show up at her house or business, whatever it
is. And I definitely can’t go today. I think I just need to think for a
while." She sighed heavily, zipping up her coat as she did so. "What
do you think I should do?" she asked Charlie.
He shrugged. "It’s not my decision,
Jess."
She nodded softly. "Yeah, I know…"
She trailed off and then started walking out of the room. Charlie pushed the
books into the middle of the table and then jogged toward her until he caught
up with her. She was walking quite fast, almost in a mad dash, looking at the
floor the whole time. He was worried that she would run into someone or
something if she didn’t pick her head up, not to mention causing a disturbance
if she continued to stalk out of here like this.
"Do you want me to walk you home?"
he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. She stopped and turned around.
"I hope you don’t mind," she said
quietly before turning around again. She started walking again, slower this
time, and Charlie followed her until they were outside where he caught up with
her again. Gently, he draped his arm around her shoulder--not in any romantic
way, just a friendly sort of side hug--and kept it there. She didn’t shrug it
off, which was a good sign, but then again he wasn’t even sure she noticed it
there. She just kept walking in her little trance she had slipped back into.
Charlie tried to place himself in her situation, but it was hard; he’d never
had to go through anything like this before. He could appreciate how confusing
and nerve-racking all of this was though. But relating personally would be
impossible. At the very least though, he could be her friend. After all, she
had to be lonely right now right? Maybe she just needed someone to be there for
her.
"It will be all right, Jess. Whatever
happens is suppose to happen," he said softly after a few minutes. He
didn’t look at her, she didn’t look at him. They just kept walking. Finally,
after what seemed like forever, he felt her head move.
"I know," she said softly, before
laying her head on his shoulder. She didn’t say anything else after that.
Charlie knew he should shut up, and so he did.
Jessamyn was glad he had stopped talking. She
just needed someone to be around right now. Her mind wouldn’t make up its mind
on what to do. One side was saying she should wait a while, give it a good long
think-over. After all, this was going to affect all of them very much. But the
other side of her wanted desperately to see her mother, to solve all the cloudy
enigmas that surrounded Rose’s past. She sighed heavily and Charlie tightened
his hold on her. After that, she inwardly smiled; at least he was a steady
force right now. Silently, he walked her home, her mind poring over what would
unfold next, no matter how the next few days would unfold.