06

« Do you know what you want to drink ? » Erica asked.

« Sweet tea, » Austin replied and then added, « I’ll have the chicken special with mashed potatoes and gravy and peas. A side of apple pie too. »

Eric looked down at Austin who laid the menu to the side and made one last attempt to gain his attention by bending over more than was necessary to pick up the menu. Austin never once looked in her direction and Erica huffed off in a tiff. He shook his head, he loved a pretty woman as good as any but Erica was way too young for him. Hell, he taught classes with kids as old as her. No thank you, he said to himself.

Austin was staring out the window, running plays in his head and devising new offensive measures when a child’s harmonious laughter caught his attention. It was exuberant and refreshing and when he turned to see where it was coming from, his jaw dropped. On the other side of the Diner, sat none other than Jade Sampson. She had Oliver with her and a little girl too who was giggling at something that Oliver had just said to her.

But then his attentions settled back on Jade. She was pretty before but with a little age, she was absolutely remarkable now. Jade. She was the woman that he at one time thought that he would spend the rest of his life with. The only woman that had ever held his heart so wholly and the only woman that he had regrettably driven away.

Letting out a sigh, he watched the group with a kind of wistfulness that would never be. She would probably curse him to his grave after what he had done to her all those years ago and to be truthful, he would curse himself too.

Erica brought his food and set it down in front of him. Without saying a word, she sashayed back off to another table where three teenage guys were sitting and spoke with them animatedly.

Looking down at his plate, suddenly, Austin was no longer hungry anymore. At least not for food, anyway. The type of hunger that he had right now would never be sated. He would die of starvation before Jade would ever come and smile at him the way that she used to.

Irritated with himself, Austin stood up and dropped a twenty on the table. He would go home and nuke one of those frozen meals anyway. There was no way that he could sit in this Diner and watch Jade, wondering about all that could have been and what will obviously never be. It just hurt too damn much.

Austin stopped by the restroom before he left and did his business. He went to the sink and washed his face before looking up at the mirror and taking in the dark circles under his eyes. « Damn, what’s happened to you ? » He muttered to his reflection.

I need to get laid, he thought to himself. It’s been too long since he had last taken refuge with a warm and willing woman, too damn long. At least if he was with another woman, he wouldn’t think about the one that plagued his conscious on a nightly basis…… for a little while anyway.

The only problem with that theory was that the only woman he wanted to be with was Jade Sampson and she certainly wasn’t going to welcome him with warm arms.

It was one of those damned if you do, damned if you don’t situations.

Tossing the paper towel he used to dry off his hands in the trash, Austin headed out the door feeling about as useless as a flea on a dog’s back. Not paying attention he almost toppled right over the little girl that had captured his attention earlier with her musical laughter.

« Hey ! » She said to him, « Watch where your going mister. »

Austin looked up to see Oliver standing just a foot away watching his every move. He then turned back to the little girl and bent down to her level to apologize and was instantly taken aback by the child’s eyes. Eyes that he would swear mirrored his own.

A small hand cupped his cheek, « Are you okay mister ? » The little girl asked and the irony of the question rivaled the sweetness of the young one that had asked it.

Swallowing past the knot in his throat, Austin covered the little girls hand with his. « I’m fine, » he said a little unsteady, « Are you okay ? »

The girl giggled, « I’m fine silly but you should really look out where you are walking. »

« Your right, » Austin replied and smiled back at the Libby. « I’m really sorry and I’ll watch out for now on. »

Libby fisted her little hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes on him, « You promise ? »

« I promise, » Austin chuckled and even crossed his heart with his finger.

« Libby ? Who—«  and all other words left Jade’s mouth when the man that has just been talking to her daughter stood and turn around to face her.

To say that she was stunned was putting it mildly. To say that she was gobsmacked was much more like it. Austin’s gaze casually raked over her from head to toe before he turned on that brilliant smile of his that so easily captured her heart back in high school. Then he did the inevitable, he spoke, « Hello Jade, it’s been a long time. »

Jade was in no way prepared for the barrage of feelings that seemed to completely drown out everything else around her when she peered into Austin’s eyes. A set of beautiful smoky eyes that once upon a time she had stared into endlessl and found herself hopelessly lost in them. She was frozen, couldn’t find it within herself to move a single muscle and didn’t know what to say. All she could do was stare dumbly up at him.

For half of a heartbeat Austin stopped breathing. Every nerve cell in his body went on high alert. There had been so many nights that he had dreamed of seeing Jade again. Over and over he had visualized those vibrant green eyes that emulated the darkest of emeralds, that cute pert nose and her pointy chin that had a dimple in the center of it all highlighted his nights, but none of those images compared to the real Jade that was standing before him now. She was absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful.

Austin tried his best to offer her a sincere smile while he patiently waited for her to say something back to him. There were so many things that he wanted to tell her like how sorry he was for hurting her and what a stupid mistake it was that he made so long ago and if there was anything that he could do to change it, he would. But he wasn’t really sure how receptive that she would be to his apologies so instead, he rocked back and forth on his heels with his hands clenched together behind his back and continued to wait.

Oliver could feel the tension in the air and decided to take the initiative. « Hey, » he spoke up bringing everyone’s attention back to him, « I am just going to take Libby outside, » he said, lifting the little girl so that she rested comfortably on his hip.

« Will you show me your big guns now ? » Libby asked with the angelic innocence of a four year old child.

« No guns, Libby, » Jade said in a snippy tone without once taking her eyes off of Austin. Standing there she realized then that she had never really said the words that she wanted to say to him all those years ago. She was too ashamed to even confront the man, much less say anything to him.

« But mom ! » Libby whined pitifully.

« Hey, I know something else I can show you, » Oliver interrupted. He shot a glance over to Jade and nodded. « Would you like for me to show you how the lights work on my car ? »