“Randall!” His mother moved around the table to hug him, and give him a wink at the same time. He would address that later. He gave her a smile.
“Mother, did you forget we had a lunch date?” He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a knowing look, despite the feigned look of surprise on her face.
“Oh, did we? Oh my how my mind wanders these days.” She gave him a sweet smile.
“Does it now.” He murmured.
“Since you’re here Randall I’d like you to meet Jessica Sinclair. She just moved back into town.”
Jessica Sinclair, or Messy Jessie as she had been known 15 years prior was nothing like her former self. She had been chubby, with braces and very much a tomboy. No, this delicate creature was nothing as she had been.
She held out her hand to him. “Mr. Blakemore, it’s good to see you again, it’s been quite some time.” Her smile was tight and businesslike.
“Jessie, you certainly look different.” He gave her one of his smiles, but she simply nodded.
“Yes, I am certain I do. Mrs. Blakemore, it really was a nice surprise running into you in the market, but I really have to get going.” She hugged the older woman and nodded in his direction as she headed down the stairs.
“Oh ok dear, well, perhaps you can come by for dinner one night, I get awfully lonely.”
Jessie hesitated, “Sure, I would love that.” She turned to go once more.
“Wednesday, 7 o clock dear, I’ll make something special.” The older woman was still smiling as Jessie shut the front door behind her. He spun around to face his mother.
“Well, mother, I can see you are still doing your best to find me a wife?” He arched his eyebrows in her direction, and she gave him a sheepish smile in response.
He would be lying if he didn’t admit to himself that Jessie’s lack of response to his usually effective charms had unnerved him slightly. He wasn’t used to that… at all.
Chapter Two – Jessica
Randall Blakemore… She slid into her car easily, though she felt her hands tremble slightly as she turned over the engine. He may have noticed changes in her, but he certainly didn’t look any different. He had always been the tallest guy in school over 6 feet. Black wavy hair, and a body like a soldier. The truth of the matter was; it had always been his eyes that had her fascinated in high school. They were dark blue, and he always had a way of making you feel like he could see every thought that crossed your mind.
Of course back then he hadn’t even noticed she existed. He had taken up for her a couple of times, but after that she had learned to stay under the radar, and had been moon-eyed over Randy Blakemore for the remainder of her school years. It wasn’t until she went away to college, and ultimately her career that she realized what a foolish crush it had been. Fortunately, she had put it all to rest, and gotten her life together. College had been a task in and of itself, but she had learned to take better care of herself, and learned to be proud of who she is, red hair and all.
She sighed as she pulled into the tall apartment building in the city. On her to do list had always been to live on her own and take care of herself, something she was finally doing. The biggest lesson she had learned was to plan, everything. She had gone from chubby school kid to assistant to the mayor in 10 years and she had fought to get there. Her application had gone into the mayor’s office in her hometown at just the right time and she had been happy when she had been told the position was hers.
Living her life had kept her busy, so busy that fun, and relationships had been put on a shelf for a while, at least until she could relax in her new life. She’d had no real friends in school, so there was no eagerness to look anyone up, anyone but Randy. Just seeing him today had made her feel like a high school kid again. It was foolish the effect he had on her, and one she would make sure to never let happen again.
Changing clothes, she finally relaxed for the night. She had only planned on running over to the Blakemore house and drop off the paperwork from City Hall, she’d had no intention of actually running into Mrs. Blakemore, or to extract an invitation from her. No, it seemed as though their meeting was fated to happen, ever since she had pulled his paperwork out earlier that morning.
She had only been on the job 3 days and already, she was facing her past head on. What she needed was to be assertive when she spoke to him again, which she knew would be soon. There was no doubt Mrs. Blakemore had big plans on them enjoying dinner again the three of them. It was obvious that she didn’t realize just how uninterested Randy really was about Jessie Sinclair. She made her way into the bathroom as she found herself reflecting even more about how little he had changed. His black hair was dark as ink, and those clear blue eyes had charmed more than one girl out of their pants back in the day. She had no doubt that had changed very much about him either.