A Stranger In A Strange Land

Part 7: One that was saved

Jean's POV:

I retrieved my pocket camera from the front pocket of my backpack and started taking snapshots of the view. We could even se the Hollywood sign in the distance to our right. I also took a self portrait of the two of us, smiling into the camera with the city in the background. The mood was light, but the anticipation of what could happen later this evening always lingered under the surface. I could clearly see his toned and slim figure and I was imagining how he would feel close to me, both undressed, how his long, slender fingers and strong arms would feel on my naked skin. Or how his lips would give me kisses on my body. I shuddered at the thought and my stomache fluttered. Jared noticed:"are you cold? Mabye you should put your jacket on!" Me"no, not cold. I just got a shudder. No biggie!" I smiled at him reassuringly and he stroked my back and squeezed my shoulder and smiled back at me. Suddenly we heard twigs got broken and voices and we turned our heads to see who was there. I got shocked when I recognized Peter coming up to our place from another trail that we spotted when we first got here. It was less steap, but a longer way to go. He was walking hand in hand with a petite ginger haired woman and a black labrador at the other end of the leash he held. The look of confusion on his face when he saw us was priceless. They walked up to us and he said to me:"Jean! I certainly did not expect to see you here." Me"the feeling is mutual Peter" P"it's been a long time. How are you? You look great by the way!" The woman besides him unlocked their hands and started to fidget nervously with her hair. He noticed Jared standing with an arm around my waist, but ignored him. I turned to Jared and said"this is Peter Jackson, my ex. Peter, this is my friend Jared Leto." P"yeah, I know who you are. I saw your last movie. This is Kate Duncan. And our dog here Ray" We all waved at each other and Jared bent down to greet the dog. Kate asked me"so, when were you with Peter?" Me"until he cheated on me about 4 months ago" Kate to Peter:"you said she broke up with you and left you!" Peter blushed and was clearly uneasy, getting caught in a lie. I couldn't help but giggle at that to him:"haha I guess you just got busted! So she's the one you cheated on me with? Well Kate, I sure hope you have more luck with him than I did" I watched as they both dropped their jaws and Jared just winked at them and grinned at me while he kissed my temple and slung his arm around my shoulder on when he got back up to my level again. P"I see you moved on Jean. That's good to see. Again, I'm sorry for how things ended between us. I wish you the very best. Me"Thanks Peter. I think we're good. Jared takes good care of me and I of him. You better treat her right. And Kate: good luck! Shall we go Jared? I'd like to get home now" Kate:"I'm sorry. I didn't know. I thought..." She trailed off when I raised my hand up to shut her up and said:"it's not your fault. It seems he played us both. I'm over it anyways. We were just not right for each other I guess. I hope you are though." I looked at them both and said goodbye to them as Jared slid my backpack onto his back and we headed down the same trail Peter and Kate had come up from. I walked fast because I had a certain rush of adrenaline I wanted to burn off. I didn't know why because I wasn't angry at Peter anymore, I guess it was from the sheer surprise of seeing him again. As we left them we heard Kate's angry voice at him and that made me chuckle. Jared didn't say anything yet, he just kept up with me as I marched down. Then suddenly Jared told me to stop. I turned to look at him and he retrieved an inhaler from his pocket and put it to his mouth and heaved before holding his breath to let the medicine take its effect. He put the device back in his pocket and said:"sorry. Asthma attack. It doesn't happen often, only due to stress. That's why I take care of my health." Me (breathing heavily):"it's ok. I guess I needed to stop anyways. I just needed to burn off some steam. And I don't even know why. I'm not even mad at him anymore, just surprised to see him again. It felt more like he 'crashed' our date!" I sighed as I put my right forehand to my forehead and looked at him while I chewed on my lip. He cocked his head while he looked at my with his hands in his pocket before he asked:"are you ok then? He didn't seem hostile or anything. And you handled it very good" Me"thank you! And sorry for not telling about him before. But talking about my ex wasn't my first priority. I guess I kinda forgot about him when I'm with you. And I meant what I said to him about you." Jared"It's ok. Don't worry about it. You didn't owe me any explanation. Will you follow me now, so we don't get lost?" Me"yeah sure! And thank you for being so understanding." I looked at my watch and the time was 11:45, so we were right on schedule, as he had said yesterday he wanted to be on our way down again before noon. The trail was easy to descend as we walked side by side and hand in hand. Our moods had lit up again and we talked about small things and I took pictures whenever I saw flora I wanted to catch up close. We spotted a lot of birds, but no other animals. We walked for a good hour before we reached his truck, and stretched our muscles in our legs to prevent soreness. Jared asked me:"would you mind if we took a quick detour to my place before I drive you home? I need to get a few things before I go to the city." Me"yeah, sure. That way I also get to know the way to your house before I drive there myself. Is everythink ok?" J"yes. I just need to run an errand." Me"that's ok. I'm in no rush anyways. I'm done stretching now. Are you ready to go?" Jared moved his way around his car and pulled me in for a kiss and smiled at me. I loved his lips on mine: they are so soft. We become more and more affectionate towards another as we open up to each other. It's a very nice feeling. J"now I'm ready to go." he sighed as he let go of me and winked at me.

The drive to his house was nice and uneventful with no traffic to speak of. We stopped in front of a big white house and he turned the ignition off and turned to look at me:"I'm sorry if I don't invite you in. I'll be very quick." Me"that's alright. No worries. You can give me the grand tour later. I'll wait here" I smiled at him, nodding my head. J"thank you for being understanding" Then he leaned over to give me a peck on my cheek before he left. He walked quickly towards his front door and unlocked it, opened it and left it ajar. I looked at the front of his house: it was white and not too huge. Not like the others I've seen as we drove up here. There were few windows at ground level. I noticed the front garden contained of a small lawn and some bushes and by the corner there was a small patio with a little cafè table and two small chairs. I imagined sitting there and enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning. It was starting to get hot in the car so I opened the door at my side to cool off. I started to think about what I should wear for our dinner tonight and I thought about just the right outfit. It would be something classic, yet sexy, just the way I like it. I was lost in thought, because I got startled when he slammed his front door shut and locked it. He was carrying a guitar case and smiled at me as he walked to his truck, opened the back door on the drivers side and placed the guitar standing up on the floor behind his seat and closed the door. I closed my door as he opened his and got inside. He sighed as he closed his door and looked at me, saying:"thank you for waiting. I just need to deliver my Pythagoras for some fixup after I drop you off" Me"it's totally fine. You weren't gone for long and I took the time to look at your surroundings. Is Pythagoras your guitar? Cool name!" J"yup. It's custom made after my design. I have this and it's brother Artemis" he grinned at me. Me"I'd love to see them someday" J"I can show you Artemis tonight. It's really cool" Me"that would be great" Then we leaned over and kissed. When we broke apart, we just grinned at each other, cleared our throats and giggeled at our refound syncronocity. J"are you ready to go home now?" Me"yeah. I need to relax, take a shower and get ready" J"sounds good to me. Hopefully you'll need some new found energy for later" He winked at me and bit his bottom lip. I shyly looked down, then back up into his big blue pools that twinkled at me:"I probably will need that" He started the engine, backed out of his driveway and headed down the hill.