Hazel Eyes

A little box of sweetness

"Crappy hotel coffee?" Jamison smiled at the tiny sleepy girl still in bed. He had turned on the lamp on his side of the bed and clearly had just been in the shower. The smell of breezy soap gave the room a fresh aroma. "I.. don't know if I trust it." Jenna smiled and debated the offer. "Jenna Grey turns down coffee!" A reporter voice came from Jamison, "I didn't think that was possible, I feel like I just found a unicorn!" He laughed, "We'll stop and get better coffee before we hit the road again. I'm sure there's a coffee shop around here." "Thank god!" Jenna giggled and sat up, brushing her hair between her fingers and stretching. "You think there's still enough hot water?" "Absolutely," Jamison was packing up the few things they had brought inside. Throwing away garage and cleaning up. They didn't make much of a mess. "I wasn't in there long, there will be plenty I'm sure. I made sure to eave enough soap in there for you though since the bottles are small." "Perfect, I'll go take a quick shower and get ready, are we in any rush?" She asked while pulling out clothes from their Walmart bag. "Not at all, we don't have to check out until eleven and it's only nine. We'll be fine one before that I'm sure, unless you get lost in there.." He laughed and kissed her on the forehead. She smiled and headed into the bathroom, not replying to his joke but smiling to acknowledge it.
While Jenna was in the shower, Jamison made up a note and left it on the dresser next to her clothes she chose for the day. It read, 'Went to the lobby, I'll be right back.' Jamison proceeded to look for snacks he could gather and bring back up to their room, bananas, juice, chips, crackers, tiny cereal boxes, sandwiches and cookies. He took two of everything, naturally. After scouring the table and not seeing anything else packaged he could snag, he figure he'd make his way back to the room and see if Jenna was ready. "Hi.." A small voice came from behind Jamison. He turned to find a little girl standing there. Light brown hair, just past her shoulders. Her pink jacket had syrup on it from pancakes on the table behind her. Her mom was sitting there watching her. "Hi, what do you have there?" He asked, smiling at her soft face. "Flowers, I saw you come in with a girl yesterday and I wanted to give you some flowers.. my mommy said I could if i wanted to." "That's so sweet of you, what's your name?" "Isabelle, my mommy named me that because I looked like an Isabelle when I was born. Do you like my hat? My mommy bought it for me at the store." Isabelle said pointing at her purple beanie on the chair behind her. "I love it, it's super cute! Your mommy gave you the perfect name, you do look like an Isabelle. Here Isabelle, I have something for you too." Jamison reached over to a stand near him and grabbed a small stuffed bear off the side, smiling at the women behind the counter, reassuring her that he'd pay for it Handing it over to the small girl, he smiled. "Thank you!" She said, hugging his leg. The mom sitting at the small table smiled up at Jamison And mouthed the words 'thank you'. He didn't say anything, but nodded back with a smile. "Hey, I have to go take these to my room so my girlfriend and can see how beautiful they are. If we see you on our way out we'll say bye before we go, okay?" He had crouched down to her level to speak to her. She happily did a little dance and walked over to her mom, becoming shy and not saying anything back. Her good deed was noticed and that was all shes wanted. Jamison stood and turned, heading back the way he come, a grin painted his face from the innocent girl.
The room wasn't too far away, maybe a minute or two of walking before he was walking through the door again. "Hey, I was wondering how long you'd be, I'm ready to go if you are. Oh! You have snacks, yum!" Jenna hadn't seen the flowers yet, Jamison had them hidden behind his back. "Look what I found." Pulling them and hanging them over. "Aw they're so pretty, where did you find them?" Jenna smelled the flowers and looked for something to put them in for the road trip. "A little girl stopped me in the food room, she said she wanted to give them to us after she saw us come in yesterday. She said her name was Isabelle, I bought her a little bear in return, the lady behind the stand is charging our room for it. I flashes her the room key so she knew what room to put it in." "How cute!" Placing the flowers in a small disposable coffee cup and wrapping toilet paper around the stems, Jenna came over and placed her right hand on the side of Jamison's face, kissing him. "You have the biggest heart, I love that about you." "She was so cute, one day that'll be our daughter bringing you flowers." He said, pulling Jenna in closer and hugging her tight. "How adorable are you? One day. Are you ready to go? I'm ready for coffee and I see you have some good lookin' snacks." Jenna let out a little laugh and gathered their things. Jamison took what she didn't get and headed to the door. It creeped as it open, the smell of someone's food sitting outside on a cart made Jenna's stomach rumble. She hadn't noticed how hungry she was. Starving even. The brown with white spotted carpet was freshly vacuumed and the walls were white with photos of wild life and animals lined the halls. She hadn't noticed them when they arrived, she had been so tired that she never bothered to pay attention to details. As they made their way down the hall to the door, exiting the building, they passed the young girl Jamison had spoken to.
"Look mama, they still have my flowers!" She whispered into her mothers ear, though her whisper was not a whisper at all. Her mother didn't speak but hummed a response in return, acknowledging that she saw the flowers too. Jenna heard her talk and looked up, realizing who it was she was looking at. Jamison smiled at the girl and mom, holding their things closely. He waved slightly and she waved back, leaving their final goodbye at the plain hotel, and closing the glass doors behind them. "Such a sweet thing, I hope they have a good trip. I wonder where they're going?" Jenna thought out loud. "I have no idea, but I'm sure it'll be memorable for her." Once the car had been found, bags had been loaded, and the ignition was turned over, snakes were in place. Jenna pulled out the cookies and a juice, a book, and snuggled up in her blanket. It was a little chilly, but too early for snow. There would be months to pass before they'd get any. "So why can't you tell me where we're going?" "Well, if I told you then you'd know!" Jamison laughed at his line. Jenna giggled and rested her head on his arm, she could barely reach him in his truck. She didn't mind, Jenna loved riding in his truck. She felt so superior to everyone else around her, not in a 'rich' sort of sense, but because it was such a gorgeous truck, and it sounded gorgeous too. "I mean it, what is it about this place that you can't tell me?" "It's something that will change our lives, something that you will never expect. When we finally get there, because it is use the drive, it'll be worth the wait. I promise." Grabbing her hand and rubbing his thumb over the side of her hand, Jenna smiled and shook her head in understanding. She didn't need to know anything more. She trusted him fully. No matter where they went, she was safe. Safe from danger, safe form her own thoughts, safe indefinitely. She couldn't think of another time in her life where she had really felt like this. At home. He was in the most literal form, her home. It was as if her life had been missing something all this time and now that she found it, everything was complete. The structure of it anyways. The rest they would build together, whatever that may be, and she couldn't wait to see al the little things fall into place as time passed.
The simple view was having someone to love and someone to love you, but in all reality, it was so much more than that. It was someone you could trust, who would never judge you, but help you learn and grow. Someone who you could speak your mind to and now that no matter what you said they would always support you. A person who took your heart in the palm of their hands and kept it warm and safe from danger. He would protect her from her own downed thoughts upon herself, make them into something beautiful again. He was her best friend and soon to be her husband. She couldn't wait to have his last name in replace of hers. The more Jenna thought and watched the beautiful scenery pass, the more emotional she became. Tears started forming in the corner of her eyes, dripping down her face and landing on her book. Small water spots formed where they met the printed words. Thankfully she had sat up before this and none would land on his arm. She didn't want him to see her cry, he would be worry there was something wrong. "Are you okay?.." He asked. 'Crap..' She thought. Apparently her face was visible and she wasn't aware. "Yes, I'm just happy." "Yeah? What's getting to you, my love?" His gentle voice made her cry more. "I've never felt this way before.. and I love how comfortable I am with you. I love that you are my best friend and that I won't have to go through anything alone ever again." "Absolutely baby, you will never have to question if I love you, I will never lie or hide anything from you. You have added so much to my life that I can't imagine not having you here with me. I would do anything to make sure you were okay, anything to take care of you. I will aways remind you how beautiful you are and how much you mean to me." Jamison's confession made her heart melt and her tears flow more than ever. He wiped her tears with his strong smooth hand and took her hand in his. Holding it tight he said, "We have a few more nightstands of rest before we make it to where I'm taking you, it shouldn't be more than a few days now. We've been on the road now for a day, soooo I'd say about three or four, depending on how may stops we make. I want to stop and spend some time with you along the way though, so it may take us a bit longer. I see no reason to rush our trip, then we can see more before it's all over." "Sounds perfect to me, I love road trips, and I love even more that we're not in a rush. Stopping to see the scenery and making the most of our trip makes my soul happy!" Jenna said excitedly. She laughed at how dorky she probably sounded, but she didn't care. He knew how her mind worked, he knew she would want to enjoy the drive and not pass up any opportunity to explore and venture off a bit.
This trip would give them the opportunity to get closer and learn more about each other. She had heard that if you wanted to really get to know someone that a road trips was the way to go. Literally! "Where's our next stop?" She smiled and took a drink of her juice, finished off her snack and turned the music down a bit to hear better. "First we're gonna stop at the Nashville zoo, and then.. let me look, I have them all saved but I can't remember the names.. ahh! Okay, so after the zoo we'll stop at the Garden of the Gods, then Graham cave, after that we'll go to a botanical garden in Missouri. The last two stops are gonna be Pocatello lake and Moss Mansion Museum. Now, I don't know anything about these places, I just chose them randomly and I figured we'd experience them together." "Wow! You really have everything planned out! I can't wait to visit them all, thank god I grabbed my camera. There's gonna be so much to photograph, and we have to have some of us taken. I'm sure we'll find some people who won't mind taking a photo for us." Jenna's face glowered with happiness and anticipation. The only trip she'd ever made was when she moved, and this didn't compare to that trip at all. "Hey, can we stop here in a bit? I need to use the restroom and stretch my legs, maybe get a new drink." Jenna leaned back in her seat contemplating what she might want to sip on for the next few hours. Probably a soda, it sounded good at the moment. "Absolutely, I was thinking the same thing actually. We might stop and get some food too before we get back on the road. Maybe KFC?" "Yes please! This cookie is great but not filling, I could go for some chicken and mashed potatoes." "There should be stop not far from us now, I should have stopped and grabbed us food before we started driving but it never crossed my mind." "Oh! There we go, exit coming up, thank god." Jenna read the sig as it passed them, green with white letters stating their next food and bathroom exit was coming up in one mile. Jamison made his turn swift and easy.  Car behind them took the same exit, and parked not far from them. Jenna hopped out as soon as the truck shut off, giving Jamison a kiss before they parted ways to relieve themselves. She could see him for a minute before he entered the men's room, leaving her to make a short trip around to the other side. A women entered the women's bathroom before she did, Jenna thought her hair was crazy but she didn't judge. Maybe she slept wierd in the car. Jenna hoped she looked presentable after that notion of thought had entered her mind. No matter, she'd stop and wash her hands anyways and fix her hair if need be.
Only one stall was open at the back of the room. There were six stalls all together, seemingly clean but yet ragged. The room was an ugly bus yellow, the floors were white small tile, a puddle of water had formed in the center of the room. Jenna paid no mind to it, walking around and opening the swinging door and locking it before finally having a moment to relive herself. Once she had stepped out, she realized that she was alone. All the women had left, oddly enough they had come during which the crowd was small and leaving fast. Great timing on their part, Jenna always felt weird in public restrooms. It was the one place she hated being stopped for conversation, yet it happened more times than she could count. Happy to have the room to herself, Jenna paused at the sink, washing her hands and fixing her hair. It wasn't all that messy.  A little combing with her hands made it look more proper and natural. -Scratch- -scratch- Jenna froze, hearing an odd noise in a room of just herself. She listened more carefully. -Scratch- "What in the world..?" She spoke allowed, beginning to check the stall and scour for the cause of the noise. She had looked and looked but found nothing, thinking it was probably just a bird, she decided to head back to the truck. Jamison was probably waiting for her by now. Leaving the restroom, she found her way easily to the exit of the room, which was in a slightly smaller room before the stalls were. A feeling washed over Jenna, one that made her think to look around one last time before she left. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a box sitting unnoticed in the corner of the room. it had been placed out of the way of the door, oddly where you wouldn't see it at first arrival. Jenna tilted her head thoughtfully as she slipped up to the small enclose box, pausing for a brief moment before reaching out slowly to lift up one flap on the box. Her eyes danced around fast, looking in the first section of the box, opening the other side and seeing a small ball of fur. It didn't move at all, not realizing it had company. Jenna spoke softly to the black fluff ball, and a tiny nose popped up. Curious eyes and floppy ears stared her in the face. A puppy, maybe a few weeks old. Someone had dumped this sweet innocent thing, left it to fend for itself in a place with nothing. What heartless beast could do such a thing? "Hi.." Jenna whispered. It's ears flipped as it tilted it's head in confusion. A whimper left it's lungs as it kept wound up in a ball. The tiny thing was scared to deal, shaking in the cold empty box. Jenna slid her hands under the body of the baby, feeling each bone as it was starving. She guessed it was maybe a month old or so.
"Hey, what took you so long?" Jamison spoke while looking through the truck. He saw her movement but hadn't looked up all the way. After pulling on a dark grey hoodie, he glanced over to Jenna. "Oh my, what did you find?" He asked coming closer. "Someone left him in a box in the ladies room, I found it completely closed up by the door. You'd never see it if you weren't looking. Poor thing is skin and bones, we have to stop and get some puppy food." Jenna held the tiny puppy close, keeping him warm and pulling out her blanket to wrap around herself and the puppy. "Yeah we can stop and get the little guy something to eat, I'm sure there's a store around here somewhere. We still need food too, he looks pretty young, maybe we can stop and see if a vet will take a look at him before we go. Is it a boy or a girl?" Jamison took the black fluff ball and checked for the gender. "It's a boy." He said petting him slowly and looking at his tiny face. "He has different eye colors, one is blue and one is brown, how cute, very distinguished!" He smiled at the sweet face. "Who knew we'd find a box of sweetness today?" He handed the puppy back to Jenna and opened her door, helping her get in with the blanket wrapped around herself and the puppy. He hopped in on his side and started the Chevy, cranking the heat up and poking up directions. "Okay, there's a store and some fast food near each other, i also see a vets not far from there. We'll stop and get the little guy some food first and then us, and after that we'll take him in and see if he's okay." "Okay, I hope he eats, he's so skinny. It makes me sad, I wonder how long he's been there alone and scared.." Jenna started to cry, the thought of someone leaving this baby alone without so much as leaving it a blanket made her heart break. She was happy to know it was at least safe now. Wiping her eyes, Jenna hugged the pure black puppy and nuzzled her face into his fur. He didn't cry, but breathed deeply as he drifted off into a deep sleep. "Koda." "Huh?" Jamison spoke in confusion. "His name is Koda.." "It's perfect, he looks like a Koda." Jamison smiled. They exchanged a look, and agreed in silence, he was safe, he was home. They were his home now.