Presque Vu

Chapter 22

While Raina was with Cassie Jared called several times to push their dinner date back, simply saying that things were 'taking longer than expected'. After the third call, Raina said she would just pick up some sushi and meet him at his place whenever he was done.

When she finally pulled in at Jared's Shannon was just walking down the driveway. She was surprised to see him there. "I thought you had a date tonight," she remarked. "Why are you still here?"

Shannon scoffed. "Because everything isn't going exactly the way Jared wants it and his majesty can't let it go."

"I guess it's all better now, right?" Raina asked hopefully.

"No, not exactly," was Shannon's grumbled response.

Raina chuckled. "Then why are you leaving?"

"Because I have plans and I'm a grown-up and I can leave if I want to." For a grown up, Raina thought he sounded an awful lot like a toddler that needed a nap.

He stopped and waited for her to pass, giving her a quick kiss before opening the door for her. "Good luck in there," he said with a grin before climbing into his truck.

Raina braced herself for whatever might be waiting and headed into the kitchen to put the bags of food down. "Jared?" she called out when she didn't see him. "Shannon let me in. I hope that's okay. I have dinner." When she still got no response she shuffled through the cabinets to find plates and started setting out their meal. When Jared finally appeared he was deep in conversation.

"At this rate, he probably won't be ready before next year," he was grousing at his phone, his face locked in a fierce scowl. He gave Raina a weak smile as he looked at the food she had spread out but went right back to his frustrated expression. "It's not acceptable." He continued his conversation as he stalked out of the room. No wonder Shannon had wished her luck. He still looked to be in a foul mood. She only hoped that once she got him off the phone he would be able to relax. Calmly she made their plates and waited.

When he finally came back into the kitchen without the phone attached to his ear Raina was expecting him to be in a grumpy mood, but he just smiled and took the plate she had made for him. "Thank you.," he told her, pulling some soy sauce out of a cabinet. "It looks great. I'm sorry about not taking you out tonight."

"It's all right. I think I'd rather just be here with you anyway. That way I don't have to worry about people getting the wrong idea."

She must have sounded reproachful because Jared gave her a frown. "I hope you're not regretting our arrangement already."

"Of course not," Raina replied, trying to sound reassuring. "I don't really need to go out much. Really. I promise. I mean I like to go do things but I'm just as happy staying in sometimes too. Having dinner in with you where we can relax and be ourselves is just fine with me."

Jared nodded and took a bite of sushi before staring quietly at the plate in front of him.

"So are you going to?" Raina sighed.

"Am I going to what?" Jared asked.

"Relax and be yourself."

Jared scowled are her. "That's not really our groove is it?"

"I'm trying for it to be. I thought you were too. I thought that was kind of the point of yesterday."

Jared sighed. "I'm sorry. I haven't had the best of days."

Raina sat her plate back on the counter and went to stand behind him. Placing her hands on his shoulders she rubbed lightly, not wanting to overstep. She wasn't sure yet if he was the type that liked to be touched when he was upset or needed his space. "Do you want to talk about it?"