Dancing with Shadows

Twelve

      Jasmine felt butterflies take nest in her belly. She hadn't felt this nervous since the eve of her wedding. She watched through the window as the horizon came closer. The pilot's voice sounded on the speakers and instructed everyone of the landing customs and thanked them for flying with his airline.

      He saw her emerge from the hallway and took in her searching eyes. Her hair seemed lighter than before. Longer. Her skin had a beautiful golden tan to it. She filled out, while she was away. She was still thin, but less emaciated. She almost seemed to have a healthy glow that pinkened her cheeks, and brightened her eyes. The baby blue dress hugged her breasts and had a thick pink ribbon that cinched her ribs just under those straining orbs. The skirt flared in thick, loose pleats giving her a baby doll look. His eyes roamed down to the hem of her dress that stopped pretty high on her thighs, leaving her long shapely legs bare for his viewing pleasure as she came closer. Her feet were clad in pink scrappy sandals that matched the ribbon on her dress. He wanted so badly to toss that skirt over her head and take her in front of everyone in the lobby.

     Jasmine spotted Zeke from across the way, looking devastatingly handsome in a pair of faded, thread bare blue jeans and a graphic T of some childhood cartoon character. She smiled to herself as she made her way to him. He looked to be deep in thought, and she fleetingly wondered if he even noticed her. When she came nearer, when she saw his eyes travel her body, when she caught the glint in his eye, she knew that he did indeed see her. Her cheeks blushed from the intensity in his eye. She could guess exactly what he was thinking.

      Jasmine stopped a few steps shy of him. He knew that she guessed what he was thinking of, if the color on her cheeks meant anything. "I missed you," he admitted and watched her drop her eyes, only to dart them back up.

      "I missed you, too."

      It was all he needed. Zeke took a step and closed the distance between them. He took her head in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. Her lips parted immediately and she mated with his mouth showing him with her kiss how much she missed him. He was breathless and aching when he pulled away from her and leaned his forehead on hers. "Come on, let's get outta here."

      Jasmine nodded wordlessly. She hadn't realized just how much she did miss Zeke until he was there, in front of her, unashamedly kissing her in front of hundreds of strangers.

*  *  *  *  *

      They made their way through the large airport and to the designated parking space. Zeke insisted on carrying her suit case, even though she was perfectly capable of taking it herself. She shook her head and just went with it.

      "So, you never did get around to telling me what you were doing over there," Zeke reminded her.

      Jasmine was more than willing to tell him what she'd been doing for the last seven years. She'd started the school as a project when she was fifteen. When she first started, she was only able to find four people that were willing to take their children under her wing, but each year she gained more trust, and more students.

     Jasmine was lucky enough to have Thanwie help her the whole time. She was only four years older, and Jasmine looked up to her as an older sister. She was not shy to talk about her friend with Zeke, and felt a little more than pleased when he engaged with her stories. Interjecting his own take, and asking questions. She couldn't help but compare his reaction to that of Derick's when she first told him about the school and her friends. 

      Zeke put her suitcase in the back seat of the cab, and opened her door before walking around his truck to get in himself. He loved the way she spoke of her experience, and wished that he was able to be there with her, watching her engage with her students. He smiled to himself as he rounded the front of the truck. He felt near giddy having her back. When she was always away every time he went to her house, he thought that maybe she just didn't feel it. That he blew his only chance. That he would never be able to spend time with her again, never be able to see her again, never be able to hear her voice. So when she called out of the blue. When he heard his sister use the nickname he gave her, as he walked into the room from a completed job, his heart caught in his throat. Deborah rolled her eyes and was sure to hang up the phone, so he rushed forward having to use more strength than should have been necessary to wrestle the phone from her.