ps. i am trying to persuade lucie to post it in the book as an extra one on there so i'm hoping for that haha!
....
"Ah yeah I was just stopping by. You alright?" Jack asked as he made his way over and urged her into a hug.
"I was hoping to catch you so you could look at my car. I want some work done. Are you free?"
Jack looked back to Jess cautiously as he knew he had promised they would just stop by. They were supposed to be heading off for a drive to spend a well deserved day together yet coming to the garage seemed like the worst decision.
Jess had hoped he wouldn't get caught up in anything however, she knew it had been wishful thinking and that was exactly what was happening. When it came to his work or anything car related, Jack had a difficult time saying no.
"Yeah I've got a minute. What are you wanting done?" He replied when Jess hadn't said anything in response to his cautious expression however, it wasn't exactly like she could without looking rude.
"I was hoping to get the inside of my car redone."
"You want a whole new interior?" Jack clarified and she nodded.
"It's all looking a bit worn out. I didn't know if it was worth redoing or if I should just think about getting a new car?"
Jack couldn't help but smile at this girls logic as it was one extreme he definitely held himself. While many would not even consider getting a whole new car in this situation, this girl understood the importance of perfection.
As Jack persisted to the car to take a look inside, the brunette stood back and took a spot next to Jess.
"Sorry to pause whatever plans you both had." The girl spoke in a friendly tone as she flashed Jess a genuine smile. "You know when you get comfortable with a particular person? I would be too nervous to let anyone else work on my car now."
"Yeah, of course." Jess laughed yet deep down, she'd much rather be off for a drive or walking along the beach with her husband right now instead of being here.
Jack practically lived at the garage during most of the week so a Sunday was when she'd treasure getting him all to herself without any distractions.
"Are you his wife? We've never met. I'm Amalie." The girl continued and held her hand out with that beaming grin across her face.
Jess responded by shaking her hand and she knew she was just being petty due to the circumstances, but meeting Jack's keen customers was not how she wanted to be spending her day.
"Yeah, I'm Jess."
"It's great to meet you! Jack's been working on my car for the last 5 years or so. But your son, Harvey has been doing some general maintenance on it this summer. He's got a talent too. It must run in the genes."
"He really does. He's picked it all up very quickly." Jess continued to make polite conversation.
"He learned from the best. I've never seen anyone do a better job than Jack." Amalie's eyes flashed over to him as she spoke.
It was in that moment that Jess was hit with something she desperately did not want to feel. She had always been used to this kind of behaviour of girls around Jack however, over the years just never took any notice.
There was something about the current situation that made it ten times worse though and she couldn't help but want this girl out of here. Amalie's comment was meant with no harm but it was enough to make Jess want to leave the garage and take Jack with her.
There were so many thoughts running through her mind and they were ones that wouldn't be going away anytime soon. With so much change happening in her life and her body, she couldn't help but feel incredibly insecure and on edge, more than she had ever felt before.
"Did you enjoy your breakfast?" Jack was suddenly heard as he held up a box to which the brunette instantly looked guilty.
"Shut up." She laughed before watching him pull out the remainder of the McDonald's hash brown and put it into his mouth. "Oh my god! You are disgusting!"
"What?" Jack just laughed.
"You don't know how long that's been there for!"
"It was still warm."
"That's just wrong." Amalie remarked as Jack made his way back over to them with a grin over his face.
Even though she knew it was petty, the moment Jack reached Jess' side and brushed his hand against hers, she immediately interlocked them. Jess knew it was stupid but her she felt as though she really needed to make a point.
Jack didn't seem fazed by her protective behaviour and instead lifted their hands so he could place a kiss to the back of hers, before continuing to talk.
"The interior is definitely worth redoing. We just need to map up some plans of what you want and then I can get you booked in with someone." Jack explained and both him and Jess watched as her face slightly dropped.
"When are you free to do it?" She asked. "Not that I have anything against someone else."
Jack just laughed as he pulled out his phone from his pocket.
"Depends how long you are willing to wait." He began, skimming through his calendar. "I can get you in with one of the guys in about 2 weeks but I probably won't be able to do it for a month or two."
"What really?!" Amalie stressed, clearly not expecting that wait.
Jack somehow always managed to stack himself up a rather long list of people waiting for him to do a job. That was a huge contributor to him being in work so much and although he knew it would be easier to just employ new staff, Jack still felt the need to do it himself.
"You're all booked up until then?"
"Yeah and we're off on holiday soon as well..." Jack began as his eyes skimmed over to Jess however, when he turned to face Amalie, he noticed the disappointment across her face and felt the need to fix it. "... I mean, I might be able to squeeze you in somewhere. Let me figure it out and then I'll call you. Yeah?"
That look of disappointment was very quickly replaced with a massive grin that proved Amalie was pleased to have finally won him over. She was persistent that he was going to the job on her car and nothing was going to get in the way of that.
"Sorry, it's not that I think the guys will do a bad job..." she began with a look of innocence before Jack interrupted her.
"Yeah, yeah. You think they're shit compared to me, it'll be our secret." He teased causing Amalie to laugh but as he turned his attention to Jess once again, he noticed the slight discomfort on her face.
She was stood there feeling a little out of place as there was nothing about this situation she could contribute to. Then to add to that, she couldn't help but feel gutted at the arrangement Jack was suggesting he could make.
The pair of them were supposed to be going on holiday next week, and it had been incredibly long since they had been able to do that completely alone without the kids. However she was no longer as enthusiastic that it would be able to go ahead if Jack continued to pile on his workload like this.
As much as she knew he loved his job, sometimes she felt like he loved it a bit too much and she didn't ever want it to get in the way of their relationship.
"Well I should get going then. But thank you Jack Lawrence, you're amazing!" Amalie sang as she got into her car ready to head off.
"No problem." Jack gave her a small wave as Jess expressed a smile that probably wasn't even taken notice of.
Once Amalie had pulled out of the garage, Jack's attention was back on Jess before anything else could drag him away. In this place, he was so easily distracted so it took a look of mental power to prevent it from happening.
"Sorry baby, we can go now." He muttered before trying to urge them back over to his car.
"Are you sure?" Jess asked and instead of allowing him to guide her off, she pulled her hand from his and didn't move from where they were stood.
Turning to look at her with concern over his face, it didn't take long for Jack to realise where this was going.
"Yeah, I'm done. Sorry, I know I said we wouldn't be here long."
"You said you had to pick something up, so you'd be like a minute to be exact." Jess mocked as she tried to force a teasing smile on her face but it failed.
"It's been like 10. I'm not far off." He grinned back before looking down to his phone, yet they both knew that was a lie.
When they had first arrived, he had managed to grab whatever it was he needed before being stopped by most of the employees about one thing or another. Then just as they were about to finally leave, Amalie had showed up.
"But we can go now."
...
Once they were back in Jack's car and on the road, Jess was struggling to keep up her previous excitement for this day they had planned. She couldn't help but let her mind wander to exactly what she knew was going to end up happening over the coming weeks or even months and it sucked.
"Are you alright?" Jack had clearly caught on with her change in mood as he reached out to place his hand on her leg. "You've gone quiet."
"I'm fine." Jess gave that typical answer that was never easy to believe. It seemed to be a general understanding now that 'fine' really didn't mean 'fine' in a woman's language and there was always so much more hidden behind it.
"No you're not. What's up?"
Glimpsing over at her, Jack's hand then lifted up to cup her chin as he tried to urge Jess to look at him.
"Jack! Look at the road!" She stressed, not giving in to his attempts of getting an explanation.
"I am." He replied simply yet was spending too much time flicking between the road and herself. "Just tell me what's up."
"It's nothing, really."
"Yeah it is."
Letting out an aggravated sigh, Jess was more concerned about them getting into a crash at this point. Jack seemed completely unfazed but she couldn't help but fear that something would jump out in front of them and he wouldn't be looking to even notice.
"Will you keep your eyes on the road if I just tell you?" She stressed, knowing that would be the only way to get through to him.
"They already are but okay." Jack agreed, turning back to look ahead of him.
"It just kinda sucks how busy you are with work. I didn't realise how much you had jammed in..." Jess trailed off, frustrated that after all these years they were still unable to cooperate on this. "We have that holiday planned but if you're this busy, how do you expect to still go?"
"It's not going to mess with our holiday babe. I'm working around it." Jack replied simply but it didn't seem that easy to Jess.
"Really? So you haven't booked anything in for next week?"
"No because we booked our holiday."
"I don't believe you." Jess crossed her arms over her chest. She had been married to this man for 14 years and was well accustomed to his tactics at trying to keep the peace.
She knew he likely had booked many work things in for next week, while completely forgetting they had even booked the holiday. It would have been her reminding him that caused the 'oh shit' moment when he realised what he had done.
"Check my phone then." Jack replied cockily yet Jess still wasn't convinced.
"Where is it?"
"In my pocket."
Reaching over and digging into his pocket, Jess pulled out his phone. Then just as she was about to pull up his calendar, she couldn't ignore the text message that was present across the screen.
"Well, am I right or am I right?" Jack questioned as he glanced over at her yet Jess was now distracted by the message.
Amalie Bennett - it was good to finally see you again today! It had been way too long. Anyway, thank you so much for trying to get me booked in earlier as I know you're busy. I owe you, so maybe the drinks should be on me this time! xo
"Babe." Jack urged when he got no response from Jess and it finally caused her to look up at him, yet only momentarily.
"When did you go for drinks with Amalie?" She came right out and asked the question she knew would likely cause arguments. However, right now she couldn't help it. Everything about this situation was making Jess feel uncomfortable and she had to act on it.
"What?" Jack questioned with a frown over his face, confused at where that had suddenly come from.
"She text you."
"To say what?"
Jess read out the text message word by word before looking at Jack and awaiting some kind of explanation.
"I never went for drinks with her."
"Well, it looks like you must have done because she's offering to buy them this time." Jess remarked and although she was speaking calmly, the pair of them knew there was something else etched into her tone of voice.
From her many years spent in the gang, Jess had learned a very useful skill of remaining calm even when she was in her most angered state.
"Should I text her back for you and arrange a date and time? I'm sure you can make room for her in your busy schedule."
"Jess, what the fuck?" Jack sighed, clear aggravation filling his body as he gripped onto the steering wheel a little bit tighter. "I'm not going for a drink with her. She's obviously just grateful about the car thing. You need to chill out."
"I need to chill out? Really?" Jess chuckled as she couldn't quite believe what was leaving his lips right now.
She didn't understand how he could still be shrugging this off as though it was nothing when she had read the message right in front of her.
"Yeah you do. You're acting so shitty with me for no reason."
"I'd say by the looks of this text there is a pretty good reason. Should I reply for you then? Because you can't really while you're driving."
....
to be continued!
I have the rest of this chapter but it was really long so I thought I would leave you on suspense!
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