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Disclaimer: The characters Miss Parker, Sydney, Jarod, Broots etc. and the fictional Centre, are all property of MTM, TNT and NBC Productions and used
without permission. I'm not making any money out of this and no infringement is intended.


Eyes On Me
by Amor Montecillo






Ashley poked her face out of the bathroom door and peered out into the darkened bar. She ducked back inside and leaned back against the door, letting out the breath that she was unaware that she’d been holding, into a quivering sigh.

She walked back to the mirror; her heels clicking on the perfectly polished tile floor and quickly examined herself. Her strawberry brown hair flowed over her shoulders in soft cascading curls and her sparkling violet eyes that usually held a spark of vibrancy and spontaneity displayed a look of fear and terror. She smoothed over he burgundy slip dress that fell just above her knee and glanced at her sleek honey-colored legs. She decided she looked okay and stepped out of the bathroom.

Ashley hesitantly made her way to the bar and placed a trembling hand on the counter. She surveyed the atmosphere, full no more than usual and Ashley groaned.

“Of all nights to come,” Ashley murmured to herself. “they just had to pick tonight.”

“Something bothering you, hon?” asked a voice from the other side o the counter.

Ashley nearly flew to the ceiling from shock at the sound of the voice and turned to face the bartender, her friend, Tony. She shook her head and sat down on a nearby stool.

“Just nervous.” She managed to get out.

Tony chuckled and set a glass full of water in front of her. Ashley took a sip and resumed watching the crowds of people dancing on the floor and couple sitting and enjoying each other’s company. She felt that awful feeling in the pit of her stomach again and winced.. She ran a shaking hand through her curls and made a failed attempt to pile her hair on top of her head.

“It’s so hot! Why is it to hot in here? Tony! Can you blast the air conditioner or something?” Ashley raved on, wringing her hands and looking profusely around the room at the sea of faces.

Tony let out a hysterical laugh while Ashley glared at him.

“Ash,” Tony began, grinning, when he regained his composure. “it’s wintertime. Hell, in a little more than a week it’ll be Christmas! It’ll freeze in here!”

Ashley groaned yet again and propped her head up with her hand. She smiled weakly as she heard strains of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”.

“Why are you so nervous?” Tony asked. “It’s not the first time you’ll be performing in front of people. Besides, you’ve got an awesome voice.”

Ashley shrugged. “I don’t know, Tony.”

Tony nodded knowingly. “Special guy coming to see you?”
“No more than the usual!” laughed Ashley.

“But of course, he’s special, too.” She added mentally.

All of her life, Ashley had been looking for love and never found it. However, she found her passion, singing and began performing in trendy high-class places. When she’d tried again with her luck in love, she was in New York and was welcomed warmly at SubTropix, an upper class bar/restaurant. She began performing regularly and met many potential lovers. Sure, she’d flirted and flaunted with them but it promised nothing.

Realizing that she had been selling herself short on love, she acted as if she was a “lady of the night” at SubTropix and often performed racy and sexy numbers. One night, she had befriended someone. A man by the name of Jarod. After a few minutes worth of light conversation, Ashley knew that he was different from the others, his dark mysterious looks only adding to the package.

Jarod was well built, tall, dark, and handsome. The ideal man in every woman’s dream. Slowly but surely, he’d made it into Ashley’s dreams and she started to see him in a whole new light.

A few weeks had gone by and Jarod had trusted himself with Ashley enough to tell her about his past at the notorious Centre and how he’d escaped, the people he encountered and his plan about finding his parents.

One night, Jarod had offered to walk her home and she gladly accepted. Once inside her posh apartment, she had the strangest urge to write her feelings down on paper. In to time, Ashley had a perfect song, describing the array of emotions whenever she was in Jarod’s presence and decided to perform it at the bar. The night of her ultra-special performance came and she felt like a bride getting cold feet on her wedding day. She wasn’t worried about Jarod not coming. He was a regular at SubTropix, often stopping by just to hear her sing.

“Maybe this is a bad idea. I don’t deserve someone like you, Jarod.” She whispered to herself.

“Huh?” Tony asked. “Ash, get ready. You’re on next.”

Ashley took a deep breath and finished her water in one gulp and headed for the table nearest to the stage.

Just then, Ashley’s “Prince Charming” entered unnoticed. Jarod slipped off his black sunglasses and stalked his way to a little booth at the corner of the bar that had the best view of the stage, his and Ashley’s booth whenever she wasn’t performing.

Dressed in his usual black pants, shirt, and leather jacket ensemble, he scanned the room casually for Ashley. When he didn’t spot her anywhere, he glanced at his Rolex and saw that he was fifteen minutes late.

“Well, I’ll make it up to you later.” He thought. “I wonder why you sounded strange on the phone, Ashley.”

He was aware that Ashley knew that Jarod always came to SubTropix to see her, even when he was exhausted. He also knew that she would be loyal to him and keep his secret.

Jarod was a Pretender who escaped from the clutches of The Center. He’d told Ashley endless stories about his childhood and those he knew at The Centre, namely Miss Parker, Sydney, and Broots. Ashley knew that Miss Parker was hunting him down and he felt comforted knowing that she would watch after him. She’s told him that herself.

The sound of thunderous applause snapped him out of his thinking and looked up at the stage at Ashley, who immediately took his breath away at the sight of her. He clapped heartily, knowing that she couldn’t see him since the booth was located at a shaded part of the bar.

Ashley timidly picked up the microphone off the stand and plastered a fake smile on her face and directed it at the audience. They couldn’t tell but she was shaking up to the point where she felt as though he knees wouldn’t support her weight any longer.

The crowd chanted and yelled and clapped and whistled for her. She had performed so many times for them and yet she couldn’t understand why this would be so different. She knew Jarod was there. He was late, but he was there, sitting at their table, watching her. Suddenly it hit her why she was so nervous. The words to the song were full of emotion and feeling that she was afraid that if she sang it the way she intended for it to be sang, everyone would find out. Find out about her secret. Her love for Jarod. Most of all, HE would find out. What would he say? What would he do? She couldn’t back down now, she was already up front. Taking another deep breath she forced herself to smile and enjoy herself.

“Hey! Good evening!” She called out to the crowd, who replied with a chorus of cheers and whistles.

She giggled for a moment, until she looked back at the man who was to accompany her on the keyboard. She quickly turned back to the audience.

“Well, tonight I’ll be singing a special song. One that I wrote myself and it’s called ‘Eyes On Me’. Enjoy!” she introduced.

As the heard the introduction to her song being played, she glanced at the crowd and realized that they had hushed to the point that no one spoke. The roar of silence was deafening as it rang in Ashley’s ears. Still, she calmed herself down and began to sing.

Whenever sang my songs
On the stage, on my own
Whenever said my words
Wishing they would be heard.


“Well, so far so good.” She thought and continued.

I saw you smiling at me
Was it real, or just my fantasy?
You’d always be there in the corner
Of this tiny little bar.


Jarod’s ears perked up at Ashley’s choice of lyrics and began to think while she continued singing.

My last night here for you
Same old songs, just once more
My last night here with you
Maybe yes, maybe no


Ashley looked towards the direction of their table and saw Jarod with a contemplating smile on his face.

I kind of liked it your way
How you shyly placed your eyes on my
Oh did you ever know
That I had mine on you


There! She had said it! Now it was only the matter of Jarod’s reaction, Ashley thought. Another quick glance at him and she’s know what he thought…

Darling so there you are
With that look on your face
As if you’re never hurt
As if you’re never down


Jarod furrowed his eyebrows a little bit then relaxed when he saw Ashley smiling and singing away. How did he know exactly the way felt? If she knew that, then did she…no, she couldn’t possibly…could she?

Shall I be the one for you
Who pinches you softly but sure
If frown is shown, then
I will know that you are no dreamer.


Ashley opened her eyes long enough to catch Jarod’s expression. She looked and nearly did a double take. It couldn’t be! He was laughing! Not “laugh out loud” laughing and he certainly wasn’t guffawing. Still, he was laughing. Hurt and confused, she kept on singing, enduring the torture to the end.

Jarod smiled to himself at a recent memory he shared with Ashley. The thought of it made him smile wider until he was laughing silently by himself, unseen by the other members of the audience. He’d been thinking of the time that he had scared her so much so that the look of fear on Ashley’s face caused him to laugh till he cried. And now, he was laughing again at the memory.

Once Ashley was finished singing her song. She smiled and waved to the audience, blew kisses here and there, and catching the few roses that were thrown on the stage. Her face appeared as though she was the happiest of them all but deep inside, she was hurt.

“How can he laugh?” she thought miserably as she walked back to the bar.

She had wanted someone to talk to but Tony was busy doing his job. Suddenly, strains of the song she had just finished singing filled the air as the band struck up the orchestrated instrumental version.

Wishing she hadn’t sung the song, she mentally cursed herself for being so foolish to even feel what she felt for Jarod, knowing that he didn’t feel the same way. Tears threatened to spill over and she knew that she was definitely going to collapse if she didn’t get away from the music and the bar.

Then there it was. The familiar air. He was standing no more than five feet from her. She could feel him. Mustering up all the courage she could get, she closed her eyes shut to keep herself from crying and began to walk away.

But wait! What was that? She felt something brush her elbow and she stopped walking for a split second. When her brain had finally registered as to who was the person who had touched her, it was too late for her to walk away. He had already touched her face gently, tilting her chin up causing her to look at him directly in the eye.

Avoiding his glance, she looked elsewhere and the two stood by the bar for what seemed like forever until Ashley realized that Jarod was gently pulling on her arm and that her hand was laced with his.

Allowing herself to be dragged away by Jarod, she found them standing in the middle of the dance floor, her song still being played by the band, and dancing with the man she thought she loved.

Jarod didn’t speak, knowing that something was bothering Ashley and that she would talk when she was ready. He obviously had no idea that she had seen him laughing but she obviously had no idea that he was NOT laughing at her or the song.
Ashley took a breath, getting ready to speak when she realized that the knot at her throat had grown and it took great effort just to look at Jarod. Now she definitely knew that the tears she had been holding back were going to flow whether she liked it or not.

Jarod noticed her emotional struggle with herself and then finally look away from him. Seeing that they weren’t dancing body to body, he gathered her up in his comforting arms and cradled her there while they danced.

That was the last straw for Ashley. She couldn’t keep it inside anymore so she began to sob silently in Jarod’s arms, something that she had learned while she grew up. Crying was something she didn’t like to do in front of everyone so she learned how to do it silently. Her tall, slender frame fit snugly against Jarod’s muscular body and her body began to shake from the silent sobs she let out.

Why’s she crying, Jarod thought to himself? Still, he said nothing and wrapped his arms tighter around her, physically telling her that he wasn’t about to let go anytime soon. He hated to see her cry and hated it even more when he was the cause of it, which was rare.

Ashley held him closer to her, not knowing how tightly she was holding on to him for fear he would go away. Then a rush of thought filled her mind. He was a Pretender. Jarod could do anything he wanted and be anything he wanted. Jarod was the ultimate Pretender and she understood that. But what if he was pretending now? Pretending to hold her close, letting her catch his special natural scent. Was he really just pretending? Did he see her hurt expression while she was singing her song for him, to him? Was he just pretending to be sorry? She pushed those thoughts out of her mind and continued to cry silently. She didn’t care. He was her Pretender. If he was pretending now, it didn’t matter. It was just like those many times before when she thought someone really loved her but was just pretending. She would cherish this moment, pretend or no pretend.

Jarod thought back to what could possibly make Ashley cry so hard. Then it hit him. Ashley could see things that not many people could. It was as if she had night vision and practically find almost anything in the dark with a minimal amount of light. She had seen him laughing! Now he was worried. She thought that he’d been laughing at her when he was really laughing at a memory. It was a bad idea, he thought. Not wanting to break the silence between them, he reached his hand up to her cheek as he glanced down at he angelic face, now red and puffy.

She felt his heart beat faster and for a moment she thought he was going to burst out laughing again. Then she felt something else. His hand was caressing her tear-stained cheek. He wiped away the tears from her cheek and still continued to caress it. She sighed a little at his actions and closed her eyes, her crying slowing down.

When she had stopped altogether, she broke away from their embrace and it was then that they noticed that they had stopped dancing minutes ago but remained in the position. She tried to look up at him but was afraid that a Pretender would greet her, not the Jarod she loved. Her lips formed the question she was longing to ask, to see if he shared the same feelings as she but her voice wouldn’t cooperate.

Jarod looked into her glassy violet eyes and saw the question she was longing to ask. He reached for her cheek again and caressed it with the back of his hand, smiling sincerely and lovingly.

There it was! She had seen it! That smile! She knew that she didn’t have to say anything more; his answer to her unspoken question was in his expression. His eyes said it all and it said the truth, no pretending.

So let me come to you
Close as I want to be
Close enough for me
To feel your heart beating fast

And stay there as I whisper
How I loved your peaceful eyes on me
Did you ever know
That I had mine on you

Darling so share with me
Your love if you have enough
Your tears if you’re holding back
Or pain if that’s what it is

How can I let you know
I’m more than the dress and the voice
Just reach me out then
You will know that you are not dreaming

Darling so there you are
With that look on your face
As if you’re never hurt
As if you’re never down

Shall I be the one for you
Who pinches you softly but sure
If frown is shown, then
I will know that you are no dreamer



The End









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