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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: The Pretender and its characters don’t belong to me. But since those who do own them won’t use them I’ll just borrow them for a while as we wait for the DVD release. (March 15th, 2005 in the U.S. – Pre-order is available. See TVShowsonDVD for details. )
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The Door of Memory
Part 13 – By Phenyx
01/22/05
“Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory. “
Susan B. Anthony
-
“Oomphf!” Jarod flopped onto his back. Breathless and sweating, he kicked lazily at the sheets in an attempt to disentangle his legs. With a contented grin on his face, he turned to his bedmate and said, “I told you Vegas would be fun.”
Parker laughed. After panting a few times she replied, “There is a lot to be said for post-coital bliss.”
Jarod smiled. As he waited for his breathing to return to normal, he watched Parker. Her eyes were closed. There was a shimmer of perspiration across her skin that made Jarod want to taste her. Her hair was tangled tightly around the fingers of Jarod’s left hand but he felt no inclination to free himself.
“Admit it,” Jarod said. “This was a good idea.”
“Sure,” Parker drawled. Her respiration was slowing into a deep, relaxed rhythm. “Brilliant. Spend a week in the desert in the middle of August. It must be more than 100 degrees in the shade.”
“The hotel is air conditioned,” Jarod argued.
Steel blue-gray eyes opened and glanced at Jarod wryly. “And wherever did you find that Argyle character?”
“Technically, he found me.”
“He is a truly bizarre little man,” Parker said as her eyelids drifted shut again.
Jarod rolled onto his side so that his free hand could trace Parker’s profile. “He’s a friend,” Jarod said.
“You have strange friends, Pez-head.”
“The truth is,” Jarod replied with a dramatic whisper. “I am a bit odd myself sometimes.”
“No,” Parker gasped. “Really? There’s a news flash.”
“Is that sarcasm?” Jarod smiled. “You know, it’s rude to insult someone who just brought you bliss.”
Parker’s eyes snapped open in surprise. In a flash of motion, she grabbed the pillow beneath her and used it to smack Jarod in the head.
Jarod only half-heartedly tried to defend himself. “Hey!” he laughed.
“You cocky son-of-a-bitch,” Parker growled.
Grabbing Parker around the middle, Jarod hauled her close. “I thought you liked me that way,” he murmured suggestively.
A slow, sexy grin spread across Parker’s face. “Mmm,” she replied. “I do.” She snuggled against Jarod’s chest and sighed. For a long time they simply curled against each other. Jarod held Parker in a gentle embrace as he used his fingertips to swirl little designs on her shoulder.
In Jarod’s opinion, these moments were the best part of his relationship with Parker. Granted, the sex between them was fantastic and he enthusiastically pursued it, but he enjoyed the aftermath even more than the act itself. Sometimes, like today, their physical intimacy was followed by playfulness. They would have pillow fights or wrestle. There would be laughter and Parker would smile a lot.
At other times, the two of them would talk. They would nestle together amidst a tangle of blankets, in the dark more often than not. Through the gloom Parker’s voice would drift across Jarod like a warm breeze. It was on those nights that he could ask her the hard questions, ones he’d pondered for years. As the months had passed, Parker had even begun to answer. Thomas Gates had been the topic of one such conversation.
There had even been one night, a cool and rainy evening in April, when a desperately passionate encounter between Jarod and Miss Parker had ended in tears. That had been a difficult day. The thirteenth had always been rough for Parker. Though it hadn’t been the first anniversary of her mother’s death, it was the first with Jarod as her lover. He had approached the situation with concern, not completely sure what Parker would need from him.
After their visit to the cemetery and a dinner neither of them ate, Parker had thrown herself at Jarod. Despite the knowledge that it wasn’t a good idea, he had submitted to her seduction for he had never learned to refuse her, probably never would. Afterward, she had burst into heart-wrenching sobs, causing mild panic on Jarod’s part. He could do nothing more than hold her. Rocking her back and forth, he did his best to soothe her grief. Parker had wept for her decades-dead mother and Jarod had cried with her.
As hard as that evening had been, as painful and frightening, Jarod still kept the memory close to his heart. In his life, Jarod had so rarely seen the wounded, vulnerable side of Miss Parker. Although he hated to see her anguish, on that night Parker had revealed that she needed him. Being needed by the woman who made his world revolve had given Jarod a deep sense of completion.
“Parker?” Jarod murmured to the soft, warm creature in his arms. “You aren’t going back to sleep are you?”
“Evidently not,” was the grumbled response.
Gently sweeping Parker’s hair away from her face Jarod said, “It’s eleven o’clock in the morning. We should get out of bed.”
“I’m on vacation, damn it.” Parker’s eyes opened to glare at her tormentor. “Besides, you seemed more than happy to spend the day in bed a few hours ago.”
Jarod shrugged. “True. But now I’m hungry,” he said. “It’s your fault. I’ve worked up an appetite.”
Parker exhaled a sound that was somewhere between a hiss and a snarl.
“Come on, Parker,” Jarod cajoled her. “Let’s get dressed and grab something to eat before we go back to the casino.”
“Jarod,” Parker sighed. “You win any more money at the blackjack tables and we’re likely to get thrown out of this establishment. This is the best hotel in Las Vegas. I might like to stay here again sometime.” Despite her irritated tone, Parker sat up and stretched.
“Not a problem,” Jarod replied. “I promise to lose all my winnings at the Roulette wheel. Or, if you prefer, we could play Baccarat for a few hours.”
Parker rolled her eyes. “I played Baccarat all day yesterday,” she complained.
“And you were doing well,” Jarod added. “You won enough to cover the cost of this trip.”
“I think I should quit while I’m ahead,” Parker said. “Besides, it has lost its appeal at this point. It’s boring!” With a haughty toss of her hair, Parker stood and walked across the room to the lavatory.
Jarod took a moment to admire her bare tush before he responded. “But this is Vegas,” he argued. “Gambling is the whole point.”
“We’ve been here for four days,” Parker grumped. “I’m tired of the casino. Let’s do something else.” She closed the bathroom door as she entered.
Jarod raised his voice a bit and kept talking. “We could visit Argyle and Mona again. Bennie would love to play you that song he wrote for Wayne Newton.”
“Oh please!” Even muffled by the wooden door, Jarod could hear the contempt in Parker’s voice. The door opened abruptly and Parker fixed Jarod with a hostile glare. “For future reference, Rat, if there is ever an accordion involved, I’m not interested.”
“Just trying to broaden your horizons, Parker.” Jarod snickered. “We could go to a show,” he suggested. “I heard that the guy with the tigers is back on stage.”
“Thanks but I have no desire to watch a man get eaten by his pets,” Parker said.
Jarod put his hands behind his head and watched Parker as she sat down and began to brush her hair. “Well,” he said. “You’re narrowing our options quite a bit. Games of chance and overpriced entertainment is about all they’ve got in Vegas.” Jarod grinned mischievously as a thought occurred to him. “Of course, if you’re really bored,” he continued. “We could get married this afternoon.”
The brush froze in midair. For a moment, Parker was as motionless as a statue. Jarod could see her reflection in the mirror and her eyes were wide with shock. Jarod simply smiled and waited for the fireworks to start.
Parker didn’t react the way he’d expected her to. “What the hell,” she finally answered with a shrug. “I’ve got nothing better to do today.”
It was Jarod’s turn to stare in astonishment. “Are you serious?” he stammered once he’d regained the capacity to speak.
“After a romantic proposal like that?” Parker purred. “What girl wouldn’t be?”
“Parker.” Jarod frowned. He leaned forward, his body tense. “Don’t joke about this.”
“Why not?” she asked airily. “You did.”
“Well I’m not now,” Jarod said. “Did you mean it?”
“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t.”
“You’d marry me today?” Jarod was totally flabbergasted. “Right now?”
Parker glanced over her shoulder at the naked man in her bed. One delicate brow arched across her forehead. “Are you trying to talk me out of it, Rat?”
“No ma’am,” Jarod replied.
Turning back to the mirror, Parker ran her fingers through her tussled locks. “I’ll have to do my hair,” she said. “Get dolled up a bit.”
“Okay.” As full realization of what was happening began to dawn on him, Jarod felt as though his grin would split him in two.
“I’ll need an hour to get ready,” Parker said. “Put together whatever you can arrange by then, Jarod.”
“Yes ma’am,” he nodded.
Parker tossed him a sweet smile as she disappeared into the bathroom once more. As soon as the latch clicked, Jarod scrambled off the bed. He took only a moment to glance at his watch as he struggled into some clothes.
“Damn,” Jarod hissed to himself. “Hot damn!” He had sixty minutes. Only sixty minutes to put together a wedding. He hopped toward the front door on one foot while he tried to slip his other into a shoe. Thirty seconds later, he slammed into the corridor at a full run. With no patience to wait for the elevator, Jarod dashed for the stairwell.
Running faster than he’d ever run before, Jarod careened down ten flights of stairs. The only thing chasing him was the echo of his own joyous laughter.
-
End part13
Author’s Note: Saw that one coming from a mile away - didn’t you? Pretty predictable.I don’t know about you, but I’m grinning like an idiot right now. The syrup is getting so thick I think we should have a pancake and waffle party. Unfortunately, or not (depending on whether you’re enjoying this), there will be only one more chapter to this story. I hope you’ve found the tale worth the effort. For me, the ride has been a lot of fun.
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The Door of Memory
Part 13 – By Phenyx
01/22/05
“Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory. “
Susan B. Anthony
-
“Oomphf!” Jarod flopped onto his back. Breathless and sweating, he kicked lazily at the sheets in an attempt to disentangle his legs. With a contented grin on his face, he turned to his bedmate and said, “I told you Vegas would be fun.”
Parker laughed. After panting a few times she replied, “There is a lot to be said for post-coital bliss.”
Jarod smiled. As he waited for his breathing to return to normal, he watched Parker. Her eyes were closed. There was a shimmer of perspiration across her skin that made Jarod want to taste her. Her hair was tangled tightly around the fingers of Jarod’s left hand but he felt no inclination to free himself.
“Admit it,” Jarod said. “This was a good idea.”
“Sure,” Parker drawled. Her respiration was slowing into a deep, relaxed rhythm. “Brilliant. Spend a week in the desert in the middle of August. It must be more than 100 degrees in the shade.”
“The hotel is air conditioned,” Jarod argued.
Steel blue-gray eyes opened and glanced at Jarod wryly. “And wherever did you find that Argyle character?”
“Technically, he found me.”
“He is a truly bizarre little man,” Parker said as her eyelids drifted shut again.
Jarod rolled onto his side so that his free hand could trace Parker’s profile. “He’s a friend,” Jarod said.
“You have strange friends, Pez-head.”
“The truth is,” Jarod replied with a dramatic whisper. “I am a bit odd myself sometimes.”
“No,” Parker gasped. “Really? There’s a news flash.”
“Is that sarcasm?” Jarod smiled. “You know, it’s rude to insult someone who just brought you bliss.”
Parker’s eyes snapped open in surprise. In a flash of motion, she grabbed the pillow beneath her and used it to smack Jarod in the head.
Jarod only half-heartedly tried to defend himself. “Hey!” he laughed.
“You cocky son-of-a-bitch,” Parker growled.
Grabbing Parker around the middle, Jarod hauled her close. “I thought you liked me that way,” he murmured suggestively.
A slow, sexy grin spread across Parker’s face. “Mmm,” she replied. “I do.” She snuggled against Jarod’s chest and sighed. For a long time they simply curled against each other. Jarod held Parker in a gentle embrace as he used his fingertips to swirl little designs on her shoulder.
In Jarod’s opinion, these moments were the best part of his relationship with Parker. Granted, the sex between them was fantastic and he enthusiastically pursued it, but he enjoyed the aftermath even more than the act itself. Sometimes, like today, their physical intimacy was followed by playfulness. They would have pillow fights or wrestle. There would be laughter and Parker would smile a lot.
At other times, the two of them would talk. They would nestle together amidst a tangle of blankets, in the dark more often than not. Through the gloom Parker’s voice would drift across Jarod like a warm breeze. It was on those nights that he could ask her the hard questions, ones he’d pondered for years. As the months had passed, Parker had even begun to answer. Thomas Gates had been the topic of one such conversation.
There had even been one night, a cool and rainy evening in April, when a desperately passionate encounter between Jarod and Miss Parker had ended in tears. That had been a difficult day. The thirteenth had always been rough for Parker. Though it hadn’t been the first anniversary of her mother’s death, it was the first with Jarod as her lover. He had approached the situation with concern, not completely sure what Parker would need from him.
After their visit to the cemetery and a dinner neither of them ate, Parker had thrown herself at Jarod. Despite the knowledge that it wasn’t a good idea, he had submitted to her seduction for he had never learned to refuse her, probably never would. Afterward, she had burst into heart-wrenching sobs, causing mild panic on Jarod’s part. He could do nothing more than hold her. Rocking her back and forth, he did his best to soothe her grief. Parker had wept for her decades-dead mother and Jarod had cried with her.
As hard as that evening had been, as painful and frightening, Jarod still kept the memory close to his heart. In his life, Jarod had so rarely seen the wounded, vulnerable side of Miss Parker. Although he hated to see her anguish, on that night Parker had revealed that she needed him. Being needed by the woman who made his world revolve had given Jarod a deep sense of completion.
“Parker?” Jarod murmured to the soft, warm creature in his arms. “You aren’t going back to sleep are you?”
“Evidently not,” was the grumbled response.
Gently sweeping Parker’s hair away from her face Jarod said, “It’s eleven o’clock in the morning. We should get out of bed.”
“I’m on vacation, damn it.” Parker’s eyes opened to glare at her tormentor. “Besides, you seemed more than happy to spend the day in bed a few hours ago.”
Jarod shrugged. “True. But now I’m hungry,” he said. “It’s your fault. I’ve worked up an appetite.”
Parker exhaled a sound that was somewhere between a hiss and a snarl.
“Come on, Parker,” Jarod cajoled her. “Let’s get dressed and grab something to eat before we go back to the casino.”
“Jarod,” Parker sighed. “You win any more money at the blackjack tables and we’re likely to get thrown out of this establishment. This is the best hotel in Las Vegas. I might like to stay here again sometime.” Despite her irritated tone, Parker sat up and stretched.
“Not a problem,” Jarod replied. “I promise to lose all my winnings at the Roulette wheel. Or, if you prefer, we could play Baccarat for a few hours.”
Parker rolled her eyes. “I played Baccarat all day yesterday,” she complained.
“And you were doing well,” Jarod added. “You won enough to cover the cost of this trip.”
“I think I should quit while I’m ahead,” Parker said. “Besides, it has lost its appeal at this point. It’s boring!” With a haughty toss of her hair, Parker stood and walked across the room to the lavatory.
Jarod took a moment to admire her bare tush before he responded. “But this is Vegas,” he argued. “Gambling is the whole point.”
“We’ve been here for four days,” Parker grumped. “I’m tired of the casino. Let’s do something else.” She closed the bathroom door as she entered.
Jarod raised his voice a bit and kept talking. “We could visit Argyle and Mona again. Bennie would love to play you that song he wrote for Wayne Newton.”
“Oh please!” Even muffled by the wooden door, Jarod could hear the contempt in Parker’s voice. The door opened abruptly and Parker fixed Jarod with a hostile glare. “For future reference, Rat, if there is ever an accordion involved, I’m not interested.”
“Just trying to broaden your horizons, Parker.” Jarod snickered. “We could go to a show,” he suggested. “I heard that the guy with the tigers is back on stage.”
“Thanks but I have no desire to watch a man get eaten by his pets,” Parker said.
Jarod put his hands behind his head and watched Parker as she sat down and began to brush her hair. “Well,” he said. “You’re narrowing our options quite a bit. Games of chance and overpriced entertainment is about all they’ve got in Vegas.” Jarod grinned mischievously as a thought occurred to him. “Of course, if you’re really bored,” he continued. “We could get married this afternoon.”
The brush froze in midair. For a moment, Parker was as motionless as a statue. Jarod could see her reflection in the mirror and her eyes were wide with shock. Jarod simply smiled and waited for the fireworks to start.
Parker didn’t react the way he’d expected her to. “What the hell,” she finally answered with a shrug. “I’ve got nothing better to do today.”
It was Jarod’s turn to stare in astonishment. “Are you serious?” he stammered once he’d regained the capacity to speak.
“After a romantic proposal like that?” Parker purred. “What girl wouldn’t be?”
“Parker.” Jarod frowned. He leaned forward, his body tense. “Don’t joke about this.”
“Why not?” she asked airily. “You did.”
“Well I’m not now,” Jarod said. “Did you mean it?”
“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t.”
“You’d marry me today?” Jarod was totally flabbergasted. “Right now?”
Parker glanced over her shoulder at the naked man in her bed. One delicate brow arched across her forehead. “Are you trying to talk me out of it, Rat?”
“No ma’am,” Jarod replied.
Turning back to the mirror, Parker ran her fingers through her tussled locks. “I’ll have to do my hair,” she said. “Get dolled up a bit.”
“Okay.” As full realization of what was happening began to dawn on him, Jarod felt as though his grin would split him in two.
“I’ll need an hour to get ready,” Parker said. “Put together whatever you can arrange by then, Jarod.”
“Yes ma’am,” he nodded.
Parker tossed him a sweet smile as she disappeared into the bathroom once more. As soon as the latch clicked, Jarod scrambled off the bed. He took only a moment to glance at his watch as he struggled into some clothes.
“Damn,” Jarod hissed to himself. “Hot damn!” He had sixty minutes. Only sixty minutes to put together a wedding. He hopped toward the front door on one foot while he tried to slip his other into a shoe. Thirty seconds later, he slammed into the corridor at a full run. With no patience to wait for the elevator, Jarod dashed for the stairwell.
Running faster than he’d ever run before, Jarod careened down ten flights of stairs. The only thing chasing him was the echo of his own joyous laughter.
-
End part13
Author’s Note: Saw that one coming from a mile away - didn’t you? Pretty predictable.I don’t know about you, but I’m grinning like an idiot right now. The syrup is getting so thick I think we should have a pancake and waffle party. Unfortunately, or not (depending on whether you’re enjoying this), there will be only one more chapter to this story. I hope you’ve found the tale worth the effort. For me, the ride has been a lot of fun.
