Fly Me Away

The sound of rain was soothing, but my room was cold and dark. I lifted my head from my pillow with great difficulty and checked my bedside clock.

10:43 AM. I groaned and rubbed my eyes.

“You were exhausted,” Jackson said, walking into view and leaning against the wall.

He wasn’t wrong. Last night, he told me just to sleep and not worry, but it couldn’t be helped. All he said was that it was unfortunate and he wished things had gone differently. I tried to barter a bigger explanation from him, but once again, he was intent getting me to sleep.

“Your Mother came to check on you,” he added, staring down at me uneasily “she’s taking a cooking class today, but she’ll be back in time for dinner.”

I raised a wary eyebrow at him, “Who did she say that to?” I rubbed my throat with my fingers. It hurt. “You?”

“There is a note on the kitchen table,” he replied moving over to help me out of bed. I made an ‘O’ with my mouth and stretched my arms out over my head, ignoring his offer. Did he really think I was so pathetic that one measly encounter with a demon would make me a brittle mess? I had hoped he would have thought more highly of me. I slipped out of bed and over to my dresser.

After my shower, Minotaur buzzed around me like a fly. It was painfully obvious that he still wanted his Saturday morning walk in the woods.

“Okay okay,” I murmured, slipping past him and back into my room, where he zipped around me and did a flying leap onto Jackson’s lap.

Jackson didn’t seem to notice the dog that much, he was too busy watching me and making sure I wasn’t about to burst into tears or something. “Are you sure you want to go?” he asked, motioning towards the rain hitting my Balcony window.

“The little one needs to be walked!” I replied melodramatically, then reached into my wardrobe and yanked bits and pieces off the hangers. Eventually I found what I wanted, my rain jacket, and I slipped my arms into it.

“...do you need a coat too?” I asked, sitting beside him and trying to pick up the squirming dog.

He nodded and sat Minotaur on my lap, “I’ll get one from my place.”

My heart jumped in my chest. He stood up and walked over to the balcony.

“....you’re leaving?” I squeaked. Jackson smiled sympathetically, finally getting some sort of emotion out of me, then he turned his attention towards the papillon. Minotaur leapt off my knee and onto the ground, his head and tail held high and his ears alert. He was stating in front of me almost....protectively.

“Oh....?” I laughed, my eyes locked on the proud looking dog in front of me. He pranced around the room, his head snapping from left to right.

Jackson smiled and petted him once more on the head, “You won’t even notice I’m gone. Meet me at the front door.”

Then the balcony door was open and he was gone. I jumped up and shut it, then locked it apprehensively. Minotaur yapped and led the way out of my room.

It was a strange feeling, knowing that Jackson wasn’t there with me, even for a moment. I was aware that he had left me a few times before, but actually knowing that he was gone was....scary. I’d become almost.... dependent on him. No, I definitely was dependent on him.

I weaved through the house and ran to the front door before wrenching it open, ignoring my stomach calling for food. There he was, staring out at the garden with his back to me like he had never left. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

He held out his arm and grinned, “Shall we?”

-----

Later on that day, after several hours of me complaining because I was bored, Jackson told me he had never watched a movie before.... Isn’t that interesting? He’d been in his prime for 48 years and he’d never taken the time to watch a movie. He could have been lying to get me to shut up, but it didn’t matter; we were off to rent one.

We took my car, which was embarrassing, but it got the job done. He let me pick it, of course, and he also wouldn’t let me pay. I didn’t argue. I’d wanted to see the film ‘Amelie’ for a long time. It had definite chick flick qualities, but I thought Jackson might enjoy it. The main character Amelie sets out to help all the people around her, but ends up neglecting herself. It seemed like something Jackson could relate to, on certain levels. Apparently it was the sweetest movie around, the only issue being that it was shot entirely in French...

I nestled up on a sofa in the living room and noted that it wasn’t nearly as comfortable as Jacksons. Jackson was there too, sitting on the sofa beside mine with the dog on his knee. Minotaur had become the perfect dog of course, because he was exactly where he wanted to be.

We watched most of the film in silence, Jackson looking thoroughly hypnotized by it. I got used to the subtitles quickly, and totally fell in love with the main character.

The girl, Amelie, was cute, but a little bit strange. She spent her days helping strangers with small yet significant things, and she had a complex, yet efficient way of doing it. To my disdain, some of the earlier r-rated scenes caused Jackson to raise an eyebrow at me, which I immediately dismissed, claiming that it was all tasteful.

Towards the end of the film, a quirky man named Nino was introduced to sweet little Amelie, but her shyness stopped her from talking to him. I found a certain delight in watching him run after her as she used one of her intricate games to keep him at arms length.

“Jaime ce film,” Jackson mused, just as Nino finished questioning one of Amelie’s friends about her.

I raised my eyebrows, “Is that French?”

He nodded, but didn’t look away from the screen. Nino was getting closer to catching her.

“So you understand this?” I added.

He held a finger to his lips, but smiled knowingly. I was even more amazed by him. Not only was he the most beautiful thing in the universe, but he also spoke the most beautiful language.

Show off.

Suddenly, there was a shot of Amelie in her kitchen crying, wishing that Nino would just walk into her house and sweep her off her feet. I did my best not to cry too, but I was pretty weak when characters I liked were sad. Thankfully, a distraction came; Mom was home. I heard the front door open and close loudly followed by the rustling of supermarket bags and heavy uneven steps towards the pantry.

I glanced over at Jackson to make sure, but he was still engulfed in the movie. I chuckled lightly and turned back to the TV, just as Nino was trying to speak to a silent Amelie through her front door. I smiled at that – Amelie was still too scared to talk to him.

“Maggie are you here?” Mom hollered through the kitchen wall. I could hear her placing cans on the shelf and fruit in the fruit bowl as she spoke.

“I’m making a....” she trailed off. Seconds later, her voice came from the doorway “....well well well, what do we have here?”

My heart jumped and I whipped around to face her – She was staring straight at Jackson. I turned to him questioningly, but he wasn’t paying any attention at all. He still had his eyes glued to the television screen.

After a very brief panic attack, I shrugged at her, attempting to feign innocence. Mom grinned and sauntered a bit closer. She looked as though she was about to say something, but she stopped herself, deciding not to interrupt the movie I assumed. She tapped me on the head with a spoon in her hand, then strolled back into the kitchen.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, I rubbed my head with my hand. Jackson laughed quietly under his breath, but I wasn’t paying him any mind – I was suddenly drawn towards the television set.

Nino and Amelie were staring at each other, finally standing a breathes hair apart. In a shy, mesmerizing gesture, Amelie reached up and kissed the corner of his mouth, then his neck, then his eye. I almost had to look away – it was so sweet. Jackson was still frozen in place with a noticeably interested look on his face.

I hadn’t even noticed when the credits started rolling; I was too captivated by Nino and Amelie riding around on a bicycle. I’d always wanted something like that. They looked so carefree and happy....

Mom started clapping from the doorway. Me and Jackson finally tore our eyes away from the TV to glanced up at her.

“That was nice, your pick Maggie?” Mom asked. I nodded.

Mom walked over to us and examined the dog on Jackson’s knee for a moment. She looked away, a bit confused, trying to remember what she was going to say “Err...are you staying for dinner Jackson? There’s plenty here.”

I could see him hesitate and look at me from the corner of his eye. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t in mood for keeping conversation and enduring Moms embarrassing questions, but he could stay if he wanted. Mom had already seen him anyway, there wasn’t much I could do about it.

“No not tonight Ms McQueen, I have a lot of work to catch up on. I should probably get going,” Jackson said, stretching out his arms in a movement that was identical to mine that morning, and getting up off the sofa. Minotaur flopped onto the floor at his feet, then composed himself and sat obediently in front of him.

“Oh that’s a shame. Another night then...and call me Donna, Jackson, you’re making me feel like an old woman!”

“You are an old woman,” I muttered, sniggering childishly. Mom tapped me on the head with the spoon again, before exiting back to the kitchen.

“Goodbye Maggie,” Jackson said quietly, ruffling my hair playfully. I let out a low laugh and patted it back down, then mumbled a bye in response. He waltzed into the kitchen to thank my Mom again like a gentlemen before he left.

I had at least a minute of alone time, which I didn’t know what to do with. I knew Jackson would come straight back in as soon he walked out the door and Mom would be engrossed in her cooking as per usual. I was so used to being alone all the time, and the past few days had been a complete change; I had barely even noticed though. I didn’t mind Jackson’s company.... no, I cherished his company. When I was alone, it felt wrong. I felt like I was in danger...

“It’s funny....” Jackson voiced. He was sitting on the sofa staring down at his hands and smiling like an idiot. “I know what you mean now, and it only took a French movie to drill it into my head.”

I waited for him to answer my unasked question, ‘what are you on about?’ but he just sat there and looked at his hands, thinking to himself. I tapped my fingers along the edge of the sofa impatiently.

He looked up and smiled, “Nobody would believe we were just friends would they?”

My eyes widened. He moved from his sofa to mine gracefully, then place an arm along the back of it. I shrunk into the corner and lifted the blanket over my shoulders.

I cleared my throat, then spoke quietly into it the material, “so you don’t want to be friends anymore...?”

He shook his head and grinned at the credits rolling down the television screen, then looked back to me with his piercing green eyes, “Why don’t we try something else?”