It's Just Our Fate

Jackson came into the apartment, dropping his keys on the small table that sat next to the door. “Lily,” he called out, “I’m back.” A small golden retriever pup came running up to him, jumping up and down to play. “Hey there, Max.”, he said smiling, and ruffled his ears. Jackson stood back up straight and took off his leather jacket, revealing his white shirt and necklaces underneath, tossing it onto the couch as he passed by. “Lily!”, he called out as he walked down the hall with Max following at his heels. The apartment was too silent.

He came to a stand still and reached behind his back to the gun that was hidden underneath his shirt. “Boo!”, hollered a girl jumping onto him. He held onto her quickly, hoping his shirt didn’t reveal what was hidden. “Well there you are, finally.”, he said kissing her quickly. She smiled at him, “Did I scare you?” He laughed and nodded his head, holding her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist securely, “Terrified me.” She leaned in and kissed him deeply, trying to pull him closer than he already was to her.

Jackson broke the kiss softly and smiled up at her, “Did you miss me?” She nodded, kissing his cheek and untangled her legs from his waist. He set her down gently, following her down the hall as she grabbed his hand to go back towards the living room. “I’ve got to show you Max’s new bed!” He laughed, ruffling his hair, “Alright, lemme see it.” They reached the living room and in the corner was a small red plaid bed with the name “Max” engraved into it.

“Do you like it?”, she asked smiling at him. He nodded and put an arm around her shoulder, bringing her closer to him, “It’s great, Lily.” He kissed the top of her head quickly and headed toward the kitchen. “You hungry?”, he asked over his shoulder, his necklaces jingling slightly as he moved. Lily made her way to the couch and sat down watching as Jackson moved from one end of the small kitchen to the other, “No, I’m fine.” Max came running up to her, a small orange ball in his mouth, and tried desperately to grab her attention.

“So how was New York?”, Lily asked as she patted Max’s head and tossed the ball. Max ran after it, his dog tag making a clinking noise as he hurried to retrieve his toy. “Eh..”, Jackson shrugged as he grabbed a chinese box from the fridge, “New York is New York.” He opened a drawer and grabbed a fork and made his way back to the couch, sitting down. Max stayed in the hall with his ball and played, fighting against his new comrade. Lily lifted her legs onto the couch and rested her elbow on the top of it, leaning her head against her hand, “That’s it?”

Jackson put a mouthful of noodles in his mouth and nodded, “Yeah”, he said in a muffled voice. She laughed slightly, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear, “You’ve been gone for two weeks, Jack, there has to be more.” Jackson swallowed his food, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and looked at Lily, “What can I say”, he shrugged, “New York was just okay.” She lifted her head and frowned, not pleased with his answer.
Jackson sighed and put the fork into the chinese box, setting it down on the coffee table, as he turned his body towards Lily, “New York felt like nothing to me because you weren’t there.” She tilted her head and smiled, “Your just saying that so I can stop asking.” He looked around, confused, and pointed to himself, “Me?” She slapped his shoulder playfully, “Oh shut up!” He laughed and kissed her cheek, “No, really. I hated being away, it was really just business, baby.”

Lily nodded, her hand holding her head up as she leaned on the couch, “Business...” Jackson watched her face as her eyes looked away from him, “Well Darren and Claire were talking about maybe having a double date. What do you think?” He nodded his head and scratched the back of it, “Yeah, sounds great.” She quickly kissed him on the cheek, “So happy your home.” He looked into her eyes and smiled softly as she got up and went into the back.

He sank back into the couch and exhaled, folding his hands and putting them behind his head, and shut his eyes. This was how life was for Jackson Reed. A great girlfriend, nice home, good friends… All the things he really wanted in life. He could hear Max’s dog tag jingling again, but kept his eyes closed.
Jackson felt the gun pressing up on his lower back and sighed. Yeah, this was his life. Being in the mob, working as one of the biggest hit-men alive.