My Presence Won't Be Ignored

"Jesse! What's wrong with you?!" I asked out loud, though no human was in the house with me.

"Rae, he had to go! Didn't you realize how much of an ass he was?" were the words that emanated from the middle of my living room.

See, Jesse had always been my over protective best friend. Always. I mean, we've known each other since birth; he's always had my back and vise versa. We've had this strange connection ever since we knew how to do things for ourselves. We were the cliché best friends turned boyfriend/girlfriend, first kiss, awkward relationship for each other, and I think it only made us stronger.

"But Jesse! He wasn't an ass! He was so nice," I sighed, hanging my heads into my hands while I plopped down onto my jade green couch.

Jesse temporarily appeared beside me, his chocolate hair dulled and his face paled even more then normal. His cerulean blue eyes didn't shine like they always had before. Before the whole incident...

See, Jesse and I had stayed close friends until we were 21. We both had the a birthday within 6 days of each other, so we decided to celebrate together, much like we always had. So, naturally, we went clubbing on our 21st birthday and we pushed our limits...too much.

Unfortunately, we didn't realize how drunk we had become and we both
got into our separate cars to drive ourselves home, making a promise to call each other once we made it home.

I made it home safely, but I didn't hear from Jesse until later that night on the news when I heard about some accident. A drunk driver, 21 years of age, driving a black 2007 Mazda, killed after another car hit the driver's side.
I fell to my knees watching that. I cried so much that night. How dumb could we be?! My best friend, gone, taken by stupidity.

Jesse and I were close. I mean, we were close. That was a horrible night. Although, as I forced myself to go to bed later that night, I found myself becoming amazingly cold in the middle of the night. I woke up, to see a very transparent looking Jesse, sitting beside me, brushing my hair back into place.

"Hey baby girl. I'm so sorry to leave you. I'm fine now, though. Someone decided to let me live," he chuckled at his choice of words, "sort of. I'll be able to be here with you; watch over you. Make sure all goes well. But now, I think you should rest. Plus, showing myself like this, for some reason, is taking a lot out of me. Goodnight, babe."

So, long story short, Jesse now…lives in my house with me, watching over me. He judges every guy that I bring home, everything I do or buy or say. He's kind of my guardian angel. He's always making sure that I'm okay. But the funny thing is that if he doesn't like a guy I bring home, they know it. He'll make them very uncomfortable. He'll make them cold, or randomly make things move, but nothing too big. For example, he'll take a magazine and move it about two inches to the left or something .Just random stuff like that. The guys will get creeped out and leave. It always happens. Jesse claims that I haven't found the right guy yet, whatever that means.

"Rae, get some sleep. I'm going to clean this up. Don't think about Chase. He was a douche who deserved to go. You need sleep; it's obvious. Plus, Stefanie's bringing Alyssa back home tomorrow. You've got to be wide awake for that Just sleep, honey," Jesse sighed. He started walking towards my bedroom with me automatically following.

The next morning I woke up to see that the whole house was cleaned up and how it should be. I glanced at the clock and noticed it was 11:00 o'clock.
"Shit!" I hissed quietly. Alyssa would be back home in an hour and I still needed to get up and get ready.

After setting up and turning on the coffee pot, I hopped in the shower as soon as I had my clothes picked out. Quickly cleaning myself off from the night before, I jumped out of the shower and grabbed my clothes. I shoved my legs into my jeans and pulled the shirt over my head. I drug a brush through my hair and threw it up into a simple ponytail while rushing over to my desk. I laced my eyes in eyeliner, mascara, and some simple light purple eye shadow. I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a coffee cup and filled it almost to the brim with coffee. After all that was done, I realized that I had a good ten minutes before Alyssa would be home, so I grabbed a seat on my couch in the living room, grabbed my book; The Truth About Forever, and started reading.

"Hey babe, what's up?" Jesse asked, appearing next to me.

"Just waiting for Alyssa to come home," I smiled as I clamped my book around my index finger.

"Cool," Jesse spoke with excitement. "How's the book coming?"

"It's good," I smiled. "Makes me smile. It slightly reminds me of us after we got passed the first few months of going out," was all I was able to get out before the doorbell rang.

"Go get Alyssa. I'll talk to you later tonight. I love you, Rae," Jesse whispered quietly before he was gone.

I set a flimsy piece of paper between the pages that I was currently reading, set it down on the couch, and walked towards the door. The sound of clicking invaded my ears as I unlocked the door, opening it to reveal a man with black hair, tattoos all down his arms, and black fingernail polish holding my daughter's hand awkwardly. He gave me a short smile and opened his mouth to explain when Alyssa squealed, happy to see me, from her place by his side. I had to admit; she looked rather out of place next to him.

"Who are you?" I asked venomously as I tore Alyssa from his grasp. Come on! You know you'd do the same thing if you found your four year old daughter being looked after by a stranger that you didn't know! Especially if you thought that she was with your best friend!

"I'm Brian; Stefanie's friend," the man- Brian- informed me. "Stef told me to tell you that she would've brought Alyssa home herself, but her boyfriend called from the airport about half an hour ago and said he needed a ride home. Apparently he was slightly intoxicated. She said that she would've brought Alyssa home but she was afraid of what Corey would do- being drunk and what not at the airport- so she couldn't chance him being there any longer than absolutely necessary."

I wasn't sure whether I should trust this man one hundred percent, but I was trying to be as nice as possible, "Well, thank you for dropping Alyssa off. She seems happy, so that's a good sign."

"Yeah, uh," at this point, he rubbed the back of his neck and that's when I noticed the black fedora placed on top of his head. "I'll just go get her car seat and then I'll get out of your hair." And then he was walking back to his car.
Soon enough he was back, car seat in his hand. I gave Alyssa a slight push as to get her further inside, "Thanks. Again. I really appreciate it."

"No problem at all. She's cool, anyway," he laughed. "Well, I may- or may not- see you later. Good bye...?"

"Rachel," I nodded.

"Well, good bye Rachel. Bye Alyssa," he smiled at me and waved at my little daughter.

Alyssa gave me this sad look and then shrieked, "Bye Brian!"

Brian chuckled softly before turning around to head back to wherever. I closed the door softly behind him and turned to Alyssa with a smile, "Did you have fun with Stef, Lyssa?"

She nodded her head vigorously. I laughed at her eccentricity and picked her up quickly, "Let's go make some lunch, 'kay?"

She giggled as I spun her around a few times with her in my arms and then brought her into the kitchen. I set her down in her chair and then walked towards the freezer, trying to find her favorite lunch, "Does a hot dog sound good?"

"Yeah!" she squealed, her head bobbing up and down. She had a huge smile across her round face. I couldn't help but smile back. Alyssa was, basically, my life. I mean, sure I'd go out with friends sometimes, too, but Alyssa was pretty much it for me. Every time I see her smile or laugh, I can't help but grin like an idiot. When I see tears leak from her vibrant green eyes, I want to do anything and everything I can to stop that. Her bright shiny red hair makes me realize how much she is, and always has been, Mommy's Little Girl.

As soon as I heard the microwave ding, I also heard the doorbell ring. Sighing, I told Alyssa to hold on for one second. Leaving her lunch in the microwave for a little while, I ran over to the front door to see who was there. As I opened the door, I saw myself looking into the same chocolate eyes that I saw a few minutes ago that day.

Sighing once again, I suddenly found my voice, "Come on in. I have to get Alyssa her lunch." I didn't give him a chance to respond; I just walked back towards the kitchen. I quickly yelled over my shoulder, "You can leave your shoes on."

I entered the kitchen again to see Alyssa sitting in her chair, staring off into space. "Hey princess! Okay, lunch will be ready in a few seconds, promise!" I smiled at her. I looked over to the kitchen entrance to see Brian standing there slightly uncomfortably, "Sorry about this; Alyssa needs lunch. So, what can I do for you?"

"I just came by to drop this off," he held up a bag that held Alyssa's clothes that I had packed for her weekend with Stefanie. He looked at the bag and then at me as I was making Alyssa's plate, "Where do you want it?"

"OH! Um, can you just set it on the couch for me?" I asked as I poured milk into a cup for my daughter.

"Sure," he mumbled as he walked out of the room. Seconds later he walked back into the room, "Well, I'm gone. Maybe I'll see you later..."

"Hey, wait up a second, please?" I asked him, trying to stop him from walking out the door. I set Alyssa's lunch in front of her and then finished, "Just stick around for a little if you can? I kind of want to talk to you. Alyssa has to go down for her nap after she's done here so we can talk then."

"Alright, sure," he said slightly uneasily as he pulled up a seat across from Alyssa.

"Hi Brian!" Alyssa cheered as she took a piece of her cut up hot dog.

"Hey kid," he smiled at her.