What is this feeling lending a palpable warmth to the very essence of her soul? Is this what it feels like to matter to someone? How it feels to leave a semi-permanent impression. Her giddy heart felt like it would burst!!! A huff, a breathy laugh, peels free of her. It was the first time she ever felt this way. So blissfully enthralled it nearly moved her to tears. Bashfully, she ducks her head a bit though it does little to snatch away her grin.
“Jake Crockett, you really are a man of your word. Aren’t you?” He was continually proving himself even if she never asked it of him. He was a rare gem in a world full of dirt and grime. “Those children are super cute. I almost wouldn’t mind if they did cut in,” she softly reveals. Even still, she is glad to have their uncle ALL to herself. “It’s no wonder they treat you like a king. Although I’m not sure I could be as charitable as they are, ever letting a guy like you slip outta my sight.” Of course, their friendship was no where near intimate enough for that kind of talk and yet, she can’t well it up inside of her.
With a grin she accepts his two bags. “You carry bricks all the time in order to get those muscles?” She prods, jestingly. Her head inclining towards his shoulders. Admittedly, she liked what she was seeing, having paid extra attention to the movement of his muscles as he took her bag. To her, even his small trips seemed like an investment worth digging into as she’s never had even that. Well, most families returned her to Social services before any fun trips could really be taken. Miami was her first massive leap. Her eyes never departed from him as he spoke. “Yeah?” Her eyes light up, half-willing him to divulge more. “What happened between you both? If you don’t mind my asking.” She never wanted to press him outside of his comfort-zone. “I am actually. Still interested in Crockett’s,” she clarifies. A grin slips across her lips again. “You really like her, don’t you? Judging by her kids, she is quite the character.” Lord, she loves the way he talks about his family. It makes her wish she had one. “What’s it like?” Rojas softly questions, her lower-lip catching briefly between her teeth. “Having a family - a family you could depend on?” She’s never known a dynamic like that. Every home she ever entered was the epitome of strife and discord. She is genuinely curious to learn everything she can about this stark contrasting picture.
The sight of the frown wipes away any whimsicality her expression once bore. “You okay?” She questions, subconsciously moving closer and edging herself part way between him and the man. Immediately, she regrets ever dragging that mountain of a man in.
The smile returns. “Is that right?” She is confident in her fighting skills but she sure as heck wasn’t going to test it when she had better things to focus on - like him. Damn. He was a real prize. “You talk like an educated man and you have me fully intrigued.”
“Now maybe you told me before and I don’t remember, beside being handsome and the best -resident -Tio, what is it you do?” She feels more inclined to stand closer to him. “Body-builder? No- wait- with a face like yours, you have to be a model.” She moves up with the line to have the tickets examined. Her hands holding his luggage as if they were a sacred treasure.
“Well, you do speak your mind, detective. Not a bad thing by any means, of course, but you will excuse me if I blush.” Jake straightened his jacket, following through with the redness in his cheeks.
“Yes, she’s very forward...” Crockett smiled. He didn’t mind the attention because he found Rojas genuine, and therefore knew he could counter any compliments (however half-hidden) with a friendly tease. “I’ve done labour before, many times, but the heaviest things I carry now are my two nieces and youngest nephew.” Jake Jr. and Carrie didn’t bother big Jake much, one very young and one ‘too old’, but Mar and Justice were almost always bouncing up and down off their uncle’s limbs. Incidentally, babysitting was very good exercise.
“Hey. I understand it’s in your nature to ask questions. Maybe that’s even why you chose the path of detective, hmm? Age made Sonny and I automatically different, you see... I had certain freedoms since the day he was born, so naturally there was resentment there. Mother was bonkers, and I suspect the reason father was careless... They’d make mistakes in each other and for that reason Sonny and I, to them, were merely the shadows of some temporal covenant between a drunken sailor and a twice-forgotten woman... Some sort of tainted love persisted between the four of us, nevertheless, and as a result not a one of us died before his time...”
Jake’s story didn’t exactly explain anything but it did clarify that a darkness existed in Jake, however far beyond the beauty and quietude. “I adore her, more precisely. She is my dear sister, after all, through matrimony.” He didn’t make comment but he was relieved to remember there were hard drinks awaiting him on the plane. “I wish I could offer you greater insight, Detective... Dependability is a new experience for me, as much as it is a pleasurable one.
The mental pictures gradually blurred back into reality, resulting in a fleeting and subtle shiver throughout Jake’s person. “I’m fine,” he replied. “I just spaced out for a moment.”
The neon jungle and the hairless apes residing there were not much more welcoming than the slithering vines and camouflaged creatures that had engulfed his future from the time he was just twenty.
“I was assistant to a very prestigious professor for two years, but I can hardly say I’m smarter than any streetwise man. A private office gives you a small perspective on a big ol’ world... Never mind that, though. You wanna know what I do NOW, right?” He continued, skipping a beat. “Five days a week, I cook, clean, handyman, and babysit for the Crockett household. For that I accept room, board, and two-hundred dollars in cash daily. Whatever is left over at the end of each day, my brother is generous enough to let me keep for myself. On Satu’days and Sund’ys, from ten pm to 6 am, I perform Night Audits for the Colony hotel in Palm Beach... You know the Colony, don’t you?” The building was famous merely for its standout presence, even having been depicted in a certain popular video game.
“Why, it’s almost a shame to be leaving Miami... I wonder if perhaps you might indulge me to take you on a tour of our ‘fare’ city.” Jake was referring to the copious amounts of parallel-parked taxi cabs lining nearly every block starting with County Line Road (aka SR 852). Maybe the joke would go over Vanessa’s head, or maybe it would make her crack another smile. He was really banking on that last one.
Truthfully, he felt she was in poor company with him.
