Nick drummed his fingers impatiently upon the steering wheel as he waited for the light to change green. The pedestrians before him seemed to inch by at tortoise speed. It felt like it would be ages before the lights changed. With an impatient sigh, Nick leaned forwards slightly and turned on the radio. A heavy hip hop tune filled the car and Nick quickly turned up the volume, bobbing his head along to the beat.

Suddenly, he found himself rudely jerked forwards. He felt his heart jump as he was propelled slightly towards the windshield. Luckily, he was wearing his seatbelt.

Catching his wits about himself, Nick looked into his rear view mirror to see a silver Miata a little too close for comfort. Cursing, he rammed his palm into the steering wheel forcing a loud honk from the car�s horn. This is just what I need, he mused angrily. With a deep breath, Nick turned off his engine and braced himself for the damage as he exited the car.

He slammed the door heavily and went around to the rear of his car. Nick winced at the sight of it. A large dent was evident upon his bumper and a long, unsightly scratch marked the BMW�s normally smooth black surface. With a tired sigh, Nick turned strode purposefully in the direction of the Miata.

Through the windshield he took notice of the driver, who conveniently had her face hidden in her hands. All Nick was able to see was a shock of long blonde hair. With a roll of his eyes, he angrily rapped on the window. He had no sympathy at all for careless drivers.

He waited impatiently tapping his foot as the driver rolled down the window. �I�m sorry," she whispered keeping her eyes averted to the ground. Slowly, she brought them up. �I wasn�t pay�" she suddenly stopped as her eyes fell upon his face. Her apology seemed to suddenly disappear along with her voice. Time seemed to slow to a standstill as she was unable to take her eyes from his face.

They stood eyeing one another intensely as if they were life-long friends seeing each other in a new light for the first time. Nick stood gazing at her surreptitiously, totally oblivious to the cars which honked angrily at the delay. �We meet again,� he said in a soft, hoarse whisper.

Despite the maddening butterflies in her stomach, Jessica managed to force a small smile. �I�m really sorry about your car,� she murmured. Her apology was low and mechanical, the result of having apologzed numerous times in her life and having become accustomed to it.

�Don�t worry about it,� Nick replied a little too quickly and without even so much as a glance back in his car�s direction.

�At least let me give you my name and address for insurance purposes,� she said worriedly. She reached over and grabbed her purse which lay on the adjacent seat. She fumbled around in it nervously, searching for a pen. It was amazing how such a small bag could suddenly transform into an endless pit. Finally, she found the pen and delicately scrawled her name in her elegant, flowing hand writing on the back of a gas receipt.

She handed him the paper slowly. As their fingers brushed accidentally, a jolt of electricity raced up her spine. She pulled her hand back quickly, her face burning. For a few moments, they stood enraptured by one another as passing cars whizzed by the busy intersection.

As Nick searched her eyes inquisitively, he felt something tug at his heart. He could tell that she had experienced a world of pain. A world that no one knew about. His heart ached for her sadness and he felt his body inexplicably gravitate towards her. At that moment he felt as though all he wanted to do was reach out and hold her. Protect her from everything that had ever hurt her.

Jessica noticed Nick�s facial expression and hastily shifted her eyes to the windshield in front of her. Suddenly, she felt rather uncomfortable. It was as if somehow this stranger was able to see deep into her soul. It was as if even though he didn�t know her, he knew things about her. Things which she had never dared to tell anyone before.

Nick noticed her sudden discomfort and took it as his cue to leave. He opened his mouth to speak to her, but somehow nothing came out. He wasn�t sure what to say anyway. With a sigh, he stepped away from her car awkwardly and began walking back towards his own, knowing full well that he would regret it later. What could he do about it though? At that very moment, what he was feeling was inexpressible.

Jessica arrived at work late and flustered. She walked through the hospital, a look of confusion but yet somehow contentment upon her face. She breezed past the nurse�s station, not bothering to stop and say hello as she usually did. Even the kids seemed to notice something was amiss. Jessica appeared distracted and uninterested. She had none of her usual enthusiasm about her. Her funny, interesting stories were non-existant today.

All she could think of as she went about dutifully cleaning up the children�s playroom, was him. Somehow it didn�t strike her as strange in the least bit that they kept coincidentally meeting each other. It seemed more natural to her than anything. That scared her a little bit. She wasn�t used to feeling at ease around anyone, let alone a perfect stranger.

At 5:00, Jessica finally finished work and hastily left the building, again without saying goodbye to anyone as she usually did.

As she walked towards her car in the parking lot, she noticed for the first time that her front, left headlight was broken and there was a noticable scratch on her car. With a scared sigh and a slight quiver of her lip, Jessica began to wonder just what her mother would do to her if and when she saw the damage.

An uncomfortable shiver raced up her spine. Despite the fact that she knew her mother would be upset with her, in some strange way, Jessica was secretly glad about what had happened today. The way she had felt when his fingers had grazed hers was well worth getting in trouble for.

Nick sat upon his bed, fingering the receipt on which she had neatly scrawled her name. Jessica Turner. He repeated the name over and over in his mind. He liked the sound of it. It suited her.

Should I call her? The damage wasn�t so horrible. He could surely afford to pay for it himself. After all, he was the son of the infamous business tycoon Bob Carter. It would cost him a few hundred dollars at most.

For some reason though, Nick wanted to call her. He wanted to hear her soft musical voice again, even if it was just for a second. Caught up in the moment, he picked up his phone and slowly began punching in the digits. His fingers wavered as he came to the last one. Suddenly, his body was awash with nervousness. He felt his heart seize and quickly, he hung up.

He collapsed tiredly back onto his bed, rubbing his temples in slow circles. He knew his behaviour right now was immature. After all, she would never be anything more to him than a voice on the other end of the phone. He�d probably never see her again. Despite knowing all of this, there was an indecipherable, inexplicable feeling gnawing at him from his stomach.

Jessica tip-toed quietly up the stairs, heading silently towards her room. She had been walking around on eggshells all day long, scared that her mother would see her car and get angry with her. The damage to her car was minimal, but Jessica knew from experience that her mother was always looking for reasons to vent her anger. This would be a perfect reason to take her frustrations out on Jessica.

Jessica entered her room and thankfully flopped down upon her plush bed. Luckily, she had managed to avoid her mother since she had got home. Her plan was to confine herself to her room tonight in hopes that her mother wouldn�t bother her. Yawning, Jessica burrowed her head into her pillow. She hadn�t realized how tired she had been recently from all the lack of sleep. Closing her eyes, she decided that she would take a little nap. Her eyelids quickly became heavy with sleep and she could feel herself drifting off into a surprisingly peaceful slumber.

The peaceful quiet which engulfed her room was quickly disturbed by the shrill ring of her telephone. Jessica's eyes snapped open quickly at the sound. She rolled over onto her side gazing at the telephone as if it were a foreign object. She had her own private line, in case someone from work needed to call her although calls from the office were rare. No one else had her number. No one except for him.

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