The Unexpected Guest
Chapter 1
Rated: PG
Date: January 14, 2000
Spoilers: Season 4
Disclaimer: These characters aren't mine. You know the drill.
The Unexpected Guest
By Nicky
Chapter 1
Miss Parker paces back and forth across her living room, glaring
at the silent telephone every few seconds, waiting for it to ring. After yet another unsuccessful attempt at
capturing Jarod, it was a given that he would be calling to taunt her with the
fact that he still had his freedom. She
was used to those phone calls. And she almost welcomed them at times when she
needed someone to unleash her anger and frustrations on after a particularly
hard day. His rude intrusions on her
life in the form of an unsolicited phone call in the middle of the night gave
her the excuse she needed to be rude back to him. It was almost like some sort of game they played.
But tonight was different.
Tonight, she couldn't wait for him to call. And not because of promises of a clue to her past. Because sometimes, he actually had a
legitimate piece of information about her mother when he called. Tonight was different because things between
them were different. She still had a
job to chase and try to bring him back to Centre. And he still had a job to help and protect those who need it
while staying out of the Centre. But
somehow, they both took on the new job of rebuilding an old friendship that had
long ago been buried.
It all began a few weeks before.
It had been a long and particularly hard day of work for her, and somehow
he knew. She got the usual midnight
phone call from him.
"What," she answered
sharply, but without a lot of the sting her greetings usually bore.
"Is that any way to greet an
old friend, Miss Parker? One would
think you didn't want to talk to me."
"What do you want,
Jarod?" She could see his smug
grin, even over the phone. But she
didn't feel like being bothered that night.
She just wanted to bury herself under her blankets until the morning.
"Just calling to see how you
were . . ."
"I'm fine," she
interrupts. "But I'd really rather
be sleeping right about now. So if
that's all . . ."
"That's not all," he
says, stalling for time. "I also
called about your mother."
"Okay. Then what is it?" she asks rather
impatiently.
"Well . . . I mean, I was just
going to say that . . ." he stammers.
"What was that? Nothing?
Just what I thought. Jarod, I
really don't have the time for you tonight.
I don't care where you are or why you're calling me. You don't have anything important about my
mother to tell me, so I'm just going to hang up now."
"Wait," he calls to her,
stopping her from hanging the phone up.
"You're right. I really
didn't have anything to say. I talked
to Sydney earlier. He said you were
upset about still not knowing where your father was."
"You really were worried about
me," she suddenly realizes.
"Yeah. I just wanted to see how you were
doing," he replies shyly.
Suddenly, he wasn't sure how to deal with her. Because suddenly, she seemed different somehow. A little gentler. Sincere, even.
"Well, thanks. For worrying about me. And for thinking enough about me to call and check on me. I really mean that, Jarod. You wouldn't believe the day I had . . ." And she finds that it's so easy to tell him about her day. Pretty soon, it was almost as if they were 13 years old again. And he was her best friend. Someone she could confide in. Someone she could tell her deepest, darkest secrets to. She told him everything. For 3 hours straight she talked, and he just listened.
And the same thing happened every
night after that. He would call and
they'd proceed to talk to each other for hours like the best of friends they
used to be. Somehow, it was easy to
separate work from home. During the day,
Jarod might have been her enemy. But
those times at night, it was okay for him to be her friend. Pretty soon, she found herself rushing home,
just so she wouldn't miss his phone call.
The phone suddenly starts to ring, breaking her out of her memories.
"Hello?" she answers eagerly on the first ring.
"Sorry I'm late," the smooth voice on the other end
says. "It took me longer to get
settled than I realized. And before I
knew it . . ."
"That's okay. I'm
just glad you called," she replies sweetly. They both feel a slight blush warm their cheeks. That was happening more and more. This renewed friendship with Jarod made her
extremely honest with him. She usually
said what she felt. And lately, she was
starting to feel more and more for him.
Luckily, the doorbell starts to ring before either of them has to say
anything.
"Is someone at you door?" Jarod asks. "Saved by the bell, I guess." He breathes a sigh of relief. Because he wasn't quite ready to deal with
the implications of her statement. He
knew that he felt very strongly for her.
He always has. But he wasn't
sure he was ready to tell her about his feelings.
"Yeah. Hold on a
sec." She puts the phone down and
runs to the front door, peeking out of the little hole to see who's there. She almost passes out when she sees her
father standing there with her very pregnant stepmother. She opens the door quickly and pulls them
inside.
"Daddy!" She hugs him tightly. "I was so worried.
Are you okay? Where have you
been all this time? What are you two
doing here now?"
"Angel, we need your help.
Brigitte's in labor."
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