The Unexpected Guest

Chapter 8

Rated: PG

Spoilers: Season 4

Disclaimer: These characters aren't mine. You know the drill.

 

 

The Unexpected Guest

By Nicky

 

Chapter 8

 

 

 

Miss Parker absently flips through the stacks of reports cluttering her desk.  No matter how much she tried to concentrate on work, her mind keeps on going back to the way she left things with Jarod.  But she was hurt.  Hurt and rejected.  And she dealt with that rejection the only way she knew how.  By striking back before he even knew she felt wounded.

 

Her ringing phone gives her the excuse for a much needed break.

 

"What," she hisses into the line.

 

"It's me, Allie," the voice on the other end says quietly after a brief pause.  "I think we need to talk."

 

"You think we need to talk?  Well, I think you did enough talking for the both of us this morning.  Apparently you're the one who makes all of the decisions.  And you're the one who ultimately knows what's right.  So if you want to talk, talk to yourself.  I have work to do."  Miss Parker slams the phone down angrily, but immediately regrets her actions.  She was hurt and angry, but she still felt guilty speaking to Jarod the way that she did.  But it was too late now.

 

She slides her arm across her desk in a rage, sending the papers flying everywhere.  What was her problem?  Why was she caring so much about what Jarod did or didn't do?  She hated when she got in these moods.  And venting at inanimate objects wasn't satisfying enough.  She storms out of her office and down the hall in search of a livelier subject.  A few minutes later, she slinks into Broots' office to torment him and Sydney a little.

 

"Miss Parker," the computer tech exclaims, somewhat surprised by her sudden appearance.  "What are you doing down here?  I thought our meeting wasn't for another hour."  Broots starts to tremble when he notices the foul mood she appears to be in.  He looks over his shoulder and is only slightly comforted in the fact that Sydney is in there with him. 

 

"I came to save you the trouble.  Did you find anything on Jarod?  Any real leads?  I'm sick of the dead ends, Broots," she says, torturing the man with her deadly stare.

 

"Nothing yet. I've been going down different avenues, hoping something will turn up, but so far no luck.  Jarod has a way of . . ."

 

"Whatever," she interrupts.  "Just let me know as soon as you find something.  I'll be in my office."  She turns and storms back down the corridor in the same fashion she came just a few minutes earlier.

 

"What was that about, Syd?" Broots asks when he finally has his nerve back.

 

"I'm not sure.  But something definitely has her upset.  Hopefully she'll let us know when she's ready," the doctor hypothesizes.

 

"I hope you're right, Syd.  Heaven helps the poor guy who gets in her way in the meanwhile.  I just hope I'm not the poor slob."

 

 

Miss Parker arrives back at her office, feeling worse than when she left.  She usually got a rush from leaving trails of spineless weaklings quivering like jello in her wake.  But she just didn't get any pleasure from tormenting Broots today.  Instead, she started to get that guilty feeling again.  The phone rings again and she runs over to her desk to answer it.

 

"Jarod?" she asks expectantly into the phone, but then almost cursing at herself for sounding so eager.

 

"Please don't hang up on me again.  We really need to talk," Jarod pleads.

 

"Go ahead.  I'm listening."

 

"Allie, I'm sorry if it felt like I was rejecting you.  That was the last thing I wanted to do.  I don't like seeing you hurt, and I hate it that I was the one who hurt you.  But it's not what you think.  Last night just sort of snuck up on me.  And when I had a minute to think about what almost happened, I started to wonder what was really going on with us.  First you're chasing me.  Then, things change and we're friends.  Then, things change again and we're living together raising a baby.  And when last night happened, alarms started going off in my head.  It was time to slow down and take a look at what was happening with us.  I needed to make sure we were on the same page."

 

"Jarod," she cuts in.  "We both wanted the same thing last night.  I don't see how you could have gotten any signals mixed up."

 

"I know," he says.  "And seeing how hurt you got when you thought I rejected you, I know now that you wanted me just as much as I wanted you.  But what you don't realize is that I'm not as naive as you think."

 

"Listen, Jarod.  I know about you and Nia.  But I don't exactly want to hear about your . . . . experience."

 

"I'm not only talking about her.  But I don't want to talk about my . . . experience anymore than you want to hear about it.  But I will say this one thing.  I don't want to make the same mistake with you that I did with them."

 

"Them?"  She sighs.  She didn't realize that Jarod could have been with as many others as she had been with.

 

"Allie, that's be sides the point!  The point I'm trying to make is that I want things to be different with you.  I want things to be how they're supposed to be.  I want to be with you, but I don't want to wake up the next morning feeling any kinds of regrets.  Because when it happens, we're both going to know that what we started is something that's going to last forever.  I couldn't say that about my other relationships.  And now, they're over.  But we're never going to be over.  And I'm not going to risk what we have because we got carried away one night.  It's too important to me.  You're too important to me.  And I think you're worth the wait."

 

The line is silent after he finishes.  They both sit there for a few minutes, absorbing what Jarod just said.  She doesn't quite know how to process his words.  She's never heard any like them before from a man.  They touch her heart in a way she doesn't expect.

 

"You don't have to say anything now," Jarod says, finally breaking the silence.  "Just think about what I said.  I'll see you when you get home."

 

Miss Parker just nods wordlessly into the phone, still too stunned to say anything, even if Jarod had given her the chance to.  She's about to hang up when she hears him calling to her one more time.

 

"Allie?  Hurry home.  I miss you.  And," he pauses for a brief second, taking a deep breath before continuing.  "And I love you."

 

The click of the phone is the last thing she hears before the dial tone.  She just sits there in her chair unable to really think of anything else.  Every woman dreams about having a man to love, honor and respect her.  And she has one right in front of her and almost pushes him away. 

 

A light knock on the door brings her back to reality.  She quickly dries the tears that had been flowing down her face and invites the visitor in.

 

"I'm sorry to bother you, Miss Parker," Broots stammers, slipping through the door and closing it before proceeding towards her desk.  "But I found something I think will interest you."  He looks around her office suspiciously before handing her a thick manila envelope.

 

"What's all this?"  She grabs the envelope and dumps out the contents.  Her question, however, is soon answered by a quick glance at some of the documents.  So many questions were now answered by what she held in her hand.

 

"Where did you get this?" she asks, amazed still at what she was seeing.

 

"The files were buried deep in the system.  But somehow I was able to get to them.  I don't know if I just never searched the right paths before.  Or maybe it was a fortuitous Y2K glitch," Broots boasts, almost patting himself on the back.

 

"Does anyone else know about any of this?"

 

"I don't think so.  The information is so old, I doubt the original owner of the files even know where it's archived.  It won't help much in our search for Jarod, but the files might give us an edge."

 

"Good work, Broots.  In fact, why don't you take the rest of the day off," she offers. "In light of your recent discoveries, there's someone that I have to see."

 

 

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