Chapter 10

"You did what?" Robert was shocked, "Have you gone crazy?"

It was Tuesday afternoon, and Jack had just arrived at his office when Robert came by. His friend was expecting him to bring signed divorce papers and the forms for full custody of Eric, but Jack had none of those.

When Jack landed in Chicago, it was after midnight, so he went straight home. This morning he didn't rush to come to the office, he spent a morning with his son, and now when he had a load of paperwork to go through, his best friend was bugging him about something that even he did not understand.

"You do realize that you just made things a lot more complicated than they were?" Robert pressed further.

"I know." Jack sighed. "I know…"

"Then why did you do it?" Robert shook his head in disbelieve.

"I can't explain it because I don't even understand it myself. I just followed my instincts…"

"Your instincts?" Robert interrupted him, "What instincts? You don't even have them! You are the most rational person that I know," Robert plopped himself in the chair in front of Jack's desk. He was staring at his best friend, his eyes a thin slits, that was staring into the space in front of him. "Oh!" a realization hit him like a ton of bricks. "Oh!"

That seemed to snap Jack out of his thoughts: "What?" he asked furrowing his brows.

"You like her, you old dog!" Robert started to laugh like a maniac, but Jack never changed his facial expression.

It was the same realization that Jack woke up with. The first thing that he wanted was to see her again, to touch her. And it surprised him to no end since he had never had an urge like that before. She was just a girl. There was nothing special about her, but still…

"I need you to make me an NDA for her to sign."

Robert was still laughing, but he managed to nod his head. "You think she will talk?"

"No. I don't think she will… but just in case,"

"Tell me, what's she like?" Robert wanted to know.

Jack thought about his friend's question for a while.

"I don't know what to tell to, man… because I don't know. She's not like all the other girls I dated, or fucked, call it whatever you like. There's just something about her…"

"You fell for the girl you saw once?" Robert was flabbergasted.

"I wouldn't say it like that. My first intention wasn't to get her in my bed. I just want her here. And you know I always get what I want." Jack smirked.

"I don't understand you, buddy, not a single thing. You don't want to sleep with her? Why would you want some girl then?" Robert was confused. He didn't know his friend like this.

"I didn't say I don't want to sleep with her, I said it was not my first intention with her," Jack explained starting to get annoyed with Robert's prying.

"Oh, man…"

"Would you drop it already?!"

Robert got up ready to leave, he had his things to take care of, and Emma, his wife, was waiting for him, too.

"When is she coming here?" he asked when he reached the door.

"Tomorrow." Jack's answer left him speechless. "I never even gave her a chance to refuse or reject what I wanted from her. I blackmailed her. Literally."

"Wow, that's low. Anyway, I've got to go. I have a client coming later. I'll see you."

"Yeah, buy."

Robert was right. This, what he did to Margaret, was low. It was bugging him, how selfish he acted towards her. He wanted her, and he did everything to get her. He never stopped to even think about her or what she wanted or needed. No.

Jack returned to the files on his desk and started going through them. Everything seemed fine, and he pretty soon lost himself in paperwork. It was what he knew best, numbers and calculations, predictions, and offers. It gave him comfort and peace of mind.

It was already dark when he went through everything that was on the desk and went home. His son was already asleep, but he expected him to wake up later. He still had irregular sleep patterns, but he never slept more than 4 hours in one go.

Marry was, of course, waiting for him. This morning he evaded her questions, but now she had no intention of letting him go.

"I hired a new nanny for Eric. She is my neighbor, and I trust her completely. She is starting next week." Marry informed him.

"Thank you, Nanna. I know this is tiring for you. I can never thank you enough." Jack engulfed her in a hug.

"You can tell me what is going on!" she led him to the kitchen and made him sit at the table. She served him her famous tomato soup he loved as a kid.

"Are you trying to bribe me to tell you everything?" Jack was trying to hide his smile. But he was about to tell her everything anyway. She was like a mother to him, and he trusted her completely.

So he told her the whole story. Everything from the beginning to the end, from what he found about her, what he noticed about her, to his concerns and worries, to everything he hoped. Marry listened to him carefully without interruptions, she just nodded her head a couple of times.

 "Jack, son, you made me incredibly happy with what you just told me," her eyes were glistening with tears.

"Why, Nanna, I don't understand. I made a mess that can turn ugly, I acted selfishly, and I blackmailed a girl to come to my house. How can you be happy about that?" Jack didn't understand.

"You will understand soon, dear. You will. Just promise me one thing." she waited for his confirmation before she continued, " Promise me you won't hurt her. It sounds like she's been through enough already. And then maybe, she just might stay here with you. Because that's what you want, isn't it?"

Later that night, when Jack was laying in his bed, just before sleep took over him, he was again thinking about his 'wife' and all the circumstances that brought that girl into his life. He wanted her, he wanted her more than he wanted anything else in life. For once, he decided to just let things happen as they may. Because she just might be the thing that he has searched for his entire life, the missing piece that he could never identify. Every fiber of his being was telling him that she was what he needed, while his mind threw all the arguments against what he was doing. His rational mind and his instincts kept fighting for some time more before he fell into a restless slumber.