Chapter 18

“I used to come here with my friends from school so often that late papa Joey threatened to throw us out forever,” Jack chuckled at the memory, “but he never did. I continued coming here with my friends from college too. When you see the joint from the outside, you would never guess that they make the best pizza in the city.”

Maggie was sitting across from him, and she was looking around, careful not to miss a word he said. The restaurant was indeed small and had only a couple of tables all covered with plaid tablecloths, but the atmosphere was perfect, homey and cozy, and the smells coming from the back… they were probably the most delicious and inviting smells she has encountered.

They were both dressed casually, and this was the first time for Maggie to see him not wearing his usual white dress-shirt, but dark jeans and simple tee-shirt. She was in a cute, fluttery summer dress that reached just above her knees and strappy sandals.

The waiter came a few minutes later after they took a seat at one of the tables available and greeted Jack like he was his long-lost brother.

“We haven't seen you around in a while! Who are you, Jacky boy?” the waiter was old as Jack, and they knew each other well. His Italian accent was strong, and it made Maggie smile widely.

“I've been busy. You know how it is. How is Lucia? Kids? Business is good, I see.”

“They're fine, and the business is, as usual, going… hey! I told you not to touch the glass like that! Louie!” he yelled at a boy, “The usual?”

Jack glanced at Maggie with his brows raised, and she nodded in agreement. She was following their interaction carefully to not miss a thing. After the waiter left, she couldn't wait any longer, she had to know what was that he needed to talk about with her.

“And?”

“Well, actually, I signed a contract today, a very important contract with the Koreans, and I wanted to celebrate. That's why we came here tonight. There's nothing that I needed to talk about with you. I wanted to spend some time with you and talk a little.” Maggie was utterly surprised by his confession; she never expected something like this, not from him. “We live in the same house, and I feel like I hardly see you. I know that the circumstances under which you came to live here are a little unusual, to say at least, but …” he was interrupted by the same waiter from before that brought two mugs of beer.

“It would be a sin to eat our pizza with anything else.” He declared while putting them on the table before he turned around and left towards the kitchen. A couple of minutes later, he was back with two plates that held steamy, cheesy goodness.

Maggie leaned in and took a deep breath above her plate, her eyes were closed, and she was enjoying the aroma. The look on her face steered something in the pit of Jack's stomach. He wanted to be the one to cause Maggie to experience a pleasure instead of the plate with food in front of her.

They ate in silence for a while, and Maggie was the first one to break it.

“Do you blame her?” Maggie asked, and Jack thought about her question for a while.

“To some extent, I understand her, why she lived her life the way she did and why she was doing the things that she was doing, and that, in a way, is making me not hate her and blame her. Besides, she gave me the best gift in life. Thanks to her, I have Eric now.”

“How did you two meet?” she asked suddenly, but when she noticed his hesitation, she added: “You don't have to answer if you don't want to… I was just being curious…”

“No, it's ok,” if he wanted to get her to know her better, which he did, he had to give something in return, so he decided to strategize, “It was a one night stand after which I forgot everything about her. That is until she came knocking on my door when she was about to give birth.”

“You do that a lot? One night stands?” Maggie asked not looking at him, but at the plate in front of her, ashamed of her question. Why did she have to say that? Why did she want to know?

“It was the only form of dating that I knew. I never actually did relationships before.” He admitted.

“And now?” what was wrong with her? Why couldn't she stop asking questions?

“And now I am a married man. I don't need to do neither.” Jack answered smirking.

Maggie didn't ask anything else until she finished all the food from her plate.

“Was there anyone significant in your life before I showed up and turned your life upside down?” Jack decided to ask, he had to know. But he was afraid of her answer, too. What if there was someone who she liked? Someone that waited for her back home?

“No, there was no one.” She sounded bitter. Jack thought she wouldn't say anything else and was preparing to ask her another question just to keep her talking, but she surprised him by continuing before he had a chance to speak. “I was seeing someone two years ago. We started dating just before my mother found out she had cancer. When I dropped off college and started working days and nights, he said that he cannot handle me not being able to make time for him. Selfish prick.” she wasn't looking at him while she spoke, lost in her memories.

“I am sorry to hear that.” but he wasn't sorry, not really, more like thrilled with the chance that he had, a chance to win her over and make her stay with him for good.

“You don't have to be. I am not. He's not worth it. And he seemed so nice in the beginning…”

Jack ordered another round of beer for them. He wasn't ready to leave, not now when he finally got her to talk about herself.

“What about your father?” he asked. He studied her file thoroughly, he memorized everything that was written about her, but it was interesting that there was no mention of the male parent. There could be thousands of reasons, but he would rather have her tell him than to investigate further or guess.

“I don't know. I have never met the guy.” Maggie didn't understand why she was telling all these personal things to Jack now, but there was something about him tonight, something that invited her to share her life story with him, to not hold back. It was probably a mistake, she was aware of that, but that didn't stop her. He was honest with her when he talked about himself, she could see it in his eyes, and that made her do the same, be honest, and not hide a thing. “I used to ask my mother about him when I was younger, but she didn't like to talk about that subject. I could see the pain in her eyes each time that I mentioned him, so I stopped asking altogether. She's a wonderful parent, she was everything that I ever needed, and if not mentioning something that hurts her is what I can do to make her happy, then I don't have to know about him.”

Jack was stunned. He has never met a person who is this much capable of putting other's needs in front of her own. If it were him in her shoes, he would search the whole world to find out the truth.

“And what about you? What about your parents?”

She had to ask. Of course, she had to ask. She had all the right to since it was he who started all the 21 questions. Give something to get something, right?

“Oh, you'll meet them both.” Why did Jack look like talking about his family was a sore subject, Maggie wondered? “They both are classic business parents, as I used to call them. They always put their works first, and I was always left somewhere behind. Mary was the one that raised me and took care of me. She still is.” Maggie felt sorry for him. She couldn't imagine how her childhood would look if Rebecca hasn't been there, with all the love she showered her with. She leaned forward and reached with her hand for his.

Jack was surprised by her action, but the feeling of their skins touching brought another wave of pleasure to him. He raised his gaze and met her eyes full of compassion.

“We should go.” He said reluctantly.

“Yeah, before you end up like the last time you celebrated business success.” Maggie joked, barely holding her smile. Luckily, Jack didn't find it offensive and laughed out loud at what she said.

“True.” He paid their bill, leaving a generous tip, as he always did here, and said goodbyes to the crew.

Again, he was acting like a perfect gentleman. He held the door for Maggie and opened the car door for her before he drove them home.

“Thank you for tonight, I had a wonderful time,” Maggie said once they were in front of her room.

“I did, too.” He confirmed.

“You know, I was thinking… maybe we could be friends. Maybe we can use the time while I'm here to be there for each other like that…” she didn't even know why she said that. Who was she trying to warn about boundaries, him or herself?

“Friends?” Jack was utterly stunned. This was the last thing he expected to hear from her tonight. He didn't want to be her friend. No. He wanted more than that, so much more. “Right…I should check on Eric, goodnight.”

'He looked mad. Why did he look mad?' Maggie wondered. He never answered her question either. She went into her room, changed, and fell asleep after a lot of tossing and turning. She couldn't stop thinking about earlier and everything that they shared.

Jack's night wasn't better, but he was glad that they made progress and that he was on a good way to put his plan into action.