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| Jessica (as played by Kristin Kreuk) |
Jessica popped awake the next morning, heady with
expectation. She might not be Glowing just now, but it definitely had happened,
and she had every confidence that it would happen again. She swept her hair up
into a twist and nodded firmly to her reflection. She would not let the
opportunity pass her by a second time. She traipsed down the steps of her
apartment as light as a feather. The six-block walk gave her ample time to calm
her giddiness.
Entering the office building, she snagged a blank notepad
and jotted a note.
"We need to talk. Meet @ park for lunch? -J"
She had her suspicions as to who happened to make her Glow,
but she had to be sure. If nothing happened, nothing happened; but if something
did...
Jess took a few deep breaths to settle herself, and handed
her note to the lobby receptionist with explicit instructions to deliver it to
its intended recipient as soon as possible. Then she hopped in an elevator and
rode up to the Human Resources floor.
When she arrived, it was just like any other normal day at
work—except one thing: Jess was happy.
She waved to Lily as she passed the
desk, and smiled at Tiffany coming down the hall towards her.
Tiffany grinned back. "What's got you in such a good
mood, Jess? I haven't seen you this happy in a while." She leaned in
close, "Did you have a date last night I didn't know about? Did you
Glow?"
Jess couldn't stop grinning. "Not a date... But—"
"Ladies." Marcia poked her head out of her office
and gave the two clerks a withering look.
Tiffany gave Jess a gentle squeeze on the shoulder.
"We'll talk later, okay?"
Jess nodded and headed for her cubicle. The day's projects
waited in the tray at the front... But there was a coffee sitting on her desk.
She recognized the cup as one from the cafe on her street. A note rested on top of the cup, written on the same kind of notepad she had used. Jess knew
what it said before she opened it.
"We need to talk. Meet @ park for lunch? -J"
Jessica set the note aside and sipped the coffee. She was
right! Jack had said in his note yesterday that she should find something to
bring the smile back... Well, this certainly did the trick!
She finished updating the stack of files just in time for
her lunch break. The coffee had given her a jolt of energy that promised to
carry her through the rest of the day. For now, Jessica settled on a nice calm
walk to a burger joint right across from the park. On her way out of the
building, she looked down at her blouse. No Glow yet, but it didn't mean it
wouldn't happen at just the right moment. She glanced around to see if he
happened to walking by, but she saw nothing.
Paper bag in hand, Jessica made her way to the park and sat
down at one of the tables. No sign of him yet...
"I see you got my note," said a voice from behind
her.
Green eyes met blue ones, and Jess smiled. "I see you
got mine," she said.
Jack took the seat opposite. Like street lamps at dusk, two
Glows flickered to life.
"I thought that—"
"I always knew—" Jack stopped when he realized
they had started talking at the same time. "Er, sorry," he coughed.
"You go first."
Jess giggled, a small ripple of a laugh. "I saw all my
friends getting The Glow at ages younger than me, and I thought that if I got
too old, The Glow might never happen, or I'd get someone horrible for a soul
mate." She glanced at Jack's Glow while fingering her own collar. "I
never thought he would be someone I saw every day!"
Jack wagged his head. "Isn't that how it always is? You wouldn't be soul mates with a total stranger." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Me, I could never figure out what was making my Glow turn off and on and I couldn't stop it."
Jess nodded. "I would get little Glimmers sometimes, but they would only happen at work."
"Same here," Jack agreed. "That's the only reason I kept such a crummy job as a 'glorified mailman'—" he smirked at the moniker, "because I knew I wasn't getting The Glow anywhere else."
Jess smiled and curled her fingers against her lips. "If it wasn't for that Glimmer, that little bit of hope, I would have moved away a long time ago."
"Ha!" Jack's outburst scattered a brace of pigeons. "Yeah, no kidding! But now that we've met..." He slowly reached out and took Jessica's hand. "Are you ready for this?"
Jessica didn't have to think about her answer. They were
soul mates; this was destiny.
"Ready when you are," she replied.
They left the park hand in hand.
They left the park hand in hand.
THE END
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