Second Chances

Where is Jack?

The alarm sounded and Alanna woke up. She stretches and checks her phone for messages. Then she turned to Matthew and kissed him good morning. Matthew smiled and turned around to continue sleeping. Alanna jumped out of bed. She grabbed her robber and stopped at the window. She opened the curtain and saw the cloudy sky. She had seen the weather report on her phone, but she wanted to see how bad it was. There was a severe thunderstorm warning in the area, so she wanted to get to work early. Sometimes teachers call out during bad weather, so she wanted to be there early just in case she needed to cover for a teacher while a substitute arrived.

Alanna skipped exercise and breakfast that morning. The rain started pouring while she was taking a shower, so she got ready in a rush and headed to the daycare. On the way to the daycare, Alanna called Carol to check on the funeral home and the other daycare. Carol informed her that she was going to be late for work, but the daycare staff arrived early. Alanna thanked Carol and told her not to rush because the streets were bad.

Alanna arrived at the daycare and saw some parents waiting in their cars. She parked and rushed inside the daycare. The door was locked. The young girl that opened the daycare didn’t make it on time. Alanna signaled the parents to come in. Then she rushed in, turned the lights on, and did a fast inspection of the place. Everything looked fine but the other girl that was supposed to arrive right after the one that opened the daycare wasn’t there either. Three parents brought their children in. Alanna had two infants, a toddler and a four-year-old in the building with her. She took them to the infant room.

The young woman in charge of opening the daycare, called Alanna. Alanna answered and she explained nervously, “I’m sorry Miss Alanna, I picked up Jenny because her car is in the mechanic and we got stuck in traffic.” Alanna told the young woman to drive carefully that she prefers them getting there late than something bad happening to them for rushing. The young woman thanked Alanna and told her that they were five minutes away.

The door opened and Jack walked in with his son in hand. Alanna looked around at the children that she already had and looked back at him. She greeted him and apologized, “I’m sorry my employees haven’t arrived and I’m alone with the kids. I can’t take your baby until someone else arrives. Jack smiled and walked into the room. He took his baby and placed him on a baby swing. Then he put the baby’s stuff away in his cubby.

Jack walked to Alanna and told her, “I’ll stay with you until someone else comes if you want." Alanna smiled and gave him a hug. Jack told her that the roads were bad. Alanna agreed and explained to him that her employees were stuck in traffic. The four-year-old little girl walked to Jack and asked him if he was a police officer. Jack laughed and said, “I’m actually a Sargent. I’m the police officer’s boss.” The little girl smiled and said that she wanted to be a Sargent when she grows up. Jack smiled and said, “That is awesome.” Alanna smiled. The little girl went back to playing and Jack looked at Alanna. She was looking at him smiling. He looked into her eyes and smiled. Then he licked his lips and said, “God, you are so beautiful.” Alanna became serious and looked down.

Jack rushed to her and lifted her head gently. He looked into her eyes concerned and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.” Alanna replied with a broken voice, “you didn’t offend me. All this is overwhelming.” Jack asked, “What do you mean?” Alanna explained that seeing him again after all that time apart and finding out that he had a son was too much for her.

The toddler began to cry, and Alanna picked him up. She went to the food-preparing area and picked up something to feed the little boy. She set the table for him and the little girl and they sat with them while the children ate breakfast.

Jack sat across the little table and grabbed Alanna’s hands. He put his head down as he explained that when he was leaving with Susan after the shooting. One night, it seemed like she put something in his drink because he didn’t remember much. However, somehow he had s*x with Susan. Alanna cringed at the thought of Jack having s*x with someone else. Alanna asked, “Is Susan still in prison?” Jack nodded and looked up at her eyes. He caressed her hands and told her, “I was informed about my son before you went to Dubai. I didn’t want to burden you with my problems, so I stayed away.” Alanna held on to his hand and exclaimed, “You know that I would have been there for you, no matter what.” Jack's eyes became teary and he said in a broken voice, “You were with Matthew. He is a decent guy with no problems. I wanted you to be happy.”

Jack and Alanna were distracted so they didn’t notice Alanna's employees walking in the door. Alanna’s eyes teared up and Jack continued to explain, “Susan wanted her sister to keep our son but once her sister saw that he was disabled she called me to get him. Susan didn’t want me to have him, so children's services took him away from me. I had to fight in court to get him back. He had been with me only for a month.” Alanna caressed Jack's face and told him, “You shouldn’t have gone through all that on your own.” Jack kissed her hand and then he saw the two young ladies standing at the door.

One of the young ladies cleared her throat and said, “excuse me, Miss Alanna, we are here.” Alanna was startled and pulled her hand away from Jack's face quickly. She stood up, greeted the young women and informed them that the older children were finishing breakfast. Then she looked at Jack and told him, “Thank you for helping me. You can go serve and protect now, sir.” Jack smiled and stood up. He greeted the young women and kissed his son goodbye.

Alanna walked him to the door. Jack grabbed Alanna’s hand and placed it on his chest. Then he whispered, “thank you for listening to me.” Alanna shook her head and said, “No... thank you for trusting me. You should not have gone through that on your own. I’m sorry for not being there for you.” Alanna hugged Jack tightly and Jack began to kiss her neck. Alanna turned her face toward his. Their lips got closer. They pause and look at each other’s eyes. The door opened and Daisy entered. Alanna and Jack let go of each other. Daisy stared at them as Jack rushed out of the building, and Alanna rushed into her office.

Alanna looked at the door of her office and sat on her chair. She took a deep breath thinking about Jack’s lips being so close to hers. She closes her eyes and tries to replay what just happened in her head. His lips so close to hers, she could feel his breath on her, his eyes set on hers, and his body press against hers. Alanna moaned quietly as she wrapped her hands around herself, imagining that it was Jack.

The realization of her mistake came to her, and brought her out of her little fantasy. Alanna thought back to before she left with Matthew for Dubai. She remembers that she noticed that something was wrong with Jack, but she was too busy figuring out if she wanted to be with him or Matthew that she didn’t pay any attention to it. Alanna put her hand down on her arms and exclaimed, “Did I made a mistake leaving with Matthew?”

Someone knocked on the door and Alanna said, “I’m busy.” Jenny the infant teacher called, “Miss Alanna is an emergency.” Alanna jumped up and opened the door. She found Jenny holding Jack’s son. The baby was crying, and the teacher was rocking him. Alanna asked what was wrong? Jenny informed Alanna that the baby was crying and when she picked him up, he felt warm, so she took his temperature, and it was one hundred and three degrees. Alanna asked if they had called Jack already. Jenny said, “ Yes, but he didn’t answer, and he had no other emergency contact.”

Alanna called the station, and she was informed that Jack was responding to a massive car collision. Alanna told the receptionist to give Jack a message. Alanna told the receptionist to tell jack that his son had a high fever and, because the daycare couldn’t contact him, the baby was going to be taken to the hospital. The receptionist told Alanna that she would keep trying to get in contact with him. Alanna thanked her and asked Jenny to get her the baby’s stuff. Alanna grabbed the baby and strapped him to the daycare’s emergency car seat. She grabbed the baby's stuff and rushed to her car with the baby and asked Jenny to tell Daisy that she was in charge.

Jenny went back to her classroom where Daisy was covering for her as she took care of Jack’s baby and told her that she was in charge. When Jenny got back Daisy said, “What a service. I bet she wouldn’t rush like that for someone else's kid.” Jenny responded, “stop it.” Daisy frowned and said, “I’m serious. This morning I found them about to kiss at the door.” Jenny covered her mouth with her hand and said, “What? They were all over each other when Carry and I arrived.”

Daisy crossed her arms and said, “I thought she had a boyfriend or something.” Jenny smiled and responded, “A fiancé.” Daisy shouted, “so what is she doing messing around with my policeman? She is such a skank.” Jenny laughed, “He is not yours and she is the boss, so if you want to keep your job, I suggest you mind your business.” Daisy left the infant's room, stamping her feet and telling Jenny that she was going to the bathroom.

After a while, a tall handsome man walked into the door. He was wearing a button-up shirt with a tie and slacks. Daisy rushed to greet him. She asked him if she could help him. The man said, “I’m looking for Alanna.” Daisy sighed, “She is not here but I can help you with anything you need.” He cleared up his throat and said, “I’m Alanna's fiancé. I just needed to talk to her, but I called her and couldn’t get in touch with her.”

Daisy fixed her hair behind her ear. Then she grabbed his strong arm and told him, “She took a baby to the hospital.” Matthew walked away from Daisy saying thank you. He took his phone out of his pocket and called Alanna. They heard a phone ringing in Alanna’s office. Daisy went to check the office and Matthew followed her. They found Alanna’s phone on top of her desk. Matthew grabs it and Daisy tries to take it from him. Matthew looked at Daisy frowning. Daisy asked him for the phone and Matthew refused to give it back. He told her that he was Alanna’s fiancé. He showed Daisy his phone screen savior. He had a photo of him and Alanna. Alanna was standing in front of a mountain view and Matthew was kissing her cheek.

Daisy let Matthew get the phone. Matthew checked her latest call and saw that she had called the police station. He asked Daisy, “what hospital did she go to?” Daisy told him the address and he left in a hurry.

Daisy walked him to the door and then went to Jenny’s classroom. She went into the room fanning herself with her hand. “Did you see that guy?” Daisy asked Jenny. Jenny smiled and nodded. Daisy exclaimed, “Can you believe that is Alanna’s fiancé? She has that hot guy at home and is not satisfied.” Jenny replies, “I stay out of it and suggest you do the same.” Daisy frowned and told Jenny that she was going to find out what was going on with Alanna and Jack. Jenny smiled and said to Daisy, “mind your own business.” Daisy left talking to herself.