Vintage

The Boyfriend

Jade was like the moon rising and setting, always predictable when she was angry or hurt. Ever since her mother died at the hands of Raven when she was 12, Jade escaped to the memorial Rose Garden atop the Watcorp building. Charles created the garden as a lasting memory to his beloved Iris. Members of the international team referred to her as Bloom because she restored life to dying or dead plant life. For years, Iris implored Charles to design a hothouse for her experiments; her pleas fell upon deaf ears until her untimely death. As Charles sank into a dark misery from which he never fully recovered, he created a hothouse as a living tribute to his late wife.

Charles sold the comfortable family home where they had lived happily until Iris’s death. He moved his young children and his closest advisor to the Watcorp building. As a child, Jade believed that she was Rapunzel living in a great glass tower waiting on her prince to save her. One day, she realized the massive skyscraper was a fortress; Charles kept what he wanted inside.

 Jade climbed to the rooftop to stare at New Republic City’s skyline; it was constantly changing and growing.  She escaped from her family, team, and life when her fingers gently graced over exotic flowers’ silky petals from across the globe. The hothouse was her secret haven. Her mother loved roses.  She always said roses sent messages; a mere rose could make or break a relationship. Charles, in his grief, placed them close to the edge of the balcony; they were impossible to touch. Jade was determined to grab one. Sometimes, she wondered if she was trying to grasp her mother’s memory or remember her laughter. Jade cried herself to sleep when she could hear Iris’s voice in her mind.

Hot tears dropped from Jade’s green eyes as her heels clacked against the floor. Weariness racked her brain as she marched towards the lavender roses. “Ouch,” Jade squealed when her fingers grazed the thick thorns of the immaculate yellow rose bushes. She recalled that they weren’t to be touched; something to be a remembrance of the past. Her pink tongue flicked against her bleeding thumb. The blood was sticky and warm in her mouth. Her brows knitted together as she struggled to formulate a plan to pluck one of Charles’s prized possessions.

She knew that she wasn’t his firstborn as that coveted titled belonged to Claire. She could do no wrong in Charles’s eyes. Donovan was the baby, and only male heir to the vast Watson Industries… future leader of the team. Right smack in the middle was Jade, constantly struggling to receive Charles’s affection and approval. Things were different before Raven stole her mother away. Iris adored her dark haired daughter; she had made Jade feel special, wanted.

Nothing ever felt like her mother’s love and nothing would ever replace it. Damn, that flower might make her feel a little better after the showdown in the meeting room. She was tired of trying to make Charles love her as he did Claire and Donovan. She was tired of playing by his rigid rules of engagement with the enemy. Does Team Bad ever play fair?

 Jade walked to the ledge; her boots scraped the cement edge as she practiced her best high wire act. She placed one foot in front of each other, her arms straight like old-fashioned telly antennas. She licked her red-coated glossy lips as she inched closer to her target.

“Damn, Kira was right,” Jade screamed as she lost her footing. She wondered if she would feel any pain when she body splattered across the pavement. Her lips curled in a smile when she thought of seeing her mother after 13 agonizingly long years. Her heart thumped loudly in her ears as she rapidly plummeted to the ground. She hoped that she had on nice knickers… sexy knickers, not her granny panties. She hoped she would land on her back; her bruised face would force a closed casket at her funeral service. She wanted Charles to see her deathly pale face surrounded by Death Lilies.

Jade sent a silent prayer to God when strong arms wrapped around her trembling body. Myron wrapped his arms tighter as he soared towards the penthouse. She rested her head on his strong shoulders. Jade realized that she didn’t want to die, and she really didn’t want to live. She didn’t know what she wanted from life. But, this felt right, for the moment.

She resisted the urge to brush her lips over his. They were so were close. An inkling of desire flowed in her blood. She craved Myron’s touch. She didn’t know why she fought him every step of the way.

Jade wriggled in Myron’s arms as he dashed past her father’s building. His black hair brushed her sticky forehead as Jade’s breathing returned to normal. She watched the skyline of New Republic City disappear as Myron shot like a bullet through the heavens. Racing away from the villains, problems, and disappointments of their everyday lives.

Jade offered Myron a wry smiled as he gently placed her on a grassy cliff overlooking Avalon River. Jade rarely told Myron about the perfection of his face. Her eyes roamed over his black glossy hair; he pushed her chin length strands behinds her ears as his ice blue eyes seared her soul. She raised a soft hand to caress his angular cheekbones; her thumb rubbed his soft pink lips.  His flesh felt hot under her fingers.

His gaze made Jade fell vulnerable…exposed and desirable. She craved the feelings that Myron created in her heart. She refused to acknowledge it.  She shut her eyes to break their connection, and keep her heart hidden in its secret cocoon. When he smiled at her, Jade could feel shields dropping from around her battered heart. It was like she had a butterfly colony in her stomach. She didn’t want them to fly away.

“I’m not going away, Jade,” Myron whispered as the sunset occurred behind his dark head. Jade opened her sea green eyes; she focused on the glorious orange ball suspended in a dusky sky. “Obviously, Myron… you’re stalking me again.”

Myron grinned. “You’re welcome, Love.  It’s not stalking when I’m out doing patrols.”

Jade threw her hands in the air. “Really, you just happened to fly around the Watson building… not your area.”

Myron placed a hand on her cheek. “You are my area. Besides, Kira and I always know that you go to your mother’s garden when you are distressed. Not really stalking.”

“Not distressed.”

“Kira was able to hear everything in the meeting room. Claire and Charles were out of line. Donovan was-“

Jade shrugged, “He was caught in the middle.”

“Claire was like two different people. She congratulated you for destroying the building. Yet, she went crazy over a fire device.”

“How long have you known us?’

Claire was one large mood swing. Her personality pendulum constantly swung from happiness, despair, cruelty, and kindness. Her presence caused the entire team to tiptoe around her like she was Humpty Dumpty after he was put together again. It was hard to resist the urge to make an omelet out of her. Perhaps, the team would rebel, if she didn’t have Charles’s ear.

“Too long,” Myron offered. “Long enough to know you.”

A corner of Jade’s lips turned up, “You don’t know everything.”

Myron cupped her face in his large hands, “I know you defy Charles for his approval. You could lead the team as well as Donovan. You hate Chicken Pot pie, and you have a secret stash of Cotton Candy. Kira’s your best friend, and you have a raggedy bunny under your pillow.”

Jade slapped his hands away. “You are a …stalker. It’s a chicken! I know your hair is long to cover your ears.”

“That’s not a secret.”

Myron moved his face closer to Jade’s. She brushed a stray lock of hair from his eyes. She licked her lips, opening slightly. Myron pulled her face towards him. Her eyelids dropped as she felt his breath on her lips.

“Jade, where are you?” Donovan shrieked from her locator.

Myron and Jade jumped away from each other. Quickly, Myron scanned the area for operatives. Charles had a firm rule: relationships were banned on the team. He would not be forgiving if he found out about their relationship. Myron wasn't about to lose any ground that he had made with Jade. If she gave him a centimeter, he stole a kilometer.

Jade rolled her eyes as she clicked her locator. “Yes, Donovan.”

“The British are here. In the Meeting room… 15 minutes.”

“Of course.”

Donovan had impeccable timing.

Myron frowned. “I can’t wait until we don’t have to jump away from each other. The time when we can be in the open.”

“Don’t count on it, Flyboy. Practice jumping like a jumping bean, Buddy. Charles would kill us, if he ever found out about us!”

“Jade… what are we exactly? We aren’t lovers. Not girlfriend and boyfriend.”

Jade shrugged in dismay. “What’s with the questions? We have a mutual attraction, a bond deepened with a bit of lust.”

Myron nodded. “Of course.  By the way, nice escape and avoidance. Why didn’t you suspend time to save yourself from falling?”

Jade scowled.  “I had other things on my mind.”

“Like what?”

“Nothing.”

“Fine, I need to return you to headquarters.”