Once she was dressed in her sweats and a t-shirt, Jasmine made herself comfortable on the sofa and waited for the others to arrive. She flicked through the channels on the television whilst Richie ran around upstairs trying to make it look as though Jasmine was in the guest room. He tidied the bathroom, put her clothes in his closet and the empty bag in the guest room. He messed the guest room bed up a little and left a few of her things on the bed. Satisfied that he had done enough, he went downstairs to find Jasmine curled up on the sofa in the den.
“Hey. Feel better now?” he said, kissing the top of her head. She looked up at him and replied,
“Yeah, relaxed and cleaner.” She patted the seat next to her, “Come here.”
Richie sat next to her and she curled herself into him, pulling his arm around her. She reached up and pulled his head down, kissing him quickly.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“Just because.” She said, shifting closer to him and holding him tight. She was having trouble accepting the events of the last 24 hours and the fact that she had Richie looking after her was more than a little surreal. She settled in his arms and closed her eyes, tiredness overcoming her yet again. Richie held onto her, sensing that she needed the contact and reassurance that he could give her. He reached for the remote control and switched the stereo on, filling the room with the sound of The Beatles. They sat as they were until Richie heard the crunch of tires on the gravel outside; the guys knew the code to the gate so hadn’t bothered letting him know they had arrived. He moved Jasmine carefully until she was lying on the sofa and went to answer the door, hoping he’d get there before they walked in and woke her up.
“Hey man,” Jon said, hugging Richie loosely and patting him on the back, “How is she?”
“Sore, tired and emotional. She’s just fallen asleep again so keep the noise down. We’ll go sit in the garden out back.”
Jon nodded and headed towards the kitchen to put the coffee on. David and Hugh asked after Jasmine as they greeted Richie then followed in Jon’s footsteps. They congregated on the deck outside the kitchen, the patio window left open so they could listen out for Jasmine; something in all of them subconsciously wanting to make sure they could hear if she needed them.
“What the hell happened, Rich?” Hugh asked.
Richie told them the whole story, from arranging to go to dinner to arriving and being pushed aside by someone coming out of the building. David and Hugh leaned forward in their seats as Richie told them about finding her and the ensuing conversation about hospitals. He did not tell them what had happened later the night before or the events that had happened only an hour or so before they arrived.
“Fuck. That’s some pretty serious shit. What did the cops say?” David asked, shaking his head and making his curls bounce.
“She doesn’t want them involved. She got scared when I mentioned it.” Richie took a deep breath, knowing that he had to tell Jon what Jasmine told him about what her father had said. Jon sensed something wasn’t quite right, the look in Richie’s eyes told him so,
“Rich, what’s wrong? What aren’t you telling us?”
“Her father has been watching her. Not just her, us. You and me, man. When he was beating her he told her that he’d seen her with us and knew that she had a rich boyfriend. It didn’t matter what she said, he didn’t believe her and just hit her harder.”
Jon’s heart pumped faster as he listened to his friend speak. It was bad enough that Jasmine’s father had beaten her but that he had been following her as well? That just made him even angrier.
“What do you mean he’s been watching us?”
“He knows where we live. He’s seen her come and go from both our houses. He doesn’t know who we are but he knows we have money.”
“Well shit, we’ll just give him what he wants and then he can go fuck off.” Jon replied.
Richie looked at Jon like he had sprouted two heads, and looking at David and Hugh, they were just as surprised at Jon’s outburst.
“You don’t mean that Kidd. You’ve never given in just like that before, what’s so different now?”
Jon shrugged, he wasn’t sure himself why he had rolled over so easily.
“I don’t know. I just don’t like this situation, and I guess seeing Jasmine hurt so bad last night really got to me. We have to do something about this guy, even if she won’t.”
“Don’t you dare,” said a sleepy voice from the kitchen. Jasmine had woken up and followed the voices through the house until she found the four men in the garden. She stepped out into the fresh air and took a gulp, letting it open up her lungs and filter into her brain, waking her up and clearing the fogginess in her head.
“You won’t do anything about my father. He’ll be long gone by now anyway, he didn’t get what he wanted and he’ll be worried about whether I went to the cops or not. He won’t be back for a long time.”
The guys looked her over and nodded, “Ok, we’ll forget it for now if that’s what you want, but this conversation isn’t over,” Jon said, taking over.
“Do you always get what you want Jon?”
“Mostly. So don’t bother arguing with me when I say that security around you and us will be stepped up for a while, just in case.”
Jasmine sighed in resignation, she knew better than to argue with Jon at the best of times, let alone when he was in full protective mode.
“Don’t worry about her security, man. She’s staying here until I’m certain that she’s well enough to go home.” Richie said, smiling at Jasmine and pulling a chair out for her to sit on.
“Good.”
“Hey, I am still here you know.” Jasmine protested weakly.
Richie put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head, “We know, and we’re glad you still are. Just humor us and our macho protectiveness would you?”
She smiled back at him and gave his hand a squeeze. The exchange was witnessed by the others, who gave each other knowing looks, but they refrained from saying anything about it, there would be plenty of time to find out how close Jasmine and Richie really were later.
“So, how are you feeling today?” Hugh asked Jasmine. She gave them a brief run down and lifted her shirt to show them her back when David said that it didn’t look like she had been hurt too much. On seeing her black and purple back David couldn’t help but wince.
“Shit baby, that’s some bruise you got there. How on earth are you sitting up like that?”
“Drugs, David, very good drugs.” She laughed.
“They must be. That looks so painful.”
“It is, but I’m coping.”
After satisfying themselves that Jasmine was okay and that Richie was playing nurse properly, the topic of conversation shifted towards work, family and vacations, anything except what had happened to Jasmine.
Tico arrived an hour later and the story was told again, although it was Hugh and David telling it rather than letting Jasmine relive it again. She sat and listened as they explained what had happened and, except for the searing pain that ripped through her occasionally, she thought she could have been listening to a tale about what had happened to someone else. It didn’t seem real and it didn’t feel like it was her they were talking about.
The guys stayed for lunch but went early into the afternoon after Jasmine started yawning and it was obvious that as much as she was enjoying the company and taking her mind off things, all she really wanted to do was to curl up in bed and have a good deep sleep. They said their goodbyes, hugging Jasmine as well as they could without hurting her and telling her to call them if she needed anything. The same was extended to Richie, who nodded and said that he always did. As Jon was leaving he took Richie aside,
“Everything ok Rich?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Just checking. It couldn’t have been easy on you finding her like that. I know you’ve gotten close to her.”
“To be honest it was awful but she’s coped so well that I feel bad for feeling a little overwhelmed.”
Jon nodded in understanding, “Call me if you need to talk it through bro, don’t keep anything bottled up. You may think you’re ok now but if you feel the need to vent then just call me.”
“I hear you, thanks. We’re both ok though. The emotional scars will take longer to heal for her than the physical ones, but she’s a tough cookie.”
“She is that. Take care of her man, and yourself. We’ll talk about starting work again on Sunday but for now, make sure she rests and heals.”
Whilst the guys were saying goodbye to Richie, Jasmine had headed up to bed. She looked in on the guest room and smiled. Richie had made it look as if she was staying in there, he’d even rumpled the sheets, but she had no intention of sleeping there, she needed comfort and human contact and she wasn’t going to get it sleeping on her own. She curled up in the middle of Richie’s bed and was asleep before she had managed to pull the covers over her.
Richie went hunting for Jasmine when he was alone again and found her curled up on his bed, her arms around his pillow and a contented look on her face. His heart swelled to know that she had chosen to sleep in his bed rather than the guest one, despite her misgivings about their relationship and the fact that the guys had still been there. He pulled the covers over her and pulled the door closed, letting her sleep for a while until he had dinner ready.
He spent the afternoon pottering around the house, preparing dinner and wandering from room to room. When he got to the den he saw one of his guitars sitting in the corner and picked it up, all of a sudden feeling the need to work his frustrations out in the only way he knew how.
Jasmine found him this way a while later having woken from her nap and going in search of something to soothe her rumbling stomach. She stood at the doorway and listened to the beautiful sound coming from the Martin in Richie’s hands. She wasn’t sure how long she had been listening but was woken from her trance by the rumbling of her still hungry stomach. Richie looked up at the rumbling and smiled a smile that went straight to his eyes and through them.
“Good evening sleeping beauty,” he said, holding his hand out for her. Jasmine walked to him and took his hand, entwining her fingers with his.
“Good evening yourself. What was that you were playing? It was beautiful.”
“Just something that came to me earlier, just working out my feelings about what happened to you I guess. I take it you liked it?”
“I really did. Did you write any of it down?” She hoped he had, it was a beautiful, haunting melody and she wanted to hear it again.
“No, but I’m sure I can play it again, it won’t leave my head. I have lyrics too.”
“Can I hear them?”
Richie frowned, although the words were uniquely for her he wasn’t ready to show them to anyone. The song was still at the early stages.
“Would you be hurt if I said no? Its just they’re not where I want them yet and I want you to hear the complete version.”
Jasmine rolled her eyes and laughed, “Of course dummy, I know how these things work. I’ll wait until you’re ready.”
Richie pulled her down for a hug and kissed her soundly on the lips. Jasmine wound her arms around his neck and bunched her hands into his hair; they stayed like this until Jasmine’s stomach again let it’s discomfort known and they headed for the kitchen for sustenance.
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