Perspectives from the Food Court III:
The Bouncy Goddess Relief Hot-line Counseling Service
by Jason "BoneparteOzaki" Bertovich
©1999 by Jason Bertovich and Matthew Atanian
Boy Scouts ½ created by Matthew Atanian
The Bouncy Goddess Relief Hot-line Counseling Service
by Jason "BoneparteOzaki" Bertovich
©1999 by Jason Bertovich and Matthew Atanian
Boy Scouts ½ created by Matthew Atanian
Author's Notes:
OK, Well, I told Matt that I wasn’t gonna write this part until Part 12 was done. Then, he went and actually wrote Part 12! Doh! Now, that means I have to keep my word… I’m such a baka! Bakabakabakabakabakabakabaka!
Anyway, this series is now gonna switch gears in a manner of speaking. Matt put it best. “I started out wanting to make this into an ensemble story, but it was turning into The Matt Atanian Show, featuring a dog, a cat, a duck, and a squirrel.” That’s exactly what is happening to Perspectives. I began as a proposed ensemble series, but it was quickly becoming The Jason Bertovich Story featuring two other people. So to nip this in the bud, I’m gonna make the primary focus of this chapter our “lovely Goddess, the bouncy one herself, and no I’m not mad at you for leaving me at the Baltimore Bus station and I still love you” Fenny Lin. Ahem… This story takes place right after Part 12: A Night of Magic and takes place on the Monday that follows.
And now, on with the story…
Anyway, this series is now gonna switch gears in a manner of speaking. Matt put it best. “I started out wanting to make this into an ensemble story, but it was turning into The Matt Atanian Show, featuring a dog, a cat, a duck, and a squirrel.” That’s exactly what is happening to Perspectives. I began as a proposed ensemble series, but it was quickly becoming The Jason Bertovich Story featuring two other people. So to nip this in the bud, I’m gonna make the primary focus of this chapter our “lovely Goddess, the bouncy one herself, and no I’m not mad at you for leaving me at the Baltimore Bus station and I still love you” Fenny Lin. Ahem… This story takes place right after Part 12: A Night of Magic and takes place on the Monday that follows.
And now, on with the story…
A cold chill blew across the suburb of Holyoke. Fall was in full swing and the New England weather was famous for it’s chilly nights. However the cold was having little effect in some places.
Inside a small apartment in the darkness, Jason, the semi-lonely electronics sales clerk transplant, lay face-up on his sleeping futon which lay on the floor of his apartment. He had kicked the sheets into a large pile and appeared to be physically uncomfortable. Jason was in fact physically sweating from some unknown source of warmth.
He sat up and brushed the hair out of his eyes and grabbed the digital alarm clock from off the floor. It blinked back at him “2:30 AM.” He sighed. He was unable to sleep…again.
Once again the late night insomnia made camp in Jason’s apartment. Usually, it was because of an important decision or a deadline, but tonight it was for a different reason. It was because of her. The girl he had met the previous morning. Jason touched his nose and winced. It was still tender.
Jason laid back down and returned to his nocturnal staring of his fascinating ceiling. Why was this girl, this Nicole Porter, disturbing his sleep so? Maybe, she was something that he had hoped to find ever since he moved to this frozen wasteland. A girl with a sharp mind, beautiful looks, and just a bit of an attitude. He may had just hit the jackpot! He had her phone number! She appeared to actually like him! What was the ^&%$#ing problem then?!?
Jason sighed again. This is the part that had kept him up. She had everything he could actually want in a girl, but she appeared just slightly out of reach. Here he was, a 20 year old man, and there she was, a girl of no more than 16-17, still in high school no less. Now, Jason wasn’t one to put a taboo on age. His own parents had a 5 year age difference. But while society didn’t bat an eye at a 30 year old man dating a 26 year old woman, it tended to frown upon a 20 year old man, or frankly any man over the age of 18, dating a 16 year old girl. To be more exact, the LAW tended to frown upon it.
Jason really wondered why this bothered him. It wasn’t like he was planning anything lewd or evil with this girl. He was quite bothered by that kind of attitude in dating. He really wondered if it was the age thing, or if it was something else. Jason was feeling very tired. His head hurt and he was losing sleep over something he wasn’t sure he why he was losing sleep over it. He needed to talk to someone.
Jason glanced at the clock again. He had a class in 6 hours. His only class for Mondays, History of World Cultural Shown Through Literature Which in Turn is Shown Through Film. A very dry subject. He could probably grab a few winks during the weekly presentation. He began to make plans for what to do afterwards. He wanted to talk to someone about this, and there was only one person he could think of that was qualified to deal with his Neuroses, and he knew where to find her, the Holyoke Mall.
Monday afternoons were notoriously slow. Filene’s, a department store inside the Holyoke Mall, was as quiet as a town in a western before the desperadoes arrived. Fenny leaned against her department register and sighed quietly to herself. She brushed her black hair out of her eye and looked for something, anything of interest that needed her attention.
Fenny began to organize the racks of dresses in order of size and color and price and anything else she could classify them by. She was quite bored.
“I wonder how John is doing in the Shoe Department? It has to be a hell of a lot better there than it is here right now,” Fenny thought out loud. Her only audience were a pair of Mannequins locked in an eternal pose. Suddenly, Fenny’s mind snapped to attention. Someone is coming. Hmm…Aha! It’s Jason! I was wondering if he would come to me…I should believe my instincts more often… Fenny gave a smirk at her thought. She sat on the register desk and let her legs swing casually.
She saw Jason enter the department. Jason quickly spotted her and made his approach. She jumped from her seat on the desk and proceeded to bounce toward Jason. “Jason honey!” Fenny shouted jubilantly.
“Fenny!” Jason returned the enthusiasm. “Hey, I was wondering…”
“You want my advice right?” Fenny interrupted.
Jason stepped back a moment. “Well…yeah. How did you…?”
Fenny mentally kicked herself. Doh! You have to curb this eagerness thing, you’re gonna give yourself away! Bakabakabaka! “I…um…talked to…um…John. Yeah! I talked to John and he said that you had something on your mind.” She waited for a reaction.
Jason loosened. “Oh…ok. That makes sense. It was just weird. For a second I though…maybe…just maybe, you were some sort of psychic.”
Fenny mentally breathed a sigh of relief. “Nope. Not a psychic.” Well, technically, I’m not really a psychic.
“Damn. I was gonna ask for lotto picks.” Jason smirked.
Fenny giggled a bit. “Step into my office.” She pointed to the register desk. Fenny took a seat and let her legs dangle and swing casually.
Jason stood there and wondered where to start. “Well, you see Fenny. I kinda met this girl. Well, I met her in an unusual way yesterday.” Jason started.
“Does that explain the nose?” Fenny asked pointing to his still semi-swollen nasal instrument.
“Well, yeah it does. But, THAT’S a different story and one for the next meeting of the Holyoke Refugees of Employment Hell. Anyway, I met this girl and I’m kinda unsure what to do about it.”
“Really? I would have figured that meeting a girl would be an easy situation for you.”
“Well, You see, she’s kinda…well…she can’t be no older than 16 or 17,” Jason explained.
“So?” Fenny shrugged her shoulders.
“Well…I’m 20,” Jason explained.
“So?” Fenny had a blank look on her face.
“Well…don’t you see?” Jason looked at her with a pleading look in his eyes.
“Well, to be quite honest with you, I don’t,” Fenny answered Matter-of-factly. Fenny’s eyes suddenly shifted to the dress rack behind Jason. Hmm…another presence…Male…lovesick as a dog…I’ll give my attention to him in a moment. He doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere soon. A slight movement from the rack confirmed it.
Jason paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. “Well, don’t you think that she’s too young for me?”
Fenny sighed. Mortal men! How do women put up with them? For that matter, how the hell did civilization get this far if men can’t make even simple decisions about love? Oy! “Jason, I’m gonna ask you a simple question. What do you think of this girl?”
“Well…,” Jason paused and collected his thoughts, “I think she’s nice.”
“Do you enjoy her company?” Fenny interrogated.
“Well…yeah,” Jason answered.
“And when you are not in her company do you wish that you were?” Fenny continued the question barrage.
Jason slightly sagged his shoulders. “Well…yeah.”
“Congrats Jason! You are experiencing the sensation known as affection, and to a deeper extent… ‘Love.’ Now comes the tough question! Does the age difference bother you?” Fenny smirked.
“Not…really.” Jason shrugged.
“And do you think it bothers her?”
“Probably not,” Jason answered.
“Then, is there really a problem?” Fenny asked non-chalantly.
“But won’t people talk?” Jason asked concerned.
“What people? Are you suddenly going to prance around town proclaiming that you are dating a girl a couple of years younger than you?” Fenny sighed.
“Well…no. Of course not,” Jason said quietly.
“Then why would people talk? People, for the most part tend to mind their own business and they only ‘talk’ if you give them a reason to.” Fenny sighed again. This boy is hopeless!
“OK. So, what do I do now?” Jason asked.
“What do you mean ‘What do I do now?!?’ You stop asking me silly questions and you tell this girl your intentions!” Fenny shouted exasperated.
“But, what if she doesn’t feel the same?” Jason asked.
“Well then, she doesn’t feel the same. And you know what? You will move on. It’s not like the world will end. Keeping it to yourself won’t gain you anything! All that does is make you miserable and it makes you keep asking yourself ‘what if…?’ You can either gain a valuable treasure, or have a treasure slip away, but neither will happen if you continue to stand here and ask the question ‘what if…?’” Fenny preached. Don’t worry Jas, if the energy I’m feeling is right, and it usually is, then you’ve got nothing to worry about…
Jason looked down at his shoes. “You know, I think I knew this all along. I think I just wanted to here it from someone else.” Jason lifted his head and smiled slightly.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re a man, it’s understandable.” Fenny smirked.
“Well, I guess I’m gonna go for broke and give her a call.” Jason perked up a little.
“You better! I hate to think you talked to me for this long and then wasted my time.” Fenny answered in a pseudo-stern voice.
Jason gave a wave and left Fenny’s department in the Filene’s Department Store. Fenny waited for Jason to be out of sight. She then went to dress rack where she seen the movement. She approached it nonchalantly. Mustn’t frighten him away… And in one single motion she pulled the dress rack open. A surprised young man fell through and landed face first on the floor. He stood up just as quickly and turned his head in a surprised manner.
“Care to tell me why you were spying on me?” Fenny asked the boy. She paused to get a better look at him. He was sort of tall and pretty lanky. A rather unremarkable young man, though what stood out about him was the one leather glove-clad hand holding the tome of Shakespeare.
“I wasn’t spying on you!” The boy shouted defensively.
“Oh really? Then I guess you find something fascinating about these dresses?” Fenny asked matter-of-factly.
“What?!?” The lanky boy shouted.
“Oh don’t worry. I’m totally cool with that sort of thing. If you are into that kind of lifestyle, then who am I to judge? So, do you know what size you wear or is this your first time?” Fenny asked seriously, trying to keep a straight face. It’s so fun to watch’em squirm…
“No! No! It’s not like that!” The boy squirmed shaking his head vehemently.
“So you weren’t spying on me...AND…you weren’t interested in the dresses. Well, now I’m confused,” Fenny said melodramatically. “I guess the only alternative is that you are stalking the young man I was talking to earlier. Oh dear…”
“No! No! NOOOooooooooo! It’s not like that either!” The boy finally sagged his shoulders in defeat. “OK, maybe I was spying on you. But don’t get the wrong idea! That guy seemed to really get a lot out of your advice. I kinda have this problem with the girl I like.”
“Oh really?” Fenny asked. She concentrated. Hmm…pure physical attraction…totally shallow…girl has expressed no interest in him…wait a minute…the girl…there is something really odd about her! I sensed it earlier…hmm…I’ll come back to that later. I better deal with the situation at hand.
“Well I was at camp this summer and I met this really hot red-headed chick. The thing is that she’s like totally shy,” the boy started.
“Totally shy? Hmm…did she say anything to you?” Fenny asked, already knowing the answer.
“Well…only that she ‘has no interest in me whatsoever.’ But a lot of chicks tell me that. They are just hiding their true feelings. I got this killer new plan! Chicks love this romantic crap right?”
“Romantic crap? Well, Women do tend to enjoy romance a little,” Fenny answered.
“Right, well I heard chicks dig this Will Shakespeare guy, so I’m gonna do the sensitive guy routine and then she’ll be mine!” the lanky boy shouted triumphantly, proud of his "plan."
Fenny simply rolled her eyes and realized that this guy was a lost cause. “So you were spying on me…”
“I was Surveillancing you,” interrupted the boy.
“OK, so you were surveillancing me because you though I could give you good advice. You still want it?” Fenny asked very seriously.
“Hey, what better way to get a chick by asking another chick.” The boy smirked.
Did he just call me a ‘chick?’ a lesser person would probably incinerate him for that, but he’s young and immature, so I’ll cut him a break…this time. “It’s true that Shakespeare wrote a lot on romance. It’s also true that a lot of that material was in the form of tragedy.”
“So…what’s your point?” The boy asked blankly.
“My point is that some romances are destined for tragedy. I think you might wanna let this one go sport.” Fenny replied very serious.
The boy became flustered. “Well…what….what do you know?!?” the boy shouted and stomped off not liking the advice he had sought.
“You’d be surprised by what I know,” Fenny said out loud to herself.
“Well, well, well…She wouldn’t be our sister if she wasn’t meddling in the affairs of mortals,” a voice came from behind Fenny.
“Yes, that’s our Fenira, always the romantic at heart,” another voice added.
Fenny turned around surprised. She then smiled. Where the two mannequins had stood were two women wearing the outfits the mannequins had been wearing.
“Sonyarina! Jordiko! My sisters! What are you doing here?!?” Fenny asked surprised.
“Fenira,” Jordiko began sternly, “you know it’s against the rules to interfere with the lives of Mortals.”
“But Jordiko…” Fenny pouted. “It’s not Interfering, it’s Intervening. These people need my help!”
“Fenira! Rules are rules!” Sonyarina reprimanded.
“Can’t you sense it?” Fenny asked.
“Sense what?” Sonyarina asked perplexed.
“The emotional love-energy in this place! It’s off the scale!” Fenny explained.
“What energy?” Jordiko asked confused.
“That’s because you never spend time around the mortals! Every person in this town, in this world, is emitting a form of energy! I mean, this town alone! Everyone seems to have some deep desire and I can feel them all as clear as day…well, except for this one source of energy that is really kinda foggy and almost seems to change, but that’s a mystery I’m personally studying. By studying their energies, I can tell what gender they are and what they desire. It’s amazing! So much frustration pent-up inside these people, if I can help relieve a little bit of that frustration, I will!” Fenny explained.
“You know the agency will have your ass on a platter if they found out about this.” Sonyarina took a grave tone.
“Will someone tell them?” Fenny asked innocently giving her sister a pair of very big, sad eyes.
“Oh Fenira, whenever you do that…” Sonyarina sighed and rolled her eyes. “OK, you can stay. But please don’t mess up these mortals’ lives too much. Otherwise, we’re all going to have to hear about it.”
“You know sis, it wouldn’t hurt a goddess like you to hang around the mortals every once in awhile. It might actually be good for you.” Fenny smiled.
“Really?” Jordiko asked.
“No thanks sis. I’ve got enough problems as it is with the central agency. Come sister, we better go before someone sees us.” Sonyarina half-smiled.
“Goodbye Fenira! Let us know how things turn out. Be good!” Jordiko added.
“You know I will.” Fenny replied with her fingers crossed. She watched her sisters vanish and the mannequins return to their original positions.
“Really, those two have no faith in me whatsoever!” Fenny added outloud.
“WHAT?” a boy with headphones shouted behind her.
“Augh!” Fenny jumped three feet in the air.
“ARE YOU TALKING TO THE MANNEQUINS?” the boy with headphones asked.
“What?” Fenny asked confused.
“WHAT?” the boy with headphones replied.
“What?”
“WHAT?”
“Huh?”
“WHAT?”
“Is there something you need?” Fenny asked politely.
“WHAT?”
Hmmm…desires…desires…odd, it appears that his only desire is to destroy his eardrums… Fenny thought to herself.
Jason felt as if the whole world had been lifted from his shoulders. In fact, he felt as if he might start skipping like a schoolgirl if he felt any better. He quietly hummed a little ditty to himself and he passed the various stores, and in his blind bliss he successfully crashed into someone leaving a store causing both of them to come down in a pile.
Jason shook his head and looked up. He then did a double-take and scooted back a foot. As if the universe had just said, “Screw probability.” He had just crashed into Nicole Porter who lay on the floor shaking her head.
“Hey! Watch where the hell you’re goi…WHA?!?” Nicole shouted as she then realized who she had just ran into. She really couldn’t see what had happened as she was carrying several things and was unable to see directly in front of her.
“Nicole?” was all Jason could dumbly say.
“Well, well, well what a surprise!” Nicole smirked.
“Is it a pleasant one?” Jason asked cautiously, testing the conversational waters.
“Well, personally, I tend to find being knocked to the floor to not be pleasant, but today it’s not too bad.” Nicole said seriously and then let out a small giggle.
Jason decided that the floor wasn’t the best place for a conversation. He stood up and held his hand out to Nicole who accepted it. She stood up and looked at all the bags that scattered to the floor when she fell. She bent down to begin picking the up.
“Here, let me help you with that.” Jason kneeled down and grabbed a couple bags.
“Thanks.” Nicole replied. Jason noticed for the first time what was on the bags. Pet Supplies Plus. Jason looked up and noticed that it was the store that she just in fact walk out of.
“Hmmm…Litter box…food bowls…squeaky toys…” Jason catalogued the purchases. “My sense of deduction has told me that you just got a…hmmm…wait don’t tell me…a…a….penguin!”
Nicole tried to keep a straight face. She wasn’t succeeding. “Very funny. Do you do open mike nights?”
“Only on Wednesdays. Usually the crowd isn’t as violent then,” Jason smirked.
The pair had gathered the bags and stood there. “Hey Nicole, um do you need help getting these home?”
“Well, My sister drove me here and we are supposed to meet soon.” She noticed Jason’s shoulder sag slightly. “ But I wouldn’t mind some help in carrying these to our car so I don’t have to carry these things for another half an hour.”
“Sure!” Jason perked up. Jason, you just sounded way too enthusiastic.
The pair started toward the parking lot. Nicole was trying to hide a grin, and she was hoping that it wasn’t too obvious. The pair continued to walk.
“Nicole…” Jason began.
“Yeah?” Nicole replied as they passed the food court.
“Can I ask you a question?” Jason asked in a serious tone.
“I don’t know? Is there a condition that prevents you from doing that?” Nicole smirked.
“Yeah, I guess it is a silly way of putting it.” Jason agreed. “I wanted to know if you would mind telling me how old you are.”
“I don’t see why I would mind doing that. I’m 16.” Nicole answered. She then noticed that Jason hesitated and then continued to walk. “Is there something wrong?”
Jason paused and seemed to collect his thoughts. “I was wondering on how you felt about older guys dating younger women?”
“Hmm…I don’t know. Do you know of some 40 year old guy who wants to date me?” Nicole asked innocently.
“Well…no. I kinda meant…” Jason stammered.
“You? Is that a serious question? You’re no older than what? 19? 20?” Nicole answered sternly.
“Well…yeah. I’m 20” Jason answered.
“And you call that old? Please! You’re not even able to drink! It’s not like some 102 year old billionaire marrying some 18 year old super-model.” Nicole sighed. Men… so hopeless.
Jason breathed a sigh of relief. “So the age thing doesn’t bother you?” “Why would it bother me? There’s only one issue that society sees as wrong in that situation. And trust me…if you even Attempted something like that…well, you remember our first meeting?” Nicole’s eyes narrowed.
Jason thought back to the hulking giant who Nicole had taken down. He felt a slight twinge in his testicles at the thought of the prospect of her foot kicking him there. “I see. Trust me, I’m not that kind of guy,” Jason answered back very honestly.
“That’s good for you, because if your were that kind of guy…I’d do something even worse.” Nicole answered with a very dark and serious glint in her eyes.
“That is one thing that you won’t have to worry about.” Jason answered just as seriously.
“Well then,” Nicole lightened, “is there anything else you wanted to ask me?” The pair were now in the parking lot. Nicole pointed to her car and the pair began to load things into her trunk.
“Well…yeah.” Jason paused and collected his thoughts. “I really enjoy being in your company. I was wondering if we could…maybe be in each others company again…maybe for dinner?”
Nicole thought about it. “Do I get to pick the place?”
“Well…yeah.” Jason stammered.
“You got my number. Call me Thursday night and I’ll tell you when to pick me up. Friday night’s OK for you, right?” Nicole answered.
Jason mentally thought to his work schedule. Friday…Friday…nope, clear! “Yeah, Friday’s very good for me!” Jason answered excitably.
“Well, then I guess I’ll hear from you on Thursday night. It will give me time to talk things out with my sister.” Nicole looked at her watch. “In fact, she’s waiting for me in the food court now!” Nicole broke into a sprint. “Talk to you Thursday. Hate to leave so suddenly, but Neko-chan is waiting for me to get home.”
“Neko-chan? ‘Little Cat?’ That’s an awfully strange name for a pet penguin.” Jason added.
Nicole laughed very hard letting Jason see her nice smile. She then continued into the mall, leaving Jason standing in the parking lot.
Jason stood there for a moment and collected his thoughts. He had a date. HE…HAD…A…DATE! He calmly composed himself and straightened himself up…then he leapt in the air and clicked his heels while shouting “whoo hoo!” After his little victory cry, he composed himself again. He decided that he better head home himself.
He walked in the parking lot searching for his car. “Yessir! This is my day! Lucky lucky lucky!…” Jason happily chattered to himself. “Yep, things are finally going my way…” Jason said to himself as he put his key in the car door.
“Well, well, well…” A voice gruffed behind him. Jason stood very still. He recognized that voice. He knew exactly where he had heard it before…Sunday Morning.
Jason turned around slowly. There standing behind him was the same gentlemen who punched him on Sunday. “Er…hi…” Jason stammered.
“I never figger I see you again. Guess it’s my lucky day.” The brute laughed as he cracked his knuckles. He approached Jason menacingly. “Now, It’s payback time.”
Jason wasn’t one for street fights. He knew he was in a very bad situation. He was outsized, outmuscled, and when a second slobbish brute walked out from behind the first guy, he knew he was outnumbered. “Now, guys…can’t we talk this out?”
“Talk it out? I believe you’ll have a hard time talking, cause we’re gonna break that smart ass mouth of yours.” The original brute gruffed.
This ain’t good! This is very VERY bad!!! Jason thought in a panicked haze. The pair were both getting closer. Guess I have no choice. Gonna have to use my ‘Special Attack.’ As the first one descended on Jason, Jason dropped to his knees and threw out a fast punch right into the brutes testicles. Jason immediately winced and pulled his hand back sharply. He had heard a distinctive ‘snap’ which meant he had just broken a finger. Meanwhile the brute hadn’t even winced. What the *&%^*?!? Did this guy put Novocain in his pants?!?
“You think I’m gonna fall for that again?” The brute smirked as he pulled out a protective cup from his pants. Jason couldn’t believe an idiot like this was smart enough to even think of such an idea. That was the last coherent thought Jason had as the pair came down on him…hard…
“Hey! Buddy! Can you hear me?” A voice said out of a foggy stupor.
Jason groaned. His eyes felt swollen and sticky. He was having serious trouble trying to open them. His face felt like it had the same consistency as saltwater taffy.
“Man, you had a number done on you.” The voice came again. Jason tried to reach out to the voice, but a hand stopped him. “I wouldn’t recommend moving until someone gets a look at you.
“Wha…huppon’d?” Jason slurred.
“Looks like a pair of guys were beating down on you something harsh. Lucky for you someone saw what was happening and got security. As soon as they say the mall cops come out, they bolted. The cops are gonna be here soon. Called for an ambulance too.”
Jason coughed and spit a little blood onto his shirt. Jason felt around his jaw and winced. If those bastards knocked any of my teeth out, I swear to God, I’m gonna kill the sunuvabitch. Jason thought to himself.
“Man, you’re pretty lucky. Those guys looked like they wanted to kill you.” The voice added.
“I um lukk-ee.” Jason slurred. Jason then heard the distinctive sirens approach and a few minutes later he felt himself being loaded onto a gurney which was being loaded into the back of an ambulance. “She said ‘yes’…” Jason said to no one in particular.
“Who said yes?” A new voice asked. Probably an EMT. Jason felt himself go back into unconsciousness as he was feeling quite tired.
“You think he’s gotten any broken ribs?” The one EMT ask the other.
“Dunno. We’ll have to be careful with him. Damn, whoever did this to him wasn’t screwing around. Hope he can I.D. these two so the cops can get em.”
“Yeah. But what I wanna know is why does he keeps smiling like that?” The first EMT said to the second pointing to Jason’s bloody lips formed into a broad grin.
“Maybe he knows something we don’t?” The second said to his coworker.
Nicole and Sarah exited the mall and entered the parking lot. In the slight distance they heard an ambulance siren. “Hey Nicole, look over there in the distance.” Sarah pointed out over several sections over to a crowd that had gathered.
“Hmm…I wonder what’s going on,” Nicole answered her sister. She began to walk toward the crowd.
The pair joined the mass of people trying to look over each other. A few police officers appeared to be asking questions. “Hey, what happened?” Nicole asked another onlooker.
The onlooker turned and faced Nicole. “Apparently this guy got jumped by two other guys in the lot about 40 minutes ago. They did a real job on him, they just took him away in an ambulance.”
“Wow. I wonder if Jason saw anything. I left him in the lot about that long ago,” Nicole wondered out loud.
“Did I just hear that we may have a witness?” one police officer asked over the onlooking crowd. The onlooker next to Nicole pointed to her.
The police officer took her to the front and pulled out a notepad. Nicole began by shaking her head. “Well I didn’t see anything, but I was in the lot about 40 minutes ago with this guy I met named Jason. He may have seen something. Maybe he was the one who alerted the security guards,” Nicole explained. “Maybe he’s back inside the mall.”
The officer pondered this and called the other officer over. “Hey, we may have a witness in the mall. Go inside and see if see if we can get him over the public address system.” He then paused and looked toward Nicole. “What was his full name?”
“Jason Bertovich. He works at the Electronics Boutique in this mall if that helps,” Nicole responded politely.
“You get that?” the first officer asked the second. The second nodded his head and then handed something to the first.
“It’s the victim’s car keys. They were inside the car door. It looks like a college card wallet. Probably a form of ID,” the second explained and walked off to the mall.
The first opened the little wallet like keychain and looked at it’s contents. Nicole was beginning to turn away and return to her sister. “Excuse me miss…” the officer shouted out to Nicole as she turned around to walk back. Nicole came back.
“Is there a problem?” Nicole asked seriously.
“What did you say the possible witness’s name was?” the officer asked very seriously.
“Jason Bertovich.” Nicole answered. “Why?”
“Well…um…He’s definitely a witness.” the officer answered.
“What do you mean?” Nicole asked now confused. How could he have found out this quickly, when the second officer hadn’t even returned yet?
The officer flipped open the ID wallet and let Nicole see it’s insides. Inside were a college ID card and a social security card.
Nicole took a look and gasped slightly. The picture on the ID was Jason’s. “Oh no…”
Inside a small apartment in the darkness, Jason, the semi-lonely electronics sales clerk transplant, lay face-up on his sleeping futon which lay on the floor of his apartment. He had kicked the sheets into a large pile and appeared to be physically uncomfortable. Jason was in fact physically sweating from some unknown source of warmth.
He sat up and brushed the hair out of his eyes and grabbed the digital alarm clock from off the floor. It blinked back at him “2:30 AM.” He sighed. He was unable to sleep…again.
Once again the late night insomnia made camp in Jason’s apartment. Usually, it was because of an important decision or a deadline, but tonight it was for a different reason. It was because of her. The girl he had met the previous morning. Jason touched his nose and winced. It was still tender.
Jason laid back down and returned to his nocturnal staring of his fascinating ceiling. Why was this girl, this Nicole Porter, disturbing his sleep so? Maybe, she was something that he had hoped to find ever since he moved to this frozen wasteland. A girl with a sharp mind, beautiful looks, and just a bit of an attitude. He may had just hit the jackpot! He had her phone number! She appeared to actually like him! What was the ^&%$#ing problem then?!?
Jason sighed again. This is the part that had kept him up. She had everything he could actually want in a girl, but she appeared just slightly out of reach. Here he was, a 20 year old man, and there she was, a girl of no more than 16-17, still in high school no less. Now, Jason wasn’t one to put a taboo on age. His own parents had a 5 year age difference. But while society didn’t bat an eye at a 30 year old man dating a 26 year old woman, it tended to frown upon a 20 year old man, or frankly any man over the age of 18, dating a 16 year old girl. To be more exact, the LAW tended to frown upon it.
Jason really wondered why this bothered him. It wasn’t like he was planning anything lewd or evil with this girl. He was quite bothered by that kind of attitude in dating. He really wondered if it was the age thing, or if it was something else. Jason was feeling very tired. His head hurt and he was losing sleep over something he wasn’t sure he why he was losing sleep over it. He needed to talk to someone.
Jason glanced at the clock again. He had a class in 6 hours. His only class for Mondays, History of World Cultural Shown Through Literature Which in Turn is Shown Through Film. A very dry subject. He could probably grab a few winks during the weekly presentation. He began to make plans for what to do afterwards. He wanted to talk to someone about this, and there was only one person he could think of that was qualified to deal with his Neuroses, and he knew where to find her, the Holyoke Mall.
Monday afternoons were notoriously slow. Filene’s, a department store inside the Holyoke Mall, was as quiet as a town in a western before the desperadoes arrived. Fenny leaned against her department register and sighed quietly to herself. She brushed her black hair out of her eye and looked for something, anything of interest that needed her attention.
Fenny began to organize the racks of dresses in order of size and color and price and anything else she could classify them by. She was quite bored.
“I wonder how John is doing in the Shoe Department? It has to be a hell of a lot better there than it is here right now,” Fenny thought out loud. Her only audience were a pair of Mannequins locked in an eternal pose. Suddenly, Fenny’s mind snapped to attention. Someone is coming. Hmm…Aha! It’s Jason! I was wondering if he would come to me…I should believe my instincts more often… Fenny gave a smirk at her thought. She sat on the register desk and let her legs swing casually.
She saw Jason enter the department. Jason quickly spotted her and made his approach. She jumped from her seat on the desk and proceeded to bounce toward Jason. “Jason honey!” Fenny shouted jubilantly.
“Fenny!” Jason returned the enthusiasm. “Hey, I was wondering…”
“You want my advice right?” Fenny interrupted.
Jason stepped back a moment. “Well…yeah. How did you…?”
Fenny mentally kicked herself. Doh! You have to curb this eagerness thing, you’re gonna give yourself away! Bakabakabaka! “I…um…talked to…um…John. Yeah! I talked to John and he said that you had something on your mind.” She waited for a reaction.
Jason loosened. “Oh…ok. That makes sense. It was just weird. For a second I though…maybe…just maybe, you were some sort of psychic.”
Fenny mentally breathed a sigh of relief. “Nope. Not a psychic.” Well, technically, I’m not really a psychic.
“Damn. I was gonna ask for lotto picks.” Jason smirked.
Fenny giggled a bit. “Step into my office.” She pointed to the register desk. Fenny took a seat and let her legs dangle and swing casually.
Jason stood there and wondered where to start. “Well, you see Fenny. I kinda met this girl. Well, I met her in an unusual way yesterday.” Jason started.
“Does that explain the nose?” Fenny asked pointing to his still semi-swollen nasal instrument.
“Well, yeah it does. But, THAT’S a different story and one for the next meeting of the Holyoke Refugees of Employment Hell. Anyway, I met this girl and I’m kinda unsure what to do about it.”
“Really? I would have figured that meeting a girl would be an easy situation for you.”
“Well, You see, she’s kinda…well…she can’t be no older than 16 or 17,” Jason explained.
“So?” Fenny shrugged her shoulders.
“Well…I’m 20,” Jason explained.
“So?” Fenny had a blank look on her face.
“Well…don’t you see?” Jason looked at her with a pleading look in his eyes.
“Well, to be quite honest with you, I don’t,” Fenny answered Matter-of-factly. Fenny’s eyes suddenly shifted to the dress rack behind Jason. Hmm…another presence…Male…lovesick as a dog…I’ll give my attention to him in a moment. He doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere soon. A slight movement from the rack confirmed it.
Jason paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. “Well, don’t you think that she’s too young for me?”
Fenny sighed. Mortal men! How do women put up with them? For that matter, how the hell did civilization get this far if men can’t make even simple decisions about love? Oy! “Jason, I’m gonna ask you a simple question. What do you think of this girl?”
“Well…,” Jason paused and collected his thoughts, “I think she’s nice.”
“Do you enjoy her company?” Fenny interrogated.
“Well…yeah,” Jason answered.
“And when you are not in her company do you wish that you were?” Fenny continued the question barrage.
Jason slightly sagged his shoulders. “Well…yeah.”
“Congrats Jason! You are experiencing the sensation known as affection, and to a deeper extent… ‘Love.’ Now comes the tough question! Does the age difference bother you?” Fenny smirked.
“Not…really.” Jason shrugged.
“And do you think it bothers her?”
“Probably not,” Jason answered.
“Then, is there really a problem?” Fenny asked non-chalantly.
“But won’t people talk?” Jason asked concerned.
“What people? Are you suddenly going to prance around town proclaiming that you are dating a girl a couple of years younger than you?” Fenny sighed.
“Well…no. Of course not,” Jason said quietly.
“Then why would people talk? People, for the most part tend to mind their own business and they only ‘talk’ if you give them a reason to.” Fenny sighed again. This boy is hopeless!
“OK. So, what do I do now?” Jason asked.
“What do you mean ‘What do I do now?!?’ You stop asking me silly questions and you tell this girl your intentions!” Fenny shouted exasperated.
“But, what if she doesn’t feel the same?” Jason asked.
“Well then, she doesn’t feel the same. And you know what? You will move on. It’s not like the world will end. Keeping it to yourself won’t gain you anything! All that does is make you miserable and it makes you keep asking yourself ‘what if…?’ You can either gain a valuable treasure, or have a treasure slip away, but neither will happen if you continue to stand here and ask the question ‘what if…?’” Fenny preached. Don’t worry Jas, if the energy I’m feeling is right, and it usually is, then you’ve got nothing to worry about…
Jason looked down at his shoes. “You know, I think I knew this all along. I think I just wanted to here it from someone else.” Jason lifted his head and smiled slightly.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re a man, it’s understandable.” Fenny smirked.
“Well, I guess I’m gonna go for broke and give her a call.” Jason perked up a little.
“You better! I hate to think you talked to me for this long and then wasted my time.” Fenny answered in a pseudo-stern voice.
Jason gave a wave and left Fenny’s department in the Filene’s Department Store. Fenny waited for Jason to be out of sight. She then went to dress rack where she seen the movement. She approached it nonchalantly. Mustn’t frighten him away… And in one single motion she pulled the dress rack open. A surprised young man fell through and landed face first on the floor. He stood up just as quickly and turned his head in a surprised manner.
“Care to tell me why you were spying on me?” Fenny asked the boy. She paused to get a better look at him. He was sort of tall and pretty lanky. A rather unremarkable young man, though what stood out about him was the one leather glove-clad hand holding the tome of Shakespeare.
“I wasn’t spying on you!” The boy shouted defensively.
“Oh really? Then I guess you find something fascinating about these dresses?” Fenny asked matter-of-factly.
“What?!?” The lanky boy shouted.
“Oh don’t worry. I’m totally cool with that sort of thing. If you are into that kind of lifestyle, then who am I to judge? So, do you know what size you wear or is this your first time?” Fenny asked seriously, trying to keep a straight face. It’s so fun to watch’em squirm…
“No! No! It’s not like that!” The boy squirmed shaking his head vehemently.
“So you weren’t spying on me...AND…you weren’t interested in the dresses. Well, now I’m confused,” Fenny said melodramatically. “I guess the only alternative is that you are stalking the young man I was talking to earlier. Oh dear…”
“No! No! NOOOooooooooo! It’s not like that either!” The boy finally sagged his shoulders in defeat. “OK, maybe I was spying on you. But don’t get the wrong idea! That guy seemed to really get a lot out of your advice. I kinda have this problem with the girl I like.”
“Oh really?” Fenny asked. She concentrated. Hmm…pure physical attraction…totally shallow…girl has expressed no interest in him…wait a minute…the girl…there is something really odd about her! I sensed it earlier…hmm…I’ll come back to that later. I better deal with the situation at hand.
“Well I was at camp this summer and I met this really hot red-headed chick. The thing is that she’s like totally shy,” the boy started.
“Totally shy? Hmm…did she say anything to you?” Fenny asked, already knowing the answer.
“Well…only that she ‘has no interest in me whatsoever.’ But a lot of chicks tell me that. They are just hiding their true feelings. I got this killer new plan! Chicks love this romantic crap right?”
“Romantic crap? Well, Women do tend to enjoy romance a little,” Fenny answered.
“Right, well I heard chicks dig this Will Shakespeare guy, so I’m gonna do the sensitive guy routine and then she’ll be mine!” the lanky boy shouted triumphantly, proud of his "plan."
Fenny simply rolled her eyes and realized that this guy was a lost cause. “So you were spying on me…”
“I was Surveillancing you,” interrupted the boy.
“OK, so you were surveillancing me because you though I could give you good advice. You still want it?” Fenny asked very seriously.
“Hey, what better way to get a chick by asking another chick.” The boy smirked.
Did he just call me a ‘chick?’ a lesser person would probably incinerate him for that, but he’s young and immature, so I’ll cut him a break…this time. “It’s true that Shakespeare wrote a lot on romance. It’s also true that a lot of that material was in the form of tragedy.”
“So…what’s your point?” The boy asked blankly.
“My point is that some romances are destined for tragedy. I think you might wanna let this one go sport.” Fenny replied very serious.
The boy became flustered. “Well…what….what do you know?!?” the boy shouted and stomped off not liking the advice he had sought.
“You’d be surprised by what I know,” Fenny said out loud to herself.
“Well, well, well…She wouldn’t be our sister if she wasn’t meddling in the affairs of mortals,” a voice came from behind Fenny.
“Yes, that’s our Fenira, always the romantic at heart,” another voice added.
Fenny turned around surprised. She then smiled. Where the two mannequins had stood were two women wearing the outfits the mannequins had been wearing.
“Sonyarina! Jordiko! My sisters! What are you doing here?!?” Fenny asked surprised.
“Fenira,” Jordiko began sternly, “you know it’s against the rules to interfere with the lives of Mortals.”
“But Jordiko…” Fenny pouted. “It’s not Interfering, it’s Intervening. These people need my help!”
“Fenira! Rules are rules!” Sonyarina reprimanded.
“Can’t you sense it?” Fenny asked.
“Sense what?” Sonyarina asked perplexed.
“The emotional love-energy in this place! It’s off the scale!” Fenny explained.
“What energy?” Jordiko asked confused.
“That’s because you never spend time around the mortals! Every person in this town, in this world, is emitting a form of energy! I mean, this town alone! Everyone seems to have some deep desire and I can feel them all as clear as day…well, except for this one source of energy that is really kinda foggy and almost seems to change, but that’s a mystery I’m personally studying. By studying their energies, I can tell what gender they are and what they desire. It’s amazing! So much frustration pent-up inside these people, if I can help relieve a little bit of that frustration, I will!” Fenny explained.
“You know the agency will have your ass on a platter if they found out about this.” Sonyarina took a grave tone.
“Will someone tell them?” Fenny asked innocently giving her sister a pair of very big, sad eyes.
“Oh Fenira, whenever you do that…” Sonyarina sighed and rolled her eyes. “OK, you can stay. But please don’t mess up these mortals’ lives too much. Otherwise, we’re all going to have to hear about it.”
“You know sis, it wouldn’t hurt a goddess like you to hang around the mortals every once in awhile. It might actually be good for you.” Fenny smiled.
“Really?” Jordiko asked.
“No thanks sis. I’ve got enough problems as it is with the central agency. Come sister, we better go before someone sees us.” Sonyarina half-smiled.
“Goodbye Fenira! Let us know how things turn out. Be good!” Jordiko added.
“You know I will.” Fenny replied with her fingers crossed. She watched her sisters vanish and the mannequins return to their original positions.
“Really, those two have no faith in me whatsoever!” Fenny added outloud.
“WHAT?” a boy with headphones shouted behind her.
“Augh!” Fenny jumped three feet in the air.
“ARE YOU TALKING TO THE MANNEQUINS?” the boy with headphones asked.
“What?” Fenny asked confused.
“WHAT?” the boy with headphones replied.
“What?”
“WHAT?”
“Huh?”
“WHAT?”
“Is there something you need?” Fenny asked politely.
“WHAT?”
Hmmm…desires…desires…odd, it appears that his only desire is to destroy his eardrums… Fenny thought to herself.
Jason felt as if the whole world had been lifted from his shoulders. In fact, he felt as if he might start skipping like a schoolgirl if he felt any better. He quietly hummed a little ditty to himself and he passed the various stores, and in his blind bliss he successfully crashed into someone leaving a store causing both of them to come down in a pile.
Jason shook his head and looked up. He then did a double-take and scooted back a foot. As if the universe had just said, “Screw probability.” He had just crashed into Nicole Porter who lay on the floor shaking her head.
“Hey! Watch where the hell you’re goi…WHA?!?” Nicole shouted as she then realized who she had just ran into. She really couldn’t see what had happened as she was carrying several things and was unable to see directly in front of her.
“Nicole?” was all Jason could dumbly say.
“Well, well, well what a surprise!” Nicole smirked.
“Is it a pleasant one?” Jason asked cautiously, testing the conversational waters.
“Well, personally, I tend to find being knocked to the floor to not be pleasant, but today it’s not too bad.” Nicole said seriously and then let out a small giggle.
Jason decided that the floor wasn’t the best place for a conversation. He stood up and held his hand out to Nicole who accepted it. She stood up and looked at all the bags that scattered to the floor when she fell. She bent down to begin picking the up.
“Here, let me help you with that.” Jason kneeled down and grabbed a couple bags.
“Thanks.” Nicole replied. Jason noticed for the first time what was on the bags. Pet Supplies Plus. Jason looked up and noticed that it was the store that she just in fact walk out of.
“Hmmm…Litter box…food bowls…squeaky toys…” Jason catalogued the purchases. “My sense of deduction has told me that you just got a…hmmm…wait don’t tell me…a…a….penguin!”
Nicole tried to keep a straight face. She wasn’t succeeding. “Very funny. Do you do open mike nights?”
“Only on Wednesdays. Usually the crowd isn’t as violent then,” Jason smirked.
The pair had gathered the bags and stood there. “Hey Nicole, um do you need help getting these home?”
“Well, My sister drove me here and we are supposed to meet soon.” She noticed Jason’s shoulder sag slightly. “ But I wouldn’t mind some help in carrying these to our car so I don’t have to carry these things for another half an hour.”
“Sure!” Jason perked up. Jason, you just sounded way too enthusiastic.
The pair started toward the parking lot. Nicole was trying to hide a grin, and she was hoping that it wasn’t too obvious. The pair continued to walk.
“Nicole…” Jason began.
“Yeah?” Nicole replied as they passed the food court.
“Can I ask you a question?” Jason asked in a serious tone.
“I don’t know? Is there a condition that prevents you from doing that?” Nicole smirked.
“Yeah, I guess it is a silly way of putting it.” Jason agreed. “I wanted to know if you would mind telling me how old you are.”
“I don’t see why I would mind doing that. I’m 16.” Nicole answered. She then noticed that Jason hesitated and then continued to walk. “Is there something wrong?”
Jason paused and seemed to collect his thoughts. “I was wondering on how you felt about older guys dating younger women?”
“Hmm…I don’t know. Do you know of some 40 year old guy who wants to date me?” Nicole asked innocently.
“Well…no. I kinda meant…” Jason stammered.
“You? Is that a serious question? You’re no older than what? 19? 20?” Nicole answered sternly.
“Well…yeah. I’m 20” Jason answered.
“And you call that old? Please! You’re not even able to drink! It’s not like some 102 year old billionaire marrying some 18 year old super-model.” Nicole sighed. Men… so hopeless.
Jason breathed a sigh of relief. “So the age thing doesn’t bother you?” “Why would it bother me? There’s only one issue that society sees as wrong in that situation. And trust me…if you even Attempted something like that…well, you remember our first meeting?” Nicole’s eyes narrowed.
Jason thought back to the hulking giant who Nicole had taken down. He felt a slight twinge in his testicles at the thought of the prospect of her foot kicking him there. “I see. Trust me, I’m not that kind of guy,” Jason answered back very honestly.
“That’s good for you, because if your were that kind of guy…I’d do something even worse.” Nicole answered with a very dark and serious glint in her eyes.
“That is one thing that you won’t have to worry about.” Jason answered just as seriously.
“Well then,” Nicole lightened, “is there anything else you wanted to ask me?” The pair were now in the parking lot. Nicole pointed to her car and the pair began to load things into her trunk.
“Well…yeah.” Jason paused and collected his thoughts. “I really enjoy being in your company. I was wondering if we could…maybe be in each others company again…maybe for dinner?”
Nicole thought about it. “Do I get to pick the place?”
“Well…yeah.” Jason stammered.
“You got my number. Call me Thursday night and I’ll tell you when to pick me up. Friday night’s OK for you, right?” Nicole answered.
Jason mentally thought to his work schedule. Friday…Friday…nope, clear! “Yeah, Friday’s very good for me!” Jason answered excitably.
“Well, then I guess I’ll hear from you on Thursday night. It will give me time to talk things out with my sister.” Nicole looked at her watch. “In fact, she’s waiting for me in the food court now!” Nicole broke into a sprint. “Talk to you Thursday. Hate to leave so suddenly, but Neko-chan is waiting for me to get home.”
“Neko-chan? ‘Little Cat?’ That’s an awfully strange name for a pet penguin.” Jason added.
Nicole laughed very hard letting Jason see her nice smile. She then continued into the mall, leaving Jason standing in the parking lot.
Jason stood there for a moment and collected his thoughts. He had a date. HE…HAD…A…DATE! He calmly composed himself and straightened himself up…then he leapt in the air and clicked his heels while shouting “whoo hoo!” After his little victory cry, he composed himself again. He decided that he better head home himself.
He walked in the parking lot searching for his car. “Yessir! This is my day! Lucky lucky lucky!…” Jason happily chattered to himself. “Yep, things are finally going my way…” Jason said to himself as he put his key in the car door.
“Well, well, well…” A voice gruffed behind him. Jason stood very still. He recognized that voice. He knew exactly where he had heard it before…Sunday Morning.
Jason turned around slowly. There standing behind him was the same gentlemen who punched him on Sunday. “Er…hi…” Jason stammered.
“I never figger I see you again. Guess it’s my lucky day.” The brute laughed as he cracked his knuckles. He approached Jason menacingly. “Now, It’s payback time.”
Jason wasn’t one for street fights. He knew he was in a very bad situation. He was outsized, outmuscled, and when a second slobbish brute walked out from behind the first guy, he knew he was outnumbered. “Now, guys…can’t we talk this out?”
“Talk it out? I believe you’ll have a hard time talking, cause we’re gonna break that smart ass mouth of yours.” The original brute gruffed.
This ain’t good! This is very VERY bad!!! Jason thought in a panicked haze. The pair were both getting closer. Guess I have no choice. Gonna have to use my ‘Special Attack.’ As the first one descended on Jason, Jason dropped to his knees and threw out a fast punch right into the brutes testicles. Jason immediately winced and pulled his hand back sharply. He had heard a distinctive ‘snap’ which meant he had just broken a finger. Meanwhile the brute hadn’t even winced. What the *&%^*?!? Did this guy put Novocain in his pants?!?
“You think I’m gonna fall for that again?” The brute smirked as he pulled out a protective cup from his pants. Jason couldn’t believe an idiot like this was smart enough to even think of such an idea. That was the last coherent thought Jason had as the pair came down on him…hard…
“Hey! Buddy! Can you hear me?” A voice said out of a foggy stupor.
Jason groaned. His eyes felt swollen and sticky. He was having serious trouble trying to open them. His face felt like it had the same consistency as saltwater taffy.
“Man, you had a number done on you.” The voice came again. Jason tried to reach out to the voice, but a hand stopped him. “I wouldn’t recommend moving until someone gets a look at you.
“Wha…huppon’d?” Jason slurred.
“Looks like a pair of guys were beating down on you something harsh. Lucky for you someone saw what was happening and got security. As soon as they say the mall cops come out, they bolted. The cops are gonna be here soon. Called for an ambulance too.”
Jason coughed and spit a little blood onto his shirt. Jason felt around his jaw and winced. If those bastards knocked any of my teeth out, I swear to God, I’m gonna kill the sunuvabitch. Jason thought to himself.
“Man, you’re pretty lucky. Those guys looked like they wanted to kill you.” The voice added.
“I um lukk-ee.” Jason slurred. Jason then heard the distinctive sirens approach and a few minutes later he felt himself being loaded onto a gurney which was being loaded into the back of an ambulance. “She said ‘yes’…” Jason said to no one in particular.
“Who said yes?” A new voice asked. Probably an EMT. Jason felt himself go back into unconsciousness as he was feeling quite tired.
“You think he’s gotten any broken ribs?” The one EMT ask the other.
“Dunno. We’ll have to be careful with him. Damn, whoever did this to him wasn’t screwing around. Hope he can I.D. these two so the cops can get em.”
“Yeah. But what I wanna know is why does he keeps smiling like that?” The first EMT said to the second pointing to Jason’s bloody lips formed into a broad grin.
“Maybe he knows something we don’t?” The second said to his coworker.
Nicole and Sarah exited the mall and entered the parking lot. In the slight distance they heard an ambulance siren. “Hey Nicole, look over there in the distance.” Sarah pointed out over several sections over to a crowd that had gathered.
“Hmm…I wonder what’s going on,” Nicole answered her sister. She began to walk toward the crowd.
The pair joined the mass of people trying to look over each other. A few police officers appeared to be asking questions. “Hey, what happened?” Nicole asked another onlooker.
The onlooker turned and faced Nicole. “Apparently this guy got jumped by two other guys in the lot about 40 minutes ago. They did a real job on him, they just took him away in an ambulance.”
“Wow. I wonder if Jason saw anything. I left him in the lot about that long ago,” Nicole wondered out loud.
“Did I just hear that we may have a witness?” one police officer asked over the onlooking crowd. The onlooker next to Nicole pointed to her.
The police officer took her to the front and pulled out a notepad. Nicole began by shaking her head. “Well I didn’t see anything, but I was in the lot about 40 minutes ago with this guy I met named Jason. He may have seen something. Maybe he was the one who alerted the security guards,” Nicole explained. “Maybe he’s back inside the mall.”
The officer pondered this and called the other officer over. “Hey, we may have a witness in the mall. Go inside and see if see if we can get him over the public address system.” He then paused and looked toward Nicole. “What was his full name?”
“Jason Bertovich. He works at the Electronics Boutique in this mall if that helps,” Nicole responded politely.
“You get that?” the first officer asked the second. The second nodded his head and then handed something to the first.
“It’s the victim’s car keys. They were inside the car door. It looks like a college card wallet. Probably a form of ID,” the second explained and walked off to the mall.
The first opened the little wallet like keychain and looked at it’s contents. Nicole was beginning to turn away and return to her sister. “Excuse me miss…” the officer shouted out to Nicole as she turned around to walk back. Nicole came back.
“Is there a problem?” Nicole asked seriously.
“What did you say the possible witness’s name was?” the officer asked very seriously.
“Jason Bertovich.” Nicole answered. “Why?”
“Well…um…He’s definitely a witness.” the officer answered.
“What do you mean?” Nicole asked now confused. How could he have found out this quickly, when the second officer hadn’t even returned yet?
The officer flipped open the ID wallet and let Nicole see it’s insides. Inside were a college ID card and a social security card.
Nicole took a look and gasped slightly. The picture on the ID was Jason’s. “Oh no…”
To be continued...
End Notes
OK, So I figured I try my hand at a little Romantic Comedy-Drama. Or as I call it, Roma-Dramedy. Anyway, I figured I try to go a little deeper than normal. Hope you enjoyed it. Anyway, I wouldn’t fear too much. I don’t plan to kill off anyone or anything…yet. Guess it’s time for the preview of the next part…
Ahem…
What secret keeps Shoe Clerk John Hoelscher awake at night? Why is he always talking to himself? Can Fenny leave well enough alone? Will something as simple as a savage beating keep Jason away from his date on Friday night? Will the heavy hand of Drama put a damper on this whole side series? Find out in the next part of Boy Scouts ½: Perspectives from the Food Court Part IV -- “Table for One, Tea for Four.”
OK, now it’s time for Matt to add his own little disclaimers and words, otherwise what would be the point for me to read this again? Take it away Matt…
Ahem…
What secret keeps Shoe Clerk John Hoelscher awake at night? Why is he always talking to himself? Can Fenny leave well enough alone? Will something as simple as a savage beating keep Jason away from his date on Friday night? Will the heavy hand of Drama put a damper on this whole side series? Find out in the next part of Boy Scouts ½: Perspectives from the Food Court Part IV -- “Table for One, Tea for Four.”
OK, now it’s time for Matt to add his own little disclaimers and words, otherwise what would be the point for me to read this again? Take it away Matt…
Matt's Words of Wisdom
Well, Jason seems to have more then picked up the gauntlet I threw down in my notes at the end of Perspectives II. This story makes it a trilogy, and judging by the three little words at the very end of the story, unless Jason plans to do the Douglas Adams thing, it will be more then a trilogy.
I doubt if it has ever happened in the history of fanfics that the world’s most gratutious self-insertion fanfic has spawned the world’s most gratutious self-insertion spin-off…? With Jason planning at least one more Perspectives story, that certianly would seem what these stories would have to be classified as: a spin-off, no longer just a mear few side stories…
Over all, I enjoyed this one immencely, although I was shocked and alarmed by the events at the end. I will certianly look forward to Perspectives IV to see what happens next. In fact, since the next mainstream Boy Scouts ½ story, part 13, dosen’t take place until Christmastime, I suppose that Jason has a pretty free reign over the events of this universe for the next few (story-time) months.
Of course, he also has his other series, Anime Deathmatch and Jusenkyo Muyo! to take care of, but I still look forward to the next Perspectives as he has the time. (Speaking of time, I must find the time to write that Macross/Eva Deathmatch for Jason that I’ve been brewing in my head for a while…)
Now for disclaimer stuff: well, nothing really borrowed from Ranma ½ or the BSA in this one, but I think it’s worth mentioning that Jason seems to have taken some inspiration from the anime series, Oh, My Goddess! Well, see you next story!
I doubt if it has ever happened in the history of fanfics that the world’s most gratutious self-insertion fanfic has spawned the world’s most gratutious self-insertion spin-off…? With Jason planning at least one more Perspectives story, that certianly would seem what these stories would have to be classified as: a spin-off, no longer just a mear few side stories…
Over all, I enjoyed this one immencely, although I was shocked and alarmed by the events at the end. I will certianly look forward to Perspectives IV to see what happens next. In fact, since the next mainstream Boy Scouts ½ story, part 13, dosen’t take place until Christmastime, I suppose that Jason has a pretty free reign over the events of this universe for the next few (story-time) months.
Of course, he also has his other series, Anime Deathmatch and Jusenkyo Muyo! to take care of, but I still look forward to the next Perspectives as he has the time. (Speaking of time, I must find the time to write that Macross/Eva Deathmatch for Jason that I’ve been brewing in my head for a while…)
Now for disclaimer stuff: well, nothing really borrowed from Ranma ½ or the BSA in this one, but I think it’s worth mentioning that Jason seems to have taken some inspiration from the anime series, Oh, My Goddess! Well, see you next story!