Luke submitted a quick glance.
“Of course you do. After all, I’m ironing your right and left socks for Pete’s sake.”
An hour later, Jessica completed the last set of socks then wrote off another useless hour of her life that she could never get back. Most of that hour was filled with silence.
“I’m trained to kill people with my bare hands.” Jessica plopped down on Luke’s bed with her fingers interlaced behind her head and legs crossed at the ankle. Luke glanced up in her peripheral vision, but Jessica kept her gaze fixed to the ceiling.
“I can’t share anymore information such as how and why, but I can say that something shifted when I realized the power I had. The thing is … I didn’t feel empowered. There was this transformation. I went from trusting to fearing to an unavoidable distrust. Now I trust very few people and the person I fear the most is myself. I’m constantly on high alert. When I walked into your office for the first time I noticed you, but I also noticed all possible exits, places you might be concealing a weapon, and all objects I could use as one.”
“Do you feel safe right now?” Luke asked.
Jessica closed her eyes and exhaled. “Relatively. You have three things plugged into the walls of this room. I could use any of those cords to strangle you. I could bludgeon you with either weighted bookend on your shelf, or the statue in the northeast corner of the room. However, the only weapon I’ve found was a pocketknife in your closet the first time I came here and it’s barely even a weapon so I’d most likely kill you with my bare hands before you’d have a chance to release the money clip in your pocket that you habitually rub between your thumb and middle finger.”
“Is that a threat?”
Jessica laughed, opening her eyes as she turned toward him. “No.” She rolled her eyes to the side and pursed her lips. “Well, maybe. If you ask me to iron your socks again I cannot be responsible for my reaction.”
“Have you ever killed anyone?”
Jessica’s smile slipped. “If I told you then I’d have to kill you.”
“So you’re a secret agent?”
She flipped onto her stomach, resting her chin on her crossed arms. “If I said yes then it would no longer be a secret. Come on, Jones, you’re losing your focus. Don’t let me feel smarter than you or our time together will be over and I rather like hanging out here.”
“Luke,” he corrected.
“Lucas.”
“Luke.”
“Lukey.”
“LUKE!”
“Lulu.”
“I mean it!” Luke showed another rare moment of teetering emotion.
Jessica chuckled. “What are the chances of us having sex? I’ve never done it missionary, but you could possibly counsel me through it.”
He refocused on his crossword puzzle, filling in a word in pen. “Less than zero percent.”
“So, not in my favor, eh?
“Why not missionary?”
Jessica smiled in delight that Luke continued with the topic of conversation.
“I’m sure you already know, but if you want me to say I need control, then sure, I need control. But the truth is I’d control any sex position you want to put me in.” Jessica winked as Luke gave her a fleeting glance. “I just don’t want you thinking you have control, even if I know it’s not the case. Pisses me off to see the smirk on a guy’s face when he thinks he has control.”
“Tell me why you need control.” Luke continued with his crossword.
“In bed?”
“Yes.”
“Someone has to have it.”
“Why?”
“Because someone initiates it.”
“So if I initiate sex with you will I have control?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Jessica wiggled her eyebrows at an ill-humored Luke. “Fine.” She huffed. “So you’re telling me when you have sex you’re not in control?”
“Depends.”
“On what?” She sat up straight with her legs crossed.
“The level of intimacy.”
“Love versus sex?”
“Yes.”
“So you’ve been in love?”
“Have you?”
“Come on, Jones! Answering a question with a question? You can do better than that.”
“Luke! And yes, I’ve been in love. Tell me about the men you’ve loved.”
Jessica was once again impressed with his swift and accurate diversion. “I shared the womb with one and was conceived by the other. We’ve never had sex. I bet you’d charge me extra for that added problem.”
Luke tossed the newspaper on the side table along with the pen. “And exactly how much am I charging you now?”
“Thirty pairs of ironed socks, which let’s be honest … who owns thirty pairs of socks? Do you do laundry once a month? And then there was a complete kitchen cleaning. I’m just saying, incest would probably have me on my knees in front of your toilet scrubbing it with a toothbrush.”
He folded his hands in his lap. “That was the longest answer ever for what could have been a simple ‘You’re not charging me anything and I’ve never been in love.’”