The Last Embrace

After she landed in her room, she immediately went to her mother"s office and delivered the box of pizza.

"Mother, I have a present for you!" she said the moment she entered the door of the office.

"Daughter...what is it this time? Oh my! Pizza!" Sarah"s eyes twinkled.

"Yes, it"s for you! I went to the city to buy some stuff! Enjoy it, Mom!" she said and placed the pizza in the table. "I"m going out," she said and heads back towards the door.

"Wait—aren"t you going to eat this pizza with me?" Sarah said while taking a bite of the pizza and munched it on her mouth.

"Some other time, Mom, see you later!" Jessy said and exited the office.

...

Back in her room.

Jessy picked up the remaining box of pizza and the shopping bag which contains sliced bread, sandwich spread, one liter of cold cola, instant cup noodles, extra battery for the portable radio and some basic stuff that are useful for Jagger"s survival in the forest. She needs to replenish his groceries since she was not able to visit him for three days.

Ready to go.

She then initiated the teleportation process in her mind.

A moment later she landed inside the treehouse, Jagger was still lying in the floor, eyes closed.

She placed the box of pizza on the floor.

She took a peek inside the earthen jug, it"s near empty! She just arrived on time. She lifted the earthen jug and flew out of the window hovering towards the stream to get drinking water.

In the stream.

She landed on the flat surface on one of the rocks surrounding the stream. As usual, the place is serene looking and breathtaking. She wastes no time and filled the jug with water up to the brim. Then she hovered back to the treehouse and placed the jug near Jagger.

She sat down on the floor near the window and roamed her eyes around the tiny house. Her eyes landed on the food ration in front of Jagger. It"s a good thing that she brought basic food for him because there"s only four pieces of slice bread left and three cup noodles. As for the canned foods, he seemed not interested in consuming them.

Fifteen minutes later.

Jagger"s eyes opened...his gaze landed on Jessy. "You"re back!" he said excitedly.

"Yes, I"m back!" Jessy smiled a bit.

"I...I thought you already abandoned me?" he murmured.

"I"m not that heartless though, I know that no one will take care of you so I have to come back to make sure your transition will be smooth and flawless," she responded.

"Thank you, Jess!" he said again. The happiness of seeing her again filled his heart with a pleasant sensation. He truly missed her presence in his life for the last three days.

"How are you doing? Feeling better?" she asked.

"Surprisingly yes!" he answered.

"Today is your 6th day. Let"s celebrate! I brought you a pizza loaded with my favorite toppings," Jessy said and opened the box. She took two slices of pizza and placed it on the plate and served it to Jagger. "Have a bite!"

Jessy took one slice of pizza and began eating it loving the delicious texture of pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage, cheese, and bacon exploded inside her mouth. "Delicious!" she raves.

Jagger reached for the pizza and took a bite as well, he chewed on the pizza slowly. "Taste nice indeed!" he commented after he finishes eating one slice of pizza. He reached for the second slice and finished it in no time.

"I know you will love it! Here, you can eat the rest," she said and stopped eating altogether.

"Hey, you should continue eating!" Jagger insisted.

"I"m full already, besides, I can always buy pizza in the city anytime I want," she stated.

"Okay, thanks again!" Jagger grabs another slice and brought it to his mouth.

Jessy took out the bottle of cold cola from the shopping bag and opened the lid. She poured the dark liquid in the gla.s.s, one for her and one for Jagger. "Here, this one is for you...this looks like blood, I"m sure you know what this frizzy cold drink is...it"s called cola!" she said and began sipping from her gla.s.s.

Jagger followed suit and drinks his gla.s.s of cola bottoms up finding the taste of the liquid refreshing.

"When are you going to visit me again?" Jagger asked.

"Tomorrow, I will come here. I will just drop by to see how are you doing," she responded. "But after seven days, I might not be able to come back here..."

"Why—?" he felt alarmed.

"Because way back, you told me not to see you again," she retorted.

Jagger released a deep sigh. "I"m sorry, I didn"t mean it. Forget everything that I have said to you before. On the contrary, I am looking forward to seeing you visiting me every day. In the last three days, I missed your presence here inside the treehouse, I miss your company. I"m sorry if sometimes I acted like a douche bag," he said sadly. In the last three days, during her absence, he was craving for her presence like a drug. He immensely missed her.

Jessy smiled, hearing from him admitting that he wanted to see her again is a big improvement. He was warming up to her. It"s good for her plan. "Nice to know that you still want to see me," her friendly smile intensifies.

Jagger loves it when Jessy smile. Every time her eyes and face lit up, he felt profound happiness caressing his heart.

"So...how do you find the company of your portable radio? Do you like it?" she asked.

"Yes! Very handy. I can listen to local and international news, and listen to lovely engaging music anytime I want. It does take away a little bit of the boredom and loneliness..." Jagger"s voice trailed.

"That"s good!" Jessy emptied the contents of the shopping bag into the floor and arranged them neatly near Jagger. "Look here, I bought four packs of battery so that you can replace the old battery if needed," she explained.

"Thank you, Jess!" Jagger said sincerely from the bottom of his heart.

Jessy rewarded him with her usual warm friendly smile.

"Jess, how long you intend to be friends with me?" he asked out of the blue.

Jessy"s brows furrowed and shrugged her shoulder. "As long you allow me—I can be your friend as long as you want," she answered.

Jagger was happy with her response. In the meantime, being her friend is better than nothing, there is no rush to make her his woman. He has all the time in the world to get to know her better, and he savors every second she spends time with him. "Thank you so much for your terrific friendship, Jess! You have no idea how grateful I am that you considered me as your friend knowing that you and I met under...a...very unpleasant circ.u.mstances..." he hinted their history together when he plunged his spear on her back above the Facility.

"Ahh, that one incident. I"m glad you no longer feel bad that you were only able to kill forty enemies, while the King"s men killed more than a hundred of your people in the cave," she was brave to mention the past as well. "How far your revenge can go?" she asked him seriously.

Jagger"s face fell sad all of a sudden. "You know what—my brother is right when he told me that revenge is useless, it will only send me and my men to our deaths, but I continue my crusade and in the end lose everyone who believes in me, I should have listened to him. My stubbornness only brings failure and more pain to me. That"s why—I have decided to forget my conquest for revenge and just live my life in peace from now on," he said with finality in his voice.

Jessy stared at his face keenly wondering if he was telling the truth or not. He was sporting a serious face though. "I"m glad that you finally realized that revenge will only breed hatred and more death, your decision is a wise one!" she commented pleasantly.

A few minutes of silence ensued.

Jessy rose to her feet. "I"m leaving now, you take care of yourself," she said.

"Bye Jess, come back again soon and thanks for the pizza!" he said.

A few seconds later, Jessy vanished from Jagger"s line of vision.