IV

Jesse stood by the hallway outside the ladies' bathroom, waiting for K to come out from one of the stalls. He intended to take her to the backroom of the bar. He wanted to kiss her, he wanted to hold her, he wanted to do a thousand unspeakable things to her.

"Jess!" Charlie called out to him, already making her way towards him. "What the fuck, dude? I've been looking for you- "

"He- hey, hey, hey, Charlie, now's not a good time," he stopped her, holding her arms and turning her around to go back inside the bar. 

"What the hell is wrong with you? Benji has been waiting for you!" She asked, baffled as to why he seemed so distracted. Charlie looked at where Jesse's eyes were fixed - the ladies' bathroom door.

And just in time, K was already stepping out of the bathroom. She raised an eyebrow at Jesse, teasing him with a sexy smile, then deliberately walked past him and Charlie.

"Oh, okay," Charlie guffawed, almost apologetic as she realized what just happened.

"You just fucking cock-blocked me," he groaned, leaning onto the wall and crossing his arms above his chest.

"Hold on to your pants, dick wad," she quipped at him. "We've got stuff to do! What I am gonna tell the guys? Are you signing them up or what?"

"Fuck, yeah, we're signing them," he affirmed, frustrated that he lost a chance at sex because of a stupid question. "Now get out of my face, will you?"

Charlie held up her hands in the air in utter frustration and rolled her eyes at him.

Jesse trod through the bar, searching high and low for K. She wasn't at the counter, she wasn't seated at any of the tables either - she wasn't anywhere to be found. 

He bolted to the exit, and darted his head left and right. His eyes roamed around the streets of Cortelyou Road, looking for those beautiful set of cobalt blue eyes, but there wasn't any sign of her. Jesse decided to make a run to the subway station. If K had already left to go home, that's the most logical place she'll drop by first. 

Moments later, he was already at the station - after he pushed himself hurriedly through the turnstiles, ran down the escalators, and almost stumbled and fell on the barriers. He looked for every dark-haired girl in a ponytail, white shirt and ripped denim jeans. He walked further down the platform, turning his head in all directions like a sad, lost puppy. 

He sat on the bench, breathless and had already given up - when the train on the opposite track passed by, its crashing speed creating a gush of wind all over the whole platform. He tipped his head and rested it onto the soot-laden, metal lean of the bench. He took a deep breath, and got a whiff of a familiar fresh and clean ocean scent.

He stood up again, and walked to where the breeze carried the scent, his fingers brushing the tiled white walls of the subway. He wondered if he was going fucking insane, searching for a girl he just met in a bar. 

Jesse closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead with his thumb and middle finger, letting out a breath. He leaned his back onto the white wall and stared up at the mezzanine ceiling of the station, and gazed back at the passing train, whirring and howling as the end of the caboose streamed through the tracks. He eyed it mindlessly for a second, until it was entirely gone. 

And as the last draft from the train flurried, he noticed a lithe figure on the other side of the tracks - a pair of cobalt blue eyes were staring back at him. 

He drew in a sharp breath, K.

   

Without any qualms, he hurriedly jumped over the high railway platform to get to the other side.

"What the fuck are you doing?" K screeched, panic-stricken as Jesse crossed the metal railways. She briskly removed her earphones and let them fall onto the concrete. She scooted and extended her arm, reaching out her hand to Jesse as she helped to pull him up to the platform. 

"Motherf- are you out of your mind?" She grunted, hoisting up the wires of her earphones. "You could've been hit by a train!"

Jesse dragged air to his lungs, trying to find a reasonable explanation as to why he did what he did. But he couldn't find any, he didn't know what's gone through his mind as well. "But there wasn't a train coming from this side, and I'm still pretty much alive. So- " He trailed off, running out of words to say. He knew he sounded like an idiot, it made him cringe a little.

K looked away to roll her eyes, all the way to the back of her skull if it ever was possible. She turned her gaze back at Jesse, her distress replaced by amusement. "You're so fucking stupid." She pressed her palms on his chest and playfully pushed him away.

"You left so suddenly," he blurted out. "You didn't even tell me you're going." He looked at K as if he was begging for an explanation.

She just stared at him, half-pouting and half-smiling.

"What's so funny?" Jesse asked, quite offended. He just crossed the railways for her, chased her and looked for her like a dog who lost its owner. 

"You're funny," K giggled, and bit her lip again.

Jesse took in a sharp breath. He remembered how she bit his lip. He wanted more. "Dammit, stop fucking biting your lip." He reached for her chin and tugged her lower lip from her perfect, white teeth. It was taking all of his self-control not to lunge at her and fuck the hell out of her right then and there on the platform of the subway station.

"What do you want?" She asked, cutting to the chase.

Jesse thought for a second. He wanted to fuck her, that's for sure. But he didn't want to blurt it all out right in front of her face. He knew he already got himself in the game, whatever game K was playing. "How about we see each other again?" He suggested, he didn't want it to sound like he was asking her out for a date - though it kinda really sounded like it.

She raised her perfect eyebrow at him, fiddled on her phone, shuffle played the music and put one of her earphones on. "Yeah, okay." Her cobalt blue eyes darted back at Jesse.

He sighed with relief and reached for his phone. He tapped and unlocked it then handed it over to K. "Let's keep in touch." He mumbled, asking for her to type in her number. He then grabbed her phone and reached for the other pair of her earphones and perched it onto his left ear, curious what song she was listening to. 

L'Illusioniste by Keren Ann. It was a really beautiful French song. Jesse had it in his playlist, too.

He nodded and smiled, staring deep into K's eyes. He then looked back down on his phone which she was now holding, as if instructing her to already key-in her phone number.

She smiled back and turned her attention to the screen, ready to type her number on Jesse's phone. She noticed the Clix app on his home screen. K paused for a second, deep in thought. "You're on Clix?"

"Ye-Yeah, I-" Jesse stuttered, as if caught red-handed. "I don't use it that often," he lied, looking down on his feet.

K handed Jesse's phone back to him, not typing in her phone number at all. She snatched her phone from his hands and gently removed the other earphone from him.

"What about your number?" He asked through furrowed brows, disconcerted.

"I have your number." K uttered, already sliding her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. "I'll just call you."

Another train has arrived and stopped. It glided silently into the station casting a shadow over their side of the platform. The waiting passengers scurried into the sliding doors as they opened.

"This is my train," she uttered, her eyes were fixed on Jesse's topaz blues - it was as if she was already saying goodbye without really saying it out loud. K smiled and turned around, already making her way to the train's sliding doors.

"K," Jesse hollered and walked out to her. "Wait!"

She turned around to face him, reached for Jesse's nape, tiptoed and kissed him fervently.

Jesse was shell-shocked. He kissed her back, and slid his hands on the hollow space behind her waist, touching her warm, bare skin.

K pulled away from the kiss after a few seconds, then pressed her face to his again to bite Jesse's lower lip one last time.

She smiled a huge, face-splitting smile, then hurriedly ran out to catch her ride. She was able to snuck in before the doors totally closed.

Jesse stood on the platform, dumbfounded and stock-still as the train rolled away with such speed towards the railway tracks.

The air no longer smelled like fresh ocean breeze. It just smelled dank and musty, like pee.

Fuck. Holy fuckity-fuck.