Reconciliation

 Jacqueline was sitting on the laps of the strange boy and they were inhaling drugs from a multiple holed pipe. The boy's lips were stained with lipstick, meaning that they had been kissing and for some reason, that knowledge boiled the blood in Richard's ears. Another girl was lying shirtless on her bed, looking stoned. He had the element of surprise and unplugged the loud speakers with a quick tug on the cables. Suddenly, three pairs of eyes were all him.

 "What's the haps, man?" The boy asked, snaking his slim arm around Jackie's waist. Richard wanted to sever the joints in that arm.

 "Yeah, Ricky, what's the matter? A girl can't have fun at her own house anymore?" Jacqueline asked, wriggling her ass on the boy's laps.

 "Shut it, Jacqueline. Your mom is trying to host a get-together downstairs, one that you should be part of, not sitting here getting stoned. In the light of this, your punk friends have to leave right now."

  Jacqueline snorted and pulled Ronnie's hands off her. Her mind was a bit hazy and she staggered to her full length.

 "That's bullshit. You are not my dad and you don't have the right to barge into my room and send away my friends," Jackie challenged, looking Richard in the eyes. What she didn't know was how much he loved being challenged.

 "Watch me work. Hey, Stony Brethren, you have two minutes to leave this room before I tell the cops what a couple of miscreants are up to," Richard dared, smiling at Jackie, who was red with anger.

 "He's bluffing. He won't call the cops on us," she reassured her friends but Richard's threat had already done a number on them.

 "Um, it's okay, Jacqs. We can hang out later. I'll just take Ginny home. I'm sorry about your dad." Cameron pulled on his discarded shirt and tugged at Ginny, who was already regaining consciousness.

 "I won't use the front door if I were you. I could smell the drugs off you for a mile away," Richard advised and let them leave the room. When they were gone, Richard finally acknowledged the evil stare sending daggers his way from Jacqueline.

 "What right did you have to do that? This is my room, in my house and you are the stranger here, not the people you just sent home. You see, my dad used to have great things to say about you but I don't see any of those shining qualities. You spent forever trying to get away from the man who cared about your welfare the most and now that he is gone, you are back? To pay your respects? You don't deserve to be here! You got big enough balls to even show your face here today, you ass hat!" Jacqueline lashed out her anger at him, knocking down many objects as she made her points.

 Richard did not see a scary, unstable brat as others saw; instead, he saw a sad and angry underappreciated child, sad that she had lost the only person who gave her the time of day and angry at the world. She just saw him as a readily available vessel to take her frustrations. When she was done talking, she bit her lips hard, trying her best not to cry. She would not show her weakness before this man. She spun around and faced the wall, folding her arms across her chest.

 Richard's heart reached out to hers. She suddenly looked small, not like her 21 years of age. Grief could really destroy a person though he knew she would never admit that she was grieving her father. 

 "I'm sorry, Jacqueline for not being there for Pete, for any of you. I'm sorry for shying away from my responsibilities beside Pete and for missing all those family events. I'm so sorry, Jacqueline. I'm feeling pretty lost myself and so guilty that I might have played a part in Peter's demise. If I had stayed behind longer, didn't ditch his plans so often, perhaps he won't have gone hiking that day."

 "He would have been with me on the Ferris wheel in South Carolina but at the last minute, I called to bail out and he was hurt. That's the last conversation I had with him and that sucks more than you know. But I want to do better now. Pete had a dream and I'm here to help him finish what he started. So you can help me or you can hate me. It's your call."

 Silence reigned for a while until Jacqueline turned around slowly. Her eyes were misty with tears and even more cloudy with emotions. Richard's heart shattered with guilt as he watched her walk towards him, unsure of what to say.

 "I don't hate you, Mr Rossi; I never for once did. I was just disappointed, ya know. I expected so much from a man my father gave so much respect and I guess when you didn't measure up to expectation, I got angry. In his last days, he wanted to see you badly for some reason he wouldn't tell us...."

  Her voice broke at that point and it was his cue to envelope her in his arms. She was so built like a young man but in his arms, she felt like a helpless little child. She twisted his loose tie around her fingers and rested her elegant head on his chest. In a matter of seconds, she burst in enraged tears, soaking his dress shirt. He never let go of her, letting her cry out her pain.

  Richard shifted their pity party of two to the bed since it was the only furniture that could contain them both at once. When her sobs were beginning to subside, he loosened her ponytail and took a brush to her hair. He remembered his grandma doing that for him whenever he was sad. Jackie slid down to lay her head on his laps, giving him more room to work. Her hair was as soft as cotton and his fingers made paths in them easily. 

 Jacqueline simply closed her eyes and...felt. Whatever he was doing with his fingers and that comb, she gave him complete unspoken permission to continue. Sometimes, his fingers would brush her neck or the back of her ears and a shiver would travel down her spine. She fought not to moan and grind against him because she knew he would stop the moment she did. She did not understand this connection between them but he was here and that was all that mattered.

 "I have to get back to the party now. You should come too," Richard coaxed in his deep bass and paused in his brushing.

 "I don't want to. Do I have to?" she replied, pouting her red lips, her eyes still closed. 

 "No, you don't but I do. I can't let just you see this suit. Ladies love a corporate dresser, right?"

 "Some do, others don't. Way of life. I think I'll just stay up here," Jackie decided, sitting up beside Rich. The salon session was obviously over.

 "Awwn, come on. The lady sharks are down there. Do join us. For me?" Richard coaxed again, taking her hand in his.

 Jacqueline absolutely did not want to go downstairs but somehow, she couldn't refuse him. It would seem like an aberration to turn him down especially when he was this gentle with her.

 "Okay, you win. Just give me a minute to change into something nicer."