laughter_n_love
TMF Regular
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2001
- Messages
- 295
- Points
- 18
Jenny sat cross-legged at one of the empty tables, planning out the schedule for next week. As was typical on weekdays, there was enough diner staff working the morning shift to handle the light customer load, which gave her the flexibility to work in peace without interruption. It would be a different story tomorrow morning when they would be slammed from the moment they opened until after noontime, but that wouldn't be her problem. For the first time in a long time, she was giving herself the weekend off.
The task of managing the diner had taken over her life these past few years. The place ran like clockwork, and she couldn't remember the last time a customer complained about the food or the service or anything else for that matter, but all that efficiency came at a cost. Jenny was feeling burned out and listless. The satisfaction that came with doing her job well was not enough to offset the lack of fun and excitement in her personal life. She needed a break. What she really needed was a solid two weeks of vacation to pamper and indulge herself, but that was a luxury neither she nor the diner could afford. Sleeping in on both a Saturday and a Sunday was about as much luxury as she was willing to give herself. Maybe she'd even splurge on a pint of ice cream and rent a movie tonight. It wasn't enough, but it would have to do.
The bell over the door tinkled to signify someone was entering the diner. Instinctively, Jenny looked up from her pen and paper to see who it was. He was tall and lean, somehow at once both a boy and a man. The straightness of his shoulders and the shortness of his hair suggested he was military, and the way he walked to the pastry counter with a confident stride backed up that assumption. He didn't look in Jenny's direction, but she recognized him immediately nonetheless.
After all these years, Adam Fuller was standing in front of her once again.
Adam Fuller, the younger brother of Ricky Fuller, her first boyhood crush and boyfriend. Adam Fuller, the best friend of Timmy MacDugal, the boy she used to babysit. Adam Fuller, the menace responsible for putting her through a nightmarish ordeal some twelve years ago. All the fine hairs on the backs of Jenny's arms rose to attention as the memory of that evening came flooding back to her. Jenny uncurled her legs and stepped behind the counter before anyone else had a chance to help him with his order.
He was looking down at the pastries in the glass case, probably trying to decide which was the lowest calorie but still satisfying and delicious. He had to be a foot taller than her now, but with him bent over, eyeing the baked goods, she was able to stare at the top of his head. She said nothing and waited for him to acknowledge her. She wanted to see the look on his face when they locked eyes.
He finally looked up, and his eyes grew wide in surprise as the recognition set in. "Woah, Jenny! Is that really you?"
"Hello, Adam," she said with an undercurrent of animosity. "It's been awhile."
He either missed the subtle enmity entirely or chose to ignore it. He seemed elated at seeing her face. "Yeah, it sure has. It's been what...ten years? You still look exactly the same!"
"Twelve," she correct him. "And you are all grown up now, I see. Army?"
"Marines," he said proudly, straightening up to his full height. "My Dad thought I could use the discipline." He chuckled, as though this were funny.
"Your Dad was right," Jenny said, with her arms crossed defiantly as she stared up at him. "You were a little shit back then, do you know that?"
Adam chuckled again, but Jenny did not laugh along with him. "I totally was. All through high school too. Getting in trouble was the only thing I was really good at."
Anger bubbled up under the surface in Jenny. This boy that had traumatized her back when she was a teenager, and here he stood now, completely indifferent to that fact. Her fists tightened under her breasts. She had been searching for some semblance of remorse over what he had done to her, but it clearly wasn't forthcoming. "I'm glad you think it's funny. Or maybe you don't remember the night I babysat for you and Timmy MacDugal?"
"Of course I remember! That was a great night. I still brag about that night to the guys in my corps." He was beaming at the memory.
"You are unbelievable!" Jenny stomped her foot in frustration. "You really have no idea how terrible you were, do you?"
Adam refused to be cowed by her display of anger. "I remember having a lot of fun tickling you and those other two girls. And I remember Ricky beating the shit out of me the next day because of it." He paused, rubbing his jaw where a bruise had once stood. "And I remember you didn't seem too upset when he started going out with you after that night."
Jenny felt herself losing the moral high ground. Ricky had given Adam a beating as promised, and what she had undergone had indirectly led her to dating her crush, but she wasn't conceding her position just yet. "True, but that lasted less than three months. You were a little asshole and he was a narcissist who thought he was God's gift to women."
Adam chuckled again. "He still is, though he's fat and balding and about to get divorced for the second time. I'll tell him you say hi."
"Don't bother, please." She was still fuming, and still not getting the satisfaction she hoped for out of this boy who didn't show an ounce of regret then or now. "I don't think you realize what you did to me."
Adam gave an insincere shrug of his shoulders. "I don't know what to tell you, Jenny. I tickled a lot of girls when I was kid. Not many like that night with you, but enough to earn detentions and a suspension and one father who threatened to kill me if I ever touched his daughter again." He sighed. "It's my Demon. It lives inside me. I'm not going to apologize for it. It's part of who I am."
Jenny's mouth dropped open at his complete lack of accountability. "Un-be-lievable!"
Another customer entered the diner and moved to stand behind Adam at the pastry counter. She motioned with her head for him to follow, and returned to her seat with her scheduling paperwork. She wasn't done with this conversation. Not by a longshot. He followed her as bade and sat across from her.
She couldn't look at him directly. She needed to make him understand. "Listen to me. It's really important that you hear me, okay? That night...what you did that night haunts me. I still think about it all the time. Maybe for you, it was no big deal, but for..."
"Why?" he cut her off.
She snapped her head in his direction. "Why what?"
"Why do you think about it all the time? I mean, your fling with Ricky was short and sweet, so that can't be why. And I know for a fact that you forgave Timmy for that night. He told me that you let him tickle you again several times after that."
Jenny felt the walls closing in around her. "That's beside the point. What I'm talking about is..."
"That's exactly the point. You obviously liked being tickled. And my brother doesn't mean anything to you anymore. So why do you keep thinking about it?"
"Because of you!" she blurted, loud enough to draw the attention of the customer at the pastry counter. "You...you...violated me!"
Adam smirked. "I was a 10 year old kid who tickled the babysitter. Same as Timmy."
"No...not the same as Timmy. When he tickled me, he was sweet. What you did was..."
"Torture."
"Yes. Torture. Why the hell are you smiling?" Trying to talk to Adam the 22 year old Marine was every bit as infuriating as had been reasoning with Adam the 10 year old little shit.
Adam continued to smile. "Because you enjoy being tickled, and you can't stop thinking about the one time you got tickle tortured. By me."
"No, that's not what I'm saying. What you did was wrong..."
"Maybe, but is that why you keep thinking about it? Or because you wish someone would torture you like that again?"
Jenny was stunned into silence. Her mouth opened to protest but no words popped out. What he was saying made no sense, but was he right? She had thought about that night many, many times in her life, and each time, the anger she felt towards young Adam Fuller returned with a passion. But was her anger misguided? Was she really upset about the way he had treated her that night, or was it that in the twelve years since, nothing in her life had come even close to that dangerous and exhilarating? Was she mad that he had put her through hell, or that he'd planted an itch that hadn't been scratched since.
She looked around the diner that had taken over her life's meaning. She thought about how her 20's were nearly over and about how few memories she had forged during the last decade. Mostly she thought about that fateful night when she babysat for Timmy MacDugal and he had a friend staying over.
She began to fiddle with a paperclip. Her eyes were locked on it as she turned it over in her fingertips, though she did not see it. "Are...you free tonight?"
"As a matter of fact, I am." She didn't need to look up to know he was still smiling at her.
"Would you like to come over?" she asked.
"I'd love to."
The task of managing the diner had taken over her life these past few years. The place ran like clockwork, and she couldn't remember the last time a customer complained about the food or the service or anything else for that matter, but all that efficiency came at a cost. Jenny was feeling burned out and listless. The satisfaction that came with doing her job well was not enough to offset the lack of fun and excitement in her personal life. She needed a break. What she really needed was a solid two weeks of vacation to pamper and indulge herself, but that was a luxury neither she nor the diner could afford. Sleeping in on both a Saturday and a Sunday was about as much luxury as she was willing to give herself. Maybe she'd even splurge on a pint of ice cream and rent a movie tonight. It wasn't enough, but it would have to do.
The bell over the door tinkled to signify someone was entering the diner. Instinctively, Jenny looked up from her pen and paper to see who it was. He was tall and lean, somehow at once both a boy and a man. The straightness of his shoulders and the shortness of his hair suggested he was military, and the way he walked to the pastry counter with a confident stride backed up that assumption. He didn't look in Jenny's direction, but she recognized him immediately nonetheless.
After all these years, Adam Fuller was standing in front of her once again.
Adam Fuller, the younger brother of Ricky Fuller, her first boyhood crush and boyfriend. Adam Fuller, the best friend of Timmy MacDugal, the boy she used to babysit. Adam Fuller, the menace responsible for putting her through a nightmarish ordeal some twelve years ago. All the fine hairs on the backs of Jenny's arms rose to attention as the memory of that evening came flooding back to her. Jenny uncurled her legs and stepped behind the counter before anyone else had a chance to help him with his order.
He was looking down at the pastries in the glass case, probably trying to decide which was the lowest calorie but still satisfying and delicious. He had to be a foot taller than her now, but with him bent over, eyeing the baked goods, she was able to stare at the top of his head. She said nothing and waited for him to acknowledge her. She wanted to see the look on his face when they locked eyes.
He finally looked up, and his eyes grew wide in surprise as the recognition set in. "Woah, Jenny! Is that really you?"
"Hello, Adam," she said with an undercurrent of animosity. "It's been awhile."
He either missed the subtle enmity entirely or chose to ignore it. He seemed elated at seeing her face. "Yeah, it sure has. It's been what...ten years? You still look exactly the same!"
"Twelve," she correct him. "And you are all grown up now, I see. Army?"
"Marines," he said proudly, straightening up to his full height. "My Dad thought I could use the discipline." He chuckled, as though this were funny.
"Your Dad was right," Jenny said, with her arms crossed defiantly as she stared up at him. "You were a little shit back then, do you know that?"
Adam chuckled again, but Jenny did not laugh along with him. "I totally was. All through high school too. Getting in trouble was the only thing I was really good at."
Anger bubbled up under the surface in Jenny. This boy that had traumatized her back when she was a teenager, and here he stood now, completely indifferent to that fact. Her fists tightened under her breasts. She had been searching for some semblance of remorse over what he had done to her, but it clearly wasn't forthcoming. "I'm glad you think it's funny. Or maybe you don't remember the night I babysat for you and Timmy MacDugal?"
"Of course I remember! That was a great night. I still brag about that night to the guys in my corps." He was beaming at the memory.
"You are unbelievable!" Jenny stomped her foot in frustration. "You really have no idea how terrible you were, do you?"
Adam refused to be cowed by her display of anger. "I remember having a lot of fun tickling you and those other two girls. And I remember Ricky beating the shit out of me the next day because of it." He paused, rubbing his jaw where a bruise had once stood. "And I remember you didn't seem too upset when he started going out with you after that night."
Jenny felt herself losing the moral high ground. Ricky had given Adam a beating as promised, and what she had undergone had indirectly led her to dating her crush, but she wasn't conceding her position just yet. "True, but that lasted less than three months. You were a little asshole and he was a narcissist who thought he was God's gift to women."
Adam chuckled again. "He still is, though he's fat and balding and about to get divorced for the second time. I'll tell him you say hi."
"Don't bother, please." She was still fuming, and still not getting the satisfaction she hoped for out of this boy who didn't show an ounce of regret then or now. "I don't think you realize what you did to me."
Adam gave an insincere shrug of his shoulders. "I don't know what to tell you, Jenny. I tickled a lot of girls when I was kid. Not many like that night with you, but enough to earn detentions and a suspension and one father who threatened to kill me if I ever touched his daughter again." He sighed. "It's my Demon. It lives inside me. I'm not going to apologize for it. It's part of who I am."
Jenny's mouth dropped open at his complete lack of accountability. "Un-be-lievable!"
Another customer entered the diner and moved to stand behind Adam at the pastry counter. She motioned with her head for him to follow, and returned to her seat with her scheduling paperwork. She wasn't done with this conversation. Not by a longshot. He followed her as bade and sat across from her.
She couldn't look at him directly. She needed to make him understand. "Listen to me. It's really important that you hear me, okay? That night...what you did that night haunts me. I still think about it all the time. Maybe for you, it was no big deal, but for..."
"Why?" he cut her off.
She snapped her head in his direction. "Why what?"
"Why do you think about it all the time? I mean, your fling with Ricky was short and sweet, so that can't be why. And I know for a fact that you forgave Timmy for that night. He told me that you let him tickle you again several times after that."
Jenny felt the walls closing in around her. "That's beside the point. What I'm talking about is..."
"That's exactly the point. You obviously liked being tickled. And my brother doesn't mean anything to you anymore. So why do you keep thinking about it?"
"Because of you!" she blurted, loud enough to draw the attention of the customer at the pastry counter. "You...you...violated me!"
Adam smirked. "I was a 10 year old kid who tickled the babysitter. Same as Timmy."
"No...not the same as Timmy. When he tickled me, he was sweet. What you did was..."
"Torture."
"Yes. Torture. Why the hell are you smiling?" Trying to talk to Adam the 22 year old Marine was every bit as infuriating as had been reasoning with Adam the 10 year old little shit.
Adam continued to smile. "Because you enjoy being tickled, and you can't stop thinking about the one time you got tickle tortured. By me."
"No, that's not what I'm saying. What you did was wrong..."
"Maybe, but is that why you keep thinking about it? Or because you wish someone would torture you like that again?"
Jenny was stunned into silence. Her mouth opened to protest but no words popped out. What he was saying made no sense, but was he right? She had thought about that night many, many times in her life, and each time, the anger she felt towards young Adam Fuller returned with a passion. But was her anger misguided? Was she really upset about the way he had treated her that night, or was it that in the twelve years since, nothing in her life had come even close to that dangerous and exhilarating? Was she mad that he had put her through hell, or that he'd planted an itch that hadn't been scratched since.
She looked around the diner that had taken over her life's meaning. She thought about how her 20's were nearly over and about how few memories she had forged during the last decade. Mostly she thought about that fateful night when she babysat for Timmy MacDugal and he had a friend staying over.
She began to fiddle with a paperclip. Her eyes were locked on it as she turned it over in her fingertips, though she did not see it. "Are...you free tonight?"
"As a matter of fact, I am." She didn't need to look up to know he was still smiling at her.
"Would you like to come over?" she asked.
"I'd love to."
