Dancing in a daydream

Date | 10th of May 2022
Time | Late evening
Weather | Well, it’s not a starry night, but luckily it isn’t raining yet
Place | Thunder Grove 1, Jasper’s place
Attire | Outfit



Who on earth decided to get their pets fur suspended in a frame so they could still feel it as if the cat was still walking around? Well, if she had to make a guess of all the people she knew, then it would be Jasper. It still hadn’t been the easiest thing to explain when she had been standing in Paris Airport checking through costume. Yes, well, you see, my friend ordered this package, and suddenly he decided that he wasn’t coming back, so here I am.
Besides, how dare he just leave her? First, they had lost contact with Norah, and now Jasper had decided to quit? He hadn’t even been there a year; people usually lasted longer than that. Okay, that wasn’t true. The job they had could be somewhat trying, especially when they got missions where they couldn’t be themselves. Playing a character for a more extended period could mess with anyone’s head. Still, she had liked the boring bastard.

Taneisha paid the cap driver and got the box and her luggage before walking up to the house. Her eyes widened a little when she saw the neighbourhood. Who had money to live in a place like this on an Interpol salary?
Waling up the door, she put down her bags and knocked on the door, quickly fixing some of her hair that had come undone from her hairdo. It was only so much you could do after a couple of hours on an aeroplane and then straight from work.

Jasper stood in the middle of a late dinner-making when he heard someone knock on the door. He furrowed his brows while circling the tree spoon in the pot. Now, it wasn’t because Jasper was a loner- scratch that, he was an odd dude. But he didn’t have anyone but Norah as his ‘friend’ in Aston and therefore expected it to be a neighbor who wanted to greet him welcome, though it was a little late.
He left the spoon in the pot and walked to the door, expecting to be able to close the door fairly quickly, but as he got closer, he noticed how the presence of a friend was grand. It made his stomach swirl. She was certainly not happy about how he had just quit. He took a slightly deeper breath before he opened the door to see Taneisha. “Hey,” he said putting a grand smile up, which they both knew might be a little fake, since he knew she might not be too happy about the situation.

She turned, and even though she could see through that fake grin of his, her own smile was rather delighted. Maybe it was just the fact that he at least had opened the door and hadn’t pretended that she wasn’t even there. “Hey?” she shook her head, laughing. “Hey is all I get; I flew all the way from France to here, and all the man can tell me is hey” she pursed her lips and shook her head as she entered his house without getting permission. Her bags fell to the floor as she turned and handed him his package. “Brought this for you, didn’t book a hotel room, but it seems you have enough space to have me staying a while, right?” she said, looking over her shoulder as a gentle laugh left her before she looked in front of her again, finding her way into the kitchen she closed her eyes and took in the smells. “mmh, smells good, what are you making?” she asked a little loudly not sure if he had followed her or not. She walked over and looked into the put, grabbed the spoon and lifted it so she could dip her finger in it and put it in her mouth. She turned again, looking at him, her smile a little mischievous. “So you just quit Interpol? What thought you could get rid of me that easily?” she asked, putting a hand on her left hip as her brow raised in a questionable expression. "it needs salt by the way" she nodded towards the pot and folded her lips teasingly.

Jasper wanted to interfere, but she had already said too much and therefore shut his mouth, “Thank you,” he exhaled with a smile that was more like his own. She entered, and he didn’t even try to stop her, it was all okay for him that she did that. His brows raised to the roof as she handed him the package. “You brought Meatballs with you?” he said and got too focused on the package, almost like a kid with its Christmas gifts. He turned to put the box on a table and was about to open it when he realized that it would make him emotional to open it right now, and that might not be what Taneisha was there for.  He turned his back to the package, “Yeah, you can stay here,” he replied and leaned back so he almost sat on the table. “I did book a lowkey hotel room, but… Now I moved here,” he said and shrugged a little. One thing was having a place only to stay for a job, the other thing was to have a place that you could live in.

“Chicken curry,” he replied with a soft voice, walking past her quickly while she took in the smells. He made sure to stir the pot before he looked over at her. He had made sure to make a good portion so he would have to make dinner fewer times a week. He lifted the spoon up so she could get a taste. He raised his brows as she once again threw a question after him. “No, I-” he looked towards the pot as she told him it needed salt. Thrown a little off his horse he was quick to find the salt and grind some salt while he replied, “I wasn’t trying to get rid of you, and Norah just made me realize I could spend my life better not being a part of Interpol,” he explained.

She gave him a small smile as he told her that he wasn’t trying to get rid of her, or rather that he hadn’t tried to run away from her. She understood the need to quit Interpol. Maybe she should follow in those footsteps; she loved the job too much to quit. But she still had a couple of days off, so she could stay, see how he settled in and when those days were over, she could go back to France. It wasn’t like there were any obligations between them; they were, after all, just friends.
“Norah, huh?” she gave him a knowing smile and lifted her brow as she walked backwards and lifted herself up on the counter with ease. She let one leg fold over the other as she looked at him. “So, how long did it take her to make her turn your head?” she asked, giving a small knowing laugh “believe you me, I’ve seen harder men than you crumble when she walks by, I don’t know it’s that air around her” she hummed, she had really been good at her job, there was no doubt about it. Unlike a woman like Tasia, she had always been the one in the shadows doing the unseen and hard work. Not that she had any doubts about how she looked, it wasn’t that, but she also knew that she wasn’t the most beautiful woman out there. Not in a world with Norah’s.

Jasper looked up at her shortly, before he turned his eyes to the salt. He took a greater breath in before he put the salt away. He knew very well what she was thinking. “No. It’s not like that-” he stopped as she continued and clenched his jaw while stirring the pot. “Taneisha, it’s not like that,” he tried to assure her once again but stopped and looked up at her, still holding the spoon. “Interpol wanted me to check up on her. And I realized that she was… Very lonely,” he said keeping his eyes stiffly on her, “So I decided she needed a friend who would actually be there for her and not just want to get in her fucking pants,” he said and raised his hands a little shaking his head a bit, because he thought it was a… Well it was quite logical that men would fall for Norah like flies, but he wasn’t really like every other man, was he? Had he fallen for Norah? He turned his attention back to the pot and continued stirring.
“Please set the table,” he spoke in a softer tone having to think about the chaos that had unfolded a little.

Taneisha didn’t believe him at first, but she looked at him while folding her lips as he said her name. “I’m just saying –“ but he cut her off and told her that she had been lonely and wanted to be her friend. It didn’t sound like someone who hadn’t fallen for the beautiful girl’s charms now, did it? She rolled her eyes and jumped down from the counter as he told her to set the table. Why did it even bother her so much that he might have fallen for her? As if a ball of hot coal was dropped in her stomach stirring around. Stupid, it didn’t matter now, did it? Jasper could fall for whomever he liked and be with the girl or man he chose to be with.
“You’re great guy, just be careful”, she said in a low whisper as she passed him “where are the plates? – Utensils?” she nodded as he directed her to the things she needed for setting the table as she walked towards the dining table and put the things down.
“Do you have some wine?” she asked, opening the fridge to see if she could find anything of interest there.

He turned his head a little in her direction as she told him he was a great guy. His eyes turned back to the pot and watched how it started to boil. “Utensils in the first drawer in front of you, and plates in the cabinet above,” Jasper replied without even looking up from the cooking. He let her set the table and heard how she moved back to the fridge. He looked over his shoulder as she asked if he had some wine. “In the door,” he laughed and let her take it up. “Glasses in the cabinet to the left from the one with plates,” he said before he checked on the rice. “I am careful. I’m just a friend,” he assured her knowing that she might not trust it, but what else was he supposed to say? “Can you place some mats for the pots?” he asked, opening a small long cabinet next to him, where he pulled to mats out that she could place on the table.

A soft hum of approval left her as she took out the wine and then grabbed two glasses; she was just about to pour them one each as he asked if she would place down a few mats for the pots. She placed the bottle and glasses back on the counter and walked over to take the mats he had taken out for her. “Just because you are just a friend; there is still something to lose,” she said as she stood beside him. “Besides, it’s rarely just friends when it comes to female and male friendships”, she added, not really thinking about that the fact she had just pointed out might put what she was doing here in a different light. Unknowing about her slip up, she placed down the table protectors before turning around to get her that glass of white wine she was so dying for. “Small or big glass?” she asked, as she started pouring herself a glass were there almost wasn’t enough room for all of it, which made her sip a little off the top so she could walk with it to the table without spilling on the way.

He glanced towards her as she said there was still something to lose. He didn’t quite get it, but of course Norah wasn’t really that stable, and he was certain that with the baggage she had she was possible of hurting people without realizing it. But Jasper didn’t really get hurt, did he? Well, Meatballs was something different.
He looked more over his shoulder as she mentioned that female and male friendship were never really just friends. But they were a female and male friendship? He looked back at the food he was cooking, clenching his jaw a little. Puzzle pieces were coming together.
He heard how she placed the table protectors and how the wine was poured into her glass. “Big,” he replied. Shortly glancing over his shoulder before he pulled the rice of the heat and turned his attention to the curry again, stirring it a little. It could stand a moment alone. He picked up the pot with rice and put it on the table, looking at her, sipping her wine. It made him smile a smile that couldn’t really be contained. “How long were you staying?” he wondered, unsure if she had said it or if he was imagining things.

“Coming right up!” She chuckled taking a bigger sip of her own wine glass and skipped towards where she had left standing on the counter as she put the mats down. “Well, I’ve taking a week off, wanted to make sure that you were of sane mind before I took off again” she answered as she poured in the wine. “But since it seems like you made the right decision and I didn’t find you in the bathtub with a toaster, I’ll visit my nieces while I’m here and do some tourist stuff, shop till I drop, that sort of thing” she walked over and handed him the glass so he could drink while he cook. “I’ll make sure to keep out of your head so you can do your friend things with Norah” she teased with a wink and turned to walk back to the table so she could drink a little more.

Jasper chuckled a little as she wanted to assure that he was sane before she left. Well, that was somewhat a lot of pressure, just because he had been asked to make sure Norah was alright, or at least getting better. A laugh left him as she mentioned that he was sane enough, since he didn’t stand with a toaster in the bathtub. “That sounds like a brilliant idea,” he replied, “But you should have seen me half an hour earlier than you arrived,” he joked, as if he had been standing in the situation she had put up.
He received the glass and gave her a thankful nod, the friendly smile however vanished as she teased him. He put his glass down and moved his body to followed her. He tried to reach out to tickle her on the side. “Are you jealous that I got a friend?” he teased back.

“what! Hey, no – no good ideas,” she laughed, pointing at him with the hand that was holding the wine glass. She placed it towards her lips and was just about to take a sip when he asked if she was jealous. Almost choking on the wine, she put down the wineglass and walked over to take a paper towel so she could dry away the spilt golden drops. “What – jealous?” she raised her brow and gave him a teasing smile. “Please, you can have all the friends you want – even beautiful women like Norah, that I’m still not buying is only for the friendship – who knows, maybe I’ll find myself a friend too,” she added, narrowing her eyes playfully before she turned her body fully towards him. “So, how long before there is dinner?” she asked, tilting her head, trying to change the subject. Something about it made her uncomfortable, a feeling she tried to press down even if it wasn’t very successful.

He kept his teasing smile as she repeated his question, sipping his wine. “Good,” he replied as she explained that she would find herself a friend too, though it sounded more like a ‘play date’. His brows raised as she turned towards him. He looked towards the pot with curry, “Sit,” he said and gestured towards the chair with a nod. He walked over to the pot with curry and carried it onto the table. “Ladies first,” he said, sitting down and leaning back in his seat. “You know, the only reason why I'm asking if you're jealous or not, is the way you entered this place. Do you remember?” he wondered and watched how she scooped rice and curry onto her plate “Thought you could get rid of me that easily?” he quoted.

“Mmhm, always the gentleman”, she hummed, sitting down before her eyes followed him as he took the food and placed it on the table before sitting down in front of her. Her brows raised when he pointed out what she had said when she had entered his place; a laugh left her. “That’s it?” she shook her head, put food onto her plate, and let out another chuckle. “It was more the fact that you just decided to put in your resignation out of no way, almost seemed like someone that was running away”, she pointed out, looking back up at him as she took her spoon and hung it over the food before actually taking a bite. “What, should I be jealous? Are you replacing me?” she made a mock gasp, placed the spoon in the bowl, and placed both her hands on the table. “Oh, that is totally it; you are replacing me” she folded her lips, trying to keep the smile from showing as she didn’t take it seriously because even though her stomach had flopped when thinking about Jasper being in a relationship, she wasn’t that jealous. Was she?

Jasper shook his head a little, as she explained that it definitely wasn’t the reason why she had said the things she had said. He had seemed like someone who had been running away. “As if I would tuck my tail between my legs,” he said leaning his head a little to the side, watching her.
He started scooping food up on his plate as she continued to talk. A playful, teasing smile spread on his lips as she mentioned being replaced. No one could replace Taneisha. No one. She was way too good of a friend for him to want to replace her. He looked up with a wider smile as she placed her hands on the table stating some bullshit that they could tease each other with. “Totally replaced,” he joked, scrunching his nose a little before he shook his head and put the pots back on the table protectors and grabbed his own spoon and scooped some up. “Unless you wanna fight for the spot,” he teased, feeling how something playful spread in him, almost like a kid who was ready to play catch outside. Jasper never really showed that playful side of him, but it was something different with Taneisha. She was the best kind of coworker.

She shook her head and let her hand wave in a fast motion back and forth. “Nah, I don’t go into a battle where I’m bound to lose”, she laughed, giving him a soft smile “besides, I’m only here for a week, so maybe it would be unfair if I tried to fight for a spot when someone closer to home is there to take it” she winked, not sure if she was even talking about friendship anymore. She was, right?
Starting to eat, she didn’t say much, only breaking the eating off when she took a couple of sips from the wine and then returned to the delicious food that had been served. “It’s delicious” she nodded while she spoke to underline that she thought it was good. Maybe it was because she was more the; everything needs to go fast, kind of girl. Everything that could be thrown in a microwave was the best type of food. It was fast, and it tasted somewhat reasonable, and then you could throw yourself back on the couch, put on a good show and drink wine while you ate—perfect dinner for – one.

He raised his brows as she said she was bound to lose. Interesting. “What,” he laughed. “Do you think that the distance is going to change anything?” he wondered, knowing very well that they would find ways to spend time together, whether they were together or online, tough the latter was a bit boring, but it could be a quick fix.
They ate, almost in silence. A soft chuckle left him as she said that it was delicious. “Doesn’t need salt?” he teased, since she had commented that earlier. He picked up his glass of wine while watching her, taking a sip.
“How much have you brought with you?” he wondered, curious whether or not he needed to prepare something for her, except for the guest room. Of course, she could insist on company while she stayed now that they had this short time where they could actually be close to each other. Had he been too quick to throw everything away and move away? He thought for a little while. He only had Taneisha really. So, he didn’t believe that there was anything else keeping him from moving, except for the work that he had quitted. But what did she have left? Why didn’t she just join him? With the immortal life, one didn’t have to settle the same way as mortals.

She shook her head with a smile on her lips. “No, perfect as it is”, she added, licking her lips to get some of the excess sauce that she hadn’t gotten into her mouth. “Clothes and you know the necessary products that one needs? So, if you have a blanket, a pillow and a somewhat flat surface to sleep on, then I’ll be good to go,” she chuckled, not really needing a whole lot to make herself comfortable.
She kept eating until she felt like his eyes were resting on her, as if he was thinking about something he wasn’t sharing. Without looking up, she took a sip of her wine. “You’re staring; what are you thinking about?” she asked, finally letting her eyes connect with his; she put down her spoon and leaned back in her seat and folded her hands in front of her. Something that she quickly thought against as her left hand found her wine glass and pulled it closer, so she could keep it there and drink whenever she needed to.

Jasper smiled a little as she asked for a flat surface. “Just flat? Not soft? Like, you can take the floor if you want to, but there’s also a guest room, with a very nice bed,” he explained knowing very well that she would appreciate a bed if it wasn’t occupied.
His eyes blinked a couple of times as she mentioned that he was staring, “I’m not,” he defended himself. “Am I?” he wondered, realizing how he might have zoned out in his thought process. He clicked his tongue and leaned back in his seat, putting his utensils down and put his hands on his knees. He realized that they had done the exact same movements with slight differences. “What’s keeping you from moving over here?” he spoke with no trace of teasing or jokes.

Her nose scrunched as he talked about a very nice bed. “Oh now you’re just spoiling me” she said with a bright smile, then her brow lifted as he asked her what was keeping her from moving here. “Ehm” she licked her lips pressing her brows together. The smile that had more or less been on her lips since she had entered the house was gone. Why didn’t she move here? There was a list of reasons, she liked her job and that was somewhere else. Her sister was here, and she didn’t really feel like running into her when her baby sister had no idea who she was. That was a whole other type of punishment that she didn’t have the need to seek out.
“Because I have responsibilities at Interpol, and I happen to like my job?” she said as a smile once again found its way to her lips, even if it was greatly subdued than before. “I don’t know, I’ve been there for so long, would be weird to just stop and pick everything up and move over here, what would I do? I honestly think I’ll go crazy if I didn’t have something to use my time on” she laughed, then a teasing look appeared as she leaned forward squinting her eyes playfully. “Why, you want me to move here?” she asked with a smirk.

Her smile disappeared. Things got serious. A small scoff left him as she started with her job. He turned his head away from her shortly before he looked back at her. She elaborated how important her job was, which made him consider his own decisions. Maybe he could have worked from afar, and not just quit his job, but on the other side Norah had warned him; get out of Interpol before they take away your will to live. Why did it have to be so difficult? Even though she laughed and let a teasing look appear, he wasn’t affected by it. “Well, you’re the most important being right after Meatballs, but Meatballs died a month ago-” he stopped for a moment, “So, yes. Please move here. You can live here,” he offered and let his index finger meet the table in a straight line, to indicate that she could live at his place. “I know you’ve been a part of Interpol for a while but,” he licked his lips, “I think there’s plenty of opportunities that can be a better working place than Interpol… And would you really want to work there without me?” he joked a little, though he was quite serious about most of his words.

She pressed her brows together. “I don’t know if I should be offended or flattered that I’m in the same category as a cat”, she said with a teasing smile. Mostly because she knew how much the cat had meant to Jasper, meaning that she had to mean a great deal to him as well. Which of course was underlined when he told her that she should move here, live in his house. That, if anything, made her eyes pop and for a moment, she just looked at him, somewhat stunned by the matter, as he continued putting down the facts why she should quit or at least move here instead.
Her eyes didn’t leave him as she slowly narrowed them and took a sip from the wine, taking her time before she put it back on the table. “So, just like that, you want to move in?” she teased with a smirk “scandalous, what wouldn’t people think, Jasper?” she kept going as her smile grew; now it wasn’t like she knew a whole lot about Jasper, but she did know that he was from a rich family and when it came to wealthy family there was always some weird stigma about whom they wanted their kids to hang around.

Jasper smiled a little, “When it comes from me, you should be utterly flattered,” he explained, though she probably already knew that. It was difficult not to notice how her eyes almost popped out of her head as he offered her to come and live at his place.
He blinked a couple of times as she asked if he wanted her to move in. Hadn’t he been clear? “Yes,” he replied only to be relieved and laugh shortly as she asked what people would think about it. “As long as we know what is right and what is happening behind these walls, I don’t care what they think. They can believe whatever they want,” he told her, “Nothing is going to stop me from being with you,” he was confident in his words. “Unless it is you. If you don't want to be with me you shall feel free to take the door whenever you please,” he continued with a slightly confused frown.

At first, she was about to make fun of how he phrased himself behind these walls. That sounded like something scandalous was going to happen. But then the smile faltered, and she felt how her heart started beating against her chest. Hard, almost painfully so.
Being with her. Don’t want to be with me. She pulled in a sharp breath as her eyes stared at him, almost as if nothing happened behind her wrinkled forehead.
“Jasper”, she whispered as another shaky breath left her. “You – I”, she licked her lips, letting out a soft sigh that turned into a chuckle. “Jasper, for all the creators, you can’t just phrase it like that, making me think all sorts of things,” she said with a smirk. “I’ll think about quitting, okay? I’ll use the week here to see there might be an opening in London that could make me work from here,” she added, as her eyes glided towards her still unfinished meal and leaned towards it and started eating again—pushing away the feelings that he had managed to pull out of her by his words.