First Visions (11 page)

“What if I see inside your head, Jared? How
can you spend time with me when I could see some of your most
personal moments?” she demanded.

Looking behind him at the sky, she noticed
more storm clouds gathering and suspected a downpour would be
arriving any minute. However, she had no desire to leave this spot.
She had never opened up like this before with anybody. It made her
understand her feelings for Jared were more than simply lust for
his utter gorgeousness. His listening skills and openness was
making it like child’s play to find his way into her guarded
heart.

“Kate, I’m willing to take that risk, I have
nothing to hide. You’re not going to scare me off. I don’t say
things lightly. When I told you we could be friends, I absolutely
meant it.”

His tone was sincere and Kate felt suddenly
very vulnerable. The anxiety of the past week began to boil over
inside of her. She tried to push it down, but felt tears spring to
her eyes. Between the tormenting images of Cori and her developing
feelings for Jared—she wanted to get the hell off this emotional
roller coaster. Pathetically enough, a sniffle escaped. Before
long, full blown sobs were erupting from her.

He opened his arms and she practically
catapulted into them. She rested her head against his chest and
focused on the sound of his breathing. She loved the feeling of
being held by him. He emanated a strong sense of calm and she
reveled in how secure she felt at that moment.

“I’m a complete and utter head case,” she
mumbled into his shirt. “You must think I’m the biggest spaz in the
world.”

She felt his chest rumble with laughter.
“You’re not a spaz. I couldn’t imagine having no control over your
brain and seeing random thoughts from others.”

It was arduous, but she pried herself from
his arms. “Sorry about unloading on you. This probably breaches
your professional code of ethics or something like that. Sorry if
I’m putting you in an awkward position.”

“It’s fine, Kate. Like I said I want us to be
friends. Friends hug, right?”

She didn’t know if he was trying to convince
her or himself. The tension she’d noted from the last time at the
diner resurfaced as he visibly stiffened.

He stood up and reached out a hand to help
her to her feet. “It looks like a massive downpour is going to
start any second. I should get you back to the library. Call me if
you want to talk about anything.”

“Thanks,” she said and managed a smile.

It was kind of him to offer, although there
was no way in hell she was ever telling him about last night’s
vision. Despite his proclamations, she had a feeling he wouldn’t be
too fond of the fact that she saw him in his underwear.

As she glanced at her surroundings this time,
Kate thought the vision was from Cori’s memories. The setting was
the front of an elementary school with seemingly hundreds of
children rushing in every direction. Busses were lined up in front
of the school and parents were holding the hands of children while
walking them towards the entrance of the building. She tried to
find Cori in the crowd, but couldn’t locate the little girl.
Instead, the vision seemed to center on a couple and a small boy
standing in front of the school’s marque. Confused, Kate wondered
who the people were and why she was seeing them.

The man held a camera in his hand. On a
closer inspection, she realized it was a dated looking Polaroid. He
took a shot of the small boy and a photo emerged from its base.
“Here, get in the picture Rose,” the man addressed the woman.

She gave a beaming smile and gathered the boy
in her arms. He squirmed as the man took multiple shots of them.
The woman’s smile never left her face.

Rose was stunning. She had black hair that
fell in natural waves almost to her waist. Her dark eyes were
highlighted by long lashes and her skin was blemish free. She
smiled frequently and there was something very charismatic about
her. Kate noticed several fathers walk by and do a double take of
the woman. Her husband didn’t seem to notice and Kate wondered if
he was used to the attention.

Although not as breathtaking as his wife, the
husband was tall and distinguished looking. His eyes were lighter
than his wife’s and his brown hair was graying slightly at the
temples.

The boy shared a strong resemblance with his
mother. His dark hair did not have the same curls, but he had the
same facial features. His gray eyes seemed to be a blend of his
parents. He looked to be about five years old and wore jeans and a
t-shirt. His outfit was completed by a Transformers backpack and
matching Transformers sneakers. “No more pictures!” he
complained.

“
Ok, sorry Jared, we’re only excited
because it’s your first day of kindergarten!” Rose
squealed.

Jared gave her a look of disdain. “I told
you, my name is not Jared, its Optimus Prime.”

His father shot an amused look to Rose over
Jared’s head. “Well, Optimus Prime, we should be heading in now. I
think the bell’s going to ring any minute.”

The boy’s bravado wavered. He shot his mother
an uncertain look. “Do I have to go, Mommy? I wanna stay home with
you.”

“
Now, now…” his father began.

“
Give me a minute to talk to him,
Charles.” She put a finger to her lips to shush him. Charles
shrugged as Rose bent down to Jared’s height. “I know this is scary
for you, but you’re going to love school. You’ll do all sorts of
fun things and meet so many new friends.”

Jared didn’t look convinced and frowned at
her. Earnestly, Rose pressed on. “And even though you don’t see me,
I’ll always be there with you. Whenever you get sad, just close
your eyes and imagine I’m next to you holding your hand.”

“
Rose, you really must stop coddling the
boy,” Charles admonished, but the obvious affection was apparent in
his voice. Rose laughed and pulled Jared in for a kiss. The trio
then turned to walk towards the front of the school. The vision
began to fade.

***

“No Denny’s Grand Slam this morning?” Kate’s
mother chided walking into the kitchen the next morning.

Kate sat at the counter munching on a granola
bar. “No, not today. Figured I’d eat light to prevent looking like
a complete cow in my dress tonight.”

“I wish I still had your shape and your
metabolism,” she said and then questioned, “How did you sleep? See
anything?”

“No images of Cori, which concerns me.
Hopefully, she’ll be coming to me again soon. I find it hard to
imagine anything good coming out of this guy keeping her for so
long without any contact,” she said and threw out the wrapper for
the granola bar. She jumped off the bar stool and stretched. “I did
have a vision. It was actually the first one in a long time where I
didn’t wake up and feel depressed and hopeless.”

“Care to share?”

“Nah, think I’ll keep it to myself,” she
replied. She wanted to hold onto the intimate memory of Jared and
his parents. It made her feel connected in a very personal way to
the detective. Upon waking, it was almost impossible to stop
smiling as she wrote down her recollections of the vision in her
journal. Although she didn’t plan to tell him about the images, she
never wanted to forget a single detail. She was certain he held
this fond memory of his parents still alive close to his heart.

Walking over to her mother, she kissed her on
the cheek. “Just want you to know I love you, Mom.”

She placed a hand on Kate’s forehead. “Are
you feeling alright?”

“Ha-ha, Mom, that’s a real knee slapper,” she
said sarcastically, but still gave her an unabashed grin.

“Katie, I love you too.”

***

That evening, Kate had serious doubts about
her choice of attire. She wasn’t sure if a very short and snug
fitting dress was appropriate for a dive bar in town. She may be
sending out the wrong message. Kate wasn’t planning to have a one
night stand—the thought actually sent a wave of nausea through her.
Her experience level with guys was pathetically low and she wasn’t
ready to expand her horizons with some random dude. However she
wasn’t opposed to a make-out session with a hot guy. It could be
just the thing to forget about damn Jared and his damn duck
feeding.

“Katie, Julie’s here,” her mother called up
as she finished dressing in her bedroom.

“Send her up,” she yelled down.

A minute later, Julie burst into her bedroom.
She was dressed in a strapless A-line dress with a floral design.
Her tan was perfected and Kate lamented on how her own porcelain
skin always burned with even the slightest of sun exposure. Julie
had straightened her hair and used moderate amounts of make-up to
highlight her blue eyes.

“Holy shit, Kate! You look freaking hot! If I
was a dude, I’d want to tap that right now!” she exclaimed breaking
out in a huge grin as she looked her up and down.

Her previous bravado was fading and she asked
in an unsure voice, “Is it too much? It doesn’t really feel like
me.”

“No, you look perfect Kate. We’re going out,
what are you going to wear? Your normal sweats and oversized tee?
Half of the time, I can’t even tell you have boobs,” Julie cracked.
She reached into a shopping bag she had brought into the room. With
mock seriousness, she stated, “And to complete your fabulousness,
I’m lending you one of my prized pairs of black heels.”

Kate looked at the shoes and gasped. “Julie,
these are Jimmy Choos! I can’t borrow these, if anything happens
I’ll have to give you two weeks of my meager salary.”

“They’ll be fine, I trust you. Besides, they
weren’t that much, I got a great deal on them online.” She waved
her off and Kate began to slip the heels on.

They fit like a glove and Kate had to admit
she had nothing so luxurious in her closet. Kate vowed to start
dieting in order to start swiping some of Julie’s amazing clothing
as well. It was hard to not be envious over the endless supply of
money Julie received from her father. Kate’s father made a good
living, but her parents expected her to be responsible and pay for
her own bills. They kept swearing she would thank them one day for
instilling in her a sense of fiscal responsibility. Julie held out
her hand. “Here’s some lipstick too.”

“Russian Red from MAC? Julie, we’re going to
have to totally sneak past my mother. She might make me wash my
face and put on pantyhose before we’re able to leave.”

Julie laughed. “Before you get your panties
all in a bunch, just take a look in the mirror.”

Kate walked over to her full-sized mirror.
She was barely recognizable. She looked confident and sexy—very
unlike the scared virginal kid she usually felt like. The dress
highlighted her curves while the black and metallic design seemed
to diminish the extra five pounds she wished she could drop. It was
short enough where bending over may provide the view of a
gynecological exam.

After almost blinding herself with the
eyeliner pencil and mascara wand, she was finally able to give her
eyes a smoky appearance. Her hair was smooth and soft with the help
of the Moroccan oil she had picked up from the mall. Besides the
bangles, she wore a pair of silver dangly earrings. A part of her
wished Jared would be able to see her tonight. She doubted he would
be referring to her as kiddo in this outfit.

Spinning back around, she addressed Julie.
“What’s the deal for tonight? Is Gage meeting us at the bar?”

“Yes and he’s bringing a friend along. A very
cute friend, I might add.” Julie gave her a sly smile. Kate only
imagined what this friend would be like. If he was anything like
Gage, she may end up seeing Jared after all—when she went to the
station to file sexual assault charges.

“Sounds epic, let’s go,” she said and grabbed
her purse.

She tiptoed down the stairs and made a
beeline for the front door. “Bye Mom,” she yelled and hurried
outside without waiting for a reply. She heard her mother’s muffled
response through the front door.

“You are twenty-one, Kate. I don’t think your
mother will care what you wear. I mean what are you going to tell
me next, you have a curfew?” Julie was shaking her head at her with
an amused smile played on her lips.

“You wouldn’t understand. You have a brother
and a sister. I suffer from only child syndrome. Science has proven
we are maladjusted and lack any social skills. Plus, since Dad took
off with the home wrecker, I feel a certain responsibility towards
her,” she admitted.

Come to think of it, she was pretty
hypocritical to categorize her father’s girlfriend as a home
wrecker. Wasn’t she one for thinking illicit thoughts about Jared?
If Jared had made a move on her while they were inside the gazebo,
Kate wasn’t sure she would have had the self-restraint to stop
it.

Julie drove them to a bar on Main Street
located the more commercialized section of town. Julie explained if
the band playing at Ryan’s Pub turned out to be lame, they could
always hit one of the other bars in the area. However, the packed
parking lot of the bar made Kate suspect the band may be halfway
decent.

As they made their way through the crowd
inside the bar, she definitely noticed some head turns. She was
secretly pleased, since she normally felt like a social misfit.
They found Gage easily across the bar. It wasn’t hard since he was
over six feet and had a hulking form. Kate wasn’t surprised when
she found out Gage had been a wrestler in high school.

“Hey ladies, looking
good
.” Gage did
his best impression of a loser lothario by undressing them both
with his eyes. Honestly, Kate had no idea what Julie saw in
him.

Julie giggled and smacked his arm. After
Julie smiled at the guy standing next to Gage, Kate took a swift
inventory. He was good-looking in a bland sort of way. His light
brown hair was cropped closely and his brown eyes peeped at her
with interest. He was also blessed with the ability to tan well.
Maybe she should have experimented with a bronzer before heading
out of the house.