Chapter 25 (p.78) - The Game of Fate

[§hannon]

I'm almost at 1000 posts!
Hahah. Just thought I'd share.

[§ilvercell]

the plot thickens! ;D

[§hannon]

[§hannon]

I'm writing chapter 3 right now.
I should have it in a little bit for everyone.

[§hannon]

Chapter Threeeeeeeeeeeee.
Enjoy. Feedback helps. A lot. So. Please? Hahah.

Chapter Three

Just when I got out of this…

Jackson quickly slapped his phone shut and put it back in his pocket. He was so used to the boss hanging up on him now that it didn’t matter much anymore. He had to think and think fast. Jackson had just managed to get himself out of this mess and now he was being sucked right back into it. Maybe Lisa Reisert was just his sign of bad luck in knee-length skirts and high-heeled shoes. Yeah, maybe that was it.

He began running towards the lobby of Sunset Plaza so that he could go upstairs to his temporary home apartment. Once he got to the huge glass doors, he stopped running.

No suspicion, Jackson. No suspicion.

As calmly as his nerves would let him go, he walked through the lobby to the elevator on the far side of the room. Many people in the hotel knew who he was since the whole Charles Keefe incident. But, by authorities order, it was demanded to be kept secret that he was staying there. The lobby was fairly vacant considering that it was mid-afternoon, normally the busiest time of day at Sunset Plaza. Jackson continued to walk across the tile floor of the lobby to the elevator, as he felt eyes in all directions drilling holes into his body. He hated the feeling of all the secret attention.

Yes, I helped the attempted murder of Charles Keefe. I got off clean. Stare at me all you want to, as*holes.

Frustrated, he stepped inside of the elevator and pressed 6 for his floor. As the door slid shut, he gave the woman behind the front desk an evil stare. Jackson basked in the terrified look on her face and the doors closed. He felt the elevator start to head upward as the elevator dinged with each floor. After reaching the top floor of the hotel, the elevator came to a halt and Jackson stepped out. One of the good things about staying at Sunset Plaza was it was very luxurious and he was staying in the top apartment suite of the hotel. It was a good break from his bleak house in Dallas, even though he did still miss it. The closest thing Jackson had came to living the lifestyle he was at the Sunset Plaza was visiting Bryan Greenley at his mansion in Cumberland. He walked down the long hallway to suite 601. Jackson pulled his key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. The door swung open with an effortless swing and Jackson stepped inside. He admired the suite. It was gorgeous, with a majority of everything made of glass. The room almost reminded him of the pictures he’d seen of suite 4080 that Keefe had been put into at the Lux Atlantic. He put his keys on the kitchen counter and removed his dark gray tuxedo jacket. Jackson threw it over a dining room chair, as he walked over to his laptop computer. He opened it up and noticed the laptop was on.

”That’s not how I left you,” he said out loud, talking to the computer, as it woke up out of sleep mode.

As the screen gradually lightened, he took a step backward as the words ‘Lisa Reisert.’ appeared on an opened notepad program with a flashing cursor. Jackson looked at the screen, confused, knowing now that somebody was playing games with him and right now, wasn’t the time. He quickly closed the notepad program and opened up internet explorer. He searched for the official website for the Lux Atlantic hotel in Miami.

Lux Atlantic. Lux Atlantic. C’mon… c’mon. Bingo.

He found the site and searched the page for a phone number of any sort like a contact us page or feedback page. There was nothing. Jackson scrolled all the way to the bottom of each page until he found what he was looking for. He frantically grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. He copied down the digits.

1. 8. 0. 0. 5. 5. 5. L. U. X. 1.

He quickly closed the internet window and shut off his laptop. He grabbed the sheet of paper off of the table and began to run out to his balcony. Jackson busted open the glass door and began dialing the number to the Lux Atlantic. He completed the sequence and waited. It began ringing. Jackson started panicking, anticipation with when the phone will be answered.

3 rings.

”Good afternoon, Lux Atlantic hotel. Cynthia speaking. How may I help you?”

Cynthia. Oh dear god.

”Hello?” Cynthia repeated.

Jackson quickly disguised his voice in a very deep grumble.

”Hi, is Lisa in today?” Jackson asked in his newly created voice.

Cynthia paused. “Yes, she is actually. But, she just went into a sudden meeting with a young gentleman. Would you like her voicemail?”

It’s not Joe… It couldn’t be Joe… What if it is?

Jackson began to choke. “No, that’s fine. I’ll just catch her at another time,” he said, quickly hanging up.

He frantically looked over the balcony down the Floridian coastline at the Lux Atlantic. Everything seemed to be fine. Nothing looked abnormal. But, what if that young gentleman was Joe and Jackson was already too late?

Don’t think that way, Jackson. Get the hell out of here.

If there's one thing Jackson didn't like, it was not doing anything at all. Jackson was already so close but, so far away from Lisa and that needed to change. Right now. He took one last glimpse at the Lux Atlantic, as he breathed in the salty sea air. As if it was a precious memento, Jackson looked down at the paper in his hand with the Lux Atlantic’s phone number. He just stared at it for a moment, when a flood a memories came back to him. Jackson crumpled the paper with his fist and threw it off the balcony, letting the sea breeze carry it away.

Sea breeze. Lisa.

He just watched the paper float away, eventually landing on the ground somewhere out of sight.

Time to go.

He rushed back inside to put his gray blazer back on and grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter. Just as he would at home, he took one last look around, standing at the door. It reminded him once again of the day he left Dallas for Baltimore and the first day he got himself into this mess.

The life of a high-profile assassinator.

He sighed heavily and closed the door behind him. Jackson headed down the long hallway to the elevators from which he came. His sore hand reached out to press the down arrow to the elevator. All was silent, as he waited for the elevator to come up to the sixth floor. Adrenaline began pumping through his veins once again.

[azina]

Ahh, this is the life. I go to Red Eye this afternoon, take a nap and this is waiting for me when I wake up. I love how you're setting the scene. Wonder if Lisa is just in an innocent meeting or Joe truly is on the way. Guess we'll find out soon enough. Either way Jackson is on the job, eh? *thumbs up* Keep at it girl!

[dior4ever]

Fabulous shannon!!!

[Dr. J Crane]

Shannon,

quit your day job and start writing movie plots, gurl. I've said this before I'm saying it again - those guys over at Dreamworks should pay to use your plots in their movies.

Damn! you;re good. I would kill to be able to just write stories like that but to be able to do it with your God ...

Keep 'em coming, please...as if there were any doubt about wanting to read more of your fics - duh!!!! YES WE DO!!!!

[§hannon]

Hahah. I don't think my fanfics are exactly MOVIE SCRIPT quality... lmao.
But, you're extremely flattering.

[bella]

I love the story! This would make a great sequel to the movie

[§hannon]

lol, Thank you.

[aurora10]

This story is fantastic!!! I can't wait for another one!!!!!! ;D

Was there a PotC reference in there?

[§hannon]

”That’s not how I left you,”
Yeah, it was unintentional. But, yeah. It is. lol

And thank you.

[§hannon]

To Everybody-

I'm going to try and write Chapter 4 tonight. But, I just got home from work. I'm in major pain right now and I have schoolwork to do still. So, I'm gonna try. But, no guarantees.

[Shelly]

the computer is bugging me. if its not how he left it then uh... yeah. i would have freaked out about that more then joe and lisa. agg. its buggin.

more more more.