Just One Night [SHORT STORY]

Chapter Two

"Excuse me?"
Jesse shook her dark box braided hair away from her face as she continued to stare at this incredible specimen of a man; Archer.
"What part was unclear?" He chuckled to himself as he moved past her and finally stepped into the street. Her mouth gaping, unable to form her next words or even dissect what he'd said, Jesse followed him and looked around. The street was silent except for a stray cat, a few parked cars and the sounds of traffic a little off in the distance. When she looked at the street signs however, her eyes almost dropped out of her head. His bombshell about being his fiance momentarily forgotten she asked, "Is this... New York?"
"Of course it's New York." His tone suggested he couldnt believe she was asking such a stupid question but he didnt follow up as he made his way toward a motorcycle. Jesse couldn't have told anyone what model it was but it screamed thrills and all consuming danger. Archer sat astride it, his leg swooping over in one fluid movement before looking at her with eyes that were too intense and knowing. Jesse felt unnerved as he watched her but a little excited by it as well.
"Is that all you have to say to me?" he asked, his tone showing he was clearly pissed off even though his swagger did a great job at hiding it.
"I don't even know you!"
Good, she knew how to be angry; how to fight with words and so she settled into the familiarity of her rage. Archer chuckled and started to put on his helmet, shaking his head in dismissal and disbelief.
"W-wait, where are you going?" Jesse panicked.
"Home." Was his simple reply.
"You're just going to leave me here?" she panicked.
"Makes a change to you leaving me, right?"
She didn't know why but she felt ashamed when he said it. He obviously thought she was someone she wasn't and that person had... hurt him. She saw it now in the way his eyes blazed even while a nonchalant smirk remained on his lips. He'd wanted the dig to burn but he hadn't banked on how much it would hurt him to say it.
"Listen, Archer is it? There's been some kind of mistake but I'm not your fiance, I'm not Alex."
Jesse looked into those hypnotic green eyes, imploring him to believe her. She had nothing to prove she wasn't this Alex person and she also hadn't seen anyone else other than him. She needed him so she could attempt to find her friends and get home.
"Please... I need your help."
She was desperate now and Archer finally seemed to catch on. His perfectly shaped eyebrows furrowed in the middle before he got off the bike and came to stand in front of her, arms folded across his chest. His own leather jacket bunched up at the arms, stretching over what looked like considerably large muscles. Jesse licked her lips before looking back up into his eyes,
"Who are you?" he finally asked. Jesse sighed, grateful that he was at least giving her the chance to explain her weird predicament.
"My name is Jesse, Jesse Carter. I stepped through a portal with my friends but somehow I ended up on the other side of the world. That thing came out of nowhere and then you showed up and killed it with a Lightsaber!"
His eyebrow arched, "Lightsaber?"
"That thing, that glowing stick thing you had!"
Archer looked down to where a cylindrical steel looking rod hung at his side. He removed it from its holding with ease, twirling it expertly between his fingers, "My sword?" He held out his arm again, not far enough to hit her and did the pulling move again and once more the blue light appeared.
"You call that a sword?" Jesse couldn't tell if he was serious or trying to make her angry.
"Of course I do, it's what it is. You know this Alex!"
"I am not Alex!"
She'd had enough of this. She needed answers and she needed them now. Jesse folded her arms across her chest and caught the brief second Archer's eyes darted down to her pumped up breasts. She ignored how that look sent a quiver down her spine or how instinctively she wanted to give him an all access pass to look more intimately.
"Enough with the bullshit okay. I don't have time! I've lost my friends, they could be hurt and I need to get back to them. I need to go home."
"This used to be your home but apparently you've forgotten that, as well as me. You said you came through a portal, didnt you? Then just go back the way you came, Jesse."
He almost spat her name as he walked away but she hated that he made it sound so simple.
"I don't know how. You said you're a witch. It was a stupid spell that got us in this mess in the first place so can't you do something?"
I'm going to kill Winnie when I get out of here.
He stopped, his back still to her. "A spell brought you here?"
"That's what I'm trying to tell you. One minute I was in London and the next i'm across the Atlantic."
"London?" He'd turned to face her now and his confusion was clear,
"London, England." Archer stared at her like she'd spoken another language. "The UK...Great Britain, Britannica?"
Still his face drew a blank, "I've never heard of this place."
Jesse was stunned, "You said this was New York?"
"It is."
Jesse's mind was racing but she had to be smart. She had to channel her inner Bess. If he said this was New York but he didn't know London then the logical question would be...
"What year is it?"
Archer raised an eyebrow again but this time his amused smile was back. He clearly thought she was crazy but decided to appease her.
"It's 2022. Listen, Not Alex, if magic brought you here then magic can get you back. There are a million other things I could be doing but if you wanna get back to London..." the way he said it, she knew he still didn't believe  her. "You can either come with me and figure out how to do that or stay here, it's up to you."
2022. How could that be?
Archer began to walk away without even waiting for her answer. Jesse panicked and reached out for him, grabbing the bulk of his bicep. When he looked down at her hand on him, she immediately snapped it away, embarrassed.
"You can't leave me here, alone."
She hated that the last word cracked a little. You'd think she'd be used to her solitary life by now. If not for the girls...she had no one. Archer tilted his head like a bird,
"When was the last time you smiled, Not Alex?"
"Excuse me?"
"Smile. You know, turn the corner of your lips up instead of down, maybe show a bit of teeth."
Jesse sighed, "I don't have a reason to smile right now."
"What about other days?" His voice lowered and Jesse had the oddest feeling that he was asking something he already knew the answer to. She didn't answer him.
Archer straightened up and took a deep breath before winking at her, "I'll tell you what, Not Alex–"
"Jesse!"
He continued like she'd never said anything, "If I can't make you smile before the suns come up, we'll find you a way home, to this..." he put his fingers into air quotes. "London."
Suns?
Jesse rolled her eyes in obvious agitation, "I doubt that'll ever happen but what if you do make me smile? You'll keep me trapped here?"
"No, we'll still find you a way home. You'll just remember that there are beautiful things in the world and maybe you won't be so fucking moody."
"I am not moody!"
Archer scoffed with an easy grin and walked back to his bike. He sat on it once more and with a click of his fingers, a sleek black helmet appeared in his hand out of nowhere. She'd unpack that later, along with everything else about this ridiculous situation.
"So, Not Alex from Imaginary London... Are you coming or not?"

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