Cold Jesse

Needing Nicky

I DO NOT OWN BREAKING BAD. SHOUTOUT TO THOSE WHO CARE; ESPECIALLY MIMIMARGOT.

FACE CLAIM

NICKY ADDISON- ALESSANDRA TORRESANI

Sky's The Limit Bookstore. Haines, Alaska. 3 days later.

After leaving the cafe, Jesse was so tempted to find a bar and get roaring drunk until he forgot who Maya Riley even was. But he resisted the temptation. Numbing pain wasn't a right, but a privilege: a privilege that he simply did not deserve. So, instead of getting plowed like a farmer's field, Jesse drove himself to the bookstore that he'd visited a couple weeks before.

He'd meant to come back sooner because the book he'd gotten turned out to be actually good and he figured that he might as well give the rest of the series a day in court; unfortunately, he's never gotten around to it because of being busy at work and hanging out with the guys. As he went inside, he was greeted by the warmth and coziness that radiates from the place. Before Jesse could even look at a book, he was greeted by a familiar face.

"Eli!" Margot the librarian exclaimed with an eager smile. "I was wondering if I was going to see you again."

"Yeah well, I figured that I'd gone too long without my book fix. Besides, it was either come here or go to a bar and get wasted." Jesse teased with a weak smile.

"Why would want to go get drunk at a bar?" Margot asked with concern in her voice.

"I was going to ask out this chick that I thought was super hot...but it seems like I missed my shot." Jesse explained sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that, are you sure the door to her heart is closed?" The book keeper asked, trying to hold onto optimism.

"For sure yo...I saw her cheek kissing another guy and it looked pretty passionate to me." The furniture maker answered, remembering how he had seen Maya literally kiss the cook back at the cafe.

"Maybe it was a dear friend, or a family member. Don't count your lady love out too soon, Eli." She said with a wink.

"Whatever." He replied as he left the front desk and started looking for a sequel to A Court Of Thorns And Roses. The last thing that he needed to hear at that moment was one of those "The sun'll come out tomorrow" type speeches. It wasn't going to make him feel better; no matter how well intentioned the person delivering it was.

As Jesse looked around the store for the novel he sought, he discovered that he and Margot were not alone. Out of the corner of his eye, Jesse saw a woman browsing through a shelf of self help books. She was wearing a red hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up over her head. She had pale skin and a slender build to go with it.

As Jesse gazed at the woman, he felt an urge to go talk to; similar to what he had felt with Maya Riley. A part of him felt like it was wrong to be listing after other girls when he still had his heart set on Maya. However, Jesse reminded himself that Maya had made her choice and that it clearly had not been him. If Maya was going to move on and claim another dude for her own, did that not give Jesse equal right to find a new feminine object for his affections?

"What book is that, yo?" Jesse inquired as the woman looked up from what she was reading to gaze at him; revealing the head of blonde hair that was hiding underneath the red hood she wore.

"Um...At Last A Life?" She said awkwardly as her eyes were matched with Jesse's. "It's supposed to be a good book for if you're struggling with anxiety."

"Are you...struggling with anxiety?" He asked, eager to pick her brain a bit.

"All my life." She answered with a nod as she leans back against the shelf. "I used to self medicate with pot and pills, but I'm trying this new program where I don't rely on drugs to get me through life."

"I'm doing that too, staying sober." Jesse said as he ran hind fingers over his hair that was little by little starting to frown back on his head. The truth was that unlike this chick who was sobering up to better herself, Jesse refused to take drugs because they numb the pain and he didn't deserve that. He deserved to live with the pain of what he'd done and the lives he'd fucked up; most of all his own.

"Um, I'm Nicky, by the way: Nicky Addison." The skinny blonde said, sticking out her hand for a shake.

"Eli Driscoll." Jesse lied as he shook the soft hand eagerly.

"I haven't seen you around here before, you new to Haines?" Nicky inquired.

"Yeah, moved here a few weeks ago; the lower 48 just weren't doing it for me." Jesse said, the lies coming with greater ease the more he repeated them.

"I've thought about moving for so long but...I'd probably only stay for a month and then come right back because I'd be too scared to put myself out there." Nicky replied with self pity in her voice.

"So...you for any plans for tonight, Nicky?" Jesse asked, going out on a limb.

"I guess I do now, what are you thinking?" Nicky asked with a shy smirk.

"We could go back to my place. I got a frozen pizza and a TV?" He offered, knowing damn well that wilt wasn't much in the way of charming a girl out of her panties, but it was all he had.

"Might as well, nothing better to do around here." She shrugged as she to roll the dice on Eli Driscoll.

REVIEWS NEEDED AND APPRECIATED