Chapter 4
Jason sat there for a minute letting her name run off his tongue. Vicky Martin. It felt good. He wished he had more time to explore whatever this crazy connection was between them. He felt it and he was sure she felt it too. As the rain continued to thunder down onto the windshield it struck him that Vicky would need to take the bus home with a three year old. Wouldn’t it be ungentlemanly of him to let her take the bus in this rain? He just couldn’t let her do that. At least that is what he kept telling himself. His cell phone tinged to let him know he had a text message. The message read “American Airlines Flight 1202 delayed due to weather”. Jason felt like he’d just hit the jack-pot. It seemed like someone upstairs was looking out for him. This was working out perfectly and maybe he could steal just a little bit more time with her.
Ten minutes later Vicky emerged from the daycare center carrying her daughter. They were standing underneath the ledge so they were dry for now. Jason grabbed his umbrella from the back seat and got out of the car. Jason ran over to them. He had to yell above the wind and rain to get their attention. “My flight was delayed so can I give you and your daughter a ride home”. Vicky looked surprised to see him. She thought he had already left to catch his flight. It would be so nice to let him take them home. The car was warm and dry. Not to mention they would be home a whole hour and a half earlier than usual. “Jason, thank you for offering but the bus stop is just over there and it will be here in about 30 minutes”. Vicky might have been careless letting him drive her to the daycare center but she wouldn’t do it with Angel. Jason saw the look of uncertainty on her face and thought of an idea to reassure her “Look, I would feel awful knowing I let you and Angel out in this. I have an idea. Do you know Franklin Roth?”. Vicky nodded, “Of course, he’s the CFO of the company”. Jason didn’t understand how she was aware of Franklin’s identity but unaware of his? But, he was still grateful she didn’t. Before Vicky could ask Jason why he wanted to know he pulled out his cell phone and starting dialing Franklin’s number “He’ll vouch for me that I’m a decent and upstanding guy. Hey Franklin it’s….JK. I’m here with Vicky Martin. She works at CkR and is in need of a ride home. She’s a little nervous about allowing me to give her and her daughter a ride. Can you vouch for me?”. Jason nervously coughed and went on “Just vouch that she and her daughter would be safe with me, you know JK. Sorry, I mean give her my real name, Jay Kincaid”. Of course Franklin thought this was strange, “Jason what are you up to and nobody’s called you JK since college. What’s going on? Are you losing your mind?”. “I’m putting her on the phone now”. Jason handed the phone over to Vicky and she took it with a little hesitation “Hello, Mr. Roth..”. Franklin didn’t know what Jason was up to but decided to play along until Jason could get a chance to explain it to him. “Hello Ms. Martin. I’m vouching for uh Jay Kincaid’s character. It is unimpeachable. Both you and your daughter will be very safe in his care”. “Thank you Mr. Roth that is very nice to know” then Vicky handed the phone back to Jason. “Thanks Franklin I’ll call you later to talk about those sales numbers”. With a sigh, Franklin grunted “you better”. Jason waited for Vicky to give him the ok. She gave him the nod he’d hoped for and walked them to the car. He helped secure Angel into the back seat. He was so thankful it had a car seat. “Thank you so much for going out of your way to take us home. It’s great being able to shave an hour and a half off of our commute time”. The smile that Vicky gave Jason made him feel as though he’d just solved world hunger or something like it. “My flight was delayed so I would have been sitting around in an uncomfortable airport waiting. You guys are actually doing me the favor really.”. “Well, thank you all the same”. Jason was the first person in a long time that seemed to show real concern for her and Angel.
Vicky’s earlier hesitation about giving Jason her address wasn’t just because of their safety but also because she was attracted to him. She was slightly embarrassed about him seeing her neighborhood and her home. She lived on the other side of the town. The side from all appearances people like him most likely never travelled. Vicky may not know a lot about Jason but she knew he was wearing an expensive watch, shoes and raincoat. Not to mention his rental car was a Mercedes Benz and if he knew Mr. Roth, then he was obviously someone high up at CkR International. He may be even as high as Joshua Jones. She didn’t want him to look down on her. What was she thinking? First, she would probably never cross paths with him again and secondly, he most likely just felt sorry for her and genuinely wanted to give her a ride home. She didn’t stand a chance with someone like him being attracted to her any way. So, what would it matter if he saw her neighborhood or her home?
On the ride over to Vicky’s Jason put on some music and turned to an old jazz station. That was a great distraction from all of the silly thoughts going on in