The Real Adventures of Jessica Bannon
TONYA
by Laura Fort
Disclaimer: Don't own anything in relation to Jonny Quest. Ya'll know
the rules and routines.
Archivers: Have at thee! (Just let me know first!)
Categories: A, HR, don't know what else
TONYA, part 5
Without thinking, without wanting to think, he pulled her closer to
him and kissed her.
Jessica reached up behind his neck and pulled him even closer.
The door opened. "Ms. Bannon-" Jonathan and Jessica abruplty broke
apart. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."
Jessica turned away from Jonathan. "It's okay, Jaci."
"Ms. Bannon, the shipment of files from Judge Lane just arrived. Todd
and Michael put them in the ERC on the second floor."
"Thanks, Jaci. I'll be right down in a few minutes."
Jaci left. Jonathan glanced at Jessica and raised an eyebrow. "ERC?"
Jessica smiled. "East Conference Room."
"Oh."
"So how about dinner tonight?"
"Sounds great."
Jessica plucked a card from her desk. It already had her name, work
number, cell phone number, and e-mail address on it. She quickly wrote
down her home address and phone number on the back. She handed it to
Jonathan. "Where are you staying?"
"Well, I've been staying at a friend's house who is out of town.
Tomorrow I'm flying to Paris to get ready for the Banquet."
"Sorry, I can't let you do that, Quest. Pack your stuff. You can stay
at my house. I'm borrowing a friend's private jet to fly to Paris
tomorrow. You can fly with me."
"I'll accept your offer to stay at your house on one condition."
Jonathan said.
"Which is?" Jessica asked cautiously.
"You tell me everything about you over dinner tonight." Jonathan
said.
"I accept. Meet me at my house around six'o'clock."
Jonathan walked towards the door. He reached for the handle, but
before turning it, he looked back at Jessica.
"Thanks again."
Jessica followed him to the door. "No problem. Oh, and Jonathan, it's
great to see you again."
"Same here."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that afternoon, she said good-bye to her secreatary, reminding
her that she would be contacting her about her returning date.
Jessica had barely been able to finish her work that day. She had
filed away all of the documents that Judge Lane had sent over. She had
also finished writing her speech for the Banquet.
Katrina Oliver had finished the final alterations of Jessica's dinner
gown and had asked Jessica to come to her studio for a final fitting.
The dress was made of a silky crystal and emerald marble colored
material. There was a side slit from her ankle to midthigh, and was
backless with spagetti straps. The dress had a very revealing neckline,
and accented her slim figure.
Katrina found matching gloves and sleek high heeled shoes. Silver
jewelry perfected the effect.
Jessica pulled her car into the garage and glanced at the sky.
Thunderheads clouded the darkening sky. It was going to be nasty. She
walked inside the house, carrying her attache and garment bag with her
dress and accessories. She tossed her keys onto the bar counter and
glanced at the clock.
5:02. She had less than an hour to, well, "To do what?" she thought
out loud. "I'm hardly ever home so the house is practically spotless."
"Well, I guess I ought to check on the guest's quarters."
Jessica walked up stairs past a couple doors, one which led to her
master bedroom.
She walked into the guest room and surveyed it. King-sized bed with a
light gray and light blue comforter. Matching couch and chairs. Cherry
wood dresser, chest, table. TV, phone, clock radio, stereo. Window with
light gray and light blue curtains. Light gray walls.
Jessica brought up two vases of flowers. She set one vase on the
table and took the other into the adjoining bathroom.
Jessica brought some clean towels and washcloths into the guest
bathroom. She quickly dusted everything and cleaned it up a little. She
put a new bar of soap and a roll of toilet paper in. She also changed
the handtowels. Jessica added a small nightlight, so that when she
turned off the overhead light, the nightlight gave off a soft glow.
After deciding it was suitable, she went downstairs to her 'thinking
room' as her mother called it.
Jessica has hired a professional artist to decorate it using her
ideas. He had done a magnificent job. Using the four walls, the ceiling,
and the floor, he painted the room to look like the universe.
The nine planets were very detailed in size, shape, moons, color, and
distance. The planets were scaled down to size according to the sun. The
were also arranged in accordance with the sun, also wonderfully
detailed.
The sun, on the ceiling, bubbled out from the flat surface. hidden
from the naked eye's view inside was the room's main light. When turned
on, the sun glowed a fiery red-yellow.
Each planet came out of the walls so you could actually feel the
planets.
Stars speckled the room just as in space.
The furniture was a glossy black. Camouflaged into the wall was a
fireplace. Sitting on the furniture was a computer, monitor, modem, four
line telephone/answering machine, QuestWorld link up gear, a satellite
linkup, TV, VCR, stereo, just about anything electronic.
Jessica sat at her computer and began writing a letter to Estella.
Jessica had just patched it into her e-mail and sent it when the
doorbell rang.
She turned off her monitor and went to the front door.
"Great place you got here." Jonathan said when she opened the door.
Jessica smiled and ushered him in. "Thanks. Come on in."
Jonathan walked inside stopping to kiss Jessica on the cheek. "I
appreciate you letting me stay with you."
"It's the least I could do." She closed the door and sat down on the
couch. Jonathan sat down beside her.
"What do you want to do first? Dinner? Tour? Talk? Get your stuff?"
"How about: suitcases, tour, then dinner."
Jessica stood up. "Perfect."
They walked out to Jonathan's silver Dodge Intrepid.
Jessica laughed when she saw Jonathan's license plate. It read QUESTON.
"So you finally got your own car."
"Yeah. license plate and all. CD player, car phone, CB, you name it."
Jonathan opened the truck and pulled out two suitcases and a backpack.
He handed the lightest suitcase to Jessica. "By the way, when are you
flying to Paris?" Thunder sounded as he slammed the trunk shut.
Jessica glanced at the sky as it started to lightly sprinkle. "Well, I
was thinking about borrowing my friend's plane and flying to Paris
tomorrow afternoon. And you?"
"I'm planning on going in the Dragonfly before Thursday with you as my
co-pilot." Jonathan said coyly.
Jessica smiled flirtatiously. "I'd be honored." she said in a low
voice, secretly hoping that...
And he did. Jonathan leaned toward her and drew her up into a sweet,
passionate kiss. Lost in each other's arms, it rained a little harder.
Unfortunately, the rain began pounding down in wet sheets. After a
moment, Jonathan, soaked, remembered what was in the backpack.
"Shoot! My gear!" He grabbed a suitcase and the backpack, and dashed up
the porch with Jessica hot on his heels with the rest.
Jessica laughed as she and Jonathan stopped in the foyer to take off
their soaked shoes. "How about dinner here? I really have a lot to do
before Paris, and I don't feel like braving the storm tonight."
Jonathan grinned. "You pack. I'll cook."
Jessica's mouth dropped open. "You cook?"
"You bet. And I'm pretty good. Just show me the kitchen and I'll go
from there."
Jessica started up the stairs. "How about I show you your room first?"
"Okay."
Jessica led him upstairs to the guest room first. She set his suitcase
on the bed.
"Wow, Jessica. All the comforts of home." he said as he opened up his
backpack. "Let me just make sure nothing in here got wet."
He pulled out his laptop, modem, gear, and a bag.
"What's in the bag?' Jessica asked.
Jonathan showed her. "What else? QuestWorld gear. Dad added some new
programs and I have been designing some of my own. Including a memory
journal."
Jessica's eyes lit up. "Cool!" Then she led him to the bathroom.
"Anything you need, just ask. I know you've never had that problem
before."
Jessica gave him a quick tour of the kitchen. "But before you get
started, you might want to take a hot shower and change. I don't want
you getting sick on me."
Jonathan smiled softly. "You too."
Jessica started back up the stairs. "Feel free to explore the house.
Except for the attic. It's a mess." Yeah, a mess of old memories, she
though to herself.
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
Forty-five minutes later, Jessica had changed and almost finished her
packing when she heard a knock on her door.
"Come in."
Jonathan walked in. "Dinner is served m'lady." he announced in an
upper-class British accent.
Jessica walked downstairs and stopped in her tracks at the entryway to
the dining room. "Wow."
The table was set with Caesar salad, marinated chicken, green beans,
baked potatoes, and rice pilaf. There were glasses of white wine in
Jessica's stemware set. Two tall vanilla scented candles slowly burned
at the center of the table, giving off a soft glow.
Jessica walked over to a chair and started to reach for it, but
Jonathan beat her and pulled it out for her.
Then he sat down across from her.
Jessica just kept staring at him as they ate.
Jonathan glanced up and caught her eyes. "What?"
Jessica shook her head in disbelief. "You. You've changed. I never knew
you could cook. And you're being such a gentleman." Jessica explained.
"Well, after you left, there was no one around to keep me out of
trouble. Hadji had to return to Bangalore for emergencies that kept
coming up. After a while, Mrs. Evans got tired of cleaning up after me
and my, uh, 'messes'. So she quit." Jonathan took a bite of chicken.
Jessica grinned. "Took her long enough. Not that I blame her."
Jonathan snorted. "After she left, Dad and Race decided that the three
of us needed to learn how to cook. So, we learned."
"Are you serious? I can't imagine my dad cooking. How is the food?"
Jonathan hesitated. "Dad needs to stick strictly to breakfast. He
burned the pizza once and undercooked the hamburgers a few times. Oh,
he had no idea that when a recipe calls for vanilla, that it doesn't
mean ice cream."
Jessica quit laughing for a minute to breathe. "And Dad?"
"Race can made salad, sandwiches, hamburgers, steaks, tacos,
enchiladas, burritos, anything Mexican. He's a pretty good cook."
Jessica took a sip of wine. Then she and Jonathan started to clear the
table. "I think I remember Mom once telling me that she taught Dad how
to cook Mexican food before they got divorced." She sighed. "So, how are
things at the Compound?"
Jonathan glanced out the window, watching the storm rage on. "Dad's
still working on his projects. I told you about the latest upgrade to
QuestWorld. I'll show it to you later."
Jessica grinned.
"Oh, Jeremiah Surd finally died."
Jessica gasped. "How?" They walked into the family room where they
started a warm fire in the fireplace.
Jonathan's eyes danced with laughter. "He overloaded his brain in
QuestWorld. Can you believe it? He was already dying from too much
radiation exposure!"
"How about Rage and Zin? Or should I say, Anaya and Melana?"
"Well, Rage is still buried, I think, with the dinosaur bones from the
bomb. The one you and I saved the world from."
"Anaya and Melana are currently spending life sentences in the jail
cell of the late Surd. They had made an attempt on Hadji's life. Race,
Dad, and I flew to Bangalore to help, but Hadji had already captured
them."
Jessica smiled sadly. "Good old Hadji. He always could take care of
himself. Well, not around beautiful women."
Jonathan laughed. "Actually, one beautiful, and safe, woman cornered
Hadji into tying the knot. Her name is Keisha Toland. She's my age, and
they are expecting a baby boy in a month. I've been planning on visiting
them soon. I've been waiting until after the Paris trip."
Jonathan's blue eyes sparkled mischievously. "Honestly, I was hoping to
take you along, also. Hadji would be thrilled to see you."
Jessica smiled. "I'd love to. Is there anything else you would like me
to accompany you to?"
Jonathan flashed a smile. "I'm just trying to get you back into our
lives. Or rather, my life. And Race's."
Jessica's face saddened. "How is Dad?"
"He's still the same, but he was heartbroken when you never came home.
He really misses you. Every morning, he would sit at the kitchen table
drinking his coffee, waiting for you to walk down the stairs. Jessica,
he's aged a lot."
Jessica sighed. "I've been afraid to call." she said quietly. "I need
to call."
Lightning lit up the room. Jonathan stood and threw another log on the
fire. He sat back down on the couch, closer to Jessica this time.
They were silent for a while.
Finally, Jonathan spoke the question Jessica dreaded hearing and
answering. "Jessica, I know you gave me until Saturday to figure this
out on my own. But I really don't want to snoop into your private life.
Can't you tell me?"
-----------------------
comments and things to me at laf99@hotmail.com
(c) Laura Fort 1997