"Your family usually supports the Republican candidates, right, Eric?" The question had just left her mouth when Mark cut her off, telling her that she had to leave now because their meeting was urgent and couldn't be continued with her sitting there. Jessalyn looked over at him, her lips slightly parted with the orange pressed to them. He had spoken right before she was going to take another bite, and as she blinked first at her brother, then at her father, then Eric, she self-consciously finished the bite, chewed and swallowed it, then smiled and walked forward slowly. "Forgive me, Daddy," she said as she approached their father, "I didn't realize it was so important. I was just so excited about getting to see Emily today that I couldn't stop myself!" She giggled a little as she leaned down to kiss his cheek, and he smiled back up at her and touched her arm gently.
"It's perfectly alright, Jessy," he said, using the pet name for her that no one had used since she was ten years old. Jessalyn smiled at him again before straightening up and turning to Mark. Her expression changed to one of apology, though her lips were still turned upwards in a smile as she approached him and kissed his cheek as well.
"I am sorry, brother," she said to him, one hand on his shoulder, "But you need to stop fretting over everything so much... you'll get wrinkles." She stood up straight and touched her finger to his brow and then to her's, smiling wider as Mark gave her an exasperated, annoyed look. She knew she got on his nerves sometimes... a lot of the time... But she also knew that he loved her, as much as if not more than their father did. As the only girl in their entire family, she could be counted fortunate on that account. She smiled at her brother one more time before her blue eyes wandered over to her left where Eric was sitting. He had a very relaxed stance and an almost completely blank expression on his face. But only almost. His eyes were far from expressionless. If anything, when she looked into his eyes, she saw more than she felt decent seeing. His eyes were so... hungry. So full of want and an intensity she'd never been able to imagine even in her most shameful daydreams. Had he looked at her that way before...? Had she never noticed...? Wait... She shouldn't like it... That was the way men looked at women when their intentions were impure and base and raw and... and animalistic and... and pure sin...
She breathed in deeply and then sighed it out, finally managing a polite nod at Eric while she took another bite of the orange. "I'll leave you men to disappear behind a cloud of cigar smoke, talking about money and politics and far more important things that don't concern me..." she said, trailing off with a small smile before looking back at her brother and father, then walking (maybe a little too fast) past Eric and back out the study doors. The moment the doors closed behind her she stopped, leaning back against them with one hand pressed to her chest as it rose and fell with fast, heavy breaths. She didn't... she didn't know why that three-second stare between them had affected her this way. But what Jessalyn did know was that her pulse could suddenly be heard in her head and her skin felt hot and flushed as if she'd just gone riding. She had told Rachel only last night that she wished Eric would look at her that special way, that way a man looked at a woman when he loved her. Yes, he'd said he did before, but she could never believe him. They were apart for months, they hardly ever exchanged letters, and even when she secretly wanted him to do something he would hardly even kiss her cheek. Once or twice on her lips but... it was nothing significant. Soon he'd be engaged to some northern girl and she'd just become Jessalyn, little sister of his future business partner and girl he used to flirt with. That was the thought that she always reminded herself of. But even when she did that now, it... it didn't stop that tingling feeling in her stomach. It was so strange... and yet so... Jessalyn took a deep breath and then pushed herself off the wall, walking back down the hall to find Rachel again. She didn't know what just happened but it had flipped everything upside down...
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