by Kira
SCENE: Innisfara. Night. The Master Bedroom.
Victoria is standing by the open french doors, enjoying the breeze sliding
over her skin. She is wearing a simple long white cotton nightgown,
and is barefoot. Her long hair stirs against her shoulders.
She is unaware that the door opens, and Jax enters.
For a very long time he stands there looking at her, before
walking to stand beside her. "Duncan tells me that you were looking for me earlier." Jax finally spoke
into the quiet.
"Yes." Victoria raised her face a little, feeling too peaceful to be
disturbed by his presence in her bedroom.
"I went into town. I expected to be back long before dinner."
"Quite a honeymoon, isn't it?" she asks unexpectedly.
Jax tossed his jacket on the side, pausing.
"It's all right." he said.
Victoria turned,
"Compared to what? Tooth extraction?"
When Jax didn't reply, Victoria tipped her head to the side,
"Every morning you leave at dawn. You're gone until late at night. I'm
spending my honeymoon getting to know the housekeeper."
The chuckle could not be suppressed. Jax met her earnest stare.
"What were you expecting?"
"Oh, I don't know." she replied airily, "Something truly astounding, I
suppose. Like getting to know the man I married. Maybe spending some
time with him. That kinda stuff."
"I'm here every night." Jax stated deeply.
Embarrassment suffused her cheeks, but she did not drop her eyes.
"Yes, you are." she said.
"Are you complaining?" he asked, putting a deliberate undertone to the
question.
"Could I?" she swiftly rejoined.
"You could. But you'd be lying." the smug reply nearly undid her calm
exterior. Inhaling deliberately, she continued,
"I think it would be easier for us to live as man and wife if we knew each
other slightly."
"Victoria, I'm tired. I don't want to get into this tonight." he strode away,
walking into the bathroom dismissively.
"But I do." she said stubbornly.
"Drop it, Victoria." he advised. He was wearing only a pair of shorts
now.
"You know, if this is your idea of interpersonal relationships, no wonder
you've been married so many times." she cracked.
Jax froze. He turned very deliberately, his expression like ice.
"I have no intention of discussing that part of my life with you, Victoria."
Victoria snorted,
"Of course not. I'm only your wife. Why should you?"
"You are my wife, Victoria.... not my shrink." he informed her coldly.
"There IS a God." she snapped back.
"Look, let's just go to bed. This discussion is getting us nowhere." Jax
yanked down the cover forcefully.
"To bed, Jax? Or to sleep?" she baited, crossing her arms.
"Have you been hitting the champagne again?" he regarded her with
thinning patience.
She was stung,
"You're a pig!" she shot back.
He sighed wearily,
"Victoria....just get into bed."
"I will not!" she spat out angrily.
"Suit yourself." he climbed into bed, extinguishing the bedside lamp.
Victoria stood in the semi-darkness, unmoving, for several minutes. At
last, she climbed into the bed next to him.
"I hate you, you know." she informed him stubbornly.
"I know." he said quietly, moving his body towards hers.
"I hate you." she whispered as his mouth closed over her own, and she
surrendered herself to the touch she was rapidly beginning to anticipate,
and the body she was learning as intimately as her own.
SCENE: Morning. Innisfara. The Master Bedroom. Victoria woke suddenly, hearing unaccountably strange sounds
filling the room. At first she was unable to indentify the odd warbling.
She frowned in concentration. When the sudden awareness
dawned, she broke into peals of unrestrained laughter. It was
Jax — singing in the shower at the top of his lungs — the fractured
version of "Waltzing Matilda"! She heard the taps being turned off, and
quickly hastened to compose herself as Jax, wearing only a towel draped
around his waist, strode into the room. "Good morning." she greeted, attempting to hide her mirth beneath a
pseudo-serious mask.
"Morning." He was unaccountably cheerful.
She slid the covers off her legs, stretching luxuriously.
"Off to work?" She now spied the serving trolley that had been wheeled
into the room, laden with covered dishes. Ah, breakfast!
"Nope." Jax was rummaging through his drawers, pulling out various
items of clothing. Casual clothing. Not business attire.
She paused, a strip of crisp bacon halfway to her lips,
"Pardon?"
"I said, I'm not going to work today." Jax reiterated with exaggerated patience,
"Haven't you just been complaining that you've spent no time getting to know
me? Yap, yap, yap - I'm getting to know my housekeeper." he mimicked in a
high pitched voice, " I find it quite remarkable for someone who just loathes the sight
of me, but --"
Victoria watched his elaborate shrug with a wary eye, ignoring his provocation.
"So you're staying home?"
"I'm going to spend quality time with my wife." he concurred acerbicly,
yanking his pants on.
Victoria pulled a chair up to the makeshift table, crossing her slim
legs.
"This should prove diverting." she remarked casually.
He strode over to the table, helping himself to a generous slice of her
bacon, which he popped in his mouth.
"Just remember you asked for it." he warned with a wide grin.
SCENE: Montage of Victoria & Jax spending time together talking
over dinner, a picnic, laughing as they fought over CD's, making love in
the shower, dancing beneath the open sky, playing cards, curled together
watching television, racing through the bedroom until he caught her,
collapsing on the bed in laughter and then making love. SCENE: Innisfara. The Foyer. Day. Jax and Victoria stood amidst their luggage, as Duncan and the chauffeur
transferred it to the waiting car. "I'm going to miss this place." Victoria sighed, running her gaze over the
beloved interior longingly.
"Relax. Maybe I'll give it to you in the Divorce settlement." Jax remarked
provokingly.
"Oh, Bite Me!" she snapped back.
He laughed heartily.
"Come on, Mrs. Jacks, time to meet your new in-laws."
He pressed a hand to the small of her back, directing her to the door.
"I'd rather be going to dinner with Jeffrey Dahmer." she told him truthfully.
"Sorry. He's dead." Jax quipped, increasing the pressure until she was forced
to move towards the door.
"I want you to know that I'm hating this already." she informed him as they
walked through the door.
~*~