Jaded?

OOC - This is a back post to tie in with Jay's talk with Jade. :) There are no Jade puns out there that were obvious at the time of posting that fit. So you get that --^

*****

Jade let out a sigh and leaned back in the chair. Turns out that Jay wasn't a... What would be the word Cass would use?... Ass hole? He was just like any other man in the universe in love with two women. Confused and stupid.

"Don't be stupid, you don't have to go anywhere. Look, I'm sorry if I over reacted but understand that I barely know you. My opinion of you might be slightly tainted by Cass, she loves you more than words, but thinks that you are one hell of a... urm..." Jade blushed.

"Smeghead?" Jay offered.

"Something like that." Jade blushed harder.

"S'ok. I know I am. Wish I could've handled it better. I tried not to lead her on. She knew that Kat was the one all along... At least... I never lied about it." Jay offered up. This was turning into a love counselling session fast.

"You know. You are in a very precarious situation." Jade said, gesturing for Jay to sit down in the other chair in the room.

"Yeah." He said, flopping into the chair.

"On the one had you have Kat and Max. A loving family and a stable future, something that is little seen these days if my experiences since stasis are anything to go by. On the other you have Cass, who is super smart and caring. However, if you cross that bridge, the family one is lost to you."

"I know all of that, it's why I said what I did on Fernando's." Jay protested, claiming that he was an innocent party.

"Your eyes say otherwise." Jade said smiling at him, letting him know it was ok to talk. Jay remained quiet, something very unusual. Jade waited for a few moments to see if he would talk.

"She is amazing..." His eyes has a wistful look.

"You can look but don't touch yeh? No harm in window shopping, it's only human." She ferreted about in a draw in her desk and lifted out two cans of cola. "It might be a bit out of date..." She warned, tossing it to Jay.

"Cheers." He turned it over and read the date. Jade cracked hers open with a hiss and slurped. "You sure?"

"I warned you. Gets better the more you drink." Jay couldn't tell if she was lying or not so shrugged and took a swig from his own. He pulled a face, it was flatter than the chief engineer (pancake... get it?).

"Urgh, it's gross." He took another sip, and found that Jade was right, it tasted better.

"It's a bit like life isn't it? Sucks, but gets better the more of it you taste?" She looked at Jay hoping that her point came across. "You can't have everything, you either have a fizzy one," She held up her can. "Or one that has flavour."

"Heh. Nice." He got it.

"If you go in all knight in shining armour on her again she might get the wrong idea." Jay opened his mouth to protest "I'm not saying we abandon her. I'm just saying that you need to be careful that you don't give off the wrong signals accidentally when we do rescue her. If this Brittany is as bad as you say, then you need to be doubly so as the woman will most likely mess with Cass's head."

"She's that bad." Jay said. Jade looked over to the clock on the wall.

"Ah! I have to go I...I think I have a date?" She said slightly confused, thinking about Alex's question earlier.

"Oh yeah?" Jay raised his eyebrow and smirked "Liquid lunch knowing Solvay." Jade scowled at him, but wasn't quite sure why she felt so protective.

"How did you know?"

"Are we ok?" He asked, avoiding the question.

"Of course. You've not done anything to prove otherwise so far. I am glad that you came and spoke to me. It cleared a few things up. Although it would be nice to get a full catch up on the whole Brittany thing at some point."

"It's a long story..." Jay warned.

"I got time, but at a later date. I have to go." She put a hand on his shoulder "Don't think about it too hard ok? Whatever happens, happens. If it's meant to be it will be. Fate has a funny way of working things like that out."

"Back at you Doc. Alex isn't the nicest person out there. Be careful" It was a friendly warning, but it grated against Jade in an uncomfortable way. She smiled anyway.

"Thanks. I will be." She headed out to lunch. It's no wonder he found it all so hard when no one had any faith in him.