Cole

Jade spent the next two years single for the most part.  She dated a variety of different men.  Some were very nice and caring, others were well, they were just there to fill the gap.  She never let herself date a man for very long and was very weary of the deadly smile.  She had a rule.  She never went out of a date with a man more than three times.  After the third date she would cut them off completely.  Her theory was not to get attached.  I think they even made a movie based on the same theory years later.  Anyway it was working.  She was having a blast.  No more heart break no more tears just pure fun.  After all she was 19 now and living on her own.  Why have one man when you can have ten.  She never slept with any of the men that she dated.  She had a friends with benefits type of situation that was working for her just as equally.  No commitment, no attachment, no cuddling, no pillow talk just pure unadulterated sex.  When the sex was over she kicked him out.  As soon as he got attached and wanted to date her she kicked him to the curb.  She was in control.  And of course NO man ever got to meet her son.  That was her absolute number one rule!!!

Of course all that was until she met Cole.  He was shy and sweet.  So good looking.  He was tall, muscular and I mean built like a brick house muscular.  He had kind loving eyes and another one of those melt you smiles.  He was 6 months younger than she was.  He was a gunner in the Army and oh how he looked good in his uniform.  He had a ruggedly deep voice.  They met at a party that Jade and her room mate Katrina had thrown.  Cole was invited by one of Jade's friends.  The two were introduced.  Jade couldn't help but to notice how hot and shy he was.  I mean really for a man that looks the way he did you'd think he would be more out there and confident.  Jade admired how modest he was.  The two struck up a conversation in the corner of the room.  She did most of the talking seeing as he was so reserved.  The chemistry was definitely there though.  He laughed at her jokes and he tried to make some of his own but epically failed she laughed anyway.  It was the thought that counted after all and he was trying so hard.  You could tell he was nervous.  Come to find out Cole had only been with one girl in his whole life.  He dated her in high school lost his virginity to her and then left for the Army.  

You guessed it Jade fell for him.  The two started out slow but got heavily involved.  He would come over every chance he got.  He would come over when he got off work and stay late into the night sometimes not leaving until an hour before he had to go to work.  They would stay up all night talking and laughing and sharing stories both sad and happy.  Oh and did I mention the sex was incredible!!!  For only being with one woman before Jade the boy had raw talent.  They fell in love and Jade introduced him to her son.  Which was a big deal for her.  She was happy really happy again.

Cole eventually popped the question and asked her to marry him.  She accepted his proposal and he gave her a beautiful diamond ring to seal the deal.  Her family loved him, her son loved him, she loved him.  It was blissful.  In fact he was so kind that she had a bad day and he went out and bought her a beautiful ruby/diamond ring.  The two of them fought like cats and dogs but never went to bed mad.  He thought she was so cute when she was mad and he would tell her so every time.  Which would make her giggle and end the fight.  

Cole had planned to go home for Christmas and told Jade that he would be taking her with him to meet his family.  Jade was so excited about it.  It was a big step for her.  One day weeks before Christmas Jade went to his barracks room on base and spent the night with him.  Even though it was breaking all the rules and they could both get in big trouble.  He snuck her in the back door and no one was the wiser.  The next morning he left her sleeping as he went to work.  Now through out their whole relationship despite the fact that it wasn't terrible she had this gut wrenching feeling like something just wasn't right but couldn't put her finger on it.  She wasn't sure if it was just her fears from Jasper or if it was legitimate so she kept ignoring it.  But this particular morning she couldn't shake it.  So she found his cell phone in the drawer next to his bed and turned it on.  The screen was black because it had broken months prior but it could still send and receive calls.  Jade hit the send button twice to dial the last number he called.  The phone rang twice and she hung up.  She laid the phone down and waited to see who would call back.  Finally the phone rang and she answered it.  "Hello."  on the other end she heard a woman say "Who is this?"  Jade responded "Jade, who is this?"  The woman said "Christina."  Jade was relieved she knew that Christina was Cole's ex's friend and that his room mate was interested in her and the two of them were having a sort of long distance phone romance.  Jade told her that Cole was at work and would call her later.  Christina said "Okay." and hung up.  Jade laid back down feeling relieved and a little silly.  Then moments later the phone rang again.  Jade couldn't help herself and answered it.  "Hello." she said.  "Hello, who is this?" A different woman said on the phone.  "Jade, Cole's fiance who is this?"  the woman replied "April, Cole's fiance."  Jade knew exactly who April was she was Cole's ex from high school you know the one he lost his virginity to the one and only other woman Cole had ever been with.  Jade replied "Yeah I know who you are April.  Quit calling my man.  You two have been broken up for some time now so get over it."  Jade hung up the phone angrily.  How dare that little bitch call her man.  She knew what the real deal was.  Cole had told her about how April kept trying to get back together with him.  Jade figured that was her trying to break to two of them up.  But something wasn't sitting right there's that feeling again.  So Jade calmed down and called her back.  April answered and Jade said "April, it's Jade.  I'm sorry I was in shock before and didn't know how to react.  I think we need to figure out what in the hell is going on."  April began telling Jade how they were engaged to be married.  That he had proposed to her just before he left for boot camp.  Jade told April about how they had met and how long they had been together and how he proposed to her too.  Jade wasn't even really sure how to react she was in complete shock and felt like an adulterer.  She was more concerned about how April felt to worry about her own emotions.  After all April did have him first.

Cole walks in to find Jade on the phone.  Jade smiles and says "speak of the devil.  Do you want to say hi?"  Cole asks who it is.  Jade continues to smile and says "Just say hi honey."  Cole took the phone from Jade and said "Hello?"  Jade walked across the room to get dressed and she hears April scream "I just met your fiance she's really fucking nice."  Cole's mouth hit the floor and he stared at Jade as she got dressed.  He responds to her by saying "I'm really sorry I met this girl and I completely fell in love with her and I didn't know how to tell you but I have to go because she's about to walk out of my life and I have to stop her."  Jade was pissed her eyes turned black and she gave him a piece of her mind.  "I knew something was going on.  I fucking knew it.  I should have listened to my feeling but I ignored it like an idiot.  How could you do this to me, to her, to us.  Take me home now!"  Cole responds "I didn't know how to tell her.  She's a really sweet girl and I didn't want to break her heart. I just couldn't figure out a way to tell her that I had fallen in love with someone else."  Jade says "So how was this going to work you're supposed to be taking me home to meet your family for Christmas how the hell did you think that was going to play out?" 

The whole time he was with her he was engaged to this other woman.  What the fuck!!  Cole brought Jade home.  She walked in to her apartment and sat on the couch still in total shock about what had taken place.  She didn't answer any of his calls for the next few days.  Finally a call came in and it was from Cole's commanding officer.  He asked her to come on base to speak with him.  She didn't see why it was any of his business but was curious as to what it was that he had to say.  She showed up on base and sat on his couch.  He asked her how she was doing and said that he had heard about what happend.  Then he told her about how he and the rest of the guys had known about April and the predicament that Cole was in.  Jade was livid that they all smiled in her face knowing a secret as big as that one.  The C.O. continued to tell her about how he really did love her and it was ashame that it all went down the way it did and that she should really think about weather she wanted to end it with him or not.  He explained how heart broken Cole was and how he could see how much Cole and Jade loved each other and he didn't want to see it end.  Jade left pondering everything that the C.O. had told her.  She felt like she would be betraying April by fixing things with Cole but decided that she deserved to be happy and she was so happy with him.  So she went and saw Cole and told him she would need time to get over what had taken place but that the two of them could work things out.

Jade didn't go home with Cole for Christmas but neither did Cole.  They were both too embarrassed to show their faces to his family.  Plus Jade didn't want to meet his family under the circumstances.  He stayed with Jade and spent Christmas with her and her family.  Jade never really got past what happened even as their relationship continued.  She became crazy jealous every time he was away from her or mentioned another girl even if it was just someone from his shop.  She had lost all faith in him.  Remembering that the summer before he had gone home on leave and knowing that he had been with April with out her knowledge.  

Finally she told Cole that she didn't think he was really ready to get married.  He had only been with two women in his life, her included, and she felt that wasn't enough experience to make a life time commitment to anyone.  So she made him a proposal.  She told him she wanted him to pick a girl any girl of his choosing and go out on a date with her.  She said if at the end of the date you still think you're ready to marry me than we will but if you decide that you feel like you need more experience than we will break off the engagement.  The rules were she didn't want any details.  He would treat it as a real date and if he slept with her he was to wear a condom.  Cole was mortified by her request but after some convincing he agreed to do it.