Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:51:32 +0000 From: Chris Salter Subject: How I Met Jake: Chapter 22 Under legal age? Offended by two men? Illegal in your area? Close now and go play outside! Disclaimer: I don't know Jake Gyllenhaal. I don't claim to know him, his orientation or relationship status. This work is entirely fiction. Chapter 22: Chris had dropped Jake back at his house earlier that morning. From there, he made a detour to a local diner to grab a light breakfast before making his way to the remains of the lab. He had to get his stuff out before the repair crews threw it out. It was just after 11 before Chris pulled up in the outdoor parking lot. He then made his way around to the back door and spoke to himself, "Dr Box Dr Box calling Dr Box, WHERE ARE YOU?" He then found the box he was looking for. After grabbing it, he locked the doors and headed towards the main entrance. Approaching the main entrance, Chris was greeted once more by the same guard who stopped him previously. This time armed with his security lanyard, Chris was able to pass fairly easily. "This place still stinks," Chris muttered as he crunched his way up the one glass adorned staircase. Obviously the cleaners hadn't gotten to that part of the building yet. Reaching the level with his office, Chris continued down towards his door. The place was fairly still and creepy, with the exception of the noise of a vacuum cleaner emanating from another area. Pushing the door open, Chris entered his office, reconstructed the flat-pak box and placed it on the office desk. "Where the hell do I start?" Chris muttered as he looked around at the office. The only real damage seemed to be from water coming from the sprinklers. Not even bothering with the waterlogged computer, Chris waddled over to pull the various frames off the wall, admiring them as he placed them into the box. He then slowly emptied the contents of his drawers into the box, followed by the various photographs on the desk. Finally, he turned his attention to the now ruined Prada sweater dangling on the coat rack. Picking it up, Chris brought it close to his nose and sniffed it, "Yuck." It reeked of smoke and wet wool. It was a shame as it was of his favorite sweaters, the very one Jake had chosen for him. Throwing it into a plastic bag, Chris picked up the box and made his way out of his now vacant office. Carrying the box back down the corridor with both hands, Chris once again crunched his way down the stairs and back towards the front entrance. As he approached the door, which was still being propped open, Chris noticed a large paper sign taped to the wall. Approaching it to examine it, Chris took notice. "Employees of Los Angeles County Crime Lab, general meeting this Wednesday 29th at 7pm to discuss relocation and reopening of lab. Attendance required." Chris took notice of the date, time and location before continuing on his way. Once he reached his car, he unlocked the doors and placed the back into the cargo area before slamming the door back down. As the door closed, Chris heard a familiar tone emanating from his pocket. Pulling out his phone he answered, "Hello?" "Hey Lady." Chris smiled realizing who it was, "You Lady." "Cursing at your life." "How are you Sarah?" Chris asked as he walked back towards the left side of the car. "Alright, Danny told me about what happened, are you okay?" Pulling the door open, Chris sat inside, "Yeah we're great now, I think. I really love him." "Aw poodle, that's great." Chris smiled thinking about Jake, "Was there a reason for your call, or just general Chris bashing?" "I need a dress for a cocktail party, will you come with me?" "I'll be there soon," Chris replied before ending the call and throwing the phone onto the passenger seat. He then started the engine and reverse out his parking spot. Putting the car into Drive, Chris then slowly pulled out into the street and headed towards Sarah's place. It took over an hour to get to Sarah's place, and then another 45 minutes to get to the mall. Taking several more minutes to find a parking spot, they eventually made it inside the complex. *** **** **** *** **** ***** ***** **** **** **** *** *** *** ** ** ** *** **** "What about this one?" Sarah asked as she waddled out of the stall wearing a floor length black dress. "Yeah I suppose, that looks alright." Chris commented as he looked up from the message on his phone. Sarah rolled her eyes, "Well now that I have your blessing..." She then headed back into the changing room to get back into her normal clothes. Several minutes later, she exited the small room with the dress over her arm. "Okay, I'm going to get this, and then we can do what you want." Chris stood up, placed the phone back into his pocket and followed Sarah diligently. Once the transactions were finished, they then headed back into the mall. "So where now?" Sarah asked. Chris quickly surveyed the adjacent stores, "I kind of want to get something for Jake, but I don't know what." Sarah looked up at Chris, "Why, is it his birthday?" Shaking his head, Chris explained, "Nah, his birthday is n December. I just want to get him something for the sake of it. You know?" "Cute," Sarah muttered. She then spotted a small bookstore, "How about a book or something?" "I think he reads a bit, maybe...I don't know." Chris replied, "I'll have a look though." Entering the store, Chris made an immediate beeline for the Fiction section before realizing he didn't actually know what Jake liked to read. Remembering Jakes love affair with cooking, Chris then waddled towards the Food section of the store. Flicking through a few books, he found a few lesser-known titles that Jake probably didn't have. Tucking them under his arm, Chris' attention was suddenly drawn to a small stand in the middle of the floor containing various comical and cute books. Glancing through the various titles he finally found one that would be suitable for Jake. Grabbing Sarah's attention he held up the book, "The Cute Book, what do you think?" "My god," Sarah replied, "I think that is the queerest thing I've EVER seen. You have to get it." "I know, right?" Chris commented with a cheesy grin. Deciding to add that to his collection, Chris stuffed it under his arm and continued looking through the store. Unable to find anything else, Chris then waddled book-laden body towards the register. Dumping them on the counter he was greeted by shop assistant who surveyed the various purchases. "Into cooking are we?" The woman asked. Chris smiled and straightened the books on the counter, "Only a little, they're a present for my boyfriend really." The woman smiled and looked at the small book hiding under one of the larger books, "Is this for him too? That's really cute." Blushing, Chris tried to avoid contact with the woman, "Yeah, it is. He's cute, so I thought the book would be perfect for him." The woman then began to scan the barcodes of the books, "What's his name?" "Jake," Chris replied shyly as Sarah made her way over to his side. "Is he cute?" The woman asked as she scanned the last item, "That will be $132.90." Chris whipped out his credit card and handed it to the woman, "Cutest thing I've ever met." He then signed the piece of paper before sliding it back towards the shop assistant. Grabbing a bag to place the books in, the woman placed them inside. "I'm sure you're cute together." Bringing the handles to meet, she then handed the bag to Chris, "There you go. Have a good day." "Danke," Chris replied as he grabbed the handle and headed out of the store. There was another loud bang on the door just as Chris made his way out of the bedroom. Straightening his t-shirt, Chris padded his way to the door and paused. "Who is it?" "It's the police. Open the door and put your hands above your head." Emanated a gruff voice from the other side of the door. Unsure of what exactly he had done, Chris slowly turned the door handle to find no-one standing there. Sticking he head out further, he was suddenly ambushed by Jake, who pushed his way inside. Immediately Jake pounced on Chris and slammed the door shut, bringing his lips to meet Chris'. He maintained the passionate embrace for a few minutes more before Chris finally broke off. "And what have I done to deserve this kind of treatment?" Chris asked with a coy smile. Running his tongue lightly around Chris' lower lip, Jake finally replied, "You have the right to remain sexy." He then pulled a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket. Suddenly a look of terror shot across Chris' face, "Jake, I'm not sure I want to do that...." Bursting into fits of laughter Jake rested his head on Chris' shoulder and continued to laugh, "Sorry cutie, I wasn't actually going to....." He then kissed Chris on the cheek, "It was a joke Chris." "Oh yeah?" Chris replied suspiciously. "They're actually a promotional thing for Rendition." Jake replied as he lightly kissed Chris once more. "They're for you." Chris took the handcuffs and examined them, there was an inscription on them, however in the dim light near the doorway, it was hard to make out. "What is that?" "I didn't have time to get your name put on it, but I can do that later." Jake said as he pulled Chris close to his body and waddled his way towards the brightly lit sitting area. "Right now it's just the name of the movie and the release date." "That's so sweet Jake." Chris said as he kissed Jake once more. "I got something for you too." He then pushed Jake onto the couch before padding his way into the bedroom. A few moments later Chris returned with a nondescript paper bag. "Well, it's more than one thing." He then sat down on the coffee table opposite Jake and handed the bag to Jake. Sticking his hand in, Jake smiled, "What have we got here?" He then pulled all the books out at once and admired them. "That's really sweet of you Chris, but what was the occasion?" "I don't know. I just wanted to get you something," Chris replied. He then pointed at the second book in the pile, "Check the first page in that one." Opening the page, Jake read the small note, "Jake, I hope to one day cook our way through every recipe in this book together. I love you with all my heart, Chris" Feeling a tear or two well up in his eyes, Jake looked over at Chris and immediately leaned over to kiss him. "I love you; I can't wait to try it." "There's one more," Chris said softly as he pulled the small book from behind his back. He then bounced off the table and sat within Jakes arms. "I got you this too, but it's completely cheesy." Snatching the book out of Chris' paw, Jake examined the small book. "That is so cute; I'm going to have it around me whenever I'm not with you." He then kissed Chris on the forehead. "So, what did you do today?" Tracing his finger around a dark patch of fabric on Jakes leg, Chris explained his day, "Well, I went to the lab. I cleared out my office. Most of the stuff is okay except for a few things." "Like what?" Jake asked. "Some of the photographs are a little ruined, but the main thing I'm sad about is that Prada sweater I bought when I was with you," Chris pointed towards the box sitting on the floor, "It stinks and I think it's ruined now." Jake pouted, "That sucks, I really liked that sweater. You looked cute in it." He then began lightly stroking Chris' arm. "What else happened?" "Er... Well, I found out I have a meeting thing on Wednesday at 7, then I went shopping with Sarah, came home and started dinner." Chris replied, "Then you broke my door down to arrest me." Jake smiled at Chris' last statement. "Do you want to go out somewhere after the meeting?" Thinking for a moment, Chris replied, "Sure, where are we going?" --- 23 soon I promise --- Okay, I will probably shove 23 up fairly soon as I feel like I may owe it to y'all after this pointless chapter. I love hearing from you guys. I am completely shocked that that many people are reading my story! I adore getting emails from my readers, when MSN decides to deliver them! If you wanna drop me a line, I can be reached on email/MSN at chezmoi_ou_cheztoi@msn.com Hope you guys like where I'm goin' Chris.