Chapter One: Gravity

Something always brings me back to you

It never takes too long.

No matter what I say or do

I can still feel you here

Til the moment I’m gone

Wisteria woke up to an empty bed once again.  She didn’t even know why she kept getting her hopes up about him.  She knew Justin was up to no good when she first met him; that he was a womanizer who was only out to get what he needed.  She knew that no woman other than his mother came above his job.  She knew this and still chose to get involved with him. 

*****

(3 months prior)

“I can’t believe I let you drag me to this seedy ass place!” Wisteria exclaimed, shoving her friend Morgan playfully in the shoulder.  The two of them had just finished a long week at the job and were well overdue for a night out.  They were new in town and as per the recommendation of a co-worker they’d ventured into ‘Delia’s’; apparently this place had the best drink and the hottest bartenders.  Well one of those statements was definitely true, the drinks here were strong enough to knock down a healthy horse, but the eye-candy in the establishment was definitely geared towards men. 

“Wanna refill?”

Wisteria looked up and saw a busty blond smiling at her and grimaced. 

“No thank you, I think I’m ready to close my tab actually.”

“Okay, I’ll ring you up,” the perky blond replied.  Wisteria watched as the bartender began calculating her total when she heard felt Morgan jab her side.

“Ow!  Shit!  What was that for?”

“Oh man up,” Morgan began, “and don’t look now, but I think ‘Ol Blue Eyes is checking you out,” she said, nodding her head in the direction diagonal to them.  Out of instinct Wisteria did the exact opposite and felt another jab in her side.

“I said don’t look!” Morgan whispered. 

“It’s not like he saw me anyway.”

“He’s coming over here.”

“Shut the front door; no he’s not.”

“Yep, and I think I have to go to the restroom,” Morgan smiled.

“NO!  You can’t leave me here!  What if he’s some kind of psycho drug dealer or something!?” Wisteria whispered just as Morgan was making her exit. 

“Have fun,” her friend said, wiggling her fingers ‘bye’.

Wisteria rolled her eyes and sighed heavily; Morgan was going to pay for this.

“Is this seat taken?”

Wisteria looked up when she heard the deep velvet voice. 

Good lord.

She couldn’t take her eyes off of his deep cobalt irises and a full half minute passed before she was able to respond. 

You hold me without touch.
You keep me without chains.
I never wanted anything so much than to drown in your love and not feel your rain.

“No…well yes, but she left so I guess it’s not,” she blushed.  Out of habit she checked his left hand as he pulled out the chair to sit down and smiled inside when she didn’t see a ring. 

“Long day?” he asked.

“Long week,” Wisteria replied, sighing again.

“I feel you.  I’m Justin by the way,” he said, extending his hand to shake hers.

“Wisteria,” she replied before his warm hand enclosed her own.  His hands were the perfect masculine mix of rough because he’d actually done manual labor and smooth because he knew how to moisturize them. 

“Nice to meet you, Wisteria.”

“Same to you.”

“Can I buy you a drink?”

Wisteria was just about to answer when that damn perky blond bartender chose the perfect moment to come back over with her receipt.

“Here you go, ma’am,” she said, not even bothering to look at Wisteria as she spoke.  She wasn’t immune to Justin’s looks either.  In fact, it seemed like no woman in the bar was.  Wisteria looked around and saw quite a few pairs of eyes on the two of them and suddenly felt a slight pang of unexpected jealousy. 

“Oh you were closing your tab?” Justin asked, not paying attention to the bartender staring at him.

“Um…yeah,” Wisteria stammered, “I know my limit and I hit it about two drinks ago,” she chuckled and Justin joined in.

“Well here, let me take care of that then,” he said, grabbing the envelope and pulling out his wallet.  Wisteria couldn’t help but notice him riffle through a few $100 dollar bills before pulling out three $20 bills and placing them in the black envelope on top of her receipt.

“That’s far too much, I can’t just let you pay for that,” Wisteria said, placing her hand on top of his as he placed the black folder back on the bar.  She felt a current of electricity course through her body as soon as she made contact with his skin, and from the look of shock that flashed across his face she was sure that he felt it too.

“Well how about you treat me to dinner then.  I cover these and you cover dinner?” he asked with a sly grin.  Wisteria couldn’t help the blush that grew on her face.

“I don’t know, I have a really crazy schedule.  I’m not sure when I’ll be free again.”

“Well here, let me see your phone.”  Wisteria hesitated at first but handed over her Blackberry.  She watched as Justin programmed his phone number and Blackberry Messenger PIN in her phone and called his own Blackberry.

“How about you call me the next time you have some free time?” he asked, still smiling.  Wisteria could feel her panties getting damp and nodded. 

“That sounds like a plan to me.”  Justin rose to his feet and took one of her delicate hands in his own before kissing it.

“Until then, ma’am,” he said before turning and walking away.

Be still my fluttering heart.

***

(Present Day)

Wisteria reminisced about that first date while she lied there in bed.  Justin was a perfect gentleman, picking her up and bringing her flowers.  He even let her pick the restaurant, but ordered for the two of them when the waitress showed up, and he somehow knew that she would favor the Shrimp and Chicken Alfredo over everything else on the seafood menu.  They enjoyed their time together and spent the evening talking about everything from their childhood to their favorite drink at Starbucks.  The only topic that they didn’t broach was their occupations.  Wisteria didn’t want to ask him about his line of work out of fear that she’d have to reveal that she was currently training to become a DEA Agent at Quantico.  That evening ended with a searing kiss and a promise of a second date in the near future. 

Well as the old saying goes ‘one thing led to another’ or ‘one date led to another’, and then a couple other ones in their case and within a month they were seeing each other exclusively.  As much as Wisteria denied it, to herself even, she was falling for this guy; and that was a very dangerous thing to do in her line of work. 

***

(1 week prior)

Wisteria tried to hold it all together as she finished her polygraph test, standard procedure for all new agents.

“So I’m just going to ask you a few questions to get a base line reading, okay?”  she nodded and smiled at the middle-aged man.  He had kind eyes and mousey hair and those features might have previously led her to believe that he was harmless; but that wasn’t true as she learned in training.  Quantico made her hone in on her skill of discernment and taught her not to be too quick in thinking someone wasn’t a threat.  A drug kingpin could be your elderly next door neighbor, your mother, or even your boyfriend!

“Is your name Wisteria Barnett.”

“Yes,” she replied firmly.

“Are you 25 years old?”

“Yes.”

“Is your birthday November 23, 1984?”

“Yes.”

The questions droned on for about an hour before the interviewer told her that he had one final question to ask then she’d be free to go.  Wisteria sighed and smiled, happy that this process was about to be over.

“Shoot,” she chuckled.

“Do you have any relationships or ties that would prevent you from doing your job to the best of your ability?” 

Set me free, leave me be. I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be.
But you're on to me and all over me.

Wisteria was silent for a half-second.

“No.”

***

(Present Day)

Wisteria sighed and rubbed her eyes before sitting up in bed and picking up her agency issued Blackberry.  After President Obama was able to get a secure one the other federal agencies decided to up their technology, and as a result everyone’s new way of communication was through that smartphone.  She typed in her password and unlocked the keypad before checking her emails and seeing that she had a meeting that morning…in an hour.

“Shit!” she exclaimed, throwing the covers off of her naked form and rushing to the bathroom.  Forty-five minutes later she was parking her black Toyota Camry, taking off her prescription sunglasses and replacing them with her burgundy frames.  Wisteria grabbed her purse, tote and travelling coffee mug before heading inside the federal building.  She didn’t want people to blame the new girl’s tardiness for the delay of that morning’s meeting.  Stopping by her desk Wisteria dropped off her tote and grabbed her netbook out of it so that she could take notes.  She walked in the conference room right before her director and was seated and turning on her netbook when he started the briefing with a picture of the suspect they were after.

“This is Justin Timberlake, the drug lord I’m assigning to you newbies.”

Wisteria’s jaw dropped.  Right in front of her on the screen were the same cobalt eyes that caught her attention that night at ‘Delia’s’ and the same pair of eyes that captured hers as they made love the night before.  They were Justin’s eyes; her Justin’s eyes. 

Wisteria thought back to what she asked Morgan on that now infamous night.

“But what if he’s some psycho drug dealer or something!?”