That Forbidden Love

“Don’t forget to come up the bridge when you’re done, okay? You don’t have to jump but maybe seeing others do something silly to make themselves happy might rub off on you.”

Justin was impossible and relentless. His ability to sway and convince effortlessly was apparently what made him terrific at his job.

If there was any reason why he had to go up the bridge, it was because he’d come all the way to Kentucky and deserved at least a front-row view of people doing pointless, irrational things and risking their lives.

Minutes later after a series of back-to-back calls with his assistant and correspondents, Zack found his thoughts straying to Jazmyn. He had noticed only one other woman at the party and couldn’t help wondering why they’d both be willing to engage in such a dangerous, high-risk activity.

Fighting to restrain his curiosity, he gave up finally and headed for the steel stairwell from where the others had gone up the bridge.

Reaching the landing, Zack hung back in the background and observed everyone. A good number of the jumpers were gathered around a fully, functioning bar while others hung loosely around, swaying to the electronic dance music wafting from some speakers positioned around the spacious structure.

Almost impossible to miss with her long red twists tumbling around her shoulder like a sorceress, Jazmyn stood conversing with his brother and Isaac while getting strapped and harnessed by an instructor close to the edge of the landing. There was an excited glow on her face as she moved totally carefree but in sync with the beat of the music.

Like magic, her allure pulled at him and before Zack knew it, he was making his way to the barstool closest to them. Grateful for the tall potted plant that shielded him, he sat down and ordered a lager beer never taking his eyes away from her.

“This is my third jump, and trust me every time is a different experience,” he heard Justin say with a trademark drawl that always appealed to the ladies. His brother was sure packing it today.

“Well, this is my second,” Jazmyn’s friend, Isaac replied while helping to flip her hair out of the way as Sal cinched the harness on her back. The way he rubbed her shoulders afterwards was soft and gentle.

Zack hadn’t missed the protective look on the man’s face when they’d initially being introduced either. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t help but speculate about the true nature of their relationship. Jazmyn was a beautiful woman, of course.

He was sure there was a man somewhere who owned her heart or a string of men waiting at the corner to make her theirs. She was too beautiful, too magical to be alone or single. But stranger things had happened before.

Somehow, he preferred to believe the latter.

“Well, I really can’t wait to plunge headfirst down from this bridge,” she said in a feverishly excited tone that gave him pause. “I’ve tried a couple of activities but the comments I’ve read on YouTube about the thrills of jumping is by far the most exciting.”

Zack didn’t like the way that sounded, and what had she meant by ‘a couple of activities?’ He assumed most people who engaged in this type of thing only did so based on a bet, or a whim like his brother did.

“Oh really? Now I’m impressed. What other things have you tried, Jazmyn?” Justin sounded like someone who’d just met his favorite crush.

It was understandably clear to Zack now. They apparently had a lot in common.

“Whenever you are ready now, Miss. Just give the signal,” the instructor interrupted before Jazmyn could reply. Zack watched her nod and froze as she suddenly yelled in the most singsong voice he’d ever heard.

Flexing her hands and feet with her twists flying everywhere, she looked like a young, excited child who’d just been handed her dream Christmas presents. The way her face seemed to light up as she looked down the rail both sent currents through his body and scared him at the same time.

Something was really wrong here.

“Thank you for telling me about this, Isaac. I literally cannot believe I’m about to jump from a sixty feet high bridge. This is even better than skydiving. Let’s do this!”

Zack’s mind plummeted as she gave the signal by snapping her hand. He didn’t want to watch against the growing unease in his body but found himself hurrying to the edge of the landing as the ropes were released.

She jumped off the edge of the bridge with a piercing scream that sounded both exciting and thrilling and did a number or two on his mental health.

He peered over the iron protective bar as she continued going downward, still screaming with energy and unrestrained excitement before being suspended few feet from the slow-moving river below them.

“Jaz is such a hoot,” Isaac was smiling for the first time since he’d met him. “I don’t think I’ve met a daredevil quite as impressive as she can be.”

Without a single word, Zack swung around and returned to the bar. Isaac’s comment and what he’d just witnessed had taken on the shape of a needle, piercing through imaginary expectations he didn’t think he’d had about Jazmyn.

She was ravishingly beautiful quite alright, with looks and appeal that could bring any unrestrained man to his knees but she wasn’t his type. These past few minutes had concluded and sealed that permanently.

She was too wild, too volatile and different from any woman he’d ever been with. He’d always preferred his women calm and stable with an air of mystery about them.

Women who were poised, classy and elegant with the ability to discern things without as much as a word turned him on. He loved a stable life, free from chaos if he could help it.

Jazmyn looked, felt and acted like chaos and he’d been instantly turned off the moment she made that jump. This didn’t happen to be her first rodeo around extreme, volatile activities from Isaac’s words and likely wouldn’t be the last.

The excitement on her face from jumping off a bridge with only a cord attached to her ankle had been beyond glorious. He didn’t need anyone to tell him that she was an adrenaline junkie and lived for things like this.

Jazmyn was trouble with a capital T. If there was something he’d learnt to avoid after giving out his heart once to someone like her and had it returned battered, broken and beyond recognition; it was to avoid women with huge red flags like the one he’d just witnessed.