Casual Contact

Jesse opened the door, smelt the fragrance of someone distinctly familiar, he was transported miles away and his brain froze. His steps halted and something rammed into his chest and said, "Ow."

That word brought him back to the present, and he reached out a steadying arm to help the person who stumbled back.

"Jesse, why is your chest so hard?" Pearl cried out.

Unable to contain it, Jesse let out a lout laugh. "The last time you used it, I don't recall you complaining."

A pretty pink fused her face. "Yeah, well, that was not direct impact into my face."

"I didn't break your cute little nose, did I?" he teased, still holding her arm.

She shook her head with a chuckle. "Thankfully."

Jesse pulled her in and put his arms around her. "What a welcome home. I'm sorry."

She hugged him back, telling him it really was alright.

"Good." Releasing her, he looked down into her face. "Now you can tell me what you're doing here."

With a shrug, "There's a conference here in town that I'm speaking at. Couldn't miss it, so I flew back. I arrived this morning, so I'm just going to pop in and say hi to your mom. I know she's been worried about me."

Jesse nodded. "That's true. Thanks for thinking of her."

Pearl chuckled again. "How could I not? She's like my mainland mother."

With a smile, he replied, "That's cute. Well, as you can see I'm actually on my way out but I'm glad you're home."

"Me too."

"I expect to see you again before you go back."

"Sure."

"Like tomorrow night."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "What?"

"At Sam's place, for dinner as per usual."

"Oh, okay." Pearl made a face. "Do I have a choice?"

"Now that I know you're here?" He shook his head.

That made her smile. "Alright." She stepped aside to let him leave. "Then I'll see you and everyone else tomorrow."

"Great. Bye, Pearl."

"Bye, Jesse."

She watched him walk to his car and then she went inside.

When Jesse saw Pearl the following evening, everyone noticed how she gave him a hug after he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. No one said anything, though, until it was time for Jesse to leave. He intended to drive all the way home, so he left earlier than the rest of them, who lived in Long Beach. He shook hands with those near him, hugged Dana and Sam before kissing Pearl on the forehead, where she was sprawled on an armchair.

A few minutes later he was out the door and they all turned to look at Pearl.

"So?"

Her head turned so she could look at Dana. "So what?"

Mandy smirked. "I didn't get a kiss goodbye."

"Huh?" her eyebrows knit together in her confusion.

"Jesse just kissed you goodbye," Dana said, reclaiming the arm rest beside her husband. Sam reached around his wife's waist and rested his hand on her hip. He didn't say anything. He just watched his best friend.

Right now, she shrugged. "So he kissed my forehead. It's not a romantic gesture."

John almost guffawed. "No. It was totally platonic."

"It was!" Pearl insisted, her cheeks turning slightly pink.

"When did you two get so familiar?" Mandy asked.

Pearl opened her mouth and closed it again.

Dana's voice rose excitedly, "When they were in South America!"

"So much for medical romance," Dwight drawled.

Pearl rolled her eyes. "You guys…"

Caila spoke up. "Well, we're watching this space."

A few days after teasing Pearl, Dana called Jesse out in front of quite a few members of the family.

"Jesse, did the Pearl get back to Brazil okay?"

"Yeah, she did."

Genevieve and Vivienne paused their conversation as Todd looked up from his phone and asked, "Why are you asking him? Is she sick again?"

"Not that we know of," Dana said. "Is she, Jesse?"

"No," he said cautiously, suddenly aware of the extra attention. "If she is, she won't call me."

"Are you sure?" Dana teased with a grin.

"Um, yeah. She has a physician."

Sam chuckled, "I'm sure you'll have to do more than that to convince my wife."

"What? Why do I have to convince her?"

"She thinks," he began with a smile, "that you kissed Pearl more times the other night than you normally kiss her."

That made Todd laugh and turn to Jesse. "What are you not telling us, dear cousin?"

Jesse's eyebrows rose as Dana went further. "Actually I'm convinced he kissed the pearl more times than Sam kissed me that night."

"Jesse!" his mother and aunt exclaimed in shock.

"Dana," Sam interjected with a chuckle.

Her eyes twinkled with amusement. She didn't mind stirring up things if it meant she got answers.

Jesse ran a hand through his hair, eyebrows raised. "I think I only said hello and goodbye."

"With kisses, honey?" Genevieve spoke up.

"I've never kissed Pearl the way you're probably thinking," he easily assured his mother's sister.

"Well, how did you kiss her?" Vivienne chirped, hiding her curiosity.

"Sorry, Mom, there are no juicy details," he said drily. He glanced at Sam. "Help me."

Sam almost smiled. "I'm not sure I should… you did kiss the pearl."

Jesse's hand flew into the air, "It was a simple hello. It's not like I ravished her in front of your friends."

"Ravish." Todd chuckled. "Does the idea appeal to you though?"

"Whoa!"

Jesse's mother laughed next. "That's enough, you guys. Dana, what did you see?"

"I saw Jesse kissing Pearl more than once. Last time I saw them they weren't that familiar."

More than one of his relatives was looking at him speculatively.

"We're closer than we were before," he conceded but rushed to add, "and that's not unusual for a number of reasons."

They waited for him to explain further.

A little exasperated, he told them, ticking the points off on his fingers. "People normally get familiar with repeated interaction. We went to camp together, have both spent a lot of time with Sam and Dana- who both act like I've never even hugged her before-" he sent them a dirty look and Sam laughed. "And," Jesse went on, "I spent a lot of time with her in South America. Might I add that I was with her because you sent me to check on her at the hospital in Bolivia and she ended up living as my guest for several weeks." Pause. "She's practically family, guys, and I've been around for almost three months. My getting along with her shouldn't be a big deal."

His mother chuckled. "He's right, of course."

"Under normal circumstances, doctors aren't supposed to kiss their patients," Sam teased.

"Well, I'm not her doctor and it's not like that," Jesse managed with a small smile. "It was a kiss on the cheek and then on the forehead. Nothing romantic."