Some people kept going on about how I had left a bit out of the last chapter, go figure ...
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Who would have thought that his life would be turned upside down in so little time? Certainly not him.

His evening had turned out to be more than nice.

Initially, his goal had been to just set up his con-to-be by gaining Edmund Burke's trust. Then, out of the blue, the man had invited him to dinner with his wife, and not only had he found himself a way into Edmund's "circle of trust", he was also going to get to spend some time with Juliet, albeit with Edmund breathing down her neck, but still.

Then he had nearly leaped of joy when insufferable Edmund had unexpectedly excused himself and headed out of the door to go to a nocturnal "meeting". From the look on Juliet's face, Sawyer could see that she wasn't really surprised by his sudden departure, apparently leaving his wife stranded halfway through dinner was another one of Ed's habits.

For a second, he had wondered, now that her husband had gone, and that she had no cover to maintain, whether she was going to march him out of her house the minute Edmund's car drove off, but she didn't. Instead, she took him into the living room and poured him a drink.

She told him she was getting a divorce and he was happy of her. Happy and sort of proud that she was finally getting away from him.

They had chatted some more, and before he knew it, it was late, and it was time to leave. As she escorted him back to the door, he couldn't help but think at how odd it was, that he felt more at home within a 10 feet radius of Juliet, a woman he had only known for a couple of months, than he had in the past thirty years.

He had reluctantly whispered goodbye and had set off down the driveway with a heavy heart. Was this really it? The last time they would ever see each other? How was he going to survive? The thought alone was unbearable, he reached the pavement and turned round to look at her, one last time, to engrave her image in his mind forever. She was still there, almost hanging out of the door, looking slightly helpless.

He couldn't stop himself, he was back up that driveway twice as fast as he had come down it. If this was his last chance, he was going to make the most of it, he was going to kiss her -à la rom-com. After all, he had nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

For a minute she was stunned, he worried that she was about to bat him off and tell him to get the hell out of her life, but she eventually responded, matching his own enthusiasm.

She somehow managed to reverse who was in control, and she pushed him up against the recently closed front door. He didn't know how long he was going to be able to keep cool before he just ripped all her clothes off of her.

He was already starting to undress her, fumbling with her bra clasp, when she stopped him and took a step back and gasped, "James."

"Mmmmh?" he mumbled, slightly confused by the change of pace.

"Did you honestly mean what you said about not wanting to hurt me? About never wanting to hurt me?" she asked.

"Dead, serious," he replied instantly. What did she want? Why was she asking him this? Was she having second thoughts? Of course she was, he was a conman, who had tried to con her once before, obviously she would be having second thoughts, the question was, what about? What was this to her? Just a one night stand kind of thing? Or did she think that there was potential for more?

She hesitated for a moment or two before speaking again. The air in the room was heavy, he could feel his heart shrinking, his breath was caught in his throat.

"James," she whispered. His mind was going to implode with anticipation.

"... James," she repeated, with a hint of uncertainty in her tone. "I don't want you to con Edmund." Huh? What? Why? Did she not despise the evil creepy slime ball anymore? Had she changed her mind? What was happening? He didn't understand.

Apparently, he had left his poker face at home and his confusion over the matter was clearly displayed on his face, because she didn't wait for an eternity before adding, "I don't want you to end up in prison."

He was slightly taken aback by her confession, "Darling, I'm a pro. I have no intention of getting caught."

"Yeah, but what if ..."

"Then, I guess, I would to prison, no biggie, I've been there before," he interrupted her.

"But why would you do that? Risk jail time for me? It doesn't make sense, we barely know each other."

"Actually, as pathetic as it may seem, you are probably the person who knows me best in the whole world right now. So this might actually be the most thought out decision I have made in my entire life." She was about to protest but he didn't stop talking. "Listen, I feel lower than earth for hurting you. I didn't want that to happen. I screwed up, and I'm really sorry about that. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't do things the same way. And your soon-to-be ex-husband is a total dickhead anyway, who doesn't know just how lucky he was to have a woman like you in his life, so it's high time someone gave that son of a bitch a lesson, and that someone just happens to be me."

He was very proud of his little speech, he was sure that it would convince her that he was right, because he was, wasn't he? She remained silent for a moment, she appeared to be weighing the pros and cons in her head.

"Regardless," she sighed. "I don't want you to go through with it."

"Why not?" he could help but ask her. What the hell did it matter to her if he ended up locked up in a cell or not? "It'd be like killing two birds with a single stone. First the ass hole, who has been making your life a living hell for the past couple of years, gets what he had coming to him for quite some time now. And second, the jerk, who tried to con you, gets thrown behind bars. It's a win/win situation!"

He didn't understand how she couldn't get the logic of his reasoning.

"It's not a win/win, if I don't want you to go to jail, James ..." she trailed off.

He looked into her eyes, it was there, it was back, that twinkle of mutual attraction that had gone dull after she had found out who he really was.

"I mean," she said, looking away as her cheeks became flushed. "Who would I talk to about the latest horror novel I have read? Who would go with me to see the newest slasher film being shown in the cinemas? I mean, my sister's great and everything, but she doesn't share my fondness for goosebumps, blood and guts."

She was so flustered that she had almost been rendered to babbling. It was the most adorable thing he had ever seen.

He couldn't resist the urge to lean in and kiss her, but she stopped him.

"I was thinking that we could start over?" she suggested, he wasn't quite sure what a star over entailed. "Start off from scratch? I'm not saying that nothing will ever happen between us, but I think, if something was to happen between us, it's best if we do it this way. And it's just that right now isn't really the most ideal timing ever, if I want to get all I can grab out of this divorce, I need more than a squeaky clean record. Edmund's going to be looking for things to burn my credibility down with, and I think, frolicking with an 'old college buddy' would be like serving him a defence on a silver platter."

He nodded, it made sense, she continued, "So let's start off by being friends again? What do you think about that? Let's pretend we push a reset button and start over from the beginning, eh?"

He did not hesitate for a single minute before extending his right hand, "Hi, I'm James Ford, it's a pleasure to meet you."

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He hadn't seen her in almost a month, they had spoken semi-regularly on the phone, but she had been really busy. Apparently, her divorce was going very well, or, at least, as well as such matters can go, in fact, surprisingly enough, Edmund had opted to settle out of court. According to Juliet, this was entirely due to her attorney, Valerie Parker, who was, or so it appeared, quite the shark, she had managed to convince Edmund's lawyer that going to court would probably just make his situation even worse and cost him even more money, and that, at the end of the day, Juliet wasn't really asking for that much.

She was also settling quite nicely at her new job at the hospital. She had started just two weeks ago and she was thoroughly enjoying herself. It felt good to be out of the lab, and to have actual real human contact with patients, and her colleagues were nice and friendly people. It was a good change.

She was also looking for a new place to live. She told him that she loved her sister, but living together again reminded her of being a teenager and begging to get to use the bathroom for five minutes to get a quick shower in the morning, while Rachel hogged the mirror for hours making sure she looked good.

As for him, well he had started to pull his life together.

He had almost landed a security job, but then they had found out that he had a criminal record and that possibility went up in flames. Just as he had convinced himself that the only job he would get would be cleaning out the bins in a MacDonald's, he got a call from his friend Joey, who owed him big time since the Tampa job.

After the Tampa job, Joey had gotten clean, got himself a minimum wage job and taken night classes, and now he was a manager in a sales company, and all this thanks to Sawyer who had taken the fall for both of them.

Joey vouched for him and got him an entry position, which didn't consist of anything more than pushing papers around, but along with the job the company was financing night classes. And even if he couldn't picture himself sitting behind a desk, ad vitam eternam, it was a stepping stone, a first step towards something better.

He had also been dodging calls from Hibbs, who had been leaving him, pretty nasty voice mails, telling him that he better be bringing him that hundred grand, or lying somewhere in a ditch, or he would be, or something to that effect anyway. Whatever. He knew that Hibbs had far bigger fish to fry than his sorry ass, and that sooner or later he'd forget about him all together, hence why he had adopted the 'Ostrich technique', if you ignore your problems, they will go away sooner or later.

So far, so good, he hadn't received any angry messages in over three days now. Progress is progress.

He got to the restaurant where they were supposed to meet for lunch early, he wanted to get there before her, to prepare himself for her arrival. Turned out that she was already there. How typical of her that she would be the only woman in the world to always be early for appointments.

The minute he set his eyes on her, he could perceive a change. Her curly hair was no longer tied back to domesticate its unruliness, instead it had been straightened out, and was hanging loosely down past her shoulders. Her clothes were casual but, nevertheless classy. She almost looked like a new woman, or rather the woman Sawyer knew was inside of her all along. She was magnificent.

"Hey," she waved him over the minute she spotted him.

"Hey, back at you," he replied, before adding. "You're looking pretty damn fine, if I dare say so myself, Blondie."

"Why thank you. You don't look half bad yourself," she blushed slightly.

"So what's with the new hair, the new threads, and everything?" he asked.

"It was time for a change," she smiled.

He smiled back, it felt good to be back in her company again, he had really missed her over the course of the last couple of weeks. It was incredible how quickly her presence had become a fixture in his life. He had always prided himself on being a loner, someone who didn't have to or need to rely on other in his every day life, but now he couldn't even imagine a future which didn't have Juliet, in some capacity, in it.

"So, you'll never guess who I got a call from the other day," he said.

She looked at him with great curiosity.

"Your ex," he nodded, with amusement in his eyes. "Apparently he needs a quick way to make an easy buck, since, and I quote, his 'harpy of a wife was divorcing him and taking everything he had worked for away from him', and I should understand him and help him, in the name of the 'bros over hoes' doctrine, since, it so happens that she had also played me back in the day."

"Oh really?" she asked, trying to stay serious. "And what did you say to that?"

"I told him that it wouldn't be the best idea of the century. I mean, objectively speaking, if I enter into business with him, and the deal goes South, and he ends up losing everything, since I was old buddies with his ex, he would most probably imagine that he was the victim of some twisted and elaborated Machiavellian plan that you had set up, and in which you had used me as an instrument just to screw with him."

"Wise move, my friend," she chuckled lightly. "And then what happened."

"Then he hung up, but not before he had taken the time to remind me of how much of a useless piece of crap I am."

"Typical Edmund," she sighed.

"Typical Edmund."

The waiter came along and took their order, once he left, she asked him, "What are your plans for this weekend?"

"Nothing yet," he shrugged.

"Want to see a movie? I've been dying to see Hide and Seek, but Rach won't go with me, but she says creepy kids creep her out."

Stuck in a dark room, with popcorn and Juliet for company? That sounded almost heavenly to him, and the movie seemed to be half decent, there was no point in lying to himself though, he would have gladly accepted to go and see some dumb flick like the Wedding Planner if that meant spending "alone time" with Juliet.

Things were going slowly but steadily between them. Neither of them was rushing, they were taking things easy, step by step. He wanted to let her come to him in her own time, he didn't want to scare her off.

He wasn't exactly sure of where they were going together, but he was going to sit back and enjoy the ride. He had been given the opportunity to have a fresh start in his life, and he was going to make the most of it, hopefully with Juliet by his side.

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THE END.

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A/N: Now I'm off to tell my profs that I'm going to give up my law studies to write sappy chick flicks starring Patrick Dempsey, (this story is so cheesy, it's making me queasy, and I'm half French, I like cheese).

So yeah, "the end", I originally had another twist (which would generate buckets of drama), but I sort of think it's wiser to leave it at this, a nice and hopeful open ending (and 12 is an even number, because such things matter to me). That being said, I might change my mind tomorrow, after or in a month, but this is what feels right to me at this moment in time.
If I was to analyse this story objectively, I would divide it into four parts and say Part 1 and 3 were decent enough, and Part 2 and 4 a bit lousy

I would just like to thank everyone who stuck with this story from the beginning, or who joined along the road. You guys were so patient, and handled my schizophrenic updating habits very well. You were all so encouraging, even when I was doubting myself, so thank you.

Oh and hey, my first 'complete' multi-chaptered story ever! Score! Yay! I have broke my curse (now just to finish my other LOST one, aha).