Chapter 1

"This Is Jasper"

The nightclub was rocking. People were strewn across the dance floor, and the bar was hopping. Jasper Watts, a twenty-one year-old bartender with golden hair, icy blue eyes, handsome lips, thick mascara, a leather frock coat, a top hat sprinkled with gears, glossy black winklepickers, and leather fingerless gloves was doing the mixing. His shoulder-length hair bounced as he vigorously shook his cocktail shaker to the beat of the music. July 4, 1971. This day is an American holiday, of course, but to the citizens of London, England, this was just an ordinary day. The Rolling Stones' music was blasting throughout the club. At Jasper’s bar, all the cutest girls of London tried to flirt with him, but Jasper was rock-hard. He didn’t fall for any of it. Jasper was too smart.

By the end of the evening, Jasper closed up his bar, shooed all the girls away, and talked with his fellow waiters. In his high-pitched soft British accent, Jasper said to his friend, Archie, “Why on Earth won’t those girls leave me alone?”

Archie replied with another question, “Why on Earth don’t you enjoy it? Jasper, I have a question. Are you homosexual?”

Jasper merely chuckled at his friend.

“No I am not,” he replied. Archie asked, “How do you know?”

“How do I know? Let me see,” Jasper replied sarcastically. “Well, I’ve gotten two girls pregnant. I’ve stolen six girls from their boyfriends. I have a scar on me tongue from where a girl bit it. I don’t know how I know.”

“Then why don’t you jump at this chance at endless women, Jasper?” asked Archie. Jasper replied, “Because I’m over all that. That was high school.”

Archie interrupted with, “Wait, you got two girls pregnant in high school?”

Jasper nodded and replied, “Within a week, actually. It was pretty funny. The first girl’s mother kicked me between the legs, thinking that would prevent me from having any more children. I proved her wrong five days later.”

Archie couldn’t help but laugh.

“That’s typical of you, Jasper. Are you going to have a girlfriend any time soon?”

“Probably not,” replied Jasper. “I’m waiting for the perfect girl for me, and perfect girls are hard to come by.”

The next morning, Jasper woke up in his mansion and stretched. He looked around his room and sighed. He was the only one who lived in the enormous house, and he was quite lonely. Then, he thought of an idea. He picked up the receiver of his telephone and dialed the number of a girl he had not talked to in a very long time. The girl had had Jasper’s baby in eleventh grade.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Hello there, Angeline. It’s me, Jasper.”

Angeline paused for a moment, then asked, “Jasper? What do you want?”

“Angeline, I want to talk to you about something.”

“If you want to get back with me,” she inquired, “the answer is no.”

“I know you don’t want to get back with me, and that’s not what I called about.”

“What do you want, then?” she asked. Jasper sighed, realizing that she hated him.

“Look Angeline, I was just wondering if you decided to keep our baby.”

Angeline snapped, “It’s not your baby, Jasper. It’s mine. Yes, I kept him, and I make sure that he doesn’t find out who his father is. You are dead to him, and you should be dead to me.”

Jasper’s eyes widened, and his feelings were already crushed for the morning.

“Well,” said Jasper sadly, “never mind what I was going to ask you.”

“What were you going to ask me?”

“I was wondering if you would let me watch the baby for awhile.”

“Not if my life depended on it, Jasper Watts. Leave me alone.”

Angeline hung up the phone, and Jasper slumped on his bed, unsure of what to do with his day. He hated to be hated, and Angeline’s resentment bothered him. He then decided to go to a diner for breakfast.

At the diner, he was sitting at a table by himself, sipping a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. He looked up for a moment, then looked back at his paper, then looked up again. Sitting across the small diner was a young girl with shining red curls, electric green eyes, and a pearly smile. She was sitting with a young man similar in age. Jasper looked at her for a moment, then shook his head and looked back down at his paper. He assumed that the man the girl was talking to was her boyfriend, and Jasper knew that he didn’t have a chance in the first place.

A few minutes later, Jasper heard a sweet, gentle voice close to him.

“You shouldn’t be wearing that hat.”

Jasper looked up and saw the red-haired girl standing next to him. He smiled at her, and she took his top hat off him.

“Why shouldn’t I?” asked Jasper. She replied, “It hides your face.”

Jasper couldn’t help but blush. The girl looked at the hat for a moment, then set it on Jasper’s table and asked him, “What’s your name?”

“Jasper,” he replied. “And what’s your name?”

“Rosemary,” she answered. Jasper smiled and said, “A lovely name for a lovely woman.”

Rosemary smiled, and Jasper said, “Please sit down, if you’re not busy.”

Rosemary sat down across from him, and Rosemary asked, “How old are you, Jasper?”

“Twenty-one,” he replied. She said, “I’m eighteen. How long have you lived in London?”

“Me whole life,” answered Jasper. Rosemary asked him, “Do you live downtown?”

“Actually, I don’t. You know the Watts mansion?”

Rosemary’s eyes widened as she replied, “Oh, do I know the Watts mansion.”

“Well, I live there. I’m Jasper Watts.”

Rosemary gasped.

“Oh my God! You’re Jasper Watts?”

Jasper nodded, and Rosemary said, “My God. You must have sick amounts of money, if you don’t mind me saying.”

Jasper shook his head.

“Oh no,” he said. “I work at a bar, and that’s how I make me money.”

Rosemary was confused.

“Oh, your parents don’t give you any money?”

Jasper shrugged and said, “Yeah, I suppose you could say that.”

Rosemary looked at his clothes, giggled, and said, “I love your style. It’s very strange. What do you call that? Steampunk?”

Jasper nodded and smiled cutely at her. He simply couldn’t believe how beautiful Rosemary was. He asked her, “Can I get you a cup of coffee?”

“Please. That would be lovely.”

Jasper stopped a waitress that was passing him and said, “A cup of coffee for the lady, please.”

The waitress nodded and headed to the kitchen.

“You’re a very kind man, Jasper,” said Rosemary. Jasper sighed and replied, “I really try. It’s hard with some people, though.”

The waitress set down a cup of coffee in front of Rosemary, and she thanked the waitress. Jasper asked her, “Is that man over there your boyfriend?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” she said. “I don’t think we’ll last much longer, though. He isn’t a nice man, and he’s a drunk.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Jasper. Rosemary shrugged and replied, “I’ve put up with him for too long. He may not like me talking to you.”

“Well, that’s just too bad, isn’t it,” said Jasper with a smile. Rosemary smiled, too, and she asked, “Can I get your telephone number?”

Jasper nodded and took a scrap of paper and a pen out of his pocket. He wrote his telephone number down, then gave it to Rosemary. She said, “You’re the kind of friend I need. All my friends are drama-driven girls.”

Author's Note

Click on the picture to see a full picture of Jasper Watts.