Sure enough, when Jaci stepped off the elevator on Jason’s floor, the first person she saw was Linda, haughtily giving directions to the movers. When she spotted Jaci, her body stiffened and a deep scowl covered her face.
She’ll never see me looking defeated, Jaci decided. “Good morning!” she said cheerfully as she passed through the reception area. “How are you all doing?”
“J.P. is not in his office, and he’s very busy. He has no time for you today,” Linda told her.
“I know he’s busy. That’s why I’m here to help him. He told me to go straight to his office.”
“Well, you’re going to have a long wait. There’s no telling when he’ll be back. You might as well leave. You’ll just be in the way.”
“I don’t think so.” Jaci looked at her challengingly. “I know how to make myself useful.”
She entered Jason’s office and saw that he had made little headway in preparing for the move. Where is his secretary? She wondered, then remembered: The woman is off on maternity leave. And Linda is too busy playing Ms. Important to offer any real help. Shaking her head and thinking he should have hired a company to pack up his offices as well as move them, she grabbed a box from the stack in the hallway and began carefully packing the items from the top of his desk. Once that was done, she took a marker and wrote JPG-DESKTOP-FRAGILE on the side of the box. She emptied his desk drawers and marked the boxes, then proceeded to the credenza. She was working on the first of several bookshelves when she heard Jason’s voice in the hallway.
Finally, she thought. Maybe I can get this over with.
But when Jason entered his office, his brother Ron was close behind him. “Wow! Honey look what you’ve done!” Jason remarked, crossing the room to hug and kiss her. “This is going to move me up on the ready list. You think you can stay long enough to help me get my new office set up? I sure hope so.”
“I don’t know right now,” she said softly. “Jason, why didn’t you hire a moving company whose services include packing everything as well as moving it? It would have made this so much easier.”
Jason and Ron looked at each other. “I made the mistake of delegating that responsibility to Uncle Stan, who said he had a friend in the business who could do it all. To make a long story short, they showed up with four men, and no instructions to pack anything.”
“I tried to tell him, but he wouldn’t listen,” Ron said as he followed Jason across the room. Jaci was a little uneasy, not knowing what to expect from Ron after their little scene on Thanksgiving Day. But surprisingly, he was cordial and friendly. “Hey, Sis,” he said, engulfing her in a bear hug. “When you finish in here, can you come help me get set up?”
“Nope!” J.P. answered for her. “She’ll be too busy helping me. Go find your own help.”
“I was talking to Jaci!” Ron said pointedly.
“I was answering for Jaci,” J.P. replied.
“Just let me have the keys,” Ron said, agitatedly. He looked at Jaci, who had resumed her task of packing boxes with books from the bookshelves. “Jaci, you wouldn’t know how to pick a lock on a file cabinet would you? Somebody locked it and I lost the key to it years ago.”
“Sorry, no. If I had time, I could probably fiddle with it and get it open—I’ve had to do that before—but I gotta take care of my baby now.”
Jason handed him a key ring filled with an assortment of keys. “Please bring my keys back. Don’t make me have to come looking for you.”
Ron gave him a “get lost” look before strolling slowly out of the office.
“Okay, sweetheart,” Jason said when Ron left. “What did you need to talk to me about? Make it quick; they’re waiting for me downstairs.”
“This isn’t something we can discuss quickly. I’ll just wait here until you have more time.”
As if on cue, his cell phone began ringing. When he looked at it, he sighed. “Gotta go.” He gave her a brief kiss and said, “I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
Jaci worked steadily for another hour, then decided to find a water fountain to quench her thirst. She picked her way around the furniture and boxes cluttering the hallway, and walked toward the reception area, fervently hoping Linda was someplace else. No such luck! Jaci saw her immediately after she turned the corner. She glanced around quickly to see if anyone else was nearby. She didn’t relish being alone with this woman. As luck would have it, there seemed to be nobody in the near vicinity. Linda seemed to realize this fact at the same time.
“Well, well,” Linda said nastily. “I guess you have a really thick skull. Or are you just plain stupid? Frankly, I don’t care which one, because you have pushed me too far. I’ve warned you and tried to give you every opportunity to leave J.P. alone, but you just won’t listen.”
“Lord, have mercy,” Jaci said. “So it is you calling and making threats against me and my family. I suspected as much, but I asked Jason not to do anything until we knew for sure. I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt.”
“I don’t need you to do me any favors. What you need to do is get out of J.P.’s life. What do you think a little nobody like you can do for a man like J.P.? He’s just stringing you along, honey—having fun. When he’s ready to settle down, he’s going to do so with a high-class woman, and I’m sure that’s not going to be anyone but me.”
Jaci held up her hand and pointed to the ring on her finger. “Now, that’s a strange thing for you to be saying since I’m the one with his ring on my finger. Why don’t you stop all this childish silliness? A truly high-class woman wouldn’t resort to what you’re doing. Where’s the water fountain? I’m thirsty.” She turned to leave.
Linda crossed the room and grabbed Jaci’s arm, swinging her around. “Don’t you walk away from me! Who do you think you’re talking to anyway? I’ll take that tasteless ring off your finger and jam it down your throat! And don’t think I can’t do it!”
“What the heck is going on here?” Ron asked from the doorway where he and some other people had gathered.
Now they show up, Jaci thought as she looked down at Linda’s hand on her arm. “I know you better get your hands off of me.” She pulled away from her and tried to walk off again.
“What’s going on, Jaci?” Ron asked again.
“Ask J.P. who went to L.A. with him last month,” Linda taunted, grabbing at Jaci’s arm again. She smiled confidently. She was certain Jaci hadn’t gone with him because she had called her house several times while J.P. was gone and Jaci had answered each time. And if Jaci was home, there was no way she would know who was in L.A. with J.P.
Jaci pulled away from her. “You’re crazy!” she said. “As a matter of fact, I went to L.A. with Jason. My daughter told me somebody kept calling and hanging up. Now I know it was you.” Jaci shook her head sadly at this woman’s desperation. Randi and her family had stayed at Jaci’s house a few days while having some work done on their house. And she and Randi sounded almost identical over the phone.
“You’re lying!” Linda screamed. “I went with him on that trip. And we had a ball!”
She’d had enough. Jaci looked at the pitiful woman standing before her. “Listen, I’m not going to argue with you. You need to go get yourself some help.” She turned to leave and Linda grabbed her again, this time trying to slap her but missing when Jaci dodged out of the way.
“I told you before, you don’t run anything in this office, and you don’t tell me what to do,” said Linda. “Now get out!”
“And I told you to keep your hands off of me and I’m not going to tell you again,” Jaci said quietly. “Ron, this woman has been calling and making threats against me and my family. She’s even said she was going to kill us. Now I’m tired of her and her threats. Will you tell her to back off? I don’t want to hurt her.”
“Ha! You hurt me! Heifer, I’ll show you who’s going to get hurt!” Linda stood a head above Jaci and outweighed her significantly. She rushed toward Jaci again,
hand raised to attack.
Jaci acted on the instincts gained from her cousin Buddy’s coaching while growing up in Riverwood: If it’s a man, knee below the waist as hard as you can, one fist in the stomach, other fist in the nose. If it’s a woman, elbow in the chest, one fist in the stomach, other fist in the nose.
Before Linda realized what was happening, Jaci’s elbow hit the right spot on her chest. Linda yelped, letting go of her hold on Jaci. Before Linda could recover, Jaci landed a blow to her stomach and another to her face. Linda went down. Jaci lifted her foot, kicking her in the side with all the frustration of her sleepless nights going into the motion. She raised her foot to kick again, but before she could land the blow, Ron grabbed her.
“Jaci! Hold up.”
Ron looked down at Linda struggling to get up from the floor. “Did you do that, Linda?” he asked.
Linda wiped at the blood running from her nose. “This woman’s not right for J.P.! Look at her! Fighting like a street woman. He needs a woman with some class and culture. I was merely trying to get her to stop making a fool out of herself and leave him alone.”
“I know you don’t think I’m going to walk away from the man I love, and who loves me, because of some perceived relationship in the mind of a crazy woman,” Jaci said. “If so, you are sadly mistaken.”
Ron picked up the phone sitting on the corner of the desk and dialed a number, then spoke into the phone. “J.P., get up here to your office quick. This is an emergency.”
Just as he was hanging up, J.P. and Herbert came hurrying around the corner. Someone watching the fight had already called him.
“What’s happening?” he asked, looking around the room, then running to Jaci, still in the grasp of Ron. “What’s the matter, baby?” The shock of what had just happened hit Jaci, and she started crying and hugging him as if she would never let go. He cupped her chin in his hand, trying to get her to look at him. “What’s going on?”
When Jaci didn’t answer, he turned to Ron.
“Ron! Will you please tell me what’s going on?”
Ron pointed to Linda. “This woman’s been calling, tormenting Jaci. Making threats against her and her family. And if I heard correctly, Linda told her she was going to kill her if she didn’t stay away from you. She just jumped on Jaci and tried to throw her out of the office, and well, you see whose nose is bleeding. This woman is a screwball,” he said, pointing to Linda with distaste.
J.P. looked at Linda and said coldly, “I should have fired you a long time ago. Get off my property before I do something I’ll be sorry for. And count yourself lucky that I don’t knock you out of one of these windows.”
“You can’t do that!” Linda yelled at him. “J.P., don’t you understand? I’m trying to help you and protect you from this conniving little tramp. You need a woman like me at your side. I can help you advance socially and in other ways. Please, J.P., you’ll be sorry if you don’t get rid of this heifer. And I’m filing charges against her for attacking me.” Linda limped to the desk and grabbed her purse out of the drawer. She pointed toward Jaci. “I’m going to get you for this. Just wait.” She started toward the door.
“Wait a minute! We can’t just let her walk out of here!” Ron said. “I told you, this woman is screwy. We need to call the cops and get her locked up. You think you telling her to get off this property is going to stop her? Not from what I just heard. She’s a nut case. She’ll keep coming after Jaci.”
“No, she won’t!” Herbert spoke up for the first time. “Will you, Linda?” he asked hopefully. “If we let you go, you’ll go on about your business and leave Jaci alone, won’t you?”
“Maybe I will, and maybe I won’t,” answered Linda. “It depends on whether J.P. wakes up and gets rid of her.”
“Lady, I don’t want you!” J.P. almost screamed, looking at Linda with a deep scowl. “If I did, I could have had you long before Jaci ever came into the picture. In fact, I despise you. You’re nothing but a gold-digging, status-seeking, lowlife. What would I want with the likes of you. I know a woman of class when I see one, and you’re definitely not one.”
Linda continued to plead. “I know this woman has your mind all messed up, J.P., so I’ll forgive you for that. If you would just think about it, you would see what I’m talking about and give us a chance.”
“Oh no, honey. It doesn’t work that way!” Jason’s mother shouldered her way through the crowd gathered in the area. “My son has chosen the woman he wants, and it’s not you. Evidently you’re too crazy to get the message, so your butt is going to jail.” She picked up the phone and dialed the operator. “I need the police but it’s not exactly an emergency. What num—? Okay, thank you. Hello? We have a crazy woman in our office making threats against us. Can you send someone quickly? She’s saying she’s going to kill somebody.” She rattled off the address of the building. “We’re on the fourteenth floor. All right, thanks.”
“You can send me to jail, but I won’t be there long,” Linda said smugly. She had been through this before.
“Well, let me tell you something, you crazy witch.” Ron walked over to her, pointing a finger in her face. “You better get out of there running. ’Cause we take care of our own. You think we’re just going to let you hurt someone in our family? Now, my brother don’t want your crazy tail. Ain’t never wanted you! I don’t think you’re nearly as crazy as you’re acting. So, let me say this before the cops get here. You hurt Jaci, we hurt you! Got that? Whatever you do to her, you better get ready; the same thing is coming your way. Now, I suggest you heed this warning, ’cause, lady, I mean every word I’m saying. Don’t make me regret stopping Jaci from kicking your behind.”
“And if you don’t believe him, believe me,” Jason said. “I’m not going to be nothing nice if you come near my fiancée again. Your problem is with me, not her. I’m the one who chose her. Not the other way around. You want to come after somebody, come after the right person.”
Cecelia looked around and noticed the people crowded around the door, watching. “Okay, people, let’s break it up. The show is over and we’ve got work to do.” Everyone left except Ron, Herbert, and Cecelia, who decided to watch Linda until the police arrived. J.P. and Jaci walked slowly down the hallway to his office.
“Jason, I’m so sorry. I never meant for something like this to happen when I came over here today.” Jaci cried brokenly.
“I know that. You didn’t know that woman was going off the deep end. But I am upset with you. Why didn’t you tell me about Linda continuing to harass you like that? I’ve asked you countless times to share things with me. Why do you continue to try to handle everything by yourself?”
“It wasn’t a case of my trying to handle it on my own. You’ve been out of town and so busy that we’ve hardly had a chance to talk. But after days and nights of her calls and harassment, I’d had enough and that’s why I came on over here today. I knew I had to tell you what was going on.”
“You should have done that already, like I asked you to,” he told her impatiently. “As crazy as that woman out there is, she could have hurt you at any time, and I wouldn’t have even known it had gotten to that point. What is your problem, Jaci? I’m about sick and tired of having this conversation with you!”
Jaci decided she didn’t need this on top of everything else. “You’re tired? You don’t know what tired is.” She looked around for her purse, grabbed it, and started out of the office. “I’m not staying around here for any more abuse. I’m out of here!”
J.P.
J.P. let her go. He paced back and forth across his office trying to process all that had gone on in the past few minutes. He didn’t know whether to be embarrassed, angry, apologetic, or what. He was beyond tired after working day and night, and to have something like this happen was totally unacceptable.
“Man, what the devil is wrong with you?” Ron asked from behind him. J.P. turned and saw that Ron and a rebellious looking Jaci had entered the office without his hearing
them.
“Jaci can’t leave until the police get here. I’m sure she’ll have to give a statement. She needs to stay back here. These women don’t need to be in the same room.”
“I’m sure there’s another office where I can wait,” Jaci told Ron. “Your brother has informed me that he’s tired of dealing with me. And I refuse to stay where I’m not wanted.”
“I didn’t say that! But I am tired of you trying to handle things by yourself and messing up, when I’m here to help you.”
“Excuse me,” Jaci told Ron, and gave J.P. a dirty look before leaving the office again.
“Do you know what you’re doing, brother?” Ron asked. “You better snap, man. You don’t want to lose that lady. And you know, that’s something I never thought I’d say.”
“Two women fighting over me like two dogs over a bone!” J.P. groaned loudly. “Oh Lord! That might be an ego booster for some men, but it’s a total turnoff to me.” He groaned again. “And in front of my staff! That really blows it.”
“And you’re blaming Jaci for that?” Ron asked. “I heard her tell Linda more than once to leave her alone. She even asked me to make Linda back off so she could leave. But before I could do anything, Linda had jumped her.”
“And you just stood there and let them go at it.” J.P. shook his head disgustedly.
“Naw, man, it wasn’t like that. When Linda attacked her, Jaci was all over her. Before I could even move, Jaci had knocked her to the floor.” He started laughing. “You don’t want to ever make that woman mad. You’ll get your tail whipped real quick.”
“I, I can’t believe she did that!” J.P. stammered.
“What was she supposed to do? Let Linda beat up on her? Would that have made you happy?” Ron walked over and stood in front of him. “I don’t believe I’m saying this, but you act a fool and let Jaci get away, it’ll be the biggest mistake you ever made. She told Linda that no way was she going to let a crazy woman make her walk away from the man she loves. She’s quality, brother, as you well know. And I don’t know why you’re tripping like this. But . . . that just leaves the field open for me or some other lucky guy.” He noticed J.P.’s eyes and mouth tightening, and knew he had hit the mark. J.P. was getting angry.
Seasons Page 21