by J. L. Ryan
There was a brief pause, before she heard him chuckling. “Yeah, that isn’t exactly why I can’t sleep.” For a moment she wondered if it was because of her, but she didn’t want to think foolish thoughts. “I actually am calling to tell you that the meetings for tomorrow have been cancelled. I just received an email, something about a water main break at the building they were using.”
“Oh…that’s too bad,” she spoke, but she was really thrilled to know that they didn’t have to sit through another boring meeting.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.” He laughed, clearly seeing her sarcasm. “So, I was wondering…if you would want, that is…would you like to go visit your family tomorrow?”
Her jaw dropped. She processed his words, but wasn’t sure if he truly meant them. “That’s a three hour trip.”
“I realize that. I actually know the Pittsburgh area well. Our plane doesn’t leave until eight o’clock. We could get up early, you could visit them, and still be back in plenty of time to catch the plane to New York.”
“You’re going, too?” She asked, trying to catch her thoughts.
His light breathing was echoing through the phone. “I suppose that I could stay here and you could take the rental. I guess that I never really thought about that.” She heard disappointment on his end. “Is that what you want?”
She shook her head, despite the fact that he couldn’t see her. She knew that she wanted him to go, but she just was surprised to learn that he hand that in his mind. “You are more than welcome to meet me family.”
“Well then…it’s settled. Tomorrow we can get up at seven o’clock, get dressed, and head out. I’m sorry that you missed the barbeque.”
“That’s fine,” she quickly spoke. She was still going to see her loved ones. “Thank you, Jeffrey.”
“You are welcome.” They disconnected the call but she began to reach for the phone again to call her mother. She then decided to leave it as a surprise and she knew that her family would definitely be surprised.
***
They were about fifteen minutes from her house and Jeffrey began to question her about her family. He figured that he should have some idea of where she came from. “So, give me the lowdown about your family. How you grew up and what kind of upbringing did you have?”
She seemed to think about it and he noticed a slight hesitation before she replied. “Well, my mom used to be a nurse. Then she had me and decided that she needed to take some time off to raise me. She was going to go back when I was starting Kindergarten. However, she had my sister before getting that chance. She never went back.” She looked out the window and he saw a smile on her face. “She is a great mom and I have truly been blessed.”
“So, your sister…were you close?” He asked, generally interested.
She nodded, “She is my best friend.” She then turned back to him and spoke, “How about you? Do you have any siblings?”
He shook his head; he wanted to have someone to grow up, with but he wasn’t blessed like that. “Nope, only child.”
She scrunched her nose, “You must have been spoiled.”
He laughed, “You would be absolutely…wrong. I was given money when I needed it, but there was a lot I was lacking.”
She showed signs of concern and empathy. “I know exactly what you mean.”
He could see that she meant that and it felt good to find someone he could talk to. “Well, I know about your mom and your sister…tell me about your dad.”
Her face turned grim and she faced the window. “We don’t really talk about him.” He could see that he struck an emotional chord. Yet, even though he saw pain in her eyes, she looked back at him and shrugged, “I suppose you might as well know. My dad is at the state prison. He was a drunk most of my life and would take it out on all of us. He left bruises on my sister and me for a good portion of our childhood.”
He couldn’t believe the truth that was coming out. He reached across the car and grabbed her hand. Their eyes met and he shook his head, “I am so sorry, Marisa. Any guy that does that to his kids and wife, deserves to be locked up.”
He saw tears in her eyes as she nodded, “That’s why I left right after graduation. I couldn’t stand being in the same town with all the bad memories.”
He squeezed her hand and her eyes wandered down to the hold. They remained holding hands while going the rest of the way. She pointed to several different streets to turn down, before they made their way to a cul-de-sac.
She pointed to a white house on the end and he pulled in front of the house. He reluctantly pulled his hand away as they got out of the car.
“Thank you!” she said, before they headed up the driveway. “This is exactly what I needed.”
“It’s my pleasure,” he smiled, trying to ignore the fact that he would have given her the moon.
They headed up the steps and she knocked on the door. After a couple of minutes, an older woman opened the door. Her eyes got big and she covered her mouth. “Marisa?”
“Mom…” Marisa spoke. Her voice was shaky. Her mom opened the screen door and threw her arms around her. They held each other in an emotional embrace, while he stayed back. When they pulled away, she turned to Jeffrey. “Mom, this is Jeffrey Bradley…my boss.”
Her mother turned to him, “Hello, sir.”
“Please, call me Jeffrey.” He replied, shaking her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
She smiled, then turned back to her daughter. “I don’t understand. I thought you said that you couldn’t come this weekend.” She held the door open, as they entered.
“I couldn’t, but we had our meetings yesterday and they were cancelled for today. So, Jeffrey said that we could come here today.” She was beaming and he was thankful that he had made the suggestion.
“Jeffrey, thank you so much.”
He shrugged, “I am glad that I could make it work.”
“Hillary is going to be so excited to see you.” Her mother was saying. “Hillary…come down here.”
“What is…” a voice from upstairs yelled. He looked up to see that Hillary was standing at the top of the stairs. “Marisa?” She ran down the stairs and jumped into her arms, they hugged for what felt like an eternity. “I don’t understand.” She pulled away and he saw that she was just as emotional. She glanced toward him and then back at Marisa. “Who is the guy?”
“This is my boss Jeffrey Bradley.”
He shook her hand, “Hello, Hillary. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” she smiled.
“Tell me everything that you have been up to,” Hillary said, grabbing onto Marisa’s arm and carrying her away into another room. He didn’t know if he should follow or give them space.
“Would you like some coffee, Jeffrey?” Her mother asked him.
He smiled, “No thank you.”
She nodded, “Make yourself at home,” she then walked away. He awkwardly hung out in the foyer, leaning against the banister. He knew that Hillary and Marisa would want their space and he didn’t want to be an intruder.
***
“Girl, you didn’t tell me what a fine piece of specimen you were working for,” Hillary spoke, as they took a seat on the couch.
Marisa rolled her eyes, “He’s not bad.”
“Not bad?” Hillary shook her head, “You are either blind or in denial.”
Marisa knew that she definitely wasn’t blind. She shrugged, trying to forget about it. “Tell me about you. Did I see something on your left hand?”
Hillary laughed, “If I would have known you were going to be here then I would have hidden it from you.” She produced her hand and Marisa stared down at the shiny ring. “I’m engaged.”
“Mom said you had news, but I had no idea.”
“It just kind of happened. I met him two months ago when I was getting my car worked on. We instantly had a connection and then he asked me to marry him. We haven’t even had sex…he wants to wait. Can you believe that?”
&
nbsp; Marisa slowly shook her head, knowing that she was already one step ahead of that with Jeffrey. “I am happy for you.”
“Thank you,” she replied, staring down at her ring. Her eyes got big, “Maybe you could get one of these things if you make nice with the lawyer.” She winked at her and Marisa playfully hit her on the arm. “Ouch,” she laughed.
Marisa looked around the living room, “Speaking of…I wonder where he is.”
“You know Mom. She’s probably talking his ear off.”
“I hope not,” Marisa replied, feeling scared. She laughed, thinking of the things her mother could tell him about her.
She started to get up, but Hillary reached out for her hand, pulling her back down. She looked at her and she smiled. “He’ll be fine. I want to hear everything that has been going on with you.”
Marisa told her the things that she felt she could, conveniently leaving out the fact that she was technically homeless. About an hour later, her mother was calling them in the kitchen for lunch. They headed out of the living room, where she saw Jeffrey standing at the banister.
She caught his eyes and started to laugh. “What are you doing? You could have come in.”
He smiled, “I figured you wanted some alone time. I thought about sitting out in the car.”
She rolled her eyes, “Not necessary.”
“I didn’t know what deep secrets you were going to share and I thought if you wanted to talk about me…it would be easier while I wasn’t around.” He was smiling to show that he was teasing, but she blushed. She hoped that he didn’t hear anything. “Did you?”
“Did I what?” she asked.
“Did you talk about me?” He asked with a wink.
She looked away from him, searching for what she could say to him, then decided that she would play along. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” She winked, brushing past him and heading toward the kitchen. She was suddenly feeling pretty good about their relationship and wanted the easiness to continue.
***
Marisa didn’t want the day to end. Her time with the family was going so well. She looked at Jeffrey as they were saying their goodbyes. He seemed to fit into the family and it was like they were a true couple. “Goodbye, Hillary.” I hugged her tightly. “I’ll be back soon.”
She nodded, then turned to Jeffrey and shook his hand. “It was nice meeting you, Hillary.” He then turned to her mother and shook her hand. “Thank you for being so hospitable.”
“You are welcome back anytime.”
He nodded, “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.” Marisa wondered if they would ever have another reason to bring him back to Pennsylvania.
“Goodbye, Mom,” she hugged her mom. “I love you!”
“I love you, too.” When she parted, she saw that there were tears in her eyes. She brushed away her own and then turned to Jeffrey.
They headed to the front door. He held the door open for her as she exited the house. She waved as they got to the car. Once inside, she felt the tears take over. She looked at him and he reached out and grabbed her hand. “Are you alright?” He asked.
She nodded, but she still felt the heaviness in her heart. “This meant a lot to me. You have no idea how much.”
“I meant it, Marisa. I am glad I was able to do this.” She turned back to the window and waved to them, as he pulled away. As the house faded from her view, she let out a sigh. “I better stop and get gas, before we get too far down the road. She silently nodded, as she leaned back in the seat and just let him drive. A few minutes later he was turning into a gas station. When he stopped the car, he turned to her. “Marissa…” he started.
“Yes?” she asked, giving him her attention.
“There’s something I have been wanting to do.” He leaned in and landed a kiss on her lips. His tongue swooped in, gently massaging her tongue. When he pulled away, she just stared at him. “Now, I’m going to get gas,” he said, getting out of the car and leaving her there to think about his lips.
What the hell? She thought. She didn’t know what it meant, only that her lips were on fire and her heart was racing. She watched him getting gas and he was looking away from the car. She shook her head, trying to regain her senses.
When he got back in the car, she didn’t know if she should look at him or look away. She saw the smile on his lips, causing her to look at him. “What was that?” she asked, still stunned.
“What? I just wanted to do it. Is it a crime?”
She covered her eyes and slowly tried to forget the moment, but she couldn’t. She didn’t want a casual fling…a simple kiss here to just confuse her even more. She wanted the real thing and something that was lasting. “Don’t do that again.” She spoke, feeling a sense of nausea in her stomach.
“Marisa…I…” he began, but she didn’t want to hear excuses.
“Jeffrey, don’t do that again. Understand?”
He slowly nodded, “Loud and clear.” He pulled out of the gas station and headed back to Columbus. She didn’t care what he thought, but she was not going to be the person that screwed someone to get ahead in life. She deserved better than that.
***
Jeffrey had hoped things would lighten up between them on the airplane. However, he was left to kick himself for kissing her like that. He didn’t mean for it to upset her the way that it did.
When she walked to her car in the airport parking lot, she didn’t even allow him to walk with her. It was like nothing they had been through meant anything.
As he worked on Monday, he had hoped that she would need to talk to him about work stuff, but she never came to him. He had thought about calling her into his office and lying about needing her help with something, but he knew that would come across as wrong.
He left the office and found himself heading in the opposite direction of his car. He went into the bar to where he ordered a beer. He didn’t drink much, but he knew that he needed something to take off the edge.
He slowly drank the beer and thought about the way the previous day ended. As he thought about it, he found his mind drifting to her scent, the way her body felt against his, the way her breath felt against his skin, and the way that he felt when he was with her. He took a drink of his beer and reached for his phone.
He searched for her cellphone number and then called it. It was a recording that came on. “We’re sorry, the number you are trying to reach has been disconnected or changed.” He disconnected the call and frowned, dialing it again and receiving the same message.
He put his phone away and took another drink, before throwing a tip of the tip jar and leaving the bar. He knew that he needed to tell her the truth, but he wouldn’t be able to reach her if her number had changed. As he was walking back to his car, his eyes looked up and he saw Marisa and a man entering a hotel.
Her arm was linked through his and they were laughing. He paused, staring up at the hotel. It all made sense…Marisa was seeing someone else.
***
Marisa was getting good at avoiding him. She knew that the key was to not make eye contact and so far it was working. However, when she came back from lunch and found a note that there was a meeting with Troy Houser, she knew that that was coming to an end. At two o’clock, she headed to the boardroom. He looked up, as she entered. Then he looked back down at the notes.
“Am I just taking notes?” She asked, sitting down in a chair.
“That would be fine,” he mumbled. It appeared that they were both avoiding each other. She flipped her notebook open to the page after her previous notes. “If you have anything to add, you can throw it in.”
She gawked at him, unsure what to say. “Well, the last time we even really talked about this case was that night I showed you the picture.
That was about a week ago. Any new developments?”
He shrugged, “Just wing it.” The way he was being casual, surprised her. She couldn’t believe she upset him that much.
She nodded, looking down at her notebook. Wh
en Troy walked into the room, she felt nervous. She tried to smile as he took a seat. “Mr. Houser, thank you for coming back in. We have a couple of questions. For starters, can you explain this?” He pushed the picture in front of Troy.
He looked at it and then looked up.
“Yeah, that’s my ex and her boyfriend. That was taken while we were still married.”
Marisa watched Jeffrey as he grabbed a marker and walked over to the picture, circling the spot where he was standing. “What about this?”
Troy looked down at the picture and his face turned red. “Uh…”
“You were spying on her yourself, you found her with this guy, and you became jealous. Is this all correct?”