Drake's Rock

by Alex Riordan

  “Oh, she’s in the bedroom, packing some of her things,” Jessie answered handing the box over.

  “Well,” Alex said, “Give her a hug and a kiss for me and tell her I said it was nice to meet her.” She leaned over and hugged Jessie, giving her a peck on the cheek, as she did. “Bye, Jessie.”

  Jessie, not wanting to encourage the brunette any further, judiciously pushed her back. Shaking her head, she said, “Alex, I’ll tell her what you said. But you shouldn’t…”

  “Sorry, Jessie,” the brunette said quietly. “Old habits.” She shrugged.

  The same moment that Alex hugged Jessie, Stephanie walked into the living room. From her angle, it was hard to see that Jessie had pushed Alex away. At first glance, it really looked like Alex had noticed her and pulled away from Jessie.

  “Hey, Stephanie,” Alex said, backing away from Jessie and affecting a nonchalance she didn’t really feel. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine, Alex. How are you?” Stephanie answered, her voice cold and emotionless. Not waiting for an answer, she turned to Jessie. “Jessie, when you’re done, could I speak to you?”

  Jessie, noticing the tone of the redhead’s voice, and the look on her face, swallowed hard. Feeling her heart drop into her stomach, she fervently prayed that Stephanie wasn’t too angry over seeing that. After all, it hadn’t been anything but a friendly peck on the cheek. Turning her attention back to Alex, she said, “Alex, take care…and thanks for coming by to pick up your stuff.”

  “Sure, Jessie. Thanks for hanging on to it for me.” Looking past the brunette to Stephanie, she said, “Bye Stephanie. It’s been good meeting you. Have a safe trip home.” When she received nothing but a curt nod, she turned and walked out the front door, not stopping until she made it to her car. Finally behind the wheel, she breathed a sigh of relief. Man! There was so much tension in that room, even she could feel it. Starting the engine and pulling away, she headed home. As she left, she couldn’t help but think that she didn’t want to be Jessie, right now. She realized she’d probably caused a problem, but she hadn’t meant to. She really hadn’t. Jessie had reminded her about the box and told her she could come by and pick it up, so she didn’t think it would be an issue. Okay, so she shouldn’t have kissed her…but it was just an innocent peck on the cheek. And, Jessie had pushed her away.

  Once Alex was out the door, Jessie turned to look at Stephanie. Closing her eyes and licking her lips, she steeled her nerves, and said, “Steph…”

  But Stephanie wasn’t interested in anything Jessie had to say at the moment. Cutting the brunette off, she said angrily, “Don’t even bother, Jessie. What…? You couldn’t even wait for me to leave before you invited her over?”

  “What!” Jessie responded, her eyebrows rising toward her hairline. “Stephanie…that’s not fair. I told you she might drop by and pick up her stuff,” Jessie said, getting irritated. She had hoped that leaving the redhead alone for a while would help improve her mood, but it was looking like she’d been wrong.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that ‘picking up her things’ included kissing you,” Stephanie replied, the sarcasm in her voice unmistakable.

  “Steph…I didn’t…that wasn’t…” Jessie tried to defend herself, but it was no use. Stephanie had already made up her mind. Getting pissed off herself, she finally snapped back. “Fine! If you’re not going to listen to what I have to say, why are you even bothering to say anything to me at all?”

  “I thought you might want to explain to me what that was all about?” the redhead replied. “But I guess you’d rather stand there and deny it happened.”

  “What ‘what’ was all about? Nothing happened, Steph,” Jessie said, trying to remain calm in the face of what she knew was going to be an argument.

  “You call kissing Alex nothing?” Stephanie hissed, her eyebrow arched.

  “No, not if I had actually done it, but I didn’t.” Stephanie huffed at Jessie’s answer and turned to walk back toward the bedroom. “Don’t walk away from me! Steph, how can you believe I’d do that? I haven’t been with anyone since I started seeing you and you know it! How could you even think I would?”

  Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Jessie…just leave it alone.”

  “No! I won’t leave it alone. You said you trust me, but you sure jumped to conclusions fast enough!” Jessie stomped into the bedroom behind her. Grabbing the redhead by the arm, she spun her around. “Look at me!”

  Stephanie didn’t want to look at her. Not right now. If she did, she knew she’d break down and start crying. Still, she forced herself to look at Jessie anyway. “I did trust you. But now…”

  “So maybe we should what…throw the last two months away? Pretend it was nothing but a good time?” Jessie couldn’t believe this was happening. “If you were going to act this way, why did you even bother? You knew how hard it was for me to open up to you…to tell you that I love you. You knew…how Bobby treated me. Do you really think I’d treat you like that? When I know how much it hurts?”

  Instead of answering, Stephanie noticed the keys to Jessie’s car. Suddenly feeling an urgent need to get out of the house, she asked, “Can I take your car?”

  “What? Stephanie…we need to talk. I don’t want to leave things like this.” Jessie was lost. She couldn’t believe they were arguing about Alex. For crying out loud, she’d only stopped by to pick up her things! Okay, the kiss goodbye shouldn’t have happened, but she’d pushed Alex away! There really was no reason for Steph to get so upset.

  Stephanie rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw. “Jess…I need to get out of here for a while. Please…if you won’t let me borrow the car, I’ll call Theresa to come get me.”

  Faced with the prospect of the blond showing up for their argument, she agreed. “Of course you can borrow the car, Steph.” She really didn’t want to get Theresa involved in this. Somehow, it would end up being all her fault, and she knew it. As Stephanie grabbed the keys and turned to leave, Jessie said, “Please be careful, Steph.”

  Stephanie ignored the plea as she brushed past, heading for the front door. Grabbing her purse, she hurried out to the driveway. Unlocking the car door with the electronic key, she jumped in when the door clicked and slammed it closed behind her. Dropping her head to the steering wheel, she started to cry.

  When she was finally able to get her emotions under control, she started the car. Backing out of the driveway, she hesitated before deciding on a direction. Not sure where she was heading exactly, she just drove. Eventually, deciding on a destination, she plugged an address into the GPS and headed for Alex Fagin’s house. She didn’t know why…but she really needed to talk to Alex. Maybe it wasn’t the brightest thing she’d ever done, but there was just something driving her to talk to the brunette who had captured Jessie’s attention before she’d come along.

  * * * *

  As Stephanie walked out the front door, slamming it behind her, Jessie grabbed a book sitting on the dresser and threw it across the room. Screaming at the top of her lungs, “Fuuuuck!” she turned around and kicked at the wall, knocking a hole in the drywall.

  God, what else could go wrong? She wondered, as she stood staring at the damage she’d caused. She found that she couldn’t move, after that. Stuck in place, immobilized with shock or fear, she wasn’t sure. Eventually, she sank to her knees and sobbed, calling Stephanie’s name to the empty house. Why wouldn’t she believe her? She hadn’t done anything wrong, had she? She ran back over everything that had happened over the last few weeks. No, nothing stood out as something that would upset Stephanie so much, or cause her to doubt Jessie’s love for her. They’d both been upset all day and she knew it was the prospect of her leaving Monday morning that was driving this whole mess.

  After a while, her legs numb from sitting on her knees for so long, she managed to move again. Standing up and working her legs to get the blood flowing again, she headed out to the kitchen. For some reason, a bottle of Vodka sounded like the best thing in th
e world, right now.

  At first, she just had a shot, but one shot became two, and two became three…Until finally, the entire bottle was gone. Hours later, she woke up on the floor of the bathroom, covered in puke and smelling like she’d spent the night in a New Orleans whore house. Managing to drag herself up into a crawling position, she forced herself to move into the bedroom. The clock on the table and the sun attempting to break through her curtain, told her it was seven thirty in the morning. Noticing the empty bed and the bedroom still in the same disarray she’d left it in last night, she realized something. Stephanie had apparently never made it back home last night. Or she didn’t believe that she had. At the very least, Stephanie wouldn’t have let her lay in the bathroom all night in that mess. Or at least Jessie didn’t think she would…

  * * * *

  When Stephanie arrived at Alex Fagin’s house, she sat in the car for a few minutes, mustering her courage. Finally getting her flailing emotions under control, she got out of the car and walked up to the front door. Alex’s house was a nice, two story brick situated in a middle class neighborhood much like Jessie’s. Ringing the bell, she waited for Alex to answer.

  It only took a minute for the brunette to come to the door. When she opened it, she didn’t seem surprised to see Stephanie standing on her front porch. Pushing the door wider in invitation, she closed it as soon as Stephanie walked through.

  “Stephanie…” Alex said, shutting the door behind the redhead. “I’m sorry, if I caused a problem between you and Jessie. I swear…”

  Stephanie shook her head and said gently, “You don’t need to apologize, Alex. I should be apologizing to you.”

  “What?” Alex asked, confused. “Stephanie, I should never have…”

  “Alex, please…” Stephanie closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she asked, “Could we sit down and talk? If you don’t mind, that is?”

  “Okaaaay…sure,” Alex answered, still not clear on why Stephanie was here. “Come on in.” As the actress followed her into the living room and took a seat on the couch, she asked, “Can I get you something to drink? A Diet Coke…beer…anything?”

  Stephanie shook her head. “No, thanks. Please Alex, I just came by to…” she rolled her eyes. “I don’t even know why I’m here, really. As odd as it sounds, I needed to talk to someone, and I thought of you.”

  “Oh. Well, okay,” the brunette said, taking a seat in the recliner across from her and pulling her legs up under her. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

  “Jessie,” Stephanie answered.

  Immediately, Alex began, “Stephanie, I swear…I’m not after Jessie. She’s made it clear that she's with you, now, and I’m happy for the two of you. Really. Besides, she never really loved me or anything.” The tone of her voice was sad, when she said it, and Stephanie didn’t miss the desire hidden underneath.

  “How long have you been in love with her?” she asked, surprising Alex with the question.

  Alex snapped her head up to look at her. “Stephanie…I’m not…”

  The kindness in Stephanie’s eyes took away any sting that Alex may have felt when the redhead said, “Yes, you are, Alex. I knew it the first time I saw you with her. But you never told her. Can I ask you why?”

  Alex snorted and rolled her eyes. Deciding that honesty was definitely the way to go, she didn’t even try to deny it. She’d denied it to herself long enough as it was. “It wouldn’t have done any good, Stephanie. I mean, you have met Jessie, haven’t you? You know how she is. She never felt that way about me, anyway. I was just…convenient.” She bit down on the last word, making it come out slightly more bitter sounding than she’d meant. But, Stephanie had asked, and she wouldn’t lie to her.

  Stephanie felt bad for Alex. She really did. “I’m so sorry, Alex. It must have really hurt, seeing her with me these last few weeks. Even worse…she was using you before she and I got together.”

  Alex shrugged. “Jessie and I have been using each other for a while, Stephanie. I knew she was in love with someone else, when she started seeing me all the time.”

  “Then why did you sleep with her when you knew she wanted someone else?” Stephanie really was trying to understand.

  Shrugging again and flipping her hair back over her shoulder with one hand, she said, “I don’t know. I guess I was just grateful that she’d called. At least I wasn’t lonely. Maybe…maybe I hoped nothing would ever come of her feelings for you and she’d finally realize that I was there.” Her words drifted off, growing quiet. She knew she sounded pathetic, but she just didn’t care. It had hurt when Jessie started dating Stephanie, but she’d known all along that Jessie didn’t love her. She’d told her so that morning in the recording studio. And, at the time, she’d thought it was okay. But that was because she hadn’t believed that Jessie and Stephanie would ever get together. Now? Well, it was too late, now.

  She looked at Stephanie, sitting there, trying to understand what was happening. The actress looked so lost and sad, she felt bad for her. Wanting to make her feel better, she said, “Stephanie…Jessie loves you.”

  “How can you be sure of that, Alex?” she asked, her voice breaking slightly.

  Sighing, Alex looked down and then back up at the other woman. Not one to get embarrassed over things like this, she nevertheless felt her face redden. “Stephanie…it wasn’t my name Jessie called out when we…you know…were…” her voice trailed off, unable to continue, and her head dropped down to stare at the floor.

  Stephanie closed her eyes when she heard that. The admission had cost Alex, and she knew it. She couldn’t even begin to understand how badly that must have hurt the brunette sitting in front of her. To have to admit that to her, the woman whose name Jessie had been calling, of all people. And, once again, she felt her heart go out to her. Alex had given Jessie everything. She had known that Jessie was in love with someone else, and she’d still given her everything. “God, Alex…I am so, so sorry.”

  Alex shook her head, attempting to act like it was no big deal. Sniffing and wiping at her eyes, she said, “It’s all right. I told you, I knew she didn’t love me. It’s okay.”

  Stephanie shook her head and got up to move over in front of the brunette. Dropping to her knees, she looked up into red rimmed eyes. “No, it’s not okay, Alex. You loved her and she used you. I’m so sorry.” Inside, she wasn’t sure if she should be mad at Jessie or not. How could Jessie be so oblivious? She obviously didn’t know that Alex was in love with her. Jessie had told her as much the first night she’d slept at her house.

  Having Stephanie so close, and being so kind to her, wasn’t what Alex had expected. When the redhead had shown up at her door, she’d really expected a big argument. But this? She’d never expected this. Lifting her head slightly and sniffing again, she smiled sadly at the redhead. “She loves you, and she would never hurt you, Stephanie. Not on purpose. She’d never hurt anyone on purpose. That’s just not Jessie. Especially after everything that happened with Bobby. She was sleeping with me because she really believed we were just…you know…for lack of a better term…fuck buddies. Neither of us was supposed to fall for the other. But I broke the rules, and it’s my fault, not hers.”

  “You still should have told her, Alex. She deserves to know how you feel,” Stephanie insisted.

  “It wouldn’t change anything, Stephanie,” Alex said quietly. “She’s so head over heels for you…she always has been, too. Since she saw your first movie. Don’t you know? You’re her dream come true?”

  For some reason, the whispered words, a confession of sorts, made Stephanie cry. Tears streaming down her face, she shook her head. “I had no idea. She never told me that.”

  Alex snorted. “That’s typical of Jessie. She never says more than she needs to. But she did say she loved you? She used the actual words?”

  Stephanie nodded. “She did.”

  “Then she means it, Stephanie,” Alex said, trying to impress upon the redhead how significant it was. �
��Jessie never says anything she doesn’t mean. Especially when it comes to the way she feels.”

  Stephanie felt better, hearing that, and she admired the strength Alex had. She felt so bad for the brunette, though. Alex loved Jessie so much she was willing to let her go so that she could be happy. She wasn’t so sure that she’d be able to do the same, and she said as much.

  “You’ll never have to, Stephanie,” Alex said quietly. “Jessie’s not going to let you go. Not now that she’s finally found you.” She saw the protest about to spill from the redhead’s mouth and said, “Believe me…she’ll never get tired of you or want to leave you for someone else. You’re the one.”

  “And you’re sure of this because…?”

  Alex rolled her eyes. “Stephanie…when you’ve been…as intimate, with someone as Jessie and I have been in the past, you just know.”