I'll Be Seeing You (19 page)

"Oh, my god, Matthew, that's where Laura and Peter are going."

"Well, I guess you know what I'm going to be doing tonight." She laughs, and I see disaster written all over this.

"Bailing Jessie out of jail?" she answers.

"Okay, let's just hope they don't run into each other. It's a big place, and we will be upstairs in the VIP lounge. Unfortunately, it overlooks the dance floor."

"And Laura is a dancer, too," she says. "Um … will … will you be dancing?"

"Aww, Joy, I would much rather cuddle and make love with you than do this," I assure her, closing my eyes imagining my girl enjoying herself beneath me. "You're the only one I want in my arms, so no, I only dance with you, baby."

"I would love that," she sighs. "I never knew how long two days really was."

"Isn't that the truth? Okay, I need to go," I say, sadly. "I’ll call you first thing tomorrow, all right?"

"Okay, I love you."

"I love you back, baby," I say before I disconnect our call. Sitting forward in my chair, I lay my head in my hands, running my fingers through my hair. It's been a while since I've been this tired.

After tying up the loose ends at the clinic, I head home for a refreshing shower and that short nap. Waking up thirty minutes later, I dress in a pair of fitted gray dress slacks and white button down shirt. I’m not looking forward to dealing with the women there tonight, and I plan to stay in the VIP lounge until I have to drag Jessie off Peter.

After a pleasant dinner at Dr. Clark's home, I arrive at Trinity to find Jessie already in the lounge, nursing a Sierra Nevada beer. Stopping at the bar, I order the same, and sit on the stool next to him. It's not long before the ladies come around.

"Hey, handsome," one of them purrs, rubbing up against me. "Care to dance?" Looking down at her, I see a young college student with too much lipstick, too much eyeliner and too much silicone. Both Jessie and I shake our heads no, refusing her offer. Showing my obvious disinterest, I look away from them and take a sip of my beer. Those girls have nothing on the treasure I have waiting for me at home and I’m grateful when they leave.

"Why didn't you dance, Jess?" I ask, looking over at him.

“Didn’t want to.”

"What's going on? You seem a little bit in the dumps. What's up?" I ask, looking around to see if Laura is here.

"I think I really fucked up with Laura. She won't even talk to me anymore, man," he says, sitting forward in his seat. "I call her, but she won't answer or return my calls."

"You know, Jess, I asked you to stay away from her and not hurt her," I remind him. "But you did anyway. She really liked you. You had a good thing with her, you know?" I pause to take another drink. "I told you she’s a good girl, and you messed up," I point out, watching him nod his head in agreement.

"Are you just going to drop it, or are you willing to fight for her?" His head snaps and looks my way.

"What do you mean by 'fight for her’?

"Well, she's on a date tonight," I tell him, and he jumps up off the stool.

"You’re fucking kidding me, right? She's on a date, and she told me she was busy with Black fucking Friday? What a lying little —"

"Tut … tut … tut, Jessie. Need I remind you who the little liar is here?" I say, reminding him that he used her.

"I know, I know," he says, sitting back down. "How can I get her back when she won't even talk to me, Matthew?"

"Well, did she invite you to Thanksgiving?"

"Yeah, but it was a pity invite."

"Perhaps you can use that time to work your charm, but mean it this time!" I hiss at him. "Don't you dare hit up on her if you don't mean it. If you just want a piece of ass, go get it from one of those girls at the bar, but leave Laura alone. She's marriage material, dude," I say, punching his arm. "But, I've got something to tell you, and you aren't going to like it."

"What?" he asks, his eyes as big as saucers when he looks directly at me.

"She's here tonight.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Jessie says, his eyes already scanning the large dance floor.

“If you want to even try to win her, you won't start a fight with the guy she's with. Walk up to her, tell her how beautiful she is, and leave it at that. Then, over the Thanksgiving weekend, instead of sleeping alone in the guest room, work on getting back into her heart and her bed, asshole. If you don't mean it, don't do it, man." I pat him on the back and look up to see that Jennifer and Robert have arrived.

I know Jessie’s found Laura by the way his eyes fix on one spot. He looks over at me and then leaves to go downstairs. Getting up, I lean against the railing to watch him head toward her. She and Peter make a handsome couple, and he’s all over her.

I continue to watch Jessie as he stops halfway down the stairway, then, as if she sensed him, slowly turns to find him staring at her. Holding his eyes for the longest time, or at least until Peter says something to her, she returns her attention to him. When she answers his question, she sneaks another quick peek at Jessie again. Following her gaze, I look for him, but he's gone.

After spending the next several minutes trying to find him, I’m about to give up when I spot his dark head weaving in and out of the crowd as he approaches the couple. He says something to Peter, and they shake hands.

Okay, that's good.

He leans in and whispers something into Laura's ear. When he turns to walk away, her eyes follow him and her mouth hangs open. I wonder what he said, because whatever it was, it worked.

After an hour of this loud banging music, I've had enough. Looking around for the other members of our party, they are either dancing, involved in conversation with scantily clad women or packing to leave themselves. As Jennifer and Robert say their goodbyes, they thank me for the hospitality, and mention that they will be in touch.

“Jess, I'm heading home. I haven't seen Joy for two days, and I've barely had time to speak to her."

"Yeah, I'm right behind you."

After saying our goodbyes to the New York crew, Jessie and I make our way outside.

"Hey, what did you say to Laura to make her mouth fall open?" I ask as we call for a cab.

"I told her that I was sorry … that I know I fucked up … that I was falling in love with her and I’m scared out of my mind," he says ruefully. When he confesses that, even my mouth falls open. I’m speechless as we leave the club.

I sure didn't expect that!

After I recover from the shock, I jump into a cab and head home. 

~.~

"He said what?” I shout loud enough for the neighbors to hear.

"Yep. He said he was falling in love with me. Oh, and that he's sorry," Laura adds, sarcasm dripping in her tone.

"Well, that's different, I guess. What did you say? What are you going to do?"

"I didn't say anything. I was shocked that he chose that moment to tell me though. You know, with me being on a date and all? He couldn't tell me that while he was calling out my name in ecstasy, could he?" Yep, that's sarcasm all right.

"So, how do you feel about all this?" I ask, wondering if Jessie is actually sincere or if it's a tactic to get back into her good graces … or her pants. I would like to think he's not that cruel … or stupid.

"I do have to say that it threw me for a loop and kind of fucked up the rest of my night with Peter, too. I was having such a good time. Oh, Joy, Peter's so handsome and nice. His eyes didn't leave me all night. Unlike someone else I know. It was refreshing."

"Well, this could add a new twist to Thanksgiving, eh? Speaking of which, I need to get the food list to Matthew. Can we finish that up now?" I ask as I get up to find the list we already started.

"Jessie did look really good, though. He had on this button down shirt that fit nice and snug across his chest. He has an awesome chest, Joy. His arms are huge too, so yeah, he looked pretty hot. We actually were very good together in the bedroom. Not too many men can keep up with me, if you know what I mean. He has the stamina going on." I let her ramble, knowing she is talking herself through this. It's what she does.

"Hey, how about you and Matthew? How’s that going?" Laura asks. We haven't discussed Matthew and me in a long time.

“Well, um, it's good," I say, blushing.

"What? You don't want to tell me?"

"It's not that, but you know …"

"No. What? Is it bad?" she asks. I hear her shift her seat to face me.

"No. It's really good actually. Everything you've helped me with has been perfect. We’re just learning about each other, and it gets better every day," I answer, knowing I'm blushing because my face feels like it's on fire.

"Every day, Joy? You and Matthew have sex every day?"

"When we are together, yes, and that’s just about every day except for these past two days while he's been with the people from New York. I'm starting to worry, Laura. I think there's something wrong with me. I have to have him all the time. It's like when he's not here, I want to rush to him and attack him senseless. It's like a physical need. Why is that? I'm a little worried."

"Oh, babe. You’re just a passionate woman. You should just enjoy it. Trust me I know Matthew is. He is a man after all. All men love sex … all the time … anytime … anywhere. Just enjoy it. It’s fun though, isn't it?"

"You have no idea what he does to me."

We sit back and laugh at how we both are in need of a good sexing right now. As if on cue, my phone announces that Matthew is calling. We both burst out laughing.

"I'm going to take this in my room. I'll be right back. I won't be long."

"Hey, baby," I answer, walking down the hall to my bedroom, shutting the door behind me.

"Hi, beautiful. I miss you." I can hear it in his voice; he needs me.

"You must be lying in bed." I giggle.

"You know me well. I wish you were here right now."

"You have no idea, Matthew. I can't wait until tonight."

"Why wait? Can’t I come over now?"

"Laura’s here,” I sigh. “I guess she ran into your friend last night."

"Yeah. He's pretty messed up right now. I guess since you're busy, I might run over and see if he wants to have breakfast. Can we meet up for lunch at least? I need to hold you, Joy,” he says, his voice turning to velvet as he whispers them.

"Me, too, Matthew, me, too. Why don't you come over around two o'clock and we’ll spend the rest of the weekend together? I’ll make us dinner," I suggest, my mind already thinking about quick snacks I can prepare that we can munch on.

Perfect. I'll swing by the store; do you need anything?"

After we discuss what we’ll need for a few days, we hang up, and I sit and dream about seeing him later. I shake my head and walk back out to the living room.

"Laura, are you still here?"

"Yeah. I'm here," she says sullenly.

"What's the matter?" I ask.

"I want what you and Matthew have. I thought it might be with Jessie but ... oh, Joy. I promised myself I wouldn't do this," she says before she bursts out crying.

"Oh, hon, come here. I'm so sorry. If it helps any, Matthew says that Jessie is really lost right now and isn't the same man these days. Maybe it isn’t that he’s falling in love with you, maybe he already has. Maybe he’s hurting, too," I say, trying to console her sad heart.

"I think you two need to sit down and talk at Thanksgiving, don't you think?" I suggest, rubbing my hand along her back.

"Yeah, maybe. I just don't want him telling me lies about how he loves me, and how his heart is broken just to get back in my pants and then do this shit all over again, you know?"

"Yeah, I know, sweetie. Would it hurt just to hear him out? Just to see if you believe he’s being open and forthright. It can't hurt, right?" I ask, resting my head on hers, listening to her whimper.

Damn you, Jessie.

"Yeah, I guess.”

"I don't think there's ever anything wrong with talking, Laura," I say, smiling at her.

"Yeah, I know you do. Okay, I’ll talk with him on Thanksgiving. I'll tell him the next time he calls," she says, letting out a spontaneous giggle.

"What's so funny?" I ask, curious as to why she was crying one minute then laughing the next.

"Oh, he calls all the time and leaves all these really stupid and ridiculously funny messages. They go from totally romantic to extremely comical. I've enjoyed them, actually."

"Okay, let's go have some breakfast somewhere, shall we? I'm starving," she says.

"Yeah, sure." Grabbing my jacket of the hook, I stop to show Conrad some love, then take Laura's arm before we walk out the door.

~.~

As soon as I get off the phone with Joy, I consider taking a long, relief-filled shower, when, unfortunately my phone rings.

"Hello, Jessie.”

"Hey. I was wondering if you wanted to meet up for breakfast?" I can hear the loneliness in his voice.

"Sure, I was just about to call you. Let me take a quick shower, and I'll meet you at the Sweet Iron in thirty minutes," I say, still planning to take that pleasure-filled shower.