Someone Else's Fairytale (33 page)

His response was, “What do u mean?”

“U guys getting 2gether?”

“What???”

“So then,” said Jason, “here I am trying to eat dinner and Jen's stopped texting me and I just don't know what to think.” He grinned at me and licked the back of the ice cream spoon we were sharing. “Then I walked you out to your car, and you were asking me, 'Are your friends usually that charming?'”

“I didn't say that.”

“That's what I heard. I heard you sigh wistfully, too.”

“You're losing it.”

“I was, I totally was. Then you hugged me and... yeah.”

“Clung to you like a pathetic fan.”

“You held me. For, like, a whole fraction of a microsecond.”

“More like a million years.”

“Now
you're
losing it.”

“It was long enough for you to notice.”

“Okay, yeah, it was. But I was desperate. So I went back into the restaurant and barged right into the kitchen and pinned Jen down. I asked her about the texts and she just said, 'I thought maybe Chloe changed her mind.' And I said, 'What? Really?' And she said, 'Why would she go out to dinner with you looking like that? She doesn't look like she wants to be friends.'”

I blushed.

“And I said, 'I think she's flirting with Don.'”

“What?” I shook my head. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, well Jen said you weren't like that. She said, 'Go over to her place now, before she gives up on you.' So I did, even though I expected you to laugh at me.” He leaned in and nuzzled my cheek.

I traced an idle pattern on his chest with my finger. I wished this moment would go on forever. Right now, things felt perfect. We were in love, we were in each others arms, we could talk and kiss and hold each other. I wondered how long it would take for it all to become complicated.

“Everything okay?” Jason asked.

“Everything's more than okay.”

“You seem preoccupied.”

“Just thinking.”

“About?” He dabbed ice cream onto my nose and when I pulled away from that, he used the opportunity to kiss it off. Then he put the ice cream and spoon down, slipped both arms around me, and kissed me again.

Okay, I thought. Here we are, on the couch. We've had our dramatic reunion. What's he going to try next? Do I need to start the Talk now? But he was the one who pulled back. “Rules aren't changing back, are they?” he asked.

“No.”

“Good, because this still hasn't sunk in yet for me. I'd like it to last at least a little while longer.”

“Me too.”

“Make that a long while.” He stroked my hair.

“I hope we can make that work.”

“You hope?”

“There's a lot you don't know about me.”

“Is it worse than the stack of articles you know about me?”

“Well, no, but-”

“Hey, if you can get over that, I think we'll be okay. I'm no hypocrite. Why? What's your deepest, darkest secret, that you're scared of?”

I leaned against him.

“You don't have to tell me. But you can, whatever it is.”

I'm a virgin, I thought. And you're not. You think you like me, but I'm not the kind of girl you want to date.

He reached down for the ice cream again and fed me another bite.

“I cheat at solitaire sometimes,” I said.

“Oh... whoa... maybe we should hold back on this whole honesty thing.” He chuckled.

“I'm sorry.”

“I love you. I mean that. I risked the wrath of Jen tonight, and I don't even care.”

“I owe her one,” I said.

“She likes you. I guess you helped Kyra?”

“Helped her with what?”

“I dunno. The girl doesn't talk to many people, but I guess she talks to you.”

“I talked to her once at work, for, like, five minutes.”

“More than Jen has, then. She's a confused kid.”

“Yeah, she is.”

“What did she say to you?”

“Not much. She doesn't feel like part of the family.”

“Well, yeah. She is, though.”

“She likes her drama class.”

“Oh really?”

“I told her you'd be interested to know that.”

“She hates me.”

“Well, she thought it was weird that I'd never shown you the bullet scar on my stomach. Even though your whole family knew we were just friends.”

“Right. Like I said, she's confused. She knows all my bad press and thinks I'm still like that, and more than one guy has seen... more than her stomach. She had a miscarriage when she was thirteen.” I felt a shudder go through him. “Kyle and Jen don't know what to do with her.”

“Thirteen is young, even for around here.”

“Yes it is. It's scary young. And now she's in love and talking about running away with this guy.”

“Poor Jen.”

“Yeah, exactly.” He finished off the last bite of ice cream and put the carton down on the coffee table, then reached down to grab something from under the couch. The magazine with his picture on the cover.

“Oh, yeah, that,” I said.

“Did you read it?” It fell open at the first page of his interview.

“Um... yeah.” Enough times to warp the spine of the magazine, I thought.

“I talked about you in it.”

“I thought you always lied.”

“Almost, but I slipped. I was vulnerable. It was two days after you told me it wasn't going to happen.” He frowned at the picture of himself. "They usually make you pose exactly how they want, but they used this picture when I was just, you know, looking how I felt. It was kind of embarrassing." He tossed the magazine onto the coffee table and put his arms back around me. "So how have you been? I haven't spoken to you in forever."

I woke up to the sound of Jason answering his phone. His voice was clear. He hadn't fallen asleep. I was lying next to him on my couch, my head pillowed on his chest. His arm was firm around my waist.

“Hello?” he said, softly.

“Where are you?” I heard Jen's tinny reply.

“At my girlfriend's.” He grinned.

“That better be Chloe, or I will kill you.”

“Of course it is.”

“What do you say?”

“You were right. I owe you one, mean bossy big sister by three minutes.”

“And did she hear you say girlfriend?”

I looked up so he'd see that I was awake.

“Yes. And did you hear me get slapped? No.”

“You are
lucky,
mister.”

“I know.”

“And you have a plane to catch at
six a.m.
”

“I know, I know. I'll come. Gimme a few minutes.”

“I'm sorry-”

“No, you're right. Again. Doesn't that make you feel good?”

“Guess we don't get to see Chloe again this trip...”

“Next time. 'Kay, bye.”

“Bye.”

Jason put his phone in his pocket and sat up. “I am really sorry.”

“How long did I sleep?” I smoothed my hair.

“I dunno. Look, this shoot's going to be seven weeks.”

“It's okay. You've been gone before.”

“This is different. Promise me the rules won't change back? We'll figure out sometime when you can come up and visit and-”

I kissed him, drawing it out long enough that I felt some of the tension go out of his shoulders. “I promise the rules won't change back.” He'd give up on me long before I got over him. I knew this for certain.

“I love you.” He gathered up the ice cream carton and the spoon.

“Love you, too. You don't have to do that,” I protested as he went to wash the spoon in the sink. I grabbed the carton and tossed it in the garbage.

Jason picked up his jacket from where he'd draped it over the couch, then paused to kiss me again before he left.

“C'mon, lie to him, he totally deserves it.” Jen whispered so forcefully that it came out like a hiss. I was at her parents' house with Kyra lounging on the couch nearby, Steve's kids running riot outside, and Jason's parents sitting across the table from me. Jen sat right next to me. It was just over a week since Jason had left for his shoot.

“You're busy all break?” said Jason over the phone.

“Some people got laid off at work,” I lied. “It's extra shifts for everybody.”

“You can't come at all, for the whole shoot,” said Jen.

I shook my head. “No,” I mouthed.

“Can you come for a long weekend in February, maybe?”

“Yeah, I can do that. I'm so sorry.”

“It's okay. Can't complain about your job when mine's got me up in
Vancouver
.”

“Look, I'll figure out my work situation as soon as possible and let you know.”

“Okay. I love you.” Normally, on Skype, this was when he would stroke the screen with his fingertips.

But this wasn't Skype so he couldn't see that I was sitting in front of his whole family. I took a deep breath. Yeah, this was embarrassing. “Love you, too.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

“He is
lucky,”
said Jen.

I put my phone away, not able to look his dad in the eye, but I got the impression both his parents were smiling at me. My face must've been beet red. It felt like my skin was burning up.

“Okay, so I booked flights for next Thursday to the following Tuesday,” said Jen.

“And Chloe,” said his mother. “We can cover hotel if you'd like?”

“I can cover the hotel,” I said. “I found a place not too far from his.”

“What my parents mean to say, is if you are getting your own room, they'll pay for it in Jason's hotel.”

I put my head in both my hands. “Yes, I will be in my own room.”

“We aren't judging,” said his mother, brightly. “You're both adults and-”

I cleared my throat. “Um... yeah.” Jason and I hadn't ever even been on a real date and this is where they thought the relationship was at?

Kyra rolled her eyes and I found myself exchanging a rueful smile with her. She burst out laughing.

“And Dad will be calling your room every night to check- just kidding,” said Jen. “Yeah, that was really not handled well, was it? Okay, so you need anything else for the trip?”

I shook my head.

“You've got a passport and all that?”
   

“Yeah, I do.” Thanks to that dig in
Mexico
, I'd gotten one years ago.