Page 29 of Separate Lives
“I surely will.” Leaving his chair, Johnny took the jacket he’d previously wrapped around the high-back then preceded Reece outside. On the threshold, he stopped and turned.
“Oh, by the way. In case you’re wondering, LeeHanne told me Jess is going back to Fairbanks next week,” he casually dropped, closely monitoring Reece’s reaction. Satisfied by what he saw, he turned and exited the office, leaving it to his friend to lock the door, and munch on that piece of hot news.
Johnny had known Reece for far too long to be fooled by his attempt to avoid talking about his plans for the weekend. The fact that he’d not once mentioned Tracy in the last five days, nor had she tried to contact him in any way he knew, had convinced Johnny that she might not be on the scene anymore. And this could only depend on one thing, or better yet, one person –Jessica. No other woman to memory had ever held such an encompassing grip on his friend.
Since that eventful evening, when LeeHanne had introduced them, a powerful attraction had sparked between Reece and Jess –an attraction Johnny was sure extended beyond mere physical completion, although his friend seemed unaware of this. But then, about a year ago, during one of their bashes –they loved hosting parties, something had happened between Reece and Jess, drastically altering their relationship. Whatever this was, he and LeeHanne were still in the dark. It was rather difficult to know the truth if both Reece and Jess flat refused to talk about it.
He and his wife had discussed the women’s lunch break at the sandwich bar earlier that week, but had come up with no logical explanation as to why Jess had stalled LeeHanne’s attempts to find out more, refusing to confide in her, only saying she would explain everything to her on a better occasion. His wife had told him Jess had looked forlorn, and her mind had clearly been on something else the whole time. Unfortunately, her speedy departure had robbed LeeHanne of the chance to find out more. In the beginning Jess’s brush off had angered her. But now Lee was seriously concerned about her friend. She’d never seen her in such a low state before.
The same thing could be said about Reece, whose behavior perfectly mirrored Jess’s.
But if she was a tomb, he was the tombstone, and there wasn’t much Johnny could do to change that, because it worked differently with guys. Men generally didn’t discuss such private matters like their feelings the way women did. It wasn’t good for their macho images. Since infancy, males were raised to play with cars and videogames, engage in physical activities, be competitive, and boast about their sexual exploits. Not all of them were like that, of course, but the majority were. That was why Johnny had tried to prod Reece, throwing a few bites his way, avoiding asking him directly what the matter was with Jess, but with poor results.
In the end, all Johnny and LeeHanne knew was that recently, both Reece and Jess had tried rather unsuccessfully to date someone else, and that apart from an isolated episode last year, when Jess had disappeared to Fairbanks and Reece had found her running a fever, the two had had no further contact until they came face to face, by pure accident, at their last party.
It was now the end of September, a year later, and nothing seemed to be moving forward between them. That was why, that same evening, after Johnny told his wife what had happened at the office with Reece, LeeHanne decided to spend thirty minutes of her romantic getaway weekend on the phone with Jess. Enough was enough, and she had about all she could take of this nonsense from those two proud elks. They were meant to be together, and by God –or in this case, by her, so they would.
* * *
“…SoI thought, why don’t I join you for a few days, and we can spend some time engaging in all sorts of girly activities? It has been ages since we did some bitching with our faces covered with mud and someone massaging us. What do you think?” LeeHanne probed.
“I don’t know if you can get a spa treatment in Fairbanks.” Jess stalled.
“I checked. We can.”
“Then I think it’s a great idea,” Jess rebuked with all the enthusiasm of someone forced to take a dip in an icy lake in December. They had been on the phone for about fifteen minutes before LeeHanne came out with the true reason behind the unexpected call. Jess knew that she and Johnny had arranged to spend a romantic weekend in Lake Tahoe. She also knew a romantic weekend didn’t include your best friend. So when she’d answered the phone seeing on the caller i.d. it was LeeHanne, Jess had immediately suspected this wasn’t a courtesy call. They’d spent thirteen of those fifteen minutes discussing how she was doing, how the Jenkins were enjoying their stay, what the weather was like, and how long Jess intended to remain in Fairbanks, before LeeHanne finally managed to get to the heart of the matter. Jess now wondered why it had taken Ms. Directness so long.
“You don’t sound excited about my idea,” LeeHanne was saying.
“I’m surprised, that’s all. I didn’t expect you guys would sacrifice several minutes of your romantic weekend to talk to me about something we could’ve discussed on Monday.”
“She doesn’t believe me. Johnny, you talk to her,” was all Jess heard coming from the other side of the phone.
“Jess, it’s me, Johnny. How are you doing?”
“Fine.”Hadn’t they gone through all that already?
“Great. Listen, I honestly wouldn’t mind it if Lee was to join you in Alaska for a few days. I know how much you girls like to bitch about hair, nails, fashion, shaggy bottoms,” he joked. Hearing LeeHanne squeal, Jess guessed Johnny had just given LeeHanne’s behind a playful pat.
“Behave Johnny Jenkins, or once I’m in Fairbanks, I might decide I won’t come back home to you,” LeeHanne chided in the background, lighthearted.
Jess heard a smacking kiss being given to some undisclosed part of LeeHanne’s anatomy before Johnny returned to the phone.
“Really, Jess, I’d like for Lee to come and join you out there. I’d feel better knowing there’s somebody else with you, since last time you went to Alaska, you ended up running a fever.”
Jess could’ve gladly done without that reminder, because it forced her memory to recall Reece and all that had passed between them. But she couldn’t deny Johnny’s logic. Maybe the company of her best friend was the balm she needed to ease her mind off her troubled love life. What’s more the Jenkins had always been fantastic hosts, constantly inviting Jess to barbecues or intimate dinners among friends at their house. Having LeeHanne stay with her for a few days was the least she could do to repay them for their friendship. Certainly, once they were together, LeeHanne would nudge her with questions about the state of her relationship with Reece until she wore her down, but Jess had enough days left before seeing her to come up with some sound, but not too detailed, explanation that would assuage her friend’s curiosity.
“When is she coming?” Jess asked with more enthusiasm tinting her voice.
“One sec. I’d pass her the phone.”
“I’ll call you back on Monday, because I’ve got to see how I can rearrange my schedule,” LeeHanne said, having overheard Jess. “Would eight p.m. be a convenient time to talk?”
“Mine or yours?”
“Mine.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later then.”