Free November Surprise by Laurel Osterkamp Page B

fists.
    “Sorry…” she whispers to me on her way out. “I was having a
bad night. I’ll call you?”
    I clench my lips together but give her a slight nod—just
enough encouragement to let her know we’ll get past this.
    “Nice meeting you, Jack.”
    She exits and the door clicks shut. Jack and I are left
alone.
    “What’s going on?” I demand.
    He stammers. “It’s not… you wouldn’t… you have no right to
yell at me like that.”
    “That’s not an answer.”
    “It’s as much as you’re getting from me tonight.”
    Jack is still sitting on the couch, the collar of his shirt
stretched out and his hair tousled. If he and Sharon were doing anything more
nefarious than talking, he’s certainly not going to confide in me now. Somehow
he looks even more vulnerable and innocent than usual.
    “Whatever it is you’re accusing me of, don’t tell Petra,
okay?”
    “Jack…” How could he think I would ever betray him like
that? It must be his fear talking. “Of course I won’t tell her. Let’s get some
sleep. We’ll talk in the morning, okay?”
    He agrees and I retreat back to
my bed, where I toss and turn most of the night.
    The next morning Jack looks like he tossed and turned as
well. When I’m up and making coffee he straggles into the kitchen to join me.
He rubs his eyes and his head, and sits down at my breakfast nook.
    “You don’t need to give me any sort of a lecture, okay? It’s
really not necessary. I already feel like crap.”
    Standing with my back pressed against my kitchen counter, I
regard him. The distance between us feels much larger than the ten feet or so
that’s separating us.
    “Jack,” I say, trying hard not to let the sound of judgment
invade my tone, “I wasn’t going to lecture you. I just want to understand. I
mean, I’m worried about you. Is your marriage in trouble, or something?”
    He hangs his head. “I don’t think so…just being here, seeing
your life – it made me realize what I’m missing. Your life is like an
episode of Friends —”
    “Not quite,” I interject. “Nobody I know, including myself,
is nearly that good looking. And Monica and Rachel’s apartment is a lot nicer…”
    Jack interrupts me back. “It’s a lot closer than what I
have. Sometimes I wonder if I just skipped over my youth.”
    I think back to Jack’s wedding day. That was when my secret
super-crush on Monty began. He had asked me to dance and later lured me back to
his hotel room. I totally acted on impulse by saying yes; it was a young and
frivolous thing to do. Meanwhile, Jack made the biggest commitment of his life.
Monty had expressed his doubts about Jack’s marriage that evening, partly
because Petra was the only woman Jack had ever slept with.
    “Of course they’re happy now,” Monty had said. “I just hope
they’ll be happy years from now, and they won’t regret settling down before
they’ve had a chance to live a little.”
    At the time I thought Monty was just being a cynical yet
protective older brother. Now I wonder if he was right.
    I sit across from Jack at the breakfast nook. “The grass is
always greener, you know?” He nods his head again, but I’m not convinced he
agrees. “I’m looking for what you already have.”
    “But maybe finding it is half the fun,” he says. “Getting
what you want too easily presents its own set of hazards.”
    “I suppose,” I tell him. “But no harm, no foul, right?
You’ll get past this, okay?” I grab his hand and give it a squeeze. He gives me
a half smile, and we sit in sleepy silence for a while.
    After some time, I say, “I’m sorry I freaked out on you. I
should have given you the benefit of the doubt.”
    He turns his head towards mine. “Don’t worry about it.”
    “Really? I’m forgiven, just like that?”
    “Sure. Why not?”
    I feel my anxiety rising again and I try to gulp it down.
“What if I’m not as good a person as you think I am?”
    He leans into me, and bumps his shoulder into