Authors: Jennifer Labelle
“I just did what, Jenna?”
“You said you were sorry if you hurt me. Well, you just did.” She picked up the phone to dial a cab and then slammed the door behind her as she walked into the night.
She could see his silhouette in the doorway, and hear him call out to her. “Jenna, wait. Jenna, please—shite, feck.”
She walked towards his parents place and watched as he banged his head against the doorway and closed the door behind him when he went back in. She didn’t want to go very far. God only knows what kind of creatures were lurking around at night.
Standing at the end of the driveway, she hoped that she was out of sight in this darkness to either house.
She sat in the dirt, rested her hands loosely over her knees, and just looked straight up admiring the stars. God, it was beautiful and so peaceful here. She admired the beauty, wishing that she had a camera. You couldn’t get this view in the city and the quiet; you definitely couldn’t get the quiet in New York. She sighed, wondering how her life got so screwed up. She missed Jayden, Tyler was gone for good, Sam was going through enough stress of her own, her parents were far away, and she’d gone and screwed it up with Brady.
From the corner of her eye she could see Brady’s door open again. He was fully dressed and headed towards his car.
Damn where is that taxi?
She leaned further into the bushes, hoping he wouldn’t see her, and watched his tail lights fade as he drove by. She was in the clear to come out, when her taxi finally came, but then what?
* * * *
Camping out in her hotel room for the last two days had gone unnoticed. No word from Brady, and no Sam up until then.
“
Jenna open up; it’s Sam,” she called, banging on her door.
“You look like shit,” she said as soon as Jenna opened the door.
“How very flattering, Sam. Why thank you for the comment, and if you must know I feel like shit, so I think I’m entitled to look like it too, considering I’ve been here for two days and nobody’s cared to notice,” she snapped, slamming the door as soon as Sam entered.
“Two days?”
Jenna nodded about to break down again. God, she hadn’t cried this much since the night they decided to take this trip. It didn’t feel very good.
“
I’m sorry, Jenna. I just assumed you were with Brady. The only reason I knew you were here was because Brady asked how you were when he came to pick up Caleb to head to the pub.”
All Sam had to do was mention Brady, and Jenna started bawling like a blubbering idiot.
“
And what did you say?” She sniffed away the snot that was trying to leak from her nose and wiped her eyes.
“Nothing. What could I say? I told him I hadn’t seen you in a few days and thought you were with him. He looked like he felt guilty, and then I knew something was up. I’m sorry, Jenna. What did he do? Do you want to talk about it?”
“No,” she said then changed her mind. “Yes. I finally opened up Sam, and he threw it back in my face. We were great together, and I screwed it up.”
“Aw, Jenna, it can’t be that bad, hun. Tell me about it.”
“
We spent the evening at his parents and had a lovely time. Anyway they asked me about Tyler, and I got caught off guard, felt embarrassed, so I excused myself and then had a wonderful heart to heart with his mother when she followed me. We went back to his place after our visit, and he was genuinely concerned about me. Fearing that his mother might have upset me, and then I don’t know, I acted on impulse. While making love I told him I loved him, and he couldn’t return the sentiment. Instead, he tried to ignore it and then threw it back in my face with a comment that I seemed to love a lot of things. I’m such an idiot; I wasn’t thinking.”
“Aw, Jenna, I know it must have been hard for you, and I’m sorry that it didn’t turn out as you’d hoped. Brady’s a shit for handling it the way that he did, and you should have come to me, instead of cooping yourself up like this.”
Now that is an understatement.
“It never does, Sam, it never does. Besides, I figured that you were busy with Caleb, and didn’t want to disturb you.”
“Would it make you feel better to hear some good news?”
Jenna smiled. “Good news, of course.”
“Well, it was a false alarm,” she announced, beaming with happiness. “I swear I’ve never been so happy to have a period in my whole life. And Caleb, that sweet fool, he proposed anyway.”
“Oh, Sam,
that’s wonderful. Wait. What?” Jenna did a double take. “He proposed?”
“Yes and I’m a fool too, for accepting. Oh, Jenna, I love him, and when he asked, I couldn’t help but accept. Just because we’re engaged doesn’t mean we have to rush the wedding, right? He’s going to go back home with me for a bit, and then maybe we’ll come back and settle here.”
Jenna began to cry again and couldn’t help but feel selfish. She wanted to say, great, now not only am I not lovable, but I’m about to lose my best friend too. Instead she said, “That’s great, Sam. I’m so happy for you.”
“Aw, come on, Jenna,” Sam said, giving her a hug. “It’s time to socialize among the living again. Come on now, wipe those tears, go get a shower, doll yourself up, and get ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“We’re going out, silly. I have some celebrating to do, and you, my dear friend, look like you could use a drink.”
For the first time in days Jenna looked presentable. She had her hair done, a bit of makeup on, and she even agreed to wear the black halter top and slim fitting hip-hugger jeans Sam had picked out.
“
See, now you’re beautiful.” Sam pushed her towards the mirror to have one more look.
Her dark hair was loose, the layers accentuating her heart-shaped face. Her full lips were pouty, and her green eyes were glossy from the crying she’d done earlier. Thank God, they weren’t as puffy as they once had been. Jenna rolled her eyes and laughed. Once ready, she actually looked forward to wherever it was they were going.
“
Bring on the alcohol. I can use it.”
“I’ll bet.” Sam ushered her out of the hotel room. “Tonight is for celebrating good times, my engagement, of course, and to you not wasting away in that room. Lord knows you’ve done enough of that.”
“To not wasting away,” Jenna seconded.
Sam seemed to be on a mission and there was no stopping her.
“Whelan’s, Sam? You did this on purpose,” Jenna hissed. “You know that Brady’s in there, and that I haven’t seen him in days. Hell, Sam, he probably doesn’t even want to see me. Otherwise I would have heard from him by now.”
“Nonsense, Jenna, let’s go.” She tried moving her forward, but Jenna wouldn’t budge.
“No way,” she argued. “And I’m not impressed, by the way. I thought we were supposed to be celebrating.”
“We are. Why would I want to celebrate anywhere but where my fiancé is? Come on. It’s busy in there; you may not even see him.” Jenna didn’t move. “Okay, fine. I can see it’s time for some tough love. Here it is. I’m going in, Jenna, with or without you. You can stand out here and pout, or you can come in and celebrate.”
Jenna watched Sam carefully, thinking about what she’d said.
“
Okay, here I go.” Sam began to walk forward but stopped. “You’re my best friend, Jenna, and you’re ruining this for me.”
“Fine!” Jenna snapped, walking ahead of her.
She gave in. Whether Brady wanted her there or not, she was there for Sam and Caleb tonight. So let the good times roll. The place was packed. At least she had comfort in that.
“
I need a drink,” Jenna shouted over the band and didn’t wait for Sam to answer before heading to the bar. She lost Sam. After downing a few shots at the bar and grabbing a bottle of Guinness to go, Sam was gone. Jenna moved around the pub to try to look for her but found Brady instead.
He hadn’t noticed her from where she stood, so she admired the graceful way he mingled around the room.
“Careful, love, he gets that all the time.”
Huh, what the hell?
Turning around, Jenna recognized the older woman from the first night she came to Whelan’s. She’d brought Sam and Jenna their complimentary drinks that night. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
She laughed, giving Jenna an approving look. “Ye’r lookin’ at Brady, aren’t ye? He’s quite the catch, ye know. I’m not even sure why he bothers with this place. The boy probably doesn’t have to work a day in his life. His family, they’re well off, but he’s probably here for the women.”
She rambled on, surprising Jenna. “If I were a few years younger…” She let her sentence trail off and gave a cat call, and Jenna laughed.
“
But ye have to get in line,” she continued. “There are a lot of locals that have been tryin’ to snag him for years.”
She shrugged, and Jenna blushed. The idea of a bunch of other women doing anything to Brady made her want to jump out of her skin.
“My name is Jenna. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She extended her hand. She liked the spunk in this sweet, older woman.
Taking her offered hand, she introduced herself. “I’m Molly, love. It’s nice to meet ye too.”
Before they could finish the interesting conversation, Brady was on stage trying to get everyone’s attention. “Can I get yer attention? I’ve got an announcement to make so shut yer holes.” There were a few snickers, but everyone quieted down. He held up a drink, “So tonight I found out somethin’ pretty special. My best friend and brother Caleb has decided to settle down. Ye all know Caleb, don’t ye?” There were cat calls and whistles, and Jenna laughed. Caleb and Sam were on stage, so she moved closer. “Well, turns out that this woman, my cousin, has finally tamed the beast.” Brady roared pointing his bottle of beer towards Sam. “And they’re gettin’ married, so please join me in their celebration as we all offer our congratulations to the happy couple.” He raised his bottle, downing the rest, and looked out into the audience as Sam and Caleb sealed the announcement with a kiss.
Their eyes locked as soon as he saw her and held as he made his way off the stage. Everybody else in the room had disappeared, and it was only the two of them momentarily. That fantasy came to a screeching halt when Brady got sidetracked by a voluptuous redhead. She had curves, and her very large breasts began to rub up against him. He broke eye contact to get rid of her, but as soon as he turned, Red was on him like a bitch in heat.
Jenna had moved forward to meet him halfway, stopping when the redhead threw herself at him. Unfortunately she was also within hearing range.
“
Brady, I missed ye today.” she squeaked annoyingly. “I never did get a chance to thank ye for the other night.”
Before Brady could answer, she kissed him, a full open mouthed, sloppy spit swap type of kiss. Jenna dropped her beer in shock as Brady turned to face her.
“
Jenna.” He reached out to grab her, but she backed away.
“
No.”
“Jenna, wait.”
He pushed the redhead away to chase after her. The exit was in the other direction, and Brady was catching up, so she ran into the ladies room.
Damn, she couldn’t wait in there all night and tried to figure out a way to get past him unnoticed. Just as she hoped he wouldn’t follow her, she’d heard him.
“
Everybody out,” he yelled. “This jacks will be outta service until I say so.”
“Well, where we supposed to piss then?” a few of the waiting women muttered crossly.
“Go use the other, there’s no line in there.” He locked the door to ensure privacy, and she was trapped with no other choice but to listen to him.