Chapter 24

Christopher

I went into work to get some stuff done in my office, but it was hard to concentrate. I tried to start working out the choreography for the first episode of the show they would want me on, but I was being pulled in too many directions. Paperwork that was unfinished kept catching my attention and thoughts of meetings kept swirling around in my head. I moved my desk over to the wall and tried to create a creative space for me to work in, but the puke-colored walls were ruining my concentration.

And then there was Jessi. Permeating every thought I had.

No matter what I did, she was there. Seeing her after a week had been wonderful, but I wanted to ask her what had happened. I knew she was a mother and I knew she had a career, but there had been nothing. No returned call. No text message. No nothing to signal that she had been getting any of my calls.

For a spell there, I figured she was upset with me.

I rearranged my office again and knocked out some paperwork. Mrs. Cane had already called me three times that morning and I could tell I’d have to put a stop to that. She needed to get more organized or figure out how to use email on her phone. Because I couldn’t keep picking up the phone every hour for five-minute conversations about pointless bullshit.

They weren’t paying me yet to do anything, so they couldn’t monopolize my time like that.

The dancing for the first episode was going to be shot in two weeks. They also wanted choreography done for the opening credit run that would usher in the show every evening. I was going over the paperwork Mrs. Cane faxed over to me about the requirements for the choreography. What types of dances they wanted showcased and all the things I would need to be fluent in. It outlined how much I would get paid per episode for my work and how processing of payment would work. I had some good ideas. Really good ones, in fact.

But I felt stuck.

The movements in my head weren’t coming out of my body. I was tripping and falling into the wall. Rolling my ankle and coming down on my shoulder. I was going to kill myself and botch this entire job if I wasn’t careful.

I had to talk with Jessi.

I had to figure out what was going on with her before I could continue.

“Chris? You already done with work?”

“I’ve got some loose ends to tie up, but I’m having a rough creative day. I was wondering what you and Caleb were up to. How’s that tooth of his?” I asked.

“Kept me up most of the night, but thankfully I don’t have a job I’m running right now.”

“Would you be up for going to be park? I’ll bring coffee.”

“That actually doesn’t sound like a terrible idea. Go you.”

“Go me,” I said with a smile. “All right. I’ll swing by and pick you guys up.”

“You know my car works just fine. I can meet you there.”

“Yeah, well. You walked four miles to a lunch spot yesterday. Don’t get mad if I don’t take your word for it.”

“Then I guess I’ll see you soon. We’ll be ready. But we’ll have to put Caleb’s car seat base in your car.”

“Or I could drive your car with us in it to the park,” I said.

“So that’s why they pay you the big bucks.”

“I’ll see you soon,” I said, chuckling.

I pulled into Jessi’s apartment complex and saw her and Caleb standing outside. She had Caleb in this weird carrier-looking thing and she looked phenomenal. But hell, she looked phenomenal no matter where she went and no matter what she wore.

It was what happened when someone was a model.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Jessi said.

“I was in the neighborhood. Figured I’d stop by.”

“Wanna come get my car keys from me?” she asked. “Or am I going to be forced to walk to the park?”

“Nope. No walking to any parks. Come on. Let’s hop in your car.”

“So why are you really not working right now?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I know you said you were having a bad creative day, but why? Is something bothering you?”

“I’ve got some things on my mind, yes.”

“Wanna talk about them?” she asked.

“Do you want me to talk about them?” I asked.

“If you want to.”

“I just have a lot of questions that are going unanswered lately and I don’t know why.”

“Oh? What kinds of questions?”

I looked over at Jessi as we pulled out onto the road and I could see her getting nervous.

“Do you ever get the idea that someone’s hiding something from you?” I asked.

“Sometimes, yes,” she said.

“What do you do about it?” I asked.

“I usually confront the person. I can be confrontational when I need answers.”

“Do you just blurt it out? Or do you try to wiggle it into a conversation?”

“I do it in whichever way gets me answers the easiest. Why?” she asked.

She turned her head towards me and I felt my gut rolling. Did I do this here? With Caleb in the backseat? Was that appropriate, to ask her if I was his father while he was here? He was still an infant, so he wouldn’t remember any of it. But that didn’t matter, right? I still needed to take into consideration the fact that he was here. And Jessi might feel like I’d cornered her like Justin did.

I didn’t want her to feel cornered. I only wanted to talk.

“No reason,” I said. “Just thinking some things over.”

The entire walk through the park was like that. We danced around topics and never dove into a single one of them. She carried a sleeping Caleb against her body in the carrier and we talked about mindless topics. The weather. Teething. Caleb’s poops. Why the fuck I cared about that, I had no idea. But it was a serious topic of conversation for Jessi so I tried to take it with a grain of salt.

We spent the entire day in the park together. Talking and sitting and eating and walking. She walked me through some of the more trying jobs she’d had and how she got past her creative blocks, and I told her about how excited I was to have this job opportunity. I told her my vision for my own career. How I wanted to rub elbows with the elite and this was the perfect platform to get my name out there.

Jessi seemed—oddly supportive of it all.

We walked back to her car and settled Caleb into his car seat. The day had been nice, but the underlying fact was nothing had been resolved. Nothing had come out into the open and none of my questions had been answered, but I couldn’t fully blame Jessi. I wasn’t asking the questions I needed answers to, even though I knew she would try to duck them.

But I couldn’t expect her to answer questions that were never asked.

I pulled her car into the parking lot and sighed. She looked over at me and smiled, and I watched as it crinkled her eyes. I reached over and grabbed her hand, taking it within mine and curling my fingers around her soft skin.

“You know if you ever need anything. Help, or support, or a babysitter or someone to talk to— you can call me, right?”

I looked deep into her eyes and felt our bodies gravitating to one another until a knock at my window ruined the moment.

“Are the two of you fucking serious?”

I whipped my head around at the sound of Justin’s voice. His red face was staring at us from the other side of the car door. I heard Jessi gasp as she threw her car door open, scurrying out and trying to get to her brother.

“Justin, this isn’t what it looks like,” Jessi said.

“What the fuck are you doing with him?” Justin asked.

“Calm down, dude. Caleb’s in the car,” I said as I unbuckled my seatbelt.

“I don’t give a damn who’s in that car right now. What the hell are you doing with my sister?”

“You might not care who’s in the car, but I care. Caleb isn’t going to be around for this fighting. So tuck it in,” I said.

“Justin, why are you here? You didn’t call me to ask if you could come over,” Jessi said.

“Do I need to call my fucking sister when I wanna see her?” he asked.

“After the shit you pulled on her porch? Yeah. I’d say you do,” I said.

“I see your jaw’s feeling better,” Justin said.

“His jaw? Why would he be asking about your jaw?” Jessi asked.

“None of your damn business,” Justin said.

“It is when you’re talking about it in the parking lot of my apartment complex,” Jessi said.

“I’m gonna ask you one last time. What the fuck is he doing here?”

“We went to the park. Cool your jets, Justin,” Jessi said.

“You shouldn’t be around him. Not after what the two of you pulled. Not after he took advantage of you like that.”

“Uh—excuse me? Who took advantage of who now?” I asked.

“Yeah. That’s a good question,” Jessi said.

“This is not going to happen,” Justin said. “Not on my watch.”

“Good thing we aren’t on your watch,” Jessi said. “Go home, Justin. You’re angry over nothing.”

“This isn’t nothing. The two of you were about to kiss!”

“And how is that your business?” I asked.

“She’s my sister, that’s how it’s my fucking business,” Justin said.

I heard Caleb crying from the backseat as Jessi ripped her car door open. I couldn’t tell if Justin was angry at us being together or if he was angry at the fact that he didn’t know about it. Either way, this was unacceptable behavior. Both for public, for the situation surrounding the anger, and for having Caleb so close by.

“I’m not done with you yet!” Justin said.

“Well I’m done with you,” Jessi said, as she cradled Caleb.

“I’ll be inside with your things in a second,” I said.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Justin said.

He clamped down onto my hand to stop me from moving and I brought my hand down onto his wrist. I twisted his arm behind his back and I could hear Jessi yelling from the steps. I knocked Justin’s knees out from underneath him as he panted wildly, yelling and going on about how I wouldn’t be fucking around with his sister any longer.

“It’s not your choice who your sister chooses,” I said. “So what you need to do is pick yourself up and leave.”

“You don’t live here. You can’t tell me to get out,” Justin said.

“Get the hell out of here, Justin. Or I’m calling the cops,” Jessi said.

I released Justin’s arm and he scrambled up from the ground. He threw a fist into the side of Jessi’s car, denting it before he walked away. I could hear Caleb crying from the apartment porch and I grabbed their things, dashing up the stairs with my hands full of stuff.

“Come on. Let’s get you two inside.”

I unlocked the door for Jessi because her hands were shaking too badly. She rushed Caleb through the apartment and headed straight for his room. I could hear her trying to comfort the crying boy as I set everyone’s things down, then I locked the front door in case Justin came back.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

I sat on the couch for half an hour before Caleb’s crying finally subsided. I heard Jessi shuffling tiredly down the hallway, her shoulders slumped and her cheeks red with tears. I opened my arms to her and she fell into me, unleashing her sobs into the crook of my neck.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Everything’s going to be okay.”