The Assignment

I’d only seen Jasmine once since the awkward run-in at my house during the harvest festival, so this visit was long overdue. I’d decided to go to her house a little earlier in the afternoon to help her set up for her guests. I figured that would give us some time to catch up.

I was cutting vegetables for a veggie and dip plate while Jasmine rolled cold cut slices onto a platter. She’d poured us each a cup of Twinings Christmas tea. Kiki was in the next room playing with Hannah while Cole supervised.

“So, what’s the latest with you and Troy?” Jasmine finally asked.

I sighed and sliced into a carrot. “He’s actually back in Seattle.”

She ceased the turkey rolling for a moment. “For good?”

I put my knife down. “I don’t know. It was supposed to be for just a couple of weeks for work, but he’s ended up having to stay out there longer. Now I don’t know when or if he’s coming back.”

“You haven’t asked him?”

“I’m trying to give him space to assess what he really wants, whether that’s to stay in Seattle or otherwise. I don’t want to manipulate things, nor do I feel I should have to.”

She nodded and resumed arranging the cold cuts. “Well, this is probably for the best. That one day I observed you with him, it seemed like you were pretty attached, that he had you under some kind of spell. Quite frankly, I still don’t think he’s right for you, and it’s probably a good thing he left.”

Her words were a blow, despite the fact that I knew she felt that way, and with each day that passed, I was closer to believing she was right.

“I understand what you’re saying,” I told her. “My impression of the time I spent with him is different, but I don’t expect you to understand. I don’t really want to spend this day analyzing what happened between him and me, though. It is what it is, at this point.”

She opened a package of pepperoni. “Well, it sounds like now might be a good time to keep your options open. That’s certainly better than sulking while Troy is in Seattle having fun, partying it up with his friends, I’m sure.”

“He’s not having fun,” Kiki chimed in.

I hadn’t realized my niece had entered the kitchen until she said that.

I looked over at her. “What are you talking about?”

“I talked to him the other day.”

My heart sped up. “You spoke to Troy?”

“I sent him an email.”

“Why did you email him?”

“You told me I could, remember?”

That was true. In fact, the entire reason they’d exchanged information was so she could keep in touch with him if things between him and me went awry. And it seemed they had. Nevertheless, it certainly wasn’t fair of me to use her to get information. So I resisted asking her anything. Although, anything she happened to offer was fair game.

Maybe just one question. “What do you mean, he’s not having fun?”

“He told me he was really tired. But he said receiving my message cheered him up.”

Jasmine looked between us, her eyes narrowed, seeming judgy about the fact that my niece had been corresponding with Troy.

Okay, I lied. I need to know one more thing. “What else did you talk about?”

Kiki shrugged. “I wrote to him to complain about Maisy because I know he understands. He told me I need to act like she doesn’t bother me because she’s only being mean to get a reaction.”

“That’s good advice.”

“Then he said he was working a lot and that he missed Meadowbrook and told me again to write to him whenever I wanted.”

Hmm… “Well, that’s nice.” I resisted the urge to ask whether he’d mentioned me.

After Kiki left the room again, Jasmine lowered her voice. “He’s emailing with her?”

Here we go. “I know it seems weird. But they bonded pretty early on. They both grew up without moms, and she feels like he can relate to her in a way others can’t.”

She shrugged as she opened a jar of pepperoncini. “I guess that’s kind of sweet.”

On that note, it felt like a good time to move the conversation to other topics, so I asked Jasmine about her plans to go back to interior design part time.

Once her guests started arriving, the mood lightened considerably. Kiki and I spent a great deal of time playing with Hannah, allowing Jasmine and Cole time to enjoy their friends.

Jasmine’s tree was spectacularly decorated with cream-colored ornaments and white lights. The entire house was lit up for the holidays, so warm and inviting. But being amidst all this Christmas cheer made me miss Troy. I could easily imagine him beside me, rubbing the small of my back and whispering in my ear, probably telling me what he planned to do to me after we got home. It was no surprise that my mind had wandered to sexual things when it came to him, since that had been such a huge part of our relationship. But the sex wasn’t what I missed the most. I missed the feeling that someone had my back, his friendship, his encouragement, his jokes, his company, and just the way he’d hold me. I missed him. I missed the way things were.