The One who got Away

The bed was the most comfortable thing I had slept on in weeks. The soft Egyptian cotton sheets wrapped around my naked body and the warmth of the down comfortable were so inviting, I couldn’t even start to think about moving from my position. The daylight seeped in through the blinds, but I didn’t move a muscle, thinking about the night before and everything that was ahead of me. Waking up was so hard to do when you were exactly where you wanted to be. Though, with my eyes now open, I realized Jason was no longer asleep in the bed next to me. I groaned, reaching my arm out and stretching my body, not concerned at all at where he was. I knew he was close. I could hear his footsteps outside of the room. As he approached, I rolled over and looked at the doorway, smiling as he walked inside carrying a tray. I pushed myself up onto the bed as he set the tray down on the fluffy surface and leaned in to kiss my lips. I had thought I heard someone at the guest door. It must have been room service.

I scooted myself up in the bed, the sheet wrapped around me, and looked down at the large tray. There were two plates on the tray, one for me and one for Jason, but they were both empty. I looked at Jason with confusion and he smiled, walking back out of the room and wheeling in a large tray with all kinds of food on it. There were pancakes, eggs, bacon, fruit, syrup, butter, and pretty much everything else you would ever want for breakfast. I laughed as he stood with a towel draped over his arm, ready to serve me breakfast in bed. I was so glad Mr. Banks had given everyone the day off since he knew between the hangovers and the fact that it was Friday, no one was going to get anything productive done. Jason piled food high on both plates and handed me mine, setting a hot cup of coffee on the night stand. He walked around the bed and plopped down next to me, smiling as he shoved a pile of eggs in his mouth. He looked like a child that had found the secret stash of candy.

We sat quietly scarfing down our breakfast. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until the smell of bacon hit my nose. I was absolutely starving, which made sense, since I’d been too nervous the day before to eat anything. When our plates were cleared, Jason took mine and stacked it with the rest of the dishes back on the tray, wheeling it out into the living room so it was out of the way. I stretched and looked around the room, not wanting to put my dress back on, but I hadn’t thought ahead to bring a change of clothes.

“I thought you might want some fresh clothes,” Jason said, as if he were reading my mind. “So, I took the liberty of having some sent from the shop across the street.”

I smiled and hopped out of the bed, still wrapped in the sheet, and took the fresh change of clothes from him. I reached up on my tip toes and kissed his cheek before turning and taking off the garter and stockings I had fallen asleep in. I put on the white satin panties and bra and pulled on the jeans and sweater. I looked adorable as I stood in front of the mirror pulling my hair back in a ponytail. On the dresser was a new pair of Chuck Taylors, and I smiled remembering how much I loved wearing them in college.

“The first time we all went out to the bar, you were wearing something similar.” Jason sat on the bed behind me, watching me do my hair. “I thought it was the most beautiful you had ever looked.”

“You are so sweet,” I said with a wide grin. “Thank you.”

“There is something we need to talk about,” Jason said pulling out his phone. “I woke up to a text from Jordan this morning.”

“What did it say?”

“It said, ‘I know who she is,’” he said, looking up at me.

I reached down and grabbed my phone off the dresser, pushing the button to open the home screen. I winced when I saw that I had one new text, and prayed quietly that it was Mona checking in and not Jordan. My stomach dropped when I saw his name and read the message.

“’I know who he is,’” I read out loud. “What do we do now?”

Jason opened his mouth to say something but stopped, hearing a loud knock on the guest entrance to the suite. He looked up at me and shook his head, taking in a deep breath and pulling himself from the bed. I followed closely behind him but stopped in the middle of the living room, nervous that if it were Jordan, it would be a fight and not a civil conversation. Jason opened the door and stood back as Jordan barrelled through the door and into the living room. His fists were clenched and his shoulders tight as he stared back and forth at the two of us. I didn’t know what to do, I was frozen like a kid caught sneaking out of their parent’s house.

“I knew it,” he shouted. “You two think you are smarter than everyone else. I saw you kissing at the top of the stairs last night. I acted like I didn’t notice you getting into the elevators because I was with my date, but I knew it. You lied to me, both of you.”

“I never lied to you,” I said calmly.

“Hell, you didn’t,” he said walking toward me, pointing his finger. “I bet you made up the whole damn story about not being able to have a baby just so you could leave me for him.”

“First of all, Jordan, you are the one who left me for something I couldn’t control,” I shouted. “Secondly, nothing between Jason and I started until after our divorce was final. It wasn’t planned nor held a secret. It was a surprise. How dare you march in here after abandoning me because of a medical condition?”

“You know there was more to it than that,” he said, dropping his hand. “You don’t have to sit there and make me sound like a complete asshole.”

I stood looking at him, feeling my anger fade away, and guilt for calling him out start to rise in my chest. I dropped my hand and shook my head, letting out a deep sigh. I walked forward and looked up into his eyes. His expression softened and smiled slightly.

“You were right to divorce me,” I said quietly. “You know as well as I do that we were never meant to be together. I didn’t realize it until afterward, but you know in your heart it really wasn’t that hard to make the decision. You knew it before I did. I’m sorry for being an asshole, and I’m sorry you had to find out about Jason and I like this.”

“Yeah,” he said sighing. “I won’t lie that this kind of sucks. But you’re right, we were never meant to be. I think I saved both of us from quite a bit of hell.”

I looked at Jordan kindly and watched as he turned and walked toward the door. He stared at Jason for several minutes with an angry but calm look. Jason looked down at the floor, and Jordan shook his head, walking back out and slamming the door behind him. I stood staring at the closed door, hoping that I had done the right thing. Hoping that I hadn’t just become the enemy. Jason walked over and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest and hugging me hard.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “Not really how I wanted to break the news, but at least it's out there now. We can stop walking on eggshells.”

“Very true,” J

ason replied. “You want to come over for Sunday family dinner and break the news to my parents?”

“Sounds good,” I said taking in a deep breath. “I mean, how bad could they possibly react?”

“Well, if my brother reacted like that, I’m pretty sure my parents are just going to be happy,” he said kissing me on the cheek. “Come on, let’s grab our stuff and get out of here. We can go to my place and relax on the terrace.”

“Sounds perfect.” I watched him walk over to start collecting his things.

I grabbed my dress, undergarments, and shoes and stuffed them in one of the plastic laundry bags folded on the counter. My purse was too small to fit them, and the last thing I wanted was to drop my underwear in the hotel lobby as I walked across. I had felt enough shock and embarrassment for the day, and I didn’t need anymore. I walked back out into the living room, and Jason pulled his phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear. He held one finger up to me and I smiled, meandering over to the breakfast cart and pulling fruit from the tray. As I snacked, I turned and watched Jason talking. He seemed to be excited, and whatever he was talking about, he kept referring to a “she” in the conversation. Either it had something to do with me or something to do with work. Either way, he had definitely sparked my attention.