To understand this story you should read it from the beginning. A special thank you to Estragon for making my story a much better read.
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After Jenny graduated she started working full time at the motel. I had a talk with Harold and he went in a couple hours a day to see if Jenny needed any help. He told me he felt like he was more in the way than helpful. Jenny was doing a great job.
I raised Jen's salary to six hundred a week. I gave Harold three hundred but he and Emma would be moving to Florida in two weeks. I would miss them. They were good friends that I could trust.
I talked to Jen almost every day. Most of the time it was about business. We sure missed Harold and Emma, but they wanted to move on to their new home in Florida. Jen told me that there was a retired couple asking about renting an apartment. He had just retired and they wanted to downsize and not have all the work of keeping up a house.
I told her that she could lease the apartment that Harold and Emma vacated for six hundred a month. The couple jumped at the offer. Harold told us he was looking for a part-time job to help keep busy. I talked with Jen and said she could offer him the weekend desk job working Saturday and Sunday during the day. We'd pay him eighty dollars a day.
He liked the idea and Jen worked with him the first weekend to show him what to do. He knew that if he had any problems that Jen and I both lived in the complex. His wife worked part-time as a clerk at the local drug store.
Business things were going pretty good, and I enjoyed the time I spent with Jen but it was either impersonal chatting or business. She would be getting weekends off and I thought maybe we could date once in a while.
She told me Al was working out fine. He and his wife Mary were satisfied with their apartment. They sold their home to one of their two kids so they had room to store their belongings till they got settled in. Mary told Jen that if she ever needed someone to watch Jerry to let her know.
As of right now Jen took Jerry in the office with her. She had a playpen set up for him and had no problem watching him. Our motel wasn't like some kind of Holiday Inn. We had our renters and the contractors or other people needing a room for the night. We didn't have a pool so we didn't get a lot of young family business. Our guests, but we didn't get that fancy, were mostly businesspeople or contractors working regular jobs.
We didn't get too many of the hooker-for-the-day business since we stopped renting rooms by the hour. However, we did get some of the cheating husband/wife type of business since our rooms were cheaper than the big luxury places. Those types were easy to spot. Usually they had an overnight bag or no luggage at all.
We had our rooms paid for up front in case some people decided to leave their room early. If they gave us a credit card they could pay their bill when they checked out.
The first Saturday that Jen had off I asked her if she would like to go dancing and out to dinner. She looked at me with sad eyes.
"What's the matter Jen?" I asked.
"I'm going out with Audrey and Phyllis. They asked me yesterday. I'm sorry. Jarrod, I didn't think you wanted to go out with me anymore. You haven't asked me out since my graduation. I figured you wanted to be just friends."
I wasn't sure what to say. Audrey and Phyllis were two older women who cleaned the apartments for us. To the best of my knowledge they were both divorced. They had told me one day that they really liked Jen and she listened to their complaints and saw that things got done.
"I would like to be more than friends but I guess I'm not a great people person. Maybe we can go out next week? I'll ask Bill and Shauna if they might like to go."
"That would be nice. Let's make it a date," replied Jen. I figured we were both lost for words at the moment. She did tell me that Mary said she would watch Jerry since Al would be working.
That evening I went by myself to the lounge down the street. I thought about calling Bill but he was spending more and more time with Shauna. It was pretty much a county western music place, and they always had a lot of people line dancing. I wasn't much good at it but I liked watching.
When I got there the place was crowded. It was always like this on a Saturday night. I went upstairs in the balcony area so I could watch the dancers better. I was on my second beer when I noticed Jen and her friends come in. I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want her to think I was following her. I didn't know where they were going.
She looked so cute in her jeans and a cowboy hat. The three of them got a table and ordered a round of drink. I wasn't sure whether to stay or leave. I didn't do anything wrong but would Jen see it that way. I was out of the way so I decided to stay.
The three women got up and were dancing with the rest of the group. Seeing Jen smiling made me happy. After a couple of line dances they sat down. I watched some local guys asked them to dance. I almost felt hurt seeing Jen in the arms of another man. What the hell was wrong with me?
They were just dancing, for Christ sake. No one was doing anything wrong. I stayed for about another hour and Jen had danced with a number of men but always went back to her table. There were a couple of guys that I saw she had to push back a little and two tried touching her ass but got a stiff 'no' from her.
I felt like I was invading her privacy and left. I went back to my apartment and watched TV. I couldn't concentrate on anything. All I could think of was Jen in the arms of another man. The next morning I called her.
"Jarrod, is there something wrong?"
"No, why? I just wanted to ask you something."
"Well, I've known you for months and this was the first time you have ever called me. You usually just walk down a couple of doors and knock. What did you want to ask me?"
"I wanted to know if you had a nice time last night? Also would you and Jerry like to go out for lunch or dinner today?"
"Jarrod, let's clear the air here first. I saw you in the lounge last night. Yes I had a nice time and all I did was dance and have a few drinks."
"I didn't follow you. I was alone and just went out for a few beers. I didn't know that was where you were going."
"I just wondered why you didn't come down and ask me to dance. As far as lunch, I'll be ready at noon. Jarrod, thank you for being honest with me. That's why I love you so much. I can always trust you. See you later." Then she hung up.
Did she say she loved me? What kind of love was she talking about? Some people throw the word around pretty easy. I have to admit that no woman affected me the way Jen does. Right now we're friends but I think I want it to be more, much more.
I picked her up at noon and she and Jerry were ready to go. I had bought a car seat for my car but never told Jen about it. "We have to take my car because Jerry has to be in a car seat."
She looked in my car and saw the seat and just shook her head and smiled. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to use the dang seat. All the while Jen was standing there laughing at me.
"I can do this," I said. Finally I had it on Jerry. He looked at me like, "What took you so long?"
We got in the car and Jen asked if we could go to an Italian restaurant. She said that Jerry would make a mess but loved spaghetti. So Italian it was. Jen ordered spaghetti and got an extra plate and gave some to Jerry. She brought along a tiny fork but he was doing better with his hands.
I was having a great time. I can't remember the last time I laughed like this. Jen did tell me that she did enjoy herself the night before but it was just because she had a chance to get out and actually had friends. She did tell me I was her best friend of all.
We took a drive by the airport so Jerry could see all the airplanes. He kept pointing in the air saying "pane, pane." I was beginning to really like this kid. I wanted him to have a better chance at life than me or his mother had started out with. We got back to the motel and Al called Jen and told her the night guy called in sick. That meant that Jen would have to take his place.
At around seven I wasn't doing anything and decided to go visit Jen in the office. I was in the back room out of the way playing with Jerry when a customer came in.
"Hi beautiful, I see you're here again tonight. Too bad I'm with a date, I'd much rather be with you. Maybe I'll let my date go early and you can stop by after work."
"Look, I've told you before I have a boyfriend and I'm not looking for someone else. Would you and your friends please leave me alone or I'll report you to my boss. Now, do you want a room for tonight or not?"
"Baby, quit playing so hard to get. I know you give out, you have a kid and no ring so quit playing hard to get." He was now grinning at Jen.
I recognized him from the gym. We had to tell him a couple of times to stop flirting with the female customers or he would be prevented from coming into the gym.
I had enough already. I got up and asked Jen if there was a problem. This asshole's grin changed very quickly, and he started asking for a single room for the night when he saw who I was. Jen took his money and gave him his room key.
He got ready to leave when I spoke up. "Sam, isn't it? The next time you come to my motel and talk to my girlfriend like that again, I'll knock every one of your fucking teeth down your fucking throat. Do you understand me?"
"Yes Jarrod, I'm sorry, it will never happen again."
"Make sure your friends understand it also. I'd hate to have to repeat myself." He walked out the door and I watched him take some girl up to his room.
"I could have handled it, you know," said Jen.
"I know, but I didn't like hearing him talking to you like that. I'm sorry I interrupted you."
"Apology accepted. Did you mean it when you called me your girl?" She stood there staring at me waiting for an answer.
