Most of Adrian Greene's life had returned to normal. He had gone back to arriving at the Emertech office before any of his colleagues, being the last one to leave and working during the lunch breaks. He did still have the occasional lunch with Janey Samson, a red-headed colleague he'd first had a one-nighter with in the office storage room and then a physical relationship for a while, which ended when she got involved with Jason, a guy she picked up at a gym. She and Adrian did remain friends. Over time, however, he developed deeper feelings for her, but wouldn't acknowledge them as she was seeing someone else. This particular Friday was her birthday and she was at her and Adrian's usual lunch restaurant.
"How are you planning to celebrate it," Adrian asked.
"Jason and I thought we'd spend it together, alone. You know..."
"No party?"
"Nah, I'm not much of a party-goer. The earlier singing of 'Happy Birthday' and cake serving at the office was enough of a crowd. Anyway, Jason and I are just gonna bunk up at my place, have Italian, watch a good movie and maybe, well..."
"What we used to do together at your place?"
Janey seemed slightly uncomfortable when Adrian brought up the subject.
"Yeah, that. Thanks for not telling him about that when you met him, by the way."
"No problem."
"I mean, we had no commitments, it was before he and I even met, but still..."
"I understand," he assured her.
She glanced at her watch.
"Shit," she said. "I'm late."
"By the way," Adrian interjected, "I got you something."
He reached for his coat pocket and brought out a small package with red wrapping and a silvery plastic ribbon.
"Happy birthday."
"Oh," she said gratefully, "thank you, you shouldn't have!"
She accepted it happily and started glancing towards the exit door and back to him, as though she was torn between them.
"Shit, I'd really like to open it with you here, but I'm really running late."
"Okay, I'll see you after the weekend, then."
"I promise I'll wait with opening this until you're around."
"Sure."
She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, very close to the lips, and hurried out.
When it became night, a thunderstorm rolled in over the city, much like the one that had occurred the first time Adrian and Janey first had sex at her place. Rain poured down from large clouds on the dark skies onto the streets, accompanied by the occasional thunder strike in the distance. The moment Adrian read the weather report, he decided to, like most of the city's inhabitants, to simply stay home (not that he had anywhere else to go). In the middle of the night, around midnight, Adrian was woken up when his doorbell rang.
"What in the..."
He quickly slipped into a robe and headed towards the door as the bell rang again, turning on light switches along the way as he went through the apartment.
"I'm coming," he said loudly.
When he finally got to the door, he looked through the peep-hole. What he saw through it brought
The Grunge
to mind; a woman with ratty, dripping wet hair and runny make-up dressed in a long dark coat, her skin covered with rain-drops.
"Janey," Adrian exclaimed surprised and opened the door.
"Hey," she said quietly.
Adrian quickly stepped aside to let her in.
"Were you outdoors in this weather?"
"No," Janey replied sarcastically, "I felt like taking a shower while fully-clothed before paying you a visit."
He helped her take off her coat before quickly going to the bathroom to get her a towel.
"Where have you been," he asked.
"Here, there, everywhere," Janey replied as he wiped her hair dry before she grabbed the towel herself to wipe off her mascara.
"Weren't you gonna spend the evening with Jason?"
Janey suddenly shuddered.
"Please, do not say his name," she said with restrained anger as she staggered into the living room and sat down on the middle of the couch.
"Has something happened," Adrian asked after he sat down next to her.
Janey hesitated for a moment before she began recounting her evening, obviously dying to share it with someone else to ease her own pain.
"You remember he and I had made plans to stay in, watch
The Big Lebowski
, have Italian, all that?"
"You didn't specify the movie, but yes."
"Well, after I left you after lunch, I went to the restaurant to pre-order the food, went to another store and bought the movie, did a few other things. Then, I was going to a hairdresser. I've been planning to dye my hair darker, so I made an appointment a few weeks ago. Anyway, when I got there, I changed my mind and went to buy the food instead. Thought I'd surprise Jason by coming in early."
Adrian started seeing where her story was going and placed his hand on her shoulder. She didn't seem to mind and continued bitterly:
"When I got in candles were lit and Celine Dion was playing on my stereo. I thought he was planning to surprise me, skip the movie and just screw my brains out, but when I got into the bedroom,
my
bedroom..."
She stopped for a moment, a single tear running down her right cheek.
"He was fucking some blonde bimbo."
"Janey," Adrian began sympathetically, "I'm so..."
"From behind," she continued. "Doggystyle. My favorite position. I'd tried to talk him into doing it with me, but he said he preferred to see my face while we had sex. 'See your face', my patootie, he thought my butt is too small. That blonde bitch had an ass you could tow an SUV with."
"Pretty graphic description," Adrian noted.
"Do you think my ass is small," Janey asked him casually. "You've seen a lot of it."
Adrian froze for a moment and looked into her eyes to see just how serious she was. She seemed remarkably clear; the bluntness of her question may have been brought out by her anger.
"I really don't know how to answer that," he finally said. Janey smiled vaguely for the first time in hours.
"Smooth answer."
She lied down on the couch, using Adrian's left thigh as a pillow, and continued telling her tale of woe:
"I hurried out of the apartment and into my car and started driving to clear my head, take some of the edge off. I guess I must have entered a state of highway hypnosis or something, because when I came to my senses, I was outside a border check."
"That's miles from here," Adrian said.
"Yeah, it is. Anyway, I turned around and started driving back. I filled up my tank at a gas station on the way and drove towards the city again."
"And then you ended up here?"
"Not immediately. I first went to a bar and had a Shirley Temple and a bowl of pretzels before I went here."
She sighed and sat up again.
"Anyway, I'm sorry I had to lay all this on you."
"It's okay," Adrian assured her.
"I gave it some thought and I, I realized that there's no-one I rather talk about this to than you."
She carefully kissed him on the cheek and leaned on his shoulder.
"Thank you," she whispered. Adrian gently placed his hand on her back.
"Do you mind if I crash here tonight? I just can't go back to my place right now."
"Sure. I can make the couch."
She reached into her pocket and brought out the gift Adrian had given her earlier.
"I said I'd wait until the next time we met, so..."
To Adrian's shock, she began opening it.
"Actually, I'm not sure it's a good idea..."
"Oh, come on. I need to be cheered up..."
She froze when she got to the thin, white box and saw the gold-colored logo.
"...tonight."
She opened the box. Inside was a pair of small earrings made of silver with one deep-blue gem embedded in each. They weren't just cheap trinkets, they seemed exclusive.
"Adrian," she said shocked, unable to take her eyes off of them.
"They're sapphires," Adrian noted quietly. "Your birthstone. Thought they'd go with your hair."
Janey was still dumbfounded, her mouth partially open. Adrian decided to give her some space and got up from the couch.
"I'll leave you alone for a while," he said cautiously. "You've had a rough night. There are blankets, sheets and pillows in the cupboard."
He quickly went into his bedroom and began softly banging his head against a wall.
Adrian returned to bed, but couldn't fall asleep. He hadn't planned on her opening his gift for days, much less shortly after catching her boyfriend
in flagrante delicto
. When he had left her, she was still in shock after receiving jewelry from him. After about two hours, there were a few knocks on the door.
"Come in," Adrian said with disbelief. The door opened and Janey stepped in. Her hair had been brushed and she was dressed in a green hoodie, which was so large that it reached down to her thighs, and no pants or footwear. She had obviously cleaned up shortly after Adrian had left her alone and was wearing her new earrings.
"Hey," she said quietly. "Can't sleep?"
Adrian shook his head and pulled up his blanket to his neck as he slept wearing nothing but his underwear.
"I've seen you naked, you know," Janey said. She seemed less troubled than earlier. In fact, she seemed amazingly calm. Adrian loosened his grip of the blanket.
"I'm sorry your night ended like this," he said, "and I'm sorry for picking a time like this to give you, well."
Still smiling faintly, Janey sat down on the side of the bed and placed her hand on his belly.
"They are beautiful. Thank you. But, really, what did you mean with them?"
"Mean with them?"
"Most people don't give their fuck buddies jewelry for their birthdays. Unless..."
Adrian didn't answer.
"Do you have feelings for me," Janey asked. "I mean,
real
feelings?"
Adrian seemed troubled and avoided eye contact.
"Yes," he said quietly, "I do".
Janey nodded and moved closer to him.
