This story is submitted to the Heart//Beats: Music, Sex, and Emotion Challenge 2023. The idea for this story comes from Willie Nelson's 1964 song "You Left Me a Long, Long Time Ago."
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"Hello, Theo."
Two words.
Four little syllables.
It is amazing how those two words, those four syllables from her lips were enough to send me spinning, spinning into a world of pain, sorrow, sad memories and guilt. Mostly guilt.
As I looked up from my crossword puzzle, my eyes first took in her full hips, then her thin waist. Next were her two wonderful breasts, breasts I had adored, worshipped, stroked and kissed so many times I couldn't count.
Lastly, her face; as beautiful as ever though creased with a worried frown, a frown which melted as her shoulders relaxed when I answered, "Hi, Jess. Nice to see you. You back in town?"
"Yes, and for good. I told the Gundersons I was done with traveling and if they insisted I go on another remote job, they'd need to find someone else to fill my job."
"Hmm. I thought you liked traveling. Oh, forgive me, please, have a seat," I smiled at her. She nervously took the chair across from me and dropped her purse and a briefcase on the table. "Can I get you a coffee?"
"No thank you. I've had enough caffeine for one day."
"They've got a wicked decaf latte. Here, try mine."
"Yum. That's good. OK," she smiled at me, I guess realizing I was not going to rage or yell at her, "OK, I'll have one, too."
"One sugar," we both said simultaneously before breaking into laughter.
"You remembered."
"Jess, there's so much about you I remember."
She looked at me with sadness in her eyes. "Me you too."
I excused myself, ordered the latte and a scone. As I was returning to the little table, I looked at her closely. One, nearly one and a half years had gone by and she still looked great. No one would ever accuse her of having a Milan or a Paris model's physique but Jessica was one of those women whose total was far greater than the sum of her parts. Her dirty-blonde hair hung in loose curls below her shoulders, her soft facial features were offset by a look of steely determination in her business woman's eyes and her posture was that of an accomplished and in-control woman.
"Here you go. Want to split a scone?"
"I've never been able to turn one down and you know it." She bit into her half of the scone, smiling as a few crumbs dotted her chin. Once she had dabbed them away, she looked at me and asked, "Well, Theo, what have you been up to?"
"Not much. I quit Jenkins and Thomas and have opened my own little practice."
"What? You were on the fast track to partnership, weren't you?"
"Yup."
"Then why...?"
"Uh, something happened to make me reassess my life and my future. I decided life in the fast lane wasn't all it was made out to be."
She sat there looking at me with an unreadable look on her face but I knew what was going through her mind. She was probably wanting to know why didn't I quit sooner, why didn't I do it when we were still together and why didn't I do it before it was too late. She took a sip of her drink before rubbing the warm mug on her face, a little habit of hers which I had thought was so endearing way back when. She cleared her throat softly and looked me in the eye. "Is there anyone...?"
"Nope. Haven't found anyone since..., well, since then. You?"
"Likewise."
As we sat there drinking our coffees, I was trying to figure out what she wanted after all this time. Why had she approached me? After all, she was the one who left back then. Did she have something she wanted to rub in my face? Did she want to rehash our troubles?
"So, you've got your own practice?"
"Uh-huh. I try to be a lawyer for the little guy, the guy who needs a hand getting through a legal jam or needing help dealing with some faceless corporation. No big criminal stuff, however. I send those cases over to Jenkins and Thomas and they, in turn, shoot me some of the smaller work they don't want to waste their time with."
"You guys must still get along."
"Oh, yeah. We parted on good terms, I told 'em I needed a little different lifestyle."
"I see."
A few seconds later I noticed it was nearing the time for my afternoon of fun. "Uh, say Jess, I'm gotta head out. The kids are waiting."
"Kids?"
"I'm their soccer coach."
"You?! You coach soccer? You've never played a game of soccer in your entire life."
"I know, but Julie, my secretary, well her husband had to quit coaching due to him being put on the p.m. shift. She was complaining that none of the other parents would step up so I volunteered."
"What do you know about soccer?"
"Not much, but the kids are only six years old. I grabbed a book, learned some of the basics, watched a few videos and now they think I'm the best coach ever."
"Wow. Who would have thought? Still driving the Porsche?"
"Nope. Too hard to carry kids and soccer equipment in it. I've switched."
"To what?"
"Ah, uh, I have to admit I'm driving a little SUV hatchback."
"Don't tell me: a Subaru?"
I nodded yes to her infinite glee. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen."
"I've not fallen. I've settled, happily, I might add, thank you. So, anyway, I've gotta run."
"Theo, give me a call sometime, OK?"
"I, uh, don't have your number. Deleted it."
She pulled out her phone and tapped it a few times until my phone vibrated in my pocket.
"Now you do. No excuses."
Even though her smile had a slight edge of uncertainty, I did not want to make any promises. "Maybe I'll do that sometime. Nice seeing you again, Jess."
"You too, Theo. Take care."
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They say every breakup is usually the responsibility of one of the parties, or at least primarily so. Our split was as painful a thing as could ever be imagined, particularly since our relationship had been phenomenal early on. And I will go ahead and admit it: our split was primarily my fault. Yeah, I was the asshole, I was the one who treated her wrong and I deserved what I got. But she, well, she did not deserve what she got and for that, I will forever regret my actions.
When I met her, I was a junior associate at the law firm Jenkins and Thomas. Still wet behind the ears when I applied, I somehow got the attention of their HR manager who passed my name on to Mr. Jenkins. I was nervous as all get out when he interviewed me and I had pretty much assumed I was toast but he wrapped up the interview with the request I return and talk to Mr. Thomas. Two days later, the somewhat younger Mr. Thomas ran me through the wringer. By the time I was finished with the interview, I figured I was done. Imagine my surprise when I received a call the next morning asking me to come in and discuss a job offer!
The offer was generous in terms of salary but the expectations were high. I was told I would need to work basically as a grunt for a year or two doing extensive research and preparing briefs for the firm's partners and their cases. Once I had proven myself, they would throw me a few pro bono cases and see how I performed in the courtroom. If I did well, they would keep me on and slowly let me get involved in more cases of my own, real cases, which meant more money.
The first year was rough. Hard work and long hours defined my existence. Midway through my second year, I was asked to assist at a few trials and even asked to question witnesses. I must have done well enough that they soon began to have me manage a few of those pro bono cases. I remember winning my very first case by proving the fellow robbing the convenience store was far too thin on the video to be my client who was, to put it delicately, very generously proportioned. The police and the DA had concentrated on the perp wearing a particular T-shirt, one my client had also unfortunately been wearing the next day when he was picked up. I was able to prove that particular T-shirt was extraordinarily popular and the jury had to discount it.
From a personal standpoint, the thrill of the win was amazing but I was humbled when my client's young wife burst into tears as she hugged me after the verdict came in. Although I knew intellectually her life would have gone downhill dramatically if her husband had been sent to prison, her tears of gratitude told me how important our victory was not only for him but for her and their two kids. That Christmas I received from her a cute homemade tie clasp which I wear to this day. It reminds me why I do the work I do.
After three years of hard work, I was promoted to junior associate and given my own office, a legal assistant and a secretary. I figured I was on my way and if I kept up the good work, I could see making partnership within ten years. The money was good and I was able to get a nice townhouse near the office as well as a Porsche I had been dreaming about for years.
My social life also took off. All through college and law school I worked like a demon to get good grades and as a result, I wasn't too popular with the girls and women I had met. That all changed once I was a rising star in the firm. I will not say women were throwing themselves at me but it was fall-off-a-log easy to ask women out and almost as easy to get them into bed. In looking back at it, I know many of them were looking for that golden ring but I was a man-slut and refused to be tied down. If a gal got a bit possessive or started talking about 'us,' I would head for the exits. I did not sleep with anyone at the firm, which was a hard and fast rule I had, but almost any other woman was fair game as I tried to make up for all the times I missed out when I was in school.
It all changed the evening I met Jessica. Our firm was opening a remote office immediately over the state line and I was instructed to go down to the grand opening, meet some of the locals and schmooze a little. Among the local guests were several nice-looking women and I figured I might be able to better enjoy the evening once the official activities were done. One woman was particularly striking and I found myself surreptitiously watching her as she made the rounds. She was taller than average and had a nice figure with a small waist and decent breasts. Her dirty-blonde hair hung in waves down to her shoulders and her face lit up with a genuine smile frequently. I noticed she rarely took a sip from her half-empty wine glass and politely declined offers for refills.
I was intrigued and decided to meet her. After politely excusing myself from a conversation with a couple of legal secretaries, I grabbed my first wine of the night and went up to her.
"Nice little get-together this evening. Know who put it together?"
She looked at me with a sly smile and nodded, "Why yes, I do."
"When you meet them, would you let them know I think they did a great job."
"Thank you."
