1
"You're doing what?" Jennifer sat up straight on her futon with the phone pressed tight to the side of her face.
Aaron's exasperated sigh echoed in her ear, and his tone changed again, like he was explaining something to a simpleton for the umpteenth time even though this was the first time he was repeating himself. "I'm driving up to check on Cathy and help out while her mom's in the hospital."
"You're going up for just the day?"
"No, I'll be there through Sunday afternoon at least. It depends on how she's doing."
How who's doing?
Jen wondered to herself.
The ex-mother-in-law or the ex-wife?
Out loud she said, "And why are you going up?"
He paused again, but so much annoyance radiated through the phone her cheek burned. The great Dr. Stevens was not accustomed to having his decisions questioned. I knew you'd act this way that pause said. "Because she's my ex-wife, and her mom's sick."
"Yes, your
ex-
wife. Ex being the operative word here."
There was that sigh again and the I-can't-believe-I'm-explaining-this-again tone. "Her mom's sick, she needs some support, and I'm a doctor. I can help translate what's going on and make sure they're taking good care of her."
"You're a pediatrician, not an internist, and I'm sure she has other friends."
"I resent that, and I'm more of a doctor than you. I think I can be helpful." There it was, unsaid in all this time, but he was pulling rank on her, the lowly medical assistant struggling through school to better herself while there he was the high and mighty successful doctor. "You're just acting jealous and unreasonable."
"I may be jealous, but I am not being unreasonable. What would you say if I wanted to go hang out with an ex-boyfriend all weekend?"
"An ex-boyfriend is not the same as an ex-spouse, and I am not just hanging out with her."
Jen snorted. "And where will you be staying while you're helping out." He could not see the air quotes she made around the last two words, but she hoped the sarcasm dripping from her tone got the point across.
"I'll be staying at her house, in the spare room." No sarcasm in his tone, just anger.
Her own simmering temper boiled over as well. "And you expect me to be okay with you sleeping in your ex-wife's house all weekend? That's supposed to just be peachy with me? I cannot believe you are even thinking about doing this, let alone telling me it's what you're doing."
"You know what? It's not your decision. I could have just gone, and you'd never've known the difference, but I'm having the courtesy to let you know. I really don't care what you think, I'm going."
"Fine. Go, but don't plan on calling me."
"I won't."
"Fine."
"Fine."
Jen hit the end call button and tossed her phone onto the futon where it bounced, ricocheted off the edge of the coffee table, and clattered out across the rug. She could not decide if she had heard dead air before she hung up on him or not. She hoped he had gotten the dead air first.
She stared at the upside down phone. She wanted to pick it back up and throw it again, but that would only succeed in breaking it, and she had resisted the sales pitch to buy the extended warranty. Truth be told, she could barely afford the payments anyway what with school bills, rent, food, and no actual paying job while she was in nursing school. Maybe she should have tried harder to stay in San Diego where she could have lived at home and at least saved on rent and food.
Instead, she let out a growl of frustration, grabbed up a pen and tossed that across the room, and swiped her text books off the table and across the floor. Then she buried her head in her hands.
How could he be doing this to her now?
Jen needed to get out. She retrieved her phone, the screen was still intact thank goodness, snatched her keys off the counter, and slammed the front door behind her on the way out into the hot muggy morning air.
It was too hot and sticky to walk or go for a run, and so she climbed into her car and drove to the mall of all places. She was too broke to do any real shopping, but at least there was air conditioning, and she could move and use up that pent up, antsy energy. As she walked, she tried calling her sister, Rebecca, but it went to voicemail. She thought about trying one of her classmates, but she knew Marissa and Sam were on the wards today, and Stacy never got out of bed before noon if she could avoid it.
In the end, Jen bought herself a frozen yogurt and plopped down on one of the bright red plastic chairs to enjoy it. Well, enjoying it was a stretch. She was still too upset to enjoy much of anything at the moment. The eating was just mechanical, something to do.
Maybe he had changed his mind.
She pulled out her phone and swiped the screen until she came to an app she rarely used. It connected to Aaron's car, and told her where he was driving. He had given her the code months ago, and she had used the app a handful of times to see if he was done at the office before she called him in the evening.
The little gear spun on the screen for almost thirty seconds before the app made the connection. The status screen said, "Driving." Jen tapped, and the screen switched to a map with a red arrow in the center. The arrow was pointing roughly north along Interstate 5 near Oceanside. He had gone. Next to the arrow, his speed was listed at 11 miles an hour. She closed the app. "I hope you sit in traffic all day."
Jen slumped back down in her chair and took another sullen bite of her yogurt.
2
Aaron was still fuming when he pulled up in front of a beige two-story house which was indistinguishable from all the other beige two-story homes up and down the street save for the back metal numbers next to the garage door. He had all the windows rolled down and the sunroof open. While they closed, he picked up his phone.
He knew Jennifer had not called while he was driving because the phone was connected to the car's Bluetooth, and it would have interrupted the music if someone had called. A text might have escaped his notice. Well, given how bad the traffic had been with not one but two accidents, the more than two hour trek from San Diego to Irvine had provided him ample opportunity to check for messages, but maybe one had come through in the last few blocks. None had.
Jen could be stubborn, and Aaron could see her digging in her heels over this and refusing to apologize.
Fine. He could be just as stubborn if need be. In any case, he had more important jobs to do today.
He was about to push the doorbell for a second time, when he heard footsteps from inside, and Catherine's familiar voice. "Coming."
The door swung open bringing the former spouses face to face for the first time in more than two years. In fact, the last time Aaron had seen her in person was the day he hopped a plane to San Francisco and left her to pack up her belongings and disappear from San Diego. After that, the divorce had proceeded with telephone calls and stacks of paperwork to sign from the lawyers, and they had only spoken on the phone.
Catherine Deschamps, Esquire was just like Aaron remembered her, beautiful. She had changed her hairstyle again but that went with the territory. Even while they had been dating, she sported a new do every few months, and heaven forbid Aaron to ever comment he might have just slightly preferred one of the older ones to her latest.
Standing on the stoop, he had to look up slightly to meet her dark brown, almost black eyes. Her smile was a dentist's pride with gleaming white, perfectly straight teeth. Her skin was a smooth and clear as when he had first met her despite the years that had rolled away behind them. Underneath all of that, Aaron recognized the lingering tension in the tightening of the skin around her eyes, the set of her shoulders where they extended out of her tank top, and the slight twist of her head to the left.
Both rather unsure how to greet one another after all this time or perhaps just sizing each other up, the pair stood and stared for a handful of seconds. Cathy's smile became a little wistful. "Thanks for coming, Aaron." She opened her arms, and Aaron stepped up and into them.
Now he was two inches taller than her again, and their bodies came together in a familiar embrace, like two puzzle pieces snapping into place with the side of his chin resting against her ear, her arms tucked under his to squeeze around his mid back, the firm pressure of her breasts against his chest, and the feeling of her breath on his neck. That hug was coming home and all those old emotions swam to the surface.
3
Rebecca called her back thirty minutes or so later and let Jennifer vent her spleen. Getting it out made her feel better, and she was pleased her sister just agreed with her. Jen knewAaron had made a good impression on her sister, but Rebecca's loyalties lay with her family. In fact, her only concession on Aaron's behalf was to assure Jen, "Once he gets there, he'll have calmed down and'll call to apologize." At least Rebecca remembered what it had been like when Roger cheated on Jen, and she defended him no further.
When Jen got home, she pulled up the car app again. Aaron's car was parked in front of a house in Irvine. Now she knew where Catherine lived, more information she did not want. Contrary to Rebecca's prediction, Aaron did not call.
That afternoon, when Marissa and Sam finished their morning shifts, Stacy and Jen met them at Sam's apartment for a study session. They studied together and talked about the ward work. Stacy and Jen had drawn Sunday morning shifts, and they pumped Sam and Marissa for any pointers. Having offloaded most of her feelings on Rebecca, Jen kept mum about the fight with Aaron. She did peek at the app again later to find his car was now parked at the UC Irvine Medical Center. At least that part of his story checked out. Still he did not call.
The summer sun was still up in the sky, but it was past dinner time when Stacy dropped Jen off at her apartment. Marissa and Sam had wanted to go out for dinner, but Jen pleaded poverty and a need for sleep. For once, Stacy concurred. In reality, Jen really just wanted to be alone to stew over Aaron's little trip.
Up in her apartment, Jen started warming some food in the microwave and pulled up the app one more time. Now Aaron's car was parked near a restaurant. She googled it and found it was French and expensive.
