Jim had the perfect life. He lived in San Diego where the weather was always beautiful. He ran an extremely successful business, had a beautiful house, and lived right next door to his best friend Carl, and his wife Jackie.
Jim and Carl have been friends with each other since 6th grade. They played on the same soccer team through high school, went to the same parties together...they couldn't be separated. At the beginning of senior year Jim began dating Jackie. The three of them became very close all the way up until senior prom. A week prior to the prom Jim and Jackie got in an argument over something very petty. Jackie had been out driving Jim's car and accidentally put a small dent in his front bumper. Jim overreacted, the yelling started, and in the end he called off going to prom with her.
Completely devastated, Jackie ran to Carl to tell him what had happened. They talked for hours in Carl's room, as he tried to calm her down and stop her from crying. He gave her a hug and she wouldn't let go...he felt terrible that she was so upset. Not in her right mind, Jackie pulled back from the hug, looked Carl in the eyes, and kissed him forcefully. Carl pulled back, not wanting to do this with his best friends girl, but the emotions got the best of both of them that day. Before long they were both getting dressed in disbelief. They knew that things would never be the same after that.
It took a very long time, but 25 years later, the three were all friends again. Carl and Jackie ended up dating the summer after high school while Jim joined the military. Shortly after college they had married. They had a lovely daughter together named Vicky who was all grown up now, herself starting her college career.
Jim was always a little upset at the fact that he wasn't named Vicky's Godfather, but she was born at a time when they still weren't friends again yet, so he's come to accept it. As great of a life as Jim now has, and even though things between him and Carl are long forgiven by this point, every once in a while he'll think back to how he feels things should've turned out. Every so often he'll lay in bed at night, staring at the ceiling, and thinking about how it should've been him with Jackie...how he screwed things up and how his best friend did him wrong. But, that was a long time ago. They were all adults now, and there would be no going back.
One weekend in the summer, Carl and Jackie were going up to L. A. to visit friends. Vicky was home for the summer, but since her parents were taking the car, she had no way to get to the YMCA to workout. She knocked on Jim's door Friday afternoon, and he answered.
"Hi Jim, I have a little bit of a dilemma," she said.
"What's that?" he responded, "Too many boys after you?" he joked.
Vicky wasn't what you would consider sexy, but she was your classic cute girl. She had short brown hair and light tan skin. Her chest was small, but she had a very toned body from so many years on the swim team.
"My parents took the car this weekend, so I have no way to get to the "Y" and I really need to practice my swimming...is there any way I might be able to borrow your car?" she asked.
"Vicky, I'm sorry. Normally I'd have no problem with that, but my car is in the shop getting a million things done to it, I won't have it back myself until Tuesday."
They both stood there. She had a look of disappointment on her face that Jim just hated seeing.
"Hey, here's an idea. Why don't you just come over and use my pool in the back? It's not as big as you're used to, but should be plenty to get a good workout in," he suggested.
Her eyes lit up, and she smiled in agreement.
"Oh, thank you, that's perfect! Is noon alright?"
"That's fine, just give a knock, I'll be here to let you in!" Jim said with a smile, still happy he came up with the idea.
The next morning Jim woke up to very unlikely San Diego weather. He heard claps of thunder and rain pelting against the roof of his house. It was a good thing he wasn't able to go anywhere anyway, and so he stayed inside watching TV and cleaning up around the house until he heard a knock on his door. He got up and answered, surprised to see Vicky standing there.
"Oh, hey Vick, ummmm...I don't think there's going to be any swimming today," he said laughing and looking up at the sky.
"I know, I'm disappointed, but wanted to come and say thanks anyway. Plus, I'm soooo bored, I can't go anywhere without a car and no one's around."
"Well, feel free to come hang out, I'm not going anywhere," Jim replied.
She stepped into the house and took her big rain coat off. Jim looked at her, standing there in a white top and black skirt. He watched as she moved over to the couch and sat down where the TV was already on. He walked over towards her and looked at her as she picked up the remote and began flipping through the channels. He could see she had many of her mothers features...the way her little nose came to a point, her soft brown eyes, even the way she squinted when she smiled. He looked up and out the window where the rain was still coming down in buckets. Staring beyond his fence towards her house, dwelling on how he should be the one living with Jackie, not Carl...How this should be their daughter, not his. He hadn't felt angry about this for years, but it was all starting to come back to the surface. He then shifted his focus back to Vicky.
"There's nothing on," she said, looking straight ahead. When she didn't get a response, she looked up to see Jim staring down at her.
"You turned into a very cute young lady, and you have a very nice little body that I can tell you work hard on," he said.
"Thanks," she replied, not knowing if she should take it as a harmless compliment or creepy statement.
Jim sat down next to Vicky and put his hand on her knee. She froze as she was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He started rubbing her knee cap and asked her if she knew that him and her mother used to date.
