Jesse's Reunion

Special thanks to IJS0904 for editing this story and serving as a sounding board for all my crazy ideas.

-----------------------------------------

They say we dig our own graves. After my encounter with Brooke, I felt like mine was most of the way to China.

----------

The weekend after Jesse's reunion, I was working on the Fairlane. A thought had been passing through my mind all week, and I had avoided dealing with it. I couldn't avoid it anymore.

I stopped what I was doing, went to a storage area upstairs, and pulled out a box of things I had kept from my time with Alicia. At the bottom was a picture of us, her parents, Brooke, and Jimmy, her fiancé, at a Christmas party for their father's company.

My eyes went straight to Brooke. She was slightly below average in height (maybe 5'5") and a little above average in weight (maybe 150 pounds). She had wavy brown hair down to the middle of her back, glasses, and very little make-up, despite the fact that it was a formal event. She wore a baggy dress to try to hide her figure. She wasn't pretty, but she was VERY cute.

I then took out my phone and pulled up Jesse's Facebook page. She had posted a picture of the four friends at the reunion. I pulled up that picture full-screen and put the two side-by-side.

Jesse's friend was the same height as Alicia's sister. While Alicia's Brooke was borderline pudgy and modest, Jesse's had a very toned figure (easily 30 pounds lighter) and wore clothes to show herself off, especially her pronounced chest. Jesse's Brooke had straight blonde hair that was cut just below her jawline. Alicia's Brooke wore glasses; Jesse's did not. Jesse's Brooke wore enough make-up for the whole group.

The expressions on their faces were completely different as well. Alicia's sister looked like she hated being in front of the camera. Jesse's friend had an expression that screamed, "Come and get me!"

But if you looked carefully, the gray eyes were the same. The jawlines were the same. The smile, though strained for different reasons in each picture, was the same.

They were the same.

I stared at the pictures for an eternity, hoping I was wrong.

Jesse's Brooke hardly said a word to me at the reunion. Other than our introduction and the glance she gave us as she was walking away, I barely remember her even acknowledging my existence. Maybe I was wrong.

"Don't kid yourself. It's her."

The right thing to do would have been to go to Jesse and say something right away. We could have dealt with it and moved on. Or not. Either way, it would have been out in the open.

The wrong thing to do would be to act like the two Brookes weren't the same person and/or hope she didn't recognize me.

I had a nasty habit of doing the wrong thing.

----------

The night after I ran into Brooke, I paid Mark a visit.

Lindsay answered the door.

"I'll go get Mark for you."

"Lindsay, are the boys home?"

"Number one, they're at a friend's house for a few hours. Number two, you never address me by my name, so something's wrong."

"I didn't just come here to see Mark. I want you in on the conversation."

"And number three, you never talk to me, so something's REALLY wrong."

"I'll wait in the living room."

I sat down on the sofa and stared at the floor.

Mark walked in with Lindsay right behind him. They sat in chairs across a coffee table from me.

"What's up? Lindsay seems to think someone died."

"I wish it was that simple."

I put the picture in front of Mark and my phone in front of Lindsay.

"I remember this. This is the bitch and her family at a Christmas party, right?"

"Yes sir."

Lindsay was confused.

"I take it this is from Jesse's reunion?"

"Yes ma'am."

"What am I missing?"

"Put the pictures next to each other."

They both kept going back and forth between the two pictures.

"I'll make it easy on you. Look closely at the blonde on the phone."

Lindsay was the first to speak.

"No! That's not..."

"Jesse introduced her to me as her friend, Brooke. It didn't hit me for a few days who she was."

Mark was shaking his head.

"This blonde is Brooke Ross? The same Brooke Ross you played Twister with at a fancy hotel a few days after her sister dumped you?"

"One and the same. She lost a bunch of weight, completely changed her hair, and paid a lot of money to feel better about her endowment, but it's the same person."

Mark groaned. "I know which version you wish you had plowed like a cornfield."

"Mark!!!!!" Lindsay punched him in the shoulder.

"So do I. Neither."

"You are 100% sure it's the same woman?" Lindsay didn't sound convinced.

I told them about the encounter at the grocery store.

"The second I turned around and saw her, I knew."

Lindsay's accusatory tone came back. "But you decided being rude to her was a good idea?"

"I couldn't help it. If you had heard the tone in her voice, you would have done the same."

"Dude, now I need a beer. You want one?"

"Three."

Mark went into the kitchen.

Lindsay was staring at me.

"I'm going to assume Jesse doesn't know or you wouldn't be here."

"You would assume correctly."

Mark walked back in with alcohol for everyone. They spoke at the same time.

"Cole Watson..."

"I'm an idiot."

----------

A few days later, I had to make a parts run into the city for some of our equipment that was down for maintenance. I tried to make a lunch date with Jesse, but she had a meeting with an important client and couldn't break away.

Before I left town, I stopped at an electronics store to get a new set of security cameras for my parents' home. As I walked out the door, I noticed someone leaning on a column outside the 24-hour gym next door.

Brooke was wearing a skin-tight set of workout clothes and had her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

She had her phone up to her ear, but given the way she was looking at me, I seriously doubted there was someone on the other end.

She gave me a finger wave, moved her hand to just below her breasts, lightly licked her lips, and seductively ran her hand down her body.

I shook my head and walked to my car as quickly as I could. I hauled ass away from her even faster, hoping she didn't bother to attempt to follow me.

When I thought I was far enough away, I pulled into a vacant parking lot, jumped out of the car, and started yelling and pounding the roof with my fist.

"How the fuck did she..."

(Lightbulb.)

"Shit. Jesse told her."

I buried my head in my hands.

She wasn't lying, was she?

----------

I needed to talk to Jesse, and I needed it to be face-to-face.

Our schedules didn't line up, so I hadn't seen her in three weeks. It was a Friday, the kids were with Robbie, and we both had to work over the weekend, so I wouldn't be able to stay overnight, but I needed to see her anyway. I left work early and headed to her house.

I parked a few houses down from where she lived and made myself invisible. When she pulled in the driveway, I started walking toward her house. I was able to hide but was close enough that she was barely inside when I knocked.

Jesse opened the door, squealed, and jumped into my arms.

I stood there holding her until my arms got tired, not wanting to let her go.

When I eased her down, she tried to pull my face to hers. I put my hands on her cheeks and gave her a prolonged kiss on the forehead.

"Is something wrong?"

"You could say that."

"Cole, what's going on?"

We sat down at the dining room table directly across from each other. I set the shoulder bag I was carrying down in front of me.

"Remember Lindsay's pet name for me?"

"Yeah. She calls you an idiot."

"She's right. When I told you about what happened with Alicia, I left off part of the ending. I shouldn't have but I did."

Jesse leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms and legs, and locked eyes with me.

"I'm listening."

"I made plans for Alicia and me to spend the weekend after I proposed at a hotel in the city. The room was paid for, so I decided to use it. I didn't want to be anywhere near the apartment.

"Alicia's sister had tried calling me several times over the course of the week, but I ignored her. She had always seemed sweet enough, but I just couldn't deal with her.

"Her father is a good man and was concerned about me, so he told her about the hotel. She found me in the hotel bar that Friday. I had already been drinking for a while. We talked for a long time before I decided to call it a night.

"When we walked out of the bar, we hugged each other. She took her time letting go, and when she finally did, she pecked me on the lips. It wasn't long before we were in my room.

"We spent the weekend together, rarely getting out of bed.

"That Sunday, we got in a huge fight. She left screaming at me. That was the last contact we had for a long time."

Jesse's response was terse, but I could tell she knew something else was coming.

"So, you had rebound sex. You weren't the first person and you won't be the last. The fact that it was with Alicia's sister makes it worse, a LOT worse, but I don't see how that's a major problem now. That was almost ten years ago."

We stared at each other for a few moments before she spoke again.

"I'm curious. Is there a reason you won't tell me her name?"

"Yes."

I pulled out the Christmas picture and set it in front of her.

Jesse picked up the picture. Her eyes were darting from one face to another.

It was just a matter of seconds before it registered with her.

She covered her hand with her mouth, gasped, and tears started rolling down her cheeks. She looked at me briefly, back at the picture, then back at me again.

Jesse was trying to compose herself. "You didn't think I needed to know this?!?"

"At the reunion, it never occurred to me that they were the same person. It wasn't until later that week that it dawned on me, and that picture confirmed it. At first, I didn't think it would matter. Now it does.

"I'm not asking for you to forgive me right now. I don't deserve it. But you do need to know what happened. You've needed to know for a long time, and I should have told you."

"Why now?" She was still crying. She just stared at the picture.

I told her about my two encounters with Brooke.

"So. You think she wants revenge?"

"Probably, and she's one of the few people who can get it."

When she finally looked up at me, she was beet red.

"There is something else I need to tell you."

"No! I can't take any more revelations from you right now. I need to think and you need to leave."

"Jesse..."

"Please, Cole. Go."

I grabbed my bag and slowly walked to the door. As I opened it, I turned and looked at her.

"Jesse?"

"Yeah?"

I told her the same thing Brooke told me in the hotel that Sunday morning,

"I love you."

She looked away and I left.

----------

The next week was absolute torture. I spent every night blankly staring at the TV and drinking, not sure what, if anything, I could do to fix things between Jesse and me.

I was sitting in my office one afternoon, trying unsuccessfully to concentrate on some paperwork, when Nathan O'Neill, our lead engineer and an old high school classmate, barged in.

"Dude, I thought you had a girlfriend."

"Huh?"

"You said you were seeing a short little brunette. There's a sexpot at the front desk asking for you. She ain't a brunette, and she ain't little."

"What does she look like?"

"Average height, short blonde hair, and her tits are in suspended animation."

I had the sudden urge to run for the hills when Shannon, our receptionist, buzzed my phone. I spoke before she could.

"Let her in the conference room. I'll be there in three minutes."

I looked up at Nathan with my face half buried in my hands.

"I take it that's not your girlfriend. Do I need to run interference for you?"

"As much as I would like to take you up on that offer, I'm going to have to deal with her sooner or later."

"If you need me to do anything..."

"Hopefully, I won't. I'll let you know either way."

I headed for the conference room with the worst case of dread I can ever remember having.

----------

When I opened the door, Brooke was sitting at the head of the table, acting like she owned the place.

"Hello, Mr. Watson. I'm glad you could find the time to see me at such short notice. Surely you understand I wouldn't drop by unannounced unless what I had to say was extremely important."

I desperately wanted to slap the smirk off her face.

"Cut the bullshit, Brooke. You're not here for business, seeing as we have none, and I don't bring my personal life to work. I don't know how you found me, but I suggest you UNFIND me, and the sooner, the better. Whatever you have to say, it won't be here."

"I would love to see your place sometime. I can only imagine what you have hidden behind that security gate."

A chill went up my spine.

Brooke winked at me, stood up, threw her purse over her shoulder, and strutted towards me until she was standing inches away from me.

She put her hands on my chest and started rubbing me seductively.

I grabbed both of her wrists.

"Don't you take a hint?!?"

"We have a lot to talk about, Cole, and the longer you wait, the worse I can make things for you and Ms. Jesse."

"Not here. Not now."

"I won't be put off, Cole." She was now on her toes, almost nose-to-nose with me, and so close I could smell what she ate for lunch.

I was getting the feeling that she really wouldn't go away, no matter how hard I tried.

"There's a Starbucks five miles from here. I'll meet you on their patio in 20 minutes."

"What guarantee do I have that you will be there?"

"Give me your keys."

"Excuse me?"

"Give. Me. Your. Keys."

Brooke reluctantly pulled her car keys out of her purse. I snatched them from her and handed her mine. I walked towards the door and never turned around.

"Don't be late. There's a 7-11 on the way. Pick up some Tic-Tacs. You need them."

Once I was out of sight, I sprinted to the supply room and "borrowed" a small piece of company equipment before heading to the parking lot to find my ride to Starbucks.

I hit the lock button on the key fob and looked for the blinking lights. She drove a yellow Audi TT. Why was I not surprised?

Two minutes under her hood and I was on the road.

----------

I couldn't help but laugh as I passed the 7-11. My car was parked by the front door.

I knew her insecurity would give me enough time to do what I needed and still beat her there.

----------

I was sitting at the table furthest from the front door when Brooke pulled up. She strutted up to the table, placed both hands on it, and bent forward, giving me an unobstructed view of her cleavage.

"I need a latte. Would you like me to get you something?" Her tone was so full of fake sweetness I almost threw up.

"Bottled water will be fine. And I'd prefer you let me open it."

"What's the matter, Cole? Don't trust me?"

"No, honey, I don't. I've seen Forensic Files. It never ends well." I gave her the biggest closed-mouth smile I could muster.

Brooke snorted at me and walked inside.

I went back to playing with my phone until she sat across from me a few minutes later. Brooke slid the water to me.

"You know, Cole, it would serve you well to drop the attitude around me. I'm the one that holds all the cards here."

"I already told Jesse about what happened between you and me. That was ten years ago. She and I are past it." I was lying my ass off, but Brooke didn't know that, and I was gambling that she was too self-absorbed to call my bluff.

She seemed a bit disappointed, but only for a few seconds.

"Our little escapade is only part of the story."

Brooke began rifling through her purse until she pulled out a folded piece of paper. She slid it over to me.

I unfolded the paper slowly. It was a microfilm copy of a newspaper obituary page from over twenty years ago. The deceased was Andrea Caldwell.

"It's amazing what you can find if you look hard enough. I found the list of 'loving grandchildren' rather interesting. Jesse L. Barber and Cole J. Watson in particular."

I froze. This bitch really was crazy.

I spent a lot of time when I was younger researching my family. My maternal grandmother had remarried after my grandfather's death, back when the internet barely resembled what we now know it to be. According to Google, she didn't exist except in death records and only under her second husband's name.

I couldn't imagine how much work Brooke had gone through to find that obituary, which I had never managed to come across. That feeling of dread I felt less than an hour earlier was getting deeper and deeper.

"What do you want, Brooke?"

"Right now, to watch you squirm. To see that look on your face. To know that you know I could ruin yours and Ms. Jesse's lives with one phone call."

Brooke stared at me intently, not saying a word for several moments.

She finally stood up, resuming the pose she had taken when she first walked up to the table. This time, she squeezed her arms into her chest, making her cleavage even more pronounced.

"You ripped my heart out of my chest, Cole. Now, I'm going to slowly and painfully return the favor."

Brooke grabbed her keys from where I had set them on the table. She threw mine at my chest, turned, and disappeared into the parking lot.

I dropped my head down in resignation, looked at my phone, and hit stop on the recorder.

----------

When I pulled into my driveway, Tanya was waiting for me. She was sitting on the edge of the porch on her phone. I got out of my car and she was in a full sprint straight for me.

She shoved me square in the chest, knocking me back several feet. When I regained my balance, she was right in front of me, pounding my chest with her fists.

"YOU ASSHOLE!"

"Tanya, please..."

"Mom hasn't stopped crying since you surprised her. What the hell did you do?!?"

She hit me repeatedly. I just stood there and took it. I didn't want to stop her.

When she finally stopped, I put my arm around her shoulder and made her sit back on the edge of the porch.

"Your mother should be the one telling you this, but if she won't, someone has to."

I held her head up so that she had to look at me.

"Your mother and I are in love with each other, and I fucked it up. I'm an idiot, and I fucked it up."

"YOU'RE WHAT?"

"We're in love with each other."

"You're cousins. That isn't supposed to happen."

"Well, it did. I can't explain why or how, but it happened. I don't expect you to understand."

"I don't believe you."

I pulled out my phone and showed her my text history with Jesse.

"By the way, how did you get in here?"

"Mom never put a security code on her phone."

As Tanya read months' worth of texts between Jesse and I, she started to cry. When she was done reading, she buried her face in her hands and started bawling. I sat down next to her in silence.

"That night in the hotel?"

"I didn't lie to you. I was very respectful towards your mother. I won't tell you exactly what happened, but we enjoyed each other's company that night."

"You had sex with her knowing she still wasn't over Alex?"

"Not me, we. Whether you want to believe it or not, she wanted me as much as I wanted her."

"I knew everything seemed too perfect with the two of you."

Tanya stared off into space, slowly calming down.

"What did you do to fuck it up?"

I told her.

She shook her head. For the first time in over ten minutes, she looked at me.

"Her name isn't Brooke Ross. At least, it isn't anymore. She was married, at least for a little while, and kept his name. She goes by Brooke Frederick. That's going to change again pretty soon."

"That doesn't really matter."