Chapter 21
“This isn’t like him,” Jody remarked as she stared at the door.
“Chill out, Jode,” Dana tried. “Maybe he’s on the phone.”
Jody scoffed. “On the phone for the past few days? He’s usually on time.” She glanced longingly toward the door. “This isn’t like him.”
Dana sighed. “A watched pot never boils.”
“No, a watched pot eventually boils.” She paused. “There’s a difference.”
Jody continued to keep a close eye on the door. “I hate this.”
Dana leaned against her mop, nearly exasperated by Jody’s mood. “You said he doesn’t live far. Why don’t you go see him?”
“I’d feel like I was intruding.”
“No offense or anything, Jode, but if you were intruding, he wouldn’t have said he was going to pick you up in the first place,” Dana said with a roll of her eyes.
Jody mulled that over and rolled it around her mind for a moment.
“You’re right,” Jody finally said out loud. “He probably got a phone call or something. Nothing to worry about.”
“As much as I’m loving all this extra over-time work, the corporate office is getting suspicious,” Horace interjected. “Go home Jody.”
“But I’m waiting for Taylor.”
“Then you’ll have to wait on your own time and not when you’re on the clock.”
“I thought you liked all the extra help,” Jody protested.
“I do, just not when the corporate office keeps asking why you have so many hours compared to everybody else.”
“But Horace...”
“Goodbye Jody.”
Jody could see that this was one argument she stood no chance of winning. Slowly and reluctantly Jody took off her apron and dutifully returned it to the same hook that it came off of. She moped around the back, picked up her purse, and checked her cell phone.
Nothing. Not good.
Jody’s troubled look disturbed Dana as Jody headed for the door.
“You gonna be OK?” her co-worker questioned gently.
“What’s there not to be OK about?” Jody said putting on a fake smile. “I’m just gonna drop by to make sure he’s OK, that’s all.”
Needless to say that Jody was rather upset to find that nobody was home at Taylor’s apartment, nor was there an answer on his cell phone. Not knowing what else to do, Jody called Eve.
“Hey Jode! What’s new?” Eve questioned with a bounce in her voice.
“Nothing much,” Jody moped as she crossed a busy street. “Just on my way home from work.”
There was a pause. “He didn’t show up again?”
“No.”
Both parties were quiet.
“I don’t what to tell you,” Eve said softly. “Maybe something happened.”
“Something better have happened.”
“Hey now. You’re not allowed to be bitter.”
The silence that followed allowed Eve to phrase her next question.
“This isn’t just about him not picking you up, is it.” It was more of a statement than a question.
“Nope.”
“What’s going on?”
Jody shrugged out of habit. “I dunno, Eve. He just... He looks at me differently than he did before.”
“How so?”
“He doesn’t look at me the same way. I can’t explain it.”
“Fair enough.”
The silence prodded Jody to continue.
“He doesn’t touch me any more.”
“Jode...”
“No, Eve,” Jody said knowing fully well what her friend was implying. “It’s just that I’m always the one to kiss him. I’m always the one to hold his hand.” She sighed. “It wasn’t always like this.”
By this time Jody had meandered to a quiet park.
“There’s other stuff too, I can tell,” Eve said, reading into the pause.
“We used to just sit and talk. Now all we do is sit there and stare at each other. I feel like I’m walking on eggshells around him. He won’t tell me what’s wrong or what’s going on and he always makes sure that Ezra’s around.” She immediately recounted her last statement. “Not that I don’t love Ezra, it’s just that it leaves no time for us to be alone and have any conversations that involve any sort of meaning. We haven’t been intimate for nearly 2 months now and he seems to almost hate the fact that I spend the night, so I’ve stopped.”
“Jode, I’m so sorry,” Eve said, her voice full of empathy. “I wish there was something I could do.”
“I wish there was too.”
“I thought you two were so happy.”
“We were,” Jody confided. “But then something happened with him and he’s been a little weird toward me.”
“I don’t mean to give you any ideas, but what’s Natalie’s status?”
“What do you mean?”
Eve sighed. “Don’t be so naive, Jode. Where’s Natalie in all of this? You know as well as I do that the divorce isn’t finalized yet.”
Jody furrowed her brow. “She’s not around. Taylor said she was back home with her family for a few weeks.”
“Uh huh,” Eve said skeptically. “Right.”
“Eve, he wouldn’t lie to me.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I asked him if anything was going on between him and Natalie and he said no. I trust him.”
“Yeah, and you also found a glass with red lipstick on it.”
“So?”
“ Jody, what the hell are you on that has you so delusional? Put it together- Natalie’s back in the picture.”
Chapter 22
Index
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