No more Janet... No matter how many times Jack said it, the sentence seemed unreal.
After the three roommates had their cry, Jack went to his room, Janet went to her room, and Terri went to finish up her breakfast. Jack had spent a few minutes thinking about the whole situation sitting in silence. After Jack had thought about Janet leaving, he had another thought. Why was he concerned about her leaving? Was it because he knew her longer than anyone else? That could've been the case. Maybe it was the fondness of her that he loved. Maybe it was just the fact that he no longer had a person who could keep him grounded. When she was worried, he could no longer be there to keep her grounded. They really did compliment each other.
His mind went to the times that they shared. All the laughs and the misunderstandings made him smile, but all the sadness and tears crossed his mind as well. In spite of that, he wouldn't trade all the memories for anything in the world. At this point, all he could do was curse Phillip, for taking her away, for no new memories, for everything.
"Can I come in?" Janet said knocking on the door.
"Oh, um, yeah. Of course.", Jack answered as he snapped out of his thoughts.
"Hey, are you still okay? I just feel like you're, you know, really upset. I mean, we can still be friends, no matter what." She then walked up to him and gave him a pat on the shoulder. Jack didn't respond. Janet took that as a cue to go and she went back to her room. Once she went back in and closed the door, she thought a little about the situation herself. She would surely miss all the laughter and the tears that they all had. He sure is taking it a little harder than I thought. she thought. She really couldn't blame him. After all, she was the one that convinced Mr. Roper to stay in the apartment. If it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have a place to stay. He wouldn't have had the morale to keep going with his cooking school education, through his jobs, and to his ultimate goal: his restaurant. It really broke her heart to think that she would be leaving, but there wasn't a real way for all four of them to stay at all.
Meanwhile, Terri was in the kitchen, absently putting her dishes in the sink. She was deep in thought as well. She may not have been there for long, but before long, she was already best friends with Jack and Janet. She didn't want to see them go. Everyone would be off to take their separate paths, but she couldn't help but wonder about Janet's. It all happened too fast to her. She was dating Phillip one day, and the next thing she knew, she was on her way to marrying him. There was a little voice in the back of Terri's mind that told her that it was not a good idea for Janet to marry, even after she gave her congratulations, but she figured that it was just all the news coming at her to make her feel this way. Things would happen at their own pace, and if they happened to be at a fast pace and Janet was okay with it, she would be, too.
"Hey, Terri", Janet called as she entered the kitchen.
"Oh, hi, Janet", Terri said as she smiled at her.
"Is everything alright?"
"Oh, yeah. Sure! I mean, we're all sad, but, hey, it's not like we can't be friends anymore, right?"
"I said that to Jack, but I don't think he believed me. He didn't answer me when I said that we could still be friends."
"Well, it did come off as a shock and you both known each other for how long?", Terri said.
"Seven years. That's a long time", Janet said.
Terri thought for a while. "Hey, before we go off. Why don't we celebrate with one last drink at the Regal Beagle. Let's invite all our friends!"
"Okay! After work we can-"
"No, no, no.", Terri cut her off. "I mean before the wedding. We have plenty of time, right?"
"Yeah, we do."
"So let's make it a stress-free evening. Don't you have a wedding to plan for the future?"
"Yeah", Janet smiled as she answered. "I'm gonna go run it by Jack and see what he thinks about it."
"Please do!"
"Alright! See you later!", Janet called out as she left the kitchen.
"Bye!", Terri called back.
A few seconds later, Janet knocked on Jack's door. "Hey, Jack?"
"Oh, come in", Jack answered.
"Terri just had the best idea!"
"Really? What is it?"
"How about before we leave, we and some friends can go down to the Regal Beagle for one last drink together. What do you say about that?"
"Sure! After work we'll-"
"Oh, no. It won't be tonight, just in the near future."
"Oh, sure!"
"So it's settled?", Janet asked.
"Yeah. I can't wait", Jack said with a smile, a small, sad smile, but a smile nonetheless.
Janet noticed it, but tried to hide it. "Okay!" She looked down at her watch and noticed the time. "Oh, geez, I'm gonna be late!" She made her way to his door.
"Bye Janet!", Jack called out.
"Bye!", Janet called back out and went to her room to get ready.
Shortly after that, there was another knock on Jack's bedroom door. "Who is it?", Jack asked.
"It's Terri!", she called out.
"Come in!"
"So? Did she tell you about the idea?", Terri asked as she closed the door behind her.
"Yeah, I mean, that was really smart of you to do."
"Thanks. Look, I just wanted to have one last get together as a big group before-"
"She moves out.", Jack finished.
Terri hesitated. "Yeah. I know that you aren't really happy but, look-"
"If she's happy, I'm happy. That's all there is. I'm glad she's found the one she loves.", Jack said with a sad smile. "Terri, I'd love for you and I to stay and talk some more, but I have to go to work soon."
"Okay. See you!", Terri said
"See you." With that, Terri left Jack's room. The little voice in her head that told her something was off with the wedding was louder. Terri was convinced that something had to be done, but she wasn't sure what to do, if something should be done at all.
