1
It had been a long night at Sully's. The beer had flowed non stop and Janet had been on her feet for hours. All she wanted to do was go home, take a long bath and talk to Eddie on the phone until one of them fell asleep. Her car clearly had other plans. After cranking it a few times and getting nothing but silence, she reached into her purse for her phone. Just her luck, the battery was dead. She must have forgotten to charge it last night after talking to Eddie. Thankfully, Eddie had left his jacket on the backseat when she dropped him at work that morning. Shrugging into it she grabbed her purse and started on her long walk home.
Two miles from her house and still a ways from the closest street light, she heard a truck coming up behind her. Not being a wimpy girl, she squared her shoulders and continued walking with confidence until the truck came to a halt beside her. A few tingles of apprehension went up her spine when she looked over and saw Big Cat in the passenger seat and Matt Loush behind the wheel.
"Hey Janet. Need a ride" Big Cat asked with his trademark smirk.
"No thanks" Janet replied with a much politeness as she could muster. "It's not far and it is a nice night."
As she continued down the road, the truck kept pace with her. Staying within earshot they proceeded to have a conversation between themselves. About her.
"I just don't see what Latekka sees in her" Big Cat started off.
"Maybe she has talents we don't know about" Matt said sarcastically.
They continued in that vein until they were close enough to the street lights for Big Cat to see Janet's face. When he saw that she was struggling for composure it seemed to satisfy him. Leaning out the window so that she was sure to hear him he said deliberately
"I am going to destroy Latekka and everything that he holds dear."
With that he gave her an annoying little wave and they sped away.
Janet just stood there as the taillights faded into the darkness. Willing herself not to cry she started walking again. When she heard another truck behind her she prayed that it would pass on by. When it didn't she steeled herself for the worst and looked over. The relief she felt when she saw that is was Eddie was so overwhelming that she burst into the tears that she had been holding back. Eddie was ready to give her a good ole 'what for', but one look at her face and all he could do was scoop her up into his arms and let her cry.
"Janet, baby, tell me what's wrong. You are scaring me to death!"
All she could do was cry harder and shake her head. Eddie had never been so worried in his life and was struggling to be calm for her. He buckled her into her seat and drove to her house. He led her into the bathroom and sat her down on the closed toilet while he ran her a nice tub of water. He made her promise to get in and then went out to the living room and put on her favorite mix cd that he had made for her, with Phil's help. Grabbing a glass of her favorite wine he headed back to the bathroom determined to get it out of her.
Janet had been giving a lot of thought to what she was going to say. There had to be a way to not hurt Eddie or send him on a murderous rampage. As gently as she could she told him the events of the night. With every word she could see his blood pressure rising and the anger in his eyes.
"I am going to mangle Big Cat when I find him," Eddie shouted while he paced around in the small space of the bathroom. "This is the last time they are going to insult the woman that I love. Last time I told Loush that it was coming, I'm probably not going to be so nice this time" Eddie had a lot more to say, but when he glanced over at Janet he was stopped in mid-stride by the fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.
"What?" Eddie asked with a little nervousness. The last thing he had wanted to do was make her cry again.
"I just have two questions." she said as some realizations were dawning on her.
"Is that the reason you punched Matt? He insulted me?"
Eddie just nodded and waited for her to continue.
"Did you just say that you love me?" she asked in almost a whisper. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, all the pain of the last few hours fading away in the presence of Eddie's love for her.
With a look of wonder he replied "Yeah, it looks that way. What do you think about that?"
After that revelation they both needed a few moments to collect their thoughts, so Eddie left her to finish her bath
After drying off and getting dressed, she found him in the living room staring into the fire that he had made.
"Change your mind?" she asked. She was teasing him just a little because she knew he wasn't he kind of guy to say empty words.
"On the contrary" he replied. "I was just wondering why it took me so long to say it. And I'm kinda wondering why you didn't say it back"
"You are so dense Eddie Latekka. I have loved you since that first kiss, I was just too scared to tell you"
They spent the remainder of the night on the couch talking and laughing, basking in the joy and humor that was the foundation of their relationship. As the sun came up, Eddie realized that he was truly a changed man. Not once in the last few hours had he even thought of Big Cat Cataldo. Just let him try to destroy Eddie. He had all he really needed right here, asleep with her head on his lap.