As Eddie waited for Janet to open the door he thought about what he was going to say to her. He didn't like the way they had left things at the bar earlier that day. The look of disappointment on her face when she told him how important this date was to her had nearly crushed him. He needed to make this right.
Janet opened the door seconds later.
"Janet, what's wrong?". He could see that she was upset and had been crying and he followed her in and took her in his arms.
She returned his embrace and looked up at him, "Hannah and I…" was all she could say before the tears began to pool in her eyes.
"Here, sit down and tell me what's going on". Eddie said as he led her to the couch.
Janet took a deep breath to compose herself, "Hannah and I had a fight and we said things to each other that I'm not sure we can take back."
"Was this fight about me and Big Cat?" Eddie asked as he took her hands in his.
"Yeah, she tried to make me believe that the whole thing was your fault and when I told her that couldn't be the case, that you wouldn't just hit someone for no reason, we got into it and things got ugly. Really ugly."
Eddie drew her to him and she clung to him like a drowning man to a life preserver. He wanted to explain everything to her, to tell her what had happened, but he knew she would be devastated and he couldn't do that to her. And as selfish as it may seem, he didn't want Janet questioning their relationship. He knew her. He knew that if she heard what the idiots like Matt Lauche were saying about them, that it might make her doubt their relationship and he wasn't going to risk losing her because of the ignorance of a few.
Eddie stroked her back and kissed her forehead. "Look Janet. I know how upsetting it is to think you've lost your best friend, but you and Hannah, you're going to work this out. I know it. You two have been friends for too many years to let this come between you permanently. It may take a while, but I know you'll find a way to forgive each other." Eddie set Janet from him so that they were face-to-face. "Do you know how I know this?"
"How?" Janet said weakly.
"I know this because you are the most forgiving and kind person I know. Hell, you've forgiven me on occasions too numerous to mention" He said with all the charm he could muster.
Janet smiled.
He leaned in to kiss her and felt her sigh of relief.
"Feeling better?" He asked.
"Yeah, I am. You're pretty terrific you know that, right?" She said with that thousand-watt smile of hers.
"And don't you forget it", He replied.
She leaned in to kiss him this time.
"I'm happy to continue basking in your appreciation of me, but I came over here to ask you if you cancelled those reservations you made?"
"No, with everything that's happened, I completely forgot."
"Good. Don't, because you and I are keeping that date on Friday night. Ya know, if it's okay with you." He said as he smiled at her.
She threw her arms around him and kissed him ecstatically.
He laughed and said, "I'll take that as a yes then."
"That is most definitely a yes." She said smiling at him. "Thank you, Eddie."
"You're welcome".
Just then his phone rang.
"Hey Nicky, what goes on?…You're kidding, right? Alright, what time?…Okay, see you then"
"What was that about?" Janet asked
"Well, apparently Nick apologized to Carter Bump and he'll still consider us for the elementary school renovations under one condition."
"Yeah, that's terrific! What's the condition"
"I'm not sure of the specifics, but it involves Karaoke and the song Paradise by the Dashboard light."
THE END