It had been about 6 months since Janet had spoken to Eddie. The thought seemed weird to her. How was is possible to go from spending every waking moment with someone, to never having any contact with them just six months later? When these thoughts entered her head, it always took a few seconds for the reality of her situation to sink in. They didn't have any contact because he hated her. He hated her because she cheated on him…with Rooster. Right. Every time the memories came back to her, it was like sitting in that hospital with him again. She could hear his words as loudly and clearly as she had that day.
"Get the hell out of my sight and go find somewhere to rot. Because the captain of the football team, Janet, is rejecting you. Get out of my room.
He continued to scream, "GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" until she left.
It really hadn't gotten any easier for her to think about. The real issue was that he had been right.
Even though they hadn't spoken to one another, she had seen him. As a matter of fact, he was currently in the other room with yet another beautiful blonde coed on his arm. His third this week. It was as if he picked the exact opposite girl as her. They were all tall, beautiful, skinny and stupid, and he seemed to take extreme pleasure in trotting them out every night at Sully's. It didn't matter that they were technically different girls--the college afforded him an endless supply. To Janet, they were all the same; her worst nightmare come true.
Eddie couldn't believe he was spending another night out at Sully's this week. He was exhausted. It was quickly becoming clear to him that he was not 23 years old anymore. Far from it. The last six months had aged him tremendously. He longed for the times not so long ago, when sitting home watching a movie and eating take out were the most exciting events on his week's schedule. He wanted to find someone that enjoyed those things too. He suspected he had been barking up the wrong tree with the last dozen or so girls he had taken out.
Eddie turned to the beautiful woman next to him and asked, "What's your favorite movie, baby?"
She stumbled for a second and then answered, "Um…I don't know, probably, Titanic. I was about 7 years old when that came out and I had the biggest crush on Leo. He's awesome."
She missed Eddie's eye rolling.
"What's yours?" she asked.
Janet had been eavesdropping on their conversation for a few minutes under the pretense of wiping off the cocktail tables near theirs.
She didn't even think before she turned to the blonde and said, "Rocky. He loves Rocky."
Eddie heard her answer before he even had an opportunity to answer for himself. Janet was right, of course, but he wasn't sure what made her think she could speak for him anymore.
The blonde turned to him and said, "Why does that bartender know your favorite movie? Is she your sister?"
Eddie began packing up his things and said quickly, "No, she's not. I don't know why. Maybe she's been sticking her nose where it doesn't belong… again."
He gave Janet a short disapproving glance and walked himself and his date directly out Sully's front door.
Janet went back to work cleaning up the bar. It was torture having to work around him, but she couldn't bear the thought of working somewhere where she wouldn't get to see him at all.
As Eddie went to his truck and opened the passenger door for his date, he thought about all those nights he and Janet had spent cuddled up on the couch together watching movies. For those seven short months he had felt so at home with her, so relaxed. It was a feeling he was afraid he would never find with anyone else again. He knew for a fact that he wouldn't find it with his flavor of the night, Tracey. He hated the movie Titanic with a passion.
He remembered out loud, "So does Janet."
"Who's Janet?" Tracey asked.
"Nobody important." He quietly answered as he pulled out of his parking space and headed to Tracey's apartment.